moonslav59

This is a totally different issue, and I think many of us fans of almost all teams feel the same about our revolving door of players. I didn't mean to be picking apart the statement you said about not seeing the playoffs in recent years. 1 in 5 sucks. I feel the same pain. I'm not optimistic about our chances, this year, but I see a lot of exciting stories to watch, this year, and I;m going to run with that for as long as I can hold out.

Of course, but banning from something he's never had is not much. It's the money lost.

I have UConn in one pool and Tennessee in another. Still alive in both. I likely need Marquette to advance to the final 8 or 4 to win it all. ($440)

It won't be the Sox. Not so bold.

I think we all share in the frustration, and many have crossed the line into anger, disgust and or revulsion. We didn't need to invest all that much more than we did to make 2024 more enjoyable and offer a significantly better playoff chance. I'm not sure how much longer they can run this sham before unrepairable harm is done to the fanbase. If they don't realize this, they are in this deep, they are dumber than I give them credit for.

No. You did not say "successful" playoff run, but yes, they had a playoff run in recent years. They had one, 3 years ago. A guess a "few years" can be 2 years long. If we had gone 4, 5 or maybe even 3 years without one, I would not have said a peep. I'm not arguing we have had a good or even okay 3 or 5 year run, but we have had a playoff run in recent years, right?

It's not like it's ancient history. 1 in 5 sucks, no doubt. 1 in 3 is about average.

Final ST'ing Numbers: OPS (30+ PAs) 1.129 Devers 1.072 Wong 1.033 Story .883 Rafaela .868 McGuire .857 O'Neill .838 Duran .820 Dalbec .765 Yoshida .728 Casas .715 EValdez .608 Reyes .586 Abreu Sent to AAA: .910 Westbrook .767 Contreras .670 R Gonzalez .329 DHam Notables under 30 PAs: 1.045 Sogard (AAA) 1.009 McDonough (AAA) .852 Heineman (AAA) .850 Refsnyder (Injured) .831 Kavadas (Injured & minors) Rotation ERA (K:BB) AAA 2.40 Houck (16:3 in 15.0 IP) 3.45 Whitlock (16:2 in 15.2) 3.72 Crawford (18:2 in 19.1) 3.93 Bello (18:8 in 18.1) 5.00 Pivetta (22:4) Long Relief/Spot SP: 4.60 Winckowski (10:3) AAA: 2.95 Criswell (17:3) Pen: 0.00 Campbell (9:2 in 8.1) 0.00 Bernardino (5:2 in 6.2) 0.00 Slaten (6:1 in 5.1) 2.57 Joely (9:3 in 7.0) 6.75 Martin (1:0 in 1.1) 10.13 Jansen (4:0 in 2.2) 2.61 Luetge (14:3 in 10.1) AAA? AAA: 0.00 Guerrero (6:3 in 6.1) 1.08 Weissert (10:3 in 8.1) 2.00 Booser (8:0 in 9.0) 2.35 Benitez (14:5 in 7.2) 2.79 Hagenman (8:3 in 9.2)

Cron out. Joely in. Chase Anderson looks to be the 8th man in the pen. (In my earlier post, I did not realize he had been pitching, this spring, with the Pirates. The 26 looks set: C: Wong & McGuire 1B: Casas, Dalbec 2B: E Valdez, Reyes 3B: Devers (Dalbec) SS: Story (Reyes) LF: Duran (O'Neill) CF: Rafaela (Duran) RF: O'Neill & Abreu DH: Yoshida SP: Bello, Pivetta, Crawford, Houck, Whitlock Long RP: Winckowski, Anderson Set-UP: Bernardino, Slaten, Campbell Closer/8th: Jansen & Martin Minor League Depth on the 40: C: Heineman MI: DHam OF: R Gonzalez P: Criswell, Weissert, Kelly, Walter, Jacques (Wikelman & Perales) 60 IL: Giolito 10 IL: Murphy (to 60?), Grissom, Refsnyder

MLBTR reports... A source tells Bowden that Montgomery has long-term contract offers from two teams. Bowden adds that a signing is "probably going to happen this week." Although the identity of clubs that made the offers and the number of teams currently in the bidding for Montgomery are unknown, Bowden writes that the Yankees and Red Sox "are still involved to some degree." He also mentions the Orioles and D-backs as teams to watch.

2021 was just 3 years ago. You forgot, already?

...and even that could not tip the scales. Grissom could end up being a big plus. Sale could get hurt, again, in 2025. Or, both.

They are not even going full throttle rebuild. It was a total sham.

He did make a few efforts, like offering Nate what he ended up getting, but later saying no, when Nate came back. He offered the same as TBR for Eflin, but lost out to "hometown" considerations. I'm not sure JH was open to any major signings, but missing out on those two does show he could have spent more than he did. That was certainly a big part of his downfall. He did well with Wacha. He did okay with Hill. He swung and missed wildly with Richards and Kluber. It looked like he miss times the Perez signings. That's pretty much it for 4 years.

1 year and maybe an early exit from the playoffs vs 5 years of Grissom may still not be worth it, and that is best case for no trade.

