Fire Bloom .

[Dipre]

Someone pointed out the '21 Braves were a mid-yearish .500 team -- like Boston is now -- and then went on to win the World Series. Like it could happen here.

 

I replied that Atlanta made major additions to the roster, including four players who had major impacts: one who finished with the most RBIs in the NL, another who had huge postseason HRs, and the other two were only the NLCS and World Series MVPs.

 

And now, posters are countering with Bloom's '21 in-season acquisitions -- who we know were Schwarber, a couple back-up infielders, and a few tepid relievers (including Robles, who had one good month -- ever in Boston -- sandwiched around brutal outings that included a blown save, and then a game-losing homer in back-to-back playoff games).

 

The point is that when the Braves had injured or non-performing players, their GM didn't rely on utility men out of position, but dealt for four big league replacements that starred through October -- otherwise they don't win. The next time Bloom and his regime show fans such a commitment will be the first time.

 

I mean, it could. Baseball's also a game of luck. This roster is flawed, but it can play much better with certain tweaks and/or breaks. Sale and Houck come back healthy and effective, they get a stopgap SS and he catches fire, which allows Story to come back sooner as a 2B (and we assume he hits, as this is an exercise in luck). They go out and add a #3 type that stabilizes the rotation, and this roster can compete.

 

It's hard, but not impossible. The problem I see is that sometimes it's more of an exercise about whining and/or attacking Bloom than serious baseball discussion. I've been one to say that this team has the mark of a bad team, because of roster construction, and the fact they hadn't hit and pitch at the same time until this weekend. However, I also see that with certain tweaks, they certainly could catch fire and steal a wild card. After that, it's everything and anything goes.

[mvp 78]

The original title of that version was “Alice’s Adventures Just Sitting Around Tweedle-Diddling Her Thumbs”

 

Banned in FL

[mvp 78]

The last Sox team to be 37-35 was the hated 2000 Red Sox with Manny Alexander, Mike Lansing, Wilton Veras, Izzy Alcantara, Rico Brogna, Jeff Fassero and Ramon Martinez.

 

It was Carl Everett's All Star season. The year of CHB and dinosaurs.

[moonslav59]

I mean, it could. Baseball's also a game of luck. This roster is flawed, but it can play much better with certain tweaks and/or breaks. Sale and Houck come back healthy and effective, they get a stopgap SS and he catches fire, which allows Story to come back sooner as a 2B (and we assume he hits, as this is an exercise in luck). They go out and add a #3 type that stabilizes the rotation, and this roster can compete.

 

It's hard, but not impossible. The problem I see is that sometimes it's more of an exercise about whining and/or attacking Bloom than serious baseball discussion. I've been one to say that this team has the mark of a bad team, because of roster construction, and the fact they hadn't hit and pitch at the same time until this weekend. However, I also see that with certain tweaks, they certainly could catch fire and steal a wild card. After that, it's everything and anything goes.

 

The thing working in our favor, that I have mentioned before, is that every team, except maybe the Rays have major issues and or injuries to deal with. Some will try and fix them at the deadline, some may not.

 

The league seems pretty balanced, and if someone can knock of the Rays, it's a free-for-all.

 

I've been a known anti- crapshoot playoffs guy, but this year seems different, to me. Maybe, nothing has changed but the more balanced schedule.

 

I have to think, if we are still in it at the deadline, we will add players. We also have some salary space to add salary dump type players who still are producing.

 

If we get Story back, we will have a couple logjams that can create some trade opportunities. We can also afford to pay down any salary we trade away to improve the return.

 

All healthy, we'll have excess at LF/1B/DH with Yoshida, Duvall, Turner and Casas battling for 3 slots. All should play FT, as of now.

 

We can have a nice L-R platoon in CF w Duran and Kike, or we could trade one and use Duvall there, at times.

 

I doubt Reyes or Arroyo have much trade value, and even if we pay down all of Kike's contract, I'm not sure how much trade value he will have in 6 weeks.

 

We can't afford to trade pitching, unless we get better pitching back... something like Dalbec and Pivetta for a slightly better SP'er.

