poppysox

That's correct...and six months after that "meh" initial reaction a number of us were calling for his being extended. There was also a good number of you saying there was no rush...plenty of time if he becomes anything.

You obviously don't know the difference between a lie and being off on the date by six months.

He weakened the second half of 2019 but the term "disaster" doesn't fit the crime. Catcher is such a taxing position I favor the co-catcher system. I'm sure Grandal is the superior choice when all is considered, but James could have been kept in the Sox harness along with Grandal for a third of Grandals money if extended a year ago.

Two years ago many of us were calling for him to be extended before it became obvious to all.

Any of us who watched Eaton make the switch from center to right know he was a natural-born right fielder. His jump on the ball was first class and his arm was both strong and accurate. Like others, I haven't seen much of his play in the last several years. With the recent scouting reductions, I do wonder how the FO gets the info on Eaton's current abilities.

In general, I am a Hahn fan but he blew it with James getting away.

It is my understanding that the scouting staff was greatly reduced last October because of Covid. Does anyone know who the talent evaluators would be who helped give RH the info that Eaton or anyone else is still able to perform at a high level. I am sure Hahn relies heavily on the info he is given by the "baseball" people when making these trades.

Michelangelosmonkey...you really have a ton of patience. You have been in the crosshairs several times lately and yet do your best to calmly explain your viewpoint. Several of the resident negative posters have obviously baited you and yet you plug on with your well-reasoned response. I will have to try to emulate your approach. In general, I think your approach is much better than mine which is to tell them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine.?

This is a year where agents should be very careful not to overplay their hand.

Go back and read the thread.

Thanks for your cheap opinion. I'll give it the consideration it deserves.

Interestingly, after I retired and stayed home for a little over a year...I went to work at a big box store earning the minimum wage. I worked alongside a man who had owned 3 McDonald franchises in Chicago before retiring. Neither of us needed to work but enjoy work. Both of us had hired more than our share of minimum wage workers and in both of our cases promoted many of them to management positions over the years. Your take that I somehow am against the little guy is both offensive and wrong. I had many employees over the years and you would be hard-pressed to find one who viewed me through your jaded eyes.

Most people can understand that the minimum wage was not intended as a livable wage. It is intended for people to enter the workforce or supplement retirement income. The law of supply and demand forces employers to increase wages when they can't fill their positions with competent people for what they want to pay. When politicians use the minimum wage to pretend a deep concern for the working class they force employers to layoff part of the workforce and raise prices for their customers. Nothing kind or caring about it. Lastly, do you really think a dollar spent in NY or LA goes as far as one spent in rural America? The minimum wage should be set by State and Local governments, not at a Federal level.

You are speaking in terms of how you view the position. Ask Dave Dombrowski how long the average owner lets you operate unfettered. I believe most teams work in a kind of groupthink environment. RH is a contract specialist whereas KW is kind of a superscout. JR has a fiduciary responsibility to an ownership group. They work together for the common good IMO.

Yeah...I'm sure most of us would let an employee spend millions of our dollars and not ask questions. We pick apart each other's opinions and challenge the smallest of details yet we wouldn't open our mouths so as not to offend our GM. I'm sure the world is full of bosses who let you spend millions of dollars unchallenged...I just never worked for one of them.

You will undoubtedly enjoy whatever you buy because it didn't come easy. If we were Yankee fans we wouldn't be hoping to sign Bauer & Springer...we would "expect" it.

Perhaps that is true. However, this idea that the owner of a business should keep his nose out of employee's work-related duties is not really how the real world works.

Do you really believe half the crap you say? Punch down at minimum wage workers...get a life.

Why?

Eaton was fan-friendly..., particularly with the kids. I think he is a get the uniform dirty type who plays to win. Having an edge to him probably works well with this team of young fun-loving guys.

Yep... those are the places with a $15 minimum wage. Sorry...couldn't resist.

Good write-up bmags. I like his probable ability to give us innings and his outstanding control. We should only consider him as starter depth while Katz works on the young guns. I doubt he is a factor in the playoffs rotation.

Going after the 3 areas of need without fooling around... Starting pitcher, RF upgrade, and closer. RH doing a great job working on his to-do list.

I hear ya. He liked the smokes and he loved the horses. Neither helped keep him focused on baseball. There is no doubt in my mind if he played the game with today's ball...someone would have gotten killed. He would have set the standard for exit velocity.

Those of us who choose optimism choose to enjoy baseball for the love of the sport. If we don't have a good team we get excited about our good player or the new rookie everyone says will be the next big thing. We find a reason to follow the games. Lynn & Eaton make us a better team without a doubt. Springer and Bauer would of course be exciting signings but if they didn't work out...they are very limiting for future moves. Money is limited for every team to some degree. In the last two days, we have added a front line starting pitcher and a big upgrade for an RF problem area. What's not to like?