notin

And so far, the Sox did commit to one of those superstars. And even with the discounted price, how is Sale working out?

And it would work closer to that if the Sox never brought in highly paid free agents from the outside. But at some point, it gets difficult for any team to afford it. Especially since it turns into a long term commitment…

They may not think of it that way, but those salaries count toward luxury tax limits and are therefore part of the budget…

Fans may want continuity, but players prefer money. The 2018 Red Sox had 4 players clearly earmarked for salaries in the $25-40mill range AAV (Betts, Devers, Sale, Bogaerts). Do fans honestly expect any team to shell out some $100mill to $140mill on 10% of the roster? How are the other 36 players going to get paid? Some of them might prefer a tad over the league minimum?

That’s why home runs are so important. No one gets tired from trotting…

Manfred is working on a plan to use baseballs where the seam height gets higher as the score differential increases…

Apparently Cora needs to convince LaRussa to hold back the bullpen pitchers we can hit so they can be used in subsequent games. Back to reality - there is a strategic reason to pile on runs, especially in the first game of a series. It can force a team to burn through their bullpen, which actually can help in later games…

This type of thing gets said a lot. Do people really believe this type of thing is possible?

The last out in this game featured 2 players who could have made a food list on Bellhorn’s Fun With Baseball Names thread - Burger and Danish…

Probably. But as Bogaerts was one year from free agency at the time, I’m surprised he signed anything at all…

Disagree. If not for the opt out, perhaps Bogaerts leavers after 2019 as a free agent instead of playing here for the last 2+ seasons at $20mill. Without the opt out, it might have taken a lot more to sign Bogaerts. Perhaps more than the Sox we’re willing/able to spend…

Not so sure. Yore telling me that guy playing LF for the Red Sox in 2020, the guy who batted .103 with a 42 OPS+? So your story is that guy was not only a Major League ball player, but that he was the Andrew Benintendi? A guy often compared to Wade Boggs by people with less than 12 brain cells? Sorry. I don’t believe it. That was some random imposter…

I don’t think Bloom had much choice. Trade him or keep him around for one more 60 game season in which the Sox ace was already out. Betts was going to extend for anything less than the GNP of Canada. Even the Sox most free-spending GM of all time was unable to satisfy him. I’m not even sure how willing he was to extend with LA. By the time he signed, he’d been part of their organization for 5 months, and MLB had already cancelled spring training and the first third of the season and there was no end in sight. It’s a really safe bet Friedman spent all of those 5 months trying to talk extension. It’s an equally safe bet he also spent them all sweating profusely. You come out here and you’d think Bloom traded Betts with the same whimsy with which the Dodgers dealt Pedro to the Expos, and all Betts wanted was any extension at all…

Pivetta, too…

So Story leads the team in RBI, SB and is one behind the leader in HR. Who thought we’d be saying that a week ago?

Reportedly his father spent most of Donaldson’s childhood in prison and he hardly ever saw him. I’ve never heard of there were allegations of abuse or not…

Because he’s going it in muggy South Carolina and not the more temperate Massachusetts or Maine…

Probably why he’s been on 5 different teams in the past 5 years, despite posting a .847 OPS in that time frame…

Well, yes. You are the idiot. But Dalbec’s 27.7 ft/sec is faster than everyone on the Yankees except IKF. (Yes, he is faster than Hicks.) He ranks third in the Sox behind Cordero and Story. (But not Duran, who will bump him down a notch when he gets promoted.) Can we get a troll with a clue?

Just a catcher and a 2b. Maybe a RF, but both Bradley and Duran (assuming he isn’t traded) are back next year…

Find me a kicker where his higher percentages are over 45 yards. And really, Norwood had career long struggles beyond 40 yards on grass. He was basically asked to make a kick under pressure that he struggled with under any circumstance…

But how much of a player getting defined by a play is just fan perception? I mean, Scott Norwood is the definitive goat (lowercase - not the acronym - you mentioned. But he missed a 47 yard field goal. Not a high percentage kick for any kicker. Mariano Rivera, for all his reputation, only pitched in one game seven of his career. And it didn’t end well for him. Yet Rivera was a unanimous HOF selection while Norwood pretty much quit football. (Norwood’s issue for his whole career was he was never very good beyond 40 yards; it was a miracle he played as long as he did.) The Sox right now need better relievers. Brasier was demoted after spending 6 weeks among the hardest hit pitchers in MLB. Well, Robles’ numbers in that regard are almost identical. He’s simply not fooling anyone. He’s not even coming close. Stop using him late in games! I loved the idea of Houck and Whitlock - in whatever order - taking the bulk of the late inning work. And not being used as rotation depth. That’s what Seabold and Winckowski - both of whom are showing AAA is not a challenge - are for. Not sure why the Sox like to empty the bullpen to backfill the rotation and then backfill the bullpen with waiver claims. (Although Schreiber has been impressive to date.)

I think Swi just used this site to vent. And hey, if making a few idiotic posts helps him get through the day with shaving some wild birds or setting his underwear on fire, I see no harm…

Is Paddack plus Pagan really a great package? Paddack is still young, but he’s been going downhill fast since his rookie year three years ago. And he’s done for this year. Pagan is a middle relief arm occasionally trusted with closing duties, but he’s been slowed down a lot by injuries. He’s not the same guy he was in Tampa…

Wow. You’re trolling again shows your cluelessness. Pinch run for Dalbec and Vazquez? Dalbec is already one of the fastest guys on the team. But more important, Vazquez was the second catcher in the game (this means there were none left if they didn’t win. That’s bad.) But really, pickling on the bench? Said it before but it’s worth repeating. We got some stupid trolls. I curse Bill Gates for making the PC so accessible with his software that even people too stupid to troll right can operate one…