GREEDY

I feel like Tim could have said the exact same thing and people here would be saying "Jerry, pay this man his money!".

As far as money dumps to raise the cash for a corner outfielder, I could see Graveman going. He is worth likely around the money due to him. Maybe the reliever market will be hot and we will find a taker. Hendricks is also tradable without a major impact to our division chances. If there is no other way to buy a corner outfielder, I would support clearing some mula via our bullpen and just praying the pen survives until the deadline.

Difficult to know which door needs kicked in. Is Kenny still in charge and Rick just does the negotiating and the press? If Jerry could trump all and put TLR in the dugout, how many moves has he made over KW/RH's tenure? How did Jeremy Haber's stock rise so much? You can't have 3 guys and an owner all calling the shots.... Seems to most that we need new ownership and a completely overhauled front office. Maybe if and when they are forced to run this mess back next season, if it goes poorly we will get our wish.

I'd hate to say it, but with the glut of vets coming off the books after 2023, I can see the Sox to targeting one of the OF that might be willing to take a one year deal. Conforto, Gallo, JBJ, maybe even a Bellinger or Happ trade. We all would prefer Nimmo or Benintendi, but I'm not sure there is a team in the league that won't be interested in them. Even clubs with comfortably full outfields still probably dream of adding a platoon partner. Both are going to get overpaid, and rightfully so. Big money for seasons well into their mid 30s. After 2023 you will have a year of TA remaining, two years of Cease/Kopech and the RH3 (Rick Hahn Extension Three). IF the RH3 don't take major steps forward, I think it will be screaming for a new front office regime and a rebuild.

That's pretty much it. Almost no choice but to run it back. And I'd much prefer an OF in their prime than selling Vaughn and likely overpaying Abreu. Only question I have: Will there be a better defensive outfielder available for under or near the 8 million you spent to keep Pollock? JBJ, Laureano, Marisnick, Kiermaier?

Oh you are right. Someone was just discussing this with me last week. Whatever article I read didn't mention the options. My bad. Eloy's is actually not that terrible then. I guess that changes my opinion a tad on them as a whole.

I think fans didn't realize how little extra control the Sox received. Our dogshit beat reporters and army of amateur bloggers dropped the ball reporting on these deals at the time. We were definitely all drinking the rebuild kool-aid.

Laurence is the only major Sox voice hip to one of the worst things Hahn did, which was guaranteeing Moncada, Eloy and Robert in exchange for 2 total years of extra control (and not for free, it will cost 45 million to exercise that control). Obviously, the primest of prime years of a super star player are very valuable, and these moves were universally celebrated at the time, but in hindsight it definitely appears that KW/Hahn knew their future was tied to these players, so there was no reason not to lock them in.

Too Many First Basemen, Not enough (wins over the) Indians

I think had he not forced TLR into the dugout this could have been a "post espn last dance" redemption tour of sorts. Or at the very least he could have had his media people try to spin it that way. #7 payroll is no joke. With very little money coming off this winter we could've easily been top 5 in 2023. Instead it is what is likely a final bow for an owner whose legacy will not be anywhere near positive despite relative success.

Can't move him. Even if the unthinkable happened and we received a front office overhaul, I think they still essentially run it back one more year. So, if you trade Gio, you are likely right back in the market for a vet starter. You won't find anyone priced similarly that you feel better gambling on for one year nor would that player offer you any control like you'd have with the QO/Comp on Gio.

If Giolito is traded in January, can the acquiring team offer him a QO?

The year is 2050. There are 27 divisions in IHSA Football. One for each old private school. All public schools are either AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA or higher. For the first time in history a winless team gets the 1 seed in 7A. Some Catholic schools are rostering only 10 players and claiming they only have 10 kids in school in an effort to force IHSA to start another class for schools with 10 or less students. IHSA finally limits the amount of reclassed kids you can roster to 12. For the first time in history a 24 year old reclassed father throws a touchdown pass to his 10 year old son who immediately commits to an SEC school.

If the guy can't stay in shape with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, I don't want him. Personally, I'd like to go into the season with Eloy as the 4th outfielder. He will still get plenty of time out there, so you aren't completely shutting the door on his future upside.

Their only option is to run it back and pray.

Any updates on whether or not this zero win player is for real?

Predict Cueto's next deal:

Exit plan. Not hard for a doctor to conclude that a 78 year old man shouldn't be working in high pressure situations.

Good thought process. I think the only way to get good value for Vaughn at this time would be if a contending team needed to be responsible with payroll (can't just sign one) AND needed a first baseman. And in this scenario, that contending team isn't going to be super excited about giving up MLB ready talent, because they need it to contend. So you probably would have to take prospects back or really luck out that they somehow have a similar have a corner outfield surplus? Seems unlikely.

Sheets not getting to that popup was essentially the play of the game. Difficult to measure the impact of that one play. I'd actually like to see Gavin and Vaughn at 1B the rest of the way to know if either can play average defense there. How the Sox clearly pivoted from 3 true outcome baseball to trying to aggressively hit line drives... yet play bad first basemen in the outfield, I'll never know.

The team that was desperate enough for a first baseman (that they would give you a top of the rotation pitcher AND a pitching prospect????) just outbid you for Abreu. Your plan has failed.

Post Pitch Com

Where did I say he said anything to this point. I asked if people thought he could stream for 200 hours, and insinuated that he has to take hundreds of questions from fans and not get baited into it?

Least "valuable"? Some reliever. Relievers aren't valuable. Most disappointing? Yaz & Moncada. Both will end up 4+ WAR below where we'd hoped they'd be. Is there any chance Giolito streams 200 hours of MLB The Show this offseason without blaming his season on the defense? It could get uncomfortable with him.

Dirty Frank is doing what he was hired to do. Hahn foresaw the league trying to move away from 3 outcome baseball. He wanted balls in play, more swinging, more line drives. But he failed to realize that his slow, fly ball hitting, greedy roster would struggle at executing his plan. He has to go. He received the dream scenario of failing miserably and getting the opportunity to do a complete rebuild. Then received a more than fair budget to support his project the past two seasons.