Gonfalon Cubs: 2018 Fearless Prediction thread

Time for this year’s fearless predictions.  The season is starting earlier this year, so I won’t have time to do this after I get back from my spring training trip.  As usual, these probably will err on the side of blind optimism, but what fun is it to have a talented team where all you expect is under-performances?  On to the list of 25…

1. Willson Contreras will make his first of many All-Star appearances.  He probably would have a better shot of being voted in if the mound visit rule were ...

Sox Therapy: Report From the Fort

Well it took about 20 extra hours but I finally arrived in sunny Florida.  Unfortunately the delay meant I missed the game against the Yankees last Saturday (my mother could at least have PRETENDED to be upset that she had to use my ticket) but I did get to see the debut of J.D. Martinez on Wednesday afternoon as part of a split squad game.

The game itself was non-descript.  Starter Chandler Shepherd who is likely in the mix to be a mid-season call up did himself no favors failing to get out ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1940 Results

Congratulations to Josh Gibson, our 1940 Most Meritorious Player!

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Josh Gibson	100	7	5
Bob Feller	97	7	2
Hank Greenberg	81	7	0
Joe DiMaggio	72	6	0
Johnny Mize	63	6	0
Ray Brown	44	4	0
Ted Williams	42	5	0
Claude Passeau	37	4	0
Bucky Walters	37	4	0
Bobo Newsom	36	4	0
Arky Vaughan	31	4	0
Lonny Frey	19	2	0
Lou Boudreau	15	2	0
Joe Gordon	14	2	0
Satchel Paige	13	1	0
Buck Leonard	8	1	0
Luke Appling	7	1	0
Charlie Keller	7	1	0
Bus Clarkson	6	1	0
Frank McCormick	6	1	0

Sox Therapy: Heading for the Fort

In five days I’ll be headed to Florida for a bit of fun in the sun.  This will include four days at Fenway South strolling around eyeballing various players.  Here are five players I’m eager to gawk at;

Blake Swihart - Swihart is off to a fast start this spring and the reports are very positive.  The key question for Swihart is not so much the bat but where the glove can play.  If he can pass as a reasonable facsimile of an MLB IF/OF I think he can win a regular job.  I think the Sox WANT ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1941 Discussion

Yankees defeat the Dodgers 4-1 in the World Series. Vote for 10.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Ted Williams		41.8		10.6
Joe DiMaggio		41.7		9.1
Cecil Travis		34.2		6.4
Pete Reiser		34.4		7.5
Dolph Camilli		29.2		6.8
Charlie Keller		32.7		6.6
Joe Cronin		22.6		5.1
Jeff Heath		29.5		5.2
Dixie Walker		25.5		5.5
Elbie Fletcher		28.0		5.8
Luke Appling		27.7		5.1
Lou Boudreau		23.1		4.5
Stan Hack		30.1		5.6
Ken Keltner		23.8		4.4
Johnny Mize		25.7		5.4
Mel Ott			26.2		4.6
Roy Cullenbine		22.6		4.8
Phil ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1940 Ballot

For 1940 each voter should rank the top 10 players from all leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EDT on 6 March 2018.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If you have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 5 March 2018.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Sox Therapy: An Overdue Look at the Roster

Well I don’t think we had February 19th on the day this would all come together but it has and we can now get serious about the Sox Opening Day roster.  Let’s have a go;

IF: Mitch Moreland, Eduardo Nunez, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Brock Holt, Deven Marrero

It looks like Dustin Pedroia won’t be ready for Opening Day (though I imagine he will say otherwise).  The signing of Nunez isn’t the marquis signing of the weekend but it is a very good one.  The price is right and he is ...

Gonfalon Cubs: Finally

It’s probably safe to assume the Cubs were able to finalize their deal with Darvish because they waited out the market, though being patient while the Cubs sat there with a huge hole in the rotation wasn’t easy for us fans.  The Cubs guaranteed $200+million to pitchers this offseason, and yet it still was a pretty quiet one overall.  While it’ll be interesting to see how the Cubs plan on spending their money over the next few years having added another big deal - with us hoping for still ...

Sox Therapy: For Future Considerations

Boston’s offer on the table to J.D. Martinez is $125 million for 5 years, according to “source”. (Yeah, thanks, Boston Herald.) But what are the penalties under the new CBA, and is Boston likely to incur them, if they make that deal? In short: hefty, and yes.

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: Please Delete This Thread

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