35thstreetswarm

Thank you. This guy is an absolute cornerstone. He’s more off limits than Madrigal or even Cease in my mind.

I’m slowly warming to the idea of Lynn, even at a cost of a Dunning or another premium piece. Everybody talks about the risk to 2022, but this team looks to have a bit of The Magic. You can’t take that lightly. There’s risk in not maximizing your chances in any season where you have a shot. Look at the Cubs—2015 looked like a “year early” gravy season. It wasn’t—it turned out it was one of their two best shots at a WS. All that said, don’t trade Kopech ?

I demand we win every game by at least three runs and with error-free play. You know, like the *really* good teams all do.

Even harder question - what do I do with my custom Drake Laroche Spring Training jersey?

Cub fans in mid-August 2020 be like "Ooh, Congratulations, Sox: you're just beating up on the Tigers." ?

"...and all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds!"

You're making a different point. I'm not saying "winning trades" is more important than winning the World Series (who would ever say that?) I'm talking about the question of whether, in retrospect, the Chapman trade was strictly necessary to win the World Series, i.e. could they have won without him. Maybe yes, maybe no, we'll never know -- though it's interesting to debate.

It's part of the picture, but it doesn't answer the question by itself. No trophy is big enough to erase the correlation/causation fallacy, or to eliminate the usefulness of interrogating actual evidence. I get why fans probably don't care to use much mental energy second-guessing decisions made during a season that ended the way they wanted. But there's a reasonable debate to be had about whether every event in that season was actually the "but-for" cause of the title.

Thank you. This “well, they won so it worked” story is too-easily-accepted conventional wisdom.

Eclipsing the Twins (winning the division) will help them eclipse the Cubs (winning the battle for the city/fans/media). Let's do both!

The coolest thing about both teams is that they both are full of players, and all of them have names. I just love seeing, reading, and typing them!

Real talk—is what we’re doing to the Cubs bullying? I’m just saying, maybe we shouldn’t be laughing

Boo. Talk with your butt. Poop with your mouth Go Sox!

Delighted to have been wrong about the bullpen. I had little confidence in it but I'm starting to get excited. Keep it up!

That's a totally measured and reasonable approach. Get that sh*t out of here

I know—was joking/doesn’t come through in text form. But the answer will always be 66-62 to me. I’m giving nothing away!

Oh, of course—excluding that insignificant little World Series. Let’s just all agree to write that one out of the history books, God knows we have enough rings.

Yes: 66-62 I believe. That includes a World Series win by our very own “hitless wonders”.

I feel comfortable with Giolito and Keuchel. I'd like one more front-line starter to emerge. I think that's most likely to be one of Kopech or Cease, with ReyLo as a dark horse candidate. None of them are there yet, but there's the rest of this season (for all but Kopech) and all of next season for them to develop. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to add another TOR via free agency, but it's way too early to write off our current rotation.

Hate the Cubs. Love the Sox. Love this series when we win. Go Sox.

I almost wrote that but decided it was better not to even release that energy out into the world. Thanks a lot ?

Would be so 2020 for my lifelong fantasy of a Sox/Cubs World Series to be fulfilled -- and not be able to go to a game.

...and an all-star at every position

I think a lot of people felt that way, but were just resigned early on that the Sox wouldn’t pony up the 325+ needed to get him. People were excited about Machado because it looked, for a time, like we might get a bargain.

"Moreover, it is highly doubtful that a major league baseball team would utilize a commercial rental car service counter for such a transaction, nggnnnnnn" (adjusts masking taped-glasses) ?