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Handpicked by JR just like TLR . What could possibly go wrong. Hahn in his own right was a failure but kept his job for a long time because he followed Jerry's edicts and philosophies that handicapped how he did his job right up to the very end when in a last ditch effort to save the rebuild he invested in Clevinger and Benintendi then was allowed along with KW and the rest of the Sox crack FO lackey's tried to make up for the utter lack of scouting and development by acquiring mostly pitching and catching at the trade deadline . So far Getz seems no different.

We are also reminded ,with the release of Luis Patino, that the Rays got 4 prospects from the Padres for Blake Snell headlined by a starting pitcher (Patino) and a catcher (Mejia). Starting pitching and catching are volatile positions . I can't really blame anyone for wanting position player prospects especially LH power hitters who also provide fielding and baserunning value. If your WAR if fully dependent on your pitching arm it's hard to make an impact. A position player with speed and defense can accumulate WAR and contribute to wins even if the bat never fully develops. This is why you have to consider a high floor as well as a high ceiling. The larger the gap between floor and ceiling the bigger the chance for a boom or bust player. Being a LH hitter gives you advantages in a sport where good hitting careers are often predicated on how well you hit RH pitching. It also gives you an advantage running since you are closer to 1st base to start . Vaughn so far is a perfect example. He can't rack up fielding or baserunning WAR. Despite being touted as a generational type hitter he hasn't yet figured out how to hit or get on base against RHP. In general all things being equal, it's just easier to do well against opposite handed pitchers . Conversely it's easier for RHP to get RHH out. As a hitter it's all about how well you see the ball and LHH get to see a lot more pitches that they can see well. The Sox entire history of losing can be tied to many things and having the worst LH hitting among all the teams in baseball history is right there at the top of the list. Was Moncada the only position player among the highly ranked prospects the Sox got in the 1st rebuild trades who hit LH ? Didn't the Sox get a lot of SP also? The whole Eaton trade was Giolito, Dunning and Lopez. Sale got Kopech. Quintana brought Cease. I'd like to see things handled differently this time. However with JR in charge and unwilling to pay for pitching maybe our GMs under him lately don't have much of a choice than to trade for pitching. JR also doesn't invest in scouting and development so drafting pitchers didn't help out the rebuild either nor did his mandates regarding the international draft. So many failures led by Reinsdorf .

Does it make sense to think that if the Angels are going after Snell that they are going after high quality pitchers so despite you not hearing that they are in on Cease they very well could be ? Or maybe you think that they don't have the prospect capital needed to afford him ? Once the talks about Cease really heat up we may be hearing about more teams involved that will make many wail and gnash their teeth because of lack of quality prospects expected . I really hope for everyone's sake here that Baltimore and the Sox work it out.

We can trade Fedde right now for a haul !!! ?

That was comedy ,unless the pitchers hand out comment ( the baseball you played as a kid when you didnt have enough kids to throw to 1st) didnt make it obvious to you.

It's hard enough to figure out who the best prospects are . When you're trying to figure out who to keep and who not to keep among bottom dwellers , options matter .Once he's on the 26 he would have to pitch extremely well with the Sox not to be DFA'd . You don't really expect miracles from guys who can't throw strikes. The fact that people reacted 1st and did not even consider how many options he had left is more indicative of them being dumb than the actual move.

There it is then. Thank you. I didnt see anyone else mentions his options unless I overlooked it. Not so dumb then as our wonderfully reactionary meatballs would have us think.

One nothing burger trades spots on the 40 for another nothing burger. See deck chairs on Titanic. Patino might actually be better. Cousin is a complete unknown. Hasn't pitched at all in the states and is older than Patino . Looks like he's pretty bad at throwing strikes also. But hey maybe in the 2+ years he hasn't pitched he became good enough to see what he can do in AAA.? Maybe it just came down to options. Did Patino have any left ?

