Hugh2

I meant my son Theo. He's very dissapointed in John Henry

Possible? I think that's 100% the reason why Sale is gone.

John Henry can't stomach overpaying a pitcher, unless it's for 2-3 years then he'll double their salary. Sale he paid to do nothing for years, then traded him away right before he showed you his best. Henrys affinity towards shedding $ and comitting to players came back to bite him in the ass and now he has egg on his face. Hopefully Theo slaps him a few times and tells him to stop being a scrooge.

Sox fans don't deserve this, but Chris Sale does. You know who else does? John Henry.

Hmmmm looks like we could use some pitching. Are there any good pitchers hitting free agency this year? 😎

ADD: I'm largely going by his scouting reports. Yes, he's striking guys out, and THAT'S GOOD. But is it because his above average command and control allows him to take advantage of minor league hitters. That's what the scouting says on him "Type of player who may have success in the low minors due to combination of pitch mix, command-and-control profile, and unique look/arm slot, but will face a much tougher test in the high minors against more mature hitters." Still, when a guy puts together a nice stretch like he has, one has to wonder if he's just doing what everyone thought he would or has something changed? pitchers do pop. Not getting my hopes up with this guy, but I'd be interested to see if the scouting reports change on him this offseason.

If Coffey could add a few ticks of velocity he could be something, but at 24 that's hard to see. Maybe he sees an increase in a bullpen role? His biggest problem is he tosses soft and doesn't have a true out pitch, or anything plus. Good control, and a nice arsenal, so it's not surprising he's carving up the low minors.

or sign free agent pitchers.

Oh, is the season in the minors over today?

I think it's the opposite, I think it's very likely that the Sox start Anthony next year, or he's on the roster after a month. They will trade someone if there's no injuries. Anthony will presumably be the #1 prospect next spring (Caminero who is #1 will graduate soon). He's hitting very well in AAA and it's going to be very hard to keep him down if he's mashing in ST. At the very least, if he's not starting until september 1st. Something has gone horribly wrong. Mayer, I don't believe is going to get every opportunity to win ss/2b in spring training; a string of injuries can change a lot. He's one of the top prospects in the game as a short stop, and the Sox are not going to move him off position. Story will be given every opportunity as long as he's healthy. Mayer, who has had his own health concerns also has not taken 1 at bat above AA. They're going to want to give him a few months in AAA, but if he's performing I have a very hard time seeing him held down in AAA up to september 1st. Unless he's injured again or not performing well Campbell might have the best chance, because he's right handed and he offers positional versatility. Now the #25 prospect in all of baseball, almost no one has the helium he does right now. He's already mashing in AAA not skipping a beat since his promotion. If he spends a WHOLE other year in the minors.......it's because something went wrong. Teel is interesting. Because on one hand due to need he could be one of the first to come up, but he might have the biggest chance of being up after September 1st as well. He's struggled in AAA, but I'm not concerned, however it could indicate he may need a little time there before he's a finished product. I'm also re-reading your original post, I think I misunderstood you. IDK why but I initially thought you were implying none of these guys could be up by september 1st. I suppose the probability of that is greater than 0 but I think you were saying there's a small chance ALL FOUR are called up by then. That makes more sense, still, I can see a scenario where 2-3 are in Boston and somebody gets traded. Between trades, injuries, and players breaking down the doors, I think we see all 4 next year.

Fitts is fine, like I said; I think he has a chance of hacing a decent career as an innings eater/ back of the rotation starter. You can never have enough pitching, and not all of them can be aces. Of course in Bostons case, also none of them can be aces.

I’m not sure Fitts is ever anything more than a BOTR starter. That’s fine, but we got that already In Boston.

Who’s still in the minors September 1st next year? Baring injury.

Baring injury or regression, I don’t see how any of those 4 don’t debut at some point in 2025.

With graduations soon Roman could be #1 this offseason. A healthy Perales likely makes this list. Still, 6 top 100’s are impressive. all position players, with many mlb positions already filled with young talent. its almost as if…….theres nothing left to do but spend money on pitching.

Everything is a risk. There's a risk that we trade away Anthony, Mayer, or others and they turn into hall of famers. There's a risk the pitcher we trade for becomes injured. There's risk he can't pitch here or seriously declines. The same risks come with free agent pitchers you sign as well. There's also the risk of doing nothing and not receiving peak value from guys on your farm. What I want.....is a front office with some conviction. I don't blame brez yet, because he effectively got the keys to the car when it was still a few years away from it's destination. But the Sox are in a much better spot today than they have in a long time. Are they in a great spot? no, could it be better? yes. But they have a winning record, a chance to make the playoffs and two young cores. One already in the bigs (Bello, Houck, Wong, Casas, Rafaela, Abreu, Hamilton, Crawford, and Duran) and another wave on the cusp of contribution (Anthony/Teel/Campbell/Mayer). They could really jump start this core and compete next year if they would invest in pitching. I believe. Even if a 1/2 those guys falter, you conveivably don't have to make any major position player moves for the next several years. So the money is there to pay a few pitchers....if they chose to. As stated earlier, theres more than one way to skin a cat, thus, there are multiple ways to bring in starting pitching talent: draft and develop, trade for, and free agency. I beleive there's a time and a place for everything. I'd love to see this team bet on themselves, and go out and spend on pitching. Let the next wave of top prospects coming up be the trade pieces we use to put us over the top, or trade for another pitcher when we lose one of our top ones. This is a great way to jumpstart the core, and have a good 3-4 year window of success, but it would go a long way to prolong that window if they could start developing some pitching.

Jarren Duran, Kyle Teel, Marcelo Mayer, and Roman Anthony for Skubal?

Well…..I have hope we might be picking 30th next year

When Bieber recovers he have just turned 30 with the talent to be a CY young candidate. Hill is…..over the hill. they’re not the same.

Add. Even if you could decipher the Sox budget from the last few years, on paper, they have the money to spend on pitching this offseason with seemingly no other holes. are they going to spend $60 million on a catcher? A SS? A 1B? Or a CFer? No need to, go get some pitching. I have my own budget. I can spend it on some tickets and a jersey, or I can go out and buy a nice new whiney pitch fork. balls in your court Mr. Henry

I get the line of thinking by some to offload some money. But I’m tired of curtailing my wishlist to the mindset of a mid market team. This is Boston, not Cleveland. I think we need to either trade prospect capital for an Ace, or buy one this winter. Preferably both. yoshida is fine, he keeps hitting he might be very tradeable by the next deadline when the outfield gets very tight. (Hopefully)

Because he got off to a slow start.

But that's just the thing. We should expect it, we should be dissapointed when it doesn't happen, and we should demand a front office that invests in the team. The only teams that constantly pull in more revenue and has a higher valuation is the Yankees and the Dodgers. We are right up there with the big boys. Letting guys like Betts, Bogaerts walk away, and not addressing the core needs of this team over a decade is not defensable. They have had the resources and ability to spend and be a sustainable winner AND make money. If the Sox aren't going after premium players, we should be upset. Or at least, I'm upset.

FWIW Bello has been great in the second half. Very encouraging after a rough year and considering he’s about 3 years younger than Houck and Crawford

I wouldn’t put those signings in the same stratosphere as Bieber. How does Beiber compare to Hill? only similarities are having surgery, people clamored for Eovaldi to come back and he’s had two. whats scares people off is the thought of the Red Sox doing that and only that. But if the Sox gave Beiber a 1-2 year deal AND signed Burnes or traded for an ACE, no one would be complaining about that. Or at least I don’t think they would.