Lip Man 1

A lot of Minnesota players seem to be in demand aren't they?

Better than guys leaving for free agency or not having an option picked up and getting zero in return.

Don't ever put anything past this organization. Do so at your own peril. Time is ticking.

Plus Scott Boras is his agent.

But that's the question...will JR allow that type of payout for him, plus the risk of him having another dismal season or injury. Given that, trading him for garbage may be better than getting absolutely nothing in return if the Sox decline his contract come October.

I've been saying this for years given the Sox injury history.

Correct. Assuming JR is still with us. If he isn't all bets are off.

Good, that keeps him away from the Cubs.

Wins always matter at least to the fan base. Unfortunately the same can't be said of ownership based on their actions for a very long time and with the lockout/labor impasse coming JR isn't going to allow Getz to do anything drastic to improve the teams chances to be respectable. Maybe in 2028 when Ishbia I think takes over. And by the way they actually won 93 games in 2021 so that at least was an exciting year.

He'll only be here as long as JR is in control.

Even if the Cubs don't win the division they'd have to have a complete collapse to not make the playoffs as a wild card.

He can't be any worse than JR interfering in areas he has no expertise in.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6523710/2025/07/30/mlb-salary-cap-curt-flood-legacy-rob-manfred/?campaign=14409989&source=athletic_targeted_email&userId=602876

I'm not being flippant or sarcastic here when I say all the Sox franchise needs is Ishbia to take over and literally fire all the incompetence and rot on the baseball side of the operations...from the front office, to scouts, to talent evaluators to the medical, training and conditioning staffs. Then he needs to pay whatever it takes to bring in replacements from successful, winning organizations like the Dodgers, Braves, Brewers, Phillies, Yankees et al. Then stay the hell out of the way and let good people do what they were hired to do. Ishbia just needs to sign the checks, stay in the owners box and stay the hell out of the way (unlike JR who thinks he knows everything there is to know about things from "recommending" who the Sox should draft to having final approval on major trades/signings.)

I agree but I'm not expecting much out of him maybe a #5 guy at best.

Because of the opportunity and because of the $$$$$

Before that stretch he was basically unhittable.

Agreed. The vast majority of baseball's problems over the decades have been caused by incompetent owners who blame everything but their stupidity for their club issues.

Yes, from 2019 until the Sox named him manager.

Because despite having a rabid fan base and usually drawing very well, ownership has been cutting payroll and refuses to go after quality free agents. My broadcast partner is from the St. Louis area and he's furious at Cardinal ownership/management.

Pirates weren't the only team doing that, Jeffrey Loria did the same thing with the Expos and then the Marlins. Owners want the players to solve their problems as Donald Fehr said back in the 94-95 time period.

And we know what the chances of that happening are don't we? 😆

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/45842533/sources-phillies-bryce-harper-tells-mlb-boss-get-clubhouse

"Get the f--- out of our clubhouse" Harper told Manfred if he Manfred wanted to talk about the potential implementation of a salary cap, sources told ESPN on Monday." Anyone who doesn't think this is going to come to a head quickly next year needs to confront reality. The MLBPA will NEVER accept a salary cap and if the owners want to go down that road yet again they are delusional.

Yes he did. He started wearing his batting helmet in the field and one time with his spikes wrote "boo" in the dirt around first base. And you are also correct about the assumptions from his family.