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The thing is, that’s really not the only way to rebuild a staff. It’s the simplest and most expensive way, however. If you look at Tampa - and at this point, you really should be - they’ve made the postseason for 4 straight years and in that time only one SP has thrown more than 170 IP, and that was back in 2019 (Charlie Morton). They won 100 games in 2021 with a staff lead in IP by Ryan Yarbrough. A guy they non-tendered this year. Having Shane McLanahan has helped them somewhat, but they’ve shown that when managed right, you don’t need a $100mill rotation to win. And right now, the Sox rotation has a simple job - get the team threw 5-6 IP and keep it close…

Either way, they take back a Duran…

Well if you like Wendle, apparently he is expendable now. It’s probably not a coincidence that days after getting interest in Wendle, the Marlins went out and spent $17mill on a player to replace (or take over for, if you prefer) him at third base. And got a guy with no third base experience!! (But they did get the guy the press thought Boston would take over Wendle.) It’s like that seen in Moneyball when Brad Pitt acquires Juan Rincon out from under the nose of another GM whose name eludes me, just so he can make another deal involving a player or players, whose names also elude me. But yeah, that scene. Anyway, it’s like that but more expensive and with less Juan Rincon. Or was it Ricardo Rincon?

And yet he was available for nothing, two NPCs named Noelberth Romero and Elio Prado, with the latter being the better known for his rectangular frozen pizzas. It was like DD just quit right there, despite the team being 9 games over .500 and 3 out of the WC. That team was a massive letdown, and DD just let them die. That’s one reason I liked going for it in 2022. Most deadline trade candidates never get dealt, so I had doubts about moving all of Eovaldi, Martinez and Bogaerts. I liked using Diekman to upgrade over Vazquez. But damnit, that team needed PITCHING!!

No one liked Miley. From what I heard, he was just an unlikable and unpleasant human being. He is a law-abiding citizen, but many want him locked up anyway. He’s currently a free agent and a talented pitcher when healthy. But if Bloom doesn’t talk to him, I’ll understand completely…

Staying in the race while 3 games out was the right move. Remember the 2019 Sox were 3 games out of the wild card when they acquired Andrew Cashner on July 13th. The deadline that year came and went with no further moves from Dombrowski. He didn’t but any more. He didn’t sell anyone off. How come no one ever questions that (in)decision?

That is good. Now if Sale and Paxton are both healthy, does it push Whitlock back into the pen? (Answer: No. It pushes Bello down to Worcester. But I’d prefer Bello in the rotation and Whitlock in the pen.)

Can’t agree. If you going to sign a big money free agent to a long term deal, the time” isn’t when it pushes you over the top; “the time” is when that player is available. One year deals out you over the top. Large long term contracts can be just as foundational as the farm (but in much small quantities). Love the additions. Hate moving Whitlock there. The true “secret ingredient” that makes a rotation successful isn’t the salary of the pitchers in it or their career ERAs or whatever. It’s health. The more starts and IP you get from your 5 best the faster you close any gaps in quality against other rotations. I don’t think it’s crazy to think that the team that has the fewest rotation injuries every year probably finishes very, very high. That’s why the Sox need to leave Whitlock (who had too many issues last year) and Houck (who ended the year on IL after back surgery) in the bullpen. Sale and Paxton are problematic enough, and while Kluber was certainly needed, he’s not exactly the key to a healthy rotation either. If the Sox had Jansen, Martin, Schreiber, Houck and Whitlock in the bullpen, along with Barnes, Joely, and Brasier (or better yet, Fulmer), they could get by with an ace-free rotation since the SP wouldn’t be required to pitch very many IP in each game compared to the other team…

Love the additions. Hate moving Whitlock there. The true “secret ingredient” that makes a rotation successful isn’t the salary of the pitchers in it or their career ERAs or whatever. It’s health. The more starts and IP you get from your 5 best the faster you close any gaps in quality against other rotations. I don’t think it’s crazy to think that the team that has the fewest rotation injuries every year probably finishes very, very high. That’s why the Sox need to leave Whitlock (who had too many issues last year) and Houck (who ended the year on IL after back surgery) in the bullpen. Sale and Paxton are problematic enough, and while Kluber was certainly needed, he’s not exactly the key to a healthy rotation either. If the Sox had Jansen, Martin, Schreiber, Houck and Whitlock in the bullpen, along with Barnes, Joely, and Brasier (or better yet, Fulmer), they could get by with an ace-free rotation since the SP wouldn’t be required to pitch very many IP in each game compared to the other team…

Absolutely. Who wants to buy tickets in August for a team that sold off everything that wasn’t nailed down in July? And gotta keep those NESN ratings up if you want to charge top dollar to run an ad there…

If Henry changes his mind, he has not learned the quickest fix involves spending lots and lots of money. If he’s not on board with doing that, he’s more likely to see what happens…

Now you’re making up a story. Reportedly Betts almost took the $200mill offer, but his mother told him not to make that decision if he wasn’t sure.

I think we were all high on the 2022 team before Sale got hurt. And right now, Sale isn’t hurt yet. As far as we know…

And Devers was reportedly offered $200mill/10. If that’s a lowball offer, someone should have told Austin Riley’s agent…

They reportedly offered Betts $300mill in 2019 with a $30mill AAV. At the time, there were only a handful of $300mill contracts. Betts wanted $400mill as his asking price. At that point, it looks like Dombrowski stopped negotiating and switched over to extending other players. That’s not being a day late and a dollar short. Betts wanted a historic contract. Some stories had him wanting out of Boston, or at least definitely trying free agency. It’s nothing like Lester and Bogaerts, and lumping them together is revising history…

Kluber and Jansen both make sense. They’re good enough to contribute, but if you’re out of it by August, both deals are easily movable…

You don’t need to think about them. They exist. We don’t even know what Henry’s priorities are. If he wants a winner, Bloom is in trouble (unless this team wins). If he wants to set up an organization and run it similar to Atlanta or Houston, then maybe not. Now Henry can also change his mind about what he wants at any time…

Not at all. Lester and Bogaerts received low offers. Did Betts? Did Devers? You’re already pushing Devers out the door. Can he at least get a lowball offer first?

Another difference was they were NINE YEARS APART. The whole “history of lowballing” thing “just like with Lester” would have a little more relevance if it had happened slightly more recently than three GMs ago. This whole team history thing just doesn’t sound all that serious when what you’re really saying is “DAMNIT!! They do this ONCE EVERY DECADE!!”

If the name of that team is really the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, I’m a fan…

The mere act of removing him from the Injured List is enough to get him on the Injured List…

To be fair, according to an article I read on Boras, all initial offers are ignored. That used to be his primary strategy - see how a team will go prior to negotiating. Not sure if he still employs it, but it wouldn’t surprise me…

And to be fair, they didn’t know Chris Sale couldn’t ride a bike at the time…

Well, hey, 50% of the players in the league are below average at their positions. (Watch and see who takes this comment seriously.)

Miami would be insane to turn down Duran for 34yo Miguel Rojas, especially given their (lack of) outfield depth and surplus middle infield…