poppysox

Working fast and throwing strikes...that's what good pitchers do. Didn't shake McCann off once.

A very good days work for the boys! Sox Win---Sox Win!

Throwing strikes is a real good thing for relivers to do.

Keep pitching like he is and he's worth his weight in gold at the deadline.

Gio works fast and throws strikes. That's a winning combination. I wish we could convince a few of our other pitchers to give it a try.

What's not to like about McCann?

I agree that Robert belongs on the list. I didn't put Jimenez or Madrigal on my list because they do not have 5 tool potential. Abreu has always been this to me. Very good player but just ok at defense & speed. That's why Abreu types can be picked up in free agency without breaking the bank. Five tool players and TOR pitchers need to be developed internally in order to afford todays game.

Performance for #79 is still relevant if his value for trade is in FO thinking.

I believe the Sox have potential stars in Anderson, Moncada, Cease & Kopech and we got them how you need to get them...we trade for and draft stars. Free agency is a very expensive place to shop for this type of player. However, many items are for sale in the medium price range aisle. It's a very nice place to shop for your need someone to upgrade this weakness or 3rd or 4th starters. In business you might say...maximize use of minimal resource.

I like how the Sox have approached this rebuild. When I look at 2005 there were no mega stars. They had some moderate power, good defense, great pitching, lockdown bullpen and some speed. Pods and Iguchi brought a spark but most importantly they had 25 complimentary pieces. These mega deal guys don't seem to work out all that often. I think that's because those deals go to power hitters and strike out pitchers. Guys like Iguchi, Pods, Dye and Rowland were nice complimentary pieces not high priced stars. We had AJ and Dye and Crede as moderate priced guys who were productive and not expensive. Kind of McCann like guys. We will be winning when we get 25 players who do their jobs well. One or two so called stars are not the answer. Pitching, timely hitting, speed & and defense is needed on a well balanced wining team. I will say that half of those 25 men are pitchers. If those 12 or 13 guys aren't good... your wining nothing.

Find someone from organizations like St. Louis, Milwaukee or Minnesota. All small market teams that manage to win without buying their teams.

Good guess might be lead off hitter with high average & walks for high obp... A forty + base stealer and a player with a high baseball IQ...a really good glove and the quarterback of the infield. I'll take a dozen years of that.

Kenny has always prized athleticism over baseball skills. Hasn't always worked.

This might drive Balta off the deep end. We better take a pass.

What...they don't know our boys don't quit.

This is true for most of us I would guess.

Does this mean you are not excepting my offer?

I'm willing to wait until ST 2020 under those conditions.

No! With a second home in Corpus Christi I went to a lot of Hooks games (Houston AA). Pretty easy to become a fan of nice kids trying hard and best seat in the house was $9 . Food was the price of fast food and parking $3. When a Hooks player hit a homer the fans passed a hat for the hitter...people threw a $1in the hat. Probably got 40-50 bucks. In a side note...Hunter Pence III was on that team. Kind of nice to not be so emotionally invested in every little thing.

He was signed October 2013. Five + years probably not long enough for fixture status.

Letting him walk will not happen. It for sure will be trade or extend. Because of Collins, Burger & Draft pick type guys...Abreu might be deemed better used as trade bait.

I'm not counting on Carlos for much at this point. Between not much time to build back up and his agent...I'll be happy with anything we salvage.

I am no fan of Nova and his slower than slow pitching style. In fairness, however, they got him to give them innings. He does take the mound every fifth day and about 40% of the time gives them an OK game. He won't be part of things when the games count so I try to live with it.

Someone needs to get on base if you want to see 3 run bombs.

Interesting adjustment to the lineup. Lineup looks odd without Anderson. Odd...not better.