1 hour ago, WestEddy said:

They extended Sale and Buehrle. Quintana. They all say hello back. So do David Robertson. Let us know what they offered Samardzija. Should Reinsdorf offer Jon Cannon 15/999999999999999 just to prove he wants to win? This is a stupid narrative. All owners "allow" their GMs to offer free agents deals.

David Robertson was paid like a quality elite closer.

Credit for Shark offer, which would have been horrendous?...not to mention the acquisition cost for just one year.

Ummm...no.

They let a long line of pitchers leave the organization without replacing them.

The one they QO'd (not Rodon) led to Kimbrel/AJ Pollock/Benintendi.

Not to mention Keuchel (very last pitcher from that FA tier) and Mr. Steak & Potatoes by way of St.Louis/TLR and Texas...capped at three year deals that went bust.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by caulfield12

Will wants openers yesterday, openers now and openers forever!

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Soxfest

15 hours ago, wegner said:

Amazing that in our elimination game the Sox pitching was great. That was a hall of fame home run Ramirez hit....cannot blame Burke at all for that one.

Completely agree...............Too bad we had 20! K's

The new CBA will probably force jR to spend some money. A couple of good starters would be nice.

I see Kay mentioned here a lot... Kay is not ogod. He will give you a quality start every now and then, but overall, he is at best a 5th starter.

Hovers around 5.00 Era every season.

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by harkness99

44 minutes ago, harkness99 said:

I see Kay mentioned here a lot... Kay is not ogod. He will give you a quality start every now and then, but overall, he is at best a 5th starter.

Hovers around 5.00 Era every season.

He should not be in the OD rotation IMO. Either he goes to the pen or should be traded. At a $5M salary, he’s still potentially rostering as a swingman.

1 hour ago, soxrwhite said:

Completely agree...............Too bad we had 20! K's

21 but who's counting 😎

Kay is not going anywhere. He's got another year on his deal. Most likely he opens up at #5 in the rotation.

1 minute ago, chw42 said:

I think Morejon wants to start. He's really just a more expensive Newcomb.

That’s a good point. If they get a closer, it has to be through trade most likely.

8 hours ago, Soxfest said:

Will wants openers yesterday, openers now and openers forever!

Openers are good, the Sox should still employ them. It’s good strategy. That being said, they still need 2 proven starters added to this staff. The model should be Tampa Bay when it comes to pitching. They have proven staters/innings eaters like Nick Martinez, Freddy Peralta, Drew Rasmussen. They have a proven closer in Baker. And they still employ the opener when it makes sense. That’s how the Sox build their staff.

22 minutes ago, Boopa1219 said:

That’s a good point. If they get a closer, it has to be through trade most likely.

Openers are good, the Sox should still employ them. It’s good strategy. That being said, they still need 2 proven starters added to this staff. The model should be Tampa Bay when it comes to pitching. They have proven staters/innings eaters like Nick Martinez, Freddy Peralta, Drew Rasmussen. They have a proven closer in Baker. And they still employ the opener when it makes sense. That’s how the Sox build their staff.

Not even close to the Brewers. Look at guys who left and they still replace them.

6 hours ago, Dick Allen said:

The new CBA will probably force jR to spend some money. A couple of good starters would be nice.

they will have to stand in line with many other teams who might spend more.

13 minutes ago, kitekrazy said:

Not even close to the Brewers. Look at guys who left and they still replace them.

You’re talking about drafting, development and player acquisition. I’m strictly talking about how Tampa Bay deploys the pitchers on their ML roster.

On 10/11/2026 at 11:52 AM, TheBooneLoganEra said:

Youre right. And I think that did Schultz a disservice. All of those short starts in the minors were to protect him and handle innings but when he got up to the bigs and struggled after a few innings everyone wondered why.

I thought in order for them to be a "surprise" team in 2026 one of either Scultz or Smith would have to have a breakout year as a starter. That didnt happen but nothing says it won't next year.

A TJ surgery wipes out a pitcher for 2 seasons

It is going to be a weird offseason for our pitching depth, and I expect quite a few trades to take place. Before considering potential free agents, Fangraphs has our projected starting rotation to be:

Sean Burke - R
Davis Martin - R
Anthony Kay - L
Luis Castillo - R
Hagen Smith - L

I am not sure about Hagen Smith. I can see us having him in the bullpen for a bit longer. Crochet pitched 66 innings in the bullpen before he was let loose. Hagen Smith is at 28ip, and I am not 100% convinced he has mastered his command. I can see him sticking it out in the bullpen for a while.

I also expect Grant Taylor to get a shot at the starting rotation at some point next year. He has stated he wants to be a starter, and I don't see why the team wouldn't oblige him. It is better value for everyone. This is where the money is, he has shown his stamina is where it needs to be, and his arm is healthy. 84 innings this year is pretty substantial.

Then you have those who are knocking on the door for a back end of the rotation spot. I trust some over the others and ranked them as I see them:

David Sandlin - R
Noah Schultz - L - Likely going the bullpen route?
Drew Thorpe - R
Shane Smith - R

Outside shot at SP depth:
Shane Murphy - L - Bullpen?
Tanner McDougal - R - Bullpen?
Ky Bush - L - Emergency doom case
Jonathon Cannon - R - Emergency doom case

Adding 1-2 SP will definitely force Getz to make some moves this offseason. He has to sign at least 1 SP right? Even if he doesn't sign anyone, you have to imagine a couple of the more fringe guys get dealt (Thorpe, Smith, Kay), or maybe Schultz is included in a bigger trade. I think people expecting a whale of a SP signing are going to be very disappointed. Castillo is going to get a long leash you would have to imagine.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by reiks12