Quin

Defense not guaranteed*

On the broadcast they were like "10 years ago he'd be the #1 pick." In my head I figured it'd be further back, but boy were they right.

I love this headline because the alterative is "Scout is lazy at job." But also, when will people on this board realize that Merkin's job is to write puff pieces, other than game recaps? He's the writer for the team's website. He's not gonna write a "Chris Getz sure fucking sucks at roster management" or "Pedros 10 dumbest quotes" article.

Schriffen doesn't deserve to be on a shirt yet.

I think they were considering trading up for him. The NBA.com consensus mock draft had him at #5

Cause people didn't like Tony LaRussa being hired

Idk about three year outlook, but the Sox were a very, very trendy 2021 pick. Pick your divergent point: Eloy hitting the wall, Yermin's 3-0 slam, or TLR's DUI

I'm gonna back you up here. Lots of pundits were picking the Sox to reach the World Series in 2021.

Like, the Mariners are paying the Brewers, right?

It's funny cause we're seeing what a team that can't run, can't throw, can't hit and can't field — JR's supposedly ideal player — is like. It's bad.

I'm sorry, we could sign 3 Maldonados with that money.

The Duality of Greg

Does anyone know Bridgeport Heather has survived the past few seasons???

I'm sorry, what?

And Lenyn was your possible stop-gap at 2B - except he's been holding down 3B while Ramos gets ready. Everyone loves to rag on Sosa, but his Charlotte numbers (even at the same age), dwarf Ramos. If any of Montgomery, Ramos or Gonzalez bust - you need Sosa, someone everyone wants to jettison because he's struggling at the major league level. But so far he's the only one to succeed at the Charlotte bandbox. This stuff takes time.

I mean, look at the O's. Their big turnaround started with the 2019 draft and getting Adley Rutschman as their cornerstone piece. Then they got Kjerstad, Cowser, Holliday and Bradfield. That's not counting Henderson (2019, 2nd rounder), Basallo (INT signing 2021), Norby (2nd rounder, 2021), Rodriguez (2018 1st), Westburg (Competitive Balance Pick). Yeah, their rotation has taken hits right now. But they are absolutely stuffed on offense and have close-to-ready prospects.

Like, I'm not even arguing that Mike Shirley can get the right players in. But their timetables have to all line up, and barring absolute historic drafts, that's going to be a multi-year process, even considering guys already in the system. Then you have to convince JR to pay up for Crochet.

He pitched 2/3 of an innings of relief, strained his arm and then threw out the bullpen 2021. Then his arm snapped after he aced Ohtani in spring training.

No, I think he'd be ready to go by 2026. SImple question: Do you not understand that developmental timelines and contracts need to lineup? That's the entire reason Crochet is being discussed as a trade piece, because he'd be gone by Jac's sophomore season. Robert has more control and we're discussing shipping him out. What happens if Montgomery doesn't solve things in AAA? You're now praying that Gonzalez is gonna come through. Schultz is still building innings. We're banking on him being ready to go full steam ahead in 2026? Crochets last year of team control. This is assuming Ramos avoids a sophomore slump, Quero reaches the majors at age 23 as a catcher both and Korey Lee pan out, Thorpe and Cannon prove that they're more indicative of their better starts than their worse starts. And we've just seen a bunch of prospects that were on the same timelines bust because this same medical staff couldn't keep guys healthy.

Then by this logic, the 2016 White Sox were ready to go.

Because when people say it'd take 5 years to get stuff going through the draft and you say "Shirley's work started in 2019" and we're just now getting major dividends in 2024, that works out to 5 years and that's just with Crochet. It's not just one player, it's a holistic approach. I'm a big Draft Jac person. If it takes until 2026 for Crochet (hopefully he's still here), Montgomery (if he's up this year), Schultz (next year may be a cup of coffee), Gonzalez (let's see him get through Birmingham), and Jac are all together - that's 7 years. I'll lop off 2019 since Crochet was 2020 - it's still a six-year process. You don't get to magically erase rehab years, because the player had to go through them before being a dominant, MLB starter.

And to kinda drive home the point that others were making, that is taking 5 years.

The Mets are 9-2 since Grimace graced their mound An absolute phenom We once asked, where's our Liriano? Then we got him and he sucked. But, in a season of despair, where is our Grimace?

This is essentially their rehab plan the past several years, in large part due to lack of depth.