caulfield12

I guess it's really going to come down to whether he would have been better off working on all his secondary pitches and throwing 4-5-6 innings per start (ramping up) in Charlotte in August and September after the division race was basically over...also, with the minor league season extending an additional month (due to the later start this year), it would have been the perfect opportunity to do so.

If he brought Paddy with him?

Why would they want to eat $4-6 on Kimbrel just to get another suspect prospect back when they could actually for the third time sign a free agent (following Dunn and Grandal) for more than $14 million per year that they really want? Guess Melky Cabrera was the other move that comes somewhere close to that salary range, not exactly a ringing endorsement of bigger Sox FA moves.

How about we actually work with both pitchers AND catchers on stopping or at least neutralizing the running game against us? Just no way you win any 4 game series against an equal or better team giving so many baserunners free bases or opportunities on third with less than two outs…puts so much more pressure on the pitchers, although the pitchers are also at least equally culpable.

That you would give Cease a playoff start based on his fWAR being 18th or 22nd in the majors or whatever it was a month or two ago. That Kopech would have come in for Giolito in Game 2 and dominate…there’s just no reason to believe that based on his last two outings. Fastball dominant pitching doesn’t work well against Houston, probably why Tepera did as well as he did.

Kind of like how you were wrong on Kopech, Cease and Hosmer getting benched?

Lux at 2B makes a lot more sense than Burger at 3B and Moncada at second...but I would agree about Lux. That said, Urias with the Brewers finally had a really decent season.

Except that was all about clearing the payroll, C-Lee, Ordonez (especially) and Valentin were all expensive...Eloy has not reached that point of his contract, YET.

If Vaughn ended the year strongly, but you don't trade middle infielders capable of playing multiple positions for corner guys unless they are "sure" things. I don't know that we can be anywhere close to 100% confident Vaughn will put up .280, 25-30 homers and 80-90 RBI's next year.

I'm still pretty convinced that not having Cordero this year made a significant difference. And Bummer kinda wandered in and out of significance...where he wasn't always the go-to lefty.

You're not going to trade someone at his age only two years removed from an MVP unless they really believe he's not capable of pulling out of it...

Well, besides Konerko and Buehrle, but he's in arguably had more of an influence on bringing other Cubans into the fold, Robert in particular. The young pitcher, Vera, that we signed, Cespedes and Colas, etc. Seems the logical assets to look at offloading would be Sheets and/or Burger.

See Moncada and Giolito, just to name a couple. Jimenez's long-term positioning, pretty critical to figure out.

Cespedes isn't close to ready yet...

It doesn't always work in the post-season, see TB and Milwaukee to a lesser extent the last 3-4 seasons. Obviously, the Rays also got to the WS last year, as well.

If you do give Rodon a QO and he accepts it, there goes your FA budget, except for minor moves like Tepera and scrap heap/bargain basement guys again. Even worse, getting stuck with Kimbrel.

Lol. I’m sure this would be the perspective of anyone under 40. For those over 50 or 55, particularly in a world economy where you’re growing increasingly obsolete in that age range…I’m sure it is a bit more sensitive. (Heck, 61% of Americans at 55 or older no longer participate in the labor force, for a multitude of reasons. Which strikes me as a somewhat shockingly high number, as an aside, and ominous for SS’s future.)

Hate to go all Ron, but if there was a poll question….are you satisfied with how Kopech and Crochet have been groomed by the coaching staff or developed or whatever phrase you care to apply, I’d imagine it would be pretty lopsided. It’s a legitimate question why Kopech didn’t get a few more starts to work on his full repertoire and build innings for next year over the last six weeks when they were just treading water. Granted, right now he’s barely a two pitch pitcher. Maybe it’s more frustration we didn’t contest HFA until it was too late to recover. Crochet is more understandably an evolving work in progress with limited experience and will be babied more.

Clearly Gammons prefers the Astros’ organization or has better relationships/sources over there…or has some sort of Keith Law-ish grudge. Guess it’s natural as we are the WRONG Sox in his world where everything that matters in Carmine Red, Not seeing any connection to age here, but more a stubborn allegiance to defending them for god knows what reason.

And not on the active roster…

Isn’t that the last 15 feet…?

Nah, I have to stick around here until you’re elevated to Global Moderator status, first.

https://weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/l/e0abde3003a88dedecad92fedc96375000c16843287a51dbf2cd92f062217180 Looking worse weather-wise, with rain coming on as early as 1 p.m.

AL Central in postseason since 2017 2-0 Indians over Yankees 0-14 1-0 Sox over A’s 0-4 Sox lose four consecutive 1-0 Game 3 4-18