Rounding_Third

Hawks too are fun to watch again. Sunday is Sox, Hawks & Bulls same time. Sweeeeet!

Buehrle didn't; just 1 second half year in pen with 3 July starts then all pen after. For Sale 1 & 1/2 years; maybe extra cautious due to his thin frame & arm. Also was use primarily as closer and setup so maybe he's not the good comparison for Kopech I thought.

Agreed that probably been his plan all along. Imo, the mistake in that is its in trade so its now cap spend + prospects/drafts/cash when it only had to be cap spend for a decent mid level SP FA.

The problem I see with that it then they'd have to plug someone in his slot when he retired for the year and most likely earlier than the current plan. This plan may allow him to pitch all year.

If Kopech has no health issues and get his full innings limit, he'll start in 2022 with unlimited innings. If I remember correctly, both Buehrle & Sale did just one bullpen year.

If I had one, I'd live in it.

I'd bet my Aston Martin that Kopech gets about 6-10 planned starts.

Totally agree with this. Cease has such a high ceiling. And his delivery is so smooth and powerful right through his release and follow through; a great baseline to become an outstanding pitcher. If he can be a steadying force, it will go a long way to supporting the terrible lack of SP depth. If not, he could contribute to a domino effect throughout the rotation. Hopefully, Rodon and/or Lopez can reverse their respective fortunes but history says that's unlikely. That they don't cause TLR/EK to use Kopech more than planned; hitting his shutdown prematurely, assuming he has no physical issues either. Or that it causes 1-4 to pitch on 4 days rest too often. If Cease is also on a pitch/innings limit, he's got be efficiently effective. The rotation will probably have bumps that cause them to skip some starts from time to time. There's currently not enough SP depth to cover it all; particularly down the stretch. And this outstanding bullpen can become overtaxed by dog days. It wouldn't surprise me if the Sox force themselves to trade for even 2 SP's and an RP or 2 by the deadline. There'll be lots of 2022 FA SP's for rent and RH/KW have a solid trade history so that's very encouraging, Hope they don't have to go to that well too early but a real possibility. It's baffling that the Sox meticulously & cunningly rebuilt this incredible team over 4 long years but are potentially allowing a baseball fundamental of SP depth to bring headaches & hitches all season. And if this fumbling causes just a handful of inexcusable extra losses, it could significantly effect the final standings. But ST can also bring many surprises; hoping.... Stiever? McClure? Vargas? Other(s)? ...step up & prove worthy of a next level depth role?

You keep using Teheran's 2020 10 era while suffering from covid which for him, was NOT asymtomatic. I've only mentioned it twice but you knowingly keep going there for lack of facts. According to your assessment, I guess the Sox should lose Moncada as well because of his bad 2020 even though their symptoms were nearly identical. Let's see, Lopez 6 era over 210 innings over 2 years and led the league in ER's in 2019 whom Stone said "needs a lot of work" vs Teheran's Covid-suffering 31 innings in 2020 and 350 innings of 3.87 (~4.20 AL) through 2018-19. Got it! Adding the pure nonsense of Teheran not being good since 2016 while accepting Lopez's body of work with just 1 equivalent year out of his 5. which was 3 years ago is extremely disparate. Got it. All your ridiculous rhetoric because you oppose a risk free, cost free evaluation of a quality veteran presence is baffling. Yet you must cheer some of the other invitees like Mike Wright & Matt Tomshaw because they're such better options. I singled out Teheran because of his Tiger deal. If any other available FA vet SP like Leake or Hamels would agree to a similar tryout deal, the Sox would also be remiss not to invite them. if they don't make the roster but showed value then try to work out an acceptable AAA deal, if not, then cut them lose; nothing gambled, nothing lost. If/when other viable options present themselves then trade or release them when applicable. If they were to accept AAA, having that kind of veteran insurance is invaluable given the Sox terrible SP depth, Its pretty simple stuff here. It includes intangibles that don't show up in analytics charts. All done with your silly assessments based on distorted stats.

So a pitcher who just turned 30 is "aging". Too funny!!!! Most people consider that back end prime but whatever! List all the analytics you want, I have no problem with a pitcher who keeps his era near or under 4 over 175+ innings year after year except the only one he didn't out of last 7 that you've chosen to define him by (ignoring his covid 2020). Somehow he must have done something right; right up through 2019. And no, I didn't say Rodon or Teheran, you turned it into that. I said no reason to not look at Terehan for free. That's zero risk, zero cost. Basically if sizing up Rodon for $3m why not Teheran for free. Its a very simple concept, repeat after me, "Free is good". I agree the Sox plan appears to be a trade, if/when needed. At least I hope so. I just hope they're prepared to deal early (May), if needed. Their immediate depth is a 5 year injury case (Rodon), a 2 year 6ish era (Lopez), and an unproven youngster who got pounded in his limited time (Stiever). After that its a crapshoot. The old adage of "you can't win a pennant (playoffs) in April but you could lose one" has never been more in play than with this team right now with its pathetic rotation depth. More is better, honest!

Okay 1 mediocre year out of how many? Yep, "fantasic" was the wrong adj anyway but "very good" fits. You're still missing my point that its a "free" tryout for Detroit. If the Sox had done the same, no telling what could have happened. Rodon is a much higher risk considering he hasn't stayed healthy for 5 years running, The "if he can stay healthy" hope has drastically faded. If he gets through ST healthy, it's a huge victory for him at this point. SP depth is terrible; so thin. Pinning depth hopes on unproven or proven to be bad or always hurt pitchers is a very weak WS strategy. Depending on ST results, Teheran could have make the team or minors deal or cut loose at no cost.

