JUSTgottaBELIEVE

Defensively yes. And honestly, it’s shown on the pitching/defense side as the team carries a 4.13 ERA thru 7 games (compared to 4.87 last season) and only has 2 errors thru 7 games (lowest in MLB). I don’t think anyone was arguing those guys would hit, at least I hope they weren’t arguing that.

It’s clear to me he’s this team’s best reliever. Could get a very nice return for him in a July trade. Still has many years of cheap control.

Fedde certainly appears to be the real deal. They don’t have any big names but this starting rotation is better than what we saw last year (assuming Clevinger is good again).

Torres and Santander feel like Sox type FA signings. I assume they’ll be in play for both and likely only land Santander.

I dunno. He looks like a serviceable 5th starter to me. Certainly better than Flexen.

Exactly why I think there’s more to the story here. Wonder if it will come out eventually.

Is that code for something else though? Putting two and two together kind of feels like it.

What was the deal with Jose? Was he injured or were there off the field personal issues occurring? He was optioned to AAA a month ago and had yet to appear in a AAA game this season. Seems like there’s more to this story.

Has this been finalized yet? What’s the holdup? Sox are going to need a 5th starter soon you’d think lol

Royals blow it again this time in the 9th. Will Smith is garbage.

Royals about to take 2/3 in Baltimore and probably should have won the first game too. Perhaps 90+ wins this season wasn’t the lock our orioles’ friends thought it was.

Lorenzen got $4.5M guaranteed. Both he and Clevinger have proved more in mlb than Crochet. The reality is crochet is another TJS away from not getting a meaningful FA contract after his arb years. Even giving him $20M guaranteed is risky at this point until he proves he can stay healthy and pitch more than 50 innings in a season. I agree he has a ton of potential but so did Michael Kopech and Eloy Jimenez.

Well, that hasn’t exactly worked either - see Benintendi, Keuchel, Grandal, etc.

And Mike Clevinger only got $3M guaranteed so what’s your point?

Define considerable. You don’t think close to $20M to buy out this year and next two arb years plus two years of FA is close? Crochet would guarantee financial security for life (which I would think is a priority for someone like him given his injury history) and if he’s still healthy and performing well thru that extension he’s just 29 years old when he hits the open market.

Think he would take something similar to the Bunmer extension? https://www.nbcsportschicago.com/mlb/chicago-white-sox/white-sox-lock-up-aaron-bummer-with-record-five-year-extension/381642/?amp=1

I think Cease is a low level ace by today’s standards and much of that is tied to his durability. Crochet has the stuff to be a high level ace (top 5 mlb SP) but he still has a lot to prove from a durability perspective. The guy has a career 2.51 ERA in MLB so he has no trouble getting mlb hitters out but he has yet to throw 100 total innings and this is his 5th season in mlb. If he can stay healthy, the sky is the limit because he’s got stuff equivalent or better than peak degrom when he’s throwing strikes.

Moncada is so damn smooth at 3b. If only he could put up a consistent .800 OPS he’d be a monster

Terrific outing Garrett!

I wasn’t joking when I said he could be the next Randy Johnson but therein lies the blessing and the curse. Because if he’s that good and that durable the next 3 seasons, you really think the Sox will pony up to extend him? That’s just not realistic.

If they can get a Cease type return (or better) I would do it. This team isn’t competing until 2026 at the earliest anyways and it’s not like the Sox are going to pay him after the 2026 season if he’s the next Randy Johnson.

I know the weather sucks but he’s shutting out the best offense in baseball and making it look easy. If this guy stays healthy I don’t see why he couldn’t put up 2022 Cease numbers or even better with less innings (only because of the expected innings limitation).

He doesn’t even need them, that’s the crazy thing

If Crochet shuts out the Braves is he a legit cy young candidate?

Clearly you hate the guy but he did have a 2.2 fWAR season in 2023. If does anything close to that again in 2024, $3M is well below market rate.