CaliSoxFanViaSWside

God forbid he is right. His endless stream of Jerry vitriol is already bad enough. Sometimes it's called for but JR isn't the devil, he just rather make money than lose it ,rather than do what it takes to win a World Series. 2005 just reinforced Jerry's belief that it can be done with a little money and a lot of luck.

Didn't really want to curb your enthusiasm. I'm just an even keel kind of guy. I love the enthusiasm which is why I want this thread to explode with new posts about it. It's not a trade so we wouldn't get the endless stream of who do we trade for him . But if I had to pick between the Burnes stuff and Cruz I'm more likely to believe Cruz is more attainable. I doubt either one happens.

I know the criteria since I've been watching it since they started it doing it. I love that network but I cut the cord and no longer pay for any TV . But I do love wheeling and dealing for movie codes so I do that a lot to use on MoviesAnywhere, Google Play etc. Any MLB Network Stuff I get now is from youtube or their online page. I just got a new 50" Android TV and I'm still getting used to using it by adding apps instead of Roku TV which had all the funky channels built into it.

Ha we never would have guessed . By the way ,who is that guy in your avatar ?

Nahhh Save the freaking out for if we get him. Right now it's just another in a long line of tweeting heads doing what they do.

I could live with it if it's only Vaughn and Heuer and no one else .

Psshh yea Aussie's actually throwing baseballs more than boomerangs ! Preposterous !

Wait we want Cruz to be with the Twins for another 2 years ? I might hate that more than the Sox giving him 2 years. I know Cruz is 40 so a 1 year contract for around $15M might get him but can't go 2 years on him.

Not on the Shredder's list he didn't , but there were 1 or 2 of the panelists who had him in the top 10. Ire member the lone woman on the panel had him on her's . Not sure if the other guy seated to her left did also.

This thread has a lot of catching up to do if it's going to equal the Burnes thread . Let's go people ! Nelson Cruz is coming ! (Or he isn't)

That guy aloof ? Nooo say it aint' so ! He has all the right answers , just ask him. He is very modest .?

This , excluding the you're an idiot.

Fegan gave him the benefit of the doubt because he deserved the benefit of the doubt. It's quite a stretch to say his absence was not related to Covid when Covid was all around us and affecting every decision we make. Just because he wasn't sick doesn't mean his decision to opt out was not COVID related. Your example of a car crash sucks and I was nice in my 1st response to you but now you are just being ridiculous.

I can't quite reconcile your 1st post with your 2nd especially this part: Of course, there’s also a deadly pandemic going on, and while Kopech himself is not medically high-risk, it does not make him immune from larger family health concerns when weighing whether to commit to a plan of persistent travel as COVID-19 cases continue to climb in most states. Seems to me it had plenty to do with Covid. If Covid isn't around you have the minor leagues, you have some type of plan with a defined role, you have a full season and you don't have to travel state to state with a bunch of guys who may or may not follow Covid Protocols.

If I go on MLB .com the 2020 ranking of Kopech in the top 100 prospects was 18. He had 3 other RHP ahead of him. Flash forward to a week ago an I see an article on MLB.com about the Top 10 RHP pitching prospects. Kopech wasn't on the list so that means now 9 RHP prospects are ahead of him at the least. There may be more depending how far down he has slid. The MLB Top 100 prospects for 2021 hasn't come out . How that is all justified just because he sat out 2020, I guess ,is based on all the time not pitching but it doesn't seem like opting out should hurt his rank as much as it appears. Whoever the Sox give up in a completed Burnes trade is going to hurt. How much pain depends on your love for whoever is traded. I can live with Crochet being traded but prefer Cease and Kopech be here to pitch in 2021 as depth and possible replacements for Lynn and Keuchel .If we can grab Burnes for lets say Crochet and Vaughn then by next year we could be looking at Giolito, Burnes, Keuchel, Cease, Kopech. I can live with Vaughn being traded because Eloy and Robert haven't had a career year yet. Many think Moncada can also be very productive in his prime . 2019 showed his potential but I'd hate to think that is his career year. In other words the lineup can absorb the loss of Vaughn All these "would be" trades suggestions of Madrigal ,Stiever, Kelley etc. probably don't get Burnes . Either accept the pain involved with getting Burnes or just decide he isn't worth the pain and deal with the 2nd half of the window losing Giolito, Keuchel, Lynn next year, and pray that we get a miracle. Cease ,Kopech , Crochet, Stiever all become big SP stars, we extend Lynn till he's 36 , and we extend Giolito. If you think all that will happen or Reinsdorf or whoever is in charge ponies up for some top end FA starting pitcher then good luck to you. I'm sorry but take your best shots in 21,22,23 .

