JUSTgottaBELIEVE

And they’ve always been around here and there but it seems like the sheer number of them has greatly increased over the past year or so.

22.4 K%, 157 wRC+

I have a hard time believing that half the posters on this site are actual Sox fans. It’s gotta be Cubs fans trolling us.

All I know is that so far this season we have the top hitting shortstop in baseball and Moncada is outperforming Machado at 3b. Those are FACTS. Go Sox!

I guess we’ll never know for sure will we?

Not sure we’d have Moncada if we didn’t make the Shields trade though. I truly believe the Shields trade blowing up as dramatically as it did as early as it did played a huge role in initiating a full scale rebuild 6 months later.

Who needs Tatis Jr when we have Tim Anderson? TA is a fucking stud!!!

Why? I see the Twins as a 85-90 win team over the next several years, 2021 included.

I think the Indians will be trending downwards in a big way by 2021 but I’m not sure the Sox will be a clear favorite over the Twins even if the Sox top prospects perform well.

It is what it is. Look around the division. No owner in the AL Central is breaking the bank in terms of payroll. If the team bumps the payroll to $125-130M by 2021, they should be one of, if not the division favorite. If they aren’t, something clearly went wrong with the rebuild along the way. As long as the young core continues to develop, I remain optimistic that this team will be very competitive starting in 2021, two years from now.

Of course. 23.7% is a HUGE improvement from 33.4% last season.

23.7 K% thru 97 plate appearances this season

I have no doubt Jerry is comfortable carrying a $125M-130M payroll and I have little doubt they will hit that number within the next few years. But I also think Jerry imposes a relatively hard cap so if they are locking down someone like Machado at $30M AAV it very well may mean they are unable to afford a Moncada or Robert extension in the future if they are already pushing up against Jerry’s self-imposed cap.

$200M to lock him up thru 2029 (age 34). Sure, I’d do it.

Thats not how this works. Just because it was “saved” today doesn’t mean it will be available in the future.

Moncada is under team control through the 2023 season. Not sure where you are coming up with 1-2 years because he is still 4.5 years away from cashing in on a $250M contract if he decides to hit free agency as soon as possible.

All of the guys you mentioned above will not be on this team when the organization is attempting to keep the core together. Heck, most will be gone after this season or next season at the latest. $45M now when team payroll is already sub $100M is far different than $30M AAV on Machado in years 2021 thru 2028 when the young core starts to hit their expensive years through arbitration or contract extensions. The cost of Machado’s contract is not an issue this year or next year but will be in future years if they intend to lock down guys like Moncada that will likely be even better than Machado during those years. I don’t know why people have such a hard time understanding that concept.

Oh yea, they are out there but it seems it has become increasingly difficult to land guys like Cain and JDM and more common to land the duds via free agency.

He wouldn’t be the first business owner to fire an employee that he doesn’t get along with regardless of how talented they are.

It’s a reflection of ownership. I think of the Mets in the same vein. Due to similar ownership restrictions, they are often shopping from the mid tier level of free agents/veterans. They have been one of the most aggressive teams in baseball in adding veterans over the past couple winters. In fact, 5 of their 8 highest paid players this season were added to the organization within the past 18 months (the other three being Cespedes, deGrom, Lagares; two of which are currently on the IL). Here’s how they are performing so far this season: Robinson Cano ($19M) 0.1 fWAR Wilson Ramos ($7.25M) -0.1 fWAR Todd Frazier ($9M) 0.1 fWAR Jason Vargas ($8M) -0.2 fWAR Jed Lowrie ($8.5M) 0.0 fWAR That’s $51.25M across 5 mid-tier vets that have combined for a total of -0.1 fWAR so far this season. Even when you are willling to spend money for the “premier” free agents, you can end up with a Heyward or a Darvish. Point is, it’s difficult to obtain value from the free agent/veteran market, which is why I’m all for utilizing the money to lock up the young core for an extended period. We’re already there with TA and Eloy. Now I’d like to see it done with Moncada. Get it done Rick.

Many GMs do. Heck, the Cubs did it on one player (Darvish).

Rodon, McCann, Herrera, and Colome have been fine.

Really? Because as recently as late last season and this spring some people were labeling Moncada and TA busts. Who the F cares about these expiring vet contracts anyway? You’re the one making a big deal about it. They’re making average money as veteran players on the 6th lowest team payroll in MLB. The only ones that had/have the ability to bring back good prospects are the two relievers. And no, the money spent on these guys did not result in missing on machado or Harper. Jerry was never going to authorize a $300M contract regardless of Alonso, Nova, etc being under contract this year.

Your opinion and I have mine. I’ve been consistent on my feelings regarding Manny for over a year. My feelings about him didn’t form just because he signed elsewhere. I was arguing with Sox fans last December about why I felt he would be a bad signing when they emerged as a top contender to land him.

You can’t just look at one piece of the roster and not the rest. If those veterans were playing well but the young guys like TA and Moncada weren’t, I’d bet people would be blasting Hahn.