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It was a good trade. His last contract is pretty much a bust. 3 years and $85mill spent on 48 IP. Hopefully he can salvage back something in the final two years….

Most important thing about Easton McGee - he’s from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, a town known by UFO enthusiasts and home of the Little Green Man Days festival…

A gap that includes Margot, Kopech, Moncada and Espinal, not to mention Benintendi…

Webster was quite sought after, but as I said “in hindsight”. Jeter Downs also came with a good prospect rep, and he hasn’t even washed out yet, but nearly everyone has worn him off…

Maybe he wasn’t or maybe he had more influence on the situation than we realize. “I got a pile of injured garbage for $217mill and now they want me to pay $400mill?!?” I’d always heard Mookie was adamant about testing the market. And maybe he was at the time. Or maybe someone in the press just felt like he was. That he reportedly asked for $420mill over however many years certainly didn’t make out look like starting in Boston was anywhere on his priority list. The trade was really just a salary dump and it looked to me like the Sox has little other recourse. And if it was k just a salary dump (which is supported by including Price). what kind of value does any team get in return on those? The Sox dealt Anthony Rizzo (with others ) to get Adrian Gonzalez. Less than two years later, they dumped Gonzalez and his contract and a few other for a nondescript pile of prospects that in hindsight could be described as “headlined by James Loney.” THAT is what dumping salary gets you…

More often than not those deals go sour before they expire. Scherzer is a rare example that didn’t, as is Manny Ramirez. And when they do, a team not only loses that star player’s production, but also the money it would take to replace him. And that’s where the Sox are now. And it’s not the first time…

Heathen!!

What exactly would it take for Cashman to get fired?

I don’t think the “average fan” comes to this forum for all 12 months of the year, either. That means going from the Fanatic Level to the Obsessive Level, and in some cases, the Addicted Level. I have a parking pass for that last one…

No but it was a waste for the Sox to give the largest contract in franchise history to David Price, making it that much more difficult to pay Betts. And it was certainly a waste to take half the money just offered to Betts and give it to an injured pitcher. No one wanted to see abetted go, just like no one wants to see Devers go. And they don’t have to if the Sox can stop thinking that overpaying players in their 30s for what they did in their 20s is a good idea and that the Boston market can even remotely support these kind of mistakes like anew York or Los Angeles can…

And guarded by the a small squad of red and blue knights, mostly there to pick up some hours during the off-season at Medieval Times…

No Quisp?

Also: Betts: free agent after 2020 after turning down a $300 mill extension Verdugo: under team control until 2025

The only truly clutch player in MLB history was Pat Tabler. Career OPS: .724 Career OPS with bases loaded: 1.198 That just can’t be explained…

Not the same situation. Betts had a $27mill salary and required taking as much of David Price as possible. It was a straight up salary dump. Getting Verdugo was a coup in that scenario…

Can we also ask them if all they possession plate appearances were “clutch”?

Brasier’s last Soxgame?

With the exception of a pandemic-shortened 2020, Hosmer has not posted an OPS north of .800 since 2018. He’s just not a DH..

I got to stop dragging my finger around this matchbook sized keyboard….

He’ll be gone before opening day. He’s just not needed and radios up a far too valuable 40 man roster spot. He might get traded, but more likely is just DFAd. Ironically the best fit in a trade is San Diego, as their current 1b will be a free agent, they dealt their top 1b prospect, and they’re already paying Hosmer anyway…

Yeah yeah yeah. Old news. I guess I just shouldn’t have had higher expectations from you…

Not to mention no one thinks Binelas was a worthwhile get in that deal because he posted a .630 OPS in AA at age 23. Renfroe himself posted a .670 OPS in AA at age 23 and apparently he’s the second coming of Dwight Evans. Yes that comp has been made on this board! That deal is not over yet…

I can’t pretend to follow the logic here. Bloom tried to replace a slugging RF and a hodgepodge of 2b with a slugging 2b and a Gold Glove in RF, but he was was supposed to anticipate it not working out? Or players getting hurt? If Story had played 160 games and Renfroe played 80, did it mean his logic for making those moves was more sound? And bringing Schwarber into it is moving the goal posts. It has nothing to do with whether or not Renfroe’s production was replaced. And the reason Schwarber wasn’t retained was obvious to me. The Sox shouldn’t be dropping $20 mill on another DH while still having holes in other positions. If JD had opted out, Schwarber then became a realistic option, for reasons related to money and position. Story was a different matter since he filed an immediate vacancy. I always suspected he was also a Plan B against Bogaers leaving, but given all the reports on his elbow, I can’t say for certain that was ever really the case. But if it was, Schwarber does very little to help in that capacity…

Devil Rays? They haven’t used that name since 2007…

Story didn’t replace Renfroe’s bat? If you look at the 2b/RF combos, the 2021 team had Renfroe along with the Arroyo/Chavis/Marwin/Iglesias crowd. The 2022 team had Story and Bradley (plus). As bad as Bradley was offensively, if he simply posted numbers equivalent to that 2b crowd (who are not to be confused with Dustin Pedroia), then the Sox would have seen similar production from both lineup spots and improved defense at both 2b and RF…