moonslav59

No, I never even came close to saying or thinking this. Our pitching has been in a steep decline for months. My point is about the fact that along the way, we have seen ups and downs, even with the pitching. Baseball is hardly ever linear. Just berak it down to half months, and you can see the difference: 3.10 Early May 5.02 Late May 4.23 Early June 4.54 Late June 3.65 Early July (pretty promising, right?) 6.08 Late July (only 12 games due to ASB) 6.05 in first 7 games of AUG (5.11 first 5) You are assuming we repeat the last 19 games for the rest of the season and think it's delusional to have any hope we can reverse the slide. I think it's delusional to think we do NOt have any hope. Nobody know where we go from here. It's delusional to think we do know. That is my position. I am not predicting we turn it around- only that we can, and it is not a long shot. You think it's delusional to think it's even possible we don't continue sliding downwards or can improve on 6.05.

I'm not predicting a turnaround, so I can't be right or wrong on this. I'm just saying it is very rare when a team repeats it's last months' numbers over and over again, with no change- and this team has been up and down in all areas, numerous times. It's not a long shot chance we turn to the good with out pitching.

Again, you assume there is no chance for a turnaround, while this team has turned it around countless times, already, this year. Garcia and Simms were added, and had some bad games, since joining, but why assume they have to keep being bad? Jansen was written off by many, here, when he had a meltdown stretch months ago, then he bounced back. Are you saying it's impossible for him to work off his last good outing and be strong for 7 more weeks? No way Martin can do well? Zero chance? No way Slaten can come back? Look, I'm not seeing signs for a resurgence, either, but the norm of this team is to bounce back. While true, the pitching woes have been a steady decline, it's not impossible to imagine a few guys getting their s*** back together. Houck and Jansen might have already begun the turnaround- maybe others follow. Do you really think teams are doomed to keep repeating their last month's numbers over and over? Of course, if we keep allowing 7.1 runs a game for the next 7 weeks, we'll be toast, but I think it is equally delusional to think that happens as it is to think we go back to a sub 3 ERA the rest of the way. More likely, we go about 4.25 to 4.75 and if our hitting continues doing well, we'd have a shot. Also, are KCR and HOU/SEA looking all that great, right now? We just need to do better than 1 or 2 of those teams to make it.

Ih he shows half a heartbeat, sign his ass!

We all remember "Restgate" in 2019, and there has been some talk about relying on too many pitchers to throw way more than their previous career highs in IP, but I have to think this is part of it. Not adding SP'er depth was the biggest swing and miss, this past winter. Sure, Gio's injury hurt like hell and forced the overuse of what little depth we had, to begin with, but adding just Criswell and Anderson by opening day was a huge blunder. Here are the OPS Against by month: .613 April .688 May (still very nice, but actually the biggest drop by month) .722 June (not bad) .790 July (uh-oh!) .843 August (horrific)

I'd be thrilled with one TOTR pitcher and another Criswell type or two. I'm not sure that will be enough, though. Why are we expecting full successful seasons from Gio, Houck, Crawford, Bello and Whitlock? While I feel better about most of them than I did in March, all are still question marks for 2025. Plus, no Pivetta, Jansen and Martin is a big hit to the staff.

The actual signing of 1-2 year pitchers did, in fact, start after DD was fired, so that part was accurate. And, DD signed/extended nobody "NEW." Nate's contract started in 2019 and was the last big pitcher signing the Sox made. Sale's extension started in 2020, but was signed earlier. The following SP'er additions were mostly misses, and at these prices, one should not have expected much better results: 2020 $6M Martin Perez I $6M/1 Pivetta (trade for Workman & Hembree) 2021 $23M ($23M AAV) Martin Perez II $5M/1 Garrett Richards $10M/1 Adam Ottavino $8M/1 (trade) 2022 $49M ($31M AAV) Matt Barnes $19M/2 (extension) James Paxton $10M/2 Michael Wacha $7M/1 Rich Hill $5M/1 Jake Diekman $8M/2 2023 $60M ($35M AAV) Kenley Jansen $32M/2 Chris Martin $18M/2 Corey Kluber $10M/1 2024 $49M ($24M AAV) Lucas Giolito $39M/2 Liam Hendriks $10M/2 If you look at just the AAV signed each of the last 4 winters, we spent enough to sign a top pitcher at over $24M x 4 years, but we broke it down and spread it out, instead.) Had we "hit" on more of these signings, it wouldn't look so bad, but you get what you pay for and we got mostly crap. It's weird that perhaps our best season for adding pitchers was 2022 not 2021, so the results have not matched up with the team's success, either.

