moonslav59

I don't think this site is overly negative or hypercritical, in general, but there seems to be a noticeable amount of it, IMO. I've been critical of many things the team has done, too. Maybe some feel I went too far with some things I've said, too. Of course, Fred is in a category all by himself, and the occasional trolls make appearances, now and again. Most that criticize often, at least give reasons for their statements or have insightful debates when countered with another view. I don't expect or want everyone or even most people to agree with my positions. I know I have some positions that run counter to the majority. It's funny how my wife sometimes says I'm too negative and worry about the worst case scenario, too much. I'm not always more optimistic about the Sox than others, and Ole Red never let anyone forget I was the first poster to give up on a season a few years back. Maybe someone thought I was being hypercritical and negative or thought of it in different terms. To me, hypercritical does not mean people are negative about 100% of Sox, and being overly negative doesn't mean you think we're going to go 60-102. I do feel some posters seem to be more positive about other teams that did nothing special over the winter, while focusing on us missing out on a big bat means we'll do worse. I disagree. Most posters are not "hyper" critical or "overly" negative, and most sites like this often turn into places where people vent their frustrations, and that can come across as looking hyper and overly...

Let the games begin! Wow, Masa in LF!

Good point. It would have to go to 28 (or 26) teams. 4 divisions of 7 looks nice.

It's possible the whole reasoning for keeping Masa in AAA for much of last summer to "work on his throwing" was a sham to avoid adding him to the 26, while Devers was the FT DH, but that kinda showed they wanted Masa to be able to throw a ball. I'm not sure they envision him playing any OF, this year, since they once again decided not to trade from the OF depth. They also have K Campbell in the mix. I think someone needs to get hurt for Masa to play OF- likely 2 of the top 4. Cora said this, last Januray: “Our outfield defense was great last year, but in a perfect world, if he was healthy, he was going to play the outfield,” Cora told reporters. “The throwing part of it wasn’t there so that’s the reason he actually didn’t play.”

Why do you keep assuming you know what I'm thinking, despite me constantly telling you that you get my beliefs and intentions wrong? "Bothers me?" You're the one saying "Wow" like what I said bothered you, but I won't assume I know what bothers you. I'll leave that to you to keep doing. No, there is absolutely nothing wrong with someone calling JH cheap. I disagree that is the word that fits and voice my opinion. Why does me voicing my opinion "bother you so much?" See how I did that? (That's what you do.) I happen to think some posters make statements that are hypercritical and overly negative. It should not bother anyone for me to say that, but if it does that's on them. Some posters are more optimistic than others, too.

Now, that is worthy of a "wow." Just one page of any game thread offers enough evidence.

Where do you get this psychobabble from?

Wow, what? Those words too big for you? They are tame for what goes on here, very often. You doubt that?

Yes, trade our best 9 bats for the best one in MLB.

That was what Fred meant when he said we "Need one big bat!"

Zero chance they contract. Baseball would be better, if they did.

We have 3 teams that suck, never spend and hardly anybody watches them play.

It's hypercriticism and negativism against the Sox. They look at the Sox under a microscope and see all the cracks and dents. What the hell did KC, HOU & TEX do to get even a tiny bit better? The Yanks winter refrain was "Run it back!" I mean, who brags and about standing pat? The O's made some legitimate moves, but there is room for 4 ALE teams making the dance. The schedules are not so lop-sided anymore. I like our chances of finishing 2nd more than 3rd, and that is more out of my dislike at what NYY and TOR did, this winter. I see 4th place as a 10% chance.

It was the one year of control vs 6, that makes me say NO! I do wonder, sometimes, if we didnt have Tolle and Early, would they have taken Witherspoon or Valera?

I do feel like playing 162 games needs to count for something more than picking the top 50% of teams, and you know the way the set up the format with 32 teams and 16 making the playoffs, a team with a losing record will make the playoffs too often. Why play 162, if a losing team makes it?

Agreed. The difference between the odds of making the playoffs from the 6th best to 7th best are... AL: 55% BAL & 38% KC (17%) NL: 43% PIT & 37% MIL (6%) The Sox, at 61% are 23% higher than KCR. That's pretty significant. I know it's basically the "field" vs BOS, but why have so much faith in... 38% KCR 36% TEX 34% HOU 27% MIN Easier schedules?

