GreenSox

Ozzie had a real soft-spot for swing-at-everything guys and slap-hitters, especially aging ones. When he was able to push his will onto the org., beginning in 2007, it was a disaster. Williams provided temporary relief in 2008 by trading for Quentin and Swisher, but he dumped Swisher for nothing, Quentin got hurt, and we were back to Ozzie favs like Pierre, Erstad, Kotsay and DeWayne Wise

Ozzie has a strong personality, but he was weak too: he lacked experience, he was unreliable (to be kind) when evaluating talent. It's not the personalities - laid back is fine (Torre and Francona are laid back). It's knowledge of the game and the ability to implement that knowledge; and the ability to judge talent and personnel.

And where is the front office on this? Its job, among other things, is to establish, integrate and maintain organizational philosophy and culture. Feckless.

Davidson hasn't regressed; Palko. Avi seems to be fine. I doubt that it's the hitting coach calling for bunts instead of driving the dagger. To me, the bigger issue is the lack of progress with the young pitching. And then it's hard to believe that the pitching coach doesn't have input into Renteria's often daft pitching decisions. But Don the icon is also Don the sacred cow. As for Renteria, a trait of weak managers is to hire weak mangers (when they obviously should hire the strongest that they can find).

Wouldn't surprise me; after the mini-retool in 2014, this front office's first move was to trade young players for 1 year of Samardzija's services off of 73 wins. No telling what the plans are to build this team up - just hope the FO gets it right this time.

Who, if we're lucky, will develop into another Yolmer. At some point, they have to start building the team up. And hope never to hear again the importance of Abreu's great leadership...move him.

He needs to be an .800+ OPS hitter

I appreciate that and I like how JR is really good to a lot of people. But he's got to get someone who understands the game. A manager simply can't do what Renteria did today.

He's obviously over his head. But what exactly does the FO want in a manager? I know they want someone who will listen to them...a lot of front offices want that. But those other FOs want the manager to follow their analytics and that sort of thing. What do the Sox want? Someone who will put up with Cooper? There's got to be some reason they have hired two weak managers in a row.

Why? Because he was rushed. Rushed guys pick up bad habits trying to hit ML pitching. His defense warrants taking a full look. Now is the time. 5th OF who can only play D are a dime a dozen. See if the Sox have something more. There are a lot of late-blooming players around MLB. It's interesting to me that a team like the Dodgers, which has every reason not to wait for them to develop, has several of them.

1B Reps I'd like to see Engel in AAA for a similar reason: to develop a consistent hitting stroke. Then come back and see if he can apply it against ML pitching.

We can only hope. And all it takes is one.

Yep. Look at Teo Hernandez whom the Jays got in minor trade with the Astros for Liriano. On a side note, they did a nice job trading for Liriano (getting prospects to take the salary) and then trading him away. There is talent to be had.

I hope you're right that there is line of teams waiting. But I look at what the Tigers got for Martinez, what they got for Verlander, and say that the Cole return wasn't that bad. And, yes, Cole is pitching right now like he never has before.

Last year the Yanks sent some stiff back the Sox way to help compensate for the salaries. Neil Walker might fit the bill.

If you don't discount the slump, what would you expect a team to give for a 1B who his hitting below .800 OPS and is not good in the field? Only by discounting the slump can the Sox get any quality at all. I don't know how many prospects the Astros have that they wouldn't give up, I can't see Abreu yielding at top 40 or 50. I think someone way above gave a good comp - something like the Garret Cole package. Stassi would have fit the Moran spot in that deal, but now the Astros need him. Maybe a little more volume; or guys low in the minors with a lot of undeveloped skills.

I'm not sure why that would dissuade them...they seem hungry for another. I'm not suggesting they will trade any of their top 3 or 4 prospects: they won't. They never do. There's still talent to be had; too late for someone like Max Stassi, but it sure would have been nice.

I would expect the Astros to among the teams least likely to deeply discount Abreu because of the slump. Back in 2015, they paid full price for Carlos Gomez and his .751 OPS. The Sox should not only be willing to eat salary, they should offer to eat salary. Their current payroll allows them to do it and the ability to eat salary in trades provides some justification for the paltry payroll.

I assume this is about Guerrero and seeing how he works out of the pen. Someone has to start (they have org guys scattered throughout the minors). He lost his legit prospect status when left unprotected in Rule 5. The pen might offer a chance of resuscitation for Guerrero.

No divisions = Much better for the game.

Verducci's comments were accurate. Both players are struggling. And within the realm of rebuilds, neither the Cubs nor the Astros traded a player anywhere close to Sale. It was a necessary move if they were going to rebuild and not re-tool But it was a risky move, made riskier by relying on discredited talent-evaluators to handle the trade. The entire rebuild has heightened risk for that reason.

Where's the icon on this pitcher usage...shouldn't he help out here. Or maybe he is.

Volstead used days in a row in high leverage situations. Not a prospect; not a flip candidate. Not sure of the objective here.

Finally a good game from a prospect. Nice going, Giolito. And a good game for flip candidate Soria (who needs to be moved expeditiously before he turns sour) and emerging candidate Xavier Cedeno.

It's not like he pitched well though. Reneteria is probably over his head but that's not the reason for this dog and pony show. Talent and development is the reason.