moonslav59

I totally get this sentiment. I think we can have a very exciting offense, without Anthony, and it will be more fun, and we can see more wins with vastly improved pitching. I do not see JH using free agency to get the pitching where it needs to be to win during the regular season, too- not just the "last game played every year."

I've always felt it helps a line-up to have a variety of approaches to hitting scattered in the starting 9. We've heard some of this about Devers, too.

So, the father defending Clemens is the reason you do think it is not likely they did anything before she was 18. IMO, just bringing a 15 year old girl to your hotel room is highly inappropriate, and I am pretty certain something happened during at least one of the times they were together before she turned 18. I'm not convicting him of anything. I think he did it. Most people around here do, too. People who know Clemens.

Agree. I think we have to accept he is what he is and hope he can continue to hit some bad pitches for non-outs, often enough. He does have some power and speed, so that can help hide some of his on base deficiencies.

I asked why you think it did not happen, and you answered "based on the "anonymous source." I gave my reasons, and recognized there is some doubt. I'm still waiting for your reason for thinking it was not "likely" to have happended.

That .689 may not even be sustainable without increasing OPS: I agree. He's been"working on it" for years, through the Sox system, and he's gotten nowhere. We may just have to deal with the low OB% and hope he hits enough WBHs and steals a few bases to make up for that. His CF D is legit, right now.

2 years plus extension: Skubal & Crochet 3 years: Gilbert, Alcantara 4 years: Kirby, L Castillo 5+: Miller, Woo, HGreene, T Bradley (likely not available) It will not be easy getting any of these guys, and some are likely next to impossible to obtain, but maybe...

I agree. Our SS defense has been lacking for a decade. Our 2B D has been awful, too, since maybe Pedey's healthy years. The offense has been pretty bad, too. .669 OPS at 2B since 2018. .813 at SS since 2018, thanks to Bogey, but .690 from 2023-2024. This is the major reason I hesitate on trading Mayer over Anthony or Teel.

I'm more than okay with that. I think he will end up at a career .725-.750 OPS, but that is hard to project.

...and then no rings with Anthony. 1. We aren't winning without serious pitching upgrades. 2. It's 5-6 years of Anthony, not 10. If you assume an extension, then assume Skubal gets extended for 4-6 years, too. 3. Did we end up missing HRam? Moncada? Cespedes? Our everyday pool of players and prospect depth is off-the-charts good. Those on the 26 and 40 man roster, already, are under team control for 3-9 years, as it is. Then, we add Anthony, Teel, Mayer, Campbell, maybe Meidroth and not long after Jh Garcia and Arias followed by Cespedes, Bleis, Jo garcia and others. We can't possibly play all these guys at once, and even if 2-3 turn into busts, we still have more than enough depth.

Based on him being a serial liar, a jerk and a an egomaniac. Based on the opinion of the guy behind the report that said it was "love at first sight." Do you think it is highly likely, they went to his hotel room and just watched TV? Please answe rthis, and give a reason why. Why was the girl apologizing to Debbie Clemens, if nothing happened?

I'm not for trading Anthony for a two year stud, unless he is young and agrees to a reasonable extension. My package might be Anthony, DHam, Wink and Wikelman.

Oh, I get upset, but I will not "expect" something I do not think will happen. Maybe we are just arguing semantics, here. We will both be pissed, if JH does not spend on a top SP'er, this coming winter, or if he waits until the following winter. I just don't see it happening. He will look at the Gio, Hendriks and Fulmer timetables and think we just need one good, but not great, SP'er: maybe a Nate, Kikuchi or Flaherty type- not Burnes. Then, hemight trade Abreu and scraps for a decent #3/4 SP. Sign a couple mid RP'ers and think that's a good enough snow job for 2025. Expecting this will not lessen my anger, if it happens. I also think we should do both things: sign an ace and trade for one. We need two, and no way JH signs 2.

How do we view Rafaela going forward? He's had the third most PAs of all Sox players, this year, and we certainly know more about him now, than we did in March, but I think there is still enough unknown to wonder. Can he end up better than JBJ, particularly JBJ 6 year stretch of plus-plus play? He started his career with a .625 OPS from 8/28/23 to 6/4/24 (307 PAs), but are his number since then for real? .752 in 274 PAs Should we consider he may end up no better than his career .686 OPS? These days, that is close to the norm, and with his OF defense, maybe that is more than needed to be an overall plus player. Of course, a .750 career OPS would be very nice, but can we expect that? Do we discount the 32 game mid season stretch where he his .864 and consider the other stretches with more weight: .597 in first 61 games and .677 in his last 37 games? His 2024 splits are pretty even: .694 v LHPs and .687 v RHPs, so a platoon is not indicated, as of now. I've been talking a lot about trading Anthony or Abreu for pitching, but that is pretty much based on Rafaela being a fixture in CF for years to come. Maybe, I should reconsider that?

