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And here is the thing. Some of the "answers" to these questions will be "no". At least this year. Some will be "yes". Of course, the Sox really need Sale back to maximize their chances at a title anyway...

Maybe but the bottom line is that facet of his team consistently underperformed. Now DD did not completely ignore it, acquiring relievers in the off-season. (Of course, at one point his "answer" was 39yo Joe Nathan. Sure he did get a reliever, but let;s get real. Nathan was far from his best days.) But he also did not make changes when those same flaws kept arising. It's funny - here in Boston fans complained in the post-Nomar years that the team just could not find a SS they liked. As the team went through Cabrera and Renteria and Gonzalez and Lugo and Scutaro, etc. And that team also made the post-season every year but one. If you want definitive proof that his weak bullpen was not the factor in winning a title, fine. But are you going to stand by the "good enough" argument to justify it being ignored year after year while the window was open for the Tigers as their team came up just short despite having three surefire Hall of Famers on the roster?

Or if Bud Selig had allowed the post-strike 1994 free agent signings to stand when the Sox inked Sammy Sosa, Kevin Appier and John Wetteland to deals...

That did happen. But then what happens when those players age and decline or get injured and you have one of the highest payrolls in the league and the team is barely above .500? And the bulk of those same players are coming back not only the next season but also the season after? And a big chunk are back even for the season after that? And they are not likely to stop declining and start improving in that timeframe. What were the Sox supposed to do after 2019? That team was unexciting. 84-78 is 3 bad innings away from beng .500. How does a team in that position get better? Especially once they extended Sale? The team had a payroll of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. Spending was not the issue. In fact, it had apparently reached it's limit. And I hope you can agree that a quarter of a billion should be enough to pay 25 people. That's an average of nearly $10 million per player. Complaining that you do not like the metrics and the value - the very formula the team used to win 4 championships - is not the answer. Maybe another 86 year hiatus will make some fans happy...

Something that can be said about a lot of teams...

Price and Eovaldi too. And those are the two I complained about the most. However, an argument can be made that without Price, there is no title...

Not. It's an argument that they were the best of five teams in one division. It doesn't mean they did not have bullpen issues. They clearly did...

So they should have kept him and maybe finished ahead of Balitmore? If the Sox didn't deal Betts, they would still have very, very likely still have missed the post-season and watched him reach free agency anyway. And even if they somehow made the post-season, like maybe if 3 or 4 other AL teams all missed their flights or something and got disqualified for it, how far were they going to go with Martin Perez headlining the rotation? All keeping Betts does is maybe keeps the Dodgers from winning it all...

What we do know is extensions and signings do not happen unless both parties agree. It's not just a matter of filling out some forms and mailing them into the head office...

But the bullpen performance does show it was an issue. Your argument is essentially "they won anyway, so no problem."

The bullpen was clearly the weakest area of the team. And in 4 seasons, he only tried to repair this once at the deadline...

Also worth noting while his team was dominating the AL Central Deadline acquistions 2011: Doug Fister (SP) 2012: Omar Infante (INF) and Anibal Sanchez (SP) 2013: Jose Veras (RP), Jose Iglesias (SS) 2014: David Price (SP) We all know pitchers, especially relievers are a very hot commodity among contendeers at the trading deadline. But in 4 straight seasons with weak bullpens, only one time did he shore up the bullpen by acquiring a relief pitcher...

The Tigers were 21st in MLB in fWAR from their relievers in those seasons. Also 26th in bullpen ERA and 23rd in bullpen FIP. And this is from a team with 4 consecutive first place finishes. Are you saying the bullpen was NOT an issue?

The bottom line with Betts was he wanted a LOT of money and he was not willing to simply sign anything. At the time, he had reportedly expressed a strong desire to test free agency. The Sox were defintely in a habit of spening a lot, and really, despite the lack of activity the past few offseasons, still are spending a lot. It's real easy to say they should have just extended Betts, but it doesn't look he was was too willing to sign anything. The Sox had a very free-spending GM for the bulk of his career here, and Betts remained unextended. It's very possible the oandemic changed his mind in LA, especially since he signed the extension just before the start of the abbreviated season. Perhaps he was unwilling to be judged on a 60 game sample?

In Detroit? Aren't you? David Ortiz probably did in 2013...

Also the infamous Jose Offerman .273 / .360 / .373

Did it? IN the second half of 2018, Kimbrel's ERA was enarly 3 full run higher than his first half, he kept playoff games far too interesting, and he was not even n the mound to get the save to close out the World Series. And Carson Smith and Tyler Thonrburg were nowhere to be found. DD did learn his lesson, going all in on relievers when he took over. My point was that was a new approach for him, as he repeatedly failed to do so in Detroit.

His deal is worth roughly Price plus Xander, right? Betts has $365mill committed to him, and Price ($217mill) plus Xander ($120mill/$140mill if the option vests) gets you in the neghborhood with $337-$357 mill (ignoring the opt out)...

Hey, he tried to learn about not ignoring the bullpen in Boston, and unloaded everything that wasn't nailed down to do so...

There is always an exception, of course. Tony Phillips had a long career based on his ability to take walks, and his career .763 OPS was largely carried by his .374 OBP, which was far above his career .266 BA. Now there has really only been one Tony Phillips in MLB history, so hoping Rosario is the second version is probably wishful thinking...

Thaddeus feels like one of those names parents give to their 12th child when they are dedicated to making sure all the siblings have the same initials...

I had mixed emotions about the Sale deal. It did seem like a bargain compared to other free agent aces like Price, Scherzer, etc. But I also wondered if he only signed it because he knew he was already injured. I suppose if anything, the rapid decline of Price from ace status should have been a lesson for DD...

But the Sox spent the foundation cash around players like Price, Sale, and Bogaerts. Would you prefer Betts over those three?

I was saying that just the other day to Grady Sizemore and Dustin Pedroia...

I think his data looks good, but 500 innings with good UZR encompassing 3 years doesn’t necessarily translate to 1200 good innings in one year.