moonslav59

I lived in Geneseo from 1963-65. My Dad taught at the university.

Nope. He let up 6 runs once. That was the most he let up that year. His next highest was 4 (only once). 29 starts: 27 with 3 or less ERs allowed!

That is much clearer. Thanks.

I still think we can do better. Matz is a no brainer no. Nimmo does not do much for me. I might listen, if they offer 2 yrs of Conforto and 3 yrs of Seth Lugo for Betts, Barnes and Johnson.

So, if we made this trade, we shouldn't trade ERod? The rebuild is complete in one deal, and we're competitive again?

You said we should trade ERod, because he has only 2 years of control. Now, you want to trade our only big chip for an injury riddled pitcher with 2 years of team control. Nimmo does not make up the difference. We can get better from somebody.

I disagree with a lot of this. He was not anointed the next VTek. Vaz was recovering from an injury the following year and took the job from Swihart very early that year. "Forcing" him to the OF did not ruin him. He should have been DFA'd back then. Giving him a chance as an OF'er was an extra chance. Nobody thwarted Swihart's growth but himself. He got way more chances than he deserved not less.

Another 5 runs allowed by our starter. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but with ERod pitching, I had some hope.

I just turned 60 and quit softball about 10 years ago. First play of the season, I was at SS and went back for an easy high pop-up, slipped on the grass and aggravated an old knee injury. I was without insurance, then, and luckily it healed by itself a few months later. I commend you, brother.

Maybe your only knock, but several others knocked and knocked about him not getting an extended chance or two or three after the call up. We shouldn't forget that he did go back to the minors after being rushed to the majors quickly, and never proved himself worthy there either. 2016: 122 PAs at AAA .655 OPS 2017: 38 PAs Gulf RK league .575 212 PAs at AAA .539 OPS Overall, he was .639 in 543 PAs at AAA, and hitting was his "strength."

So, there goes the "he never got a real chance" argument.

Yes, even if he was deemed ready, we should hold back the clock. You are right.

He dropped from 27th to 39th on the soxprospect.com list, despite 22 HRs and 39 XBHs in 328 ABs in AAA. I guess the .356 OBP does not outweigh the .213 BA and 177 Ks.

Make me wonder if helping the Yanks was a contributing factor in the secret decision. (Or, maybe it was not kept secret from the Yanks.)

Yes, thank you for the clarification.

If we chose to reset in 2020, keeping DD makes little to no sense.

I thought of Duran, but I think he was already rushed through a couple levels, so I'm not sure he's ready. If the Sox brass thinks he is, bring him on, too!

I may skip a game for the first time, in I believe, over a decade.

I'm all for getting rid of every player not part of the 2021 and beyond plan. I'd keep Cora and dump DD for the rebuild. I'd try to set us up to be back to contention by 2021, but I realize it may take longer. I'm not sure about trading ERod, Workman and Barnes- all FAs after 2021, but it makes some sense, if we really want to totally rebuild. They all have trade value, unlike some of our FA's to be after 2020, Betts not included. (I'd look to trade Betts, if we think we can't re-sign him after the reset of 2020.) As for the "blame," I'm not big on it either, but I'd say... 1) The rotation 2) The pen 3) The GM 4) The Yanks, Astros, Rays and Twins just got so much better.

No fan should care at this point. No fan wants to see Porcello or Cashner pitch another game for the Sox.

I totally go with playing any player we need to find out more about their level for next year and beyond. That includes Travis, Marco, Chavis and if ready for the bigs, Dalbec, Ockimey, Chatham, Centeno, Lin and Gorkys Hernandez. If Houck is ready, bring him on! Poyner, Brasier and Shawaryn could also get some looks. I'd stretch DHern back to a starter by September. I'd look long and hard at Brian Johnson and Velazquez to see if they are worth keeping around, assuming they show life. I would not burn Workman or ERod out. I'd bench Price(IL?) & Porcello and limit Sale's pitches. I'd give Barnes a complete physical to see WTF. Let 'em, play.

Any player you draft in 2020 will be entering their first full season of pro ball in 2021. So it isn't like they're going to be making a major impact by then. Yes, that's why I said beyond 2022. I just re-read the rules for the IFA. The sox will have $4.75 mil to spend as they are not a competitive balance team and likely will not sign a qualifying offered FA. The IFA rules are slanted to help small market clubs. $4.75 mil for non comp balance teams (large markets), $5.25 mil for teams in comp balance A teams and $5.75 mil for comp balance B teams. A team over the lux tax who signs a qualifying offered FA loses $1 mil off their budget. A team below the cap who signs a QO offered FA forfeits $500K from the cap. You can now trade for up to 60% of your cap, where in years past it was 90%. So the sox are going to be in the same tax pool as they are currently. Any short term teardown would need to hit on every single player acquired and they all need to be in close proximity to the majors. Not impossible, but nearly impossible. I understand the fan in you wanting to hope this is a one year thing. Heck, I did too back in 2013. But you have to realize that any tear down is going to be a multi season process. We cannot repeat the AGon, CC and Beckett deal that led to a quick turnaround for 2013. I get that, but when you have a team that can and will spend $39.9M over the luxury tax, you don't ever have to have a total "tear down" just like the Yankees have done. (Teams like the Rays and Astros did that. They were real bad & drafted high before they became good. In a sense a true rebuild is never really complete unless you rebuild your farm. I know that will be hard to do with just 2 years of mediocre draft picks (2020 and 2021- after the assumed reset 2020 year that will leave us with a bad to avg, record.) We can keep the core of young players: Bogey, Devers, Vaz and maybe ERod & Barnes. We can hope Sale, Eovaldi and/or Price still have something in the tank in 2021 (not unlikely 1-2 do well). We can reset after 2019 and spend very large in 2021, and if a bunch of stuff goes right, we can be competitive in 2021 AND have a better, but not great, farm.

I joined that "other site" back in 2005 after moving to Mexico City and being away from all Sox talk. I never knew you had something called "Realistic View." Do I owe you any royalties? Some of those threads were epic (10,000+ posts).

Yes, just limit his pitch count.

I'd guess no, but what happened to Keuchel & Kimbrel, who knows?