I'm coming around to the Sox starting with the team it has now

[Eminor3rd]

1 hour ago, FLsoxfan said:

The Nats proved you only need 3 stud pitchers in the playoffs, our 1-3 in the rotation is strong and our bullpen should be dominant. The offense is legit. This is a team that, if they get to the playoffs, can definitely win it all. More pitching would be great but as it stands now I see this team as a world series contender.

Finding one example where things worked amidst a sea of common examples is a really flimsy argument.

What if one of those three gets hurt during the six-month-long season that precedes the playoffs? Did someone else prove you only need TWO good pitchers? One?

Yes, it CAN work, but there are more ways in which it DOESN'T. Teams who are truly committed to winning simply purchase depth so that they can avoid many of those ways.

[FLsoxfan]

23 minutes ago, Eminor3rd said:

Finding one example where things worked amidst a sea of common examples is a really flimsy argument.

What if one of those three gets hurt during the six-month-long season that precedes the playoffs? Did someone else prove you only need TWO good pitchers? One?

Yes, it CAN work, but there are more ways in which it DOESN'T. Teams who are truly committed to winning simply purchase depth so that they can avoid many of those ways.

Injuries are a part of any sport but cannot be predicted, depth wise for starting pitchers we have to trust youth, that is true. I agree purchasing more pitching depth would be a wise move; however, when being realistic about the team we root for and the payroll constraints imposed on them it becomes pretty clear that it will not be happening. There is good potential in the young arms in the minors. 

Once again - the strength of this team lies in the big 3 starters (who haven't been prone to injury during their careers) and a dominant bullpen. Kopech, Crochet, Stiever, etc. Could be leaned on in an injury situation and there is still developmental potential with Cease. 

The issue I would see burying this team is if one of Giolito, Lynn or keuchel was injured going IN to the playoffs. At that point you still can game plan Cease/Kopech followed by the pen winning you enough games to get back to the big guys. Is it perfect, no, but with a dynamite offense behind those guys, there's still a chance. 

[roto]

On 1/30/2021 at 7:36 AM, scs787 said:

How many teams really have good depth beyond there starting 5? The front 4 is a lock, and I don't see why Kopech shouldn't be the 5th starter very early on. I haven't looked at the schedule but typically the 5th spot in the rotation can be "Skipped" early on if they wanna hold Kopech down in the minors to get the extra year of service time....adding a high end SP this year never made sense to me. 

We don't know the plans they have for Vaughn so DH might not make that much sense either. 

 

Flowers still out there? He to me makes the most sense for backup catcher. 

 

There's always the trade deadline if a starter goes down for the year and guys like Lopez, Steiver(Who I thought this board liked) and Lambert dont step up and there's no plan for Crochet as a starter this year. 

I too like Flowers as my main backup C even though I've gone on record as saying we need to find out if Collins can be a MLB catcher.  Sign Flowers and cut Seby for the 40 man then use him to back up Grandal and mentor Collins.  Give Collins those innings in out of reach games or maybe one game a week as starter.

As for the rotation, I can't imagine not needing 7 or 8 starters this year.  I'd go get one that I can stash in Charlotte until needed.  I have Flores and Lopez as my long men so they could make a start or two and that would leave us with Kopech, Stiever, and maybe Lambert as depth.  We need another arm that won't push Cease or Rodon out of the early season rotation until someone fails or gets hurt.  All of this assumes no Bauer which would obviously be my first choice on a 3 or 4 year contract.