Snopek

Good call, forgot about them. Which I suppose supports your point.

Some of the responses here have me wondering who would be the furthest from a rival i.e. who do the Sox seem to have the least history/connection with? Rangers, Orioles in the AL? MLB as a whole, it almost feels like the Sox and Giants have never met.

The Twindians. But really, it's whichever ALC team is good when the Sox are trying to be good. Does that mean they have no true rival?

I think your front office point is great, but I struggle with getting on board with the rest of it. Of course they’re a meh team on paper, but that doesn’t mean anything. They SHOULD be a .500 team at best, but baseball is weird. Plus I don’t think it’s out of the question for Bieber to return to being dominant. Just like most of us were confident Gio would get out of his rough stretch instead of saying this is who he is now.

Yeah, but not every nice gesture is considered newsworthy in our society. Sometimes you can just nod in agreement or silently think something is cool instead of needing to share it with the internet. On the other hand, a reversal of a nice gesture by an organization in the spotlight is an odd move that's going to get some attention.

Fake outrage over fake outrage knows no bounds. Did I do it right? It's a really easy/lazy game to play, but by all means wear that cynicism proud!

I mean, you can say it never happens without the bonehead decision by Craig while still giving credit to Báez for executing it perfectly. Not sure why it has to be either/or.

In my uneducated opinion, I think TLR is bad AND Yermin is struggling. Is that allowed?

Well they failed that test.

This feels uncomfortably accurate.

Toxic positivity otherwise you’re actively rooting for them to lose.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Minnesota or Cleveland can win the division. One has a solid lineup, the other has solid pitching. I think the Sox are still the team to beat, injuries and all, but all three teams have legit flaws. It’s not like the Sox have shown their dominance over Cleveland in head to head matchups.

What’s the obsession with choosing the division winner in early May?

Minnesota looks like they might be a pile of garbage the same way Abreu and Grandal look like they might be a pile of garbage. It’s early.

Just so I’m understanding correctly, you’re saying the Eloy injury has not impacted the Sox?

Sorry we doubted the depth, Rick.

It really does feel like something that’s increased the past several years. Not sure if it’s social media and/or the “hot take” culture, but it seems people have less interest in nuance these days. You must have a strong, definitive opinion on everything and you must shout it at people ASAP.

Busty? Sure, Mize and Skubal have looked bad, but they each have roughly 50 total IP in the majors. Plenty of time for them to make adjustments and grow. Matt Manning lurks as well. The position player side is indeed ugly, though.

Oh I’m not advocating anything other than patience with him. He needed to work through it and make adjustments, and it appears he has. But the fact is, he had an awful approach for a decent stretch of games. Just like José did. Just like Yoan did (does?). Stringing together some good games does not automatically erase the fact that he had a terrible approach. Just like having a terrible approach does not automatically mean he won’t make adjustments.

Because for awhile there it wasn’t...?

Musgrove was acquired in the Cole trade, so I don’t think they’d have both, but your larger point remains. I’ve been thinking about that alternate timeline Pirates rotation lately. Looking forward to Mitch Keller’s Cy Young candidacy in a couple years when he’s shipped elsewhere.

I’m legit surprised that Lamb isn’t hitting higher in the lineup. That’s where the bar is right now for lineup logic. Good times.

Your severe aversion to pessimistic comments on an Internet message board is quite odd, but I’ll refrain from speculating on whether you’re “crazy or severely damaged” because it’s none of my business.

Madrigal wins the AL batting title rather easily. Eloy homers in his first game back, only to go back on the IL that same day. Dunning outperforms Lynn. Eaton outperforms Springer.

Indeed.