Baseball Gal

This outcome is entirely predictable. I hope Harold is right that it is Kenny working the phones, and Rick gets an office for the rest of the season before getting whacked.

I don't think anyone disagrees but I'd be shocked if they trade Cease before the end of next season.

I actually don't think the owners want a cap and floor either, because that means they have to open up the books. But yes, for everyone except the superstars a cap and floor system is better for them than the current system.

1. Based on what has been reported, they're probably not trading Cease or Robert until they're 1 year rentals at best. Maybe they might consider it as a 1.5 year rental. 2. I'm expecting an approach similar to 2014-16 going forward until ownership changes. 3. The reason I'm saying rebuild isn't an option is because of Jerry moreso than overall strategy. Yes the draft changes suck going forward but they could try to buy prospects by picking up short term deals in FA and if they're having a good year, sell high. I think they're gonna sell by 8/1/23 because it's clearly over, but I really doubt they're going to listen on anyone that isn't a pure rental. Where it gets interesting is when Eloy's team options come. I was excited about the trades they made in 2016-17 but very skeptical about Madrigal and Vaughn. I kept an open mind though. The majority of what could go wrong, did. And here we are.

Idk how palatable it will be to Jerry to sign FA with the explicit goal of buying prospects with them. There are already rumors that Jerry's takeaway is that rebuilds don't work rather than the FO being putrid at their jobs

It's because they either can't pick top 6 or top 10(not sure) in consecutive seasons.

This. I thought it was just that large market teams couldn't pick top 6 in consecutive years but if it's top 10 it's even worse. This is why tanking isn't a real option.

Yeah and they can't even pick top 6 in consecutive years, which would functionally mean they're unable to pick top 10. They're going to have to draft, internationally sign and develop their way out of this and there's not a lot of hope on that front. Even though Montgomery and Schultz look really promising, Hernandez and Reyes (top international signings) look like a disaster. They also really did a 180 in the draft department, which makes no sense after seeing the early success of Montgomery/Schultz.

Obviously cleaning house in the FO should be the first priority, but how should they move forward from here? I'm at a loss.

Idk I was just spitballing.

I wasn't saying that he was keeping them competitive, but rather keeping a few guys going so that the team wasn't a complete disaster.

Was Abreu holding this team together? Kicking a few guys in the ass so that they weren’t a complete embarrassment?

@wegner resigned is the word you were looking for

the sad thing is they're going to be even worse next year and probably unable to get a top 10 pick.

Yeah and they're not even gonna gwt a top 10 pick out of it.

Yes. Kopech didn't pitch in 2020 but in 2021 his slider was great. I think they tried to fix something that wasn't broken and tried to get both guys to throw a sweeper. Fail. Both Crochet and Kopech came up throwing an 87-89 mph slider with short but sharp break and they missed bats. Sox tried to get both guys to throw a sweeper and they ruined a plus pitch for both.

I think he could have gotten away with 96-98 if he kept the snapdragon slider. Idk what the sox did to his slider grip but his slider is way worse now than it was in 2020.

This.

They never even tried though.

Yeah but lefties that throw 102 with a wicked slider don't grow on trees. Sox player development (or lack thereof) fucked him up. He should have been an Aroldis Chapman level closer at worst. Also the Sox TJS guys are losing significant stuff after surgery. They should re-evaluate their TJS rehab protocol. He always had significant reliever risk, but they didn't even try to start him.

I'm not going to argue against the Crochet pick. It was worth the gamble if the Sox didn't rush him to the Majors and they actually gave him time to build up his arm. MLB draft is a crapshoot. The pick wasn't bad, what happened afterwards was brutal. Another guy that got injured and lost his stuff, just like Kopech.

David Wells?

Reyes and Hernandez have been so disappointing. The top international guys from the last two classes.

That's so confusing to me. Jerry doesn't like to spend on proven talent and he doesn't like to spend on unproven talent. So where you getting talent from, Jerry?

So then is Jerry right? I think it sucks that the Sox aren't really players in FA but that's even more evidence to sink a lot of resources into scouting and player development because that's where the value is.