 

I doubt we move mountains at the deadline, like SEA did by acquiring and then extending Castillo, but if something come sup that could also help the team, longterm, maybe JH will allow Bloom to pounce. (He may have to twist his arm to do it, or maybe Bloom has to talk JH into commiting to a salary addition via extension or otherwise while also sacrificing some of our top prospects.)

[Dipre]

I just don't get the narrative that this team is cheap. I really don't.

[notin]

Well, despite being relatively close, does this latest injury to Triston McKenzie push the Guardians into “Sell” mode. The talking heads on MLB Network seem to think so. (I’m not as convinced as they are.)

 

But if the Guardians do sell, is Bieber available? (Talking heads say “yes”). If so, Shane comes with the additional year of control.

 

BTV called Rafaela plus Yorke a “minor overpay” but probably a reasonable offer that at the very least, keeps the conversation going. Should (also, would) the Sox make that move?

[mvp 78]

I just don't get the narrative that this team is cheap. I really don't.

 

I mean, you could just look at the MLB team payroll rankings. They aren't in the top 1/3rd of the league and are at least 13M under the CBT including benefits. That additional $$$ could have definitely been used meaningfully this year!

[Larry Cook]

I doubt we move mountains at the deadline, like SEA did by acquiring and then extending Castillo, but if something come sup that could also help the team, longterm, maybe JH will allow Bloom to pounce. (He may have to twist his arm to do it, or maybe Bloom has to talk JH into commiting to a salary addition via extension or otherwise while also sacrificing some of our top prospects.)

 

I think we have an opportunity to move several bodies next month. I think turner, Duvall and hernandez have minimal value, but we should be able to get some young prospects for them!

 

Paxton, Martin and Jensen also have more value and should bring something worthwhile back!!!

[mvp 78]

I think we have an opportunity to move several bodies next month. I think turner, Duvall and hernandez have minimal value, but we should be able to get some young prospects for them!

 

Paxton, Martin and Jensen also have more value and should bring something worthwhile back!!!

 

Per BTV, Paxton has the highest trade value, on par with Eddinson Paulino or Brandon Walter (top 15 player).

 

Duvall is next with a trade value of Luis Guerrero (relief only arm ranked 25th).

 

Justin Turner would bring back Tyler Esplin or other prospect well outside the top 40.

 

Martin and Jansen have negative trade value per their calculations.

[Dipre]

I mean, you could just look at the MLB team payroll rankings. They aren't in the top 1/3rd of the league and are at least 13M under the CBT including benefits. That additional $$$ could have definitely been used meaningfully this year!

 

It can still be used though.

[mvp 78]

It can still be used though.

 

Sure it will be! Better to wait it out and see if you need it later than to use it at the start of the season when you can have a guy for a full 162 games!

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I mean, it could. Baseball's also a game of luck. This roster is flawed, but it can play much better with certain tweaks and/or breaks. Sale and Houck come back healthy and effective, they get a stopgap SS and he catches fire, which allows Story to come back sooner as a 2B (and we assume he hits, as this is an exercise in luck). They go out and add a #3 type that stabilizes the rotation, and this roster can compete.

 

It's hard, but not impossible. The problem I see is that sometimes it's more of an exercise about whining and/or attacking Bloom than serious baseball discussion. I've been one to say that this team has the mark of a bad team, because of roster construction, and the fact they hadn't hit and pitch at the same time until this weekend. However, I also see that with certain tweaks, they certainly could catch fire and steal a wild card. After that, it's everything and anything goes.

 

I'm with you. I much prefer possibilities over improbabilities. It's just depressing in the Bloom Era for fans to speculate like we used to every year on available talent -- on the free agent market, on the trading block, on disappointing or below-market clubs in sell mode. And a thread titled Fire Bloom is absolutely the place to whine about it.

 

But anyone paying attention the past four years can't believe that all of sudden, Bloom will start spending or swapping like Epstein or Dombrowski when they really were all-in no bs going for it.

