GreenSox

Probably but not as ferociously. Kimbrel as well. (I do have a bias against young for old). Sox didn't need KImbrel. Lynn had some 1/2 bona-fides. Bassitt/Manaea are 3/4 guys. While the Sox got what they wanted out of Lynn, the Rangers have 2 very viable young pitchers. As for Conforto and context, the Mets, who are adding like crazy, are moving on from him. That should signal something as well. That's what Samardzija was - a 3/4 guy who had a career year. As paid top dollar for him for a playoff run and then they pawned him off on the Sox. And the Sox got what he really was: a 3/4 guy. Here's a trade for Bassitt. Kimbrel, Collins and a prospect. Let the As polish up Kimbrel and flip him in July - they're good at that sort of thing. But no way should the Sox trade promising young talent for an average rent-a-pitcher...especially when we're howling "we need a left handed hitter."

Could be, if it's for Montas. Sheets for Bassitt would be ridiculously lazy and a great way to rebuild Oakland again, like Hahn did several years ago. And then add on Conforto, when Sheets out-hit him by a mile last year.

There's no way this org. should rebuild after 2024. Nor should it have to.

I agree with this part.

The energy of your post deserves a thumbs-up, VaFan. And if he's healthy, let's sign him.

"Thank you, sir, may I have another?" The friendly As again. Of course. They gladly let us rebuild them again. And the As won't want our low minor guys as centerpieces for one of these rents. They don't rebuild from the nub. They will want someone like Sheets+ for a rent-a-pitcher. Sox can just sign Conforto, and problems solved. Until Sheets outhits Conforto....

Over the last 15-20 years, the Sox system has both a)been ranked pretty low most years (a few of the rebuild years, due to the trades, excepted) and b) churned out more and better players than the rankings suggest that it should. I think that will continue. The accuracy of the evaluation of their own prospects and what they do with them are the questions.

Confotro was terrible last year, and the Mets, who are investing in their team, are still moving on from him. Reasonable chance he continues to decline going forward. His career OPS is .824. That’s fine, but it’s nothing special. And there isn’t much of a market for him, so, sure, easy enough to sign. The higher priority is SP, and, arguably, 2B. The Sox don’t need an ace; they need a solid 2/3 guy. Such pitchers were available in December at reasonable prices, and the FO wasn’t ready or they didn’t bother. Same with 2B. Sure they can trade for one. This FO never minds tacking on 1 or 2 extra young players to get the deal done; easy enough. Meanwhile, Sheets showed a lot of promise from the left side. He’d be on the first train out in one of the trades. We’ve seen players like Conforto before; we’ve seen this FO trade for veterans (and it's the same dudes: Hahn and Haber); and we’ve seen young for old exchanges. Generally not pretty.

Pass. Just a lazy move.

Not as dismal an eval as I would have expected for the #30 farm. I remember the write-up the Angels as a #30, and I think I would have needed an IV had that been the Sox.

Unless they could use the minors to develop Crochet as a starter; this will be season #3 in the pen, which is about the time to shift him, if he's going to start. He's a good reliever, but that's not what round 1 is for, and lordy does this FO use a lot of resources on relievers.

They seemed to draft for need in the Hahn era until recently when they completely shifted. Needed a C, needed a 3B, relievers (X 3, although Crochet had some starter projection and hopefully still does). Need just isn't the way to do it. The current approach really depends on being bullseye accurate with the scouting, as they are punting a lot of the draft for a couple of players they want. We'll see.

Well as soon as Robert and the bounty from a couple of trades hit the majors, we settled back to where we've been for much of the last 15 years. Mediocre drafting, generation behind on analytics, and not taking the international game seriously (even though they are good at it) takes its toll. Lately, the drafting has been strange: we'll see soon if the results stay mediocre, or perhaps improve.

This is why Spring Training games must not be delayed: ST games for sure will push that score off of there.

A decade ago, contact was laughed at; now it's a thing. Similarly, pitcher Ks are the thing...or were....I think that is shifting to more command based metric that can measure weak contact.

This morning, he put up a dozen or so "just missed" and the Sox didn't have any of those either.

Nada for the Sox; not a surprise, I suppose. Sox choice. Astros also score a zip. All other AL Central teams have 2 in the top 50 (Tigers 2 in top 5) D Backs top the list with 7, 3 top 50. They've churned out prospects for years; just can't build a team. Dodgers and Pirates with 6; Orioles, Rays, Mets and Giants with 5.

1. Means: No. 2. Vaughn to rent a .200 hitter for 1 season: No (and I know I didn't put Gallo in best light, but the Sox have been down that road before). 3. Probably a positive expectation trade (although I wouldn't do it).

As busts go, he was pretty good. Don't mind his announcing either.

Good gawd. And none of these inconsistent 2B we should load the wagon for has any sort of consistent power (a specific weakness of the Sox in 21) either.

Pass on both of the Mets' dumpees. And I still don't see how McNeil warrants a high prospect cost anyway; even if he wasn't off of a dismal season and even if the Mets weren't overtly trying to move him.

The trouble with trading Burger is that the Sox won't get much for him. He doesn't have prospect pedigree, nor a meaningful minor league career. His AAA numbers last year were unremarkable. Sheets showed some ability last year, but it is the old small sample size, and he lacks prospect pedigree. That said, he is a lefty bat and absolutely mauled RH pitching. And the other thing is that his 2021 didn't come out of the blue... reports out of the ATF in 2020 said he had turned a corner. I'd say he's at least 50/50 to have a better year than Conforto (he has has better odds of being totally awful). Absolutely no one should have more information than the Sox on whether these guys could be the "real deal." Don't see a compelling reason to trade either of these guys. The one with the most trade value is Vaughn. But, he probably also has the most potential and most likely to be a major league regular. I think he's going to really hit. Abreu's going to be gone in a year, and we'll need the depth. The bigger issue to me is pitching.

Yep, especially as pitching isn't exactly firmed up right now. And pitching flamed out in the playoffs last year. This is good news.

Keep your paws off of Jeff Ireland!

A 30 year old late bloomer whose last 2 seasons were 1.5 and .5 WAR. Yea, but let's send Crochet, one of our best young pitchers, as a starter package. That's the way the way winning organizations do it. Peddle for Peddle. Kimbrel at most, and I wouldn't even do that.