Nobody is denying Sale can be a great pitcher. Hell, he had a 3.16 in his last 15 GS, just last year. To me, unless Grissom is a bust, it can't be a bad trade, and even if he is, Sale was not leading us to greatness, this season.

Indeed, but even if Sale wins the Cy Young, this year, it might still be a good deal for us.

It looks like the 2 choices remaining for the opening day 26 man roster are: (Assuming Joely is the 7th RP'er and only the 2nd LHP on the 13 man staff.) 1B/UT: CJ Cron vs Dalbec (options remaining) 8th RP: (soxprospects.com has Chase Anderson, but he can't be ready by then) Weissert Luetge Kelly 60 Day IL: Giolito Mata 10 Day IL: Grissom Refsnyder

A look at the current 40 man roster by categories: One Year of Control: Jansen Martin Pivetta O'Neill Two Years of Control: McGuire Hendriks Refsnyder Two to Three Years (Option:) Giolito Probably not a significant part of our extended future (2026 and beyond:) Jacques (pre-arb) DHam (pre-arb) Heineman (4 yrs) Dalbec (3 arbs) R Gonzalez (4 yrs) Walter (pre-arb) Mata (pre-arb) Z Kelly (4 yrs) That's 16 out of 40 players who likely will not be in the system by 2025 or 2026 and almost certainly by 2027, except for maybe Giolito, Kelly and or Walter. We have several up and coming prospects that can replace most of those 16 players, but we will almost certainly add some players from outside. The remaining 24 listed in my order or importance and value (length of control is also a factor) The Core 16 (includes some prospects on the 26:) 1. Devers (9 yrs) 2. Casas (4 yrs) 3. Bello (4 yrs) 4. Story (3/4 yrs w option) 5. Crawford (4 yrs) 6. Grissom (pre-arb) 7. Houck (3 arbs) 8. Whitlock (3/4 yrs w option) 9. Yoshida (4 yrs) 10. Duran (4 arbs) 11. Winckowski (4 yrs) 12. Rafaela (pre-arb) 13. Abreu (pre-arb) 14. Wong (4 yrs) 15. Criswell (pre-arb) 16. Campbell (pre-arb) Borderline/Prospects 8 players/prospects on the 40: Bernardino (pre-arb) EValdez (pre-arb) Slaten (Rule 5: pre-arb) Weissert (pre-arb) Wikelman (pre-arb) Perales (pre-arb) Reyes (3 arbs) Murphy (pre-arb) Top Prospects Likely to be on the 40 in the next 1-3 years: (est. 10-20 players) By 2025: Anthony (Rule 5 2026) Mayer (Rule 5 2025) Teel (Rule 2026) Fitts (Rule 5 eligible) Yorke (Rule 5) ? Monegro (Rule 5) ? Gambrel, Rosier, Sogard, Castro, Paulino, W Mills, Bastardo, Dobbins, Sena, Troye (Rule 5) By 2026: Bleis (Rule 5) Sandlin (Rule 5) Meidroth (Rule 5) Hoppe (Rule 5) ?I Coffey, Rogers, E R-C, Ravelo (Rule 5) By 2027: Joh Garcia ? M Romero, B Brannon, Y Asencio, N Yuten, C Coffey, K Campbell, E Soto, C Early, N Judice

They basically gave Sale $11 to maybe $12M for the "extra year" (2025.) At today's rates, that seems about right.

Our Rotation ST ERAs (K:BB) 1.98 Crawford (13:0 in 13.2 IP) 2.40 Houck (16:3 in 15 IP) 3.45 Whitlock (16:2 in 15.2 IP) 3.93 Bello (18:8 in 18.1 IP) 4.50 Pivetta (22:4 in 18.0 IP) The rotation has 85 Ks and 17 BBs in 81 IP. That's slightly more than 9 Ks per 9 and slightly less than 2 BBs per 9 IP. Maybe Brez & Bailey are on to something. (Take away Bello and the bottom 4 SP'ers have 67 Ks and 9 BBs in 63 IP. 7.44 K:BB rate! (Only 2 SP'ers had a higher K:BB, last season.)

ST OPS (30+ PAs) 1.158 Wong 1.091 Devers 1.001 Story .934 Westbrook .895 Rafaela .879 Duran .868 McGuire .830 Dalbec .849 O'Neill .813 Contreras .732 Casas .715 EValdez .700 Yoshida .670 R Gonzalez .603 Reyes .577 Abreu .329 DHam Gotta like how our catchers seem to be hitting so well.

Some thought Pivetta was a dumpster dive. We've had some success with dives in recent years: Schreiber, Bernardino, Wacha, Strahm, Hill, Wink, Whitlock Renfroe, Duvall, McGuire, Refsnyder The list of failures is pages long.

He's been good to really good for half a season or more for 3 straight years. Holding out hope he can put together a full season is likely asking for too much. Crawford may be our true #2, but we'll see. I worry more about our 4 (Houck) and 5 (Whitman) starters. About our 2023 rotation: All 5 are RHPs. (Wink & Criswell are, too.) 3 of the 5 are homegrown. 4 of the 5 had their first MLB game w the Sox. We have no FA SP'ers in our rotation for the first time in whatever.

This dumpster overflow, laying in the alley in a dirty puddle.