Chisoxfn

This was the deal - the issue was Rutherford already had his helium going out. Sox made the deal based upon intelligence from a year earlier and ignored more recent data which was indicating cracks in the armor / glaring weaknesses that would hinder his ultimate long term path (unless of course the Sox knew this and thought they had developmental solutions -> but given how Hahn structured most of his deals, I just don't think that is the case. I think given the lack of scouts they have / had (maybe it has grown) - they just aren't well positioned for those sort of things. I'm hoping they are doing a better job now with their scouting of other teams so they have the right intelligence to pick / acquire the rigtht players - given where the franchise is (i.e we are going to be selling more than buying) this is almost, if not more important than having the right draft scouts as Sox could get 15+ guys and more high profile talent via trades in the next few weeks than they got on the entire draft (in fact my expectation is they absolutely should get more value in next 2-3 weeks than they did in their draft). So how they have right process in place to maximize and target right guys is huge.

That and a draft pick works for me. (Or international bonus money). ?

I kind of think Crochet has made his last start with Sox and we see him dealt in next few days.

He is like the outfielder Sox got for one of our relievers a few years back. Sox bought on hype of Yankees prospect whose star was fading. Name escapes me but he was a top 100 guy so he fit Hahns mo of winning the headline in a trade.

Makes zero sense. Teams have tons of flexibility and he has outplayed the value of those options every year (and even in his down year this season is on track to do so again this year).

If lucky it will be a bit like Renterias first year - a rough year from a win and loss perspective but one where we start to see a first wave arrive and show some initial promise. Not saying they are positioned like that - but by August 1st, if the Sox players can’t do what they need to maximize their trade value and Getz can execute - I could see scenarios where Sox are top 2 farm system.

I think we are going to see a bunch of positional talent and depth come when they trade Robert, Crochet and Fedde. Going to guess maybe we get one high end pitching prospect but in all cases guessing best prospect will be a position player. Add in Kopech and Dejomh/Pham - not saying they get a ton for those guys - but get prospects and also find way to get international money and draft picks too. Leave no stone unturned at the trade deadline.

Man. Seeing 3 meaningless summer league games - I really like the chip and swagger that our young rookie plays with. This is most excited I’ve been about a rookie since Lauri (who we knew I loved). He is still thin and has to work on his shot - hit his handles are way better than expected and athleticism is real good for his size. Showed good basketball iq and passing. Just a lot to like - full well knowing he will have ups and downs next year while he works on those developmental areas but I like his long term potential. In general despite fact team will lose quite a few games, if they keep Lavine for part of the year (and just not play Vuc or dump Vuc cause he is just awful to watch play)….but they will be far more enjoyable to watch in terms of playing fast and having more flow to offense. Again - they will suck, but a far more enjoyable suck.

This guy is not good. A nothing burger signing.

With summer league in flight time to get a new thread and away from that old cursed thread

Let’s go!!! Time for training camp to begin!!!

Awesome - I think it’s time for a new thread with training camp starting.

Or they want to draw a fine line and don't want other team(s) agents think the Sox have $2M sitting aside that might impact their leverage in dialogue.

That has always been my view point.

I have a sneaky suspicion we will see change on the Paddy front soon.

THis - that is why I always assumed you see more of those big reaches come now (where you might take 2 stabs knowing you maybe get 1). Probably more so this year vs. past years given it seems like across the board the high schoolers have a bit of unrealistic expectations (or at least relative to what the MLB teams are willing to do). Probably a lot to still figure out related to NIL / transfer windows.

I think the difference is - Witt was part of a young nucleus all coming together where as the Sox just aren't there, hence you have to hit a hard reset and start getting the depth where it needs to be and guys aligned on timelines....than you can start playing in free agency, etc. With that said - a hard reset done right will get them in a good spot - but to really turn the corner they will have to be much better developing from within and managing the roster construction in-line with JR's free agent rules. This means they have to operate at times like the Rays and trade a guy a year early because you know you won't keep them and also be much better where they do play in free agency. As a general rule of thumb - I think the Sox front office should spend more money on buying international free agent $$$ and acquire draft picks where they can (basically increase their chances on cheap players), invest in talent development, and than don't assume JR is going to let you go 10yr on some $300M guy, which means don't plan on it - but be ready to jump in if a market isn't there to go big money on shorter-term deals (think of Cody a year ago to the Cubs type of moves) that you might get JR to jump at (and when those deals hit - the club has to be ready to move them a bit early to keep building up capital and maintaining it). Best bet at buying guys is going to be in trade market (vs. major free agent deals). Be smart when you buy, etc - and that also means they have to be successful drafting, international free agency, and on development front. I'm not expecting them to make the above all happen - cause I just assume somehow they won't - but I still go back to, as bad as the on field product is (and as much as Getz was at least part of the problem on development where I wouldn't have hired him myself) - thus far I still don't have any major issues with what he has done in a year 1 of a rebuild (with exception that I'm not big on Grifol - but I also get it - sometimes just let the guy run them into the ground).

Great summer league play doesn't mean much - but being awful in summer league play is usually a bad sign. Matas has certainly had his flashes of positives. You can see he is raw and has a lot of work on - but you can also see some projectible upside in him.

Love what they did with first 3 picks. Hagen was my favorite pitcher in draft and is going to be a stud if he stays healthy.

I think of it - he has great bat to ball skills, despite an aggressive approach, which in fairness could be because guys in college don't want to throw anything near the plate so he had to adapt and could still hammer it. Can he dial it in, who knows. Than again - Vladdy was one of the most aggressive hitters ever with a cannon in the outfield. Could Cags be that? I don't know - but I like some of his high end tools enough. Are Sox the org to harness some of those weaknesses, probably not - but 2 of those tools are special (power and arm). And I go back to - lets see if he can play in the outfield.

Robert has avg'd very good WAR over past 4 years so I don't see high risk there either. Some risk - but also high degree upside as well. I think Bmags showed he is Top 5 in WAR at his respective position since 2020 (or 2021). That includes missing time etc.

I would be exstatic if he was the headliner in a Crochet or Robert deal. At this point I presume Crochet is getting the most value.

I hope Lavine has a good couple of months - Bulls can than extra some value for him. I don't expect they will be very good - I don't think 25 win bad, but I don't think they are a 40 win team as I do think the loss of Caruso and Demar is pretty big - but I definitely can see some scenarios where they still end up as a 35-40 win team - but even than - if they are doing that and its because young players are performing, you can still move Zach and Vuc ideally to free up cap space and than leverage cap space and hopefully improving young(er) players to continue to retool (and by dealing those 2 ensure you are ideally getting a top 6 pick in what appears to be a draft that projects to have a number of #1/#2 caliber players in the draft (i.e., multiple guys in this draft would be #1 or #2 picks in a typical draft). That is based upon what I've at least read - who knows whether that holds true following the college season.

In fairness - my 9 year old absolutely loves the call. When he first heard it - it was just a replay while driving in the car and he was laughing and smiling so hard at it (in a good way).

I was happy to see that. He still ended up coming in and pinch hitting though. But at least they got him an off day. Just seems like given he hasn't been on all cylinders and came back from an injury (and team is you know way out of contention) that they would have been a bit more prudent on his rest / load. And this is coming from someone who isn't like some huge "load management" person.