Squirrel

No, we’re not in agreement. I found his choice of words fine, and his analogy the point he was making was apt. Just saying that for others who think he should have responded differently, who took great offense, no one’s perfect and each of us has moments, so maybe just take a breath and don’t be so offended. You say plenty that others take the wrong way and we still give you the benefit of a doubt

But ... to get a player like Correa, you are going to have to shop at and pay for Dior. That's the reality. Or, just keep paying for mid-level or lower retail outlets and hope to find the right combo. That's my point ... if want Correa, or players/pitchers of that level of elite, it means shopping at and paying Dior prices ... to me, whether we like it or not, relate to it or not, that is just the reality of it. I don't think he was being tactless or arrogant, as a couple other posters said, I think he was just being brutally honest, and some of our Midwestern sensitivities got a bit ruffled

You know, I have prepared for many interviews in my lifetime ... prepared for all the stock questions that will be thrown at me. I know they're coming, yet, there have been times, even when I'm prepared, in that moment I've said things I wish I had said differently or said better and knew that I could have. I think you are being unnecessarily critical. Correa was asked a question he gave an honest answer and made a valid point. But we are being super critical (and yes, I think you and few others are) because it's not relatable? Because people have never heard of or don't know or haven't shopped at Dior? That was kind of the point, but are you so certain they haven't and don't get the point being made? I don't shop at Dior, or any of the other places I've mentioned, but I'd certainly like to have a piece or two. But, Midwestern practicality ... don't spend money in those places when you can get a t-shirt for $6 at Target, or Costco or Walmart. And same with those posters who claim 'tactless and arrogant.' I just don't see it. He knows his value. And, as was pointed out, we also don't know in what context the question was asked. I think everyone is feeling, what? Snubbed? Put down? And I don't shop at Whole Foods because I don't think it's truly all that much better than other options, so I don't necessarily think that makes the point. (Maybe if you had said Lunds or Byerly's )Dior is obviously a more elite place. And that's the point.

Okay, so let's pay our bargain price of $6 for a t-shirt. Seriously ... I've heard nothing but complaints from many, including you, about the quality of play. But ... if you want a better quality, you have to pay for it. If you want to continue shopping for your players at BargainsRus ... then what we get is what we have now. Let's shop at Dior for a change. And Cartier. And Tiffany's. We need a few of those special pieces or we will continue to have a 'last year's fashion bargain bin' team. And sure, we might even find something great there from time to time. He was exactly right. And he knows it. He is a premium player at a premium position. We need the $1000 t-shirt there, not the $6 one. imho.

Sure ... it reflects the product on the field. But some take that to a different level and use this as a dumping ground for more than just that. It's one thing to be snarky, it's quite another to be caustic and rude.

Actually, this site of late is worse than twitter. I go there now most of the time.

I would give him what he wants. Someone will, why not us? Oh … wait … we won’t. I agree with Seth and RiverB … it was a really good analogy with a lot of honesty. And him opting out is no surprise. From the beginning it was always ever going to be a 1-year deal. Some of us, okay some of me, were hoping beyond hope there’d be a way he would stay, but reality was always there waiting. I’ll be sad when he goes.

Stop it. You can disagree with others, but you don't get to call them ridiculous.

Oh, I think you are, to some extent. I mean, the lack of fan support certainly could play a part.

Every single Sox player had a strike out. Every single one.

I'm okay with that. He started in AA and he isn't on the roster, yet. So, I'm okay that he will get his debut sometime next year. I was actually more interested/excited in him in the Berrios trade than Martin. Just hope he keeps progressing.