I think our farm pitching is starting to show signs of improvement, especially in quantity, but what worries me most is two-fold: 1. Our pitchers that are closest to ML-ready do now WOW anyone. Fitts Gambrell Penrod 2. Our highest ranked pitchers are not having great seasons in 2024. Perales (Out for the season with surgery) Sandlin Fitts The guy who is maybe #4 on both lists is Dobbins, who might end up okay, but he WOWs nobody, too. Our best hopes are far-aways and Perales returning from major surgery.

Of course, if we keep "playing like this" nobody should think we are odds on to make the playoffs, but why assume we do? This team has been up and down, all year. To think we have to keep playing badly is just as delusional, right?

That is what I am expecting, too. While I have not lost hope things might change, I no longer expect it to happen. It's not impossible to strike gold on these 1-2 year deals, but we have been awful at it. The best of all our attempts were Wacha and Hill, and both missed time, when we need them most. Paxton did okay for a big chunk of his second year, but he missed time, too. You mentioned things changed "since DD was fired," when it actually started during DD's last year, here. We let Kimbrell and Kelly go and added nobody to the staff. Also, his last two big pitchers signings did not do great with their extensions (Sale & Nate.) I know I am hoping against hope that we make a big splash with the staff, this winter. We really need 2-3, minimum, but even one seems beyond my imagination, now. I still think a big trade has more hope of happening. (More than next to nothing is not saying all that much.)

At least you didn't say "facts are facts," because once again, you got your numbers wrong. Yorke is 9 for 25 on the farm, not 10 for 25. The others you listed are playing against the big boys. Better luck, next time.

Woo was rained out and Sandlin got drilled at POR, but some exciting news from some bats: Ehrhard went 3-4 w his first dinger. Campbell & Teel both went 2 for 5 with dingers. Anthony went 1-5 w a dinger.

Just finished watching the game on delay. That was painful. Another winnable game lost. At least Houck looked real good... maybe something to build on. We had many chances to bust open a crooked number, and even the "right guys" up, but kept coming up short. Oh well, get 'em, tomorrow!

No FT job has been handed to Mayer. He has not even been promoted to AAA, yet. He is certainly highly regarded and in the mix, but for opening day 2025, I would not even say he is the front runner for a middle IF slot. Story is, if he is healthy, and of course that has been the question with him, since joining the Sox. Assuming we do not add anyone else to the middle IF mix, this winter, I think several players will have a chance to win the job, including DHam and Romy (or a DHam-Romy platoon) who both have the rest of this season to improve or lessen their chances of winning a lot of playing time in 2025 or even the starting 2Bman job on opening day. A lot depends on who is our SS. I think it will be Story, but if Mayer wins a job, it could easily be SS, with Story moving to 2B. If that is the case, the only job teh rest will be fighting for is as our utility IF'er. To me, Mayer is no sure bet, especially for opening day 2025. That is why I think Grissom has as good of chance as anyone else for that job. There are just too many moving parts to know for sure who has the inside edge on the job. 1. Story (SS, or maybe 2B, if and when Mayer wins the SS job) 2. Mayer (IMO, most likely SS not 2B) 3. Grissom 4. DHam-Romy platoon at 2B 5. E Valdez (D sucks) or Meidroth (3B/2B/SS) are long shots 6. Campbell (not ready for opening day and may move to OF) (Numbers are not their rankings.)

He could really use a lights out night from Houck. The Astros have had some real bad stretches of little offense, and have not had Tucker in the line-up for 3 months, so tonight would be a good chance to right the ship. Houck has had one good start since June 25th. Last 6 starts: 6.16 ERA and 5.95 FIP or First 12 starts: 1.85/2.19 Last 10 starts: 4.82/4.32 GO SOX!

