Don't they do MRIs when they sign free agent contracts of a certain size? I'd say it's far more likely this is new.
Lucas Giolito has an elbow issue.
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Houck.
Murphy, Weissert as deep spot starter / long relief. Slaten / Campbell to open?
It's about as dire as last season at the moment.
Well, for starters, the opening press conference will be about an hour of some version what you just wrote.
We really needed strong healthy seasons from Giolito, Story, and Grissom to be decent this year. Story better wrap himself in bubble wrap.
Winckowski is also a candidate to start this year. Might as well put him in the rotation and see what he can do. Let all the younger guys have their chance at this point.
Winckowski is also a candidate to start this year. Might as well put him in the rotation and see what he can do. Let all the younger guys have their chance at this point.
Doesn't look like anybody posted this yet:
View: https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1765036563900039586
View: https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1765036563900039586
I count Bello, Pivetta, Crawford, Houck, Whitlock, and Winckowski. That’s six.
I too would add Montgomery. We want Winck in AAA to start the season IMO.
From yahoo sports. In a text with one of her friends, she says: “Need daddy to choke me out,” another “Being an absolute WHORE to try to get in on his $51 million.”
There is still a lot of he said, she said, and I don't think he's a saint by any means, but she says to her friend that she wants it rough so she can get in on his money.
Winck was our 3rd best reliever last year. I definitely don't want him in AAA. I will admit, he's probably the next most likely starting candidate, but he should be in the pen on opening day. No way is he a minor leaguer after the numbers he posted last year.
I sleep fine setting my bar above “fantasizes” about beating up women.
This sucks. They needed pitching to begin with, and then lost Sale and Paxton and now essentially replaced them with nobody. If there's any silver lining to this, at least it's early enough in this season so that when he does opt in for 2025, he should be available for a good portion of the season. And if he's any good in 2025, the Sox can have him at 14m in 2026.
$40 Million for a guy who may never pitch again effectively in the Major Leagues. It will be his second TJS.
This is the worst case scenario for the Red Sox for this contract.
This is the worst case scenario for the Red Sox for this contract.
He’s a piece of shit, you saying it’s ruined several years of his life shows you sympathize with him.
No thanks.
MLB banned Bauer for an unprecedented number of games under the domestic violence policy.
While people probably deserve second chances for a great number of things, Bauer is completely unremorseful and retains all the hallmarks of his usual toxic masculinity. So, putting the morality of giving him a second chance aside (as reasonable people will disagree), he's the very definition of a poor risk.
I don't think the argument is that he's a minor leaguer. I think the purpose to starting him in AAA is to keep him stretched out as a starter. If he can be an effective starter, I don't give a shit how good a reliever he was last year. I want to see him in the rotation. If he's not one of the top 5 starters at the end of camp, the bullpen is where he should be but as a long man so if necessary he can transition to the rotation like Crawford did.
100% correct. Can you please apply for a position in the Red Sox front office?
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It's time to sell, and to promote AAA guys and see what they can do. Apologies to anyone working in the ticket office, it will be a tough job for them this year.
I'm very optimistic on 2026
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I can't believe I got laughed at when i criticized the contract structure.
Lawyer here - I'm not saying we should sign Bauer, I don't think it would be worth the drama and this team needs as few distractions as possible. But to be fair, that case against him was thrown out and a lot of evidence was released which shows he wasn't guilty in the criminal sense and liable in the civil sense. It looks like it was a scheme to extort him out of money. Again, I'm basing this on the evidence I've seen with my own eyes. There are texts from the former plaintiff where she discussed extorting him for money with a friend, and there was a video that showed she was perfectly healthy and happy at the same time she was allegedly raped and beaten.
As for Giolito, this was unexpected. I expected on some level that he might not pitch to his potential, but I didn't think it'd be an injury that's the problem. He has had ups and downs statistically but he has been generally healthy. Thinking out loud about the options, we either double down and sign Montgomery, or do a soft rebuild. That current rotation doesn't inspire any confidence, though I do think the offense will be a fine. It just feels like we are more than one Montgomery away from even being a borderline contender.
As for Giolito, this was unexpected. I expected on some level that he might not pitch to his potential, but I didn't think it'd be an injury that's the problem. He has had ups and downs statistically but he has been generally healthy. Thinking out loud about the options, we either double down and sign Montgomery, or do a soft rebuild. That current rotation doesn't inspire any confidence, though I do think the offense will be a fine. It just feels like we are more than one Montgomery away from even being a borderline contender.
And also you don't play those kind of games with guys who have logged a campaign like Winckowski did last year. It may make sense from one perspective, but it sends the wrong message to everyone to stick him with a minor-league salary and stop his service-time clock so you can have a backup starter stretched out in AAA.
Leaving all moral judgments out of it, after we saw what happened with Dermody last year, we can be pretty sure the Red Sox aren't going to sign anyone with potentially serious PR baggage again.
There were multiple accusers/victims. He likes violent sex. AFAIK, he has basically said nothing was his fault. So what are the odds he's going to violate the MLB DV policy again and get suspended as a second offender?