The Jays lost a pitcher (Bassitt) who gave them 170+ IP for 3 straight years. While a 3.89 ERA and 109 ERA+ are not earth-shattering, it's a significant loss. He turns 37, soon, so the choice to let him go is probably a good one, but they still needed to replace the loss. They signed Cease and Ponce, who should do better than Bassitt's numbers would have been, but will they improve on the numbers they lost? Cease had a 94 ERA+ in '25, 105 in his past 2 seasons and a 102 ERA+ over the last 3 seasons. That's not really close to Basstitt's 109. A lot of baseball people like Ponce, but he has a 75 ERA in his two seasons in MLB. Tyler Rogers was a real nice get for the pen. He's 35 but has shown no signs of decline. They basically replaced Bichette with Okamoto. Who would you think is more likely to have a real good 2026 season? Why don't posters doubt these moves like they doubt the moves made by Brez?

Tradition went out the window long ago. The DH. Teams switching leagues. 2 divisions to 4 to 6. Next, we'll be hearing about robots for umps!

Baseball would be a better game, if they downsized. Eliminate TBR, OAK/LV & PIT (or MIA?) Have a nice player dispersal draft or the 120 players on those 3 teams' 40 man rosters, where the bottom 9 teams pick first round, then middle 9 teams, then bottom 9 again, then top 9, middle 9, bottom 9. Repeat. (Bottom 9 get 6 picks each, middle 9 get 4, top 9 get 2 and the rest are free agents) How to divide up their minor league players would be interesting, too. 3 divisions of 9: TOR, BOS, NYY, NYM, PHI, BAL, WSH, ATL, MIA DET, CLE, CIN, CWS, CHC, MIL, MIN, STL, KCR HOU, TEX, COL, AZ, SEA, SFG, LAD, LAA, SDP Schedule: 4 games x 18 non div teams= 72 games 11 games x 8 div teams= 88 games 2 games vs ???

How about 3 x 10 team divisions? EAST: TOR, BOS, NYY, NYM, PHI, BAL, WSH, ATL, TBR, MIA CENTRAL: PIT, DET, CLE, CIN, CWS, CHC, MIL, MIN, STL, KCR WEST: HOU, TEX, COL, AZ, LV, SEA, SFG, LAD, LAA, SDP 4 games vs non div teams (4 x 20=80) 9 games vs div team (9 x 9= 81) 1 game vs closest record previous season.

They have us above TOR, which I agree with. The AL has 6 teams at 55% or greater, while the NL has 5 teams at greater than 43%, Major difference, there. (NL has 5 at 62.6% or more.)

They could go 3 games for the first two rounds, 5 games for the championship round and 7 for the WS. YUCK! Did I just say that?

Touche, but it doesn't fit the Chicken Little anaology.

I'd like to see 3 home and 3 away vs every team in MLB, minimum. 6 x 29=174, so that ain't happening. 3 H and 2A or 2H and 3A, alternating years is 5 games x 29 teams= 145, so that would allow 4H and 4A vs 4 division foes to bring it up to 157. I'd do away with AL & NL and reginalize the league into 5 divisions of 6 or 6 divisions of 5. Here is my 5 division set up: EAST: BOS, NYY, NYM, PHI, BAL, WSH SOUTH: ATL, TBR, MIA, CIN, HOU, TEX NORTH: TOR, PIT, CLE, DET, CHC, CWS CENTRAL: MIN, MIL, KCR, STL, COL, LV WEST: AZ, SEA, SFG, LAD, LAA, SDP 6 x 5 team divisions: East: TOR, BOS, NYY, NYM, PHI South: BAL, WSH, ATL, TBR, MIA, North: PIT, CLE, CIN, DET, CWS Central: MIN, MIL, KCR, STL, CHC South West: HOU, TEX, COL, LV, AZ West: SEA, SFG, LAD, LAA, SDP

YES! I failed to mention our top utility guy is all about defense. We won't see Ref in the OF anymore, either. It remains to be seen if KC plays 2B, but I like the Mayer/Romy/Durbin choices. DHam was good defensive 2Bman, but not anywhere else. Sogard, Eaton and some of our past infielders were not known for defense.