Nick

I will tackle pitching side with multiple posts. 2 pitchers with long term deal are Crochet and Bello. Crochet is a stud. His 6 year deal starts in 2026 and runs through 2031. I would hate to think where we'd be without him. I would suspect that he'll get more run support at some point. I see him with 21 more starts. Let's hope the 'team' does better than .500 when he starts the rest of the way. In his 12 starts, he has 7 quality starts. Bello's contract runs through 2029 with club option of $21M for 2030. He has not been horrible but he continues to struggle with his pitch count. In 8 starts, he has 2 quality starts. He still has quite a bit of upside I believe and his cash payroll this year is only $2.5M. We're probably getting okay value relative to his pay. (of course Crochet is only making $3.8M this year). I think he'll get better. Chapman has exceeded my expectations. Hendriks maybe hurt and may need more time after his injuries, but there's not way he's the closer this year. Chapman's deal is only for $10.75M. I'd like to see him come back for another 1 year deal. Would $15M do it? I am going to stop here. I am with Moon when it comes to starting pitching. It's well worth it to find a bona fide second ace to go along with Crochet. It would be nice to find an internal candidate but he may not be on our current roster. Maybe Fitts has a break through season next year and be that guy in 2027. It's too much of a crapshoot as Moon says. We still have several young, major leaguers and highly ranked prospects as trading chips for another major deal similar to Crochet deal. I am not sure if there's a guy in similar situation. Does White Sox have Crochet #2? I do sit and wonder what if we had resigned Eovaldi and Pivetta. It's easy if you can see the future, which we can't. to be continued.

I guess my question would be without a well constructed team (high ceiling guys), can we even make the playoffs?

Pretty funny, sadly true

ROATATION VS BRAVES FOR THIS WEEKEND 5 GS 27.1 IP 2-3 team record Giolito 8 GS 41.0 IP 6-2 team record Buehler 12 GS 75.0 IP 6-6 team record Crochet Maybe it's good for our offense that all 3 starters for Braves are right handed pitchers.

Lets look at the team as it is and see how we get to the World Series, that is how do go from here to improve our roster?. I give where credit is due and I command the brass for trading for Crochet and extending him. He's clearly our #1. I also liked Bregman signing. Unfortunately my only concern with him is his opt out clause. Is this the best time to extend him and bring him into the fold for the future? I don't know. I am done talking about Devers. He is our DH for next 9 years. The concern for his health and defense sealed it for me. Let him do what he does best. His contract will become more and more reasonable. He can hit and I don't see that diminishing over time. Most of our other signings were for short term and good/bad we don't have to dwell on it multiple seasons. Buehler and Chapman to name a couple. I will let all of you comment. What to do with Casas, a notoriously a slow starter and now add his latest injury. Does he fit in with our speed/athleticism emphasis. He simply looks out of place if he's not hitting 30 home runs. What to do with Campbell. Will he eventually have a home position? 2B? OF? I'm liking the idea of giving him a chance at 1B, maybe not permanently but for 2025. And I have the ulterior motive of calling up Anthony. Unless we move Rafaela to infield, we need trade either Duran or Abreu. Keep in mind that we have a right handed batting, fast rising Garcia that just got promoted to AAA. He is 22. If Campbell is moved to 1B, it clears away for Rafaela to play short or 3B, stash away Story at 2B, and place Mayer to his position at short. Perhaps we shouldn't go overboard with Narvaez but his defensive metrics do not lie. He is a keeper as catcher. In summary for the position players, the players that I see can be on the World Champion team are as follow. (my ceiling guys) DH Devers CC Narvaez SS Mayer OF Anthony OF Duran or Abreu (if we move one Rafaela can return to center)..you can decide which one to keep CF/IF Rafaela (defense plus holding down #9 spot in the lineup) 3B Bregman, if we give him a contract with no opt out, he would be a great addition. Utility Campbell (I'm assuming his offense will come up) So in theory, our line up could look as follows Duran, Devers, Bregman, Anthony, Narvaez, Mayer, Campbell(1b-temp, do we give Casas another shot? He has 3 arb yrs left.), Story(not in my future plans), Rafaela. Here's my action item for 2025. I like Abreu but someone in the OF has to go and he's my choice. With 5 years of team control (including this year), he may attract good enough return. Extend or seal the deal on Bregman. Please complete your thoughts. Follow through on the entire line up construction. You action will require additional action to take place. look at the big picture. Thanks Moon, or someone else, can you tackle the pitching staff? Thanks

Say what you will, winning the season starts with starting pitching and we're lacking. Think of what has happened to Tanner. He was possibly be starter 1A. He is now not pitching. God only knows what he will be like when he comes back. What happened to Kutter? When did he exactly get hurt? Both Buehler and Giolito have been hurt. Its a mess. If I own a major league team, the success. starts with having bona fide starting pitching staff. We need more Crochet.

I'm okay with Story not playing.

Put Campbell at 1st, have Rafaela, Mayer and Story figure out 2B/3B/SS rotation, stick Anthony in the outfield for his BAT. I don't want to hear Rafaela is an elite defender so he can't be moved. The bottom line is Rafaela playing CF has gotten us NOTHING. I'll take whatever incremental loss we have in losing Rafaela playing center field against the positive offensive output that Anthony can provide the team that's slumping badly. Who wants to keep watching this crap for next 100 games? Go young...put the guys in place....that means Anthony in the outfield, who says he can't play center field anyway? Mayer at short, Story should be the one getting moved. His defensive metrics are no longer outstanding. Figure out what to do with Houck, Crawford, Fitts, Dobbins. Who's starting? Who's the long reliever? Can Kutter be a 8/9th inning arm?

