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She can be seen dancing at PoleKatz every weekend...

Better than a 68 win team based on what?

So sometimes when you sign players, the impact isn't immediate? Don't Story and Yoshida get that same opportunity?

I have come to the conclusion in recent years that pitcher health trumps pitcher quality. Unless you have some serious depth, which he Sox are sorely lacking for starters...

As I just finished reading "Cheated", I have come to agree with those who say Cora shouldn't be managing at all...

I have no word on any offers Montgomery has received, but I suspect he has rejected similar offers to $132/6. MLBTR did predict $150/6 way back when, but I think they have been under on most deals so far...

That's not much different than ERod, who, on seasons he does not vacate the team for any publicly-known reason, has put up 3.0, 3.9 and 3.7 fWAR in the past 4 years. If Montgomery can be had for the same deal as ERod, its a no-brainer. But I also think if he would accept that, he would have signed somewhere by now. If Montgomery wants $150mill / 6 years, is it a good deal?

We're fans, not Vulcans. If we were ruled by logic, none of us would be here...

I know. In fact, I think several of them will be more expensive. Of course, that might be because Fried, Burnes, Buehler, and Wheeler are all better pitchers than Montgomery (albeit with a few legitimate health concerns). If the Sox truly wanted t adopt a "wait until next year" policy, the smart might would be a pre-emptive strike to sign Brandon Woodruff. The question is, though, is that a white flag on 2024? How does that look from a PR standpoint?

He is the leader in IP over the last 3 years among the remaining free agents, ahead of Urias, Snell, Greinke and Rich Hill in that order. After that, the drop off goes to the injured Brandon Woodruff and the thoroughly unexciting Zack Davies...

It's not my favorite strategy either. But I can't ignore that it is a real option. And we as fans are not responsible for the multi-million dollar deals that Breslow (theoretically) makes, whereas he has to be at least somewhat accountable...

He's been in the league seven years, and has reached 3 fWAR twice. I can accept four times if you want to count 2020 and even the 2.7 fWAR from 2021. That's close enough. Similar pitchers like ERod (4 years $20mill AAV) and Zack Eflin (3 years $13.3mill AAV) show the range for his talent. If the Sox can get him ona deal like that, great. But so far, they can't. Because while I don't know what Boras is valuing him at, I somehow suspect it is greater than $20mill AAV. Probably closer to $25mill AAV for six years. Would you go 6 years $150mill for Montgomery? To me, I dislike the 6 years more than the $25mill AAV. And I'm just guessing on numbers. What if the actual ask is for more years and a bigger AAV?

Let's not go overboard. I do like him as an addition, but I have never thought he was a necessity. I did and still do prefer him over the oft-injured Snell. But I have also said repeatedly I can understand passing on him in favor of next year's free agent class...

One has to wonder if the instant success of the Rangers is a reason the Sox are NOT going all in on this offseason. They clearly showed you can win while defying every convention. Did they have an ace? No. Eovaldi, as good as he is, is not an ace. He probably has the talent, but he lacks the durability. deGrom is in anyone's defintiion, but he barely pitched so he was a non-factor. In fact, the Rangers' rotation was rather bland last year from a big name standpoint, featuring a few Sox retreads and some journeyman. Dane Dunning lead the team in IP. Dane Dunning! At least their starters were 7th in MLB in fWAR. That's much better than their crappy bullpen. The Rangers bullpen finished 23rd in MLB in fWAR, ten places behind the Red Sox. The Rangers did have a very good offense and defense last year, especially the defense. Their star players were largely a cast of unknowns like the twice-DFAd Adolis Garcia, Jonah Heim, and Josh Jung. Sure they had some stars, headlined by Corey Seager. But Seager actually played fewer games on the WSC Rangers than he did on the 68 win team. The Rangers won with good hitting and very good defense. This is not a formula anyone ever talks about for a championship. Good SP without an ace, no bullpen, and top tier hitting and defense. Is this the new formula?

No one made projections with Montgomery in mind. And if the Rangers didn't get out to a good enough start, they don't go out and get Montgomery. While Eovaldi is a good pitcher, is he really a guy you look at and think "he can take this 68 win team to a title in one year"? Heaney is the more-frequently injured version of Eovaldi. So do the Sox have any pitvher who is as good as a healthy Eovaldi? I think they do have one in the rotation already...

And the Sox didn't give up much for him, except the players they acquired for Kike Hernandez and CJ Chatham...

Implying ST. Louis gave up on O'Neill for suspected steroid use? Or his frequent injuries? And not because they had Carlson, Nootbaar, Walker, O'Neill, Edman and Burleson all on the OF/DH depth chart and only 4 position to play them in, assuming they buried one as a DH? And factor in that O'Neill was the only one with one season left? I'm sure they didn't like his injuries, but even without them, there was enough there to easily believe he was clear trade bait...

The Sox tried or Eflin, but he clearly had other plans. I didn't hear them do much about ERod at any point. I like Erod as a pitcher, as long as he doesn't have to cover 1b. But if the Sox signed him, I think fans would still want an ace. He's a good baseball add, but not enough of a PR one...

So you think that teams should go all in on the best available player even if he is not necessarily all that good? I'm pretty certain that is how the Sox got Story.

What was their biggest addition? Eovaldi?

I actually did his first 6 with the 9.9 total. Bad count on my part. But if you like his last 4 seasons, his 11.2 fWAR is just behind Eduardo Rodriguez and Zack Eflin. And the still-available Zack Greinke. I get the thinking that this guy is not an ace. I wouldn't mind if the Sox signed him, as he is a clear upgrade. But I could also see not over-committing to him as next off-season should have several better options...

A fair point. However, O'Neill has been sidelined with a wrist injury, a groin injury, a hamstring strain. Probably a few others. These seem like typical baseball player injuries that on their own, are not indicative of long term steroid usage. However, I can only find reported injuries. He may have had some secondary ones that didn't get in the papers...

I'm still somewhat optimisitc on this team, but only if they can stay in competition and actually not run up the white flag in July for no reason. Projections are meaningless. What was Texas, coming off a 68 win season, projected to win last year?

Obviosuly, he would be a big help. But should the Sox go all in on Montgomery? In his first 5 seasons, Motgomery was worth 9.9 fWAR. Is that a pitcher you go all in on? That's fewer fWAR than Kyle Gibson has had in the past 5 seasons. If the Sox signed Kyle Gibson, would anyone get excited?

With Uehara, he became a star on that team. The Sox signed him as a reliever and he was third in line for the closer role, behind Joel Hanrahan and current sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey. Did anyone get excited when the Sox signed Uehara? If someone told you the day the sox signed him that he would be the closer because of injuries to Hanrahan and Bailey, what would you have thought about that season?