moonslav59

I will say the Garrett Cooper addition rivaled the steaming pile of Hosmer. Then, somebody doused Dom Smith with some AXE Deodorant. It's interesting to note that these guys still lead the team in PAs at... 1B: Dom Smith 247 (Casas 140, Dalbec 48, Romy 37, Cooper 32) 2B: E Valdez 175 (DHam 118, Grissom 83, Westbrook 39, Sogard 38, Romy 32, Reyes 16)

Not with me. I'd like to use the savings to spend on pitching and think we can get an .850 OPS with an Abreu-Ref platoon at DH in 2025, so no drop off. (Anthony in RF.) Abreu would also make for a solid 4th OF option.

How about Yoshida for Taylor? No money added.

You mean the savings of what is remaining on his $12M deal, so maybe $2.5M, max.

Agreed, and many of the most beloved Sox players of the past 2 decades were obtained by trade or free agency: Pedro, Manny, Papi, Schilling (not so much now,) Lowell, VTek, JD and Sale. I loved those teams of the mid to late 70's more than any others. Of course, I was a kid/teen, at the time, but they were fun to watch. When that team was torn apart, mercilessly, it was a giant gut punch

One thing I have seen often, this year that has really opened my eyes about Duran. Several times, on singles to LF, the defender is picking up the ball in short LF, while Duran is just rounding 3B. It looks like he should be out by a mile, on a good throw, but he beats the throw easily with his speed and ability to slide well. He brings so much to this team. I love watching this guy!

I do see a difference: Bloom could not bring himself to make the big trade. Like the deal or not, Brez tried to make a deal that was major. On being in "the mold," he missed on Gio, due to an injury to a guy with no injury history. That was not Bloom's "mold." Bloom's "mold" was to sign injury prone pitchers and pray they recover and do well. His indecision at the deadlines and winter was paralyzing and a major reason he was let go. Brez made some bad that failed, but he tried. I don't see the similarity, except Brez has not had success with his choices, so far. Bloom messed up, year after year.

The story stated, "After the teenage McCready met Clemens at a Fort Myers bar called The Hired Hand, she returned with the Rocket to his hotel room, but there was no sex that night," sources told The News. The girl later said she could not refute anything in that story. I'm not a 100% certain what happened, but it whatever did, it was inappropriate at some level. You asked why I thought it was "highly likely" they did something, and I gave my reasons. I asked if you think it was likely or not, and it's okay, if you don't know what to think.

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 ____ !