I hope SWR can make the jump to the majors ... certainly has shown promise

Yes, it is. And I said as much in my post. I didn't say it very well, but I think they traded at the right time, and traded off the right players to fill pieces of need, but the actual players they traded for, not sure that's worked out. I've said the BP would be an issue from the beginning, and at the deadline, they traded for relief pitching, which was needed as we still showed 'promise,' and I'm glad they did. It's what they should have done. But given the results of who they traded for, that didn't pan out. Same with the starting pitching ... they traded for two starters. Great, it's what I thought they should have done. But then the results were what they were. Again, this is about evaluation. I think they saw that our team had potential and needed some pieces. They did that. Except for who the pieces were. I would guess that in the history of trades, you aren't going to hit on them all, but it seems like we didn't hit on any of the pitchers, and it makes me wonder. Paddack, Mahle and Lopez are still under our control next year, so maybe we will reap more rewards then? I hope so, or those trades were really a bust. But, I think the strategy over all is the right strategy. When your team is awful at the deadline, you trade off vets that other teams want, and hope for fair pieces back, or perhaps an overpay. When you are in the hunt, you use your prospect to fill in your needs. As I said, I think they had the strategy right, and trades are always going to be a risk, but it's what you have to do. However, they missed on the pitching, all around, imo. And yes, that's a problem. On the other hand, even though I didn't like the Donaldson trade initially, today I'd say we did fine in that one, given the seasons of Garver and Donaldson. I've been pretty happy with Urshela and not completely disappointed in Sanchez, considering what I thought we were going to get. So, on that front, I think it worked. But ... back to pitching ... something just isn't right in how pitcher's are evaluated and what they think they will be able to do with who we get. I'm willing to take the risk, and think we should have, but we just hit too many wrong, imo.

I think this is a really bad take on things. I'm not absolving the FO of anything, and I hope I see better this coming off-season. The one thing they could have (should have) done differently was to build a better BP from the start. And I think their evaluation of injury risk needs better scrutiny. And I'm not sure they will ever sign a contract for the best pitcher in FA, so, I wouldn't expect much ever in that market. I don't know how good they thought we were, but I think the trades did shore up issues, or should have. I'm not sure why you are still so upset with the Berrios trade, other than he was one of your favorite players, but that was exactly the right move at the right time. Having Berrios this season wouldn't have made us better, imo, and time will tell if the players we received in return will, eventually, make a good team better. Over all, I think in a lost season, you trade vets for prospects for the future; in a season where you are competing (at the deadline), you trade prospects for proven players who will help now. I think they did that last year and this. That it hasn't worked out better I don't think is reliant on how good they thought we were, but more in their evaluations.

This has been my bugaboo all season. It's not the limit to starting pitching, although that is annoying, it's that they had that plan and then didn't do the one thing that was necessary for that plan to succeed ... have a durable, competent, shut 'em down, BP. That's the flaw in the ointment. It would probably still be annoying to most of us to have pitchers pulled after 4 and 5 innings, but way less so if the BP was able enough to compensate. The error is the FO's to bear.

And Wallner has now been called up. so there!

Yes, we need him to ... doesn't mean he should or is able without further injury. So, it's fact we need him to, but it's opinion that he should or could.

No, the biggest one was putting together the roster of pitchers we have, especially the BP

So, you're saying ... better the devil you know than the devil you don't

I'd bet that this is not a minority.

This is in a nutshell for me, too. Especially roster construction. And even more specific, BP construction. Yeah, the injuries sucked, and it's anyone's guess where we'd be if they weren't the issue. But when you construct a roster and know your starting rotation is not going to be able to go deep into games, you have to have a very durable and capable BP. We didn't have that from day 1. Did that philosophy weigh at all in some of the pitcher injuries? No way to know for certain, at least not from my perspective of one who is not an insider with insider information. So, I do put fault with the FO for that. I mean, not completely, but, it needs to be looked at, seriously. Two, the injuries ... we traded for two players, and signed a couple more, who were injury risks to begin with. So, maybe the FO has some work to do on how they evaluate these risks and these players. It can't just be 'give them enough rest' as a solution. I think there is something amiss in how they go about identifying these types of players. So, @Nick Nelson, while I do think the injuries played a big part in our season, I do think the FO bears maybe a 50/50 responsibility in that. But I'm also in alignment with what @wsnydes said in their post above ... I never expected this team to be at all competitive. I predicted they'd be middle of the division, at or near (plus or minus) .500. The fact that we were competitive ... with that record? Well, that shows the weakness of the division. However, I did see some good baseball. And so what if the division was weak, it still made it competitive relative to that.

Right … perspective is everything!

Not to mention, everyone had the same ball. It’s not like we were the only ones playing with a juiced ball.

You misunderstood my post. I meant that comment as a moderator warning to just stop with personification of posters or players/managers as haters or heartless.. There are many here every night who say Rocco and the team have given up, that Rocco doesn’t know baseball, is brainless, etc. And there are many here who complain that everyone is being too negative or whiny or Rocco haters. I’m not telling anyone to not criticize play on the field, but to do so without making it personal by qualifying anyone as heartless, brainless and/or a hater.

That simply isn’t the case. There were a lot of posters then, many have left the site for various reasons. To everyone, please let’s get off this habit of characterizing posters and manager/players