moonslav59

Agree, but if the doctors say Bogey needs a rest, I might have wanted to call up Lin or Marrero to take Bogey's place for 10 days. Plus, Holt is heating up, too.

Andrew Miller to the DL. Breslow signed to minor league deal.

AL Leaders in Winning % .639 HOU .550 BOS .547 CLE .533 NYY .523 KCR .518 TBR .500 SEA The AL East has the best winning% for their 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place teams. 2nd NYY .533, KCR .523, SEA .500 3rd TBR .518, LAA .495, MN .481 4th BAL .491, TEX .481, DET .467 5th TOR .472, OAK .440, CWS .387 In fact, our last place team, TOR, is better than the Central Division's 4th place team, DET. Our 4th place team, BAL, has a better record than 3rd place MN. TBR has a better record than 2nd place SEA.

I wouldn't have read a good article had harmony not posted the link. I see it as a "contribution".

Price signing = fine. Going rate for a top FA pitcher. He has struggled in some harder to predict ways. His history and mechanics said Lester-durable more than a future injury. I was fine with the signing, but he has come up short on expectations. I was worried about years 5-7 not 1-2. Counting on Pablo = what else could you do? Especially not wanting to block Devers Ummm, keep Shaw as an option at 3B and at 1B, in case Moreland slumped. Again, I was fine with that trade too, but if we are judging in hindsight, then it looks bad. Moreland = I don't think he thought Moreland would replace Papi. But that between Ramirez, and the young guys there would be enough there. And Moreland would be Mitch Moreland (which is to say - not special, but okay filler) I agree, but the results have not come through as planned. Again, I don't blame DD for expecting our offense to do better: I did too. The only really tough move to defend was perhaps the Kimbrel trade - only because of the fungibility of closers. Agreed.

It was meant as tongue and cheek.

Brentz would first have to be added to the 40 man roster. I'd be fine with DFA'ing Selsky or Noe Ramirez. I don't see us benching HRam for Brentz. Once Pedey returns, Nunez will be squeezing Moreland and Young our of a line-up slot. Maybe Brentz could platoon with Beni, but that's not many PAs.' I think we'll see BB in September.

Because I'd have missed the article had he not provided it. Geesh!

No, this was a post within the context that Bogey would go on the DL after Pedey came back. I posted another line-up for after Bogey came off the suggested DL trip with Moreland going to the bench: ...and when Bogey comes of the suggested DL stint... 1. Pedey 2. Beni vs R/Bogey v R 3. Nunez 4. Betts 5. Devers 6. HRam 7. Bogey vs R/Beni v L 8. JBJ 9. Vaz Bench: Moreland, Young, Holt, Leon

Thanks for the link. It's too bad those who judge you harshly don't seem to remember your posts like this one.

One bad trade, in hindsight, at this moment in time. What about the Price signing? Counting on Pablo? Thinking Moreland could replace Papi? His drafts and international signings are still too early to judge, but I will say, I'm happy with what we got with what picks we had.

My problem is not that Dombrowski made trades. It's the extent to which he traded away the farm, and my belief that he did not get sufficient value for some of the prospects traded. I agree, but I will admit that the perceived "insufficient value" we have gotten back in trades are doing better than I expected. I loved getting Kimbrel and expected him to be a top 3 closer for us for 3 years, but I thought we gave up too much for a high-priced RP'er. The closer market has exploded, so that aspect of my original assessment has changed, but I still agree that we gave too much. The Pom-Espi trade has looked like a roller coaster. Pom's injury discovery and weak showing last year looked like we were fleeced. I probably viewed Espi much more highly than many here, and I hated the trade. It wasn't about me not liking Pom. I just thought Espi's super high upside held more value. I have never been against trading top prospects, in fact I probably suggest more trades than anyone here. Pom has done very well, and I cannot criticize DD for making that trade anymore. The jury is still out, but Pom has been a great get. Carson Smith only involved Aro. No harm to the farm. I didn't think we needed to include Dubon to get Thrinburg, and maybe we could have used him to get a useful piece at this deadline, or he might have ended up being a very capable replacement for a departing Bogey to free agency or a big trade away. The Aaron Hill and Abad trades were minor.I loved the Ziegler trade. I liked the Nunez and A Reed trades. One-by-one, these trades look very good, but that doesn't mean each and everyone should have been or needed to have been made. Some of us would have liked to have seen a more balanced approach. Some, like myself, would have preferred us trading our top prospects (and keeping one or two more) for a guy like Quintana and not 1 or two from Pom, Kimbrel, Thornburg and Ziegler, even though all those deals look pretty good at this moment in time. Qunitana might have extended the window to 4 years. He has a 2020 option at just $10.5M!

