RagahRagah

Yeah, just like he did when he was asked about signing Machado.

Us right now

Which, if you put it into perspective, the Sox only got 1. And while that one is fantastic, overall I'd say it was less than we were hoping for.

We're all stars now in the dope show

I was hoping he could have been one we would have been possibly in on. Leaves Flowers? Doubt Molina is a candidate even for TLR. Is it so bad to just give Collins a shot?

Katz is gonna have a lot of pressure on him.

I don't understand having interest in Richards at all.

Kinda wanted him to super bolster the pen but I guess at this point it really isn't necessary.

The Hawks have been having such a tremendous amount of sex.

You're not wrong but if I'm understanding your post correctly then I might need to point out that something that seriously needs to be considered is the realistic possibility of serious regression from 2 of those top 3 you are talking about. Not to mention that improvement from Cease and Kopech breaking in will probably take time. I believe at least 1 more really solid starter is going to be necessary this year.

Seems like we are just about all united on this one. One year of Kluber is so worth pulling the trigger on. I believe that if we are in on him we are going to have a lot of competition, though. We'll see.

You weren't told that by me. Totally irrelevant.

Why?

Yeah, I guess I should have also asked what statistic says you have to hit .340 to be above average because of a few deficiencies. No one average hits .340, lol.

Of course not always the case, and I said as much. But you can't automatically assume. History has definitely proven it, too.

Do you really think if there was turmoil that most of these guys would say so? This could be pure cliché. Not saying it is, but speaking so matter-of-factly about quotes like this always amuses me. Most guys are going to keep their months shut regardless.

And yet how many (big) free agents are left unsigned? Unreal.

Your responses were overall fair. The bolded is what I was disputing as you claimed he would "never be an above average" 2nd baseman without the tools you mentioned. I respectfully disagree. You did say that; there was no narrative.

If you disagree with "everything" I post I would probably surmise you aren't particularly reasonable. But you'd have to give me more examples. Anyway, the fact is a lot of his traits and their usefulness are being ignored and most of the logic used against him, especially by Balta, is bogus as hell. You talk about bad takes? We can't afford for a guy to take "years" to develop? Said after only 29 games? Absurd. You really can't see the usefulness of being a tough out AND getting hits consistently? This isn't JUST some grindy guy who scratches and claws, he gets hits and gets on base a lot. And we know he can run and play defense because he did it in college. He's a perfect 9-hole hitter. I don't think his walk rate needs to he that high if he will consistently hit .300+ (just the fact he did this shuts down many arguments made against him already) but... You (like many on his doubters) are also missing the biggest point here: the sample size so far is 29 games. To assume he can't improve on certain things, even when we have seen him do them before coming to the major league level, is silly. Also, even being a "mediocre" MLB player has a lot of value. No team needs or realistically has a superstar at every single position. I agree his ceiling is likely only so high, but why does it need to be superstar level? A LOT of star prospects don't work out at all. Like I said before, the perception that every draft has Harpers/Trouts sitting at the top and anything below is a failure is a delusion.

And BTW that doesn't happen if someone isn't "baseball smart;" he'll likely improve on the basepaths and defensively. He's already shown in college that he is more than apt.

I think it's just the precedent that he's too young but I believe that is an arbitrary claim. Who cares? He'd be best in the DH role. And it might save the Sox significant money.

So many positive and valuable factors in Madrigal's approach alone that appear to be massively overlooked.

As we've already established. This just isn't true. Amd 29 games = years?

I'm not in any way denying they might be or even that it would be worth moving him. It's just that people around here don't give him enough credit at all.

Not to worry, I was only being facetious. Wish I didn't have to be, though.