SonofaRoache

I don't mind Anderson's antics but he is on a shit team that hasn't won 90 games in 2006. Showboat when the team becomes relevant.

This would be an awful game to lose.

It would be nice, but still unlikely. Had we replaced Sanchez with Machado and Palka with Joc, I'd agree with this.

Well to answer your question, we preferred Harper first. Not only was he a good fit on the field, but he would be a booming success off it. Machado was the better overall player and some preferred his fit from a defensive standpoint. I'd guess 70 percent of fans wanted Harper until Machado was clearly the target. It didn't mean that people didn't want Harper, just that it didn't make sense to talk about him.

My prediction has more to do with our division than with how good we are. If our division was good, I'd have us at 81 wins next year. If we played in the AL East or West I'd have us at 78-80 wins. Kopech and Cease IMO will have sub 4 ERA's as will hopefully Rodon. Adding a TOR guy to the team means our rotation will be stabilized. They won't be a world series caliber rotation until 2021, but next year should be good enough to win 86.

This year is gonna be frustrating because the parts that are truly costing us games and overshadowing the good. This should have been a 95 win team next year but bad luck and shitty FO moves have set us back a little. No matter how this year goes, next year shouldn't see any less than 86 wins. This season's W/L record will not factor into expectations for next year. Dead weight needs to go. Guys who aren't cutting it in the rotation need to figure it out or go to the bullpen.

No reason why we shouldn't win 88 to 94 games next year. We play in a shit division. We should acquire a TOR arm somehow and would have Rodon, Acquistion, Kopech, Cease, whichever of Gio and Lopez that doesn't bust. We can sign a few bullpen arms and a guy who can actually DH. Call up Magical and Robert in mid April and find a decent stop gap right fielder which always seems to be available. That team should win you at least 86 with our schedule.

Well it wouldn't make sense to talk about a guy we weren't in talks with. Machado and Harper are great players and we were desperate, so we took what we could get as fans.

So this would explain why for a month there were hundreds of pages talking about Harper, and only 7 pages on Machado until we signed Machado's friends.

This isn't true. The fans were fixated on Harper for a month, then switched to Machado when it became apparent we are only after him.

When the rebuild started, the fans expected a good team in 2020 and that is not gonna happen. We gave this team the benefit of the doubt until they kicked us in the nuts this offseason. We see that they are the same fools as before, just with nice prospects. The Sox believe they need talent outside the org as they tried to acquire good talent. Can they bring in talent that puts us over the top without spending big money? Can they bring in an ace to anchor the rotation without trading our best prospects? Can they regain the fans trust?

Do we need Alonso, Dunn, and Frazier again?

I think the Padres stole our success. They will be the team contending next year lol.

My biggest problem is that we are behind schedule by what looks like a year and a half. We went after Manny and Joc, and probably wanted a few other guys contingent on getting those two. It didn't happen and now we are moving on like nothing happened. Clearly, this rebuild was meant to be expedited this season. I don't trust that Hahn can bring in the talent to take us to the next level. I am confident we will have enough talent to be relevant, but not enough to go on a Cubs, Royals, or Astros run.

We will be fine, but it is scary to be in year three and none of our key guys have reached anywhere close to their potential yet.

I'm okay with that, but I'd rather see their success pay off to begin the creation of a winning culture. Top picks are fun, but at this point we won't keep them anyway. Because of the free agent market drying up we will have to trade young guys in these slots.

I don't want a top three pick if it means Rodon, Lopez, Gio and other young guys suck. I'd rather have pick 14 and they look good.

When it rains it pours, like in Portland right now.

Well we need Rodon, Gio and Lopez to look good. Would also be nice to see some of our younger bullpen arms look good. If we are ever going to win we will need to pitch and play defense. No matter how many solid hitters we have.

This is going to be the game that leads to empty stadiums moving forward.

We can start our lineup with Anderson Moncada Abreu Alonso Eloy Rodon Castillo

We want Moncada to have more at bats than Rondon and Castillo.

I consider Wacha and Dallas to be quality 2's so that is fine. And we have a surplus of outfielders in our system so I'd start there. Next year is year 1 of division contention so it is not too early.

I said acquire, so we may have to trade for a number two or something.

I'm concerned about Lopez and Gio. They look like number 4 or 5 starters. Just so much inconsistency with their great stuff. I'm still on the acquire a front line starter train next year.