moonslav59

Agreed. Remember, Bello was not all that great for the full 2023 season, either. 2023: 5.01 ERA/5.01 FIP first 5 games 3.23/4.12 middle 17 GS 7.04/5.57 last 7 games 2024: 3.04 April 5.66 May 8.25 June 4.29 July 3.00 August

O'Neill with a big hit!

JBJ did have a 6 year stretch with an OPS+ of 101. I'd say that was decent. If Rafaela can do that, I'll be thrilled. (2015-2020: JBJ was at .769) His numbers those 6 year cam to this per 650 PAs .247 22 80 (38 2B+3B and 12 SBs) He had a 3 year stretch at .793 (2015-2017) 107 OPS+ .834 from 2015-2016 (118 OPS+)

Some very efficient innings pitched. He's at 97 pitches. Does he come out for the 9th?

I'd say it is highly likely, but we may never know. Roger will never admit it. He still claims he never did steroids. She did say this to Inside Edition: “He should have done right by his family,” McCready said to Inside Edition. “A person is unhappy in their marriage and spending all their personal time with someone else, you need to do right by your marriage. He should have just told Debbie (wife) and been honest with her. If he didn’t want to be with her and wanted to be with me, he should have told her. I have nothing but remorse and nothing but sympathy for what she’s had to go through with this situation, and she has my utmost apology.” Apparently, the "source" for the original story claimed that when Roger met the 14 year old girl it was “love at first sight.” Clemens threw a shirt with his signature onto the stage where McCready was performing. This is how the relationship allegedly began, and would continue on for a decade.

Up to his last start, Bello had gone 7 straight starts with 3 or less ERs allowed. 3.57 ERA, but a 4.81 FIP in 40.1 IP. The team has gone 16-8 in his starts, due to some great run support.

Wacha let up a 5 spot, as KC lost to CLE 7-5. MIN is down 1-0 to ATL in the 4th. NYY down 5-2 to WSH BAL plays at LAD, tonight.

$8 Billion/ 25 year deal. ($320M/yr) I think the Sox make about $95-100M a year off NESN. That's a heck of a lot of spending money, each year.

It seems harder to find teams to part with younger pitchers with a ton of promise or even some success, already, but it does happen. There are also teams that know they will never win in the next 3-4 years, so they will think trading a 3-4 year pitcher for 2-3 players with 5-6 years of control improves their team. If Anthony becomes what many think he will, that team could make out well on such a trade. There are also deals like the Luis Castillo one with a quick extension.

I'm not sure Mayer's latest injury hurt his value all that much, but it does likely matter. I seriously doubt we trade a top 4 prospect, and the 5-8 prospects are too far away to be have enough value to get a great return. IMO, a package starting with Mayer & Abreu or Anthony and DHam might get us what we really need. I do not want to part with very promising prospects and understand the risk involved, but we need pitching, and I don't trust JH to open his wallet for even one significant pitcher, let alone the 2-3 we need.

This makes sense, too, but counting on Story to bridge us to Arias is a long stretch. If I was sure Campbell was ML ready by May 2024, I'd feel better about trading Mayer. I also think a package headlined by Anthony brings back a much better pitcher than Mayer would. I guess adding Abreu to a Mayer package would help, a lot, so maybe...

Hendriks, Fulmer, Paxton, plus a bunch of pitchers coming off long and recent injury histories like Hill, Hill, kluber, Richards, Hill, Nate, Hill, Hill, Hill...

She admitted meeting Clemens in a bar when she was 15, and then went to his hotel room. She refused to deny these facts. She said, "I cannot refute anything in the story." She says they met numerous times, but denied having sex until she turned 18. This part is not anonymous, either, and one can choose to believe that, or not. Clemens denied any physical affair at all, but then after she confirmed they did have one, his lawyer issued this tatement: "At no time did Roger engage in any kind of inappropriate or improper relationship with her." He lied. He's a cheat. He's a creep.

