hogan873

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 13, 2018 -> 10:23 AM) For all of the people that begged for a rebuild, there are too many who can't handle a rebuild. This is a process, and it will take YEARS, not 12 games. Stressing over the micro's of pitch to pitch in a process like this is such a waste of time. Zoom out and look at this as a timeline and not the next pitch. Spot on. There is not only freaking over individual games but over individual at-bats. This is going to be a painful year with ups and downs (more downs than ups), and players like Moncada will frustrate because we expect more. As someone else has mentioned, he's had about 300 at bats at the MLB level. He needs more, lots more. And the Sox can afford to be patient with his development.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 11, 2018 -> 12:45 PM) Hot take: No one has seen Juan Minaya and Gregory Infante in the same place at the same time. Hot take: Bruce Rondon ate one of them.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 08:19 PM) :lol: I'm sorry my friend, but you must have seen the date incorrectly. Today is April 10, not April 1. Abreu is nowhere near HOF calibur. Not even close. Soxtalk overrates Abreu like crazy. Quite the opposite in my opinion. There are posts and threads that may overrate him, but I believe he's under-appreciated here. That being said, I don't see him being a Hall of Famer. He's a great hitter and an average first baseman. Unless he plays for a lot longer than we'd think, he wouldn't get to that magic number of 500 home runs.

The worst thing this team could have done is look good to start the season. Those first two games provided false hope, and now that reality has set in everyone is shocked and dismayed that the team is losing. Stop, take a breath, and remember what this year is about.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Apr 5, 2018 -> 03:47 PM) What’s a good extension offer for Yolmer? 5/30? Is that too much? Probably not enough. His defense alone is worth that.

I like the Jason/Stone combination. I like their banter even though it can get a little tiring at times. As other have pointed out, that may smooth out over time. Steve Stone is one of the better color commentary guys in the business. He's extremely knowledgeable, and Jason does a decent job deferring to him. Stone sounds like he's having more fun than when he's with Hawk. I didn't get to watch yesterday's game, so I didn't hear Hawk. From what I've read on here, it sounds like it's good he's retiring. I noticed last year he was having a little more trouble reading the ball. I've liked Hawk, but he's gotten to be grating in recent years. He's easier to take in small doses. I didn't get to hear AJ, either, and it sounds like he's pretty good in the booth. Maybe we'll see (hear) him call Sox games in the future.

Yesterday's game was a very frustrating one, and it's the type of game we'll probably see more often than we'd like this year. The bullpen is weak, and they're going to lose some games...maybe a lot of games. I think we're all prepared for a losing season, but damn if it isn't frustrating day by day. That being said, I like what I'm seeing from the offense, especially with guys like Yolmer, Davidson, and Anderson. These guys could (and most likely will) be part of the very promising future. I'm not worried about Moncada. He needs to be playing everyday to continue to see MLB pitching. He's still very young.

The Looming Tower on Hulu is great. It is, however, very frustrating to watch seeing how the CIA and FBI kept information from each other. The show so far makes the CIA, especially two agents, look worse, but I'm sure blame falls on both agencies. Knowing how this all ends with the 9/11 attacks, it's very upsetting to think it could have been prevented had the two agencies actually worked together.

Really nice outing by Fulmer. I didn't start watching until the fourth inning, but I liked what I saw. I hope this was a sign of what he can be. Jones and Soria looked great. I agree with some previous posts - late innings bullpen looks good, otherwise not so much. I heard that the Sox lead the majors in home runs after yesterday's game. That's pretty cool. Not a stat that will last, but it's nice to see the power.

The Terror on AMC is really good. It seems to be following the book pretty well. Jared Harris is perfect as Francis Crozier.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 1, 2018 -> 10:52 PM) I'm not sure what I want. I'm just surprised a guy bangs three homers and there's little more than a yawn. What if he woulda hit four? Would he have gotten some unrequited love on here or still a lot of ... he can't keep it up. He's at best a 100 game a year guy on our next WS contending team? Of course he can't keep up a 3-HR per game pace. I think the lack of excitement that you seem to think there is is everyone who has watched Davidson play for the past year+ saying, "Great game, love the home runs, let's just hope it's a sign of things to come." I believe what we'd all like to see is better plate discipline, fewer Ks, more walks, and continued power. There's no doubt the guy has huge power. If he can maintain that while doing the other stuff to make him a better hitter, he'll be a potentially valuable part of this team moving forward. One game does not a superstar make. This season is going to be a great opportunity for both Davidson and the Sox. He can continue to work on improving his batting and the Sox can watch his development. There's not a ton of pressure on the Sox, so they can afford to give him the at-bats he needs. He'll need to really improve his plate discipline and increase his OBP to be considered improved.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Feb 27, 2018 -> 11:06 AM) Moustakas at 2 years/$15 million would be a solid value That would be an incredible value, considering Frazier got 2/$17 million. I don't see it happening. If Moustakas ends up signing a shorter term deal, I would expect something more like $12-$14 million per for a year or two.

