77 Hitmen

I agree. I don't want them to buy to the extent that they're giving up high-ceiling prospects like Bonemer and Carlson. Many of the Sox players who had a great first half seem to be coming back down to earth. I don't think we're one good catcher and one starting pitcher away from being pennant winners. As much as our catchers suck, they haven't been the only problems with our offense the last few weeks. Please don't pull a Kenny Williams and trade away future All-Stars with go-for-broke trades that don't put us over the top. That doesn't mean I'm all for "prospect hugging" and never trading anyone in our top 30 for serviceable veteran players - like you said, the situation is very nuanced. It's great that we've gone from 100+ losses to first place and debating how aggressively we should be buyers. That's terrific progress in just one season, but there's still a lot of work to do. Also, if the Sox do get a pitcher and catcher and go on to win the pennant this year, people are welcome to pin this post and ask me to eat crow in October.

Since the ballparks in Houston and Seattle are now over 25 years old, I wonder if there have been recent advances in innovative design and materials for a retractable roof stadium that could provide for both an open view of the skyline and access to the river? The Sox would probably need a little more protection from the cold for early season games than a T-Mobile Park design would provide, but they don't need to necessarily make the place totally climate controlled to 72 degrees all summer long like in Houston. Just day dreaming as there's still a few hours to go until first pitch tonight.

Very interesting. Yes, it's all totally hypothetical, but it does make a retractable roof look at least technically feasible on that site. I guess we'll see. It's not a certainty that a ballpark gets built there at all let alone whether Ishbia is willing to bankroll several hundred million $ more for a roof. Any roof would really have to retract in such a way that makes the stadium look open air when it's not raining or cold. If they're going to end up with something that looks like a warehouse like in Texas and Arizona and blocks out views of the city, then people aren't going to like it.

Yeah, the Amtrak property looks too narrow to me for a MLB stadium. Ishbia no doubt has engineers and architects involved that can see the same constraints if he's this far into the process of buying that land. So yeah, my guess is that they are in discussions to purchase part of the BNSF/Metra property or the "air rights" to build over part of that property. They might need only about 100 ft or so of extra width to fit a ballpark there.

Arrowhead Stadium has already hosted a number of major concerts. It doesn't look like KC is too small for huge acts like Beyonce and Taylor Swift. https://www.concertarchives.org/venues/geha-field-at-arrowhead-stadium

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Yeah, I expect we're in for a slew of rage-bait posts if Gonzo finds success in Pittsburgh since it'll be a couple of years before the verdict will be in on this year's draft class.

This is why I'm very leery of trading guys like Bonemer and Carlson. I get that we can't fall in love with all of our prospects such that we're failing to make moves than could put us over the top now because prospects and future pennant chances are never guaranteed. But, I don't want the Sox to go back to the Kenny Williams non-stop "go-for-broke" strategy that shipped off future All-Stars for players that didn't help us in the end.

I doubt the grid structure of the ETFE roof is going to be nearly as unnoticeable as depicted in the renderings. Is that a B-2 bomber flying overhead? They're not building a $3B dome for only the 10-12 Chiefs home games a year (half of which are probably being played in good outdoor weather). It's all about being able to utilize this kind of facility year round for things like mega-concerts (Taylor Swift, etc.), NCAA tournaments, and the one Super Bowl that the NFL will award to them for fleecing the taxpayers in such a grand fashion. Here's the complete set of their renderings (six images total): https://fox4kc.com/sports/chiefs/first-renderings-of-new-kansas-city-chiefs-stadium-revealed/

Very well summarized.

I'm no fan of Jerry Reinsdorf by any means, but do you seriously think that they'd only have a $120M payroll if the CBA forces them to do so? In this decade alone, they've already gone over that amount 4 times. Ishbia is paying down the team's debt and team revenue is going to increase with the boost in attendance they're experiencing. That doesn't mean I think it's a sure think that they'll keep Mune beyond next season, but let's not make it sound like his departure is basically a done deal.

Is it me, or does the artificial turf at Globe Life look pretty ugly on TV?

That sucks. Still better than a blown Achilles tendon, which some people were fearing.

What would a starting catcher cost the Sox?

Phew! I mean, it sucks that he might be out another 4 weeks or whatever, but better than the alternative people were fearing.

Thankfully, it's only an ankle sprain for Teel. His injuries this season certainly have sucked, but the good news is that it's nothing catastrophic. I don't know that a freak play at the plate where he twists his ankle is a sign that he's Luis Robert 2.0. Even though I hate to be a franchise that trades All-Star pitchers when their price tag passes the $100M mark, I'm still satisfied with us getting Teel, Meidroth, and B Montgomery for Crochet. Heck, we still might eventually even get some usefulness out of Wikelman Gonzalez.

Happy that Schriffdawg is back in the booth?

@Y2Jimmy0 , excellent write up. Very interesting summary of what the Sox did and what they were thinking for the draft

This is true for a vast majority of Sox fans. But on social media and message boards, I still expect a vocal minority to dial up their outrage to 11 every time Gonzalez hits an extra base hit or knocks in a go-ahead run for the Bucs.

I agree that the Sox have been terrible at wasting their ABS challenges. I'd agree with going up to 4 challenges. I'm guessing they only have 2 right now because this is the first year the system is being used and this is somewhat of a test run to see how well it works. I wouldn't be surprised to see it expanded in the future.

I was going to say that comparing Jacob Gonzalez's trade value to Gavin Lux's is apples to oranges but someone else beat me to it. It's also hard to compare what the Pirates had to offer now vs. other returns we could have gotten because it was rather unique: more pool money and the supplemental round pick just before the Sox were going first overall in the draft. I agree that this is a gamble as getting plus MLB players from the draft, especially after the first round, is hardly a sure thing. The merits of this trade is a good debate to have and it looks like we'll be debating it for the next few years, especially every time Gonzo gets an XBH, as these draft picks make their way through our system.

Amazing that this keeps getting overlooked. This wasn't Gonzalez for Thome straight up no matter how many times people say it was. Was this a good trade or a lousy trade? I have absolutely no idea. Could this end up biting them in the ass with Gonzo having a solid career while the Sox draft picks fizzle out? Maybe. The Sox are definitely taking a gamble here since draft picks, especially after the 1st round, are rarely a slam dunk. I remember when HS pitchers Matt Thompson and Andrew Dalquist were going to be great picks for the Sox I just think some of the arguments are being a bit disingenuous by saying this was simply Gonzo for Thome. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the guys the Sox were able to draft with the extra money we got from Pittsburgh will make this an overall win of a trade. Someone is welcome to bump this in 3 years and laugh at this post when all of our picks are out of baseball and Jacob Gonzalez is a starter in the All-Star Game.

Caglianone, Wetherholt, Griffin, Braden Montgomery, Yesavage.........WOOF!

The Braves giving draft picks a measly 500 bucks is ridiculous.

what jumps out at me is the amount that these players signed over-slot: Casteel (11) for $1.1M over, Weingartner (6) for nearly $1M over, and Prosek (3) for $800k over. On the other hand, Roch signed for $1M under and Thome signed for $400k under. Aside from getting the extra pick, what factor did the extra money obtained from the Pirates trade play in allowing the Sox to draft and sign all the the players they wanted? Also, why did the 11th round pick sign for such a large bonus ($1.25M). If it's because he's highly ranked, why didn't one of the other 29 teams nab him in the first 10 rounds?