Boston Red Sox Thread

[Norah]

Yeah, but so what? How far in the playoffs would we actually go? I mean, it's always good to see them in the playoffs, but there are people out there saying "we're only 6 games out, we can still win it all!".

[Simple Torture]

Wouldn't it be exciting to see them in a WC playoff game, though? It's been fun watching those play-ins over the past few years, and it'd be fun to have a rooting interest beyond hate-watching some team.

[numbers]

This team is so weird, have you ever heard of a horrible team that has too many starters?

[Norah]

Wouldn't it be exciting to see them in a WC playoff game, though? It's been fun watching those play-ins over the past few years, and it'd be fun to have a rooting interest beyond hate-watching some team.

Oh for sure.

[Coach]

Welp.

[BigRedLedbetter]

It wouldn't shock me at all if the Red Sox made a run at a WC spot. Lester has been awesome and Lackey has been pretty good but after that very suspect starting pitching. Help is on the way (Anthony Ranaudo, Webster, Owens, Couch, etc) and I'd love to see Ranaudo this year. Not a Bo Sox fan but saw Ranaudo pitch in college and think he could be really good.

[philpritchard]

It wouldn't shock me at all if the Red Sox made a run at a WC spot. Lester has been awesome and Lackey has been pretty good but after that very suspect starting pitching. Help is on the way (Anthony Ranaudo, Webster, Owens, Couch, etc) and I'd love to see Ranaudo this year. Not a Bo Sox fan but saw Ranaudo pitch in college and think he could be really good.

I never want to rule anything out, especially with the reigning World Series Champs, but over the first two years of the two Wild Card format, teams that have won the second Wild Card spot have won 88-93 games (although the Mariners currently hold the second spot and have only played at an 86 win pace). Just to get to 85 wins, Boston would have to go 47-30 the rest of the way; that's a .610 winning percentage, which is better than any team in baseball has played to this point in the season. And that's just to get them into the outskirts of the conversation for a playoff spot.

It's not that I don't think they have the talent to bounce back and turn this into a solid season. They've just dug themselves such a deep hole so far that they have to win a ton of games and rely on a bunch of other teams collapsing in the second half to even have a slim chance of making it.

[@SkitchP]

It wouldn't shock me at all if the Red Sox made a run at a WC spot. Lester has been awesome and Lackey has been pretty good but after that very suspect starting pitching. Help is on the way (Anthony Ranaudo, Webster, Owens, Couch, etc) and I'd love to see Ranaudo this year. Not a Bo Sox fan but saw Ranaudo pitch in college and think he could be really good.

I never want to rule anything out, especially with the reigning World Series Champs, but over the first two years of the two Wild Card format, teams that have won the second Wild Card spot have won 88-93 games (although the Mariners currently hold the second spot and have only played at an 86 win pace). Just to get to 85 wins, Boston would have to go 47-30 the rest of the way; that's a .610 winning percentage, which is better than any team in baseball has played to this point in the season. And that's just to get them into the outskirts of the conversation for a playoff spot.

It's not that I don't think they have the talent to bounce back and turn this into a solid season. They've just dug themselves such a deep hole so far that they have to win a ton of games and rely on a bunch of other teams collapsing in the second half to even have a slim chance of making it.

stop being pragmatic. Fuck the red sox, and I take great joy in watching them just be one of the absolute worst teams in the American League. They are weak pretty much around the entire field, and outside of Lester, a shitty rotation. Stopping significant free agent spending, and counting on the farm system to rebuild is, so far, a failure.

[@SkitchP]

Okay, that was slightly over the top.


but i enjoy seeing the red sox stink

[numbers]

It wouldn't shock me at all if the Red Sox made a run at a WC spot. Lester has been awesome and Lackey has been pretty good but after that very suspect starting pitching. Help is on the way (Anthony Ranaudo, Webster, Owens, Couch, etc) and I'd love to see Ranaudo this year. Not a Bo Sox fan but saw Ranaudo pitch in college and think he could be really good.

I never want to rule anything out, especially with the reigning World Series Champs, but over the first two years of the two Wild Card format, teams that have won the second Wild Card spot have won 88-93 games (although the Mariners currently hold the second spot and have only played at an 86 win pace). Just to get to 85 wins, Boston would have to go 47-30 the rest of the way; that's a .610 winning percentage, which is better than any team in baseball has played to this point in the season. And that's just to get them into the outskirts of the conversation for a playoff spot.

