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Just too many missing pieces.

Time to nut up and win the next two. Tall order, yes but it also Is something this team is capable of. That would put us up to nearing .500 on this “hell run”. Bottom line - this season is coming down to the wire and will likely be determined in the games remaining against the divisional opponents. Sure would be nice to have some reinforcements.

Agreed. If he's mechanically out of wack and needs to refine his pitches, he belongs in Charlotte where he can safely work on them and not impact the MLB team trying to win the division. Really seems like the Sox fumbled his development this year. Whatever changes he was told to make aren't working at this level. Kid needs a reset. I'm certainly not giving up on him yet. For anyone really worried about him long term, take a look at Dylan Cease's 2020 Savant page - he can still turn it around and be a rotation arm in the future.

Wow, I had no idea he did this. I know Jimmy said they've really messed with him a lot this season.

Perhaps, but in that case they'd be accommodating the wrong person IMO

It’s weird, although maybe they were just trying to accommodate Urquidy. This was Mason’s normal day to start and he still pitched, but in a relief role and less innings than usual.

I'm including the Houston series since they are in a race, playing better. The 16 game stretch vs. Houston, Yankees, Tampa Bay, Boston and Cleveland can be a season breaker.

Yeah was just throwing something out that would be shocking. Maybe Rockies think Teel is a more complete catcher and would light it up at Colorado while being very cheap for a few years?

If he isn't being traded it's actually quite frustrating. The only consistent strategy (Schultz the exception) appears to be turning every pitching prospect into a reliever

I like the uniqueness of the idea but why would the Rockies do this? Is the 2 years of extra control really worth the difference between the players?

Absolute meatball on an 0-2 count

If you want to raise your OPS from .649 to .707 in one night, just hit three homers and take one walk. Easy.

I think a proposal was to let the Yankees and Expos (best record in NL) just play a World Series that October, and nobody could agree on that.

I definitely don’t think Adams survives this deadline.

Meh. Hard to tell much from two games out of 162.

I noticed this is the minor league thread. Very weird they used him in this capacity when we are desperate for SP and have already punted on Hagen & McDougal being used in those roles.

Bummer. Too little, too late.

Six factoids today: July 29, 1942 - The Sox staged the first twi-night double header in club history as they beat the Yankees 6-5 in 11 innings and 7-5. Over 27-thousand fans showed up at Comiskey Park for the wartime promotion which became a regular attraction over the next several decades. July 29, 1962 - In a double header versus the Yankees in New York, Sox outfielder/first baseman Charlie “Paw-Paw” Maxwell hit three home runs and knocked home five RBI’s in the split. Maxwell had a curious history of doing his best hitting on a Sunday. When acquired from the Tigers it was discovered that 25 of his 70 career homers (to that point) were hit on the Sabbath. Of his 10 in 1962, five came on Sunday. On July 8, Maxwell got six hits in a double header against Cleveland and on August 19, Maxwell hit a grand slam and knocked in six against Detroit. Yes… all of those games were on Sunday. July 29, 1963 - Facing the Senators in Washington, Sox pitcher Joe Horlen took a no-hitter into the ninth inning. Only leading 1-0 and under incredible pressure, Horlen not only lost the no-hitter but the game 2-1, as Chuck Hinton grounded a roller up the middle with one out for a hit that Horlen wasn’t able to get a glove on and then Don Lock belted a curve ball for a two-run homer with two out to win it. Horlen looked ready to cry on the postgame show talking with announcer Jack Brickhouse on WGN-TV. July 29, 1989 - At the time it was an unpopular deal, but in the long term it worked out very well for the Sox. G.M. Larry Himes sent All Star outfielder/DH Harold Baines and infielder Fred Manrique to the Rangers for infielder Scott Fletcher, outfielder Sammy Sosa and pitching prospect Wilson Alvarez. Fans hated to lose Baines but the Sox weren’t going anywhere and he was expendable. Fletcher and the pre-steroid Sosa played important roles in the franchise’s revival in 1990 and Alvarez would become a very solid starter beginning in 1993 for the Western Division champions. July 29, 1998 - It was a small move at the time that would turn out to have major implications. G.M. Ron Schueler shipped inconsistent relief pitcher Matt Karchner to the Cubs for former #1 draft pick, pitcher Jon Garland. It took time, but Garland finally realized his potential in the 2005 season where he helped lead the club to the World Series title with 18 wins and an All-Star appearance. In seven years with the club starting in 2000, he won 92 games and had double-figure wins in six of those seasons. July 29, 2000 - With the Sox badly in need of pitching at the trade deadline due to injuries to starters Cal Eldred and James Baldwin, G.M. Ron Schueler (a former pitcher with the team in the 1970’s) went off in another direction acquiring catcher Charles Johnson and DH Harold Baines. It was Baines’ third stint with the Sox and while he and Johnson helped offensively, it did nothing to lighten the load on the pitching staff. That staff, even though they’d go on to win the division, suffered even more arm injuries to starters Jim Parque and Mike Sirotka and relief pitchers Bobby Howry and Kelly Wunsch. The Sox would pay for Schueler’s mistake the following season since the staff was decimated, many coming off surgeries. It should be noted however, in his defense, that some of the pitchers the Sox were rumored to be interested in like Mike Mussina and Curt Schilling, said they would not accept a trade to Chicago for various reasons.

Great to see Shelton turning the corner at AA. He had some great batted ball data in High A and I was fairly optimistic about him. AA is a huge step and you don’t always see guys like Boston Smith get there and hit from day 1.

I’d recommend reading the Sox Machine article above. It goes through this in detail with quotes from both Noah & Bove. Just sounds like they tinkered way too much and added a ton of complexity to his arsenal.

Just looking at Birmingham, we'll probably have a wave ready early next season at least offensively: Bonemer, Shelton, B. Smith. Some players move so fast these days. We'll do what we do over the next week, but offseason is the time to sort that out (especially as the price for pitching is lower then). Friendly Boston seems to have an endless supply of young pitching, but no luck at all in the middle infield (except for the guy they traded to us).

Oppor is the real deal Wild Thing. Just need to get him some glasses and he’ll dominate.