There are teams out there close enough to contention that a good OF with 2 years left before FA plus a top blocked prospect with a lesser one might be enough pry away pitching from a team like Seattle. A guy like Bryce Miller may be as good as Cease in 2024 and way beyond just 2 years. There's a lot more ways for Baltimore than there is for the Sox to invest their talent wisely. For the Sox it's trade Cease and Robert before either one of them turns back into a pumpkin for as much as you can get. That's it. That's our only hope to even start to think about injecting some hope into this franchise and even then JR is still in charge with a FO that we don't yet have a handle on .

Oh I do like what you said about tanking. But I'm not sure it's all about one player or even top picks that you get every round of the draft. It's more about trying to artificially create a spending floor among the dreg teams of baseball. It's like a floor CBT when it's not really needed. Those cities already suck at baseball for good reasons. Taking hope away from fans that tanking might provide a superstar to build around is unnecessary. It's like all the Sox fans have is Robert and why no one wants him traded now. f*** it trade him and Cease and get as much as you can right now. Being the best farm in baseball would provide more hope than we're getting now. We'd field a competitive team sooner and still have a decent amount of prospect capital.

Well duh ! ?

What is all this hoping Elias and Balta cries? I certainly hope that you don't cry if you are ultimately disappointed with the return for Cease. When you expect a haul that just means different things to different people and we won't know if it was a haul for years to come. You can judge a trade as quickly as you want to and hope for immediate tears but the end result should be contributions that lead to playoff wins. Baltimore is currently in a position to get those either with or without Cease. They have a truckload of talent that they can use to trade with any team. Santander ,Hays and Mullins will be traded eventually and Baltimore will replace them from among Holliday, Cowser, Kjerstad, Beavers. Picking the right ones at the right time is crucial to Baltimores stay at the top. Trading a player who turns into a star while retaining a bust are franchise altering decisions. Teams should prospect hug. Tatis Jr. & Semien perhaps Bassitt all have had better careers so far than anyone who the Sox got back in any of the rebuild trades. Cease may or may not fit into that Sox that shine briefly for 1 or 2 season but can't sustain it for a full career arc but I can't blame any team suspicious and cautious about our young but incredibly fragile and inconsistent core guys. Robert finally breaks out and now he's worth a fortune after one year of fulfilling his promise. What happens next year if he produces like he had been before 2023 ? Cease disappointed last year and he's still worth a haul but we all know it's your last season that counts the most towards your value . If that isn't true then why keep saying Robert is untradable because he's worth too much for any team to afford. In the Sox situation and looking at Robert's career thus far that is precisely when you should trade him. How much more can his value go up ? How much value did Moncada gain after 2019. When was Eloy's peak value ? How about Giolito ? When was Rodon's peak value and what did the Sox get for him ? What would Cease and Robert be worth together for Baltimore ? Let's say they keep Holliday but all their other prospects are available do you think a 2 for 7 or 8 very good prospects wouldn't be enough to excite the fan base or jump start this team for at least a run at the Central by 2026 ? Cowser, Kjerstad, Mayo. Ortiz, Beavers, Hall, Basallo, Norby, Westburg, Fabian, Bradfield, Jr., Povich, McDermott, Horvath. That's 14 guys. Take 7 of them and a couple lottery tickets and let's get this party started!

We'll see. Just seems like every time we think how much a pitcher is going get, they get more.

If you are going to pay Woodruff for missing maybe the whole season in 2024 do you think he'd want to bet on himself and become a free agent in 2026 or take longer years, like 4 guaranteed years but with an opt out in 26 and 27 ? Looks like you're putting payroll at about $10M more than it's at right now for 2024 (minus Cease salary + the acded salaries for your proposed additions).

I've brought up that scenario before about saving for next year . Frankly you'd have to trust JR and there's nothing to stop JR from saying yes I'll give you an extra $15-20M next year and then he increases the payroll $5M and tells Getz we incurred a lot more losses than I anticipated because the team was so bad. You knew I wanted to compete asap. You should've spent the whole budget on a better team. Trust JR to keep his word and telling Getz you're fired for questioning his authority to do as he pleases seems more likely

This is a bit different than you saying payroll won't be an issue so definitively. If it's not an issue I wanted to know your thoughts on the final payroll and what we can expect to add. If JR gave Getz a cap where payroll isn't an issue what advantage is gained by Getz not spending up to the limit ?

