Eminor3rd

Sox should legitimately do nothing but bunt, every AB for about three straight games, leading up to the next Crochet start. They'll be automatic losses, sure, but after that, you gotta figure the next opponent is going to just play infield in to start. And then they let it rip in the first inning! The opponent will catch on fast, but the Sox would then have a real chance to have something like TWO baserunners on at once for Robert and, I don't know, I guess Gavin Sheets or something -- which could technically create a lead which could then technically be defended for a win.

But I bet Getz could get like 20+ DFA candidates from the Braves for him.

Crochet is going to be really fun to watch this year, if you can manage to separate his performance from a need to see an actual win.

Have they named a closer yet? Assuming Kopech has the inside track.

Poty

I forgot Moustakas was in camp lol

I don't either -- I think he was way more advanced than anyone else at that level, and probably 85% to where he needed to be to debut. And I think when he did debut, he was about 85% where he needed to be.

I agree with the premise that Moncada and Eloy were nearly finished when they were acquired, but I don’t agree that they didn’t have improvements they needed to (and largely didn’t) make afterwards. And I can certainly see what you mean by making a distinction between what you’re calling “development” vs “refinement,” don’t you think those are both parts of the process that fall under the purview of player development?

I can’t tell if you’re joking. Do you really believe player development ends in the lower minors? Even if you did, which is insane, what about the hundred or so players the Sox drafted into the system since 2017?

One article said that he was moved to relief more because they needed bullpen arms than because he couldn’t start, and another said that he’s missed a lot of development time to injuries and pandemic, so he may have more command upside than his age would indicate

After reading some more stuff this morning, I’m wondering if Getz might be planning to try to stretch Wilson out to start.

Reading Keith Law’s write ups on these guys from the Padres list last month makes this return look a lot worse.

C. I think it needed one more solid secondary piece if Thorpe was headliner. Swap Snelling for Thorpe or add one more guy in the Zavala range and I’d be happy.

Yeah, I liked it when I thought Dillion Head was in it. Feels one guy light to me. That said... It does sound like Iriarte has helium, and may actually belong in the tier with the other three pitchers very soon.

I mean it was already very dead before this trade.

True, and given how many signs point to regression from him, it probably isn't the wisest gamble for a rebuilder anyway. Also the Cease move probably breaks the stalemate on the free agents a bit, meaning those prices may now rise again.

Would love that, but I think telling Lorenzen he can just have Cease's salary and telling Jerry we're budget neutral will be too convenient.

I'll be pretty surprised if we get more than one of the top 5. Just realistically, there are ton of great secondaries. I'll be satisfied with one of those pitchers and three real secondaries.

Michael Lorenzen is the real winner

Yeah, that's who I meant. I think I heard on a fantasy podcast that he has a good chance of being on the roster this year, so my guess is that if Preller is making a win-now move, he's going to want to keep Merrill to play him this year.

I'm guessing Salas was untouchable, and Merrill looks like he might make the roster, so they kinda need him. I would think one of the top three pitchers HAS to be the headliner (Snelling, Thorpe, Lesko), and we could maybe dream that we got two of them.

It's a good system. Assuming you can't get Salas or their other untouchable guy (I forget), I'm actually okay with a volume approach here. Part of the Sox failure has always been to fail to understand the VOLUME of talent you need in a system to actually sustain a competitive window. Maybe that's something Getz sees and want to finally change.

I don't think anyone could have reasonably predicted that both Snell and Montgomery would stay on the market this long, but given that DID happen, it isn't surprising at all that a Cease trade didn't come together before now. Both Boras and the White Sox are trying to maximize their value, and the teams that need pitching have been waiting for one or the other to blink. The warts with the Boras guys' peripherals are obvious to even casual fans at this point, and Getz is demanding top dollar because he has so few pieces to spur this rebuild. I think Getz has been wise to hold, and I'm impressed with his poker so far. We'll see what the return is, of course, but giving in to a lowball because of the presence of Snell/Montgomery on the market would have been a bad move no matter what, even granting that holding for the deadline wasn't ideal. All that said, the return is likely not going to be what we've all been dreaming of lol.

Swing reminds me of Gordon Beckham, weirdly?