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Good topic for a Poll before all the experts take a stab at how much Robert gets as a free agent. Just because Boras is his agent doesn't mean he going to get a $10M+contract next year especially if he wets the bed in the 2nd half . Maybe $10M for 1year in 2026 is better than giving up a decent prospect or 2 for the rest of 2025 and the right to pick up his 2026 option. But trading for him now for ,let's say $3.5M, plus 1 decent prospect and low minors guy might be worth it for a GM just in case he crushes it the rest of the season, in the playoffs and the World Series. Then you might be happy you have the choice on that option. If everyone had to take a stab at it right now because you have no idea how he's going to perform in the 2nd half, I would expect a wide variance of opinions on how it all plays out. It may look cut and dried but it might not be.

I would imagine with all the people with blogs and vlogs and social media reporters that they handle calls to verify any confusion often if it's a simple contract question. Now if you asked why Schiffren is such a clown that might not go over so well. Just to be clear I like John. Just thought it would be a question your typical Sox talker might ask.

Sheets for Robert who says no ? 🤣

Except Sox lost yesterday when I thought they would.However they were not pummeled. Ended up a 1 run loss.

If that happens I'm thanking the Pope.

Altavilla got som generous calls . Hella good win and 2 series on the road. Best offensive stretch of the season easily. Every win is a good prospect game !

Now Teel with a 4 hit game !

Let's hold on to what we got.🎼🎶🎵

Pitched already

Happy Birthday Chase ! 11

Thank you !

Really nice comeback. Need more runs.

That's a hot take. World Series are not the end all be all in trades. Look at how long some organizations went between winning a world series . That doesn't mean they lost every trade they were involved if the players involved wins a World Series. If you're bad and trade with contenders that's what happens. It's part of making the trade if you get 6 years of a few prospect for a year of an expiring contract. Have the Mariners ,Rays, Padres , Brewers and Rockies all lost every trade that a player went to World Series winning team ? World Series wins are few and far between for a lot of teams and it's getting harder to close the gap between the haves and have not. Even the Dodger had a pretty large gap (32 years) between World Series wins and the Yankees haven't won since 2009.

Can always pinch hit in a tight game or defensive replacement for an inning or 2 late in the game. I wonder if Venable would risk his 8 game hitting streak on one AB ? An intact hitting streak is good optics.

Don't think I'd give up one of the best young arms in baseball with almost all his eligibility left and money and Robert to get 1 LHH non power hitting , non true CF prospect is my initial reaction. I admit though that I only have cursory knowledge of Benge. Not a big fan of creating a hole to fix another hole even if it is a closer. These young guys need to play together and start winning together. It may not be soon but that means we have time to see how Taylor progresses , otherwise it's selling very low on him.

And because of that his fWAR is steadily rising and could possibly be at 1.0 when traded and could be near 2.5 at seasons end if he can keep it steady for whoever he's traded too. Nothing raised WAR quicker than a strong consistent bat combined with great CF defense and base running. Of course a great walk rate would inflate it even more but then he'd be the superstar he only briefly flashed to be in 2023. Anyone trading for him now will negotiate hard to keep the cost down but if the number of teams involved rumors are true I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the return.

Aren't holding out much hope for him becoming a starting pitcher ?

The oldest Baby Boomers are nearly 80 now with the youngest about 61. You explain things very well . I made sure to like your posts since long thoughtful posts are not always read nor appreciated on matters that require keeping an eye on the big picture.

Very good conversation @Lip Man 1 @ptatc and @77 Hitmen who I wish had the time to post more .

I went to the mass with UICC friends from the Newman Center in 79 in Grant Park to see JP2.

Well you have no skin in the game if you're not betting your own house. 😋 But seriously if you looked at the top 50 in all of baseball how many could you confidently place a huge wager on being in a starting lineup consistently for an MLB team in 3 years ? 5 % of them maybe ? Plus I don't think you could get any action on a bet like that unless it was better defined what makes you a "starter." Is a relief pitcher a starter if he's the mop up guy on the 26 ? Maybe by starters you just meant position players ? A lot can happen in 3 years especially with possibility of new very rich ownership. There might not be many of the 9 starting positions up for grabs in 3years .

Exactly . Fans and media can interpret what appears on the surface to be lack of hustle because they just watch and react and don't necessarily read a great deal about it nor do the reporters delve deeper. We also know he's played through injuries on a few occasions. He could barely swing the bat once through a good stretch of ABs and then there was his dizzy spells. I'm not sure we ever found out the full story on that. As fans we forget a lot of these stories because we're talking about years of playing and multiple injuries . Also the media might be guilty of the same thing reacting to only recent things and forgetting to relate the past to the present.

I had read that when he signed with Boras that he was urged to incorporate more stretches into his workout routine which MAY have been centered more on strength training. He has been relatively injury free this year so whether or not that advice paid off or if it didn't mean anything is just what happens when you never find out if his workouts were a little too focused on strength training or if he took the stretching advice to heart or if he just was following a trainer's and not medical rehab procedures. It's very difficult to know what goes on in his inner circle when there's a language barrier.

It's also fair to say a lot gets lost in translation when you're talking about prejudices that come with translating body language and Spanish speaking players. There's no question in my mind that Robert has been trying very hard to take more walks and not strike out so much but that's a huge ask for a guy who is like the living embodiment of "hitting his way off the island." His fielding and basstealing alone should tell you he's tried very hard to play up to his capabilities despite the hip injuries that could've gave him pause to push himself to max effort.

He did come close to costing them a win when he muffed a pretty routine catch at 1st on what should have been a game ending DP in the ninth against the Dodgers. Luckily the Dodgers didn't get the hit needed to tie the game after that.