5 minutes ago, chw42 said:

I understand that the Torkelson and Witt could be gangbusters and be worth way more than what the projection systems have them tabbed at. But they could also struggle at first like Kelenic did last year. There are no guarantees. 

You also have to consider that the Sox have a similar kind of guy in Vaughn, who could very well be a big offensive contributor this year. He also wouldn't have to get over the growing pains of being a rookie like those other 2. Neither of those teams have a guy like Robert who can take a leap from being a very good player to a borderline MVP. 

It's not just Torkelson and Witt. The Royals and Tigers have some promising arms that have already reached the majors. Skubal, Mize, Singer are just a few. 

The Twins have this guy they're going to start named Jhoan Duran and he throws 100 mph. Joe Ryan is a decent pitching prospect as well. Both will be starting with the Twins. 

Edited April 5, 20224 yr by Jack Parkman

3 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

No, see my edit. It could be ok, but there are a lot of pitfalls and I don't think that the other four teams in the division are as far behind the Sox as most think. 

I replied before you edited but the point remains.  Even if the others aren't as far behind, you are trying to set yourself up for disappointment. 

7 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Like when they traded Willy Adames?

Or Jake Cronenworth...

1 minute ago, Jack Parkman said:

It's not just Torkelson and Witt. The Royals and Tigers have some promising arms that have already reached the majors. Skubal, Mize, Singer are just a few. 

The Twins have this guy they're going to start named Jhoan Duran and he throws 100 mph. 

Duran will be in the pen. Will eventually start for them, but not right away.

Lulz at our inability to get this LH savage all offseason and the Tigers just get him on the eve of the season. Lol

They will need to snag a legit 2/3 SP to hold onto the division now. Any scrub won't do

Edited April 5, 20224 yr by SoCalChiSox

3 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Duran will be in the pen. Will eventually start for them, but not right away.

Also Joe Ryan with the Twins. 

Edited April 5, 20224 yr by Jack Parkman

Yeah, it feels like RHs inaction on this team's real needs has invited FO aggression from the rest of the division.

I feel like meadows is gonna end up just cratering out of TB. Like .220/.290/.480 stuff

Just now, Two-Gun Pete said:

Yeah, it feels like RHs inaction on this team's real needs has invited FO aggression from the rest of the division.

Well, 2 of our better arms did just get hurt. 

Just now, bmags said:

I feel like meadows is gonna end up just cratering out of TB. Like .220/.290/.480 stuff

He gets to play us now at least 13 more times, so I don't know. He's basically Babe Ruth against us. 

9 minutes ago, chw42 said:

They traded Meadows cause he was blocking Josh Lowe. 

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2022/04/04/rays-trade-austin-meadows-to-tigers/

The other aspect is this is transforming Parades into Yandy Diaz while simultaneously lowering payroll.

Edited April 5, 20224 yr by caulfield12

1 minute ago, chw42 said:

He gets to play us now at least 13 more times, so I don't know. He's basically Babe Ruth against us. 

if he plays all 13 games vs the Sox that is a miracle

Just now, Jack Parkman said:

It's not just Torkelson and Witt. The Royals and Tigers have some promising arms that have already reached the majors. Skubal, Mize, Singer are just a few. 

The Twins have this guy they're going to start named Jhoan Duran and he throws 100 mph. 

Do you realize how good our positional group is?  Do you realize we have three top 20 starting pitchers from last plus a fourth guy who is more talented than any of them (yes I know Lynn is hurt)?  Do you realize we have the best closer in baseball plus several setup who should provide quality innings?  Like I wish we were bolder, but it doesn’t change the fact this is an elite club on paper.

The Royals & Tigers would need massive leaps from numerous guys to even enter our stratosphere.  Could it happen?  Sure, anything is possible.  Is it likely?  Fuck no.  The real threats at the moment are our lack of pitching depth and the Twins.  If we continue to have pitching injuries and the Twins outperform their Pythagorean projections then it’s possible we could lose the division.  But the level of panic that you’re displaying right now is a bit embarrassing and I say that a friend.  It’s fine to be concerned, but we are still in the driver’s seat right now and we should all be excited about one of the best rosters in our lifetime.

2 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Do you realize how good our positional group is?  Do you realize we have three top 20 starting pitchers from last plus a fourth guy who is more talented than any of them (yes I know Lynn is hurt)?  Do you realize we have the best closer in baseball plus several setup who should provide quality innings?  Like I wish we were bolder, but it doesn’t change the fact this is an elite club on paper.

The Royals & Tigers would need massive leaps from numerous guys to even enter our stratosphere.  Could it happen?  Sure, anything is possible.  Is it likely?  Fuck no.  The real threats at the moment are our lack of pitching depth and the Twins.  If we continue to have pitching injuries and the Twins outperform their Pythagorean projections then it’s possible we could lose the division.  But the level of panic that you’re displaying right now is a bit embarrassing and I say that a friend.  It’s fine to be concerned, but we are still in the driver’s seat right now and we should all be excited about one of the best rosters in our lifetime.

