GreenSox

He plays a pretty good 1B. I hope he's in their plans - he ought to be. First-round pick 3 years ago...not really in the desert.

All he has to be is better than Tyler Saladino and he'll be the best signed 7th round pick in Sox history...although Wolkow hopefully will have something to say about it.

That' kind of proves the point: they assembled sufficient depth to move on from the negative WAR guys. I think the only ones on the 26 man are Murphy and Gilbert (is he hurt again?) and they've each been sent down and recalled. So really he's done good job loading the upper minors with these fungible middle reliever types. He also had a smaller budget than 2021, but has hit on 2/3 main FA relievers (I include Hicks in that category as they took on his bad contract for 2 seasons) and Fedde and Kay have been acceptable. That said, I think the org is light on young pitching. Awfully light. And I agree with you on Jones.

But then Balt. did trade and most of those didn't work out well either. (the trade for Burnes excepted). What they gave for "controllable" Baz was something...these GMs just click their heels close their eyes and wish that these average pitchers are somehow more when they are not. I wouldn't mind the Sox doing some prospect-for-prospect or young player trades; but those are better done in the offseason.

I don't know why the Sox need to help out Cleveland. Perhaps use that money to get our hands on a comp pic (obviously we'd have to throw a decent prospect into the mix too).

I would have preferred that our talented DH be dispatched, but I guess Philly wanted an OF who could catch the ball. Maybe when Muri cmes back...

I guess if you're not going to spend it....

My first reaction was "Cannon - not again." But maybe he wasn't so bad: no walks, several Ks and several of the runs were unearned. Has there been a Shane Smith sighting anywhere? A rejuvenated Smith would be better than any trade.

Once Sox went above .500, we never sunk back below. Let's do the same thing with first place.

Contreras was a deadline deal - swap of veterans. Maybe we could do Anthony Kay for... Garcia trade was not a good one; but signing him as a FA was a great move. If it wasn't for these anti-tanking rules (it's not like the Sox sucked on purpose), we'd have Cade Anderson waiting in the wings. Bonemer for Anderson....

I really hope the Tigers hold onto Skubal and get nothing for him. Certainly don't need them loading up with young players. They already have several coming soon. And the Sox trading for him would be ridiculous. It would cost Bonemer; I'm not totally adverse to trading him, but for fair value, which would 3 pitchers (1 major leaguer; 2 good prospects), not one (trade, not a buy). Still Skubal absolutely is an ace, versus faux aces like Alcantra or Webb. Don't be like Hahn or late-era Williams.

Trade Grichuk

Alcantra, a darling of the WAR factory, is a 3. But he's hyped as a 1/2 and is likely priced as such. Renting Skubal would be ridiculous. Sox shouldn't need JR's approval on much because they shouldn't trade for bloated contracts anyway. Contreras and Arraez? What? That's trading for the sake of trading. Sox don't have an opening at first or 2nd. Gonzalez+ for Conteras....a Rick Hahn special. The Sox could actually use a starter. Perhaps Detmers if the price isn't July-juiced.

Just talking trading in general, I go back to this Shane Baz trade, for whom Baltimore sent their 2025 comp draftee, 2026 comp pick (#33) and 3 minor leaguers. Baz is a #3, when he's having a good year. To me, that's a bonkers price for a #3. The price for pitching prospects, however, doesn't appear to be so high.

Well, the Astros took SS Bregman and put him at 3B. A high value SS prospect should be worth 2 high value pitching prospects (re Carlson and his future). And of course he is ++++ on defense, so if he can hit, look out. And the logjam will occur before Carlson is ready: it will be the convergence of Roch, Bonemer and maybe Bergola with Meidroth, Montgomery and Vargas....with some Gonzalez in there.

We made 3 trips to the west coast before playing a single game against Minny, Detroit or Cleveland.

The baseball media pushes buying as the thing for contenders to do - that they must do. . But buying is a losing proposition....well-heeled teams (budget and farm) can absorb those losses. Sox cannot. You can't force things. Be open to good deals.

I blame this game on the scheduler. What's with this business of scheduling 2 teams against each other with only 3 games in between? Lazy scheduling.

Yes, the 2026 edition is group of talented young guys. Brett Lawrie.... I wonder what Yolmer's up to these days?

Right - first week. We have a bunch of talented young players who are playing well. That's the "Culture."

Everything's roses now. But wait to see how the "Culture" holds when going through a streak losing 8/10 or 14/20. Because that will happen.

Is that typical for a first round pick, much less 1/1, to need a new swing?

Players' skills deteriorate; often abruptly. It just happened to Anderson sooner than expected. Same with several other Sox of that era.

Culture? Come on. And for whatever that means, LA and his culture have been on this team all season. And a major aspect of this team is that it plays excellent defense. I'll take staying defensively sound over another average bat.

Lackey and Roch are too compelling to go high school, and associated risk, here. Lackey, to me, is particularly impressive.