5GoldGlovesOF,75

I predicted 78 the past three years (and was way wrong in '21). If they sign Monty, I'd like to pick the over this season. If they don't and get off to a bad start, then Brez winds up trading anyone over-30, they'll sink way under.

Breslow keeps reminding us it's not all about 2024 -- but I keep reminding him that's a good reason to sign Montgomery. Starting pitching isn't going to get cheaper next winter or the one after that. If the Red Sox are truly determined to change their culture of pitching, they know they need to use ALL their resources, and not just rely on the magical mystical Bailey. They could employ the greatest pitching coaches in history, force Leo Mazzone and Dave Duncan out of retirement, and use a Squeegie board to consult the ghost of Johnny Sain (and pray for clarity)... but they'll still need to PAY for good starting pitchers with funds and trade capital.

Fatse: "Yoshida! Hit the ball in the air! You might be better than we think... even after you retire!"

- 100 points for not facing African American pitchers or fielders from the mainland or Caribbean islands - 50 for not playing mostly night games in the dark - 50 for not facing fresh-armed relievers in late innings + 100 for facing only the best 70 pitchers from 7 teams pre-expansion, pre-interleague (as opposed to 300 more current pitchers who would never be good enough to make the majors) + 50 for playing in a time when baseball was truly the national pastime, and the majority of professional athletes played big league baseball + 50 for batting eye and contact skills honed in an era that condoned and encouraged PEPPPER -- and didn't ban it in every ballpark with a metal fence at every level in the US! .406 - 200 + 200 = .406

It changes everything -- more depth and rest in the bullpen, less stress on the coaching staff, more smiles in the clubhouse, less whining, more winning... The thing is, if fans realize this, than so does the front office. So why hasn't it happened?

I actually knew ERod had the best year in that span, but probably included Eovaldi's extra decimal points worth of WAR for the Sox in 2018. I've always been suspicious of WAR, and not just because it's a stat that any baseball fan, even diehards, can ever calculate -- like batting average (that's one thing BA is good for). But did you know some historical WAR values have changed? Mookie once had a 10.6 when he was MVP in Boston, but now he has a 10.7 from that year (supposedly, bb-ref updated some ballpark factors a few years back). And then they tell us we can't compare players with decimal points -- or even one or two whole numbers... Kell made the Hall. Not so for Alex Johnson, who beat out Yaz for the 1970 batting crown by 3/1000ths of a point. Carl was guest speaker at our Little League awards night that winter and told us when he lost the batting title he cried. Finally, it was virtually all local media who've said and complained this winter that the Red Sox are perceived across the industry as no longer interested in spending big on top free agents. And it's not just Felger and Mazz or Tomase, but Boston Globe beat reporter Pete A, and even a source as reputable as Alex Speier. But as Gammons noted today, there's still hope...

Not disparaging you -- it's just exhausting every time typing a post to have to carefully proof-read every single word to make sure it can't be twisted by the same reader ever-ready to jump all over it. Exhibit E: when I said "for the four years of his extension" I now know I should've said INSTEAD "for the four years of his extension compared to every other Red Sox who also pitched in all four years -- no wait -- "in each of those four years." You never liked the Eovaldi extension because he was injury-prone. I always liked it because I saw his potential to be a top of the rotation guy when healthy. I actually liked it more than the Sale extension -- and not because of the money, but because he looked more damaged, judging by the end of 2018. As for ERod, his delivery-time bugged me, but not as much as Price, who intentionally took a year between pitches to upset batters' timing his meatballs. But I have nothing against ERod -- and remember how great he and Nate looked in Florida in 2020 right before the pandemic lockdown. Instead, Houck was the best pitcher for throwing three games September. And by the way, we're both idiots for even trying to compare WAR decimal points -- at least according to bb-ref: "you should not take any full-season difference between two players of less than one to two wins to be definitive"

I'd like to think part of that plus will include eating plenty of innings to save other arms and keep a lot of relievers effective enough for some postseason runs.

Just ask Red Sox Nation how they feel about Eovaldi's time in Boston. I'll bet most don't even know his AAV and could care less. Like I said, during his extension he led the team in WAR for the four years he pitched. But you're right, oh mighty spitter of stats onto every post, ERod did have the single best WAR season in one of those Eovaldi years, even though he didn't throw a single pitch for Boston in half of the total Eovaldi years. But we always have to use specific semantics to defend any talk on talksox lest someone jumps all over our posts with statistics to prove how wrong we all are -- as a good poster like Dewey recently alluded to without naming names -- as the reason only a few gluttons for punishment even bother posting here anymore.

This is a good question, and yesterday I was thinking the same thing about Giolito this year -- with this season's Sox D... ... he looked ok because he gave up some weak contact to infielders... luckily,. Devers made a really nice play on a slow roller and great throw for the out.

