JoeC

I feel like it is a minimum qualification for a coach to know if he has fast or slow players.

Sorry - the combination of the above opening to your post + your username made me chuckle.

Yeah, Dye had a bigger impact that led to the one result that actually matters. Either way, my point is that some players are in the retired number equivalent of the "Hall of Very Good." I feel like with someone like Abreu has earned THAT level of respect, to have players ask him if they can wear "his" number once he's gone. ...but this org would probably do something stupid and give out #79 to a no-name rookie at spring training, then throw that kid under the rug when someone calls him out on "stealing" Jose's number.

Agreed… if I were a player I would reach out and ask Robin before taking that number. Not necessary, but a nice way to ingratiate yourself with an organization.

Ozzie is what the 2022 team needed halfway through June. Ozzie is not what a 2023 team needs before the season.

Depends on your assessment of his peak value, which, for me, is largely dependent on his ability to stay healthy. If another organization thinks they can keep him healthy and productive, you ask for high returns. I should also have added the caveat that I wouldn't do any trade if it didn't come with a guarantee of 2B being settled for the long term. The one encouraging thing to me about Eloy this year is his plate discipline. Compared to 2020. His chase rate has declined, his walk rate has increased, and his K rate has declined. His power is also back, in spite of the coaching staff's efforts. If you can package that productivity with an optimistic picture of his health, and get a return that plugs your 2B hole, you do that. Then your opening day lineup includes Abreu (DH), Vaughn (1B), Sheets / Pollock (LF) (ew), Actual 2Bman (2B), and Colas (RF). High risk high reward, but you can't make chicken soup out of chicken s%*#.

I think signing Abreu and trading Eloy is my choice. Trade Eloy for a bona fide starter to 2Bman to a team that thinks they can keep him healthy. I am quite pessimistic on Eloy’s health.

Ozzie would have been OK for me as a midseason replacement to get the players’ asses in gear. I think he would have provided enough of a kick in the pants to get the team on track in the short term. An a permanent manager? No way.

That's my takeaway as well.

Carl Everett, anyone?

thus my "-out-of-my-mind" precursor.

Per Japanese media he retired.... apparently as of 2 days ago (10/2 in Japan). So he 1) has Sox ties; 2) has retired as manager. Maybe it's not as outlandish as we thought.

Out-of-the-box-and-probably-out-of-my-mind thinking:

Plus being a local kid is a nice little bonus touch

When you're applying for jobs as an MLB manager, probably highly, but won't expect any.

(and that "dripping with sarcasm" tone I have there is mocking the Sox's front office specifically and not you, Jack. You just happened to be the one who set it up)

It's almost like you're suggesting that executives should consider statistics and analytics and help make decisions. Like a department within their front office dedicated to analytics.

I am thinking anarcho-syndicalist management team. All players take turns acting as sort of an executive officer for each game, but all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special half-inningly-meeting by a simple majority in the case of tactics, but by a two-thirds majority in the case of player substitutions.

Yes - thus the "magically" qualifier to "stay healthy." I really hope that an overhaul of the medical staff (to help prevent soft tissue injuries) and coaching staff (to instill some semblance of discipline and accountability, such as for fitness and preventative maintenance by the players) would help, but in general I agree with you. As a result, Jose will ideally be gone.

I love Jose to death, but yeah... it's for him to go, unless Eloy can magically stay healthy enough to play LF full time and they are able to trade Sheets + others for a useful piece. In that case, you go Vaughn as everyday 1B / Jose as DH.

$19.5M worth? Is that a reference to llast year with the $18.4MM of pennies we pinched?

You guys are right about TLR being actually lucid and coherent. I hope whatever health issues he has are squared away, and I also wonder if it's alcoholism. It's a terrible disease.

Not sure if I agree with the full sentiment, but yeah - at this point I'd say his arm is basically back to being "built up" (if it ever actually was). He's at basically 120 innings for the year. Getting him to the 160 ~ 180 range next year basically just involves keeping him healthy, given how short starters go nowadays.

Depends on the coach. Depending on who the coach is, we could be in for some great entertainment as a consolation prize for a sucky team.

Now that Drake LaRoche has been hired as manager, we can fill out the rest of the coaching staff.