Agreed. In one sense everyone hitting free agency in such a short period hurts, but the fact that that period is 2-3 years away allows for a pretty consistent core group of everyday players that needs very little tinkering with until then. We might just go with a cheap 1B/DH to replace Moreland/Young/Nunez and count on Chavis, Brentz and/or Barfield to add any depth we might need over the next 2 1/2 to 3 years. We also have Hernandez coming back and possibly Swihart, Lin or Marrero progressing further. The first big (within the window) tests will come, when we have to extend or replace in kind Pom, Kimbrel and Porcello.

Any big trade would likely have cost us Devers (with Nunez playing 3B to end the season). I think DD kept Devers, because he is part of the 3 year window. He was an unblocked ML ready prospect, unlike most of the other prospects traded away.

If all the seats were filled with quality players, we would not have finished DEAD FREAKIN' LAST three out of four years. All of you doomsdayers conveniently IGNORE that fact. We don't "ignore it". We lived with the anguish along with the "pink glassess" of the future crowd. We had some high quality players on those teams. We finished in last place in 2012 with a staff Ben is bashed for disassembling (rightfully so, I might add). We saw HRam and Porcello suck in 2015's last place finish and then win the Cy Young and bat very well in DD's 2016 season. Same talent- different results. I know many of you felt we sucked those years. Kudos to you. The vast majority of baseball people did not expect those rosters to finish in last place 3 out of 4 years. DD is one for one and has chance to go two for two. He's made bold moves. He's oh for 1 in WS rings and far from being a favorite to win this year. DD has filled the bus with true ace in Sale. DD was smart enough to keep Devers and trade away Moncada. Not both as requested by the White Sox. I loved the Chris Freakin' Sale deal. I love our team right now. I think we'll have a good shot to win a ring in the next 3-4 years. This thread is about years 4-7 or so. Nobody id doubting how well DD built up for the 3-4 year window, except for maybe the Shaw deal. Kimbrel will have good three years on the bus as it cruises. The one that got off the bus is in the body shop. You mean Espi? That was the Pom trade. Margot is 15 for his last 35 with 2 HRs. I'm good with DD driving the bus. I'm okay with going for rings in a 3-4 year window. It's better than a 1-2 year window. However, I'm not in denial that the moves he has made won't affect our long term future adversely. The deals he made, IMO, will hurt us down the road. I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. Nobody knows anything for sure about 2020 and beyond, but our odds of being highly competitive beyond 2020 are less than if we still had Margot, Moncada (don't judge him too early), Kopech, Espi, Dubon and several more. Maybe it won't be a cliff. I hope the hell not, but the system has made it much harder than before, and we haven't really do to well in replenishing the farm when we had picks in the mid 20's and better access to international FAs. It's not impossible to rebuild while winning, but to deny the extreme difficulty and pretend everything will likely be just fine or to just claim that Henry will just totally change his MO and suddenly become the next George Steinbrenner, to me, is more likely a greater mistake than those of us predicting a probable upcoming cliff.

It helped having the 2nd overall pick in 2013 (Kris Bryant). Maybe we can find the next Bryant with a 25th pick. Maybe not.

