5GoldGlovesOF,75

Struck out in half his ST at bats so far, but everyone says it doesn't matter... though I'm not sure how a guy can win a starting job or make a roster by performing poorly (hustling like Heineman to make Dalbec's granny possible can help). I liked Abreu more before Tom Werner the TV expert praised him. It was like me thinking other actors on the original 22-Jump Street were going to be stars.

Teddy means the 5-year rebuild actually starts now. The past 5 were demolition derby.

He swings at everything, but it has worked out the past two seasons: '22 high A -- .330, 30 XBH in 45 games; AA -- 33 XBH in 71 games; '23 AA -- .294, 24 XBH in 60 games; AAA '23 -- .312, 30 XBH in 48 games. Duran and Abreu also had good pop in the minors, but not quite like Ceddanne. They all have something positive to offer on offense, but Rafaela is a better player than either in the one area guaranteed to help the Red Sox improve this year: DEFENSE.

Crawford could at least be a picture card coming out of this shuffle. Youk said on the weekend broadcast, "How Crawford goes this year, so goes the Red Sox." He was particularly impressed with Crawford's four-seamer at the top of the zone.

As a fan of the big-market Red Sox, I always thought it overrated to keep a player in the minors for a month or two just to keep one more year of control. If he proves he's good enough for Boston, then pay him market value to stay as he approaches free agency. Better yet, if he's worth a longterm investment, lock him up asap. That seems to be the big plan these days, anyway. If he can help the club and is one of the best 26, sending him down is unfair to both the player, and the fans, who always want to watch and root for the best possible team.

Like I said -- in my opinion -- the risks of almost annual breakdowns or interminable IL stints of free agents signed by the Red Sox are what made the cost of such players so attractive to the business plan of this front office the past half decade. But we may be mispronouncing today' starting pitcher -- or Boston has concealed him as a compound word... Cooper is a nod to nostalgia for former Sox "All-Stars" Cecil and Scott. But it's not Criswell; it's Cry Swell... (get well soon, CHB).

And we've also seen players that have succeeded at every level in the minors -- like Bello and Casas -- establish themselves at the final level... especially as they face the same peers on the way up who have been promoted by other MLB clubs.

It's true, and their status as a last place contender the past five years (they are the favorites, again), wouldn't necessarily reflect the glaring fact from the chart on Hugh's link that Boston also ranks dead last in investing in pitching prospects since 2018. But what continues to be frustrating is that everyone -- fans, media, and any team builders in the industry -- knows that pitching is the key element in the sport, and for improvement.

The Rays? Bah -- swept by their richer but poorer northern versions! Yes, the Red Sox are Kings of the Caribbean. Doesn't the board employ a full-time poster in the DR? Where are the weekend's eye-witness eye-test reports...

OB: "I would be calling the next game, unless it should rain." Fan: "If there's a next game, I won't be listening to you, because I will press mute."

Thanks for the link. Red Sox fans aren't surprised Boston ranks dead last in investing in pitching prospects since 2018. We get what they don't pay for. In that span, the two teams who spent the highest percentage of draft bonus bucks on pitching are also recent World Series champs: Texas and Atlanta. At the same time, neither of those clubs have been shy about spending large to lock up star position players at the big league level. Data shows the Sox have preferred drafting hitters, but the author (obviously a devoted reader of of talksox) adds this: "The Red Sox’s hitter-centric strategy could still be successful in developing a balanced roster, especially if the pitching staff was buoyed by external investment in the free agent market and/or via trades of hitting prospects for pitching." Giolito looks like a bad buoy so far, but there's still hope for guys like Fitts and Sandlin (acquired for another pitcher, but at least through trade). Breslow still has a lot of hitting prospect depth that he could part with -- like the example given of Arizona swapping Jazz Chisholm for Zac Gallen.

Ok, though there is a chance that new pitching experts already contributed to the team losing its most expensive offseason addition to the staff... that is, if Giolito was following their instructions when he blew out his elbow and wasn't already undisclosed damaged goods (or wasn't following directions when he tried to throw his slider too hard). But you're right -- the pitching is bound to be better under new tutelage and fresh eyes. We should look forward soon to the arrival of last year's top college catcher in the nation. The last time Boston acquired a guy like that was probably Varitek, who took a few years to emerge, but had such an impact that we can recall the season he cracked an elbow diving for a pop-up. He was all done, and so were the Sox that year; Tek's absence was worse than losing Pedro and Nomar to injuries. Can never underestimate the importance of a top catcher who curates the pitching staff. Remember the greatest Sox team in '18, when certain pitchers preferred throwing to Leon instead of Vazquez? (moon may have had some stats to back that choice). Maybe Rutschman was that valuable to Baltimore's 101-win no-name rotation. Hopefully, Teel is the real deal.

