South Sider

Gotta do something to entertain yourselves when at a game like that, I guess. It's not the Sox fans who suck, it's the team.

Why does this thread get bumped every time Moncada gets a hit? Anyways, he has easily looked like the best hitter on the Sox in the Oakland series.

Moncada has had a great night. Wow!

Cahill isn't this kind of pitcher anymore, our guys are just mentally f***ed.

I think even the Oakland crowd is bored of this game. Too bad our team couldn't make it a little more exciting for them.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 17, 2018 -> 09:30 PM) That's a good idea, especially since the rainouts would mean that Fulmer or Giolito would've been good to go Maybe they would have been blasted too, but this experience would be much better served with one of them.

Lopez, Giolito, or Fulmer should be pitching this game... just to get a taste of playoff atmosphere.

For my money, Adam Engel has at least a half of a season. I want to see if he can make the adjustments that he needs to make to be a MLB regular. In all likelihood, he probably won't, but before giving up on him I think he should be given an extended look. If he's been in a slump for the entire season at the halfway point, then yeah let's go ahead and try another option. These are the luxuries a rebuilding team can have. Give Adam the time he needs to make the necessary adjustments, see if he does it, and if not, sucks for us and Adam but we can then give Cordell or Tilson a shot. My half season suggestion may be too much for some around here, I understand. 1/3 of the season should be ample amount of time as well.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 16, 2018 -> 10:34 PM) Nice pitching that inning, honestly Yeah that will happen when you let pitchers off the hook enough. They start gaining confidence and actually pitching well.

I have the highest of expectations for Moncada as well, as should everyone here. At this point, if you are so unhappy with his production that you just can't stand yet, I'd say take a step back. You are following it too closely. Scrutinizing every game, every at bat, every pitch. You can't do that. Seasons and careers are judged on the whole. I'm also disappointed with his slow start, but not surprised and definitely not upset. Prospects need time to prove what they are going to be. Even IF he was lighting the world on fire, he hasn't standardized how his career trajectory is going to go. We all thought Beckham was the next big thing after his rookie year and look how that worked out. My point is is that you simply cannot make any judgments on Moncada yet because he hasn't been around long enough to prove what he's going to be. It took Beckham at least 3 seasons, maybe 4, to prove that his rookie season was a fluke and that his 2nd season wasn't just a sophomore slump. To that end, it is a pointless mental exercise to come here and post FUD about his career when he hasn't even played 1 whole MLB season. You are wasting yours, and everyone else's time by doing this.

I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but from where the Sox were a few years ago at developing hitters to the direction they are finally seemingly going... is incredibly encouraging. One example, and I realize he hasn't exactly proven himself completely yet, is Yolmer. Back in the dark days a prospect like Yolmer may never have made it as a hitter, and it really looks like he may turn into a nice player for the Sox. Maybe the scouting has also improved drastically, but we are so quick sometimes to denounce coaches for a players failures, that I feel like we should also attribute some successes to coaches. Steverson has to be responsible, to some degree, for Yolmers continued development at the MLB level. It's not just Rick Renteria.

Worst thread ever. OP is normally a good contributor to this forum, but this fud here is a joke. Even if Moncada maxes out at .250 this year, I am not going to start being worried about his development until we get at least 2 full years in and he's not hitting better than Gordon Beckham did.

An article on the Athletic discussed this in a bit more depth, and evidently none of the Sox were bothered by it at all. They all took at as good natured ribbing. Donaldsons body language didn't suggest it was in good-nature, but either way I'm happy to hear the Sox aren't phased by his antics.

These are tough questions because we're starting to get into territory where we may need some of our productive players for the next competitive Sox team. It goes without saying though, that anyone in the bullpen is open for trade. Soria and Jones can go ahead and have great years so that we can extract value from them in trade. Miguel Gonzalez, should he be worth anything at all, should definitely be traded. With the position players it starts getting really tricky. With Jimenez waiting in the wings, Avi may be one of the easier players to let go. Truth be told, if he continues to succeed, I will have a hard time letting Avi go and I really hope if he is traded, we get 1 or 2 really nice prospects back for him. Even though he came from Detroit, he has one of those "homegrown" kind of feelings about him for me. Without trying to get too ahead of myself here, we've gone through all the trials and tribulations with Avi and seemingly came out on the other end with a pretty darn good baseball player. Even when Eloy comes up, I'm not telling teams that I'm taking best offers available for Avi. If no one is offering anything worthwhile, he's simply not going to get traded and we will move forward with him and figure out some OF platoon system or something. We can get both him and Eloy at bats. Davidson is kind of in a similar position, for me, but he's one year behind Avi in terms in proving himself. If Matty D has a really nice year, it will mean he cut down on his strikeouts and hit 35 bombs. You can't trade a guy like that. He's a guy who could accelerate the rebuild. Having a guy like him who is not expected to be a part of the rebuild become a part of the rebuild is huge if the Sox want to be the best. To trade Abreu would quite literally require a Kings Ransom. His combo of elite power and average hitting skills, along with his leadership skills make him the most important player on the Sox. Trading him would be a tough pill to swallow, and would hopefully come after he's been able to impart leadership skills on some other players. I don't think there's any situation where Welington would get traded. He was brought in for a reason, and trading him may be more detrimental to the young staff than helpful in terms of prospects received. I could actually see the Sox exploring an extension with him if Collins or Seby aren't blowing doors down next year. He's developed into a pretty darn good backstop over the years.

QUOTE (Quin @ Mar 28, 2018 -> 01:21 PM) How to build a bullpen using money you can't spend anyway: an op-ed by Rick Hahn. Seriously. People will never shut up about him being a trailblazer or a genius if we built a serviceable or good bullpen using International Draft Money we weren't planning on using anyway. We have been getting some very interesting guys with this money.