GreenSox

I don't disagree; just hold them until the expiration year when this happens again. Like Colome (although his salary is a good bit less than Robertson's). Better yet, trade the multi year guys in December when teams can budget them. Jones should be affordable if he gets it together.

I'll take your word for it and stand corrected. I ran a search on the webpage and his name didn't come up - it still doesn't.

Rutherford was dropping across the board, though. He's still young and despite his miserable start this year, could still amount to something. Robertson went out on the open market after 2018 and basically received the same contract that he had with the Sox...so while expensive, he wasn't overpaid. I realize that in July, teams have to fit players into their budgets (even if not overpaid per se) but I would call him more than filler. It should have been a priority to move Frazier in December of 2016 off of that 40 homer year.

How are they going to get a top 100 for Herrera when they couldn't get a top 100 for Roberston (2 years control), Kahnle (multi-years control) and Frazier combined. Or if they could only get a Rule 5 guy for Soria?

He wasn't even top 100 at the time. https://www.mlb.com/news/yoan-moncada-tops-2017-midseason-prospect-list-c244152682

I'll still take Narvaez over Colome in a heartbeat. Colome is a decent, not great closer, is not in our window and won't be moved for much, whether this July or next. Narvaez has 4 years of control, has plate patience (a rarity in this org. - probably why he was traded) and can hit. He could also throw runners out. But his "Framing" was a nice red-herring for Cooper and his pitchers.

I've wondered that for a while. My conclusion is on a cursory level at best.

Where do the Sox find these veteran pitchers. Good lord....

You have to find out Palka one way or the other. And Alonso, and his gaudy .619 OPS, would have crowded out Palka, but for Jay's injury. As it is now, he's crowding out Cordell/Delmonico

Sure that's a good player to have around....but not at the price of a top 5 pick. Plus, if all he can do is slap singles in the minors, what are the chances that he can replicate it in the majors?

Great to see a lot of pitchers on that list. Pilkington's a college guy, and I prefer them not linger in low A once they demonstrate that they can command that league.

If he skips, I'd like to see him do it the Thomas way. AAA has a lot of AAAA pitching.

In Kenny's last stand, he traded Escobar for a few months of starter having a bad year; and he traded 2 young pitchers for a mediocre relief pitcher with a dubious background. One of those young pitchers became Chris Devenski, one of the most versatile relievers in baseball. In 2013, the Hahn era begins with a bang by signing Keppinger.....he is the first of Hahn's signings who quit MLB mid-contract (there were 2 others). In December 2014, fresh off of 73 wins, Hahn convinced himself that the Sox could contend, so he traded Yolmer Semien, Phegley (still on the As 25) and others to the As for 1 year of Samardzija. This trade was particularly egregious because Semien had a ceiling much higher than utility player(1). But a month later, Hahn realizes "I don't have a 2B", so he gives Emilio Bonifacio the highest salary of his career. He was waived before the 2015 season ended. The very next year, Hahn traded 2 young pitchers for Brett Lawrie. Lawrie decided to quit MLB mid-season, mid-contract (the 2nd of Hahn's acquisitions to quit the game). Don't look up the stats of JB Wendelkin. The other ongoing theme is Hahn's constant sojourn for relief pitchers. Lots of resources, lots of trades, even using a #1 pick for a relief pitcher. One trade was really clever - getting Soria and Avilan for a rule 5 guy - only to see Soria flipped for a Rule 5 prospect who projects as a LOOGY. (1) The FO refused to trade Samardzija at the deadline (even though he pitched his best game of the year in July against a team desperate for a starter) proclaiming that "a 10 game winning streak is right around the corner." They used the pick to draft a relief pitcher they thought they could rush into the 2016 pen.

There's even less reason now that the season is 2 weeks old....this team is just awful and he won't make a difference.

I don't see Frare as having a big future in the org. He's a LOOGY - they had like 2 or 3 of them on the 25 last year who were better than he was and could barely give them away in July. Numerous LOOGY's in the minors. And isn't the LOOGY obsolete after this season? Better learn to get righties out. And he still has his 40 man spot nice and tidy, so he can come back.

The Sox haven't been on that flipside nearly enough. And they've given themselves plenty of opportunities, seeking rule 5 guys in most of the recent trades.

"The decline has been unprecedented" (applying the Shields excuse to the rest of them).

Come on, the 40 man was full of filler and still is (either that or Josh Osich is a misprint). And Minaya wasn't even filler. He has spent lots of time on the 25 man. It's like Cooper pitching Noesi for a season+ while barely giving Junior Guerra (who had utterly dominated AAA) a chance. How can they possibly be given a pass after so many prior personnel screw ups. Or put on a more positive note - when will one of the bevy of Rule 5 guys they have traded for do something?

Minaya or about 10 other guys on the 40 man just like him. This FO has used up all of its “how could we have known” excuse allotment.

Not the desired ceiling for a top 5 pick.. Plus it's really hard to be a productive singles hitter.,,,most of them have their lucky years with high BA, not so luck years and are overall blah players.

I agree with you....but it will be a sacrificial lamb, not anyone that really needs to move along (Hahn, Williams, Cooper). I'd guess Steverson.

Another thing that bugs me is that Rick Hahn is capable of better. He's the one who executed the clever Eaton trade. Even last year, he got Soria and Avilan for a Rule 5 guy. That should have set up at least an interesting July move...instead he makes a lazy trade for another Rule 5. His secondary trades have largely been non-efforts. Of course, Eaton trade may have just been luck...you will eventually score with one. Still he could have been more aggressive in the As/Rays/Brewers/Mariners sense, and chose otherwise. Even if he scored with all of his top prospect acquisitions, he'd still have to fill 5-6 positions....and these days he seems incapable of doing even that.

If he had this season it would have been for maybe $2.5 million.

He won't come anywhere close to getting a Narvaez for him, based on his prior midseason deals. Hahn's basically relatively quiet in July, and satisfied with Rule 5 guys when he makes a move; he really should look to score in July as that's the overpay time of the year.

If you are right about acquiring relievers, then that is a big problem. Acquire starters - relievers will present themselves after evaluation as starter. The next step down for a ceilling reliever is to be an org minor leaguer, if not out of baseball. Still I don't see the Sox grab of starters as inordinate. And even if it was, pitching is way behind position players, showing how poorly executed it was. Sox can get by with Rondon and Leury as a position player; if you're 1 starter light, you'r sunk (see the Sox 2001-2004).