southsider2k5

Why do you hate your kids?

He did just get done posting a 5 handle OPS this season...

Hopefully he left town for a while and cleared his head.

Or so the Germans would have you believe.

Why in the world is this necesary?

You just made 1955 Jerry, sad.

Sorry Bernie.

Usually I would call them cheap, but this year I doubt they had the money for it. They are getting their asses handed to them between the losses of admissions, advertising and not having any TV dollars for most of the season.

So a dude with 17 starts you are ready to write off and trade, but a dude with 160 major league appearances and 112 starts is OK to extend because of 8 starts in his 7th major league season? Sure.

See I find this wild because of this: Shane Smith career ERA 4.20 ERA+ 99 Adrian Houser career ERA 4.20 ERA+ 100 Even better: One of these guys has 5 years of control, the other is a FA is 3.5 months. These are their first eight starts of 2025. The second one has a 3.09 FIP. They are the same guy. Maybe we should wait for more than 8 starts before throwing money at Adrian Houser?

If the Sox couldn't see themselves in a World Series during the Crochet contract period, they shouldn't have extended him. I know I don't see it happening, so I have no problem with them dealing him, and so far the deal is looking decent.

Houser is a free agent after this season. While Houser has had an insane stretch to start this season, he is the exact definition of league average coming into this year. A 4.21 career ERA with a 100 ERA+. His last three years are a 4.76 ERA and a 86 ERA+. You quite literally take the best offer you get for him and count your lucky stars to get it for a dude who was unemployed less than 2 months ago. The odds that the Sox (or really anyone) pulled an Esteban Loiaza on him are so small, that it is almost insignificant. And even if you truly believe that he is "fixed", he is a free agent in 3+ months. You gain nothing by keeping him around, as you still would have to negotiate a free agent contract with him after the World Series, which you can do whether you own his rights or not. Unless someone get absolutely stupid, there is no reason at all to trade Shane Smith.

And it is either 38 seconds long, or 12 minutes. No in between.

In concept, no it isn't an awful thing. But here are a couple of qualifiers for my sanity -Start doing this in the minors: Let them make mistakes and have as much of a learning curve at levels where the games mean nothing (I will accept the argument that Sox games currently mean nothing, but hopefully someday they will again mean something) -Don't play guys absurdly out of position. If a dude struggles to play a decent LF, don't put him in CF. If a guy can barely move and has no arm at 1B, don't make him an OF, even in the corners. -Identify guys for this early in their minor league careers if possible. A guy like Brooks Baldwin is a great example. If he is good enough to play 1 spot in the future, cool, but in the mean time, play him around the 5 or 6 positions he might be able to help at in the future, and help him learn the mentality so that when he hits the majors, it is old hat. -at the MiLB level, I would also like to see them play a guy in one spot for a solid period of time, before moving on the next spot at the early levels to get them comfortable in specific spots and then start to juggle them more, as you would see in the MLB levels, at the higher MiLB levels.

* Must be old for level and have a 30 power rating.

I gotta say, they seem like they like this strategy of trying to get a couple of second tier players with this, instead of taking BPA at the top, and then whoever they can make fit next. Not sure of the results, so far, but with the lack of star tops in this system, I am a huge BPA guy right now.

And then the final answer is a 27 year old middle infielder in the DSL.

This. If it isn't 5 years of control plus, and you get an offer for it, move it.

Which probably means a college pick first, or maybe someone like Hall that isn't as highly rated?

He's a big dude with LONG springy levers. He isn't going to have first step quickness, but once he gets rolling downhill, he can move.

Now that is a band that everyone would pay to see.

The point of a legend pick is that it doesn't take up a regular roster spot.

Cool. Hopefully he doesn't pitch. Give him an extended break.

Gotta take one from each team.