SpringfieldFan

I don’t know, to me It just didn’t look like the Unit had to exert that much to get that velocity.

“Replacement level manager”. Lol ?, love it.

VAfan, you do have a highly optimistic take but you gave numbers and analysis to authenticate it . Let’s hope they bear out. I’m just happy the main offensive pieces are healthy going in.

Whew the title had me believing the thread was about the Sox going from first to last. ?

He is very good, and still has that defense. I don’t ever see MVP for him as some might have hoped though. It goes to show ceilings are as much about if as they are about when.

The upside on these two is ridiculous but both are such wildcards. Neither has been tested over a full season of innings - Kopech has had his innings limited for rehab and Cease's limited innings are well, self inflicted. Both are still fragile in their own ways. Kopech has yet to show physical durability. Cease: well, seeing him visibly shaking during that playoff game told me all I need to know about his mental maturity. Can either overcome those hurdles? Yeah. I would put my money on Cease first though. I think his 2021 experience is hopefully something he may have grown from.

“We” may need to add? We??! There is no “we” about this, RH. Don’t rope me into it. This is all on you, buddy.

Do the Sox prioritize high velo guys when scouting for rotation prospects and if so is there any way to turn their focus to more control, pitch-to-hit type guys? Or do those prospects simply not exist in today's game?

Frankly, I'm surprised at this, and happily so. I'm happy for Kimbrel. He was brought over, lost the role he had built his career on, and for all intents lost his market value. Raw deal there so glad LA kept faith he could revert back to what he was before all that. For the Sox, well Pollack is way better than the $16 mil bag of baseballs it appeared they were stuck with. Essentially, now its a become Madrigal for Pollock. Not ideal, but somewhat tolerable.

So basically we are talking about an adult Chuck E. Cheese with adult beverages. Ok works for me, given the exploding scoreboard fireworks are so pathetic compared to the early days.

Apparently they don’t need to because they can just use their Swiss Army knife (Leury) for their heavy duty everyday needs.

So much of this the Kimbrel trade. Lots of money for (now) little projected return weights the resource allocation numbers. That’s half of it. They also lost Madrigal, who could potentially provide wins at a negligible cost. Now they can’t get him back and Kimbrel is damaged goods on the market. Horrible. Just spitball wishing, but I would dream they could find a team that would really like an elite CLOSER and offer them a 3 week try before you buy on Kimbrel and if he returns back to being a effective in the closer role they finalize and the other team buys out the contract. Just dreaming…

He’s done - Koch done.

Wherever the roster itself stands on raw talent, you also have to apply a managerial correction factor.

Actually, we’ve learned the bullpen “mess” never sorts itself out no matter what you do - so don’t worry about it and get another starter

Good grief someone put a padlock on the dumpster already.

I'm tradio-radical: 8 man batting lineup. No DH's and no pitchers hitting. Limit the active roster to 10 pitchers to get away from the hyper-specialization the bullpen roles have evolved into. No regularly scheduled split doubleheaders. Give the fans both games back to back again for the one ticket and don't coddle the players with the extended break. Old school.

In theory you don’t even need 9 batters. You could go as low as 4. Hmmm…TA, Grandal, Eloy, Robert, and rinse wash and repeat 9 or ten times every day. Edit: on second thought I would miss Robert’s defense.

The draft lottery is what intrigues me. I think what makes it viable is the expanded playoffs. They want to keep teams from tanking for the #1 pick but if there weren't many playoff spots you would probably see teams tanking anyway - for a spot in the lottery. Now there are enough playoff spots available to lure them away from that. My preference, though, would have been to not have a lottery but instead have the bottom few teams awarded the top picks from best record down. That would be real incentive IMO.

Honestly, all this is one more reason making me wonder just what I am rooting for as a fan. The players aren't tied to their fanbases since they they are just moving around to where their contracts will be best and I have no interest in following, much less rooting for, the owner and his wheeling and dealing.

The elite players on the market are going to other teams, the Sox sign another cracker Jack reliever, and Leury is available to fill the holes. It’s groundhog year again.

I’m thinking mop up roles and blowouts, etc. Of course if someone rings Hahn’s phone he should answer it, serious inquiries only.

At this point maybe they should just keep Kimbrel and move him into lower leverage middle relief and see if they can rehabilitate him into something of value either to them or another team. Currently as he is he is of zero value on the market. That means closing days are potentially over for him but he might be agreeable to that since at 34 it might be time for him to retool a bit.

That’s not all. The 1981 strike led to a split season and the Sox were not one of the 4 AL teams in the playoffs despite having the 3rd best record overall. Grrr…

no, cuz...