SoxBlanco

Bernardo Flores will be discussed as a legitimate piece of our future rotation after this year (not an ace, but a nice back part of the rotation starter).

Agreed, which is why I said it means something is close. Aren’t we saying the same thing?

That’s fair, but when the eyeballs make an appearance, I take that to mean he has heard something is close to being announced. Obviously “close” is subject to interpretation. If nothing gets announced in the next few days, then I’ll be right there with you saying he was wrong.

The burner account and Chili suggested SoxFest. RaBBit and WSD just suggested something was happening, but not necessarily at SoxFest.

I've wondered the same thing. He must completely change his approach with two strikes to just protect the plate, and because of that, he hits into a lot of weak outs with two strikes. That's just a guess, though. I haven't watched him play much at all.

Would you rather have a guy with a career .228 BA and an OPS of .800, or a guy with a career .290 BA and an OPS of .690?

Do you know all the details of the transaction?

You’re back! So what was the update you got?

No way in hell we give up that much for Joc.

I bumped the starting pitching thread when I saw some discussion start in here about the 5th starter. Curious to see people's thoughts on who we should get.

For the Sox, pitchers and catchers report on February 12. Position players have until February 17.

Assuming our 5th starter had to come from one of these six options, rank your order of preference: 1. Dylan Covey 2. Manny Banuelos 3. Gio Gonzalez 4. Clay Buchholz 5. Wade Miley 6. James Shields

I had him in fantasy while he was on the Titans. Had some monster games for me. Probably over the hill now, though.

Wasn’t that about the potential Joc trade?

Great post. Thanks for posting those numbers. Pretty interesting.

Yeah, I am by no means a Steverson supporter, and I honestly don't know what happened during the second half either, but I tend to think hitting coaches get too much credit when things go well and too much blame when things go south.

To play devil's advocate, who do you think was responsible for the large increase in BB rate during the first half?

Not a possibility at all.

I’ve always envisioned an outfield of Eloy, Robert, and Gonzalez in 2021, with Basabe as the 4th outfielder. But I’m admittedly higher on Gonzalez than most.

My Blu-ray copy of The Parent Trap did just sell on EBay to a J. Pederson from California. I never made the connection, but I think you’re on to something.

Please make Bryce Bush off limits.

Yep. And that’s why there’s not many ways this could play out where we don’t end up with one of the two whales.

It would be nice to have that stellar back end of the pen, but any more additions would really take away reps from the young guys. We need to see what they’re capable of this year.

Do you know somebody with connections to the Sox?

We should have signed him for 15 years at $1.5 billion. We’d still avoid the luxury tax, right?