SpringfieldFan

If you are having a pitcher "throttle back" in a scoreless extra inning game...you got a problem.

One consideration. Isn't this TLR's first time managing without Dave Duncan as his pitching coach?

One of the pitchers is working on a shutout. The other isn't working at all.

So far its a 7th inning wretch.

Our pitcher is throwing a two hit shutout yet it feels like we are getting blown out ?

Four guys in our starting lineup with averages under .200 including two with averages under .100. Heck, two have averages under .001.

Moncada is starting to convince me in the wisdom of investing in depth rather than shiny objects. Depth isn't exciting but doesn't risk becoming money down the drain.

#SundayLineup

Will it be another season of TA sneaking into the batting title race with just enough plate appearances to qualify?

A grueling west coast road trip to start the season...with two key stars going down...playing some of the worst fundamental baseball possible...with a few bats still waiting to wake up... Yet they might just come back home with a winning record.

Is Grandal ever gonna be anything for this team?

I am reminded of what a frustrated coworker once said, "If the boss asks you to step in and clean toilets watch out because if you are really good at it he might decide you're too valuable cleaning toilets".

Not to stray too far from the topic, but it would be nice if the FO's "frugality" was really a strategy for reserving funds so they can replace the inevitably injury loss with someone other than a dumpster dive.

Yeah, I will admit I'm envious of the Padres...

Is this about spending money for great pieces here and there or about building depth? If it's about spending the $, what's their payroll compared to the rest of the teams? Unless it's lower tier, I don't think you can say the org sucks simply by virtue of being stingy. The other argument is about not building depth. Several comments have said how poor the team is with their organizational depth and that is why they have no replacements for Eloy, etc. How do you rebuild all that in a couple years? I am impressed with what they have managed to accomplish with the dearth of resources they had just a few years ago. To still have the attitude that they are still so awful would be a miserable way for me to live as a fan.

So despite what they have done over the last few years - they suck, is that it? Really, before the rebuild they had a couple of marketable players in Chicago plus a couple hundred worthless bodies in minor league uniforms. I'm not sure how you do a rebuild with those resources and get top tier prospects plus depth from top to bottom in three or four years. Even if they opened up the checkbook they would have what? I'm guessing it would look like what they have now plus maybe Machado. Whoopie.

Leury is the type of player great teams have available as a utility guy and the type of player poor teams have as a regular.

MLB.com thinks he could be the 2021 HR king: https://www.mlb.com/news/2021-mlb-home-run-leader-predictions

A few weeks after the series, Bobby Jenks and Neal Cotts made a joint appearance (I forget the place) to help introduce a video called "Sox Pride" which was a retrospective of the championship. I think Comcast put it out. Anyway, I still have two of the DVD's, one opened and one still in the shrink wrap.

Yes, it is a fair point, and the numbers are the numbers and RBI doesn't necessarily translate to WAR. I guess this is the thing for me: Having watched Jose in 2019 you can't tell me he only gave the Sox a couple more wins by being on the team rather than some other average schlub at first base. Maybe its my fan bias, I don't know, I'm an older guy and maybe I just look at general stats plus intangibles as the measure of worth more than the extremely calculated and granular sabermetrics we have now. I grew up with slash lines, period. Once I started hearing about OPS, WHIPs and whatever else that was it for me, lol.

A little odd to me. Tim and Jose won the batting and RBI titles respectively in 2019 so it's not like they came out of nowhere in 2020.

Katz should obviously be a major improvement over Cooper. However, I was wondering...During TLR's managerial career, he always had Dave Duncan as his pitching coach. Thew were a tandem so its odd to not have him there now. Is there any downside to not having that synergy? For that matter, I believe Duncan is a now pitching consultant with the organization. How does that work? Does that mean TLR and/or Katz will be able to leverage some of Duncan's expertise? I just wondered because IMO the LaRussa/Duncan dynamic was a key factor in the success the Sox, A's and Cards had in those years.

I understand the attraction to the DH from an offense standpoint and for how it gives the fans the opportunity to have someone like a Luzinski to watch. However, the purpose of the DH wasn't to have another bat added per se, but to keep pitchers from hitting. Therefore, it seems logical to me to compromise and just do away with pitchers batting *and* the do away with the DH. Eight man batting lineup, simple as that. No more pitchers batting who can't hit, no more double switches and other time consuming strategic nonsense, and no DH for those who don't prefer it.

This older fan's response: to look up what wRC+ means.

Granted, then is then and now is now, but I remember the 70's when my dream was just to have a team that could be respected by playing close to .500 ball. Then this... I won't make excuses for ownership not re-investing profits for wins, but will have to hope that money not being spent on payroll now will not go to an owner's yacht but instead to retention of existing young talent and better opportunities in the near future.