I think counting on Cease or Kopech to duplicate what Burnes already appears to be is a bigger gamble. So whatever that mode is, if you are willing to ride it out this year and next that's ok with me. However the Sox have appeared all off season that they are still looking to find more cost controlled high upside pitching so I would imagine a trade of that nature would bother you depending on who we gave up . 2 years off is a long time to just pick up where you left off. I'd be thrilled with 100 innings from Kopech. And I wouldn't trade him or Cease over Crochet.

You're going under the assumption the Brewers wouldn't be trading him. I'm going under the assumption they would for whatever reason since that's what the rumor or pretend situation is , whichever this really is. I never said that the Sox trade 3 of them . I just said Cease in the Burns trade was possible . You can get the other years of control from Crochet , Collins, Stiever, Mercedes or Gonzalez or whoever.

C'est la vie. Bon chance mon frere.

I don't know about that. Would I rather give up Crochet than Cease or Kopech ? Yes I would just because Cease and Kopech are starting pitchers capable of making the rotation stronger in 21 and 22 more so than Crochet. But if Burnes replaces Cease you now have 4 pitchers in the starting rotation with Cy Young votes from last year instead of 3 and 1 in the BP. Then you have a killer lineup, starting rotation, and bullpen. Sure we'd still have SP depth problems but you're replacing a maybe in Cease with guy with huge upside that has already started to blossom. If you don't trade Kopech with Cease at some point maybe he can step up to start with the Sox if Burnes wears out a little bit. I'd say Cease could be in the trade but it also depends on if we can limit giving up more pitching than just him in the trade.

I haven't agreed with much of your content but this is an interesting idea.

But if he could get a 2 or 3 to 1 controllable young talent ratio in trade that would make sense to me . Trade away 4 years of it for 12.

He's got to start somewhere. He couldn't last year and neither could any other pitcher. If Cease or Kopech had the kind of season Burnes did we would all be ecstatic that they had finally turned the corner. Burnes did as well as he possibly could last year, He came in 6th in the Cy Young voting. Just because he isn't a veteran doesn't mean he can't continue to do that . The trip has to start some time. Perhaps we can get in on the ride early and take it to the finish line while he still can be had for projected prospects rather than a boatload of cash that the Sox never pay pitchers. Of course it takes a leap of faith but with 1 great MLB season (that he had nothing to do with the amount of innings he pitched) , that's still one more than Cease , Kopech and Crochet have had and Crochet never had one in college either.

Like I said I view Crochet as a great arm no doubt about that. But it's his future I have doubts about. If you look at it from the perspective that he has a much better chance of being a reliever than a starter it all of a sudden becomes not terrible. You could also think of him as a much higher risk of arm surgery to shoulder or elbow considering how hard he throws even if it looks effortless . If I put everything together, decent risk of arm surgery, still at least until 2023 whens he's capable of giving you 150+ innings as a starter and that's if everything goes right in 21 and 22 , then I think I am being objective when looking at Crochet and not just salivating over his arm.

Better make sure you use some advanced stats to determine what exactly would make who better than the other one since they are in different leagues if you make a bet, just in case the DH in the NL does not come to pass this year.