moonslav59

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.

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...