My thing is just that I think the ALC will be better than the ALW.

I may be the highest on the Royals. And I'll believe the guardians are awful when I see it, because they are just too well run, constantly.

4 minutes ago, bmags said:

My thing is just that I think the ALC will be better than the ALW.

I may be the highest on the Royals. And I'll believe the guardians are awful when I see it, because they are just too well run, constantly.

Especially pitching. Cleveland always seems to produce quality if not excellent pitching.

6 minutes ago, bmags said:

My thing is just that I think the ALC will be better than the ALW.

I may be the highest on the Royals. And I'll believe the guardians are awful when I see it, because they are just too well run, constantly.

same here, Houston got weaker, Oakland is tearing it down, Seattle was a mirage, the Rangers got better but still are ways off. And the Angels are, well, the Angels.

47 minutes ago, Quin said:

• Remy is French
• Bruce Bochy was born in France
• Bruce Bochy, as we all know, is heavily associated with the Giants
• The Giants share a geographic region with the Oakland A's
• The A's are rebuilding and Montas is their big chip left
• The Coliseum is cavernous and you need big power to hit homers
• Burger is clearly telegraphing that he's getting traded to the A's

Slow clap.

4 minutes ago, GermanSoxFan said:

same here, Houston got weaker, Oakland is tearing it down, Seattle was a mirage, the Rangers got better but still are ways off. And the Angels are, well, the Angels.

Seattle got better too, and I'm not sure they were a mirage.  They have some talent. 

Just now, turnin' two said:

Seattle got better too, and I'm not sure they were a mirage.  They have some talent. 

They had a negative run differential. They outperformed their pythagorean record by 14 wins. They are a big time regression candidate waiting to happen.

Just now, GermanSoxFan said:

They had a negative run differential. They outperformed their pythagorean record by 14 wins. They are a big time regression candidate waiting to happen.

They also improved a good deal this offseason.  I think Seattle is going to be pretty good.  

20 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Ober will prob go to AAA until one of Archer or Paddack gets hurt.  Shouldn't take long. 

Ober may be their best pitcher. Archer should go to bullpen

In my humble opinion, the Sox are one top half of the rotation starter away from being favorites to win the A. L. pennant.  I love Andrew Vaughn and wouldn't be a bit surprised if he became a perennial .300 hitter, with 30 plus homers. Nevertheless, he is not needed for this window of contention. The roster is full of good right handed hitters and has first base and DH well covered, which are really the best spots for him to play. He has demonstrated that he's capable of playing LF, but he does not have the speed to ever provide plus defense, anywhere in the outfield.  Vaughn is the best trade piece the Sox have and could be the bargaining chip needed to land a much needed dominant starter. If you could add Montas to the Sox rotation, even without Vaughn in the lineup, this team would be a serious contender, with no holes, this year and next. It wouldn't hurt to find a left handed reliever, to help fill the void left by Crochet's injury. Otherwise, there really isn't anything that this team would lack.

Lineup vs. RHP:

SS Anderson

CT Robert

C   Grandal

1B Abreu

LF  Jimenez

DH Sheets

RF  Pollock

3B Moncada (he can move up in the order, if and when he starts hitting)

2B  Harrison

Bench: Engel, Leury, McGuire, Adolfo/Gonzales

Rotation: Giolito, Lynn/Montas, Cease, Kopech, Keuchel, Cueto, Lopez, Velasquez (let's hope he's never really needed)

Bullpen: Hendriks, Graveman, Bummer, Kelly, Ruiz, Crick, LHP??

 

Many of you will argue that Vaughn has too much promise to trade for 2 years of Montas. That is a reasonable position to take. However, this is the best shot the Sox have to get a ring. Teams that are in such a position, but are unwilling to hand out big contracts to pitchers, sometimes need to make trades, like the one I'm proposing.  The front office had a chance to sign a dominant starter, and they passed. The only viable path now is a trade. Let's see if Hahn is able to acquire that starter, at this late point. Perhaps they plan to wait until the trade deadline, and add then. That would be taking a bigger risk than I would prefer, as there is no certainty that such a pitcher would be available. But then I'm not the GM. We'll see what happens. 

