moonslav59

We did finish in last place 3 of 4 years before DD. The formula before DD was spend and then cut, spend and then cut. It hasn't changed.

They stuck with Jimenez, too long. We don't know if they overvalued Flores.

I think they do a fine job. Their reports often say some of our top prospects might be utility players or borderline 5th starters, so high rankings do not always mean they overvalue someone.

The Rays will not gain new fans. The Sox could lose half theirs and still be way ahead.

Sometimes, it's the first placement, after a draft or trade, but yes. I do not think they do it, a lot. Sometimes they seem very restrained. Betts was in the system 2.5 years without being top 10, then jumped to #1 in the summer of '14. Granted, he was in the low minors.

No, the yo-yo is not surprising. You are correct. I will say, soxprospects.com does not usually yo-yo players as much as Lugo. Yorke is one example: 2021: .913 A-/.978 A+ 2022: .668 A+ 2023: .950 AA Rankings: 13th at end of '20 10>8>3 in '21 3>4>5 in '22 6>5>6 in '23 11th to start '24

You are on a roll. Skinny Horse.

Indeed, and with so many one year starter signings, recently, it's no wonder he has more starts than anyone, but let's look year by year. He entered our Rotation at the end of 2020, not right after the trade. GS 2021 32 Nate 31 ERod 30 Pivetta (3rd in IP, 2.2 behind ERod) 2022 33 Pivetta (180 IP was far away the most) 26 R Hill (124) 23 Wacha (127) 20 Nate (109) 2023 28 Bello (157) 23 Crawford (129) 21 Houck (103) 20 Sale (103) 19 Paxton (96) 16 Pivetta (143 was 2nd in IP) IP per GS in 2023 5.6 Bello 5.4 Pivetta 5.2 Whitlock 5.1 Paxton & Sale 5.0 Houck 4.7 Crawford I'd still say "horsier" than all others, after 2020.

Ref is a position player just like Cooper. I can understand not wanting to put your catcher at DH, in case you need to replace the starting catcher, mid game, but Ref should bat v L and R. Wong has cooled a bit, since I advocated DH'ing him some.

I think Perales jumps Wikelman (who falls to 11th) but not Fitts. Slaten jumps Wikelman to #10. I think... Meidroth jumps Yorke to #12. K Campbell to #17. Arias to #20. Penrod to #26 as Anderson drops to #30. Jh Garcia to #27, replacing Hoppe in the top 30. Lugo from #50 to maybe #30 or 31. (Maybe Bastardo to #31.)

Lugo has really yo-yo'd on sp's. He was 12th, last April, then out of the top 30 by summer. He was 12th in summer of '20, then out of the top 20 by DEC '21.

"Horse" was not a good choice of words, but he has been our top SP'er since 2021, in terms of staying off the IL the most. Horsier than all others?

Houck had done fine the second time through. It was always about the third time. I think most preferred Houck over Whitlock, but not Crawford & Pivetta, before opening day. I agree with your needs assessment, and we can't count on Story as a FT middle infielder. I think we roll the dice with Mayer & Grissom/Story and neglect adding to the infield in '24. We need a mega RHB better, next winter. Maybe, DH who can back up 1B or RF (or both) will be what happens. Ref at DH looks good now, but I'm not sure what he is doing will continue for 1.7 more years.

You may be right. The Pivetta that returned to the rotation, after being demoted to the pen in 2023 and the Pivetta of 2024 looks much better than the earlier Pivetta, but the sample size is not large enough to convince GMs he is the new Pivetta and will be, going forward. How he finishes the season may be the key. Giolito hurt his stock by sucking over his last several starts in '23.

Post of the Week.

Every team would take a dip, if they lose their #batter. ATL seems to be doing okay, but imagine them with Acuna.

Great post.

The CBO gave Cora Ref and Wong. He can use them at DH and platoon Cooper and Smith at 1B, thereby using them all. Just suggesting a tweak in how they are used, and how often.

While I don't disagree, this has been our mantra for too many seasons, recently, and it never works out as hoped. Sale- every year Nate, Paxton & Whit- a couple years Houck '23 Wacha '22 Hill '22 That's just the rotation. Note: in 2021, we got 31+ GS from Nate, ERod & Pivetta.

He's been a horse, taking the ball every 5 days for years, until the blip, this year. I'm not sure if throwing more breaking balls is the cause, and maybe will be a concern going forward, but if doesn't miss any more starts and goes about 3.50-3.90 the rest of the way, he'll get 3-4 years from somebody. I'd like to see us extend him and said so last winter, too.

I gotta go see a game, here in Portland!

.792 is not awesome on offense, but it is good (maybe very good, these days.) Stanton looks good, only because expectations were lower, this season. I'm not projecting or wishing for injury to Judge, Stanton or Soto, but with some of their histories, it's not a stretch to think it might happen. Then what?

Well, when we were young, we had dim nows and future team outlooks. Even after 2003, and up to that Yankee series in 2024, the feeling was still doomsdayish. Hey, I'm not happy about suffering through almost 5 years of this crap, but I do still value the future, and to me, it looks brighter now than it did in 2018. (I know many never felt the day of reckoning was coming, but some of us did.) If you are one that never felt a dip was coming, the future still looks brighter now, than at anytime since after the Betts trade. (Maybe after 2021, but only because we felt the spending might increase, not because of us having a promising young core on the 26 and a few very promising prospects nearing the bigs.)

We've had a 5 game win streak (and 6 out of 7), two 4 game win streaks and a 4 and 1 stretch. That's basically it. Those 4 mini good stretches totaled a record of 18-2. The rest of the season has been at 12-28. Although the last 10 days or so has seemed like win one-lose one, we've really been a pretty streaky team- just nothing long- good or bad. Our worst losing stretches are: 4 in a row 5 out of 6, twice (I'm not counting 1-3 stretches as just one win flips it to .500) These three bad stretches totaled a record of 2-13. The rest of the season was at 28-17. We really need a good stretch of a couple weeks or more, but with the schedule coming up, I'm not sure that happens, soon, if at all. Maybe after the NYY series... 2 ATL 4 CWS 3 PHI 3 NYY 3 TOR 3 CIN 3 TOR 3 SDP 3 MIA The Padres are not easy, but not great either. We have to beat TOR to have a chance. That 15 game stretch from June 17 to Jul 4 might be our best chance to make some serious gains in the standing. Even if we do, it might not be enough.

I have not been to Fenway in years. Cheering for the Sox to lose is something I will never do. Why don't you become a fan of another team? JH ain't selling. He may or may not spend big, again, and apparently this is all that shows he cares, so wait it out or bolt.