cabiness42

No. Last year, outside of wanting to see Sale and Quintana pitch well, I wanted the team to lose as many games as possible to get a high pick. This year, short of being buyers at the trade deadline, I want to see the team win as many games as possible because there are more players who need to develop/improve and I'm fine with a mid teens draft pick.

For the US to really start getting better WC results, the #1 goal has to be getting and maintaining a Top 7 ranking which gets you seeded in a World Cup. 7 of the 8 seeds advanced, with 5 reaching the quarterfinals and 3 reaching the semifinals. Aside from the obvious of developing better players, there are some ways that scheduling can help achieve this goal: 1) Convince CONCACAF to switch the Gold Cup from every 2 years to every 4 years. Between two Gold Cups plus WC qualifying in a four year cycle, that's way too damn many games against s***ty CONCACAF teams. Replace one of the Gold Cups with an 8 team invitational tournament involving the US, Mexico, plus two teams each from UEFA, CONMEBOL and CAF. Ideally you get teams ranked in the 15-25 range--low enough that they are beatable but high enough that it improves your schedule strength. 2) Get as many friendlies as possible (and even make a few of them full international matches) against top 25 nations.

I wouldn't trade for Smith or Cabrera either. Sox need to be acquiring prospects, not established players.

Sale vs De La Rosa Lineups later.

This. Right now, the most important thing the Sox can do is develop young players. If Flowers' defensive skill as a catcher his helping the pitching staff develop, then you let him continue doing that the rest of the season. In 2015, Nieto can go to AAA, Flowers can become the backup catcher and somebody else gets the starting role.

I think the problem is in singling out the Obama era. I believe that, aside from chunks of Reagan's and Clinton's presidencies, this country has been getting worse my entire lifetime.

Yeah, let's trade for a 30 year old outfielder with an OPS under 700, because one De Aza isn't enough.

In the first WC, both semifinals were 6-1. In 1954, W Germany beat Austria 6-1.

Start checking to see who made huge bets on Germany -3.5 or more. Investigate.

Wow Brazil getting it handed to them. 3-0 Germany.

GO GERMANY!

Workman vs Danks. No lineups yet.

Wouldn't the average of bWar and fWar be dWar?

Was somebody saying something about Dunn and home runs?

Given the approximately 8x salary increase that comes with getting jerked around, I don't think players mind so much.

I don't see why it wouldn't be Semien.

SOX: Eaton 8, Beckham 4, Abreu 3, Dunn DH, Ramirez 6, Viciedo 9, De Aza 7, Flowers 2, Garcia 5; Carroll 1 BOS: Buchholz 1

You're arguing with a guy who thinks 15/2 = 10.

That's fine, they can bluff all they want up until the deadline, but the Sox should not budge and at that point Rodon is an idiot if he refuses to sign. There is no reason the Sox should increase their offer as the deadline approaches.

Dunn's contract expires at the end of the year and the Sox are clearly not going anywhere this year, so even though I am satisfied with his performance this year, I don't consider him a useful asset. Now, if guys like Beckham and Ramirez are traded off for little or no return, then I will be pissed.

Rodon is an idiot if he won't sign for $6 million. First of all, there is a huge risk that he doesn't get that much next year. Secondly, he puts off arbitration and free agency by a year, and that easily eats up the $250K or whatever he's quibbling over now. Boras is trying to bluff the Sox into raising their offer, but there is no good reason for the Sox not to call their bluff. If Rodon is the kind of guy who will walk away from $6M, then he is not the kind of guy I want on my team.

I'm absolutely fine with the Sox walking away if he won't take $6M.

The 10 teams getting worse DH production?

If the Sox weren't 3rd in the AL in DH OPS, that would have just about almost not quite been somewhat kinda funny.

Yes, it is on mlb.com, and the maximum # of times = 4 votes per minute (approx.) x # of minutes until 4pm EDT Thursday.