Fernando Abad. No elaboration necessary.

The big moves; David Price and Craig Kimbrel. God I was so excited at both moves and both guys were just so meh. Neither guy was awful or anything but neither guy was worth the price and more frustratingly both guys just inspired so little confidence so quickly. It was amazing how fast I got to a "oh crap, Kimbrel time" mindset.

The endless ######## about John Farrell. Look, I know I'm probably his biggest fan but I feel like you couldn't go anywhere without hearing what a moron he is. That's generally the manager's lot in life but for a team that won the division it seemed really over the top.

The Cubans. For one of them (Moncada) it was a case of asking too much too soon and the other (Castillo) can officially be classified as a bust. I still expect Moncada to be very good and really I just felt bad for the guy. It's not often you see someone so obviously overwhelmed.

Dave O'Brien. I liked Dave on radio a lot but I never really took to his TV style. Part of it was of course what a fan I was of Orsillo but O'Brien never connected with me. One thing that drove me nuts is he was scoreboard watching by about mid-May. Maybe that was coming from the producers but geez, the 4th inning of a May 15 game between Toronto and Detroit is not worth worrying about.

For players, I agree with Jose about Castillo and also about Kimbrel. I will also add a group of players: the young SPs in the organization. They were disappointing at the big-league level, and did not add shine to their prospect status in the minors. I'm thinking of Rodriguez, Kelly, Elias, Owens, and Brian Johnson here. What the heck, let's include Trey Ball as a turkey too.

For games, I'll say the walk-off September loss in Yankee stadium in addition to the 3 ALDS games.

For miscellaneous, I'll say any controversy related to the Pomeranz trade.

The Steven Wright pinch-running decision.

I still expect Moncada to be very good and really I just felt bad for the guy.

agreed. though getting his ass handed to him in the majors may be the best thing for him.

The Steven Wright pinch-running decision.

just awful. wtf.

Carson Smith going down hurt the team in many ways, during their months of mediocrity when it seemed the bull pen was blowing 2 games a week he would have been a difference maker. EdRo was basically a disappointment as was Clay. Swihart getting hurt sucked, as well. I wasn't as down on the decision to put him in the OF as others but I did think it was waste of his abilities. Christian Vaz not materializing was bummer, also. Some folks might think Price was a bit of a disappointment, but my unqualified observation is that many big money FA's don't play well their first year someplace. I thought he gave us good not great performance. I would not be disappointed about 6 more years of that, but the likelihood is that we will get a lot better. The stalling of X's performance curve was also sad. I was looking forward to Craig Kimbrel, he wasn't as otherworldly as I had hoped he would be.

The post ASB solidification of the rotation was a nice surprise. I was happy for the team to see Panda go down with a season ending injury, I thought that solved a lot of tricky problems. The emergence of Steven Wright was enjoyable to watch. Beni's smooth transition to the ML's was very cool. The continued rise of Mookie was fun as was a full season of all-star JBJ. Watching the 2 or 3 months of super hero Sandy Leon was nice. EdRo getting his groove back was fun. I liked the acquisition of Drew P and Z and it was fun to see them win the division and have a good season, and of course the Ortiz (and Dusty). I am confident that this is a crew that has the ability to run the table for a couple of years and I am really looking forward to that!

EdRo was basically a disappointment as was Clay.

If we were looking at leftover turkey halfway through the season, Clay would be the one I'd cite. With a 6.35 ERA as a starter through May, he was removed from the rotation. In garbage relief appearances and spot starts into late July he managed a 5.46 ERA. Turkey.

But then he turned a corner: 6.1 IP in relief with 0 ER; a 2.70 ERA in 3 spot starts; and then 3.41 the rest of the way, mostly as a starter. The net result on the season was a league-average pitcher, which is a bad result from someone who was expected to be so much more. But that net result is driven by a miserable first half.

Good call on Carson Smith, I was really looking forward to seeing him.