turnin' two

Yeah, I always liked him. Now I hate him.

Does pitching cost less at the trade deadline? I'm not sure it does.

Yeah. I agree completely with this. Gray would be a huge upgrade. And would give the Sox a great front of their rotation. They would have 4 really good legitimate starters. Gray has a better career ERA than Bauer. A better career WHIP than Bauer. He is also much more consistent than Bauer. Bauer either gives you a number 1 type season (twice) or a number 4 type season. He has never finished a season with an ERA in the 3s. Quite remarkable really. He has been over 4 5 times, and under 3 once, and under 2 once. Gray has been over 4 twice, and under 3 twice. and between 3 and 4 three times. Gray can be controlled until after the 23 season, at a max of 12 million. Having Gray go with Giolito, Keuchel and Lynn would be a great rotation. And if you don't think so, well I think you need to do some more research on these guys and what other teams have. His last 2 years, he has put up these numbers, while pitching in Cincinnati. 3.07 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 10.8 K/9. Yeah, it would be great to get Woodruff or Castillo. But those deals are likely starting with Vaughn or Kopech. Hell, maybe Vaughn and Kopech. This would give you 4 reliable starters. And it wouldn't be a short term move. You'd have Gray for 3 years. It depends on what it would take, but Gray could certainly be a way to solidify the rotation now, while not completely hollowing out the farm like Woodruff or Castillo would. And to me, both of those things are important. This team, right now, is ready to win. They need another pitcher. And Gray is a significant upgrade over any of the free agent options except maybe Bauer, but Bauer is just too expensive for the Sox so he isn't a realistic option. He is a guy you could actually rely on in the playoffs, instead of having to have a hodgepodge 4th starter.

Wow. That's tough news. Good luck. Prayers up for you and your family.

I think I would prefer Lynn in general. But when you look at the price, give me Lynn all day long.

Maybe get Fidel-ity investments to be the new sponsor? I'll show myself out!

Yeah, you'd think the Colas would be a given with the Portillos Burger.... Eh... I tried

Hahah! That's great. Jose has absolutely feasted on the best pitching. I love it.

It isn't his fault that he never played with anything on the line. You just can't help yourself with him.

This is awesome. Love it. Maybe this somehow gets Minnie another look?

Rats. I did. Now I regret it.

100% chance of delicious.

That is so completely idiotic. No, I wouldn't want that free year of a dude. WTF?

I also am afraid of when the Sox have to match up with the Mariners, Rangers and Orioles. But give me more pitching. Starter, and a reliever or two. I certainly wouldn't be against a more proven commodity at DH either.

See, this is why I'm ok with signing Eaton. Because I think this is likely a playoff team Engel/Leury in RF. When I think about matching up with the Yankees, A's, Astros, Rays, Jays or whoever, in the playoffs; you know what I think the Sox need? Pitching. So, if signing allows them to bring in Hendriks, then I'm all for it. If it allows them to sign Hendriks and a starter? Great. Hendriks and any of McGee, Bradley, Rosenthal? Yeah, that's what I want. Because I think Giolito, Keuchel, and Lynn can be mostly depended on in a playoff game. I don't know if any of the younger guys will step up, sure hope they will. But in the playoffs, being able to go with Crochet, Foster, Heuer, Bummer, McGee (or whichever one), well that seems pretty good to me. They marginally improved upon a weakness, and gave themselves an opportunity to upgrade in other areas as well.

So, did you know, that for Joc Pederson's career, he averages 1.7 bWAR per season (ignoring his first season, which was 38 PA). Maybe that's better. (Eaton averages 1.86, so, there's that, but I think we can all agree that his best days are behind him.) Seems pretty similar to the 1.5 WAR that you are so disgusted with though. And what rationale are you using to define Eaton as below average? Again, he has averaged being nearly a 2 WAR player over 10 seasons. Last season he was horrible, though so were a lot of pretty good players. And contending teams sign guys like Eaton all the time. They trade for them. They are upgrades over what they had. Pretending they don't is ignorant. The Yankees keep bringing Brett Gardner back right? If I had a unicycle, a yugo is a pretty sweet upgrade. But Eaton isn't a Yugo. Eaton is more like a Chevy or something like that. Not a Camaro or a Vette, but like a Malibu-ish.

.276/.366/.428 .794 OPS in 499 PA. Yeah. I'd be happy with that.

That's all fine and probably true, in a vacuum. But if you put Eaton in context, in a lineup that already includes Abreu, Eloy, Moncada, Grandal, Robert, Anderson etc, it matter less. He doesn't need to create runs. The Sox have plenty of guys that do that. Most teams have a power bat in RF. Most teams also don't get great production out of CF and SS. The Sox should get great production out of SS and CF. And 1B, and 3B, and LF, and C. That allows them to build their team differently. Maybe they don't have a big bat in RF. Well, they don't need one. They need a competent player. It'd be nice to have stars at every position, but it isn't that likely. If Eaton plays like he did in 2019, and is hitting 8th, or even 2nd, well, that would make the Sox lineup deep and dangerous. If Eaton replicates his 1.5 bWAR (is that the one that matters???) it is still .2 better than Nomar Mazara's career number. Is Eaton an All Star? No probably not. Is he a great player? No probably not. But he is a good player, that does some things well. He can help a team to win. And he is a major upgrade over what the team had. It would have been nice to put a star like Springer out there, but that didn't happen. So the team still got incrementally better. And every marginal improvement helps.

I agree with Ray Ray. First of all, only use WAR to evaluate players. Using anything else just clutters the picture, why would you want more data points? Secondly, only use the WAR evaluation that Ray Ray thinks is superior. He is right. Duh. And finally, if you can't have a 4 WAR (of Ray Ray's choosing) player at every position, what is the point? Why would anyone ever want a just that is a lousy 1.5 WAR player (remember, fWAR doesn't count for position players!). And seriously, cherry picking stats where a guy performed in the absolute highest pressure, most important situation is ridiculous. It is exactly the same as a few good games in the middle of June. Cmon people. Use your brains.

That's a rough break for Portillos. If you lose Orlando, you've lost Soxtalk.

And Melky spent most of his time hitting 2nd or 3rd in the lineup. Engel, should at least spend his time hitting, 8th or 9th? You'd think at least? Having an average hitter hitting 3rd is bad. Having an average hitter hitting 8th, is less so.

I'd say the weird take is prioritizing the farm system. It is like Stockholm Syndrome central around here. As a GM, with the Marlins, he won a pennant and a World Series. As a GM with the TIgers, his teams got to the playoffs 5 times, won 2 pennants. Oh, and the Tigers were an absolute joke before he got there. Like a decade straight of losing seasons bad. With the Red Sox, his teams made the playoffs three times, won 1 pennant and 1 World Series. 9 playoff appearances, 4 pennants and 2 World Series titles. His career is beyond your opinion that he didn't do a thing in Boston. And despite him not building a thing in Boston, he did acquire Sale, Kimbrel, Price and JD for that team. I don't really remember but I would guess those guys were important to their winning. Yeah, it didn't end well, and there were some albatross contracts. But that happens when you play in free agency. His team had 3 shots in 4 years, and won one. I think most teams would take that.

Yeah. Getting to the playoffs and World Series sucks. I mean, your farm system ranking is way more important.

If you think, then it isn't even close to being a sure thing, you're probably a Bear fan. Ugh.

Its Jimi too. What a noob.