Some interesting factoids on our most recent 5 game stretch: 39 runs scored 7 HRs in 5 games. 18 2Bs and 1 3B 21 BBs + 3 HBP + 2 reaches on dropped third strikes. Our two best OPS guys are not Nunez or Devers. Our two best OPS guys are our catchers! 3.000 Leon (granted, he's 1 for 1) 1.524 Vazquez (12 for 21 with a huge HR) A week ago, who would of thought our OPS leaders would be these 6 players? 3.000 Leon 1.524 Vaz 1.415 Devers 1.355 Nunez 1.292 Holt 1.041 Moreland (While this doea show the silliness of small sample sizes, I still think it's kind of amazing.) Who is slumping? .338 JBJ .500 Young (0-1) .623 Bogey .675 HRam Mid land or better: .883 Beni .755 Betts

I wouldn't. He's 5-11, no just kidding, but the guy has only been over .800 twice in his last 6 seasons. 34 HRs were nice last year, but he's only been over 20 twice in his last 6 years. He'd be an upgrade, but my guess is, he's looking for a long term deal. He turns 32 in April.

Maybe Bogey doesn't need a full 10 days off, but I think 2 or 3 in a row would do him wonders, followed by another day off every 5-7 days for maybe 20 days or so. We'll need him strong for the playoffs.

He's a minor league free agent this winter, unless we add him to the 40 man roster. He may not need to "be released". (So is Barfield.) This from soxprospects.com The following players will become minor league free agents in November 2017 unless they are added to the 40-man roster or re-signed. Jeremy Barfield, Brian Bogusevic, Bryce Brentz, Dan Butler, Ryan Court, Jacob Dahlstrand, Matt Dominguez, Shawn Haviland, Williams Jerez, Kyle Kendrick, Deiner Lopez, Heiker Meneses, Edgar Olmos, Mike Olt, Mitchell Osnowitz, Tim Roberson, Jose Sermo, Aneury Tavarez, Herny Urrutia, Elih Villaneuva, Marcus Walden, Jordan Weems Then, we have rule 5... The following players will be eligible for the December 2017 Rule 5 Draft if they are not added to the 40-man roster by November 20, 2017: Victor Acosta, Yoan Aybar, Trey Ball, Jalen Beeks, Danny Bethea, Jordan Betts, Ty Buttrey, Rusney Castillo, Harrison Cooney, Jake Cosart, Enmanuel De Jesus, Jhonathan Diaz, Willis Figueroa, Pat Goetze, Daniel Gonzalez, Taylor Grover, Justin Haley, Juan Hernandez, Bryan Hudson, Dedgar Jimenez, Raiwinson Lameda, Isaias Lucena, Danny Mars, Algenis Martinez, Kevin McAvoy, Daniel McGrath, Ritzi Mendoza, Mike Meyers, Mike Miller, Samuel Miranda, Joseph Monge, Jhon Nunez, Yankory Pimentel, Jordan Procyshen, Hildemaro Requena, Jeremy Rivera, Jake Romanski, Chandler Shepherd, Josh Smith, Teddy Stankiewicz, Cole Sturgeon, Aneury Tavarez, Carlos Tovar, Jantzen Witte Players eligible for minor league free agency now or in November 2017 are not listed above.

Yes. 2 games to regain is enough. Time to shine. Let's hope our bats keep the pressure off--just in case.

What a God send it would be if two of these three players could strike it big as soon as next year: Chavis (DH/1B) Brentz (DH) Barfield (DH) One problem will be that no GM would count on them to fill the roles of Moreland, Young and Nunez with better production. Chances are DD will sign a big FA to play DH or 1B and all will be blocked for as long as the new guy is signed for. Maybe one can prove himself before HRam is gone after 2018. That's probably their best hope.

I've already explained why I think it will be very difficult to stay highly competitive after 2020 or 2021. Almost certainly all the prospects traded away recently will adversely affect 2020 and beyond to some extent. It would be very unlikely that all those prospects fail. The rules have changed- making it much more difficult for high spending teams to sign international FAs and draftees that fall down the draft order into their laps due to signing issues. It's not impossible. I'm encouraged by some growth shown by our remaining prospects, and I liked our new draftees, but it looks to me like we will suffer to some large extent for the deals made for the "3-4 year window". I might be wrong. You guys might be right. I hope you are.

lol

The Sox would be taxed on whatever amount they pay, but if it is less than what they are paying him "off the books" I'm sure they'd go for it. I'm not so sure Castillo's 2017 AAA performance is enough to get some other team that interested. I'll bet Castillo stays in purgatory for the remainder of his contract. I'm hopeful with Brentz, but who knows. He could just be a very good AAAA player.