 

Remember after the Betts trade, when the Boston media saw the next-best outfielder about to enter the market -- George Springer -- and figured he'd be a worthy replacement (as a talent and New England boy)? The Sox, it was said, had all that Mookie Money to fill the void with another good player to maintain their annual pursuit at contending. That's how it always was in Boston, since Yaz put us back on the map (now someone will post stats to show how lucky we were for not signing Springer -- when that isn't my point at all).

 

Instead, look for Bloom to pick up a guy on the IL for a bargain price, because it worked once with Schwarber... and Paxton, after only two years... but not yet Story, who still thinks he's going to be a superstar shortstop with an internal brace in his elbow (that no other GM would touch when he was a free agent). Mondesi was never anything but a rumor...

[Bellhorn04]

What a broad spectrum of opinions we have here.

[Bellhorn04]

Most of the cut-rate old guys Bloom picked up are doing well. Kluber is the exception.

[moonslav59]

Most of the cut-rate old guys Bloom picked up are doing well. Kluber is the exception.

 

It really seems like a strange thing.

 

On the surface, many of Bloom's moves have looked good. IMO, more good than bad, but the W-L record has been in decline.

 

Last year:

 

Good: Wacha, Hill, Strahm, Paxton (looked better than Richards, Perez, Andriese, Sawamura, Robles and Ottavino trade in 2021)

 

Bad:

Story, JBJ trade is a lot more money and worse than 2021's Renfroe, Marwin, Santana

 

This year:

 

Good: Paxton (option), Jansen, Martin

Bad: Kluber, Joely,

 

Good: Yoshida, Turner (Reyes addition & last year deadline additions: McGuire & EValdez)

???: Duvall, Chang

Bad: Kike extensión, Mondesi trade

 

The Kluber signing did really hurt, and Kike's D and O have taken their toll, too, but the rest seem to have outweighed those two.

 

(Cheap additions from beyond 2021 are coming through: Refsnyder, Schreiber, Whitlock, Verdugo, Wong and Wink, while the only bad Bloom holdovers look to be: Pivetta and Bleier via Barnes.

 

[moonslav59]

I'm with you. I much prefer possibilities over improbabilities. It's just depressing in the Bloom Era for fans to speculate like we used to every year on available talent -- on the free agent market, on the trading block, on disappointing or below-market clubs in sell mode. And a thread titled Fire Bloom is absolutely the place to whine about it.

 

But anyone paying attention the past four years can't believe that all of sudden, Bloom will start spending or swapping like Epstein or Dombrowski when they really were all-in no bs going for it.

 

Remember after the Betts trade, when the Boston media saw the next-best outfielder about to enter the market -- George Springer -- and figured he'd be a worthy replacement (as a talent and New England boy)? The Sox, it was said, had all that Mookie Money to fill the void with another good player to maintain their annual pursuit at contending. That's how it always was in Boston, since Yaz put us back on the map (now someone will post stats to show how lucky we were for not signing Springer -- when that isn't my point at all).

 

Instead, look for Bloom to pick up a guy on the IL for a bargain price, because it worked once with Schwarber... and Paxton, after only two years... but not yet Story, who still thinks he's going to be a superstar shortstop with an internal brace in his elbow (that no other GM would touch when he was a free agent). Mondesi was never anything but a rumor...

 

I was convinced Ben was going to make a blockbuster trade or two, before he left, but we'll never know. I doubt he'd have made all the DD moves.

 

He might have traded for Jose Quintana not Sale. I doubt he makes the Pomeranz trade. Kimbrell? Who knows.

 

It's hard to know what Bloom would do, if given a totally free hand. Many seem to think he would hoard prospects forever, but it's hard to know. For all we know, he may have asked JH for approval of going after top talent by trading prospects, and JH said no- or "not yet." The former seems more like it, but it's probably somewhere in between.

 

Bloom will never wheel and deal like DD or Theo, IMO, but I do think he might surprise us with a big prospect deal every 3-5 years. He's gone 3.5 years and his biggest prospects traded have been Aldo Ramirez (Schwarber), Alex Scherff (Robles), Groome (Hosmer, Ferguson & Rosier) and maybe Chavis (A Davis) and Northcut (T Pham). That list is almost laughable.

