moonslav59

Maybe, but VTek played a long time and had some good WAR years. Lowe gave us 8 years.

Technically yes, but I think they got Nunez more as a DH and back-up for the injured Bogey, the lefty-challenged Beni and coverage at 2B, if Pedey got hurt (and he did).

I suffered through over 30 years of near misses and stinky seasons. I'll take 3 rings and 3 last place finishes every 13 years over 30 straight years of futility. (Not that those are the only two choices.)

Devers da man!

Lack of fundamentals, even by our great fielders, is a sign of poor management and preparation. This along with what I feel is a lack of fire and desire, makes me feel like JF should go before the season ends.

I'm glad we got Nunez and finally called up Devers. It's hard to know how well Devers would have done, if he was called up earlier. One has to think better than what we had before, but it's hard for me to criticize the decision. Maybe we called him up at exactly the right time, and that's why he is doing so well. We'll never know. I'm still shaking my head at the Yanks getting 3 playoff cycles from Sonny Gray for a couple of injured arms and another non-top prospect.

Nunez gives us a chance to cover for Pedey's injury, give Bogey a rest at SS, sit Beni vs tough lefties and maybe sit Moreland more than he would like to sit. Devers could provide the spark we have been missing. If he keeps hitting, maybe the vets will catch on fire, too. For some reason, I'm not too confident Bogey will regain his form this season. I think he needs a 10 day DL stint once Pedey returns. Moreland may never come close to his start numbers. Yes, we need Betts to get hot.

With the injuries to the prospects the Yanks traded for Gray, it's hard try and figure out what an equal or better Sox package would have had to have been. Hard to imagine getting Gray without giving up Groome, Mata or Chavis. I'm not sure Travis, Dalbec, Beeks & Lakins would have been enough.

Agreed, and if Devers and Nunez can keep contributing, we might be looking good come playoff time.

Agreed.

I know we need a big bat more than a SP'er, but with what the Yanks paid for Gray and his 2.3 years of team control, we missed out on a great chance at improving our chances for the next 3 playoff cycles. I've never been a DD fan, but I've wanted to give him a chance. I'm not happy after today.

The next part has begun: http://www.talksox.com/forum/threads/18323-A-Realistic-View-at-2017-Part-III

Time for Part III. Here's the link to Part II: http://www.talksox.com/forum/threads/18094-A-Realistic-View-at-2017-Part-II Looks like we aren't getting the big bat many wanted, unless we do it via the waiver wire. We did pick up Addison Reed for Nogosek, Callahan & Bautista. He's a solid RP'er who gives us a nice secondary closer and a set-up man with a nice K rate (9.5 career/8.8 in 2017). If we can get Kelly and/or Smith back and pitching well, our pen might remain a plus to end the season. I haven't heard who the Sox are sending down to AAA, but my guess is it will be Maddox. Here's the 25 man roster going forward: 5 SPers: Sale Pomeranz Price (replaces Fister) Porcello Rodriguez 7 RPers: Kimbrel A Reed C Smith (replaces Boyer) Barnes Hembree Workman Kelly (replaces Abad) 2 C: Vazquez Leon 1B: Ramirez (DH) Moreland 2B: Pedroia Holt (UT) 3B: Devers Nunez (DH/SS/LF) SS: Bogaerts LF: Benintendi Young (DH) CF: Bradley RF: Betts Possible 2017 additions from the farm or DL: SP: Velazquez, B Johnson (DL), Justin Haley, Jalen Beeks, Roenis Elias RP: Robby Scott, Ben Taylor (DL), Edgar Olmos, Kyle Martin, Noe Ramirez C: Dan Butler, Swihart (DL) 1B: Sam Travis IF: Marrero & Lin OF: Brentz (not on 40 man roster), Selsky, Castillo (not on 40 man roster) Looks like the Yankees are our key competition for the AL East and the Astros and Guardians are looking better than us so far. The Yanks just added Gray & Garcia, so we have our work cut out for us. I still like our rotation, when healthy and having Kimbrel and Addison gives us a very nice 4 starters/2 RP'ers playoff group. We have to make the playoffs first, and right now we're 1/2 game behind in the AL East and 1.5 up on the Royals for the home field in the WC game. We are 4 up on the Rays for the last playoff slot. Here's the rest of our schedule: Home: 31 (60% winning) Away: 25 (48%) 10 NYY (3H/7A) 9 TOR (6H/3A) 8 TBR (6H/2A) 6 BAL (3H/3A) 7 CLE (3H/4A) 4 CWS 4 HOU (to end the season) 3 OAK 3 @ CIN 2 STL If we can go 8-4 in the 12 games vs CWS, Oak, Cin & StL, 6-3 vs TOR and 4-2 vs BAL, then maybe we can get by going near .500 in our 29 games vs NYY, TBR, CLE & Hou. Let's see. I'm actually pretty optimistic about this season despite our recent swoon.

I'd kick the tires pretty hard on Sonny Gray. Seems like prices are lower than I expected for some of these recent trades, although Gray is not a rental. Keeping the Yanks from getting him might be an added plus.

Nogosek, Bautista & Callahan Some talent there, but not as much as I expected it would take to get Reed. I like the deal. Any news on a big bat, or are we all done?

Mid-term Needs Assessment Not brain surgery skills needed, just good eyesight. C. A. No help needed Could use some offense, but I'm okay with our catchers. I don't give them an A with an OPS below .675. 1B C Old and un-reliable This is where we can upgrade this winter. 2b B-getting old He's looking very good. He may age better than we thought. SS C badley over rated His D id a C- or D: his offense is a B- to C this year, but may end up around A-/B+ 3B A Set for a long time (2 rookies) I hope you're not relying on Lin or Marrero here. LF B One OK for future, one too old CF A no help needed here RF A no help needed here DH: HRam should be the FT DH next year as we sign a new 1Bman SP B DL a problem I'd like to see us get Sonny Gray. RP A to D help needed We need a rental. Our hopes for the future are tied to Smith/Thornburg.

No, but with just a 12% tax next year, I think the Sox may go $19M over next year and 2019 (20% tax).

Maybe the silent bats will rise up and do what it takes to bail Fister out.

I'm not saying I'm for getting Reed, but I thinks that's the type of deal we'll make. We need a set-up guy that can dominate. Maybe inconsistency is a by-product and maybe help will lead to our downfall, but I can't see us winning it all with this pen, even if Kelly comes back healthy.

Ben inherited a mess. He made some big mistakes. The 4 you mentioned and several more. DD inherited a better overall situation, because he had many top assets to trade- thanks to Ben and to a lesser extent, Theo. When DD's era is over and a comparison is made, these aspects need to be taken into consideration.

Losing sure brings out the best of us.

The fact that DD has used many of Ben's acquisitions to get us to where we have been since the start of 2016 has to count for something. If Price continues to imitate Buccholz, and we keep seeing injuries like Thornburg and Smith and struggles by Porcello and our whole line-up, DD may end up with no rings and no farm.

Yes, and the fact that we are looking to acquire a top RP'er now shows that DD was right in his team need evaluation. We needed to fix our pen. The first half over performance by our pen has hid the issue up to now, but we needed a top set-up man then and still do now due to Thornburg's injury.

Good post. It could happen. If we got Bruce, it would mean HRam plays 1B FT and Moreland is benched. Not unrealistic. I've always liked Gray, but the injury situations scare the hell out of me. I doubt we trade for a starter or a big bat. I think DD makes a move for a solid #2 RP'er (currently a closer like Reed).

Those 4 players really hurt us badly. I just pointed out that there was a lot of good Ben did, and he set DD up very well. Let's see how DD ranks after 4 years.