moonslav59

..but all some people remember was him cutting up his uniform. (I do think Sale has the attitude to be a good leader.)

Yes, and wasn't Judge like a "sandwich pick"? (32nd pick)

I don't "see" one either, right now, but that doesn't mean we don't have one (or more). I also think "leading by example" is important, and I'm not sure I'd give Papi an A in that area all the time. He often did not run our grounders, he stood and admired long HRs a little too much, and he griped now and then, but overall, I do think he was a plus in the "leadership" role. (Again, so hard to define in baseball- even harder to identify.) I think Vaz or Bogey could step up. Betts & JBJ seem to quiet or introverteed (my guess). Maybe Moreland's continued service time in Boston will allow him to be more outspoken. Beni & Devers are too young. It's hard for a pitcher to be a strong leader from the bullpen, but they can help in the clubhouse- Sale? Kimbrel? Porcello? Pedey and Price are likely out as candidates.

I definitely think having those types of players helps. I'm just not sure, if we do already or not. Maybe someone or a group of players are already doing that in the Sox clubhouse, but we don't know about it, or some players just aren't helped by it. I didn't see much lack of hustling last year, but I did see a lot of lost or diminished focus, especially on D and on the base paths.

The Yanks got Judge for, I believe, the comp pick for the QO on Swisher. That makes me wonder, if we might get some comp picks for... After 2018: Pomeranz Kimbrel After 2019: C Sale Porcello

I liked that move and the extension, but think of the prospects we could have gotten for Lester.

This was what I had hoped we'd do when we traded Lester, Lackey, Peavy, Miller and Doubront. I loved getting ERod and hoped Kelly would develop into a good starter, but Cespedes and Craig?

Defining leadership is not easy. That doesn't mean it does not exist or is unimportant. Without being in the clubhouse, it's hard for any of us to know if we lack leadership. I'm hopeful Cora can provide what is needed, or some player(s) steps up or continues steering players in the right direction. Can anyone name the best leader(s) on this years free agent market? (Please, don't say Hosmer, or I'll bust a gut.)

I don't want to speak for 700, but I think he wads being sarcastic.

Let's assume we are prepared to pay JD $25M x 5 years. Would this be a better way to spend that money? (Note the shorter term aspects and "spreading the risk" while maybe lowering the ceiling of reward.) How would you spend the $25M? (using mlbtr numbers tweaked by me where noted) $25M x 4 Arrieta $15M x 3 Moustakas (mlbtr had $17M x 5) $14M x 4 Lance Lynn $12M x 4 Alex Cobb $12M x 3 Logan Morrison (He might not get this much.) $10M x 2 Andrew Cashner $7M x 2 Eduardo Nunez $5M x 2 Howie Kendrick (mlbtr has $6M x 2.) $6M x 1 Lucas Duda If I was give the $25M, I'd go with... 1st choice: $12M Cobb $7M Nunez $6M Duda 2nd choice: $12M Cobb $12M Morrison (Note: None are 5 year deals, so we add spending flex after a a year or a couple years.)

I can credit the Pilots for being a Sox fan. The Pilots moved to Milwaukee while my family lived 2 blocks away from the old County Stadium. I saw the Brewers often, as I think bleacher seats were 50 cents or a dollar. Tommy Harper was maybe the first 30-30 guy in MLB, and he quickly became my favorite player. When my family and I moved to Portland, Maine, Harper was traded to the Sox at about the same time. I switched to being a Sox fan, and the rest is history. (Note: I'm still a Packers & Bucks fan. I'm a Bruins fan.)

He sucks on D and you want him for 7+ years? He's going to get even worse! You projection of 35 HRs is a real stretch. Anyways, Hoze will be the DH for us for longer than JD, so your ant-JD argument works against you.

I was speaking to how your farm got so strong. The trades helped a lot.

The Chapman, Miller and Beltran fire sale helped a lot. It's not a common way for a winning team to rebuild, in that it was for prospects- not like the Sox fire sale that brought us Kelly, Craig, Cespedes, ERod, Hembree and Escobar. Chapman: Gleyber Torres, Adam Warren, Caleb Cotham & Rookie Davis Miller: Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Ben Heller & JP Feyereisen Beltran: NIck Green, Erik Swanson & Dillon Tate

Can you tell me why you think a guy who has been off as much as on will suddenly "take" once he gets here? His defense has declined sharply. Yes, he is younger than most free agents, but just about all of his contract years will be on the downside of his peak prime year. He should get worse, and worse than one year okay and one year bad is not even close to being worthy of a 7 year deal at big money.

I'd be fine adding an opt-out clause or tough incentive bonuses, but I wouldn't budge above $125M/5. That's already a gross overpay and a year or two too long.

Fielding: Throwing to the wrong base. Forgetting how many outs there are. Not backing up bases or covering the right base. Running: Forgetting how many outs there are. Running with your head down right into the runner ahead of you. Running to 3B with a ball hit right in front of you (left-side IF), when you can see it's hopeless. It was way more than "a few". Now, the aggressive base running outweighed much of the blunders, if not more than outweighed it. Overall, out base running was a plus and our defense was a plus, but without the mental blunders, we'd have been much much better in both areas.

JD scored a 100 on the last leadership quiz!

If Martinez is not coming - fine. Then the question is what do you do? 1. Sign LoMo - who is young and could be a late bloomer. But it could also be major fluke rule. Would you want to go 5 years with him? He will likely sign for 2 years...maybe 3. He may even gamble on one year in hopes that a second big year will lead to a longer term deal. 2. Sign a CarGo or Joey Bats (or something similar) - who are old and have bloomed already. But it would be a year - and maybe you strike gold (or at least silver). Statcast data would be helpful here - alas. Joey bats is toast and a cancer. CarGo is a bad roll of the dice... like your hand hits the table as you roll 'em. 3. Ride with this group. This would be frustrating - but the team scored the 6th most in the AL without anybody having an outstanding season. There is reason to see things getting better. At worst, we can sign Duda (to crowd out HRam's PAs) and Nunez (as Pedey insurance and overall bench improvement). We could also sign Cobb or Lynn or Cashner plus a Nunez or Duda. I'd go with LoMo and a better pitcher than we would get after signing JD.

Easiest pass on a big ticket FA in a long time.

They also had the Seattle Pilots who moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers.

Why give 7 years to guy who bats .700 every other year and now suck on defense? Plus, we need power and Hoze is one of baseball's worst power-hitting 1Bmen. Just say no to the hoze!

I still don't think people envy Seattle over their soccer viewership ratings or high level of women's basketball interest.

I wish we'd just have signed LoMo, instead of Moreland. Then, we could be looking at Cobb and Nunez or Lynn and Duda.

Almost fell on the floor laughing.