mmmmmbeeer

I don't think the squeeze is worth the juice. Mateo is, at best, a very marginal improvement over Luisangel. Acuna is a magician at SS, is faster, and is already comfortable in his role on this team. Mateo may provide a bit more at the dish but that's about the only advantage he has. Luisangel isn't the issue with this team. We need to be finding a replacement for Grichuk....he's clearly the weak link on this roster at this point in the season.

BRUTAL stretch, especially the latter half. That was the gauntlet on the schedule and we come out of it even. That’s a win. Miggy needs to see some lesser quality pitchers to get himself back on track.

Like you. The obvious explanation, and why I called it immediately in the game thread, is that it was done on purpose. My only question is if he’s the first to do it or did he just expose a loophole for other managers?

The “f*** up” makes zero sense for several reasons. He would never admit he gamed the system, but it was well played.

Not only would it have been incredibly odd for him to come out to talk to Noah that early, but that Bove just let him walk out there is kind of telling, too. That important game was about to get away from us in the top of the 1st…if ever there was a perfect time to “accidentally” force your flailing starter out of the game with no one warm in the pen, that was it. ETA…if he forgot Bove had already gone out there, why didn’t he send Bove out again? Have we ever seen Will make the first mound visit of a ballgame, much less in the first?

There’s nothing you want more.

f***

Because Noah was sucking ass with 2 in, runners on the corners, and 1 out. Will couldn’t wait for anyone to warm up so forced the pitching change, giving Sandlin all the time he needed to warm up and end the inning with no further damage.

Take some damn pitches…s%*#.

Wouldn’t be if Noah has stayed in. Will just wanders out to the mound with no one warming for shits and grins? Nah.

I’m officially in the “that was intentional” camp. He wanted Noah out asap but didn’t have anyone warm. Worried the game could get away by the time Sandlin is ready.

Tin foil time…may have been intentional. Sandlin now gets all the time he needs to warm up.

This is where I'm at. I doubt they're cheating, but if you told me they were, I wouldn't be surprised. I have no idea what the numbers say, but watching them it's pretty crazy the plate coverage and exit velos they're consistently attaining.

I'm not sure this conversation shouldn't include Colson. Has he cemented himself as an everyday player this season? His second half has been pretty putrid while Sam and Chase continue to be solid contributors.

And traded away 40% of their starting staff. Quit with the hyperbole to prove a point, man. You’re a smarter fan than that.

That 2023 dude is an absolute clown, just begging for attention.

After trading Skubal?

this board, man… Cleveland just burned through 3 games against one of the weakest opponents on their schedule. Got swept. Twins playing 3 against the lowly Royals and lose 2 of 3. Sox, on the other hand, just rolled through the hardest part of their schedule and went 5-6 against TB, NYY, and BOS. We lost half a game while going through our toughest stretch. And yall bitching about it? Crazy.

Were you excited to give of Bonemer or McDougal for Stephenson?

I’ll give Will the benefit of the doubt and assume he’s trying to be sure we have arms available against a more important CLE opponent tomorrow. Huddy and Hicks both threw <20 tonight. We couldn’t afford to sacrifice a game against CLE for a win against BOS.

Richards. The decision to bring in Richards was essentially waving the white flag. oh well…hot team. Let’s get CLE

Boston, just like the last series against them, is the hottest team in baseball. Their pitching has been incredible and they’re seemingly squaring up anything thrown at them. That’s a tough team to beat and will make even good teams look bad. I expect an L today and won’t think twice about it when the sweep is complete. It shouldn’t be used as proof that we suddenly suck or whatever nonsense dumb fans will inevitably throw around. No analysis should go further than the fact we ran into a buzz saw. They just swept LAD before us.

4 dongs in last 9abs?

It's clear he has a great relationship with the staff. He's a solid defender. Quero's bat isn't good enough to compensate for the difference in defense between he and Romo. Catcher is one of those positions where teams are fine sacrificing defense for offense, which is clearly what the Sox are doing by grabbing Bart. Catcher is a hell of a lot more than just a bat, catching the ball, and throwing out baserunners. Pitch calling, feel for situational baseball, inspiring confidence in the pitching staff, ABS challenges, etc. By those measures, Romo is a much better catcher than Quero. Teel is an exception because his bat does (errr did) exceed the cost of his defensive deficiencies.

C ODoyle and Castillo requiring significant improvement over current performance lessens their value considerably. I don’t mind a project but odd time to commit to a couple of them, especially ODoyle. Periera? Eh, whatever. Now leaving his, what, third org headed to his 4th? Could be more than just performance at play there.