Lip Man 1

It may be they are getting somewhat complacent after having made the playoffs four straight years...maybe they think they can "turn it on" whenever they want. That's hard to do. What the Cubs have going for them is the ability to take on salary at the deadline. I don't know if the other clubs in the diviksion can or have the will to do that...maybe the Cardinals.

Had hoped for better but Gio spit the bit for the second time in a big, big series. Just something to watch moving forward. In his defense he won't be having a stretch of four in a row like he's just gone through...Cubs, Red Sox, Twins and Cubs...that's a rough stretch. You always want to beat these bastards and tonight was really disappointing given Giolito is the best the Sox have to offer this year. We'll see what happens Sunday. Pray for a miracle I guess.

Leury screwed up a lot of outfield balls last season not just during the home opener. And believe me Leury isn't close to the fielder Jones was.

I mentioned that three times he hit over .275 including the one season over .300. Garcia meanwhile has NEVER hit over .275 for a single season. If anything this year may be an outlier who knows for sure. So I don't think you want to compare batting averages but if so that's your choice. Again I'm not saying Garcia isn't worth anything, he is...on a good team he'd make an excellent super-sub. Also I repeat I'm not a Rios fan but I recognize he put up some offensive numbers, drove in runs and played very good defense (when he wanted to). Garcia defensively has improved but has everyone already forgotten how much of a butcher he was in the outfield last year? Starting with the home opener vs. Detroit where he misplayed and mishandled balls in the 9th inning helping to cost the Sox the game. I respect your opinion Richie and your devotion to sabermetics, I simply disagree with the conclusion.

As if using WAR isn't cherry picking especially for a flawed stat? I'm not saying Leury doesn't have value, it is a different type of value but offensively he's never going to put up the numbers Rios did and that's a statistical fact. And I never cared much for Rios myself. I was responding to the original poster who said Garcia was better than Rios. Maybe he is in certain ways...but not offensively.

When Leury hits 18 home runs, steals 24 bases and drives in 70 RBI's in a season I'll agree with you.

In basically the four full seasons Rios played for the Sox he averaged 18 home runs, 24 stolen bases and 70 RBI's. Three times he hit over .275 for the year and played some very good defense in right field. His attitude at times was an issue, twice Ozzie pulled him in the middle of a game for not hustling but the numbers seem to indicate Rios was a much better player than Garcia who is not a very good outfielder. Garcia has some value certainly but he isn't going to produce on offense like Rios generally did.

And the point is? Today if you want to win (again no guarantees) you better be prepared to spend money on getting top talent because no franchise has a good enough minor league system to fill every single hole that develops on a roster. That either means free agency or being willing to make trades for players who make a lot of money that are available by their previous clubs. Can the Sox spend three quarters of a billion dollars? Probably not...can they spend more than they have been over the past decades? I would argue with the revenue streams flowing into MLB today they certainly can.

Can't argue with that.

Nobody said they were perfect but in fact they've made the playoffs four straight seasons with a title. They are a decent bet to make it five straight playoff seasons (no guarantees of course) but even if they don't, any Sox fan I know of would kill to make the playoffs four years in a row and win a title. They must have done something right to accomplish this right?

I had hopes Palka could be a useful bench player moving forward. Late inning pinch hitter type if you needed a home run. Now? Guy needs to just go away, totally lost right now. Give the at-bats to Collins a kid who may actually have a future.

The Cubs were able to supplement things with great trades and a willingness to actually spend what it took to get top of the line, quality free agents. That makes up for any drafting deficiencies.

Good question. The Sox are very closed mouthed when it comes to these things. Who knows if they even offered anything at least yet?

Based on his comments last night I suspect he really wants to stick around and will give the Sox a "hometown discount" Which of course is always music to JR's ears.

They won the series...with this pitching staff that's not bad. Lopez though is so inconsistent that if the Sox do get pitching help this off season and with the return of some of the injured guys, his spot in the rotation is going to be in real jeopardy unless he gets his act together. The second half of this season I think is going to be very big for him as I assume the front office is going to be watching closely. And the bullpen just wasn't sharp today.

I'd hope after a reasonable time to allow some of these players to show they actually can perform at a high level that things will start being discussed. They better...remember Kenny's "infamous" comment after the failed Machado derby. Along the lines of Sox fans getting upset if the team didn't have the money to sign all these guys because they gave it all to Manny. We'll see what the Sox do in this regard and what they actually offer.

Not gleeful, pissed off that so many of the picks from this front office either can't stay healthy or are very bad at what they do. Making it worse is that it seems other franchises don't seem to have as much trouble in this regard as the Sox. Yet nothing ever changes with the organization in this area.

Half of the guys you name are injured. Hansen appears to be a head-case and has lost his ability to pitch. Burdi also appears to be another high first round draft bust. Not saying you are wrong but perhaps you need to try to find better names to use to make your argument.

Theo quoted after the game saying they'll be major changes if things don't improve.

Well here's some good news, Fulmer was told to pack his bags and go back to Charlotte right after the game. More and more since he'll be out of options at the end of the year it looks like the Sox are going to cut bait with him and admit they screwed up the pick badly.

Wednesday observations: * "Winning is fun, fun is winning" - Ozzie Guillen. * Happy for Cease, after a nervous first inning (understandable) he settled down and showed some grit. * Herrera sucks. Period. Great job Rick Hahn! * Detwiler didn't pitch that badly, deserved better. Error really hurt him. * Fulmer sucks. Period. Great job by the front office in drafting him! * 7th time this season Sox rallied to win trailing in the 7th inning or later. And I think this was only their third extra inning game all season. That's a very low number. Don't stop now boys.

Technically the Sox swept that suspended game / regularly scheduled twin bill vs. Kansas City earlier this season.

It was a game in Oakland after the goofy Wendlestad umpire threw out a few of the Sox including Crede as I recall.

Time will tell...remember the Yankees will still be the Yankees, the Red Sox will still spend ungodly amounts of money as will the Dodgers and Houston has shown themselves to have a tremendous front office and ability to develop players. If the Sox are simply in that conversation I'll be very happy.

Simple answer...When the Sox start winning and acting like a major league organization. When (if) that happens losing Tatis Jr. will hurt but if the Sox are 20 games over and in the middle of a pennant race it won't hurt as much. Until then, you are going to hear about it...often.