Hugh2

Do the people advocating for trading for an ACE realize how many aces are on next years market?????

An ace does nothing if the rest of the team isn't also great. Angels literally have two of the best players to play the game in the last couple of decades on both sides of the ball and they've sucked for years with both Trout and Ohtani. This is why I fall into the category of, you acquire a pitcher to finish off a team, not to build a team. I want sustainable success, I want multiple championship runs. I'm a spoiled new england sports fan, but I'm also a patient man. I have zero problems waiting an extra year or two if it means a decade of dominance. Now maybe Bloom is far far far from the man to bring us there.....but the strategy is sound. If I was John Henry.....and I'm not, I'd bring in Ohtani at all costs.

If anything Casas is the golden example (or starting to look like it at least) that you don't always mess with a guys approach, even if the results aren't there if the approach is sound. Casas is still just 23 and a rookie, he's still adjusting and getting better. Sometimes guys just need time and NOT to be tinkered with.

You're not getting one for Rafaela either. You'd need 3-4 prospects of his caliber to get an ACE with one of them being closer to Mayers caliber. Emptying the system means you're adding to this team less in the future. So unless you think an ACE makes you a lock to be a WS contender for the next several years it just feels like the wrong time to strike. Especially when one considers that next year you're sitting 100 million under the cap, just reset, and have a much better ACE class than you did this past year in FA. I'm very very very encouraged by Duran, but I wouldn't be making him a lock to man CF for years to come just yet, Yoshida is not a good defender, and Verdugo will be in his last year next year. I'd rather buy and ACE than an outfielder for 2025, and I'd be perfectly happy adding him to next years team. Ohtani? Yama? Urias? Nola? just to name a few off the top.

Plus we still don’t truly know what Duran is. Sure, his stock is up, and looks like a much better big leaguer than he did last year. But more important is the fact that there’s three outfield positions. Yoshida might really only be a DH in a few years and Verdugo is a free agent after next year. I’m not looking to trade my outfield depth right now. I’d be more open to it if it was for an Ace with good FA options. But the outfield market year in and year out is very very thin. Who can we sign next year? Teoscar Hernandez? Michael Conforto? I actually wouldn’t mind Teoscar on this team, but I love the ideal of a GG defender in CF more.

You expect people here to have memories and stand by their opinions of the past? you expect too much.

JD literally looked like he was toast last year and everyone was ready to move on from him. I always liked him, I'm happy to see he's got a little bit left in the tank. That's one thing I'm never going to fault the front office for however. He played his contract here and performed, they moved on, he looked burnt and NO ONE wanted him here. It's a completely hindsight opinion.

I don't think they should sell.

If the Sox DID sell, seeing how they're below the cap I think it makes sense to maximize their value by throwing money in. Don't think that happens with Sale and Story, but certainly guys like Kike, and Jansen could make sense. Jansen is probably your best shot at a good prospect. If we are truly sellers, Martin could be thrown in there as well.

Yes, logically that's probably the best decision until Houck is back. I wonder if they try to move Kluber back, with maybe Pivetta set to piggyback him on days if he doesn't "have it" which by my about 60-70% chance on any given start)

That's not new, although I would say it's new and the trend that guys coming out of the pen are valued more in todays game, evolving all the way from hardly existing. But I think anyone would be, or at least should be better out of the bullpen. Any pitcher that had to go from throwing 6-7+ innings per start to going 1-2 is going to shorten up their arsenal and reach back more adding velo. That's going to make any guy better only having to face a lineup one time.

Chris Murphy has always been a starting pitcher up until very recently. So he's not really not "back" to relieving, but it's nice to see him doing well in that role. Teams are always going to develop a guy as a starter and let him fail before moving him to the bullpen, sometimes even if they think a move is inevitable it makes sense to give them the innings to work on developing a pitch, gaining strength, and work on other things. Sometimes I do with the Sox would be a little quicker to take some of these starters at the AAA level and move them to the bullpen.

For the first month of the season the Sox had one of the best offenses in baseball but couldn’t pitch to save their life. Ironically the script has flipped. The staff is 6th in MLB in era the past month. 5th in average and 4th in obp allowed. That’s crazy. The one constant is the defense sucks. You kind of have to hope they can just pitch and hit at the same time, If they can ever do that this Sox team will be one of the most potent teams in all of mlb. The only real way to improve this team is to shore up the defense. Hypothetically, that should happen with a healthy Chung, and Story back.

