CaliSoxFanViaSWside

All things are things I've been talking about for years some of you who agreed and some who would argue that I jumped the gun on the problems in the DR. Music to my ears.

I never said late 2026 I said the beginning of 2026 perhaps . That way you get the whole off-season to play with the roster and remaining options left and who you might want to trade . I'm hoping a lot of the arms are not so marginal.

I'm only shocked by your hurry to believe a fluffy article. The Sox future will stud pitchers are still pretty wet behind the ears and yes I think every decision on what you seem marginal arms matters .Today's marginal arms are tomorrows cheap BP labor and picking the right ones can be the difference between a good BP that wins games in late innings and helps preserve the arms of Smith and Schultz and a lousy BP. They might even produce another Starting Pitcher among those arms.

Correct, unknowable, which is why I err on the side of slower development for them both. Last year was Schultz 1st full season in the minors. He was still growing literally. I'm thrilled he got 88 innings pitched. Smith has barely pitched in the minors. He'll be entering his 1st full season. I don't see what's the rush to see him in the majors at all in 2025. There's no hurry on either of them.

The actual futures of the team will still have a future with the team in 2026 regardless of if they get called up in 2025. Decisions have to be made in who else has a future with the team. Getz is likely hoping that he can trade 3 RP and maybe Davis Martin or Bryse Wilson or any other older starter given a chance in the 1st half at the deadline and maybe then give 40 man spots to the 3 young RP who did so well last year who might be deserving of spots too . You're not just building the starting pitching staff here, how you manage your roster and options is crucial.

They have a lot arms to go through in the next year to decide who stays and who goes. Building a stronger team has a lot to do with making the right decisions on the other pitchers you keep. The longer you can delay some of those decisions the better. Giving 40 man spots to Smith and Schultz when they don't have to would be silly.

I think they both need another full season of seasoning.Hagen Smith especially. Where's he going to start the season Winston Salem ? I don't see the point of them throwing relief. Have them stick to their starters plan like Crochet did. Schultz is still building up his innings. He's still being babied. No hurry on him either.

Merk's selling tickets .You play up Montgomery having a shot to make the opening day roster when it's pretty unlikely to happen. I know Montgomery thinks it's possible. He'd need one helluva Spring Training.

I think they both need full seasons in the minors. The 40 man is a clusterfuck already with so many pitchers who are candidates to make the team including guys not on the 40 who had outstanding seasons in the minors last year like Palette, Schonele , and Coffey. Some pitchers are going to be off the 40 from now till the TDL. If you add Schultz and Smith to the 40 you may have to get of an arm that you don't want to yet. I'd say at the start of the 2026 season about 6-7 arms currently on the 40 won't be on it then.

Anything is possible but for Vargas and Sosa luckily there is DH to get them ABs along with trying to figure out if either of them can play 1st base competently if their bats wake up. As 2 of the only guys the Sox have with middle of the order potential in 2024 at least they are awfully close to running out of chances .

This is a very good and comprehensive list of reasons why Rojas is needed and what I was trying to get across in my earlier arguments about the 26 man roster being fluid when talking about Rojas getting a starting position. There just isn't enough good defense to go around . There's also no sure things among the hitters and Vargas and Sosa are out of options which means they get the 1st chances to make a hitting impact. Margalus doesn't once mention Sosa at SS probably because it seems so implausible but he's as capable of playing there as badly as he defends anywhere else. Everything Margalus outlined is why I said we'll see and that playing time was a mystery and likely to change on occasion with the 1st real test of how things play out after whoever ends up in AAA likely getting called up once they gain the extra year depending on performance of course . Montgomery and Meidroth fits that bill. Another question of importance is just how long will be Sosa and Vargas be given to show their bats have finally found life beyond AAAA ?

Maybe as an athlete you severely sprained your ankle .I know did. I had doctor's tell me you're better off breaking it. I think what they mean by that is you're better off breaking it if it's a clean break that doesn't involve ligament damage . Severe sprains always involve ligament damage which may make the ankle more susceptible to respraining .That was the kind of break Montgomery had ( clean no ligament damage). He'll be fine as long as he had a normal healing process and there's no reason to think he hasn't.

Future Sox just posted this on Wikelman Gonzalez. He really reminds me of Cease with how hard he throws and the way he follows through by kicking his right leg towards 1st base.

Lol I said he could be used at 1st because he could be.I didn't say anything about replacing Vaughn. Rojas is a good glove. 1st is easier than SS. I think it's ok for me to envision better defense in late innings with a lead at multiple positions for Rojas. Take it easy. Watch your blood pressure.

This is perfectly reasonable and doesn't require anything except a little faith. Guys who are running out of time to show the Sox they can hit but who can't field, like Vargas and Sosa must be willing to play multiple positions and DH and give way in the late innings. Sosa may be killing it in the VWL ( as of 2 weeks ago) and killed it last Sept but that's no guarantee he'll hit MLB pitching but it a positive sign. Anyone got a link to the Venezuelan Winter League stats that update every game ?I can't find anything current for the 2024-2025 season except his 2 weeks ago VWL stat line on Rotoballer news.

I'm willing to say we'll see are you ? More ABs may not means he'll always be taking them away from Vargas and Sosa and it's a long season so what happens in the 1st 6 weeks of the season may not happen as much after that. All you see is Vet gets ABs blocking youth. Getz had to promise him he'd start to sign with the Sox. Situations are fluid. He ' ll probably rotate in at 1st base too. 1st, 2nd, SS , 3B,maybe a little LF.

