RTC

Absolutely no. We need a RF not just with a bat, but one that can play at least middling D.

As skeptical as I am of the FO, I'm with you on this. I'm more optimistic than a lot of folks on guys like Rutherford.

Great example. The signings they had are the TYPES of guys I think are realistic gets for the Sox but can the Hahn & Co choose the right guys?

Fair enough I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Is your point that they don't have to add AS MANY guys? If so, I only named 4 hypotheticals (which, for 2020 consensus seems to be bat, SP, and pen piece or 2) so 4 is not an unrealistic number. And I don't see how having less holes to fill means they're going to be better at filling what holes they have.

My Donn Pall autographed ball. The Pope!

That's my point. That seems to be the attitude a lot of people are expressing, but why? @ChiSox59 was probably in the right neighborhood with his $50M after Arb and league min's. Now add the equivalent of Ivan Nova, Adam Dunn, Jeff Keppinger, and Kelvin Herrera .......... and you're darn close to the $90M payroll they had in 2014 when they told us they were supposedly competing. Just because they won't have a $17M payroll doesn't mean a) it'll be $130M or b) they'll spend it on the right guys This is where I'm at. I just see nothing in their track record that says they can/will either a) outbid everyone else for a significant FA, b) choose the right guy or c) play their hand right and not screw it up. Believe me, I'm not trying to be negative, I WANT TO BELIEVE. But somebody please convince me with facts, not blind faith in a FO with a poor track record.

There seems to be folks that think the FO "will" or "has to" go all out in FA this winter. Personally, I have no confidence that this FO can do anything right, but I'm genuinely curious where people stand. If you answer any of the top 3 choices, I would really want to know WHY? Other than they HAVE to. What give you any confidence? Actually curious, not trying to be argumentative.

Just when I was finally getting over Kenny's BS as he tried to speak for the fans after the Manny debacle .............

You're right. We should write off a guy playing a year and half over his age level with a 348/385/472/857 line over the last month.

I'm glad someone finally understands that trade was not Robertson for Rutherford

I can see the argument either way on Bummer. To me, trading Colome is a no brainer.

"We'll need Colome and Bummer next year when we plan on competing" can easily turn into "these guys suck" next summer. (with the way RP's that might even be likely) Never hesitate to sell high on a relief pitcher, unless his name begins with M and ends with Ariano Rivera.

This. I don't ever want to see Castellanos in RF and Eloy in LF. Robert would lose 30 pounds by the ASB. Maybe to Castellanos as a DH, but I don't think that's a priority given the bats we'll have. (And with Boras as his agent, I think he's going to get more $ than a lot of people suspect). This winter I would rather they sign or trade for a solid RF (I'm thinking 2+ WAR) with a chunk of that coming from at least league-average defense (so that rules out "well, you could have just kept Avi"). Shore up RF, maybe give Abreu 2yrs plus an option, with the preface of "before you sing this we want to make sure you're okay being a DH down the road", and then blow the bank on a TOR arm and a Moncada extension.

This is absolutely spot on why you can't say "if you kept Eloy down you can keep Madrigal/Robert down". Middle of a rebuild vs. supposedly turning the corner - there's a difference in approach. I look at the trade deadline the same way. 2 years ago it didn't matter who they traded because you knew the next year was not penciled in as being competitive. This year it's a bit different. Colome has some value in the following year that he might not have had 2 years ago. What the next year projects to be changes the value calculation on whether you accept any trade offers.

They absolutely did. But that doesn’t mean I’m a fan of that method. I’m a proponent of how the Pads handled Tatis. Either you’re trying to win from Day 1 or your not.

I didn’t care about the whole Eloy service time debate because it was a rebuild year, but if the Sox think they can contend next year then they should be doing everything possible to win games starting on opening day. Which means holding someone in the minors for 3 weeks would be counterproductive. Which then means there’s no service time ramifications regardless of when you’d bring them up this season. I honestly don’t know what Madrigal is learning in the minors at this point. If they don’t think they can compete or they honestly don’t think Madrigal or Robert are ready then that changes the equation.

Thanks for the responses guys. So I guess the answer to my question is “not much”. Was just thinking about the development curve of Moncada and Giolito (and maybe seeing the same trajectory for Eloy) and thinking guys that are this close might benefit from getting their feet wet sooner and working the kinks out before it they’re in full compete mode.

I'm not a rah rah "get player X to Chicago now!" type of guy, so serious question: what benefit does Madrigal gain by staying in Bham or even Charlotte at this point? I was thinking about it and there's usually something the player needs to work on, some reason why he's not quite ready. Does Nick's contact skills, or speed, or defense really need more time in the minors? It sure doesn't seem like it. And it's not like he's there to work on his power. I could see why Collins wasn't up yet, and I see things in Roberts game that could still use a little polish, and I didn't think Moncada was quite ready last year, but what are the (non-service-time) reasons to NOT bring up Madrigal at this point?

This. Sox fans have gotten so used to crappy lineups they've forgotten what a modern WS contending one looks like and how many teams actually have one. I've always thought its a bit of the same at 3B. "Wow (random player) is really solid. We may have our 3B of the future." No, it's just that Wilson Betemit and Jeff Keppinger can make my mom look like Adrian Beltre.

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. Watching that I’ve never been more convinced the Sox FO doesn’t have a clue. How can they draft him first and seriously tell us with a straight face that he can stay at 3B. Thanks @credezcrew24 you have ruined my day and made me hate Nick Hostetler. A curse upon you and all your livestock.

Wouldn’t he have already been on the 40?

Did I miss something? If he was claimed off waivers doesn’t that mean they were moving him off the 40? Do teams randomly do that during the season or can we anticipate someone being added, possibly to move them up to Chicago?

Hey that looks like a fun game! Let me play: I will win $10M and Kate Beckinsale will be in my bed tonight! ? Wow, that was easy.

Your not answering everyone’s question though. Not what you think they SHOULD do, or even will have the resources available TO do, but upon what do you base any confidence that they actually WILL be able to successfully do it. EDIT: And I'm not even limiting this to the huge free agents, I'm including signing the CORRECT 2nd tier guys.

Serious question: what gives you hope that this front office either WILL or HAS THE CAPABILITY TO identify, and/or pay for (i.e., have the biggest offer), the correct players that will bring more than sub-replacement level performance (i.e., Alonso, Jay, etc) and make a significant contribution to a drive to a championship?