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Cubs fans said the exact same thing when the team acquired Jake Arrieta...

Seabold has good minors numbers but really, he has average stuff apparently. He still could grab a backend starter role this year and maybe slot into the pen next season. Pivetta, OTOH, I agree with you. Hopefully he’s a change of scenery guy because he throws hard and has good stuff. I like him in this deal...

He’s making $588,000. Three arb years left. Free agent after 2023...

Well he just traded away the last remaining member of the 2013 championship team. Unless you count Pedroia, Bradley and Bogaerts...

He’s a free agent at the end of the year and we’re going nowhere...

So that’s why my wife hates the Orioles...

Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold coming back. Pivetta is one of those guys with the stuff, but hasn’t made it work for him. Seabold is a 24yo RHSP with decent minor league numbers. Good move by the Sox here...

Does she throw harder?

I set the over/under at 14 runs.

But he also got them there. The Cubs had not even been in the World Series since 1945 (when there was still only 48 states, if we're being consistent with that timeline)..

Moonslav has 9 names as candidates for making MLB by 2022. Doubtful all so. There could be a flop or two, or an injury that derails or inhibits progress, etc. But the names: Dalbec: Blocked in Boston by Devers and Chavis. Good defensive 3B with a cannon arm but a Three True Outcome hitter at the plate. Likely traded. Mata: Sox need arms. I'm hoping he debuts this season. Chatham: Had a decent season at the plate in Pawtucket last year. Ready for MLB. Glove will play but bat is a potential issue. Probably a utility infielder, and that is not a position the Sox (or most teams) struggle to fill. Houck: Like Mata, it would be nice to see him this season, most likely out of the bullpen. Maybe he gets called up if the Sox move Workman and/or Barnes. Wong: Not sure what his future holds at all. Versatile player who is weak defensively everywhere. Decent hitter, but is it enough to make up for his lack of position? Maybe trade bait, with some appeal to small market clubs? Ward: Hopefully he debuts in AA in 2021. We shall see from there. Downs: Needs to get back into AA and do something Casas: See Ward above. Duran: A big question mark offensively in my mind. His BABIP made him look stellar in A ball, but he was exposed in AA. What is working for him best is the weakness of outfield prospects in the Sox system Wilson (a late addition): Is he MLB talent? I could see him peaking in AAA and maybe being an occasional call up, but no one we remember 5 years from now. The fun part is there is sometimes that player who just figures something out and rises from nowhere to become a legit prospect. Do the Sox have anyone like this? Can, say, Nick Decker finally put together a decent season? Can Jay Groome finally stay healthy for once?

That goes for every manager. I heard Joe Maddon second-guessed (and did so myself, I admit) while he was winning a World Series for the Cubs for the first time since this country had more than 46 states in it...

don't do it!!! You're throwing away your shot!

You're officially in the running for the Tenth Player Award now...

And a lot of us like to think we could manage an MLB better than the people who actually can do it. He might be a doofus among managers, but if I did it, they would have to create a whole new level for managerial incompetence to describe me. I would make Joe Kerrigan look like Terry Francona...

He is becoming a no-brainer for that $3mill option. That does lead to a very interesting question. As Moreland can be had extremely cheaply in 2021 and is having a terrific mini-season, should be be a trade asset? If you think this team is going nowhere in 2021 as well, is there a point to holding on to him? This could be the most blatant "sell high" example many of us have ever seen...

No myocarditis. Count your blessings...

I know that is the job of the press and a past time of the fanbase, but at some point Boone still knows more about the situation than anyone else. Maybe Green didn't feel like he had anything or maybe had a headache or his arm was a little sore? One has to think Boone knows who Green is, the type of season he is having, and how long since he has pitched. So he might actually have a very good reason for not using him...

Good. I don't like him a a starter but I do like him as a high leverage reliever...

That puts a big ? after Bogaerts as well, as he can opt out after 2022. If the SS market looks good the year before with the Lindor/Seager/Correa/Story crowd on the market, he might take the chance and opt out...

OK let's include Wong and Chatham. If you think Casas, Ward and Downs join the crowd, that leaves us with 9 potential MLB players. No way I include Feltman. Not yet and not until he learns where the strike zone is. Of course, not all will actually make it and a significant portion of them will probably suck as well. So then, out of these 9, how many actual contributors do you have? It's almost impossible to tell if an A ball player is an MLB contributor. It does happen, but more often than not, it simply cannot be foreseen. For every Mike Trout or Bryce Harper, there is an innumerable quantity of Lars Anderson/Jesus Montero types. And the fun subset is, out of the contributors, how many contribute in Boston vs for other teams?

For minor leaguers in A ball, 2022 is not "near horizon". Especially for those not playing in 2020. you listed 29 minor leaguers, all but 7 of whom have never played above A ball, and one of those 7 (Downs) has 12 games at that level. How many actual major leaguers do you think are in that crowd? The bulk of them will never never get out of AA ball, assuming they get there at all. Now that does not mean they are useless. The Sox will deal a few hopefully, for actual MLB talent. But by 2022, out of that list of 29, I would suspect the only ones to actually play in MLB would be Dalbec, Mata, Duran, Houck, and maybe Wilson.

Of course we need prospects. But the attrition level in A ball is extremely high. Really right now all we have on the near horizon is Mata, Duran and Dalbec. And Dalbec is blocked and getting a bit old to still be considered a prospect...

Always Luis Guzman...

Oh definitely. At this point, all I am rooting for is September 1. I am not sure how I am going to handle baseball after that. Well, beyond rooting against the Yankees...