moonslav59

Nobody disputes spending big does not guarantee success, but overall it has been proven to increase a teams odds of making the playoffs and advancing in them. Yes, teams can win without spending, and this year’s Sox are 11th. Many teams have sunken costs, and this year’s Sox might be 1st in that area. However, think of it this way, where would the Sox be now, if we just spent $17M more to keep Sale? We could have spent less AAV on Lugo or Imanaga and maybe be division leaders, right now. Hell, we could have signed Flaherty and have the 4th best record in MLB. Spending helps. Spending it wisely helps even more, but even that does not always translate to success. Look at the signings from 2021 v 2022. I like the 22 additions better than 21’s. Wacha Strahm Hill Vs Kluber Turner Renfroe Nothing is guaranteed in MLB. Everybody knows that.

But why replace Westbrook with Yorke not EValdez? Plus you have to DFA someone to add Yorke to the 40. I’d rather call up Mayer at SS than Yorke at2B, as well, if I’m to add an IFer to the 40 for the sake of a 26 man roster swap out.

They have been amazing, but those who think wins and losses are the be all end all, they must think Bello is better. Bello 9-5 (10-6 in his starts) Houck 8-6 (team is 13-6 in his starts) Crawford 5-7 (team is just 6-12 in his starts!) Teams win and lose. Pitchers make a big difference, but their record is on the team .

He’s got a nice swing. If he could just learn to hit lefties, he’d be our FT RFer for a long time.

The Sox are now tied with ATL for the 8th best record in all of MLB. In just the loss column, we are… Tied with #7 MIL -1 from #6 MIN -2 from #5 LAD -3 from #4 NYY -4 from division leader BAL -6 from AL best CLE (2 in MLB) Are we having fun, yet?

Nate went 7 allowing just 1 run vs the streaking Astros. No walks. The game is tied 1-1 in the 8th. Could we trade for Nate for the second time?

I hope you were being sarcastic on Rafaela: the guy hit 1.019 in his previous 9 games. Don’t tweak a thing! .881 since May 31!!!

Woo still in action, but Kavadas is 3-4 with a tater. His OPS is over 1.000. Lugo has 2 hits with a tater, too. Joely and I Campbell with bad outings.

True, but his 2024 sample size is tiny. He has to earn his way back to a long look. He should not be handed the job over even a DHam-Romy platoon at 2B, as of now. IMO, he is not above Story on the 2025 depth chart at 2B, assuming Mayer is the SS.

I’m squarely against trading Jansen. This team has heart and soul. Why crush it?

Can Kelly pick up the slack of Slaten and Martin on the IL? Someone has to!

Crawford finding his groove again might be the brightest part of our recent success.

Devers is shooting for career highs in OBP and SLG. It was a very long extension, but the guy was just entering peak prime and seems like the kind of guy that can hit in his sleep. Devers forevers , my friends!

He has looked better. We have a lot of batters over.700 since June 1st.

How long are both going to be out? Can we count on anything from Hendriks? If we add a SPer and don’t go to a 6 man rotation, as I think we should, does adding Criswell to the pen as the new long man help enough?

Saw the replay of Ref’s deep line out to CF. He almost got 2 RBIs! Nice hits by McGuire and Abreu.

I was looking at it like this: Story when healthy is the best defensive SS or 2Bman in the whole system. His bat projects to be as good or better than Grissom, DHam, Romy and possibly Mayer, due to the unknown nature of a AA prospect. Story will play when healthy. Let’s say it’s Story and Mayer for opening day 2025, for argument’s sake. I’d think Story at SS and Mayer at 2B might be the better alignment, but keeping Mayer at SS, so as not to distract the rookie and Story at 2B to maybe lessen the risk of an arm or shoulder injury would make sense, too. While I have not given up on Grissom, I do think Mayer has a better outlook than Grissom for 2025 or mid ‘25.

I haven’t read every post here and don’t know how many years of control these guys have but here are the highest FWAR pitchers on teams that might be sellers: Crochet CWS Skubal DET Fedde CWS H Greene CIN M Gore WSH Olsen DET Flaherty DET Irvin WSH Bassitt TOR Kikuchi TOR Keller PIT J Gray TEX T Williams WSH ZEflin TBR Littell TBR RFeltner, Gausman, N Martinez, Eovaldi, J Jones, Heaney, M Parker, Mize, Lodolo, Sandoval, T Anderson

What would it take to outbid everyone for Crochet? I’m thinking one from Anthony,Teel or Mayer plus someone like Fitts and Yorke or Bleis and Lugo. I’d probably do it, but I’d have to think about it more.

Yes, I saw that, but why not 2 pitchers instead of Vald? Many of our current SPers are nearing or already over their career highs in IP. We can’t ruin these guys’ arms, and we have to plan for postseason IP, too. Going to a 6 man rotation would help. While I see a need for a RHB, and SS, 2B or 1B seems to be the best fit, 1B will be covered in 2025, so if we go RH bat at 1B, it seems better to find a rental, and pay less in prospects than Vlad would cost. Now, if we could get TOR to take Yoshida, even if we have to add another good, but not top 6/7 prospect, I’d love to get Vladdy. He could DH and back up 1B in 2025. The money part of a deal with TOR would have to meet JHs needs, and TOR might not care as much about the money as other sellers are: they want the best return of prospects or young controlled ML players. On Teel to TOR, I think tge catcher position there is a big strength and has excellent depth. I think it might take Anthony, Yorke, Fitts, Lugo, Yoshida and maybe a little cash for… Vlad and Kiruchi Vlad and Berrios Vlad and Gausman (no cash needed for Yoshi pay down) I’d prefer 2 of those 3 pitchers, preferably the 2 with most team control.

Max, you call tge Sale extension stupid, when that was when he was much younger. After he proved how stupid the signing was over the first 4 of the 5 year deal, you called it stupid to trade him. Am I missing something.

Yes, but Sale was not considered injury prone. He was a horse until 2018. Nate had a long history of injuries before we traded for him. He then missed significant time after his extension. Both ended up not being great signings, but at the time, we could not afford to lose pitchers.

I pretty much said Mayer at SS and Story at 2B to maybe lessen his injury risk. Nowhere did I even hint at Grissom over Story or Mayer at 2B. My point was about Story being the better defensive SS when healthy. I’m all for giving Mayer a shot over Grissom in 2025. He does have to prove the job is his the same as Grissom proved it was not his (yet.)

Sale had a durable history when signed. Nate did not.

Top Sox OPS since1967 (1000+ PAs) .999 Manny R .956 Ortiz L .936 Vaughn L .923 Nomar R .902 Lynn L .895 AGon L .893 Betts R .890 Boggs L JD, Youk, Everett, Jefferson, Stanley, Devers Rice, Mueller, Carbo, Yaz, Nixon, Evans, Fisk Greenwell, Daubach, Smith, Drew, Valentin, Easter All at .815 and above.