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Hope S&P don’t throw him any curveballs.

Bold prediction, but Lopez finishes the year as our #3 starter and wins game 7 of the World Series for us!

Lets be honest - maybe he isn't as good today as he once was or maybe there are better coaches today than before. But for a long time - Coop was amongst the best pitching coaches in the league. I will always stand by that.

More hits and fewer outs increases the time of the game.

Look at Ray Ray Run = Don Cooper finally confirmed!

It would mean a lot of posters on this board would have been very wrong which is, let's face it, the worst possible outcome for this team.

MLB To Experiment With Rule Changes In Minor Leagues - MLB Trade Rumors So now he's trying to eliminate the shift and stop a pitcher from controlling the running game. There is no way I can state my feelings on this asshat without getting banned, so I won't even bother. Worst commissioner ever.

Manfred was the lead negotiator for the owners. It's in his blood to hate baseball and the players. How they elect that F'n guy commissioner is beyond me.

Manfred sucks. Nobody likes Manfred. Not the players, not the owners, not the fans, etc. I don't know how the most traditionalist game in the world ended up with this Ivy League stiff who is constantly trying to change the game that has been played with the same rules for 100+ years.

I say we eliminate off-speed pitches too. Actually, just eliminate the pitcher all together. Put a pitching machine up there and letter-rip. What a bunch of bs. So if pitchers can't hold runners on does that mean no more steals? Or there will be a limitation as to how far the runner will be able to leadoff?

This just makes me realize what a home run the Sox were for Katz - I don't know if there was a better pitching coach job available with all these projects and upside arms the Sox have. All of these guys supporting the anchors of rotation (Gio/Keuchel/Lynn) and pen (Hendriks/Bummer). The anchors should everything together and if the Sox get good season from 2/3 of the guys below Katz is an absolute genius. Lopez - Seemed like he really had a tumultuous relationship with Renteria and Coop. People have implied he's not that intelligent or hard headed but he's good arm who has a good deal of experience now. Seems to lose the mental battle, struggled with previous coaches, went away from what got him to the pros, etc. He pitches well, Katz is god. He doesn't, well he was on his last shot anyway. Rodon -Former high profile prospect with an out pitch and velo from the left side. Has not been able to stay healthy. He looked really good in 2019 before he went down to injury and was actually a capable albeit inconsistent starter the 4 years before that. He pitches well, Katz is god. He doesn't - well he was on the his last shot anyway. Then you have Cease... Cease - Easy and repeatable delivery. Cease has plus, plus velo and a spin rate on the pitch that grades out as 5th in the AL (minimum 100 pitches) but a fastball that really grades as a poor pitch given the utter lack of command Cease has. His secondary offerings are relatively advanced. If Katz can do anything to improve the fastball he can get all the credit for a high ceiling player. That's not even mentioning Kopech and Crochet. Katz can become a legend with just a few of these guys pitching to their ability.

He was definitely one of the best pitching coaches in the league for a long time. Probably until Sale/Q departed - but then either his magic ran out or he just wanted to do a one-size fits all approach to his pitchers. Yeah, the rebuild was hard, but he had live arms. They needed to go elsewhere for help.

He didn't that was why the pitchers and eventually the team sought help elsewhere. He is the epitome of time passing you by. He was great at one time. Also it seems nobody is calling him up for assistance with anything. That should tell you something.

Absolutely unfathomable that he was coaching as recent as 4 months ago.

I would trust a Vegas hunch over a food guy hunch every day all day

Higher upside ? Kind of a strange comment. They are both long past being described like prospects. Just looking for either to contribute anything positive for a whole season is a tall order.

Reylo winning game 7 of the World Series is definitely NOT a dark timeline

You said "vaccination doesn't prevent transmission." That's almost certainly wrong. I don't really see what's hard to comprehend about this. That "opinion piece" cited actual data, by the way. If you have any data to support the notion that vaccination does not prevent transmission, let's see it. You also said that the vaccines don't prevent infection, and that's already been pointed out to you as being wrong. So yeah, you're definitely spreading BS.

