notin

No. Bet he's been an extremely solid defensive outfielder in limited action who deserves more chances in MLB as opposed to being the highest paid player in the International League But we know he won't get those chances in Boston and why..

Good for the farm. But when he changed his approach to free agency, he made too many bad calls. Also, he needed to learn to trade prospects once in a while. (Although I do think Rusney Castillo is a better player than many Sox fans have given him credit for.)

Actually, not what I am doing. I am saying Dombrowski is not as good at drafting as GMs we have had in the past, and going forward it will have implications to this team. Comparisons about Cherington and Dombrowski as GMs have been brought up solely by you.

That's actually not really an impressive coup for a 12 year stretch. I know you probably didn't do extensive research (I wouldn't have either), but in order to bulk that list to seven names, you had o include a pitcher entering his age 29 season who has started more than 18 games only twice in his career, and won't start any games this year. (If you have ever ripped Buchholz for being fragile, Smyly might not be the guy to prop up) and Cameron Maybin, a career part time starter/part time DL mainstay who has struggled to stay on the field even when healthy. If someone tried to pass off players like this as Cherington's highlight picks, would you accept them? Granderson, Miller and Porcello were all good picks. That is true...

I'm not one to wory about spring training stats. But this is a guy who shlould be trying to impress. Well, thankfully we can just look into one of those minor league free agent vets Dombrowski has been signing. You know. Just in case...

No. In fact my biggest criticism of Cherington was that he didn't trade prospects, despite my faith he could replace them. Dombrowski has traded pretty much all of them. In the next two years, the Sox could lose all of Sale, Bogaerts, Hanley, Pomeranz, Kimbrel and Porcello, among others. Who is going to replace them? Brian Johnson and Sam Travis? The Sox are built ton "win now", but that can disappear with one or two key injuries. So will you call Dombrowski the victim of bad luck? Not to mention the overall pitching depth is extremely poor. You might like Jalen Beeks now, but how will you feel if he can't get his ERA under 5.00? Or 6.00? Or 243.00? The same "ham and eggers" you disparage are still better than most prospects (which are not all created equal). And that includes many of the top-ranked prospects. If you took the top ten starting pitching prospects in MLB right now, using whatever ranking you like, easily 1/3 of them will never be better than Trevor Cahill is today. And it's funny that you can't stand these veteran pitchers only one season after the Sox won the AL East by such a slim margin that we probably would not have won it at all and maybe not even made the playoffs if Henry Owens was taking Doug Fister's starts. But hey, who needs guys like Fister? We have Justin Haley queued up for key Sepetember starts...

As a talent evaluator for drafting, Cherington did an excellent job. He had done party in most of Epstein's drafts and brought in Benintendi. Critics who point to Trey Ball might want to consider Dombrowski's track record with draft picks, which hasn't yielded much in a long time. But hey! He did get Scott Moore and Kyle Sleeth with top ten picks. .

He also drafted Verlander. But he's been a GM for over 20 years and we're both going back a long to find good draft picks

The trade has certainly benefited Boston. I just don't get why people disparage Moncada like he's their ex-girlfriend...

Absolutely. Did Sox fans really give up on Moncada after 200 ABs at age 22? Really? And the focus seems to be on his 30% K rate (roughly the same as Aaron Judge - is he a bust too?), but no one ever mentions Yoan also walks 13% of the time. There is a lot to like about Moncada going forward....

And that is the kind of thing I do blame Dombrowski for. He really did ignore pitching depth this winter. Although I think this might be a generalization as there may be a few pitchers who have kept themselves in shape, especially as other teams were going through Spring Training,..

Maybe. Why not have a few more options and simply pick the best one? Not sure why so many people are opposed to minor league deals that carry ZERO risk. If Velasquez and Johnson are good enough, what is the risk in having them compete with a veteran or two on a minor league deal to earn the spot?

Hey!! That was our current ownership!

But I think there is some truth to Dombrowski not really being the drafter and talent evaluator in the same class as some of our recent GMs...

I think he was being sarcastic...

They managed to trade Fielder. Now the Miguel Cabrera contract on the other hand...

Both of them...

Supposedly Buchholz is still having health issues. Someone posted he was not able to pass a physical, which would not be surprising and explain why he has not received a minor league deal from anyone yet...

I don't think guys like Marrero and Hembree carry a world of trade value, And dealing Hembree might create a Boggs in the pen, although not a huge one. The guy whose trade value might be piquing right now is Swihart, and as of now he is a bench option. If the Sox are going to make a move to bolster pitching and create a roster spot, Swihart would be the easiest to move and certainly get back a better player than Marrero would. Not sure who would be available for Swihart. Certainly not Chris Archer or equivalent. So it comes down to who helps the overall team more: Swihart? Our a pitcher who can be acquired for Swihart (and ancillary pieces)?

No. But I can guarantee there will be more healthy arms from the set of Lackey, Dickey (or whoever), Beeks, Elias, and Velasquez than from the set of Beeks, Elias and Velasquez alone. ...

Bob Melvin was a backup catcher for the Sox in 1993...

for Some guys will want incentives. Some will want out dates. And for some players, that is a reason not to sign them. But some won't. Our some incentives are worth putting in the contract. It's not about taking chances away from the players you mentioned (by the way, Velasquez was once signed to the exact type of minor league deal I am pushing for here.) It's alt having more depth and more options. Can you guarantee Johnson or Velasquez will be healthy when we need them?

But who was better in September?

You can't count on Doug Fister bring available every summer. But you can count on Steve Ontiveros being available. ..

Based on what? Why would or be such a bad idea to let them earn their shot over Lackey or Dickey or ....?