You can use all the quantitatives you want to back up your opinions. But know that numbers won't change how many, many Boston fans feel about the qualitatives... ... Nathan Eovaldi will always be a Red Sox hero just for beating the Yankees in two postseasons. And even if Nate spends this whole next season on the IL in Texas, I'll bet Rangers fans will always consider him a hero, as well.

You of all posters refuting the cold hard data? Try as you like to win arguments by putting words into the fingertips of typists who never typed them, I only said -- here, I'll paste it again: "they paid market value for a starting pitcher who led their staff in WAR for the four years of his extension." It's a fact, and you can look it up on baseball-reference. I never mentioned Sale or luck because everyone knew he was damaged goods at the time Dombrowski got himself fired for something John Henry said he agreed with... until he didn't.

Angels are also noted as finalists today, as reported by: MLB.com/Boras' secret agents/AI/internet misinformation planted by subversive divisives and basic rabble rousers posing as reputable sources of ill repute...

Then that would be 97 wins, if the Sox also had the Jays' "normal" defense (Toronto's Defensive Efficiency was exactly league average in '23).

Don't know how many of next winter's free agent pitchers are represented by Boras, but gotta wonder if the bidding for those who aren't will be hotter because they aren't. At least we know it will be earlier.

Trading for good pitching has usually worked best for Boston -- but only because of free agency. The big market Red Sox were able to deal for Pedro, Schilling, Beckett, and Sale, among others, because all were due some serious coin that their mid-market teams couldn't (or decided not to) afford. Eovaldi's contract worked out for the Sox because they paid market value for a starting pitcher who led their staff in WAR for the four years of his extension. The fact he was able to do that when he wasn't always great or durable is an indictment of Boston's sudden halt in investing to recruit or keep subsequent top mound talent. And I can't equate Eovaldi's tenure in Boston with Lackey's -- whose three-year WAR isn't even as good as any two Pivetta years...

Good post, ending with the billion-dollar question. Since the Sox' top need throughout the Bloom Era continues to be pitching every single season, is it fair to wonder this winter if the owner and/or longtime Asst. VPs are looking at the Sale trade, and thinking: "Finally got rid of our biggest waste of money the past half decade... and the last thing we're going to do now is put ourselves right back into that situation!"

You said fan perception. I said -- here, I'll quote my first post, with the bold-faced sentence still bold-faced: "The Red Sox have to change the perception in the industry that ownership will no longer pay market value for top free agent talent." And in '21, I didn't care what the Red Sox payroll was, and I still don't care in '24, because payrolls always include paying or owing money to players who were signed years before, were dumped and subsidized to wear another uni, or were cut because injuries prevented them from contributing. All that matters each offseason is how a front office uses resources to improve a club for the next season. You know it, I know it, and Raffy knows we know it (but can't say it out loud).

I agree with this entire post. But my first post today was that this current perception across the industry is hurting the Red Sox' recruiting, and needs to be changed with action.

While not quite the star that Snell is -- two Cys, and a starting pitcher -- Bellinger (still only 28, with a 8 WAR MVP year) is kinda the everyday version of inconsistency among Boras' binders. But as far as free agent pitching, and the Red Sox waiting until they're good again before they spend again (it kills me to type that, but that. is. the assumed plan... at least here) -- does anyone really think that a year from now, the cost of starting pitching will GO DOWN?!?

The proverbial reality I was referring to was from the perception. And even though I'll be damned because I can't name your four players from the past two years -- Devers $330 + Story $160 + uhhh -- Wacha and Refsnyder? ... I seriously doubt that any big time free agent talent can, either. What's your point, anyway? "Anybody that knows baseball knows what we need." Said Raffy.

Roman candles in today's split squad game vs. the Twins -- Anthony is listed as the starting CF!

But does she have an opt in? Or can the Red Sox issue her a blue-and-yellow card so she can stay city connected when she's a non-resident? Look for these questions and moron 5G talksox posts... while we anxiously await the next signing of another Triple A back-up catcher.

Reality?

Another reason for the Red Sox to sign a good starting pitcher NOW longterm -- besides, you know, making them actually better -- is it would not only show players and alumni (blabbing in the media) that they're serious about improvement... but that it would show future free agents that Boston is a viable option. And don't just say it's all about the money, since Yamamoto was always set on being a Dodger -- if reports are true he was offered more by the owner of the Phillies, an actual World Series contender. The Red Sox have to change the perception in the industry that ownership will no longer pay market value for top free agent talent. It's probably already too late to even expect a guy like Roki Sasaki to come to Boston; no one is looking forward to signing with a last place club. But there will be other Rokis in the future...