Edited April 7, 20223 yr by Lillian

5 minutes ago, Lillian said:

In my humble opinion, the Sox are one top half of the rotation starter away from being favorites to win the A. L. pennant.  I love Andrew Vaughn and wouldn't be a bit surprised if he became a perennial .300 hitter, with 30 plus homers. Nevertheless, he is not needed for this window of contention. The roster is full of good right handed hitters and has first base and DH well covered, which are really the best spots for him to play. He has demonstrated that he's capable of playing LF, but he does not have the speed to ever provide plus defense, anywhere in the outfield.  Vaughn is the best trade piece the Sox have and could be the bargaining chip needed to land a much needed dominant starter. If you could add Montas to the Sox rotation, even without Vaughn in the lineup, this team would be a serious contender, with no holes, this year and next. It wouldn't hurt to find a left handed reliever, to help fill the void left by Crochet's injury. Otherwise, there really isn't anything that this team would lack.

Lineup vs. RHP:

SS Anderson

CT Robert

C   Grandal

1B Abreu

LF  Jimenez

DH Sheets

RF  Pollock

3B Moncada (he can move up in the order, if and when he starts hitting)

2B  Harrison

Bench: Engel, Leury, McGuire, Adolfo/Gonzales

Rotation: Giolito, Lynn/Montas, Cease, Kopech, Keuchel, Cueto, Lopez, Velasquez (let's hope he's never really needed)

Bullpen: Hendriks, Graveman, Bummer, Kelly, Ruiz, Crick, LHP??

 

Many of you will argue that Vaughn has too much promise to trade for 2 years of Montas. That is a reasonable position to take. However, this is the best shot the Sox have to get a ring. Teams that are in such a position, but are unwilling to hand out big contracts to pitchers, sometimes need to make trades, like the one I'm proposing.  The front office had a chance to sign a dominant starter, and they passed. The only viable path now is a trade. Let's see if Hahn is able to acquire that starter, at this late point. Perhaps they plan to wait until the trade deadline, and add then. That would be taking a bigger risk than I would prefer, as there is no certainty that such a pitcher would be available. But then I'm not the GM. We'll see what happens. 

Montas has pitched more than 100 innings once.  I wouldn't be suprised if Vaughn this year has more value than Montas. If you trade Vaughn you better get someone with a longer and better track record.

 

4 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

 

Wow.  Thats crazy.  The Padres get the best player and money?  

2 minutes ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

Montas has pitched more than 100 innings once.  I wouldn't be suprised if Vaughn this year has more value than Montas. If you trade Vaughn you better get someone with a longer and better track record.

Any suggestions?

Just now, Lillian said:

Any suggestions?

Yeah. 

 

Not trading Vaughn lol

37 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Ober will prob go to AAA until one of Archer or Paddack gets hurt.  Shouldn't take long. 

No chance they send Ober down. 

Edit: guess I should say no chance they should. He's their 3rd best starter.

Edited April 7, 20223 yr by Look at Ray Ray Run

4 minutes ago, turnin' two said:

Wow.  Thats crazy.  The Padres get the best player and money?  

That does make some sense with the difference in years of control in the deal. 

3 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

That does make some sense with the difference in years of control in the deal. 

Ah, fair point.  Hadn't considered that.

11 minutes ago, turnin' two said:

Wow.  Thats crazy.  The Padres get the best player and money?  

That’s how I’m reading it.  Don’t understand it for Minny at all. 

I'm not big on paddack anymore, but if someone feels they can untap a third pitch and rework his fastball a bit, his ceiling is better than Rogers. Rogers is a 31 year old reliever who is good but not in that elite class. If you can get a controllable starter you think can even be average for him, you do it 10 out of 10 times.

Edited April 7, 20223 yr by Look at Ray Ray Run

 

Love the honesty from Acuna here:

 

 

1 minute ago, Tony said:

Love the honesty from Acuna here:

 

I'd have no issues with this if he also didn't take after Ozuna according to reports. The locker room was rifted between Freeman and Ozuna. Ozuna is a complete piece of trash, and I wouldn't blame anyone for not liking him.

Still appreciate the honesty.

29 minutes ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

Ober may be their best pitcher. Archer should go to bullpen

gonna go out on a limb and say that's sonny gray.

After trading Tatis, Semien, Bassitt, Montas, Narvaez and then role players the Sox would probably love to pencil in right now like Madrigal (w/e clubhouse issues aside), Pilkington, J.B. Wendelken, you'd think the Sox wouldn't want to trade possible future franchise players for risky panic bets (Montas' track record outside of last season), but people still be proposing them.