TheFutureIsNear

What has Collins done poorly behind the plate in ST to not earn the backup job? Seems like he’ll never get any credit.

Fair enough, the time of game is indeed a problem as well. But I just don’t know how to make a significant impact on that without literally shortening the game. Maybe you can cut 15-20 mins, but is that really going to make a big difference? I feel like for baseball to be a daily weekday watch for casual fans they’d have to shorten the game at least a full hr. Not saying I’m against it, just don’t see it as feasible. Which is why I think trying to infuse more action into the game is a better bet

Is the length of the game REALLY the problem? On average, NFL games are longer. Personally I think just trying to press fast forward on the game isn’t the right way to attack the issue. The amount of dead time where nothing is happening is what loses most casual fans. Need more balls in play, defense, and activity on the base paths. The “3 true outcome” mentality has been the bigger issue IMO. Not saying it’s wrong or should change, but If we’re talking about fixing baseball viewership I’d start with figuring out how to pick up the action. Not just speed up the same game.

What it comes down to is when you are nowhere near the luxury tax and the owner is unwilling to spend an extra $18M (or so?) to seriously compete for a world series it’s a problem. I never expected Bauer but if we had Walker/Paxton + Brantley instead of Eaton I would have 0 complaints about the off season.

People like to pretend that Colome wasn’t very good here because he doesn’t fit the advanced stats narrative, but but bottom line is that he was nothing but a top notch closer for the Sox. This is a great deal for any team and given the Jerry handicap on the team’s budget I thinks it’s fair to question the Hendricks contract Vs what Colome got paid...even tho there’s no denying Hendricks is better. Colome, Brantley, and Wacha or Hendricks and Eaton?

Obviously a small 10 inning sample size, but I thought Collins looked perfectly fine last year. I’m not ruling him out as the backup at all.

I have no problem with Rodon back. I just hope it doesn’t keep us from acquiring another SP...which I fear it will

I just hope sitting on the market with no offers is a sobering wake up call for Carlos (if the rest of his career hasnt already been). Just put your head down, work hard, and be happy with any role you’re able to get. Whatever pick he once was is irrelevant, just another guy at this point....if not he’s going to find himself out of baseball sooner rather than later.

He’s probably not “garbage dump” discussion, but is Taijuan Walker not a possibility? Too much $ or just no interest?...and should we have interest? Obviously the idea of him being a TOR arm is long gone, but signing him to be our 4th starter seems like a pretty good option. I assume something like 1 year for 10 mil would get it done

While he’s obviously not as proven, at least Burnes has upside...I’m not buying last year’s small sample size- to me Gonzales is still the 190 inning 4 ERA guy he’s always been. Obviously that’s still a valuable pitcher, but just no way that type of pitcher is worth Madrigal, Heuer, Kelley + more. That’s crazy talk in my opinion. Seager brings nothing to the deal either and completely goes against the logic of budget being the issue. I’m not against trading prospects for a piece that can get us to the World Series, but Gonzales ain’t that.

I don’t want to trade our top guys...but if we aren’t trading them what’s the point of targeting a pitcher via trade? Is a best case headline package of Stiever and Thompson really going to return a TOR arm? Or should we not give up assets and just sign 1 of several solid back end (with potential for more) rotation arms still available as free agents? Seems pretty obvious to me...

Very interesting...so basically it’s 4 years 54 mil, but the Sox built in a “parachute clause” to be able to cut ties and payout the last $15M over time if things go bad.

Lynn, Hendricks, Eaton...not a bad offseason at all but let’s hope there’s still a cherry on top to come

Ehh he’s 28 and probably is what he is at this point. He’s not a TOR arm so no idea why we’d trade for him when there are still free agent arms available that will give us the similar production without having to give up assets.

At some point “luck” becomes a skill. When you have 100+ innings of results you should probably doubt the stats. Are you also predicting the demise of TA?

Cease and Foster for Sonny Gray Resign Colome Sign Marwin Gonzalez, Jose Alvarez and Jeremy Jeffress Go win a World Series

Wouldn’t hate trying to talk Markakis into coming to the team for a cheap 1 year deal. Was still fairly productive in 2019 and would bring a presence to the locker room. Plus would more than likely accept the backup role vs a younger guy looking for AB’s.

SP and ?...I have a hard time seeing any kind of “relatively big additions” on offense

Backup C Utility bench player/DH until Vaughn is called up Resign Colome or a free agent RP capable of pitching in the 8th inning Vet SP for very cheap/minor league deal to compete for 5th spot/depth Flier on a cheap RP or 2 for depth/competition, probably minor league deals. Anyone see moves beyond this happening?

I would have preferred Joc or Brantley, but this could have been worse for sure. Nothing to meltdown over. Eaton and Engel will form a perfectly fine platoon in RF...obviously “perfectly fine” is not anything we should be striving for, but it’s not going to get me nearly as upset as I see people here. My excitement for this team isn’t going to wane because of unexciting, yet solid, signings.

Fans need to give up on the fairly tale that the Sox are going to build some decade long dynasty. Not going to happen. Go for the World Series when you can and this move signifies that. If this is the only major move made you can b****, but until then you’re just whining for the sake of whining

Obviously there’s a chance this blows up in our faces in 2/3 years, but love that we are going for it. Just gotta keep going and continue to do more. My biggest issue with Dunning was velo...don’t know if he was still recovering/building strength but obviously his ceiling is capped if he continues to sit at 92. At the end of the day, trading a 4th/5th starter (even with control) isn’t going to be the undoing of any franchise. Of course if he improves into a TOR arm it will be painful... Would also be interested to know if Texas wasn’t interested in Cease or we valued him more than Dunning?

Garrett would be a nice addition...Winker wouldn’t be a bad RF platoon option either. Career .915 OPS in 848 career PA’s against RH. Reds have Castellanos, Aquino, Senzel and Akiyama capable of playing OF already. Reds don’t have a decent current C option that I’m aware of. Possible home for Collins? Cease, Collins, Foster, and a Rutherford/Sheets/Micker type prospect for Gray and Winker?

I think we have a much better chance of winning a world series in the next 3 years than we do building a dynasty...trade whoever needs to be traded to make a serious run at a World Series. To each their own, but I’m not the type of fan that is happy with my team just being competitive and making the playoffs. While that’s obviously nice, I want to see my team win a World Series and I’m more than willing to sacrifice a couple of future years of being competitive for it.

So we have a 76 year old drunk as our manager. Awesome. What could go wrong?