Apart from the moral aspect, that's the question teams will be asking.
I don't think you're deliberately conflating the two risks (MLB suspension v. criminal law conviction), but it sometimes seems that Bauer supporters forget about the first in their eagerness to point out the second. And the first is a non-zero. Perhaps significantly so as Bauer has (AFAIK) shown no remorse or indication that things have changed for him.
If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. Maybe not a rapey duck, but it's a duck.
Snell is more talented, but more expensive and less durable than Montgomery. Especially when we know how frugal they're being, Snell just doesn't seem like an option. Plus there are indications Montgomery is more likely to want to play in Boston.
Beyond the fact that this team is clearly not trying to compete: how exactly would this FO sell Montgomery or Snell on this situation? "Come join a last-place team in the toughest division in baseball so you can get your ass kicked every five days, oh and by the way it's too late and expensive for us to add any other impact players" doesn't seem particularly appealing to guys who are coming from contenders.
Peaks and variance vs solid and steady. I think the former is a signing you can make if you already have a better, playoff capable, team.
Snell's 31, has an uneven record of production, and wants long years. So it's the same issue as Montgomery, really. Assuming this year is a stretch, do you want to commit X dollars to Snell in 25, 26, 27, etc.? There's a point where you do, and a point where you don't. And since Boras is his agent, we can assume he's starting well above the "don't" point for any and all teams, otherwise he'd already be signed.
He had an All-Star first half, but he had a rough month of July [ERA over 8, WHIP over 1.6, OPS over .900] before getting hit in the head.
Dan Shaughnessy breaks out the typewritter and starts "The Curse of the Mookie Betts trade" (fuck him and his schtick)
I'm so bummed, I was starting to get somewhat hopeful about this season after reading the development plans for the pitchers and the unique approach of Coach Bailey. This sucks
I'm so bummed, I was starting to get somewhat hopeful about this season after reading the development plans for the pitchers and the unique approach of Coach Bailey. This sucks
View: https://twitter.com/bradfo/status/1765059906569392219?s=46
Margin thin error. Should have added more starters.
Margin thin error. Should have added more starters.
What sucks the most is the contract they signed him to - though I don’t think anyone expected for it to go this badly this quickly. If the Sox aren’t making the playoffs either way, it’s probably better for Bailey and Breslow to focus on young pitchers who the team will control if/when they develop into keepers. Had Bailey been able to help Giolito who would have been gone at the end of the year anyway.
To be clear, I want him in AAA *starting.* It’s not that I think he’s a minor leaguer, it’s that he has options remaining so he can be that depth SP.
Forgot about Criswell. He's the guy Breslow signed to a major league deal so he really likes something there.
I hear you and understand what you're saying. To be super clear, I'm not a supporter of his or anything, as I do believe its not worth the risk. From some of the things I have seen, he does appear to have character issues, though at the same time not all of the accusations against him may be true. So, as an example, he may very well be a right-wing asshole who likes violent sex, but that doesn't mean he raped that plaintiff in the most recent case that received coverage. That said, he may very well have been guilty and liable in the other cases against him. Where there's smoke, there's fire, as they say.
Either way, there's enough fire there that its just not worth the risk. Even if I knew he would post a 2.00ERA and win 20 games, I would still hesitate the same way.
Interesting take from Lou, that they expected him to opt out.
View: https://twitter.com/loumerloni/status/1765036056460619980?s=46
View: https://twitter.com/loumerloni/status/1765036056460619980?s=46
Yup. Fortunately, the player and team should have aligned incentives here. Crazy how quickly you can light $40M on fire. Hated that player option due to no performance upside but this was the other part of it. Sox assumed all the injury risk. There admittedly wasn’t a ton to be worried about health wise but this is MLB and tons of pitchers go down every year.
Relying on him opting out when giving player opt-outs is highly risky. Hope that's not how they're doing business.
If the 2025 budget / offseason plan is constrained by this, that's just another strike against Henry for me (who I am trying to give every benefit of the doubt to still, but...).
If the 2025 budget / offseason plan is constrained by this, that's just another strike against Henry for me (who I am trying to give every benefit of the doubt to still, but...).
I can't recall where, but I'm pretty sure that I read earlier in the off season that this was being considered.
Didn't you hear they're bringing Heinz Ketchup back?
This just shows how far this ownership group is wiling to go put the best product on the tube steak.
Yeah, that would be insane...though Merloni isn't exactly someone I would take word for word.
The short term contract with player opt outs are just not great business unless you are getting an absolute steal with the other terms. Especially for pitchers.
Probably better off signing someone like Giolito to a 1/25-30M contract (if you really want him for some reason) than the one he signed. The 18M player option has huge value to the player with a real chance of big-time dead $ to the team.
And one who was TERRIBLE the second half of last season. Yes, he had personal issues. Though I'm sure a lot of guys do, and still perform not too far from their mean. He was abjectly bad at the end of the season, and as a guy who has been historically good, that should raise some red flags and health concerns.
