If Cora can be linked to it in any way, whether encouraging the players to say it or leaking what they said, he should be fired yesterday.
I also highly doubt that is what is going on.
Let's Lay Off That Throttle
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I also highly doubt that is what is going on.
I am not really blaming anything on Cora, for all I know Breslow isn’t communicating anything to him. If Cora isn’t on the same page as his bosses though, it seems less than ideal and perhaps a potential problem that should be resolved.
You don't think that the players understand what talent level they have on their club and want to see it augmented--especially when they know how much FSG is worth--without Alex Cora putting words in their mouths? How dumb do you think that they are?
Cora was lied to as well. They aren't doing what they need to do to support Cora either. If I was him, I'd be counting down the days until I could leave.
It’s good to see that the players also want better baseball players here and could give a fuck less about golf, or real estate development, or whatever else this group seems to value over winning baseball games.
1) That is not what the quoted part is coming close to saying.
2) I edited it for clarity about a minute after I posted it, so I apologize for any confusion.
"Don't give big contracts to shitty players, just good ones." That's a parameter.
I still think IF they were somehow able to get into the post-season they could have done some damage. The team was built to compete in short series. The team as currently constructed is already better than last year's team (assuming health better than last year's) and then just one starting pitcher away from being a 90 win team.
They are not better than last year's team and they aren't built to compete in short series. A team built for a short series would have 1 or 2 really good starters. The Red Sox do not. As far as being better than last year, they lost Turner without adequately replacing his production.
There's nothing preventing him from leaving today if he's so inclined. The only harm in quitting is likely that he wouldn't be able to manage somewhere else this season, but it's not like there's an open job to take anyway. He could always go do TV for a year. Worked out for Tito all those years ago.
Wait. You think that THIS year's team is better than LAST year's team? Really?
I didn't think last year's team was any great shakes, but I think that if they augmented the team in July* with a starting pitcher or two, they could have made August and September interesting.
This year, IDK man. I don't think that they're even going to give us a half season of being frisky.
That's not exactly true. None of those 19-21yo prospects can pitch. So they're putting some of their eggs into the basket of reclamation arms and UCL surgery survivors.
Why doesn’t Tyler O’Neil count as a RH power replacement? He obviously has an injury history but when healthy is an excellent player on both sides of the ball. He’s younger than Turner and Duvall. I’d take Duvall back before Turner due to cost and defense.
I might be alone but Turner is old and a great injury risk. I don’t think it’s a great be that he can match his 2023 number this year… he’s been fading big time over the last 3+ years. A 114 OPS+ player on the wrong side of 38 who cannot play a position isn’t a player to be counted on.
This team might lose 100 games. Especially if it goes sideways early out west.
No effing way this team loses 100 games without a plane crash. None way. None.
With current roster construction in mind, I am thinking 75 wins max if everything breaks right. But given Devers' quotes today, I'm thinking you are closer than I am. The players know they don't have it and it's week 2 of ST. 62 wins would sure be something.
O'Neill has had one really good season (2021). His last two seasons have been thoroughly average and his first three seasons weren't spectacular. Could he bounce back? Sure, guys do well after a change of scenery all the time. Would I bet on it? No. Sometimes when a club like the Cards trades a guy because they think he's washed, he's usually washed. What's telling is that the Sox are counting on a reclamation project to be one of the stalwarts of their lineup. Usually when one of these players bounces back it's because he's in a lineup (or pitching rotation) where he doesn't have to be "the man". That's why when you read an article in July about a resurgent player, 99 times out of 100, they say that they feel more "comfortable" on their new team. That's because they have less pressure to perform.
I hoping for O'Neill to turn it around and play really well, but I'm not counting on it.
How was it built to compete in short series? It had a completely gassed rotation without big arms. They would have got smoked. This is insanity that the ownership is trying to sell.
If Cora left today, the Red Sox would have a clear shot to 1st Pick of the draft in 2025. Kennedy win!
He's had 1 healthy year in his career and I wouldn't call him excellent at the plate. It's looking like 2021 was the outlier year for him.
Tyler O’Neil has exactly two 100+ OPS seasons among the six he’s played. Maybe he’ll be great offensively this season, but there’s nothing in his track record to suggest that we should write that down in ink.
The last time Turner had a sub-100 OPS season was 2012. Absent him truly falling off the age-related cliff last season, it was reasonable to assume he’d be productive. Because he has been for years.
Maybe they have replaced Turner but we sure don’t have any assurance of that in O’Neil.
Hit me up in July/August when this is how people will be trying to give away tickets to see this shitshow.
Agree about the playoffs last year, but like others I disagree about this season.
Our rotation is terrifying. At least last year people thought we had 3+ guys in Worcester that could provide depth for Sale, Paxton and whoever else got banged up.
This year? We may be going the 3 starter route by May 1st.
Red Sox ownership has failed on many fronts, but a lot of this from Cora and the players comes off as whining and entitlement. I feel like both of these things can be true. I‘d rather Devers have the mindset in spring training that he’s going to put the team on his back and have an MVP season, not this fatalistic attitude.
Or Cora and the players are sick of finishing in last place and have seen the disinterest from the ownership group in spending money to improve the on-field product.
I think everyone wanted to add, in the abstract. I certainly would have been happy about it. But there has to be a line, right? We discussed this a lot. It was, because of the expanded playoffs, a sellers' market.