He's like Trump. No filter. Only with way less impact on society.

Just want to point out Joc Pederson hit HR #5 today and OPS @2100. Oh well.

I think it's when the regular season starts.

His constant rule changes are ruining the game. I support getting calls correct with replay and would like electronic balls & strikes. Seven inning games and the man on 2nd for extra innings is just pure crap. The need to speed the game might work for the occasional fan...but I will happily sit through a 14 or 15 inning game. If it's past your bedtime...go home.

That being said, prior to the last few years, the FO has been exhausting for a lot more than two decades

I have no interest in ever seeing Lopez pitch for the Sox if he’s at 92-93 mph

Here is your answer. “But the rise of analytics also has resulted in another massive shift: an influx of white, male graduates of Ivy League schools and other prestigious universities into teams' front offices. In a data analysis conducted by ESPN, the percentage of Ivy League graduates holding an organization's top baseball operations decision-making position -- which, depending on the club, could be its president, vice president or general manager -- has risen from just 3% in 2001 to 43% today; while the percentage of graduates from U.S. News & World Report's list of the top 25 colleges -- both universities and liberal arts schools -- holding the same positions has risen from 24% to 67%. This rise coincides with a drop in former players running front offices over the same period, from 37% to 20%, while the percentage of minorities running front offices has risen, but from just 3% to 10%. Additionally, no woman holds the top baseball operations position for any of the 30 major league clubs.” https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29369890/inside-rise-mlb-ivy-league-culture-stunning-numbers-question-next Manfred is simply an extension of what has been happening across MLB over the last 15 years.

How did he almost do this? What did he say? Genuinely curious. Didn't listen to the interview.

Ain't it the truth.?

It wasn't easy to win the award but I agree with you..."worst commissioner ever."

MLB has hired mostly trash in the Commissioner office, starting with the first, committed segregationist Landis. So glad Landis’ name was finally expunged from the MVP trophy so Jose Abreu’s award wasn’t tainted last season. The current assclown commissioner was so drunk he couldn’t speak without slurring his speech while presenting what he deems as “The Piece of Metal” last October to the Dodgers. There are several valid candidates for worst Commissioner ever. In the end, these are the (always) men hired by the owners, to represent the owners. The same owners who have great disdain for those who play the game, the fans who cheer them, and on many occasions the integrity of the game.

That’s also exactly why he fit in with this organization.

Coop's style greatly masks the depth of pitching knowledge he possesses. If he's on the Score analyzing pitching staffs from both sides of town, I predict there would be a lot of great stuff to listen to ... IF the hosts ask him the appropriate questions. If the fans want to know about mechanics and pitch types and sequences, etc., they'll get it IF the Score puts someone on the air with him who will ask him the appropriate questions. I bet they wouldn't do much of that at all though, probably just ask dumb meatball questions looking for the typical emotional Coop response (always in a defensive tone of course).

Katz is an upgrade, but Cooped was honest throughout the interview. Give him all the credit for 2005, and the development of several great pitchers during his tenure. I’m glad I tuned in.

Doesn't like the 3 batter minimum and the runner on 2nd in extras...well at least he has common sense.

Would you ask for more money if you came into the league and belonged immediately? It's cost control. Again, if they feel his bat plays in the majors and they can get him to a deal that both sides like, why is that a problem?

One other comment - when it comes to trading 3 1st round picks - I kind of think of things this way. I think in the draft over 3 years - you'll probably have a hit, an okay and a miss up at the top. So if I think of Bears recent picks - you have Roquan (hit), Floyd (meh/ok), and White (bust)....do i really feel bad losing that sort of production for Wilson? There is definitely the cap aspect that i'm not factoring in here - but even if I replaced White with a Kyle Fuller - I'm super content with losing that for a guy like Wilson.