For a second there, I thought you meant new people on the board -- since Jax the Yankee fan doesn't post here much anymore. But at least he was a pitcher, so knew a few things about actually pitching that the rest of us can't look up on statistical sites. And considering how bad the Red Sox org has been supplying the club with good pitchers for half a decade now, some new forum voices can't make it any worse.

Can't believe you included Bellhorn in your perple prose, without citing BellWAR and Bell's crackstistics! And your dictum I'm the victim has me feeling like a real dictum. From now on, when I'm merely trying to TALK SOX, I'll only mention an opinion on a player that even I can back up with a mofo fact... ... like the Red Sox sure could use a #1 overall pick like Adley Rutschman, who can almost instantly turn around their franchise -- like Rutsch did when he first joined Baltimore in May '22. At the time, the Orioles were eight games below .500; since he's become their starting catcher, they are 52 games over .500. I'm sure you remember one of the starting catchers in Baltimore before the freshman Rutsch -- no, not Chirinos... but Anthony Bemboom. The Red Sox will have a lot of Bembooms that need replacing this season...

No one here gave them credit for doing anything yet -- but almost every single expert professional in the industry has ranked them the top position prospect and top pitching prospect in the game. Certainly, those are the NUMBER ONE OVERALL picks, like Rutschman, that an annual doormat like the Red Sox would welcome in their rebuild. And for those who pick apart every single word of every single post, here's what these two guys have done so far: signed their names to contracts worth almost three times as much combined as those for Teel and Anthony.

Henry's front office of agriculture: slash and burn the big league club to build back the farm. I know, it's so cliche (almost as cliche as cliche). But maybe in this year's draft, if everything goes just left, the Red Sox can pick high enough to get someone good enough to truly turn their org around -- like a Rutschman... or maybe Holliday, Skenes, etc.

I was also thinking Roberts is the culprit; Mookie is clearly his guy, but San Diego is just a mustang ride away... ... where Machado sharpens his spikes/dulls his wits prepping to break up DPs, ruin careers, and feed fodder to forums forever fighting about fiscal fitness.

He keeps himself amused. Imagine having the power to affect the overall moods of an entire region of the United States of Vespucci. Twenty years he was responsible for the sheer joy of generations of families throughout New England. Now, he can claim to have brought prosperity to local economies in at least six states -- by driving untold thousands away from the Red Sox... and instead to beaches, concerts, other sports, and most definitely other TV channels sponsored by other products.

Leave it -- it plays here. That's what Cora would say...

That's because everyone's sick of "Sweet Caroline." Time for a new Neil singalong. Don't let it bring you down... find someone who's turning, and you will come around.

And he christened the babe Raffy D... though it wasnt tobaccy, but a wad of bubblegum wrapped around sunflower seeds. Chicks dont mind when you spit that crap (yeah, right)

All we are saying, is give Cease a chance. Actually, upcoming games that might have Red Sox fans most gruntled are the Spring Breakout games March 14-17... when Boston's top-prospect team competes vs all the other MLB prospects. We get to see the Big Three, plus, how's this OF: Rafaela, Bleis, Castro, Campell... and maybe most intriguing IF: Cespedes, Zanetello and Anderson... (notice I didn't mention any pitchers)

Cleavon wears his war wound like a crown

Except, of course, Marcus. No one needed to be extended more in Red Sox history.

How semantic of you to take a noun I used and turn into a verb thrice to pick apart yet another post. And don't pretend to defend Larry, because he knows I wasn't disagreeing with him -- as do you, officer -- but only adding to his take with another adjective. We're all in this together, even paid interns. And if I wouldn't dare try to compare the waste of the Giolito signing with Sale's, lest I get my post instantly replied with quote, replete with statistics and dollar signs to prove how much better off we all are without that all-time fiasco-of-an-extension budget-killer... who no matter how good he pitches, will still spend more time on the IL this year than the guy he was traded for.