hogan873

If Vaughn plays 1B every day, which he should be, and gets consistent ABs, he's going to be a very good hitter. I love Abreu, but it certainly seems like it's Vaughn's turn, and I'm perfectly okay with that. That being said, your last sentence hits the nail on the head. After 2022, it's hard not to think that the tanking was for naught. So far, with TLR gone and a competent manager in place, things are looking better. We'll see what they do in the off season, though.

He might get $25 million a year, but probably for one year or maybe one year plus an option.

And that's fine. Drastic changes aren't really possible unless they were planning on rebuilding again. Address 2B and RF, hopefully with at least one LH power bat, and this team is better.

So it sounds like TLR essentially woke up from a nap, haphazardly put together a lineup, stood around on the field during batting practice (most likely achieving some standing naps), and then napped in the dugout.

Man, if he can unlock Eloy's power and get Moncada back to even near where he used to be... Vaughn, Robert, even Anderson...lots of work for this guy to do, but the rewards could be significant.

Yeah, a new manager and new coaches is a step. A step up a steep mountain. The Sox can either make some tough decisions and massively overhaul the roster (and spend money), or they can twiddle around and spend money on crap like they have been doing. I don't see huge changes coming, but it's the only way to put together a team that could even hope to compete with the perennial playoff teams.

Royals have new management, and they had ties with Quatraro. The Royals not hiring Grifol tells me only that they wanted Quartaro. It tells me nothing about Grifol.

If telling a group of underperformers to shape up hurts their feelings, then they can go elsewhere and be shlubs. Grifol shouldn't need to rule with an iron fist. Hopefully a change in leadership will result in better performance. Long term ass kicking does get stale fast. It's not a recipe for success. But coddling and babying of adults doesn't work either. There needs to be expectations.

That's a leadership problem, but these guys are adults. Even adults need a swift kick in the ass at times. They didn't get that from TLR. They got coddled and were told not to hustle.

I think they could have been a bit better than that. But, yes, there were many problems. Grifol needs to come in and say, "Look assholes, what happened last year will never happen again. Get your s%*# together."

Anyone know if Grifol has thoughts on a hitting coach? Menechino has to be gone, right?

Good news. I like that aside from Katz, no other coaches are safe. I hope he brings in a good hitting coach.

We don't know if he was on anyone's radar or not. He may have interviewed with other teams. And there's no saying he was an afterthought and interviewed at the last minute. For all we know, the Sox have been in on him from the get go. I'm glad they're actually conducting a search and are interviewing plenty of candidates. Now, if they were to go through this whole process and hire Ozzie, that would be concerning. Luckily it doesn't sound like he's a likely option.

What do we know about Mendoza?

Is Mendoza the mystery candidate?

It’s hard for me to believe the Sox aren’t going to hire Long. If it was going to be Ozzie, they would have announced it by now, right? Or Washington, or Shildt, or anyone not associated with the Astros or Phillies. Right? Please?

I thought it was interesting that the Marlins didn't hire him after hearing he was a finalist. Maybe there is something we don't know. I'm beginning to believe (hope) that it's going to be Kevin Long. I would think that if the Sox were going to hire Getz, Thome, Ozzie, or even Washington, they would have by now. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they bumble this process again.

He then followed it up with a tweet saying Espada is still in the mix. I do agree that if we don't hear anything by Friday, the hire will be someone from the Astros or Phillies.

Regardless of who they hire, the only tip they should be giving Frank is how to find the door.

And the food accounts have spoken. Footlong Comiskey Dog said Kevin Long was interviewed a second time. Vinnie Parise said if the Sox don't name a manager by Friday, it'll most likely be someone from the Astros or Phillies and that he's hearing Kevin Long is a "big time possibility". Whatever that means.

If Getz is hired, I'd be less concerned with how he got the job or who made the decision than I would be about the job he can do. With the right bench coach, he could be a good manager. He's young and would almost certainly rely on statistics. He'd have a good rapport with the players (think David Ross minus the crotch bumps). He'd definitely bring more life to this team. I'm not saying he's the best guy for the job. And I'm definitely not saying he's more deserving than others. Maybe I'm just trying to look at the positives if this were to happen. Maybe I need to drink more beer.

He later tweeted that he still thinks Espada is the guy, but there's nothing official yet.

Ozzie would be a ludicrous hire. He burnt a lot of bridges when he quit on the team. And to bring back a former manager after just bringing back another former manager to much failure would not look good. I don't buy the Getz/Thome "rumors". Neither guy has nearly enough experience. Of the older candidates, I'd be okay with Bochy and even Washington. Definitely before Maddon or Shildt. The one candidate without a lot of experience that I could see being hired is Harris. I think a guy like Espada would be the best fit for the team. but as it has been pointed out, he might be in high demand. We haven't heard anything about Quartaro, but he's another guy that would be good for the Sox. My gut says it's going to be Bochy or Washington, but I have a sneaky suspicion we'll get someone who hasn't even been rumored.

I even saw a tweet saying Ozzie is not out of the running. That may be true, but I'm not officially out of the running either. I haven't been interviewed, and no one from the Sox has contacted me. But they haven't officially said I'm not an option.

What about Getz with Washington as bench coach? Might be more palatable, but I don't see how Getz would get hired before Espada, Quantraro, Grifol, etc. Of course no one saw Ventura being hired...and LaRussa was a major headscratcher.