Cora ready to play Campbell at 1B. Maybe they'll bring up Anthony.

CORA....WE GOT TO PLAY BETTER!

Here's why Anthony should be called up to the majors. Avg. OPS. Hits/AB Player .120 .280 9-75 in May, Campbell .146 .387 7-48 in 2025, Wong .151 .404 13-84 in May, Story (if you go back little further, he's 15-118 .197 .540 14-71 in 2025, Hamilton .213 .651 19-89 in May, Abreu .221 .605 38-172 in 2025, Rafaela (Gold Glover, batting 9th) Does Cora sees this? You have Mayer, our 2nd best minor league prospect, hitting clean up today. But apparently Anthony has more to learn in AAA. Let's hear all the excuses why you can't make this happen. You are losing the fan base vey quickly. We don't want to watch Story hit. He's been hurt, he tries....blah blah blah He makes frekin $21M. He gets no sympathy from me. .

Big question is can he enter 5th inning with less than 80 pitches thrown. That's all I need to know. Someone in the pen will blow it. It doesn't help that we'll only be up by one, at best. Ugh. What a bunch of losers. Starts with Brez and Cora, then Story.

I hope they keep losing. What a freakin idiots. Best hitter in the minors. We act like we din't need him. They can all get fired.

We have Abreu Campbell Story Rafaela all slumping. You can add Hamilyon and Wong also.

When you are led to believe Story and Rafaela are good players on the roster you have problems.

Just so everyone knows, Ralaela has play 60 games at 3B in the minors. Sure we want his Gold Glove in the center field. That was before Bregman, that was before Story's pathetic performance at short on top of Casas being out for the year. We need all the bullets we can muster. One of those is Anthony. Desperate time calls for desperate measures. Get rid of/bench Story. Every game you waste is another step backwards for the organization.

With all due respect to all the nay sayers content with leaving Anthony in the minors should think what this is doing to Anthony. Do you think he wants to be a Red Sox? No freakin' way he's signing extension. Many here think the outfield is just fine. And maybe it is but you're ignoring the fact that it can be better. The odd man out can play another position (eg Rafaela) or be traded to acquire additional pitching help. Our lineup overall is pathetic. You can't recoup sunken costs. We made a big mistake acquiring both Yoshida and Story. Why is Story in a slump? Well hell, he wasted his prime years injured. He's unable to recover what little magic he has left in his bat. If I'm Anthony, I'm stewing playing AAA while my buddies are getting promotion. Cora and Brez are worried about hurting the feelings of grown up such as Devers, Story, etc. They should be more concerned about Anthony. Quit telling us why you can't bring up Anthony. What's going to change? Are you seriously hoping that an outfielder gets hurt as one of the options as your plan going forward? If you can't find a way to bring up Anthony, then the organization is more incompetent that I ever imagined. Why don't you use your stinking analysists to find a way to bring up Anthony. Hell he's in everyone's top 3 prospects in the majors. Very disappointing.

With all due respect to all the nay sayers content with leaving Anthony in the minors should think what this is doing to Anthony. Do you think he wants to be a Red Sox? No freakin' way he's signing extension. Many here think the outfield is just fine. And maybe it is but you're ignoring the fact that it can be better. The odd man out can play another position (eg Rafaela) or be traded to acquire additional pitching help. Our lineup overall is pathetic. You can't recoup sunken costs. We made a big mistake acquiring both Yoshida and Story. Why is Story in a slump? Well hell, he wasted his prime years injured. He's unable to recover what little magic he has left in his bat. If I'm Anthony, I'm stewing playing AAA while my buddies are getting promotion. Cora and Brez are worried about hurting the feelings of grown up such as Devers, Story, etc. They should be more concerned about Anthony. Quit telling us why you can't bring up Anthony. What's going to change? Are you seriously hoping that an outfielder gets hurt as one of the options as your plan going forward? If you can't find a way to bring up Anthony, then the organization is more incompetent that I ever imagined. Why don't you use your stinking analysists to find a way to bring up Anthony. Hell he's in everyone's top 3 prospects in the majors. Very disappointing.

Whitlock has become pretty useless. He gets hit. That's the bottom line. We used the excuse that he's much better reliever.......sure he is.

If it's a complete sell off I would start with Chapman. Then Buehler and Giolito. I would find a way to get Anthony up to the majors. The goal is to shed some payroll and acquire young talent. Maybe a blockbuster with Duran

We have in our lineup today for 3 4 5 spots a rookie, a rookie, and a 2nd yr player.. Next 30 games are critical....if we fall off the cliff.. I'd say sell off. Find a way to get Anthony up in the major.

I'm going to pat myself on the back for calling out Newcomb being let go. Designated for Assignment. Called it.!!!!1

They were talking about the Orioles. Santander and Burnes.

Watching Mayer greeting his new teammates, the kid's a big guy. Taller, thicker.

Sox fans are elated!!!!!!! Maybe this is the jolt we need....go on a streak.