Lillian

I just thought that, given the ages, prospect rankings and ETA;s of the pitchers the Sox just acquired, that they might be expected to contribute next season. Those factors, coupled with the lack of any other Minor League arms that are ready, and ownership's unwillingness to hand out long term contracts to pitchers, suggested to me that they might go ahead and use these guys to fill out the rotation. However, your responses have dissuaded me of the notion. Thanks.

Assuming Clevinger does not return, do you think that next year's rotation will be Cease, Kopech, Toussant, Eder and Nastrini, with Bush being the 6TH man? Eder and Nastrini are currently ranked as the Sox' # 4 and 5 prospects, respectively and are projected to be in the Majors next year, so it would seem that they will likely join the rotation. No other Sox starters look ready to be promoted. Perhaps Davis Martin, once he fully recovers from his TJS. I wonder where Grant Taylor will be ranked, once the new draft class is included. In any case he will probably not be projected to be in the Majors until 2025, at the earliest.

With Moncada on the IL and Colas back in the Minors, this lineup is once again void of left handed power. Grandal and Sheets are the only options and that is pretty underwhelming. We all knew that this roster was poorly constructed, but it looks even worse than many of us thought.

I'm still waiting for that middle of the order LH bat. If Hahn doesn't acquire one, who is going to fill that role? Once you ponder that question, the urgency should become more apparent. To me, that is a bigger void than the hole at second base. The 3 through 5 hitters are all right handed; Robert, Eloy and Vaughn. The current choices to break up that string of RH hitters consists of Sheets, Grandal (providing he is healthy enough to catch), Moncada and Colas. Does anyone think that any of those guys should be counted upon to bat in the middle of the order?

It's Xavier Fernandez. He was also in the Royals farm system, before coming to the Sox. He resigned, after having split time last season, at Birmingham and Charlotte.

Is the new restriction on shifting likely to help Benintendi? How often have opposing teams shifted on him?

I love that. Exactly. The Sox need a left handed hitter, not a left handed "wiffer".

Last season, the biggest weakness of this team was offense. How does losing their best hitter to free agency and then adding Joey Gallo do anything to strengthen that weakness? That would only leave second base, as a hole to fill, which is not likely to net any significant improvement in scoring runs. The only other pathways to a better offense wold then be better performance from the current core and, or trades.

Which teams are most likely to be seeking a closer?

There is no way to ascertain whether, or not, missing the playoffs would lead to the changes that most of us believe need to be made. However, it seems logical that winning the division would likely diminish the prospect of those changes occurring. Therefore, based upon the probabilities, I'd vote for missing the playoffs.

I'm pretty sure that few would recognize the Sox as deserving champions, in that scenario.

Any team can win a series against another team. Would you honestly delude yourself into believing that the Sox were the better team? I wouldn't. I would just call it luck. How long has it been that the Sox have been playing .500 baseball? So winning the worst division in baseball, with barely a winning record, would make you very happy, as long as they won a few post season series and the World Series. It wouldn't be very satisfying for me, after watching an entire season of mediocrity. I guess that I'm harder to please.

Perhaps the front office intentionally floated the idea of a possible return, in an attempt to gauge the reaction. It's hard to believe that they are so obtuse that they haven't figured it out yet. However, why should we have confidence that they know what they're doing. I don't care how this all plays out, as long as the Sox have a different manager, next season. Loyal fans deserve better than all of this unnecessary drama. This organization has managed to become very difficult to support. Frankly, even if they win the division, if their record is just a little over .500, and they succeed in the post season, it would be a hallow, tainted victory, for many. The Sox don't belong in the same company as great teams, which have compiled significant winning records, during the season. What if they played the Dodgers, in the World Series and won. Would anyone really think that the Sox were a better team than the Dodgers? Just get this season over with, and try to fix it, before this window closes.

As bad as Moncada is with the bat, that's how good he is with the glove. Problem is, great fielding, terrible hitting infielders are not that hard to find.

Moncada has left 6 guys on base tonight. He has simply become an awful hitter.