Well It is scary but it's not because Getz values the type of player you think he does. Some posts you lay the blame where it belongs on JR and others it's like you forget that so far in 1.5 off seasons the biggest contract the Sox gave out was $7.5M per year for 2 years to Fedde. He's just trying to find value where he can. He knows most of the infielders among the ones that need to be given a chance to show they can hit are shaky defensively . I know 2.1 bWAR screams starting player in the Getz handbook and it may be that at first but I think he'll be a jack of all trades once May starts it's 3rd week. But if we still think 2 WAR is worth $7-8M for 1 WAR and the Sox gave him $4-6M for the season then maybe they got $10M+ in excess value.

What seems likely is subject to your eyes. I'm perfectly willing to entertain your point of view. But rebuilds usually means youth movement and they have to find out rather quickly who can hit. Vargas and Sosa should be prioritized as the most likely bigger bats. Montgomery hopefully either wins a starting job or the Sox will want an extra year . You have to break it down player by player. Rojas alone can't block the whole infield .Sox need future hitting and Rojas isn't that.

We'll see. I don't think anyone is penciled in for 130-140 games. It may end up that way like if Sosa actually can hit and not butcher wherever they stick unless he's the main DH. He may start at the beginning of the season more than he does after the Sox gain the extra year on Colson .Once Colson is up that'll change the dynamic. They also aren't going to give up on Vargas.If he and Sosa start hitting Rojas will play less as a starter and more as a relief glove. Basically anyone who hits is going to be given a long leash to show they aren't completely incompetent in the field. They know what Rojas is. If he manages to get over .5 WAR he'll be gone by the deadline or have a greatly reduced role.

Might just be late inning defense when they have a lead. They hired a run prevention coach who will do a better job with positioning which the Sox were bad at. He'll get some starts too at the positions he's better at and he's versatile enough to fill in for multiple injured IF or OF. The Sox are going to see if some these young guys can at least show OBP and hit among Sosa, Vargas, Meidroth. After those 3 and Vaughn you likely have all 3 of Quero, Teel and C Mont. In AAA until they gain the extra year . Currently opening day starting lineup is a mystery .

We heard about how the process was so good in the Burger/ Eder trade. How's that working out ? Was it a bad trade a flawed process, bad scouting ? Nice way to never be happy about any trade or take accountability for it. Our process was good it was just one of those things. Trades are a result oriented thing not a process oriented thing. It's not about the process its about what works out for you and what doesn't. It isn't flawed just because you say it is. You'd have a lot of problems proving any process is flawed without flawed results. And it isn't a process unless you have a sample size. I don't think you have a process or a flawed process right now. He's trying to add incremental RP depth so he can keep any young RP near MLB ready and trade the older ones. It's not that baffling. And it's likely not to make too much difference in this year's record. Some of those young RP MLB ready arms may be helpful this year while they get their feet wet. But more so in the coming years when we have our better SP hitting their stride and position player prospects also getting better , health permitting. But I am having a hard time keeping track of all the new pitchers and am very curious to see who is put in what roles and how it all plays out. If they trade some of the older guys and young guys step in i think the BP will be less than horrific this year. Can't really expect more than that unfortunately. Much ado about nothing.

Mostly it's the only moves he can make .He's got no MLB players to trade that aren't at their lowest values. If all you can trade at the deadline are relief pitchers he doesn't want to trade the promising young arms with 6 years left who had good seasons at Birmingham and Charlotte or our busted young starters before we find out if they are useful in the pen like Nastrini or Eder. So when u have a plethora of good young arms then you're going to trade the younger mid to late rounds college draft pick RP or a 17 yr old DSL pitcher.

Oh come on now thats all we heard about for the last year how embarrassing it was. Getz is a failure, Jerry lied to us. It didn't even sink in that it was the 1st year of a rebuild people were pissed off and you know it. That's why you're hear lambasting every little nothing move they make still. Going from a 121 to 105 or 110 losses is some progress . It's just a waiting game for JR to die .In the meantime we're stuck with what we're getting and maybe even some of it works out. Getz is trying to build a competent bullpen. Sure he's already got some young arms to try in the pen , failed young starters , young relief pitchers like Palette, Coffey and Schoenle he actually rather not trade so he brings in some older arms that maybe he can flip maybe not . But between the AA, AAA and AAAA guys he brought in he's going to have plenty of arms to choose from that are MLB ready. He sure cant flip a Kanny RP who likely never makes it to the big leagues. Maybe next year you got Schultz and Hagen vying for the rotation and Quero and Teel and Colson Montgomery and a few other guys hitting .And Braden Montgomery shooting up through AA. I'm really sorry I don't see disaster in every move they make.

Why do you even bother ? Let everyone whine about trading young for old even though that's not really the issue. If you want a team that isn't going to lose 121 games but you have no money to spend on impacts bats then maybe you can dig up enough decent cheaps arms to prevent total bullpen meltdowns and win a few games in late or extra innings. Come at me when any one turns into a serviceable MLB player for more than a year . It's a younger arm that's worth practically nothing for an older arm worth slightly more if it can be used in MLB to get a few wins for a team that'll struggle to get 50 wins. We all know its all about getting the #1 draft pick but not setting all time embarrassing losing records again. It's a nothing burger trade .

No not really , try to read up on it. I think there were 3 separate payments as I recall. If we're both relying on memory we're both making mistakes .