The worse he does, the more affordable he becomes to JH. LOL!

Agreed, and being better than DHam & Romy is no big wow. He's such a great CF'er, who could even improve, there, I just don't see why we'd plan on finding time for Rafaela at middle IF.

I fully realize the great risk associated with trading Anthony. I also think other GMs in MLB are drooling over this guy. We need pitching. Period. We can dream of mega-bucks free agent signings, all day long. I'm all for that. I just don't think it will happen, anytime soon. Of course, I'd rather we sign Burnes and trade Abreu, DHam and Wink for a solid SP'er than trade Anthony, but until I see us make a signing like Burnes, I'm thinking this might be the best way to get an ace. Trading Mayer in a larger package needed than Anthony's makes some sense, too, but I hate relying on Story, DHam or moving Rafaela to middle IF on a more permanent basis. Granted, an OF or Abreu/Ref in LF, Duran in CF and Anthony in RF looks sweet, but our defense will suffer at middle infield with Rafaela there. I'd be fine with either one traded, but I know we better get this one right, or else ____ !

I'm not for trading Duran, but I never bought the idea that you don't trade everyday players for pitchers. We don't acquire or develop enough good pitching and have a surplus of everyday players already bottlenecked. Also, while an everyday player might get 650-710 PAs, a year, a SP'er who starts 33 games and goes deep in enough games can easily reach 750-850 PAs against, in a season. They are more valuable, especially come playoff time. There is a reason bookies set the odds based largely on who is on the mound.

Anthony is the reason I think we need to trade from the OF depth, not the IF depth. We may also see Campbell end up in the OF, and Jh Garcia is not very far away, either. Bleis may never make it, but maybe Cespedes ends up in the OF, too. I'm okay with trading Abreu or Mayer, but Anthony will bring back better or more, and we have the OF set for the next 3+ years, already.

I'd be thrilled seeing us sign Burnes and Beiber. I'd rather we sign a more reliable SP'er than Beiber, but I'd be fine with it. We could then trade Abreu and DHam for a #3/4 SP'er or a couple really good set-up men. yes, the idea "scares me," because it and anything similar has less than a 1% chance of happening. We keep expecting it, and only get let down.

Priester struggled, tonight, but Woo pulled it out 5-4. Grissom 2-3 w BB Valdez 2-4 Campbell 1-2 w 2BB (3 runs) Anthony 1-3 w BB Teel 1-4 After the purge, POR can't win, anymore. Romero homered and Jh Garcia went 1-3. ICoffey let up 2 ER in 5IP. GRE was 2 hit in their 2-0 loss. Wehunt went 5 IP allowing 1 ER, 1H, 2BB & 7Ks. SAL won 7-2, as Cohen pitched well (5IP, 3H, 0ER, 2BB, 5K) Arias hit a 3-run jack, and his OPS is now up to .652 in A ball. Zanetello K'd 4 times. Alcantara had 3 hits. The DSL Sox begin the championship series, tomorrow.

They have enough money to add two solid SP'ers and a 3rd decent one, plus a good closer and set-up man. I've given up hoping it happens and am trying to find a way we can build a winning team, assuming we don't spend big. I'd love nothing more than to keep Anthony, Mayer, Teel, Campbell and others and build the staff up with free agent signings that actually work, plus maybe some spot trades of vets for decent starters and RP'ers. We could trade Abreu, DHam, Wong and maybe others lesser prospects like Meidroth, Castro and Romero to fill some significant roles that we don't fill with 3-4 major signings. I just think the chances JH goes large, this winter are slim. I don't want to wait until 2026. I've waited too long, already. We do have a lot of middle infielders that look decent- something we could not say, even as soon as May, but none have the trade value our OF'ers have, and if we trade Mayer, we are locked into needing Story staying healthy, again. I'm also not so sure DHam can repeat 2024, and his defense is scary. I don't want Rafaela at SS/2B. either. I feel more secure about Anthony, an Abreu-Ref platoon, Rafalea and Duran in the OF. Trading one will hardly be noticed, unless it's Duran.

Good to see Sale helping the Sox out vs MIN. ATL is up 5-1 in the 8th. NYY and KCR lost. If MIN loses, it's at... 75-59 KCR 72-60 MIN 69-64 BOS -3.0 on MIN/-5.5 KCR 68-66 SEA 67-66 DET (back over .500) 66-67 TBR

2 hit and 1BB shut out! WOW!

Indeed, he did. He was so up and down within each season, but this says it all: .548 '13-'14 (530 PAs to start his career) .834 '15-'16 (891 PAs) .722 '17-'18 (1076 PAs) .760 '19-'20 (685 PAs) .513 '21-'23 (911 PAs) Thos middle 6 years were pretty good.