Timmy U

Wow. I knew he was bad, but that is a level of suck I had not reckoned with. OTOH, how mad would you be if your pitcher walked a guy like that?

That's why I said year 0 and another poster said year -1. They are in the process of tearing stuff down (waiting for contracts to end). I can even begin to imagine when their next competitive team will be. Montgomery looks like an mlb regular. I have hope for Nastrini as a rotation member, then a lot of guys like Eder and Cannon that they can plug in and hopefully hit on 1 or 2. Both Ramos and Quero have mlb regular upside, but are by no means sure things. After that it gets hard to imagine who the next wave really is. I guess I'm saying, enjoy the churros?

Probably, although looking at the bottom of that line up and considering Fedde and Soroka are 2-3 in your rotation, this thing could go South in a hurry.

This team truly could lose 110 games. We are just entering year zero of this rebuild. I support the new South Loop stadium just to get a target date on when they will try not to suck.

True, but his ‘roids were 1st rounders. Top notch quality.

WTF? Have you even watched Montgomery play? a) There's a pretty good shot he stays at short early in his career, and he'd be a plus 3b. b) Ryan Sweeney, had no power Olerud and Grace had very little power. Montgomery has plus power that he is just growing into now. I hope to God you're being sarcastic.

The only way this team avoids 100 losses is if Moncada and Eloy bounce back and Vaughn takes a step forward. Kinda betting on an inside straight, but so be it. So, I'm happy Moncada feels good. Remember, he was healthy and looked good in the stupid WBC before hurting his back on a long plane ride? I'll believe it when I see it, but I welcome even the slimmest sliver of hope for the 2024 Sox cuz this thing could get ugly in a hurry.

Balanced. Schedule.

What are you hearing about Gonzalez? He looked terrible and all the metrics support that eye test. My hope is that we did not see the real Jacob Gonzalez. Maybe he was exhausted ala Montgomery at Project Birmingham? Or halfway through a significant swing change? Or he altered his approach, which he will then junk? I want to have some hope for the guy because my looks last year were not encouraging.

I actually wouldn't be shocked if, after all the dust settles, Nastrini + Leasure > Quero + Bush. I love me some Quero, but it's not a super high ceiling and Bush has been pretty bad. Nastrini and Leasure will debut this year and Nastrini probably has the highest ceiling of the 4. I get that the deal also contained Kelly, but that is a very good return for a guy leading the league in HR allowed.

Good for Danny. I take it as a positive sign that someone Getz hired was wanted by another organization.

The dealer website has a bunch of people named “Guest.” My educated guess is he’s got an inherited ownership stake in the business but is not involved in the day-to-day operations. He certainly is not listed among their staff. https://www.southoak.com/about-us/staff/

No one.

With luxury tax, Manea is gonna cost them $29.5 mil this year alone. Personally, that does not seem like a good deal to me, but he was better in the second half, so maybe?

Punters!

I guess. The same way the Sox have brought in three guys Fedde, Soroka, and Shuster. You can write names down, doesn’t mean they’re gonna stay healthy or not suck. I guess Manea has a chance in that ballpark. Nothing carries out to left.

If it’s Mets, I want Clifford. Another guy the Sox were tied to prior to the draft. I don’t love him as much as I love Roman Anthony, but they’re pretty comparable.

Sorry. I certainly did not mean anything personal. I do not like the player. I do not think he is going to be an average mlb regular, therefore I do not want the Sox to acquire him and I do not believe he should play for the O’s ahead of Westburg and others. That is all.

Interesting question. A lot of these guys have little/no value. Gotta say, if they have the opportunity to unload Gonzalez before he confirms what everyone feared about that swing, I think they should take it.

Well, perfect. Obviously Ortiz is too good to be included in a trade for Cease.

I understand. My opposing point is that Ortiz is less good than other options they have at all 3 positions currently and that is with Holliday looming. He’s looking at another year of AAA if Elias doesn’t unload him.

No way Ortiz pushes Henderson off short on a full time basis. Henderson is pretty darn good defensively and his bat/power/speed are all at least a full grade above Ortiz. I don’t care if he’s Mark Belanger, no one is that good defensively.

Gunnar Henderson says hi.

Probably.

These two things are nothing alike. Cease is going to traded in a relatively free market. The buyer and the seller will eventually agree on a price. Is it “fair” in absolute terms? Likely not. Just like in free agency, he will go to the highest bidder. And that will be viewed by all the other bidders as an “overpay” because it is above the price they were willing to pay. Meanwhile, billionaires are able to exert influence over a non-market system: democratic institutions that set the rules for the tax code. They can contribute a minuscule percentage of what they would owe in taxes to political organizations, campaigns, PACS etc to lower or obliterate their marginal tax rate. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/america-ultra-wealthy-trillions-untaxed-profits-2022-1234940717/ When they pay nothing, suckers like me have to pay a higher rate. There’s nowhere else for the government to get the cash from. People like me do have the recourse of collective action, campaign contributions, volunteering, voting etc, to try to exert influence in the other direction. It usually doesn’t work, but it explains why demanding the ultra-wealthy pay more is a rational action on behalf of those adversely affected. As you can see, this political action is not a market system in any way shape or form. Two very different things.