35thstreetswarm

I'd be nervous if they did.

I generally agree with the sentiment that stars should get paid, but I don’t actually think many people tune in to see Bauer. I’ve never seen a Bauer jersey. He’s more loud than popular.

Tune in to the Super Bowl in, oh, two days

I'd like a glimpse into the Soxtalk threads of the alternate universe where Bauer signs here, ties up 35M in payroll, gets into fights with Tim, and puts up a 4.25 ERA in 2021

The last time the Sox established themselves as a contender they spent themselves into a top-five payroll for multiple years. And it wasn't in the 60s or 70s, it was in the 2000s. That's the history. So there's reason to believe they'll spend more than league average as they get deeper into their sindow. That they're league average in February 2021 hardly eliminates that possibility.

Cease reminds me a lot of Floyd. They both have that same shy-Ronny vibe

Would have preferred prioritizing starting pitching over closer, ideally with a high-upside guy like Kluber. Would also have preferred a Pedersen/Engel platoon over Eaton purely because of injury concern (if he's healthy all year I think he'll be a good get). I'm fine with the Lynn move, especially if we extend him. But big picture: this is a really good team that can make a deep playoff run. Haven't felt that in 15 years.

Well, that kind of assumes the answer to the ultimate question, doesn't it? There are lots of people, myself (and the oddsmakers) included, who do think this team could go all the way. Sure, it would be better if we added a Cy Young winner as our 4th starter (and I'd celebrate with everybody if we did so). It would be even better if we added another Cy Young winner as our fifth starter. But is either move strictly necessary? I guess we'll see. Would they be typical, when considering the moves and rosters of the other teams vying for the same trophy? Definitely not.

How many fans have been treated to a "non-luck needing World Series contender" in their lifetimes? I can think of...well, none

I think this site would be much shorter on wildly vacillating Hot TaEks if more people would take this approach of measuring this team's flaws against the flaws of the flawed teams against which it will be competing. Seems obvious, but apparently not so. [Cueing "but we're not the DODGERS!!!" in 3...2....]

Well, somebody definitely whiffed on "the point."

Don’t hate it

Top 5 in baseball good.

I'm hopeful that watching Luis Robert batting 7th in my favorite team's lineup will help me through my "grieving" process.

I don't disagree. I'm just positing a scenario/mindset that might plausibly explain Jerry's hesitance to spend.

Not necessarily. As you say, they may be trying to thread the needle" a little bit. Assuming this mindset, the thinking goes: you don't want to backslide, and want to address the glaring weaknesses that would all but preclude us from succeeding in the playoffs based on what they saw last year. So you get rid of the shitty manager who basically lost on purpose down the stretch; you get an actual third playoff starter where before you didn't have one; you replace the potted plant in RF with an actual living person; and you replace the closer (with a guy on a four-year deal, so that fits the longer window). You do this so you can take a credible shot this year (without going too crazy), without sacrificing the key long-term pieces. And before you say "but Dunning!", I think they just don't view him as an irreplaceable long-term piece.

One possibility that doesn't get discussed enough is that Jerry might not be totally convinced we've reached the "all-in" part of the window yet. Most of us feel we're in year one of the contention window, but maybe Jerry's just not there yet. The team seems to be proceeding with the caution you'd expect at the very early part of a contention window, before you've 100% dialed in team needs, and are still in wait-and-see mode with pieces of your roster (Cease, Kopech, Vaughn, etc.) Maybe Jerry needs REAL success -- like an ALCS -- before he'll open up the pocketbook. Hell, it took an actual WS in 2005 to propel us to the top of the payroll heap.

You absolutely can. Particularly if you comprehend that there is a vast range of potential opinion that exists between "Jerry Good!" and "Jerry Bad Man"

Now you've done it, upper-deck apologist. Why don't you just marry your beloved upper deck. Maybe it's not high enough for you

This is the right way of saying it. I haven't been this excited for a Sox season since 2006, and the decision to sign/not sign a Garret Richards type isn't going to change that. But it would be beyond weird if the team didn't take the very modest steps necessary to fill the final holes. It's like driving a Lamborghini with one treadless tire. Maybe it will be fine. It's a Lamborghini either way, and I'm not going to whine in front of my friends with Hyundai Sonatas. But still...why not just replace it?

This. I'm as puzzled as anybody by the unwillingness (so far) to fill the final holes on this team when it seems so easy to do so, and am not a big fan of Jerry. But this is also a great roster that's the talk of baseball, and like it or not, that's also been built under this FO and ownership. Some of you should try taking a breath and moderating your views a little bit. This is a roster most fanbases would kill for. If your fandom and well being rises and falls on the presence or absence of Garrett Richards or James Paxton at the back end of the rotation you've officially lost the forest.

Guess his mandate from the FO is to crush all fan dreams and be a gratuitous dick about it in the process

Yes, they're lazy. And unable to respond to your airtight argument, so they just deflect. They're really just admitting defeat in the argument because they can't respond to one of your points, even though they're in bullets. It's actually sad and absurd how lazy they are. Just lazy and deflecting, so they can't respond to your argument out of laziness, and not paying attention. Instead they just deflect. It's absurd how much their deflecting just proves your point, really. And lazy.

Wow - that's a lot.