turnin' two

Burnes, for the record, was 21st in IP in the NL last year. He would have been 3rd on the Sox (just 4 innings fewer than Keuchel) . I think it is safe to say he was working a full time starters load last season.

I don't know. And I'm not going to look. It is a still a horrible comparison. Kopech has a bunch of other stuff going on with his uncertainty. Honestly, I share a lot of your misgivings about Burnes. But comparing him to Todd Ritchie (cmon man, this one was just ridiculous) and Michael Kopech aren't good comps. I have also mentioned that how much he has pitched is a concern. I think it makes it really difficult to value him. But I think you can also look at the stuff and realize that it is top of the rotation type stuff. Can he do that over a year? Who knows. But maybe that unknown is why you can get him for less talent than say Castillo or Woodruff. There is always going to be risk involved. Burnes was dominating last season. If he does that again, you have no chance of acquiring him at all. Really, I don't think this is likely at all, because I don't see any reason for Milwaukee to move him unless they are blown away. And I don't think the Sox do that with out including Kopech, which we have been told the Sox aren't doing. Ok, I did have to check, and I don't know if he was the last guy to do it, but the first that came to mind was Chris Sale. Chris Sale went from 70 IP to 192. It doesn't fit your exact specifications, but pretty close, and I think that worked out ok. And Burnes was primarily a reliever in 2019.

I'm shocked! Somewhere Tommy La Stella just shed a tear I think.

Hmmm, maybe that is because Burnes has pitched at all the last couple years. And Kopech had a devastating elbow injury he needs to recover from and hasn't pitched at all in over 2 years. Maybe at least, I could just be making stuff up.

It almost brings it to, there better be, or else this was a huge missed opportunity.

I don't think any of those guys want a 1 year deal. Lindor/Correa/Story/Seager/Baez are all free agents after next season. I don't think Semien and Gregorious would want to join that market. Obviously I could be wrong, but there seems to be a lot of incentive for those guys to do their absolute best to get at least a couple years.

Wow. That seems like an ideal fit for the Sox. Too bad. Good Luck Q!

This seems a perfect way to say nothing, but if something does happen, pretend you knew all along.

Yeah, I don't think I would have liked it if the Sox beat that price.

Mike Leake or Chris Archer for 5-6 million Eddie Rosario for 9-10 million. Though honestly I'd prefer they just spend it all on Tanaka, or go with Q and a lighter bat, but I still think they should try to get Rosario... I just think he fits well.

I assume for this conversation we are ignoring Tanaka because he is likely too expensive?

Hahah, well you still win in my book.

Ahem...Ahem... ?

The more I think about it, the more I think Mike Leake is a fit. He'll likely be cheap. He is a innings eater. Fairly predictable in the results he will get you. I think he works in that number 4 slot. It doesn't seem like the Sox ( or anyone ) has been connected to him, but I think he make a bit of sense. Beyond Quintana, he may be the most reliable starter, even if he is lacking in the upside of someone like Richards or Paxton, he is much more likely to give you 30 starts and 180+ innings.

This is awesome, what did you say???

Hahahaha! "You babies can't even get me 10 runs! What's the point of pitching??!?!?!" Yikes. Again I used my friend Baseball reference. I would advise all of you to never look at pitching stats for our 1999 Sox. Holy Schnikes. The team has 1 starter with an ERA under 5, and none with a WHIP below 1.4. My brain must have chosen to save me from those memories. Decent bullpen though. Keith Foulke threw over 100 innings out of the pen! The next year, guys named Garland and Buehrle started to cut their teeth.

Trading Jamie Navarro for Cal Eldred and Jose Valentin has to be one of the best trades the Sox have made. OOFF. Just looked up Navarro's stats. Wow. He was even worse than I remembered. And I remembered him being just horrific. With the Sox he was 25-43 (3 years! He lost 43 games in 3 years!) a 6.06 ERA, 102 starts, 542 innings, 1.69 WHIP, 1.3 K/BB. Then traded him for 2 pretty valuable guys. Hahah.

I wonder if Mike Leake is an option. He isn't great, and there isn't a ton of ceiling, but he is reliable, can pitch useful innings, and would probably be cheaper than Q or Richards. But I think he could give you similar results to Q, and is certainly more durable than Richards.

Its a bummer that they didn't get a long term extension done before this.

That's clearly why he signed here then.

Oh no...

He's clearly not Steve Cishek. And I think I speak for all of us saying, thank goodness he isn't Steve Cishek.

Well he wanted a good understanding of Sox fans. It wouldn't be real without infighting about sources and food.

Yeah, but he's a cheater cheater pumpkin eater. Even still that's a great point...

I like having him. It is worth it to have work with Katz to see if there is anything there. And even if it doesn't get him to what we all hoped he could be, it is worth trying him out as a reliever, and worst case scenario as a guy to just eat up junk innings. But I still have hope for him. But I can be a blind optimist.