Are you sure about that ? So you expect the Sox to sign a FA starting pitcher ? In what price range? Or I'll ask this. What is the final payroll and what indicators lead you to your conclusion ?

That's what everyone else is asking. I've been begging for 3 or 4 off seasons for the Sox to trade for young LH OF, throwing all kinds of names out there. Some got traded, some were rumored to be on the block and not traded. Some were just names I threw out there. Like most fans I'm not privy to who is available. Some are hoping we get a LH OF prospects who can step right in like Cowser or Kjerstad from Baltimore. In the meantime scour the dumpsters and AAAA guys who can't hit but can run and field.

Getz has already said Colas will start the season in AAA. He's in the doghouse for not showing the respect to his coaches by throwing to the wrong bases and not taking more pitches.

There are certain things that good GM keep in mind. SS and CF. Prospects drafted or traded for that play these 2 position are usually the fastest and most athletic. That means they can transition to other positions if they physically mature out of CF and SS. Compare the kids physique to his parents to get an idea of how their physique will look as they age. I'm sure good scouts look at many indicators besides the obvious like stats, current body and temperament. Bat speed, swing path, fluidity of movement, mechanics, intelligence , humility, work ethic all mean more to some scouts than others. It would be cool to find the scouts with good track records on picking high school, college and international players , pick their brains and see how well they can verbalize everything they saw that maybe someone else overlooked, some intangible that they valued above all else. Maybe there's a book out there already about it.

How do they add power hitters ? As of now they have Cease and Robert to trade. Many on the board want only prospects and don't want to find a guy with less control who could increase in value to be flipped later (Lux for example). Need value to get value. Since the Sox have been so bad at drafting and especially development ,getting guys close to the majors or guys with 3-5 years of control keeps the Sox out of the full development process. Higher floors means more certainty. With the way the rebuild core performed should remind us that the Sox are not the Dodgers when it comes to helping prospects reach a higher level of performance. If Getz made an announcement that the Sox are fully committed to developing youth and are revamping and hiring top people to that end and was willing to go into details to support that kind of announcement, that would be the best news the fans could possibly get this off season.

I think Getz would be limiting the return by going pitching heavy. Get the best 3 guys from one system even if the 3 are all pretty equal. If Baltimore is keeping Cowser,Kjerstad, Holiday, I think a package of Coby Mayo, Dylan Beavers, Ortiz or Norby, Hall. Just take the best guys, no need to focus on pitching. You can trade Robert later for pitching. I'd love me some Andrew Painter after he heals up. Beavers is a savage you havent heard much about yet. Power hasn't shown up in games yet and that's good. Underestimate him for now. He's just 22 . Did well in A+, even better but less ABs (134) in AA in 2023.Tall, lean muscle , room to grow, gun for an arm, great swing. I think he's primed for a big season this year . Not sure he'll be back in AA to start the season. Probably won't stick in CF but ideal for RF. Reminds me physically a bit of Bellinger , his swing looks smoother not as violent probably not as good a fielder or runner , maybe a better arm.

U don't actually have to . There are ways to stream almost any game from any major sport onto your smart TV. Quality is usually HD and the stream is sporadic but I'm thrilled with free. After I figured out how to get it from my computer to my TV without Chromecast or mirroring . 19 inch SD to HD 50" . I've been enjoying ( for lack of a better word) a lot of Bears Bulls and Blackhawk games. Some would find it annoying that the picture will go into the refreshing mode fairly often and you have to go through a trial and error period on a TV browser and figuring out the best way to access the signal consistently but hey getting all major sports free doesn't come easy. There's no expensive equipment involved just your basic smart TV and your willingness to be patient with the streaming quality and signal strength.

Some of it has to do with the age of some of the guys having a 2nd one. Ptatc can handle the medical reasons. There's only so much wear and tear human joints and muscles can endure before they are permanently weakened.

Where's the Carpenters video ?