moonslav59

We don't know all the pitchers that were dangled and not traded. Yes, on paper, Pom was the best pitcher (Apr-Jun) that got traded.

No. Holt and Marrero provide no more power or speed. I hate bunting, even for the one or two scenarios it's called for, but I'd do it just enough to keep defenses honest.

Yes... ER/IP last few starts (in reverse order) 0/8 4/5.2 0/6 3/4.1 0/7 6/3 4/7 1/7 0/8 7/5 5 of his last 10 starts have been "iffy" or worse. Is that what some want for the playoffs? If yes, then keep pitching him like this. 5 great: 1 ER in 36 IP 5 bad: 24 ER in 25 IP

Awesome- just like he has in 5 of his last 10 starts. I'm worried about him continuing this 50-50 pattern into the playoffs. I'm trying to be pro-active here. I know it's a risk-reward trade-off, and nothing is for sure, but my opinion is and was to rest him more than we have. Why 8 IP and 111 pitches in a 9-0 win?

One bone of contention: trading for a starter was "necessary", but Pom was not the only guy to trade for, and Espi was not the only guy we had to trade to get a starter. It looks like DD picked a good starter for 2017-2018 maybe, but not really 2016 which was the major impetus of the trade, right? I get that. Usually, GM trade good prospects for 2 month rentals. Getting 3 playoff cycles is a huge plus from this trade, despite the fact that the first one (P.O. cycle) did not work out too well.

I agree, and if he is injury prone, that's part of the trade evaluation criteria (as with Espi), but my point was that I feel the "questionable" label is (at least) starting to peel away.

I'd take Nunez & Lin over both.

Little Deven has some pop too! He's got better ISO numbers than Bogey, Vaz, Leon and Pedey! He's tied for second on the team (with Nunez) with a 17.4% HR/FB ratio. He leads the team in going the opposite direction by almost 10 points! 42 Marrero 33 Vaz 36 Devers 29 Beni 27 Leon 26 Moreland & Pedey 25 Bogey, JBJ and Nunez

His monthly numbers steadily decline after May, then they dip more sharply in Sept. Explain them away, all you want, but I'd be cautious with him He's certainly looked much different in his last 10 starts than his first- and we're in heavy competition mode here. His numbers this year match up with his career late season decline numbers, so I'm trusting that over Sale's own personal desires to be a "gamer". Remember, Pedro never wanted to be pulled..

He has a very long history of significantly fading in SEPT/OCT. I get that Sale is a warrior, but sometimes you also have to listen to your own gut.

If you take away the part of last year that Pom missed or was pitching while injured, he's put up very good numbers for a 47 start sample size. That's a season and a half. He's approaching or is at a time where "questionable" can be removed from his descriptors. (Injury issues may return, but he has had 30 starts for 2 straight years now. 17 starts w SD 2.47/ 1.059 WHIP 30 starts this year 3.15/ 1.340 The WHIP of over 1.3 in concerning. The pitches per inning are too. He's never gone over 171 IP (until maybe his next start puts him at 172). Bottom line: I'm thrilled we have him. The plus: DD got 3 playoff cycles for a single A pitcher. The minus: Espi's ceiling, if reached, could be haunting.

Was that surgery predictable at the time of the trade?

That would be a first.

Certainly continued greatness from Pom will make this deal look much better. Not many go back and lament the Beckett-Lowell trade, although HRam and Anibal Sanchez's numbers (and more years of control) looked better. Still, if Espi goes on to give the Padres 5 years of ace or number 2 slot value, one can argue the deal was "an overpay"- necessary or not.

I hear you, Nick, and I feel the same way. Grouchiness increases with age. I'm really happy with this team's position. I wish our extended future looked a little brighter, but we have smart people in our organization. As long as we remain big spenders, we should be decent even after this "window". The resurgence of Chavis and fast growth by Mata and others, plus the very nice international signings under the new restricted system are encouraging. I know that even with the wide variety of opinions here, we are all huge Sox fans... maybe not as much as I am (I wouldn't wish having an OCD on anyone), but still....

What about fatigued players with a long history of tiring as the seasons heads towards the end? I get your point and others', but this is not a slam dunk issue.

Nice win. I wouldn't have given Sale 8 innings, but I guess that's just me. Nice to see the offense show signs of life as we near crunch time.

That's easy: everywhere!

How much does Sale pitching 1 more games instead of two hurt our odds? 90% to 88%? He's been inconsistent of late, most likely due to fatigue, so we're not even sure we're going to get what we saw last night in both of his next 2 starts. ER/IP last few starts (in reverse order) 0/8 4/5.2 0/6 3/4.1 0/7 6/3 4/7 1/7 0/8 7/5 5 of his last 10 starts have been "iffy" or worse. Is that what you guys want for the playoffs? Really? It's not even 'an issue?"

I hope he gets at least 2-3 games in before the playoffs come.

Too bad DD's FA signings haven't had the immediate success of the vast majority of his trades.

Dojji head in sand. Fear tired Sale in the playoffs. Sale= best playoff hope.

Once we clinch, rest him a couple of days. Have you looked at the schedule? Assuming we need 2 starts by Sale in the next 10 games AND win the division 9/21 Off 9/22 @CIN Porcello +1 9/23 @CIN ERod +1 9/24 @CIN Fister +1 9/25 TOR Pom +1 9/26 TOR Sale +1 9/27 TOR Porcello 9/28 HOU ERod 9/29 HOU Fister 9/30 HOU Pom 10/1 HOU Sale 10/2 off 10/3 off 10/4 off 10/5 Game 1 Sale on short rest? WTF!!!!! (Or Pom on normal rest) 10/6 Game 2 Sale with no extra rest? 10/7 off 10/8 Game 3 Porcello? 10/9 Game 4 ERod? 10/10 off 10/11 Game 5 Sale? If we clinch before the last day of the year, we'd end up having Sale go on 9 days rest or going on 4 days of extra rest. If you're worried about how well do after getting extra rest, getting 4 days extra is worse than 1 or 2. so that argument made against resting Sale now actually works against that argument. My contention is that is probably ebtter to give sale 1-2 extra days rest for 3 times in a row rather than give him all the extra days off at once. Here is Sale's record on various days rest: 3 days 5.40/ 1.80 4 days 3.10/ 1.08 5 days 3.25/ 1.03 6 days 1.88/ 0.98 I'd have given him 2 days now, so he'd pitch 9/22 @ CIN (+2 days rest) 9/29 v HOU (+2) 10/5 Game 1 (+1)

It's not getting "fancy". It's been done countless times with success and failure. I'm trying to change this pattern: Career OPS against .587 April .538 May .594 June .628 July .645 August .746 September One could ask, how well did pitching the daylights out of Sale work for the White Sox and Sale's end of season success?

Sale was leading the league in IP before tonight's 111 pitch outing. He's been up and down the second half- much like his career numbers' pattern. 1st half 2.74 /0.974 WHIP 2nd half 3.28/ 1.143 WHIP I agree winning the division is important, but it will do us little use, if "his arm falls off" on the last day of the regular season. Maybe, I'm over confident with our chances. Maybe one extra day of rest before the end of the season will be enough for Sale, but I think he would greatly respond to extra rest.