I'm going to purposely ignore the little tacks about my personality and level of involvement given I've been the one who's gone at great lengths to source factual data out of the two of us, so that can be a bygone.....
The posts in this thread show otherwise. But if you drop the ad hominems, I will as well.
...I agree that spending "better" is the prudent point, however my issue with the spending was in regards to the bull pen more specifically. I don't mind conceding that spending wisely is better than spending more.....
We agree on spending, then. (re. the bullpen, I still doubt mere spending is the problem. On paper coming into this year, the Sox pen could have been very good. Turns out, it hasn't been. The Yanks spent a ton on Soriano, and he has been bad. I bet if we look at the spending data by team, we'd see little correlation b/t spending and performance in the pen, either.)
...The statistics seem to indicate that either the evaluation of pitching is poor or the performance is poor. I think it's a combination of both.
I followed that and enjoyed the discussion.
No issue with any of these comments.
I agree RE: Gonzalez and I'm undecided on Crawford atm. I agree that Lee seemed like he was going to Philly and only Philly. The point is how do we improve the rotation and pen to the point where it becomes a strength and not a liability.
So it sounds like we actually agree for the most part.
How do we improve the pitching to the point where it becomes a strength?
Honestly, I don't know if our scouts or pitching coach are bad. My guess is they're roughly similar to most teams, but that's just a guess.
Aside from that, though, if the Sox keep focused on improving the team, these should become strengths.
I think Buchholz's injury was extremely detrimental to the team. Not only does it take away our #3 (who has potential to be more than a #3), it puts more pressure on the entire staff, especially the pen.
This offseason, I think the Sox should make Sabathia a legitimate offer, though it will get beat by the Yanks, and probably go after CJ wilson as well.
Our other holes are RF and SS. I don't think there are any good RFs on the FA market, but hopefully Kalish next year will resume his progress after a waste of a season due to injuries. At SS I don't think Reyes is a good answer for a variety of reasons (though I'd LOVE the speed of him, Crawford and Ellsbury in the lineup
).
So that would mean the only activity for the Sox in the FA market is pitching, both starting and the pen.
I'm always amused by people who say we have enough pitching at the start of the year. There's a good chance I had that kind of exchange here back in march or April. You don't rely on Wake to be part of the rotation. At this point you don't rely on Matsuzaka, and lackey is your 5. That leaves a hole for at least one starter b/t Lester, Beckett, Buchholz and Lackey. I know we won't get Sabathia. CJ wilson will be overpriced, but my pov is if you think he's the right guy on the field, you get him. (Granted, it's not my $, and I also don't have any budgeting responsibilities for the team.)
