moonslav59

I don't disagree, and I get the argument about being inconsistent, but at various times in our cycle or building ring teams every 3-5 years, we've needed GMs with different expertise. I wouldn't want DD on a team with the 29th best farm and limited budget space, just as maybe Ben & Bloom aren't the best GMs for a team needing precision big spending to get us over the top. It seemed like Theo was the best at giving us the best of both worlds, but even he admitted, he strayed too far fro the balanced approach. I'm not sure how good we'd have been had we kept the same GM for 15-20 year. Only Theo seems like one I'd think would be pretty sure of bringing us more rings had he not left. I felt Ben was on the way towards building that "balanced team, but the Castillo-Pablo-HRam signings hurt a lot, and the 3 last place finishes were just too much to bear.

In theory, the one guy from the Mets should be better than the 2 we get from KC, combined.

We've spent big many, many years. It only seems like a splurge, when the splurge does not turn out well- Crawford, Pablo/HRam, Eovaldi/Sale. Even when we reset, we stay near the tax line. We've been a consistent top 5 spending team almost, if not every, year since the early 2000's. The big problems usually arise more from trading away prospects than splurging and re-setting. To me, it makes sense to wait to spend really big, when we feel like we are 1-2 players away from serious ring contention. It's hard not to think we could have extended the window beyond 2018, but it fizzled. Had we signed Scherzer instead of Pablo/HRam, Ben would have stuck around longer- in all liklihood. When the farm is low, and the budget seems full of declining or non productive players, it's time to re-set, regroup, and build back up again. I'm not sure why so many fans get so upset about this. Look, I bget why people think, if we are still a top 3 spending team, why are we one of the top 10 contenders? Well, we over extended ourselves the last cycle, and until we flush out the deadwood salaries and build the farm back up, we have to check our high expectations at the door.

Ottavino, the defense and the offense all let us down a bit, today, but they fought back to tie it, late, so I don't think this loss will bring the team down in any meaningful way.

Richards looked very scary out of the gate, but he ended up with no ERs. Let's hope this is a sign of good things to come.

Maybe it didn't "hurt," but getting one more man on base, assuming everything else followed the same, we might have been one up not tied. (Or, he hits into a DP, and Verdugo never ties it. Or, they pitch Verdugo differently, Or, ....)

How much pressure is now on the next guy?

As the late, great Lowell George used to sing, "Try to remember to forget."

I'm not complaining or saying Cora shoulda-coulda, but in the 8th, after Renfore walked, he could have PH JD for Franchy or Dalbec.

Man-o-man, I'm losing my memory, and I'm just 61!

Hats off to Max for turning around the season. Tough loss.

BAM! Have some faith, fellas! This team is special!

Take Mr. Rogers out of the neighborhood!

Let's go Verdugo!

Taylor is trying to be demoted.

Richards got his ERA down to 6.00.

So, the Sox just wanna get out of town and are tanking?

True, and it could have happened in our last 9 games, too, but it didn't. I'm just not seeing as much optimism as usual.

We have 3 innings to go. Why is everyone suddenly expecting failure?

I guess driving his pitch count up to get to another pitcher is no longer in vogue.

Have you watched the last 9 games?

With a short bench, maybe, but that assumes we get to a chance where he can make a big difference.

Sayonara!

So much for driving up pitch counts.

Gotta do better than 1 H and 1 BB.