Hugh2

True, but at 16 years old it so much more of a crap shoot. They did sign a total of 34 pitchers that year. Sox have a decent history of finding guys for less than 1 Million. Bello $28,000 Monegro $35,000 Wikelman Gonzalez $250,000 Luis Perales $75,000 I would have liked to see them take some larger swings though. to be fair, theres' still 50 weeks left this period. I wonder if this means they won't make a run at Sasaki, or they figure he won't be posted this year? He wants to be posted now, but will make hundreds of millions more if he waits a year.

A lot of the guys I wanted didn't really seem to heading anywhere else other than where they signed. Nola Yamamoto Depeding on the price, I still woudn't hate Montgomery/Snell.

I wasn't going to say it, but I was thinking it. To be fair, they went heavier last year on pitching in the IFA than they have recently, so maybe the rosters are still filled out with some guys they believe in. That narrative would fit better if they draft more pitching state side this year.

Gray maybe, but didn't Nola sign an extension with Philly almost immediately into FA? Did he even talk with any other teams?

There's no such thing as a blocked prospect, truly. If a team believes in a guy they will find a home for him if he's blocked at his position E.G. Mookie Betts moving to OF because Dustin Pedroia was the 2B. Also, said player can always be traded.

2014 IFA period has begun, one of the few bright spots of Sox player development in recent years. Of course, these guys won't make an impact for 4-6 years so I know most of you won't care all that much but some of us love this stuff. Badler lists Carrasquel as one of the potential breaksouts for under 1 million. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-international-signings-analysis-potential-breakout-prospects-for-under-1-million/ Carlos Carrasquel, 3B, Venezuela (Red Sox) "Carrasquel has a promising offensive foundation of size, hitting ability and power. He’s 6-foot-4, generates easy power from the right side of the plate and doesn’t have to sell out with an all-or-nothing swing to produce that power, with the strength projection for bigger exit velocity numbers in the future. A shortstop earlier in the scouting process, Carrasquel has gotten faster and improved defensively, but his size and range fit better at third base, with the arm strength to stay on the left side of the infield."

The anger towards ownership is perfectly justified. However, that doesn't mean there isn't a sense of cynicism built around the expectations that the Sox can be immediately fixed. It's like watching your wife blow up to 300 LB's. You can't just expect her to fit back into her wedding dress in a few months, it's probably going to take a few years.....however, you can still roll your eye because she hasn't put down the ho ho's yet.

Yo, I ain’t running and hiding, I own what I say. I said to him EXACTLY what he said to me after I wrote to you “that’s the dumbest s*** I ever heard” I was very specific to write exactly that after he called another posters comments dumb. Obviously that went over your head.

Just calling out a hypocrite when I see one

Oh….the irony.

Going lefty first, Casas is my Choice with this lineup. Devers hits 3rd, gets up in the first. If one of Story/O’Neill can’t get going in camp I’d say that’s more optimal

With all due respect, who are you to tell other people their opinions are stupid?

It might come down to which one, but at their peak performance that would be good a good discusion to have. Lets pray we have that conversation.

That's the lineup I envision, except I would flip Casas and Devers. I think Casas could grow into more power but he already has more OBP.

If those things happened above, and perhaps we need a prayer for it do so. The lineup looks really good, they'd probably never do this with such a young player but Grissom looks like he could be a very good leadoff hitter. This puts Casas and Devers naturally into the #2 #4 slot in some order. Now you just need one of O'Neill and Story to be good to fill out the 3 hole. There's a path there for this team to be good. There's just so much uncertainty in this lineup compared to other teams.

Probably not as many as people think. Lets just say most of the players give you about what they have in the past, maybe a little more of less down the line and just 7 exceed expecations: O'Neil stays healthy Story stays healthy Grissom becomes an average everyday 2nb who can hit Bello takes a step forward and is a #2 Giolito gives you innings, gets his head right and is a #2/#3 1 of Whitlock/Houck/Crawford take a step forward and pitch well. That right there, might make this team much better than anyone in here will give them credit for. If a few of those things don't happen we need something unexpected to happen. Abreu taking a larger step forward than we think he can for example, or some of the other numbers on your list. This is not all too different than every other team in baseball. We just have more question marks. There are more paths towards this team being bad next year than other teams.

Hammer meet nail

The chances of all those happening is greater than zero. Also, the odds of someone being killed by a meteorite is also more than zero.

No you can’t. And it will probably be judged as such no matter what. Can’t blame people giving recent results Unfortunately for ownership they’ve painted themselves into this corner. There’s no words or moves that will ever restore the fan bases faith in their commitment to this team. Only results will. They have to go out and win games to shut people up.

This is accurate, but a good business person also looks at the payoff of an investment not just the cost of doing business. I’m a business man, buying a piece of equipment for $100k can be the best or worse decision I can make. If I believe the return on my investment is worth the cost, then it’s really just a question of whether or not I can afford it. Sox can afford all these guys they’re not signing. They just don’t believe these investments are worth it. In a vacuum, I can’t disagree with that, but at a certain point in time someone has to question their evaluation process if they have seemingly decided almost no premium free agent is worth investing in for several years. It’s one thing to sit a year of free agency out. But year after year, and the biggest investment they’ve made in almost a decade has been Devers and Story. It just doesn’t make much since. Their affinity towards shying away from the top of the pitching market would make more sense if they actually invested in finding and developing young pitching. At the very least, if they had a plan in bringing in young pitching. They have failed miserably.

I haven’t overlooked this side of it. Which is why I’ve stated recently that the Sox abysmal results may be at the very least just as much a function of poor execution than just simply apathy towards building a winning team

Reported that the Red Sox and the Mets have been in contact with Blake Snell since yesterday. LHP is seeking a contract worth $200 million. I think I everyone here, despite our vast differences, would be shocked if we sign Snell for $200 million, and even more shocked if we were to outbid the Mets.

They don’t want to spend in areas of need because they see the need to big. They will spend when they think the team is worth investing in. The team is not worth investing in because they have sucked at building one. It’s a vicious cycle of suck.

Exactly. If this was a .500 team, and we were expecting more from the youth movement going into 2024 I’d say trade for an ACE and buy one. But at this point it feels like you’re cashing in all your chips to get to .500 Let’s face it. We suck.

I wouldn’t trade those top three for a rental either. Apparently no other GM will either.