BamaDoc

To be fair, so far, no other pitching coach has fixed Fulmer. I really thought he would go to the Reds and his old pitching coach from Vandy and be useful.

Needing lefty balance, his returning to form is possibly our biggest offseason addition.

I envy the Padres prospect depth to do these deals and not touch their highest rated guys. Padres still have 8 FV 50 and above per MLB.com after the trade. We have six and obviously would have only a couple if we had done these deals. That is my lesson. We need to continue to add to the farm to have trade capital. A 20 plus million salary is substantial for us. Am I the only guy who would be scared of it coming to a guy 34,35,36 years old?

So with questions like this, people wonder why high dollar free agents aren’t being signed. As I’ve said,reassess team needs near trade deadline seems likely. Also free agents probably want signing bonus which wouldn’t be affected by salary proration like this year.

Hindsight always has advantages. We were and still are a heavy right handed team. Grandal offered a longer track record and an opportunity to gain left handedness after 2019. No one knew what McCann would do in 2020. He was coming off a non tender in 2018. Who were you going to get rid of to add left handed hitters after 2019? Pito, Anderson, were in the infield with Madrigal coming. Eloy, with Robert coming. Moncada switch at third. That left three spots catcher, right field and dh to add lefty hitters. Grandal makes a ton of sense as does a lefty hitting right fielder (tried Mazara didn’t work). My biggest gripe was Edwin though I understand it. Would’ve preferred Collins/Mercedes platoon (or Brian if kept hitting like 2019) and if needed augment at trade deadline. If McCann kept as primary catcher would you have traded a rh hitter? Who? Go with 7 plus rh hitters?

Interesting data. How many of those contracts look good in hindsight?

Is he qualifying offer eligible? If so your one year extension is about 19 million as a floor? Everyone saying this guy is Bauer quality so how much less would he ask for on one year? I doubt he is thinking low but he is older. How much risk is each side willing to take. If he pitches good , what would Yankees or Boston offer cause that’s what you’re up against.

This is the kind of move which shortens your contention window even if you might be better for one year. If the second player is a prospect instead of filler hate more

And one year from now, Lynn is likely gone.

For one year, I hate it as a 1:1. Plus prospect. Not good unless Lynn signs very reasonable extension.

Hope don’t give much. Think if COVID stays you can get guys very cheap for salary relief

Gotcha. My bad, I missed you were speaking about the kids and not international overall. Crazy that they are now even skewing to 15 and younger.

Did you forget about the 52 million it cost to get Robert?

I am happy for James but remember that Grandal hitting lefty really helped balance our lineup.

Why is anyone surprised things/we are moving slowly? Sox have always had a budget. They likely lost money. The revenue forecast for this coming year is all over the place depending on factors no one can provide answers for (how many games, fans or not, etc). The non tenders will give a glimpse of where other teams are monetarily. If there are a ton of cuts, I would expect us to be cautious and get a couple lower cost pieces. Maybe one or two decent additions but reserve most activity for the trade deadline where the financial picture should be much clearer.

If the league wide losses are true, spending could be defined as cutting less or increasing slightly.

And DeGrom is 32 and owed 35.5/35.5/32.5 and optional 32.5 Keep your players and sign Bauer if thats what they are thinking. DeGrom is not on that cheap of a contract.

I don’t get the Chri Sale comparisons. Sale doesn’t let you take him out of that game! Nor does any ace I would want. Snell is a very good twice through the lineup guy but Tampa was terrified of the third. When I hear ace, I think of the 120 plus pitch count guys or guys you don’t even count pitches when they start. I’m the proposals listed are the cost, hard, hard pass.

Just had a thought. We don't know what next year will look like. We are supposedly back to 2019 roster rules but what if we again get expanded rosters? It would be easier for a bad team to stash a player. I think a 50k risk.

I could see a guy like him getting drafted. The drafting team is hoping for lightning in a bottle. Its low money if he has to be returned. Since he is not "their guy", they don't really care if he is overmatched and forever harmed. It is really kinda sad. I think for every guy who gets that chance and succeeds, many are harmed developmentally.

Then Jerry can fire Hawk and Hahn is rehired!

Hahn is now in a win win situation. If Sox do well, he can claim he wanted Larussa. If we don’t, he will take credit for the foundation for which he does deserve a lot of the credit and blame jerry for LaRussa. The GM jobs are scarce and all teams are contracting departments so saying f you jerry and quitting likely means he is unemployed and possibly for some time. Other teams will note he kept the company line and didn’t embarrass the owner which helps him down the line. Now the biggest issue will be who has control over the roster and it’s construction. We used to talk about Hahn vs Kenny. Now is it Larussa over or vs both or all three battling. If this fails, the stories later may be epic. It could work if Larussa only has control on the field. His coaching staff may offer clues. Are they all old Tony buddies or a younger more progressive staff. When did Tony manage without Dave Duncan as pitching coach?

CWS Good list. I was not in favor of his hiring but as a 50 year fan will hope it works. Hopefully, the near universal panning of this move will motivate our manager to really prove people wrong. I mean that in a hopefully good way. You have to be true to yourself or the players will see it is just BS. My values haven’t changed but my attitude towards things have changed over time. I hope he can adapt to today and I also hope the players give him a fair chance. Abreu will be a key in how this works out as well as Tim. Both sides need to listen but ultimately this is about baseball. I wish we had a great manager who everyone loves but don’t see the love part. AJ was not loved but I wanted him on my team. Winning cures a lot. Hope we win early and often.

No. Not left handed and at that cost hurts ability to spend on pitching

Thanks Coop! Will never have the complete games in a series like 05 again. That year we also had three different closers.