Sambuca

Whatever you think Mauer’s career dWAR tells you about his defense behind the plate, you’re still comparing Zack Collins to Joe Mauer. Just stop. You are being absurd.

So, uh, you guys believe in angels?

I think this is the year Rodon, Lopez, Cease, Kopech, and Crochet all blossom into #1 starters. And also the year Stiever proves he can throw harder than 92, and thinks one of his breaking pitches moved a little, right at the end. You guys saw it, right?

Rodón would have to look unhealthy or extremely horrible for him to lose his spot in the rotation to López in ST. It could happen during the season, but it’s Rodón’s spot going into the season.

Yeah, if Crochet is dominating in high leverage late inning situations (situations that will generally restrict him to 1 inning max), there’s no way they send him down during a pennant race to prepare for next season. That only happens if they realize they might need him in a starting role this season and want to quickly stretch him out as efficiently as possible in AAA. Not sure what that situation looks like, but they aren’t sacrificing this year for next year. Whether that’s smart or not, it’s the plan. LaRussa didn’t agree to win a championship with a team who is refusing to let him use his best players wherever he can fit them. I was worried they’d be able to stretch out Kopech in relief more than Crochet, and that looks to be the case. He will be too good not to pitch in some of the toughest spots of the game. I get it, and it’s exciting. But at the same time, not only might it not be best for the organization, it would suck to limit his career not knowing if he could have been something much better. I expect Kopech permanently in the rotation at some point this season.

Is the minor league season starting on time?

Definitely alluding to a few things, but they aren’t all black and white (pun intended, but I’m also saying there is a grey area in there). I don’t think the example of TA coming around on La Russa means anything in relation to potential free agents or even trade acquisitions. TA is already on the team, and there’s not much he can do about that, so he’s learning and trying to be opened minded about the situation. His immediate reaction was quite different. Which means, a FA who has a similar reaction won’t have the motivation and/or time to “come around.” Most people will not commit to a situation they aren’t completely comfortable with. Let’s face it, we won’t be handing out much bigger contracts than our competition to change their minds. This season could change some minds about La Russa, but I think it will always be a question mark for some players and an obstacle those same players might not feel is worth it.

Not at all. I don’t think anyone was worried about someone like Hendriks.

No way Kopech is on this team opening day. This is one of the times you want the extra year of control and it’s actually in the best interest of everyone to do it.

Don’t need to convince me. I have Moncada 2nd too. I get the feeling La Russa will want Eaton to use that “pesky” “edge” at the top of the order. If Eaton can put up at least a .340 OBP and show some speed, La Russa will be able to justify it. I understand Moncada can be also be putting up a .340 and showing some speed, but La Russa will make him force his way to the top of the order. It feels weird defending my post as La Russa. I don’t think the La Russa lineup I provided will be the lineup by mid season, but it’s what the man wants. It’s what I feel when I channel my inner La Russa. That just basically means I’m drunk, brother.

I feel like La Russa will make a strong attempt to use Eaton in the 2 hole, and he will stay there if he can remain anywhere around .280/.340. 1. Anderson 2. Eaton 3. Abreu 4. Eloy 5. Grandal 6. Robert 7. Moncada 8. Vaughn 9. Madrigal My lineup: 1. Anderson 2. Moncada 3. Eloy 4. Abreu 5. Grandal 6. Robert 7. Vaughn 8. Eaton 9. Madrigal

I think it's pretty obvious the trade was made because it was one of the only ways the Sox could get a high-end SP in that price range. They desperately needed one for next season and were clearly not willing to shell out money for it. I doubt there's anyone in baseball looking at Dunning as a non-contributor, hence why he was enough to acquire Lynn. I am sure the Sox were not the only team who had offers out for him. Unless the Sox are being shady and hiding arm issues, they fully understood they were giving up a contributor, just one they couldn't rely on to throw 200 innings next year. It would have been nice if they added SP without subtracting Dunning, especially with the lack of pitching depth at the ML level.

I hate this argument.

This move makes a lot of sense if he’s cheap, which I’m assuming is the only reason the Sox are checking in.

Paying Bauer 45mil for a season is stupid. The Padres really forced this signing though after basically acquiring a 1-2-3 this offseason after holding their own with the Dodgers last season.

What’s funny is how pleased we’d probably be right now with a Derek Holland or Mat Latos.

The answer was “yes” as soon as the question made it to the word “cheap.”

Downers are my favorite... umm pitch.

He tweeted speculation about Folty going to MIL five minutes after you guessed them on here. But if you know him or something and sure about his “info,” that’s cool too, I guess.

That Al’s Beef guy is definitely stealing his “information” from you.

Thank you, both! He’s going to be a good one, but extremely difficult trying to predict what he will do next season, especially if he starts the year with the Sox. I’m thinking his floor is pretty high so I’m not too worried about him. If we semi-blocked him for the year with a solid DH, I would not have disagreed, but if we’re rolling with him, he should hold his own. He barely needs to do anything to improve the DH position, so he’s got that going for him.

Anyone have video of Vaughn showing some massive power? Every highlight I’ve seen, he’s hitting a super boring gapper.

I meant next season, not for his entire career. Hoping he can be a 1/2 or even 3 next year is absurdly hopeful and unrealistic. He might figure it out, I’m just not expecting him to figure it out this quickly. It’s not impossible though. I never mentioned Kopech, because I don’t expect Kopech to struggle like Cease has. Having two years off, makes it hard for me to say this, but Kopech not only has better stuff, he is more developed and has displayed much better command. Kopech is also not afraid to throw a pitch in the zone while ahead in the count. I’m not expecting Kopech to come up and throw four breaking balls two feet outside the zone every time he gets an 0-2 count.

Imagine 4mil being the difference if we have a blackhole or not in the rotation in a year we are expecting to be WS contenders after a 4 year (tanking) rebuild.

Dunning’s “natural” stuff is nowhere near as good as Cease, whose stuff can compete with anyone in baseball. Right now though, Cease’s stuff is useless. He needs a lot of work. Dunning, on the other hand, does not need a lot of work. He already has great command, and knows how to use/locate his pitches. Back to Dunning’s stuff, it is extremely underrated. While he showed flashes last season (not sure some of you even noticed), his stuff was not peak. He was recovering from TJ in a weird season hiding in an independent league stadium. His arm was not at full strength and it showed. His fastball and breaking pitches looked awesome in his debut, and that wasn’t even his full arsenal. After that first start when Renteria pitched him too long, he never regained that fastball or snap on his breaking pitches. His command also seemed to suffer from limited arm strength/durability. Check out his BB rate in the minors. Cease does have ace potential. But he also has an very low floor. Dunning has a pretty decent floor, but don’t get it twisted, he can be more than “only a 4/5.” It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Dunning be a top of the rotation pitcher for a period of time.