It'll be a tough road back for him, but he's young and was not expected to be MLB ready for a while. Hopefully everything goes well with the surgery and rehab. He'll be back.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 11:15 AM) I think these politicians always discount the younger voters since they typically don't show up to the polls. It's different now though. These kids are energized now and it's because their actual lives are now in danger. They will definitely be voting so hopefully they vote out all of these useless turds. I couldn't agree more. I have two teenagers that will be voting in 2020, and they are pretty engaged in politics now. This latest shooting has really opened their eyes, and they've expressed worry about their safety at school. I know they're not alone.

There are still quite a few free agents out there, and many will sign soon I would assume. The longer they go unsigned, the more likely they may sign for shorter-term deals or deals with opt outs attached. Even though there hasn't been much talk other than this supposition regarding Moustakas, I could see him signing for 5 years with an opt out after 2. And I wouldn't be against the Sox signing him provided the price is right. Would signing him necessarily take the Sox out of the Machado sweepstakes next year? I wouldn't necessarily think so if an opt out was attached and/or Moustakas is moved to 1B.

High school students across the country have had enough. I believe that these protests and walkouts are just the beginning of a major change in this country. What a lot of these politicians seem to fail to realize is that these students will be voting in 2020, some will be voting this year.

If I remember correctly, he played a bit (a game here and there) at 1st base last year. I could see him ending up there either splitting time with Abreu or being the primary there with Abreu moving to DH. However, that's all dependent on him hitting consistently. There is plenty of talent in the minors that could be better than him. I like Nicky, and I'd like to see him do well and stick somewhere. I'll believe it when I see it, though.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Feb 21, 2018 -> 07:59 AM) You could probably look at the twenty previous 45th or 49th pick and find a bunch of guys who never made it. I’m not necessarily advocating the signing of Moustakas but it sure as hell would have nothing to do with that pick. Yeah, this is a tough one. I would hazard to guess that if you looked at the success rate of the 45th to 49th picks it wouldn't be overwhelming. History would tell us that there are potential gems in every round (see Mark Buehrle). Obviously a 45th pick would have a better CHANCE at success than a 145th pick. I suppose it comes down to what sort of deal Moustakas could be signed for. If he would sign for 5/$60ish, it might be worth it. People smarter than me would be making the decision ultimately. The potential loss of the pick will be considered along with many other factors (free agent availability and the chances the Sox have of signing them chief among them).

Just finished La Mante on Netflix. It's an excellent French thriller. Only six episodes, so the storytelling is tight.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 9, 2018 -> 02:21 PM) If our scouts were right about Rutherford then at some point he's going to be a breakout player. If they were wrong, then someone screwed up badly because that was a pretty major mistake, to like the guy in the draft, pay a high trade price for him in a trade, and then not get a big league player out of it. They clearly like this guy, so if they're wrong, that should be one of those "how were we this badly wrong" moments where you change your scouts or change the evaluation tools that led you to that guy. For his prospect ranking at the time that was a fair price, but you would have to hope that they were doing slightly more diligence on these guys than saying "What is their ranking in the MLB.com prospects list right now and is that fair for what we're giving up?" Yes. A good organization would definitely do some sort of failure analysis if a guy the scouts really liked flops.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Feb 9, 2018 -> 10:05 AM) You're being too kind to Sox brass on that trade. Sox should have gotten a lot more from Yanks. I disagree. Like I said, the real value of that trade was Kahnle. Robertson was good but was still owed a lot of money, and Frazier was...well, Todd Frazier. Time will tell with Rutherford and even Tito Polo. Maybe the Sox could have gotten a little more, but definitely not a lot more.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 9, 2018 -> 08:41 AM) With the possible exception of selling low on Robertson/Kahnle/Frazier... Possibly. I think the biggest issue with that trade was that the Sox could have gotten a better return for Kahnle. But with Frazier and Robertson attached, it didn't really add anything. If Rutherford improves and is close to being the player it was once thought he would be, it'll look like a good trade.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 7, 2018 -> 07:08 PM) I should probably quit getting so worked up over my perceived slights of Avi. Even if he loses he gets $5.85 mill this year. If he can't live off one year's salary the rest of his life (even after taxes and agent fees) he's screwing up somewhere. He's a rich, rich man for life. These guys have every right to get as much money as they can each year. It's not exactly like football players who could suffer a career ending injury at any time, but there are still risks. Plus, if a guy like Avi loses arbitration and ends up tanking, his chances of getting paid afterwards go down. That extra million could make a difference. Look, I get the thought process of "give me $5.85 million and I'd be happier than s***." And like all other professional sports, they are all overpaid. But that doesn't matter. We can't compare what we get paid vs. what they get paid. The players look at what other players are getting paid and base what they expect on that. Teams pay out $80, $100, $200 million a year, and these guys are looking to get their cut.

There are so many guys that haven't been signed that I wouldn't be surprised if the Sox end up signing a guy for a year with the intention of possibly trading him at the deadline.

Finished The Handmaid's Tale last night. Excellent but infuriating. Looking forward to season 2 in April.