CentralChamps21

At least win one game, otherwise the Sox won the same number of playoff games as the Cubs.

I was thinking of free agency, not trades.

If you're not willing to pay an "unfair" price at least sometimes, you'd better be as perfect at drafting as Tampa Bay if you want to win in the postseason. There were better options for RF than Adam Eaton, better options for a backup 2B/SS than Leury Garcia, and better options for RH setup than Even Marshal/Codi Heuer.

Trading for Lynn worked out. I think making trades in the offseason brings better value than at the deadline.

Baseball gambling story as told by my dad: he was at a Sox game at Tiger Stadium sometime in the late 90s. Only two other guys sitting within 50 feet of his group. Found out that the guys were big time sports bettors. One of them had $200 on Wilson Alvarez to throw a shutout at +5000. Alvarez got pulled in the 8th despite still having a shutout on only allowing 3-4 baserunners. The guy went ballistic.

Tony LaRussa will be the Sox manager until he chooses to retire, dies, or gets a 3rd DUI, whichever comes first.

I really want to believe you. Can you expand on this any more?

Obviously the bottom 3 in the order need to be upgraded. There's no question about that. Unless you fill all three spots with guys who have low o-swing rates, low ground ball rates, and good power vs RHP, it isn't going to be enough of an improvement. You keep pointing out individual performances like Robert's and that plays exactly into what I'm saying. Individually, they're good, but collectively, they aren't getting it done. One guy with a great OPS that comes entirely from singles and walks is a very good player. A whole bunch of them strung together in a lineup is not a very good lineup.

If that's coming entirely from singles and a few walks, it's hard to score runs. Look at the scores of the games. It's also about everybody collectively. Luis robert having a bunch of singles works fine if you have one other guy to get extra base hits to drive him in, but look at how many runs Robert scored off those singles. This team isn't built to beat RHP with decent sliders. That's reality.

A bunch of singles, they've been three Nick Madrigals so far this series. Plus, most of them were vs the lefty, find a team that will throw 4 straight lefties in a playoff series and this lineup will deliver for you.

No extra base hits and lots of grounders, that has resulted in 5 runs over 2 games is not balling out.

We make a lot of assumptions on this board about how much a player's trade value has gone up or down. We don't really know that trading Eloy or Vaughn would be selling low. If this group of six is going to stay together and they don't change their plate approach, we're going to get the same results, except next year Detroit is going to be a lot better and we won't be able to coast to a division title.

Individually, Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, Jose Abreu, Yasmani Grandal, Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada are all very valuable players, but they may actually be a case where the whole is not as great as the sum of the parts. As a group, they have very similar weaknesses: swinging at too many pitches outside the zone, too many ground balls, and lack of power vs RHP. How many times this season have we seen this group go 2-20 or something like that against a righty with a decent slider, even one who has a 4+ ERA against other opponents. We usually end up directing our vitriol at Cesar Hernandez or Leury Garcia during these games, so we may not have noticed how bad our top 6 did. Is this offseason the time to see if one of them can get traded for a lefty power bat and/or a controlled starting pitcher? I would hate to see any of them go, but I would understand why if it happens.

Everybody is upset that the Sox made this move instead of getting Bryant or some other RF, but the more I think about it, I think any big move was a bad idea this year. This was a year where everything was very uncertain with COVID and with even the healthiest of pitchers having thrown only 70 innings last year, and the Sox having Rodon and Kopech who threw almost none over the past two years. This was a year to roll with what the Sox had and hope to get hot in the playoffs. The one guy I might have tried to get was Todd Adam Frazier, because he's under control for next year, bats lefty, and can play both 2B and RF.

The team is as good as it is, regardless of the competition. The Sox aren't as good as Houston but that has nothing to do with the schedule. Also, because of injuries and because of being a year after COVID, this team had to coast to the finish line. I think the manager has made many other bad decisions, but keeping guys rested isn't one of them. In fact, it looks like the starting pitchers didn't get rested enough.

Correction - this only ends up being good if Madrigal spends ALL of the next 5 years injured.

The reasons the Sox are down 2-0 in this series are: There are too many hitters while, each individually are good, collectively don't hit right-handed pitching well enough and hit too many ground balls. Not strong defensively Pitchers walked too many guys

I just want to say most of the people complaining about having Engel's bat in the lineup are the same people complaining that he got pinch hit for.

Now Vaughn gets a hit.

Kimbrel sucking is a double whammy because not only does he crush the Sox in this year's playoffs, but he's no longer a viable trade chip in building next year's team.

Engel would have had that.

Yes, but that was not with Bummer pitching. Bummer produces a very different spray chart than other pitchers.

With Bummer pitching, I'd be tempted to play a 5th IF right behind 2B and go with 2 outfielders.

At any point did the Sox consider having the 2B or SS PLAY UP THE MIDDLE!

Option C