It's not that I don't think they have the talent to bounce back and turn this into a solid season. They've just dug themselves such a deep hole so far that they have to win a ton of games and rely on a bunch of other teams collapsing in the second half to even have a slim chance of making it.

stop being pragmatic. Fuck the red sox, and I take great joy in watching them just be one of the absolute worst teams in the American League. They are weak pretty much around the entire field, and outside of Lester, a shitty rotation. Stopping significant free agent spending, and counting on the farm system to rebuild is, so far, a failure.

They won the World Series last year, I wouldn't say they are a total failure organizationally.

But yeah, they blow this year.

[Coach]

They're fifth in the AL in pitching and second to last in batting. Pitching is fine. Keep letting the kids play and develop.

[@SkitchP]

They won the World Series last year, I wouldn't say they are a total failure organizationally.

They're not. But I am going to enjoy the kicking them while they're down part purely because it's fun and they tore my soul out last year from 6 rows back.

[BigRedLedbetter]

They're fifth in the AL in pitching and second to last in batting. Pitching is fine. Keep letting the kids play and develop.

Outside of Lester and Lackey their starting pitching has been suspect. Hopefully Betts provides a jolt to the hitting.

[@SkitchP]

"letting the kids play" is what teams say with no actual major league talent.

[Norah]

They won the World Series last year, I wouldn't say they are a total failure organizationally.

They're not. But I am going to enjoy the kicking them while they're down part purely because it's fun and they tore my soul out last year from 6 rows back.

I can't wait for the Tigers to lose the ALCS again.

[philpritchard]

stop being pragmatic. Fuck the red sox, and I take great joy in watching them just be one of the absolute worst teams in the American League. They are weak pretty much around the entire field, and outside of Lester, a shitty rotation. Stopping significant free agent spending, and counting on the farm system to rebuild is, so far, a failure.

Sometimes I hate being pragmatic about sports because it takes away from my ability to say thing like "BAHAHA RED SOX SUCK!" because I know they have enough talent to bounce back and the young talent coming up through the system will help them compete in the next couple years.

Don't get me wrong; I take ridiculous amounts of joy watching things go wrong in Boston, and I love that John Farrell's magic managing seems to have an expiry date, but I still like to be reasonable about things.

[Chris_H_2]

Last year was just a perfect storm for the Red Sox. I'm not taking anything away from them, because it was there for the taking and they took it. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking they were the '28 Yankees or something.

[BigRedLedbetter]

Agreed the Tigers are going down again. Probably in the ALCS. This might just be the A's year.

"letting the kids play" is what teams say with no actual major league talent.

Yes and no. I don't expect Red Sox fans to understand this concept but sometimes can't go out and sign EVERYBODY. Guys like Betts, Bradley and Bogaerts are big time prospects. You are not just letting some dude drafted in the 30th round play everyday. Also, the cupboard is full of future major league arms. If this year is lost there is no reason the Red Sox can't be great next year too. If they lose Lester I'm sure they will make a run at Scherzer, Shields, etc.

[BigRedLedbetter]

Last year was just a perfect storm for the Red Sox. I'm not taking anything away from them, because it was there for the taking and they took it. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking they were the '28 Yankees or something.

Agreed. Papi and Napoli also morph into supermen in the postseason haha. As a Rangers fan I miss Napoli big time.

[@SkitchP]

Okay turning off intentionally assholish skitch for a second about the "letting the kids play" thing...


I think fans in the major markets, specifically Boston and New York, get oversold on their prospects to a very significant level. You guys have SO much media coverage devoted to your baseball teams that all those writers are looking for people and things to talk about, and the minor league guys are a great thing to talk about. People love reading about them, and love being hopeful, so some of these prospects get built up WAY too much compared to what they would in other organizations.

How many Yankee "untouchables" get dealt a couple years later and do absolutely nothing? Phil Hughes and Jesus Montero being the most recent examples. Xander looks like a player. Haven't seen Betts to make judgment, but Bradley looks absolutely overrated, and by a large degree. So was Middlebrooks. That doesn't mean you guys have bad prospects, or are a terrible organization. It just means that the already overzealous prospect fetish is even more magnified in your market. Of your every day players on your last couple world championship teams have been homegrown? Rebuilding with prospects usually takes a decade- and that's assuming they come together AT ALL (looking at you KC), you've been on 2 year rebuilds. My team does it the same way, so it's not a knock. But it drives me crazy when people say "let's let the kids play" here. The one thing, probably more than anything else, that makes Dombrowski a great GM is he DOESN"T have the prospect fetish. He cuts bait as soon as he realizes they aren't going to be what they we're billed to, but while they still have significant value- even if the fans don't like it.