Which prospects would people have been happy to trade? Michael Lorenzen and Jack Flaherty cost the equivalent of Yorke, and they gave their teams next to nothing for the stretch run. We didn't have the equivalent package for the Montgomery deal. The Turner for Cabrera deal wouldn't have helped, and probably would have sparked a different kind of outrage, about "trading team leaders midseason two years in a row" (or whatever contrived narrative they would have come up with).
If you had “entitlement”’ on your bingo card…
Seriously, I get your point. But these guys aren’t machines. It’s clear to all of them that this offseason has been a mess. This is their livelihood and they want to win.
Back in 2013 there were reports about how the players knew in Spring Training that they had a very good team on their hands. They could genuinely take on an “us against the world” attitude.
It seems like the players in ST now know this team ain’t nearly good enough. Kinda hard to manufacture fake bravado when you know that.
Can't blame Bloom, our farm system is super duper amazing. Can't Blame Henry as Betts was 5 years ago and we need to get over it already. Can't blame the players, those last place finishes can only be their own fault. Can't blame the fans who keep buying this shit sandwich and are happy with those extra napkins.
It's Cora's turn. He is absolutely entitled. How dare he speak about a team that is going to struggle to win 70 games because the team is just an asset with no real meaning to the city. Just fire him now and start flaming him on his way out the door instead of August when the team is 25 games out, half the team quit playing hard because why should they if they get 1 year deals and won't be here next year. But, the Fenway experience is what matters. At $700 for a family of 4, that 10-2 loss was extra special because Devers hit a 2 run HR to cut the deficit to 8. Fucking Cora poisoning the player's minds in week 2 of ST.
And everything that has been leaked to the press is negative/about the team being cheap. I think a lot of those reports are rumors that either agents started or agents are privy to, which are then passed along to their clients.
I'd imagine the vibes around this team are really bad and I don't blame any of the players or coaches for feeling that way.
Can Cora be blamed for the shoddy defense, poor fundamentals, forgetting outs, throwing to wrong bases, mental lapses, and general dumbfuckery in which this team has played baseball the last two years?
Except they are not rumors. Straight from Kennedy's mouth. They are cutting payroll. They will not spend to help the product on the field. A signing for a reliever returning after the ASG from TJ and folks are happy because he is cheap next year. How does this look to the current players?
If only there was a way for ownership to disprove the notion they are being cheap.
Wow. I've been plenty critical of this team over the past ... four years, but some of these comments are just bizarre. There are still actual good MLB players on this team, if healthy they seem pretty likely to me to win 80-84 games (which is where most of the projection systems have them at the moment, fwiw). Decide for yourself how acceptable that is, but this 100-loss business is pure hyperbole.
I'd guess anywhere from 75-85. But if the team gets off to a bad start, I think it has the potential to spiral very quickly
Agreed. You can't get burned if you don't stick your hand near the flame.
Also, while many here seem to prefer that the Sox front office take a conservative approach to FA signings I want them to take as much risk as possible. The willingness and ability to wear bad contracts is also a competitive advantage but one that FSG seems happy to concede. Its probably the best approach economically.
Its not that FSG is afraid of making mistakes - its that they feel like any at all will be devastating for their investors. That's great for margins but not for fielding a competitive team.
More bad news for John Henry at Daytona yesterday. Their race car (part of the Roush/Fenway team ) got destoyed in a 20 car pileup near the finish. Those cars go for over half million, and they have to pay the pitcrews and all those tires and gas.o Send those racers another check to keep 'em racin' LOL.
Are you kidding? They are trying to get Casas to date Dua Lipa to get that Taylor Swift like pull through.
By signing Jordan Montgomery to a 6/$175 million contract? That certainly would disprove the notion (for a few days anyway).
Isn't it possible that it's as simple as Craig Breslow, Andrew Bailey, Justin Willard, Kyle Boddy, and whoever else recognize that he's a good not great pitcher, a guy with four average pitches, average velocity, and good command, and that those types may not age super well? That the Sox like him but they like him at a full market rate that those kinds of players have historically been valued, and not at the rate that Boras is asking?
There are numerous possibilities. There's also the fact that Giolito's contract is the biggest one they've given to a starting pitcher in the last 5 seasons, and second place is $10 million.
Can we stop pretending that Jordan Montgomery was the only way to use money to upgrade the roster?
Houck is starting
Bobby Dalbec is on the roster
They are 32 million under the tax threshold
The idea that a player is acting entitled for calling out the FO for failing to build a winning team is insane to me. Entitled is demanding strippers and Johnnie Walker Blue in the clubhouse.
A player holding the FO accountable is aligning with the fans’ interests. None of us give a flying **** if JWH saves enough to buy another yacht. The players want to win and so do the fans; there’s only one set of stakeholders who don’t care/are incompetent, and that’s senior leadership.
A player holding the FO accountable is aligning with the fans’ interests. None of us give a flying **** if JWH saves enough to buy another yacht. The players want to win and so do the fans; there’s only one set of stakeholders who don’t care/are incompetent, and that’s senior leadership.
RSN Diaspora would get an Armeniboner not seen since Kim Kardashian and Ray J were making movies.
Agree about the vibes.
Media aside, the players have eyes. Devers knows what the team was lacking last season, and what productive players departed.
Now he’s arrived in Ft. Myers to find that much of that hasn’t been adequately addressed.