We all misread things, on occasion, myself included, and we admit it when we do. The thing that gets me is almost every time this poster says, "Who’s said anything about ____?" It's not the person he'd directing the question to.

MIN beat CLE 4-2 and play another game, tonight. They also found out Brock Stewart will miss the season and Joe Ryan is out "indefinitely." Yanks-Rangers rained out and will play DH'er, tomorrow.

O'Neill will replace E Valdez, once he comes off the IL, but I can't see Grissom taking Romy or DHam's slot on the 26, unless DHam slumps even more than he has been the last few weeks. Once the rosters expand in September, maybe he gets a call-up, but I would not feel sure about it. I do think he has an equal shot at the 2B job for opening day 2025, with Mayer maybe being his toughest competition. (I think we will decide to keep Mayer in AAA to start 2025.)

I sure hope our pitching staff can regain some of what they lost along the way. We have too many floundering SP'ers and up and down pen arms, right now. It's hard to imagine us getting into the playoffs or advancing in them very far without some sort of revitalization. Maybe Martin can find a groove, like last year. Maybe Slaten can bring some life into the pen. Maybe Jansen can build off his last game's success. Maybe the two new guys, Garcia and Sims can bring a spark to the pen. Kelly and Bernardino have not come close to their earlier success, but maybe... Wink & Criswell offer some hope, and maybe Booser can return, or Hendriks surprises us. The rotation is one total question mark. There is very little to build much hope on. Nobody is showing signs of life. At best, Pivetta gives us a good game, here and there. We need several pitchers to turn things around in a big way and quickly. While our offense has been on an .885 tear over the last 28 days, our staff has allowed an .847 OPS Against during the same time.

What has saved the day at 2B, this year has been this... .937 Romy's OPS vs LHPs. .726 DHam's OPS vs RHPs (with 19 SBs vs Righties) Their D has not been awful, either. If they had sucked, Grissom might be getting another look, real soon.

In all fairness, you did say "READY" to give up, not that anyone has, already or has totally given up. (Somebody misread your post, "YET AGAIN!") Grissom has plenty of years of control remaining. If he is goodenough, he will have ample opportunities to show it and win a job on the 26. I think he has as good a chance as anyone else to be the opening day 2Bman in 2025. To me, the biggest chance of him missing out is if Story is healthy and mayer makes the opening day 26.

He can try, but it won't work. It didn't really work, last winter, but I do agree that he probably thinks it did, and the more exciting team tis year "proves" he was right (in his own twisted mind.) I remember thinking after 2022 ans 2023, that the success of 2021 probably hurt the team, in the long run. It gave the FO cover to hide their true intentions and kick the sham into overdrive.

We had yesterday off, despite having 2-3 mre games to play than most MLB teams. While the loss column is very important, we will need to win those "extra" 2-3 games to just keep pace. That being said, only 7 teams in MLB have less losses than us, and we are very close to many of them: Least losses: 46 PHI 47 CLE 48 BAL & NYY 49 LAD & MIL 50 MIN 52 BOS, KCR, SDP 53 ARI 54 NYM & ATL 55 HOU 56 SEA 57 STL 58 SFG The WC Standings: NYY and BAL are tied for the ALE lead and the top WC slot at 68-48 63-50 MIN 64-52 KCR (-0.5 from MIN) 61-62 BOS -1.5 (tied loss column) 60-56 SEA -4.0 (tied for ALW lead) 58-56 TBR -5.0 The AL and NL each have 9 teams with winning records and 6 with losing records. The AL has 6 teams more than 5 games out of the WC or division lead. The NL has just 3 teams that far out.

I'm trying to be hopeful, but I'm not setting my expectations and higher than us replacing Pivetta, in kind, and Jansen & Martin with lesser quality replacements- basically 3 "meh" signings for the big league staff.

He missed a lot of time. He likely has a few things needing work or fine-tuning. I still think he has an excellent chance of winning the 2B job, next spring. I doubt we see him, this year. Our current middle IF mix has been doing well enough to not need replacing, as of now. Of course, things can change, quickly, as we all know.