Think about what happened with the Sox from 2018 to 2019. Not impossible for those teams. 

2 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Do you realize how good our positional group is?  Do you realize we have three top 20 starting pitchers from last plus a fourth guy who is more talented than any of them (yes I know Lynn is hurt)?  Do you realize we have the best closer in baseball plus several setup who should provide quality innings?  Like I wish we were bolder, but it doesn’t change the fact this is an elite club on paper.

The Royals & Tigers would need massive leaps from numerous guys to even enter our stratosphere.  Could it happen?  Sure, anything is possible.  Is it likely?  Fuck no.  The real threats at the moment are our lack of pitching depth and the Twins.  If we continue to have pitching injuries and the Twins outperform their Pythagorean projections then it’s possible we could lose the division.  But the level of panic that you’re displaying right now is a bit embarrassing and I say that a friend.  It’s fine to be concerned, but we are still in the driver’s seat right now and we should all be excited about one of the best rosters in our lifetime.

Jack sees butterflies and rainbows when he looks at other rosters and sees doom and gloom when he looks at sox roster. Pretty amazing honestly.

9 minutes ago, Two-Gun Pete said:

Yeah, it feels like RHs inaction on this team's real needs has invited FO aggression from the rest of the division.

Wait. I thought some of the real needs were RF and backup catcher. People were screaming about how bad it was that he didn't get a RF. Now all of a sudden the real need is pitching?

Edited April 5, 20224 yr by ptatc

Just now, ptatc said:

Wait. I though some of the real needs were RF and backup catcher. People were screaming about how bad it was that he didn't get a RF. Now all of a sudden the reL need is pitching?

All of the above were needs. 

6 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Jack sees butterflies and rainbows when he looks at other rosters and sees doom and gloom when he looks at sox roster. Pretty amazing honestly.

It's funny because it's true. lol. 

Parkman when looking at the other 29 rosters: 

 

 

Parkman when looking at the Sox roster: 

Edited April 5, 20224 yr by Jack Parkman

Just now, Jack Parkman said:

All of the above were needs. 

And with the budget at record highs and near the CBT you thought they would just spend like LA?

1 minute ago, ptatc said:

And with the budget at record highs and near the CBT you thought they would just spend like LA?

I was hoping they'd address RF and SP before the bullpen. They needed one arm, and a bunch of cheap signings in the pen before Crochet got injured. 

Edited April 5, 20224 yr by Jack Parkman

Having spent a lifetime watching Sox playoff teams implode the following seasons...anything is possible.

Likely, no.

If the Twins with that lineup keep Correa and Buxton healthy and add a Montas, they're going to be right there.

Cleveland and the Tigers played us really tough, and the Royals are pesky.

They're one more major injury from the division becoming a free for all, unless Kopech puts up a 5 fWAR to replace Rodon seamlessly.

1 minute ago, ptatc said:

And with the budget at record highs and near the CBT you thought they would just spend like LA?

No one here is criticizing the Sox for not signing Verlander or Scherzer. They obviously wanted Maneaea but didn't have the trade capital to get it done. Sonny Gray is another arm who was traded and almost certainly would have fit within the Sox budget.

Depth options like Tyler Anderson, Andrew Heaney, Alex Wood, Alex Cobb, Dylan Bundy, Corey Kluber, Zack Greinke etc etc all were available on deals that would have kept the Sox comfortably below the CBT and made the team better/deeper than it is right now.

21 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

It's not just Torkelson and Witt. The Royals and Tigers have some promising arms that have already reached the majors. Skubal, Mize, Singer are just a few. 

The Twins have this guy they're going to start named Jhoan Duran and he throws 100 mph. Joe Ryan is a decent pitching prospect as well. Both will be starting with the Twins. 

Duran is a reliever. 

Imagine looking at skubal, mize and singer and being envious/worried after spending months being critical of cease, giolito and kopech.

1 minute ago, Jack Parkman said:

Think about what happened with the Sox from 2018 to 2019. Not impossible for those teams. 

Dude, we have Luis Robert, Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, Andrew Vaughn, Jose Abreu, Yasmani Grandal, & AJ Pollock.  Wake me the fuck up when the Tigers or Royals have eight players in their lineup of that caliber.

And yeah, the Tigers have some promising young arms, but guess what?  Pitching prospects bust all the time.  And right now, outside of ERod, none of them have performed at the level of Giolito, Lynn, Cease, or even Kopech.  They have to take massive leaps just to get where we are.

Is our roster flawless?  Definitely not, but it’s leagues ahead of the Tigers & Royals in terms of overall talent.  Maybe that changes over time, but Torkelson / Greene & Witt alone aren’t enough to bridge the gap.

https://books.google.com/books/about/Humankind.html?id=yumsDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&gboemv=1&gbmsitb=1#v=onepage&q&f=false

A book recommendation for Jack...