Terheran had Covid last summer. Through 2019 he's been fantastic! And only 30. Why not give him a free tryout is all I'm saying. Considering some of the non roster pitching invitee's, it make no sense to not give him a free look.

Using Santana as your benchmark, it means Teheran has >6 high quality years left. I'd say that's worth a free look. Thanks for proving my point.

For a free tryout? Are you serious? Why would a contending team want Rodon for $3m?

Oh yeah, how could I forget! Probably has that quote bookmarked for easy response. Easier than covering his ears, closing his eyes, and...."LALALALALALALA...." Geesh! What a sweet deal for Tigers!

Per MLBTR; The Tigers have agreed to a contract with free-agent right-hander Julio Teheran, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. It’s a non-guaranteed deal, though Teheran will earn a $3MM base salary if he makes the Tigers’ roster. He could rake in another $1MM in incentives if he starts 20 games for the team. This vs Sox signing Rodon for same $3 but guaranteed. Who made the smarter deal? Or why couldn't the Sox have done the same exact deal with Teheran whether they signed Rodon or not? How did RH let this happen? So very frustrating!

I'm sure you've seen the details by now. I doubt if the Sox would have gone there. Good for him for waiting it out! I think I understand RH's strategy now anyway. If I counted correctly, there are 67 2022 FA SP's for rent; many of which will be available a month into the season and grow. They'll be positioned to get a good one at a decent price.

Agreed but I'm confident the Sox will make a trade(s) when and where needed. RH has the Sox financially well positioned & KW has long established it as a preferred strategy.

I hear ya. Look at it this way, what if EE had a 2020 line of; .250/.340/.440/.740, how much better would the Sox have been? Are these #'s Vaughn could achieve this year? Good chance, I think. What's a really nice luxury, thanks to EE's terrible season, is that he doesn't have to be great this year for the Sox to be even more dangerous.

As much as I've been against Vaughn being DH without more minors time, I've come to accept it and understand the Sox scouts' belief in him. Also, that he's getting older and Covid robbed him of normal progression. That all said, its hard to imagine him not exceeding EE's very low benchmark. Sox are better by default, if nothing else. If Vaughn just puts up mediocre stats, it'll be a huge DH improvement and who knows how high he could go. Hope he's physically and especially mentally ready for the up's & downs of a season over 3 times longer and against an extended quality level that he's never experienced. From Sox accolades, if anyone can succeed in what he's about to attempt, its him.

I'm probably one of the few here that like this plan and suggested it a few weeks ago. Its a smart way to manage Kopech's innings while keeping him relative for most of the season. All indications are that he's on a pitch/innings limit. He can long relief or spot start. There will plenty of opportunities for several starts. If he begins in Charlotte then comes up as starter, its an awkward plan with two windows of alt starters for 1st 6 weeks and especially the last 6 weeks of season. I suspect the Sox hope for good things from other pitchers, Rodon, Lopez, Stiever, others(?), as 5th starter, evaluate the situation, then act accordingly in a trade. There are numerous 2022 FA they could trade for (rent) once they know who's having decent seasons on early sellers for affordable cost (prospects/draft picks/cash). It feels less choppy this way.

Oh Idk, not going to go back and look, especially since we now know 2020 performances. Just saying that C was not a weak position going into 2020 with lots of potential from 2019 performances. When you look at 2019 McCann vs Grandal stats and 2020 $'s for both, I don't see how Grandal was ~$13m better.

First, I preface by saying Grandal's a great catcher, one of the best, that's obvious. But it seems the Sox catching valuation process has been a little odd the last 2 years. Both Yermin & Collins had shown in MiLB that they were ready to compete for a job in 2020; both having very good 2019 O & D #'s, Zack had his troubles in his 2019 call up but still deserved to be in the mix again. McCann also had his breakout 2019. So the 3 of them formed a pretty good trifecta with lots of potential & at the least, adequate. But instead the Sox do this kneejerk reaction and sign Grandal. That was a real head scratcher for me at the time. They basically thumbed their noses at all 3 of them. That $18m could have been spent much smarter by re-uping McCann for 2-3 years relatively cheaply and spending the rest elsewhere. Then both Yermin and Zack would have had a much fairer chance to compete and prove if they were worthy. All the while, the dropoff from Grandal/McCann to McCann/Collins/Yermin would not have been that impactful with an extra $12-13m spent elsewhere (after a McCann signing). We had bigger needs elsewhere particularly with all the TJ's going on, and still do. Even if they didn't spend it and hung on to it for this offseason, think of how they could have used it. Like I said, I like Grandal but I'll never understand his signing in that moment. I4 s as if they lost site in what they had and went for a big splash event instead.

For sure! Also, I'd be shocked if the Sox didn't pick up a good cheap SP before the trade deadline. They have plenty of reserve cash. There are about 65 SP's who will be FA's after this season; many on sellers by that time. They'll have a good idea where Kopech stands for shutdown. If need be, maybe go with a 6 man rotation until he's done. Probably be some DH's scheduled in Aug & Sept by then. And have another quality SP for playoffs.

If true maybe I'll get my wish of TA 3rd. Over the last 2 seasons, 21 of his 28 hr's have been solos. Chances are good that he hits >=25 this year. Would be nice to see him get a chance to hit more with men on.....not that I'm complaining!!! Like to see Abreu protecting him in cleanup, too.