It was so annoying to me! With sox twitter - which I am only on the edges of - I know very quickly what rumors everyone is alluding to. With bears twitter? Everyone just talks about what everyone is talking about but nobody friggen quote tweets or anything it's all stuck in some random ass reply thread.

Love this. I thought Lopez was the prize of that trade the whole time. And then Gio went Gio

Getting fucking hyped

Title and tags says it all. Got the offer to my email. Here’s the link: https://links.e1.theathletic.com/u/click?_t=1d75fd3a730a463c8648bd84293b832a&_m=821dfd6fd00548d3925e273a8e7cd6b0&_e=PaE1Mm7-a8hABhLTw7isj28AFHvEAQwG0W3f86HNeY2NI3zoSfwKv24kdzFV3_3zt2IaykLJ-UX5UBeoDcVknsvnwpOemwaZsm83QrUC5T-FGs9I_1rAVGAZm06JSz2hsr1dZADgJgoBPlX53lCvDL1MBiPvByYlnmeofSVayx7amiGTCHoaQPBLwySfLiAYCDc0k2uDHn9_gifERp5-vVpjBSyNIQgaz4v1-u2ePPK_wmsqpvjY3SXkG40S4MYOC5vJ0c4f3eXpgu6lL40ss2sEA-qOCmkJoJ2rCYNfDyGFuzRRQ19RAXFkUWK2AWGnJvBByu_kp1RosOY9YIA5M0pawmQD6EGWKMq7Klnk6sAq59U58fJsvH9GAR9f2X6T

I already gave it to JR.

My guess is because scouts haven't seen him play in a few years.

If Yoelqui is slated to move through the minors at such a blistering pace, why isnt he rated that highly on prospect lists? I've seen like #160ish overall

Rodon is #5 or is IL/DL'ed or waived. If he's able to stay healthy and effective, I assume he'd still be shut down at some point. If so, it'll be interesting to see how they manage his starts, particularly in the 1st half, to extend him well into the 2nd half. Hopefully, Lopez has a comeback and Kopech can/will eventually start. The Sox will need all 3 (and/or others waiting in the minors) for a 6-8 man rotation in the 2nd half. There'll probably be times when the other 4 need a skip plus a few makeup DH's. If some of that doesn't happen, the Sox are still well positioned to get another SP by the deadline. However, I think they'll be in higher demand and a bit more expensive this year. If their plan starts to goes awry, hopefully they have the foresight to act quickly in the trade market. Hopefully, Cease is stable at #4, too. Still an unknown. The AL Central's probably going to be very competitive, the Sox can't afford to be fumbling around with that #5 for very long.

I think rodon will get the first 2 or 3 starts but if he sucks or gets hurt there will be a pretty quick hook and Lopez takes over.

Yep I like how you said Rodon will get it while others said win it. He's going to have it handed to him if you've paid attention to what Rodon said they told him. Even if Lopez grabs the bull by the horns it probably won't matter unless they eat that $3M after some bad starts by Rodon. If Rodon is terrible does he even want to pitch in the pen or would he rather be released ? How do you even pay a guy with Rodon's track record $3M without telling him that the BP is a possibility if he can't hack it as a starter ? Rodon would be running away with this poll if Lopez didn't have the nice 2 inning stint the other day. Haven't seen Rodon at all. I voted Rodon but as someone else said I'm wishing/hoping the more durable Lopez eventually impresses enough to take it. But it would be cool also to see Rodon pitch well enough to earn it and keep it. Not rooting for either one . I just hope between Cease, Lopez and Rodon that 2 of them are solid and if all 3 suck like last year then making the playoffs will be tough.

I think the most likely scenario is that Rodon has the job out of spring training, gets hurt, Lopez carries it for a while, then Kopech takes it.

I feel like Leury is under appreciated around here. Solid bench piece who is basically the same as a lot of guys who people here wanted to sign.