Well as someone who has a vested interest in changing people's hearts and minds, I can tell you personally that persecuting them for their beliefs is not the way to change their minds. If he refused to take down the posts and doubled down on his sentiments I would not have that opinion, but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

I mean, I'm about as optimistic as anyone about how well the Sox could be if they ever decided to hit and pitch at the same time but I don't think they could ever not lose. I mean, this team has certainly showed us they can lose the game they were supposed to win.

Yeah, I don't get that either. I can understand the argument for saying they were homophobic but being gay isn't a race.

I didn't realize he was that old when he tweeted it. Still, I know 15-year-olds are more mature than 60-year-olds. His comments were rooted in his religious belief, I still don't blame him for being brainwashed when he was a child.

I'm honestly not all bothered by the Dermody situation. What I would be more concerned about is if the guy currently still harbored those feelings and was outspoken on the issue, that guy I wouldn't want in my organization. I could really care less about what a young kid said, peoples hearts change.....and they certainly are less likely to change when you crucify them for the rest of their lives. I would be concerned if the Sox went and signed people that said something like that yesterday. That I would find much more bothersome.

The Mets, Padres, and Phillies are #1 #4 #5 in spending and are all sub .500 teams. I'm ALL for spending, and I believe there's a relationship between spending and winning but it's blatantly obvious that baseball has succeeded at bringing parity to the game. You can't just throw money at the problem as Steve Cohen is teaching us this year. YOu have to develop talent as well. If you trade 4 guys for one star that's fine, that's great, but if you have a mediocre to worse system then you're only creating other holes that can't be made up for by just throwing money at the wall. Look at a team like LA, yes they spend like drunken sailors, but they're looking much better than the Mets and have a much longer track record of doing it because they ALSO develop talent as well. The time to start cashing in your chips is when you're up, not when you're at break even.....which is what trading for ACE would be right now. It's not just about strategy, it's also about timing.

Don't apologize for having an opinion. Apologize for being completely wrong on this. I get it, I'm not opposed to your strategy either, but I'd rather make a move like that when both the farm and the system is rolling, which is not the case. We are still building for the future and while I agree that takes investment I just have a different opinion here. I'd be all in on Ohtani and/or Yama next year.

agreed. Blooms regime is truly a mix bag. He's done a good job of rebuilding the system and building depth and that bodes well for the future, but their moves at the MLB level are real head-scratchers. If at some point the Sox have a solid core with guys like Bello, Mayer, Casas, Rafaela, Whitlock, Houck+++ they are still going to need to supplement that team with big league talent.

I get that, but I don't think it's the difference you think it's. It's different, but there's not difference (if that makes sense). If a guy is on the trading block, you're competing in the market for him as well. Do we really think that the Red Sox were the only team in the market for Chris Sale when they traded for him? Yes, you have to pay the guy money, but you gotta pay someone that money. If you want to trade for a true ACE, you can say goodbye to guys like Mayer/Bleis/Anthony (although I'm sure a team would want some pitching prospects as well. So a package more like (Bello/Mayer/Anthony) likely gets you the deal. Yes, now you don't have to pay that guy, except in 2-3 years you probably do anyways, and now you have to pay to replace Bello, you will have to spend money on a SS now, and probably an outfielder too. Next years free agent class is good for starting pitchers. In my opinion, it would be very unwise to sit on the sidelines. You have also just reset, and have a boatload of money coming off the books sitting well below the cap. Houck/Bello/Whitlock would look pretty amazing with a true ace leading them AND knowing we will have Mayer behind them in a year. You can't buy a winning team with money alone, the Mets are proving that this year, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't strike when the iron is hot either. Next year is shaping up to be the right time to go big for starting pitching for this Sox team. It makes all the sense in the world.

exactly, and how much does a good hitting/pitching coach in A ball cost? or a strength and conditioning coach? not $300 million dollars. Good investment into personal pays for itself.

I'm sorry Red, let me answer your question properly. I want the Red Sox to be the best at scouting players on all levels, from the international markets to the amateur markets (high school and college) to the minor league and MLB level. I want them to invest in analytics, but I also want them to have scouts with the "best eyes" and I want the best trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, nutritionists, pitching coaches, and hitting coaches, from the DSL to FSL to A ball all the way up to Boston. There's zero reason why you can't be better at bringing in a better supporting cast with recruiting and $$$$

A.) is 33 average? B.) What does A even matter if all 33 of those people suck. C.) analytics isn't scouting, training, and player development.