I'm tired of these Beiber type signings, where the hope lies in a pitcher returning to glory, after a major injury. Many times they say July 1st, and before you know it, it's September. Then again, we ended signing a guy I was not that high on, but who looked about as durable as could be- Gio, and traded on of the most fragile pitchers in the past 5 years- Sale, and look where that got us. Burnes is legit. I'd rather see us sign Kikuchi or even Flaherty than Beiber. I still think trading for a lower cost SP'er, who is younger and has 3-5 years of control is a better way to improve the rotation than signing 2-3 FA pitchers. I'd like to see us sign Burnes and trade for Crochet or Skubal.

What I find interesting is that our 2024 team xFIP is 5th best since 2003: 3.87 2014 3.89 2013 3.91 2017 3.92 2018 4.03 2024 (Our 4.24 ERA ranks 11th) 4.07 2021 (2004 was 14th at 4.21 and 2007 was 18th out of 22 at 4.28)

Their TV contract blows everyone else away.

First, I will say I am not saying defense is even close to the value of batting or pitching, and I'm not sure who you are talking about . To say we "MAY HAVE" lost 15 games "IN PART" to poor defense is an accurate statement. It might be more like 25, if you count no error runs allowed. Yes, we have won some games due to good defense or poor D by the opps, too. (I thought that was a given and did not need to be stated.) Now, although ERA measures "earned runs," I ask how many earned runs were preventable? Every team sees some runs score on plays not called an error, but clearly a makeable play not made leads to many runs scored over a season for all teams- some way more than others. It's unclear how many of these runs have scored, but am 100% certain we allowed more than the norm, and likely bottom 3-5 in MLB, despite the plus OF defense. Our ERA is ranked 21st, but where would it be ranked with a plus D? Here's a glimpse at whatour ERA might have been with good D: 9th SIERA (3.93) a measure based on taking out the defensive aspect of pitching outcomes. 10th in xFIP (4.03) 14th in ERA- (97, which is 3% better than the norm) which factors in defense, park and I think strength of opponents. Go ahead and tell me all three of these stats that show defense matters with pitching results are wrong or overblown. Maybe they are overblown, but defense makes a big difference. NOT AS MUCH as pitching or batting, but it matters, a lot. Not freakishly a lot, but a lot. You ask a staff ranked between 10th and 15th to get 120 more outs, maybe 20-30 more than the norm or 50-60 more than the best defensive team in MLB, and watch the staff struggle. Watch the added pitch counts and IP take it's toll on starters and relievers. Watch the Sox staff implode right before your eyes. No way is defense solely responsible for the team's implosion or the pitching staff's woes. Of course, it does not. It's not the D watching Crawford head towards 30 HRs allowed, but the defense matters, and it matters a lot. IMO, a bad play in a key situation has a tremendous negative effect on a team's psyche and morale. Yes, so does a home run or a HR allowed. So does a great defensive play on the flip side. I get that. Outs Above Average: -20 BOS +33 KCR You don't think 53 less outs made by our D over KC's might mean we have a better record than KCR?

What kid would tell their dad the truth on this. It was admitted their was a "romance" that began when she was 16. He's a creep.

This makes sense, too, but counting on Story to bridge us to Arias is a long stretch. If I was sure Campbell was ML ready by May 2024, I'd feel better about trading Mayer. I also think a package headlined by Anthony brings back a much better pitcher than Mayer would. I guess adding Abreo to a Mayer package would help, a lot, so maybe...

No, he couldn't, and he got rather luck (again) that only 1 run scored off him. I would not say he had a big role in "stopping" the slide, but he did not lose the game for us.

Catcher: check Shortstop: check Second base: check Those might be our weakest areas, beyond pitching,- either on defense and or offense. That leaves Anthony and the OF, with Jh Garcia & Bleis farther away, and maybe Campbell moving to the OF for good. To me, I think Anthony is our best prospects, but with such a great need for pitching, and an OF or Duran-Rafaela-Abreu locked up for many years and Ref as the 4th OF'er, it makes sense to get a GM who likes Anthony as much as I do, to offer the world for him. (World= TOTR pitcher)

Yes, and he's gotten better from 2021 to 2022 to 2023. There is no sign of decline, unless one thinks the injury is a sign of more to come.

He does not seem to be improving on blocking the plate or framing. His CERA-related skills are undetermined, at this point, IMO.

I'm super pumped up about Anthony. I'm sure other GMs are, too.

Was it unfair to call the Sox defense the worst in MLB history? (I never said that one, and they aren't even close to that.)