moonslav59

strange

Indeed. He hit on his major signings- almost all of them.

Yes. MVP posted the news.

That was my point. Had we spent the money more wisely, even beyond the Betts mess, we would not be talking about how cheap JH has become. The Sale extension. Richards & Kluber. Kike II Story Yoshida Giolito. Those are the 7 highest AAV signings since 2019, not counting Devers, which kicked in, this year. (Maybe it's highest 6 after Sale & Bogey) To me, that is the bigger issue, but certainly the 4 drops in payroll in the last 5 years has not helped.

Agreed. I've said ride it until he stops. He can't be worse than Cooper. (Also, Wong has career reverse splits.) This b eing said, I still know Cora knows more than I do.

I do not see Brez as a hand sitter on-er.

A significant likelihood. Same with Jansen, Martin & O'Neill.

I agree. If we keep up like the last 5 years, we will miss out on adding new fans and may lose some old ones in other ways beyond the grace. Nobody enjoys this.

Yes, true, especially factoring in inflation and in relation to several other teams' spending. Our largest drops have been in the last 4-5 years. Add that to just one increase in 5 years, and it looks bad. I get it. I'm not defending it, in any way. BTW, we did see a drop in 4 out of 5 years, before: from 2005 to 2009. There was also a drop in 5 of 7 years (2005-2011). People were complaining, then, too. My only point is about us going up and down very consistently, while never going up or down for more than 2 years in a row. The pattern may or may not continue. I'm hoping we up spending significantly, next year, but I am refusing to expect it to happen. If it does, the trend continues for over 2 decades.

Not a prediction, but here is my top 25: 1. Anthony 2. Mayer (close call) 3. Teel 4. Cespedes 5. Bleis 6. Fitts 7. Perales 8. Zanetello 9. Slaten 10. Sandlin 11. Meidroth 12. Yorke 13. K Campbell 14. E R-C 15. Wikelman 16. Jo Garcia 17. Paulino 18. Jordan 19. Arias 20. Jh Garcia 21. Penrod 22. Castro 23. Romero 24. Dobbins 25. Monegro/Wehunt/Hickey

That has happened, before. No signs, until POW! Again, not saying a "POW" is near or never again. I don't know, and I've given up expecting it.

Indeed. Some other teams- the same. Again, I'm not defending JH. I'm just pointing out a pattern. Of course, accounting for inflation, the numbers would look lower going forward, but there would still be a pretty consistent wave structure on a graph- a consistent pattern.

No doubt, we are in a cut cycle, but really, it's more about spending the money foolishly and letting the wrong star walk, than any major change in JH's spending patterns. Also, several other teams have gone whacky with spending. Nobody knows how the spending will go, going forward. Tell me where the pattern changed, significantly: We were at $108M in 2002 (according to Steve the Ump) 99 '03 -9 125 '04 +25 121 '05 -4 120 '06 -1 143 '07 +23 133 '08 -10 123 '09 -10 163 '10 +30 161 '11 -2 173 '12 +12 151 '13 -22 163 '14 +12 187 '15 +24 182 '16 -5 200 '17 +18 236 '18 +36 187 '19 -49 (84 '20 COVID) 180 '21 -7 (from '19) 195 '22 +15 176 '23 -19 162 '24 -14 The pattern seems obvious: never 3 years in a row of cuts or raising the budget. We are currently in a 2 straight year decline, and almost all of our biggest signings have sucked. That is the major change, not the spending more and cutting spending pattern of ups and downs.. BTW, I'm not predicting JH will ever spend bigly, again. I'm just saying JH's pattern has been up and down pretty consistently. I'm not defending him. I think it sucks he couldn't have at least spent right up to the tax line, this year. So, where was the major departure from the pattern? 2010? 2013? 2015? 2018? 2019-2020? The "pattern" from '21-'24 looks like it fits the mold, except that other teams went nutty and flew past us.

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?