Nick

Moon has him going to the bullpen. And we trade a prospect(s) for a starter to replace him.

It's worth the risk Moon. If you sit on him too long, he play out to his free agency. He was able to make adjustments offensively this year. Sure, pick away. I'll f***ing take a $80M risk for 6-8 years on him.

First baseman Triston Casas, starter Brayan Bello and outfielder Jarren Duran stand out as the players the Sox could look to lock up this winter, with starter Kutter Crawford, catcher Connor Wong and rookie outfielders Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela also in the mix for pre-arbitration deals. On the latest episode of MassLive’s Fenway Rundown podcast, team president/CEO Sam Kennedy confirmed that early deals will be a priority for Boston this winter. “We should be able to determine which players would qualify for longer-term extensions, whether it’s Bello, whether it’s Abreu, whether it’s Duran or Casas. These are really important decisions that our baseball operations people have to make.”, Sam Kennedy I pay attention to what the executives say. Many scoffed at the idea of me including Rafaela and Abreu in our core group, and NOT Verdugo. Hell, Sam Kennedy even mentions Duran, and many here doesn't think he hasn't proven himself yet. #1 priority is Bello #2 priority is Casas I think we have at least another year before jumping in on Duran, Kutter and Houck. Two years on Wong, Rafaela and Abreu. We don't have to jump in all at once. My belief is it should be done after the second or third year.

There's a difference between poking fun at Cora so that his fans come out of the woodwork and defend him versus flat out being critical about it. That's the part I enjoy, the part where his fan base come defend him. I don't work for the Sox. I know NOTHING about what is going on behind the scene. Scheduled days off are his way of doing things. I may not like it but he's the manager. I only took couple of exceptions with him this year. And it was probably not his fault, 100%. I think you know what that was. I'm done talking about THAT. And by the way, I don't think I've ever criticized Cora for why he got suspended. See, I'm not all negative.

Here comes the fact checker. I believe you already told me it was more likely lefty lefty matchup. Do you want me to do a deep dive? I'm busy right now coaching. I will get back to you.

We see eye to eye on many things. I'm little surprised that you would bring up his performance in 2 games to refute what I said. You know that I'm just poking fun at Cora. I loved the scheduled day off near the All Star break. A day off before the 4 day break.

Funny how some playoff teams have players that can play 162 games. Not in Boston. Rest, rest, rest.

2024 is year 2 for me. We finally have a core group of young position players. We need a right handed bat but for me that core group is Wong Casas Story Devers Yoshida Duran Rafaela and Abreu.I would throw in Bello Houch Whitlock Wick and Kutter. It's not final and subject to upgrading but clearly this is the new starting point. You can throw in few minor leaguers that is projected to come up in 2024 or 2025. But once we get there we should have the foundation to move forward. Go get some starting pitching. Nothing is possible without that.

I'd like to follow what the Rangers did except in reverse. Instead two big bats, go for 2 big time starters. Then add couple of more big bats the following year. The window of opportunity is here. We have 5-6 years of window.

So Rays are out in 2 games. Looking back they had an unbelievable start. I'm not sure how I would deal with being outstated so quickly. I never thought this Sox team was good enough to win it all so I am not as angry. I did flip out with the Kike situation but that worked out. There were many positives. I still think we are couple of years away from challenging for the title. But the Sox need to go all in not only this year but next. Many of our young players will have another year of experirence.

Alex Cora to players: ‘Not acceptable’ for Red Sox to miss postseason Nick to Alex...maybe you should do a better job of managing. Not acceptable to play your best friend at short when clearly he doesn't belong there. I know I had NOTHING to do with Sox losing. Can you say the same?

We clamored on this board to extend Devers. #1 priority before 2023 season starts everyone said. Sox sign him to a 10 year deal. Now all we can talk about his pending move to 1B where we have 5 year team controlled player that may finish 2nd in the Rookie of the Year Voting. I am shaking my head. We got rid of the shortstop that lead the majors in errors at the time of the trade. We replaced him with a plus defender. It appears we have a future gold glove centerfielder close to the majors. I was led to believe Wong is a good defensive catcher. Maybe they were only talking about his 'pop' time being good. One step at a time folks. We did a great job shoring up the bullpen last year. If we do the same with our starting rotation, our bullpen will even get deeper and stronger. I really don't give a damn that we finished last. I'm sure the Yankee fans are doing cartwheels having not finished last. Yeah, right. World championship rings. We may have to wait until 2025 to go for it. But I believe we're getting closer.

"He wanted to leave and I can't blame him for going to the Dodgers. That's my storyline." Is this the court of the law? Geez, some people are uptight.

He wanted to leave and I can't blame him for going to the Dodgers. That's my storyline.

Is there a stat for relievers that show runners inherited, runners scored? My reason for asking is especially during last couple of months, it appears (eye test) Winckowski has not done a very good job when he comes in. Damn the ERA. Inheriting 3 runners and all of them scoring has no impact on his ERA but it certainly doesn't qualify as getting the job done. Just curious.

77-83 A Realistic View of 2023: Part II. Shouldn't we retire this thread after tomorrow's game? We will get the final Realist View of 2023 Season.

What do you base it on? Eye test? 3.2 vs 1.2?

With the 2023 Red Sox season winding down, co-hosts Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam dished out several Red Sox awards on the most recent episode of the Fenway Rundown podcast. Cotillo and McAdam agreed that Justin Turner — not Rafael Devers — should be considered the team’s MVP despite Devers having better statistics in most categories. 1 Rafael Devers BOS 3.2 2 Jarren Duran BOS 2.4 3 Alex Verdugo BOS 2.2 4 Kutter Crawford BOS 2.1 5 Chris Sale BOS 2.1 6 Adam Duvall BOS 2.0 7 Brayan Bello BOS 1.7 8 Triston Casas BOS 1.7 9 Nick Pivetta BOS 1.5 10 Chris Martin BOS 1.5 11 Justin Turner BOS 1.3 Because Justin is a nice guy? Typical Boston talking heads.

I was making a point that most of our position players are Pre-Arb guys and cheap.

For 2025, we are only committed to 4 players, Devers, Yoshida, Story and Whitlock totaling $75M. We are $144M under luxury tax threshhold. Not sure why everyone here is depressed. C Teel/Wong 1B Casas 2B Yorke SS Mayer/Story 3B Devers OF Rafaela OF Duran OF Abreu OF Anthony DH Yoshida Go buy some pitching. See how easy it is?

I am talking about Casas on 10/4/22 vs Abreu on 10/4/23. Do u not see the stat line for each on Sept call up?

Good read on Boston Globe as season winds down. Bello has been our most consistent starter, only pitcher to log 150+ innings. Obviously he's hit a wall. Globe pencils him in as #3 starter. Noting Sox needs to find #1 and #2 via free agency or trade. Globe thinks Pivetta is a keeper as our #5 noting his resurgence after getting demoted. His big plus is his ability to eat up innings. Globe thinks Verdugo will be gone. His lack of production after the All Atar break, his lack of effort on a consistence basis and finally the fact that he is set to become a free agent in 2025. Globe is very high on Abreu. Cora loves his swing and his hustle. Lastly Globe wants the team to figure out what they have in Houck. Starter or reliever. Cora thinks he knows the answer but no one has asked.

Well if you put it that way....I think I remember Cora saying Kike will be fine at short.

There's some crazy talk about Anthony making his major league debut in 2024. Pretty unreal but hope it happens.

Yep