KBX

Oh, I guess he is vainly anti-big-business in a more consistent manner than I thought. It doesn't matter, however, because Bernie is what I said he was. Anyone who thinks a sitting senator genuinely and meaningfully opposes corporatism is not 'informed.'

Ever since that one dude mentioned on the radio that the Sox are not looking for a RF that came to a halt.

In baseball it's useful and baseball is pretty much socioeconomically inconsequential. But where is Bernie when it comes to Google and 'Meta' and many others? Nowhere. Because his larger aims of 'global social democracy' and Zionism hinge on this authoritarian corporatism. It's not surprising he would posture as a trust-buster with something trivial like major league baseball.

Plate discipline, Robert and Vaughn. (O = outside the zone; Z = inside the zone) Robert: O-swing% 44.5%; O-contact 56.5%; Z-contact 86.4%; Swing% 61.5%; Contact% 73.6%. Vaughn O-swing% 32.1%; O-contact 61.4%; Z-contact 90.0%; Swing% 45.3%; Contact% 78.0% So Vaughn chases less, makes more contact outside and inside the zone, and swings less overall. If Vaughn pans out he'll probably be a moderate walk guy and high average guy. I think these two will be the best hitters on the team. Let's be outrageously bold and say Vaughn is the best hitter on the team by the end of the year. More Robert / Vaughn comps BABIP: .394 / .271 EV: 91.1 / 91.0 Barrel%: 12.5% / 10.9%

Everyone is kind of mediocre this year. So this could be the break we need. Like in 05.

I think this team will hit 200 home runs, 900 runs scored. It'll have better pitching than its ranking come October.

Imagine paying a few mil in taxes in a year. I'd want to play for the Rays. No state tax, air-conditioned dome, no fans to deal with.

How does Rios fit into this?

It's dangerous if you're neurotic and afraid of emotional distress

- Sheets hits 28 home runs, dates a Hooters waitress or modern equivalent - Kendall 'ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a' Graveman is a source of stress for many of us - Kopech throws a gem in October - Kimbrel is dealt for Trevor Bauer

Link?

Hahn is just so bad. And fired. He's bad and fired.

I believe they will pay the guys who are really good bets. Others, no. The first example is Abreu. If he doesn't retire after this year, we may have two very affordable 1B/DH types in Vaughn and Sheets who approximate Abreu's historical production. I wouldn't expect him back if that happens. With Giolito, Moncada, TA etc, it will depend on the circumstances. This is not an org that regularly gives us nice presents in the winter months, but they're not fine with paying guys market rates when it makes sense and fits into the larger picture of things. Models have no ability to predict the maturation of young stars coming off injury-ridden years. As I've said before, we could have at least 5 major breakout years from certain guys and it wouldn't be the least bit surprising. No model is gonna predict 6.5 WAR from Robert, or 40 homers from Eloy, or CYA-vote-getting years from two of our starters. But again, it wouldn't be shocking for us. This just where we are as a franchise, which is good — it means a lot of potential for steep development curves and a lot of surplus value. I don't necessarily disagree if assessing the situation in a vacuum, but I think it's obvious that he's operating in a way that ownership approves of. This is not an org that is committed to excellence. Winning, yes. Excellence, not really. And they are not 'cheap' tout court, but they clearly are in certain ways. The payroll is indeed high, but it's high due to short-term deals in low-competition markets. There's a cheapness there. I have said this org is cheap and have gotten corrected, but yet why on earth would we be wanting for a true RF for any other reason? It's nothing to harp on and shout from the rooftops, but there is a Sox way of doing things that has been consistently observed for as long as I've watched this team. They are not committed to excellence per se, and that type of commitment is often fundamentally irrational on some level, or at least in certain ways. Given the same circumstances, it would be a Dodger or Yankee thing to sign Conforto, but it is an inefficient move from a dollar/WAR standpoint. Even with Conforto, we still need a lot of things to go right to win it all. The most rational thing to do — which is not equivalent to saying 'the best thing to do' — is play the young guys who will approximate Conforto's output and save money over that time frame. This also leaves room for other needs forthcoming, which may be more urgent than RF. And I expect that they will address those needs in some way, either a 'very Sox-like' way or a more conventional way that pleases the crowd here.

I don't get that either. Vaughn has already been badly impeded with his developmental curve, and he me may just that much of a natural hitter than he can adjust to MLB pitching while skipping almost all of MiLB and being forced to play out of position. He needs to be swinging a bat every day whether it's here or in Charlotte. Moreover Vaughn can probably fake it for a year in the OF but Sheets probably can't, and if neither one is traded, you'd really hope that both become legitimate power hitters that can give you surplus value as various guys retire/regress/leave via FA over the next 2-3 seasons.

The possibilities with all these guys with another year under their betls... Robert, Jimenez, Moncada, Vaughn, Sheets on the offensive side, then Cease, Kopech and Crochet plus the bullpen in general on the pitching side all makes it pretty exciting for me, that is to say more exciting than the offseason has been frustrating