shakes

The gift that keeps on giving. What a shit show.

I haven't been as convinced of a Cease turnaround, but I am hopeful Katz can certainly help. And he doesn't need to be an ace, but a plus back end starter would go a long way. I know it's not the same, but if there are any golfers here, you can truly relate to this. You can know exactly what you are doing wrong, but by yourself it is so hard to correct. Having drills, and someone watching to ensure you are doing those correctly and translating it to a swing - is a true game changer. Just going by 'feel' can often lead to bad corrections and overcorrections, sometimes making things worse. You have to get to a place to stop thinking. That's hard.

I'm really surprised how many people just accept that Cease is fixed by Katz. That should be the hope with him as the 5th starter, with other in house backup plans, but they absolutely need to sign another starter or the rotation depth tells me they aren't serious about a world series run. There's was till time and options but it's thinking out.

Then I will simply apologize for my clear stupidity and allow you to carry on without me. If I ever get to the point of understanding the smokescreens and red herrings, I'll jump back in.

I'm not dancing around anything. I just don't agree with you. You are saying weird abstract things that don't really make sense and presenting them as factual statements.

They have improved in other areas and young players get better. I don't expect Keuchel to be as good as last year, but there is no reason think Lynn can't and Gio isn't still ascending. I am correct and that is true, likely, but not guaranteed.

Sorry, still makes no sense. Regression isn't guaranteed with any of their pitchers. They are one pitcher better. I hope they get another, but as is they are still an AL contender, with multiple avenues to get better, and internal options - with a trade deadline to improve in season.

That doesn't make any sense. The rotation is better with Lynn regardless of what else is done. How is adding a good pitcher a smokescreen?

For over 10 million I'm taking to Odorizzi and Paxton. For less I'd trust Wainwright, and would've rather Q. Honestly, not a fan of either but better than Richards at that cost. I'd rather take a cheaper flier on Archer or Walker. I think there's a better chance Richards makes less than 10 starts, than there is he makes 20+.

I'm not interested in being the team who risks a guys health being fixed based in a 60 game season. Not at 33, not for $10mm, particularly since he hasn't pitched a helpful amount of innings since 2015. There's better options out there.

The last 5 seasons say there is a real good chance this signing is burning 10 million in a dumpster fire.

If they sign him, I will assume this is his fall off year. The pattern is getting impressive.

Make the case. I'll listen.

Would anyone be expecting him to produce down the stretch in September and beyond? If he can't handle it as a starter and none of the young guys step up, the Sox are stuck looking at acquiring a starter at the deadline. If you are willing to take on some risk, Paxton seems like such a better option.

I'm just not sure it matters if he can't take the ball and produce. He hasn't shown he can do that for 6 seasons now. He's had two healthy and productive seasons in his career and they were 2014 & 2015. Seems like flushing money to me.

Hard to understand comparing the two. How about both of those actions are completely unacceptable, without being measured against each other, and should've led to the firing of both of them. The only parallel to measure is that one organization did hold the employee accountable and the other didn't. There is no reason to defend or minimize either action.

What am I missing with the Richards love? 33 this year and hasn't had a healthy season since 2015.

How similar was this to Peavy's lat issues, and does this tend to have a cascading effect? Could it limit his innings, outings? Thanks in advance, your replies on these types of questions are some of the best content on this site.

Agree, going to a series there for a weekend is quite an enjoyable experience and the people there were super friendly. Not just at the park, but hotels and restaurants. They are very excited to have your tourism dollars. I made it to the Twins park in 2019 and really enjoyed it, and love Minneapolis - well worth a trip for anyone once it's a thing we can all do again.

I don't mind it. Teams are going to need innings from everyone this year. It's going to be a really weird year and there is no roadmap to how to handle this. Ramp him up slowly, same with Kopech, and leave some gas in the tank for the second half. I honestly think teams are going to need like 7 starters this year, bullpen days, and piggy backing just to get through the season - assuming it's a full schedule. I'm just happy to hear they are still going to work him up to being a starter.

Isn't Heyman being a dick here too? Heyman doesn't know what all 30 teams are doing, either. He's salty because a player finally is speaking up on their own behalf. These media guys are pushing a narrative from one particular source/side to keep their contacts. It's not genuine, it just gets them air time and allows them to push false narratives to eventually get a scoop. I get it's BAU for these insiders, but the players have a voice now and should feel free to use it. Not everyone is going to like Bauer or TA types who speak their mind and it goes against 'traditional' baseball ways, but I'm happy to see him calling out BS. I hope other players start doing it too.

Right, wasn't Freddy a close drinking buddy with Ozzie and it was a given he was staying here? I hope Lynn gets extended, but I think the one example the Sox have of it happening is an outlier.

@bmags - this is so well put. This is where I think the Reinsdorf cheap/stubborn reputation is really warranted. People are saying SD can do this because they are in the position to give up depth and lottery tickets. The Sox aren't there because they have chosen not to be, and they've shown some aptitude to identify this type of talent, they just don't do it in the volume that is needed. I've always thought the Sox would be great candidates to benefit from the Darvish type salary dumps at lower prospect cost, like the Astros did so well. It's just disappointing they don't seem willing to go there, particularly if they are never going to go after top free agent pitching.

The difference is the Padres have a combined 6 seasons of control with the two new additions, 3 overlapping, and Clevinger coming back for one of them. This buys them time to keep developing their younger additions to the staff and increases their chances for the next three years at a reasonable financial commitment. The issue some had with Dunning for Lynn is it is a one year band-aid for a pitcher some think could've been a long term contributor to the rotation. I don't think the Sox should've been in on Snell, but I would've liked them to be in on Darvish. The game is also changing and many front offices don't value 200 innings the way many of us are used to, and teams are having a lot of pitching success without the workhorse mentality. The Sox already have Giolito, Kuechel, and Lynn to eat innings. You don't need 4 or 5 200+ innings guys.

If this came from Luis Robert's Medianoche account it would hold more credibility.