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I doubt any do, but that doesn’t mean they have to agree with the Sox FO. By the way, do you only feel that way about Dombrowski Critics? I’ve never seen you so critical of anyone who disparages Cherington. And really, the only people who didn’t think Dombrowski was going to dismantle the farm were those in denial. The man has an obvious history, so obvious his tactics were discussed in every story about his hiring. It happened. There are repercussions that the Sox have to go through right now...

Not for 2020...

The Eye of the Beholder read your comment about the Sox needing to consult “with those on here who really know what we should be doing.” Sorry for failing to genuflect at the Altar of Dombrowski in your presence. I’ll be sure to make sure my future opinions are pre-approved by you. See how it’s done? If you’re going to be an *******, do it right and do it unabashedly. Don’t go all passive-aggressive and then deny doing it.

What the cliff deniers fail to recognize is that having a good farm with some minimum wage talent that could contribute also might enable the Sox to retain Betts. And Dalbec alone won’t be enough...

How did they replace it? and clearly that was back when John Henry didn't mind aying taxes. Moncada got $31.5mill and MLB got $31.5mill since the Sox were already over their allotment..

No but for a long time, the draft itself was a battle of sign-ability. Moncada's money was crazy, but it was the same process that landed every other IFA, except that he as 3 years older than most at the time...

Does the "p" in cpl stand for "passive aggressive"?

You could make that case for a lot of prospects who came up as IFA’s

... what St. Louis did to Atlanta. Already 7-0 in the first...

We've seen it takes dealing about 7 good prospects to go from ranked 3 to ranked 30th. So the difference isn't so large. But the thing is, 4 of those 7 have already made the majors. The real question is, how many actual major leagers do the Sox have i their farm right now? And I'm not talkiing about Bobby Poyner types who do pitch in the majors, but are really more AAAA variety shuttle bus candidates. I mean players who will have an actual MLB career. You can guesstimate a bit by looking at rankings, but bear in mind that on every BA Top 100 list, there are about 30 players who won't play in MLB beyond maybe a September call up. Even guys like Casas. He's the top ranked guy, but he also plays the toughest position to crack an MLB lineup, since there are plenty of 1B out there who can hit, but couldn't field their minor league position. I realize it's next to impossible to speculate on A-ball guys. But if you look at Pawtucket and Portland, how many actual future MLB players are on those teams right now?

Not to mention, it's not like he is batting in the 3 thru 5 spots. He's the 8th or 9th spot hitter...

I would agree with that, but the thread was started because MLBTR posted an article about their plans to tender him. I think if they do, they won't be able to deal him. And as much as it bothers me, I am not so sure the $28mill you have committed to Betts is a guarantee to be on the Sox roster...

And Mookie turned down a life-changing deal from Boston. These are players with an agent encouraging them to hit the market. And they didn’t hire an agent to ignore his advice...

I don’t think there are any players I hate on for no reason. If there ever was one, I’d think it would be Mike Trout. Just out of sheer jealousy. From what I’ve read about the guy, he’s great at EVERYTHING, maybe not to the level he is at baseball. But great enough. But I still enjoy watching him play. I liked ARod, too, and gave him only my token Yankee Hate. But I also respected that he was on a very short list that actually straight up admitted to using steroids. And I like him in the booth, probably since he doesn’t wear pinstripes when he is in there. But I think the one player I truly hated and just wanted to see straight up fail was Joba Chamberlain. I hated that he constantly head hunted Youkilis. He might be the only player I truly wanted to see get injured. He might be the nicest guy in the world when not between the foul lines, but I don’t care. The game is better off without him...

Except that beyond blind faith, there is no reason to think Casas or Mata or Duran or Groome will necessarily ever see a full season in the majors just yet. Plenty of high ranked players than them have had shorter careers...

He also might be happy for them. He does have friends on that team. And despite his reputation, I've seen a lot more instances from Harper that indicate he just immensely enjoys the game and is having a ton of fun out there. I think he is a lot of fun to watch. While he certainly has an ego, so does every player in MLB. Don't kid yourself. Do you really think Mookie is humble? But for some reason, fans seem to think Harper's ego is his defining quality, despite his being labeled with greatness and getting covered by SI by age 15 while still in high school. Think about that. Before he could legally drive a car, a major sports publication was assessing his major league skills in a massively positive light. That would give any player a phenomenal ego...

WEll there is some accuracy to them. Vlad Guerrero was a consensu #1 overall prospect. He certainly showed it. CHris Paddack was ranked in the top 40 by 2 of the ranking bureaus and #66 by BA, and he absolutely performed well. Sure, every now and then an unranked prospect is great player. No one ever ranked Paul Goldschmidt anywhere, for example. No one ever ranked Youkilis anywhere, either. And Albert Pujols was ranked one time and ranked #42 by BA. So in an interesting development, BA thought in that one year, 41 minor leaguers were better than Pujols, but in reality, there were not 41 major leaguers in MLB history who were better. (Of course, Pujols was in A-ball at the time and then jumped to the majors.) But there is a strong tendency towards better players typically being higher ranked prospects...

Of course he will be a started if he gets his $10-12 million. No one is going to pay him that to be a fourth outfielder when those guys typically sign for $1-5 million tops. And if Boston tenders him a contact, as expected, that's what he gets...

They're not meaningless, but they're not necessarily etched in stone. These jobs involce predicting the future, and any time someone has to predict the future, they will have instances of being wrong. The bottom line is they are an indication of how many future major leaguers and the quality of said major leaguers versus the far systems of other teams. And they can change as some payers get better, which all of them re trying to do. Being ranked 30th doesn't mean you have NO future major leaguers, just potentially fewer than anyone else or ones with lesser impacts. Given how well the Sox rookie class did this year - with only one player who really made an impact (Chavis), and did so with a very flawed, strikeout-laden performance, whose farm did worse in 2019? It's not like we called up Vlad Guerero or Chris Paddack here...

Absolutely. Especially since the Nationals are now one game away from the World Series but were 10 games behind the Braves on September 16, and in the thick of a 3 team WC race the whole time ...

If he is in Boston, sure. If they deal him or non-tender him, he could wind up starting for anyone...

If the Sox tender him a contract, it will be in Boston...

Same thing

Probably because I’ve been so complimentary of his durability. The Sox need bullpen help. Think a 1 year $5mill contract for Arodys Vizcaino is a good idea?

Mata might. And until the outfield situation is resolved, Duran is in the mix for starting...