JoeC

Honest question here - what is Mena’s upside? Is he actually decent?

Why would this team need a closer?

Once Oakland actually finds a home, it will be two, yes.

Fans can adjust. The one piece you're not taking into account is that modern sports fans are looking for a ballgame to be the centerpiece of a broader outing. That concept is in full display at Wrigley, and the trend of downtown stadiums is basically a giant supportive narrative of that. Heck - even the tailgating concept is evidence of this. Fans come to the ballpark a couple of hours early, hang out with friends, drink some beers, and eat some food, then watch the game, then go home. Just replace the tailgating with a few pregame pints or burgers a short walk away (read: "we can make more money than from fans tailgating"). I would venture to guess that, while you'll still have your fair share of tailgaters in the reduced-capacity lots, people will adjust and fill their time before and after the game by frequenting other establishments nearby. In other words, what you perceive as an innate desire for Sox fans to tailgate, I would assert is just fans' desire to want to be able to "make a day of it," and it makes no huge difference whether it's tailgating or whatever else that's "right there." This is the model in Detroit - Comerica is right downtown, and the bars / restaurants down there are packed on game days. There are safe and convenient parking garages practically across the street, some privately operated surface lots where people tailgate, and even shuttles that will bring you in from the bars near Tiger Stadium (about a mile or two away from Comerica). Parking in the immediate walkable ring around Comerica has decreased as the area has filled in, but people are taking advantage of ride shares and public transit (street car that runs right past the ballpark). Besides, the post you are responding to was a sarcastic post meant to convey that humans are capable of building things near (or sometimes even under) water.

I'm pretty sure they can figure out how to make parking work on that site. If there's anything that engineers know how to do, it's to build parking and cram more cars into a confined space.

You made it so.

Clearly they must be heading there to tailgate with their suburban friends.

Ah i forgot about the Fire bit.

I would imagine a large part of any stadium deal is that the state gets to sell off the (far larger tracts) of land to developers, or to cater to the suburbanites who are just looking to come to tailgate as their primary activity.

Who owns the land on and around the current ballpark (namely the parking lots)? All owned by the state?

If Manfred likes it, I'm not sure what to think.

I think, given the public transit availability at Roosevelt and Clark (along with the additional entertainment options in the area), you could get away FAR less parking, but you can still have a good portion of that parking be available to tailgaters.

Why not have some parking lots where you can still do that, but not an entire sea of parking lots? You CAN have both. I think that’s the idea here….

Plus, if it’s part of a multi-use entertainment district, there’s stuff to do before / after, or in the event it’s too cold / rainy / etc. during the game. Right now, the ballgame is the only thing for most people. Sure, some people (like me) would find stuff to do before / after the game, but for the most part, the way the ballpark is set up in a sea of parking lots, the game is a standalone activity. I suspect that if you turn the ballgame into a centerpiece of a broader outing, it would help draw way more casual fans, as you suggest.

Exactly. Thus, unless Varsho becomes an immediate flip candidate, he's a meaningless and useless acquisition... and i doubt a player of that caliber is traded 3 times in a single offseason.

Trying to get this team to compete in 2024 is a pipe dream. The moves right now should try to optimize 2026 and 2027 WAR. To me, acquiring Varsho would be paying a premium for "immediate" WAR. The whole structure of a Cease deal is to give up X amount of 2024 and 2025 WAR for 2*X or 3*X potential WAR in 2025 ~ 2027. Therefore, to me, any trade like this doesn't make sense, where the biggest chunk of WAR you get in return doesn't look that much different in magnitude and peak year than the piece you're giving up.

...so not shocked at all?

In other orgs, yes. In this org, he ends up with a .150 average to round out a nice .280 OBP.

Fixed your post.

Baseball yes. Football can be amazing in a dome. Ford Field with a packed house might be louder than the original Chicago Stadium.

Outdoor baseball can only work in warmer climates like Wrigleyville, Boston, Minneapolis, and Detroit.

We don’t need a dome.

Counter-point: If the abovementioned three bounce back and/or take a step forward, they get traded for prospects, replaced by even lesser players, and the Sox end up losing 100 games anyways.

I think the key point is "don't tell me - show me you're paying millions toward a new stadium."