 

Not only has he rarely traded even midling prospects, the Groome trade also brought back prospects! Many trade he made were for just prospects or a vet and a prospect(s).

 

JBJ w Hamilton & Binelas (Renfroe)

Ottavino w F German (cash relief)

Pivetta w Seabold (Workman/Hembree)

Wink, Gambrell and 2 others with Cordero (Beni)

Wong and Downs w Verdugo (Betts)

 

Vets for prospects only:

EValdez & Abreu (Vaz)

Jacob Wallace (W Mills)

Others, like Moreland, Pillar, Osich and others

 

Plus a bunch of prospects for prospects like German for Denlinger and Aybar for Koss.

 

A rare vet for vet trade only: McGuire for Diekman

[MADSTORK]

Nothing like a couple wins to make Stork disappear.

 

Lmao!

Even a nut finds a blind squirrel!

 

I give credit where credit is due, Yoshida Duvall and a few others, but end of day it’s not about competing it’s about winning championships

 

To many wrong signings and to many ? Trades far as what was brought back but I won’t go there today

 

Orlando didn’t build on 2021, just think if Jansen was signed over Story in 22 with Arroyo capable of handling 2B Sox arguably were a playoff Team but that’s what 18 or so blown saves will do for ya!

 

Again today another beer leaguer signed, why? Develop the Pitching you have but again until Crockett is canned, this is what you got!

 

Jansen Paxton Martin Duvall Turner should all be in the block for young pitching not some 24 year old in High A ball

The Jansen deal is mind boggling, could have had him in 22 for 1, now signed for 2, move this clown while the value is high

 

Call Epstein!

These r the facts and the facts are undisputed!

[moonslav59]

Dodgers add Brasier.

 

Why does Bloom always let the Dodgers take our best players?

[Duran Is The Man]

Dodgers add Brasier.

 

Why does Bloom always let the Dodgers take our best players?

 

and you know somebody is going to whine about it. for the record, i wish we had got rid of him sooner.

[Bellhorn04]

and you know somebody is going to whine about it. for the record, i wish we had got rid of him sooner.

 

Whining will only occur if Brasier pitches lights out for a week or two, of course...

[Duran Is The Man]

Whining will only occur if Brasier pitches lights out for a week or two, of course...

 

watch him go lights out the rest of the season. :D

[moonslav59]

watch him go lights out the rest of the season. :D

 

Maybe we can trade for him at the deadline.

 

LOL

[notin]

watch him go lights out the rest of the season. :D

 

I do think he will be much harder to hit if they turn the lights out. At least during night games…

[dannycater]

Themes, bad defense, errors in situations that kill the Sox...pitchers who are throwing great--then felled by injuries...Inconsistent hitters....not sustaining winning...You can't follow 6-game win streaks with disturbing 2-game losing streaks v. bad teams. This is the .500 Sox of 2023

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Themes, bad defense, errors in situations that kill the Sox...pitchers who are throwing great--then felled by injuries...Inconsistent hitters....not sustaining winning...You can't follow 6-game win streaks with disturbing 2-game losing streaks v. bad teams. This is the .500 Sox of 2023

 

What are the hopes that the Red Sox in the second half will break any of those themes? Defense - no; old pitchers suddenly healthy - no; consistent hitters - this has the most potential...

 

Raffy can rebound with a better second half... his best career month with the lumber is July: .304, .963. However, his worst career month is August: .238, .756 (Aug is usually when Devers is dealing with some nagging injury; hopefully his limbs will heat up and stay loose with the weather this summer).

 

If one or both of Casas and/or Duran continues to adjust to league adjustments to their adjustments... if Yoshida doesn't wear down... if -- after Duvall is dealt at the deadline -- Story can comeback and contribute, more on the bases as a new-rules weapon, than the all-or-nothing swinging he'll be replacing...

 

Obviously, the young pitching has to remain consistent, and Houck has to prove he's doesn't turn into Herb Score... then the Sox just might hang in there around .500 and stave off wild card elimination until October...

[Bellhorn04]

Themes, bad defense, errors in situations that kill the Sox...pitchers who are throwing great--then felled by injuries...Inconsistent hitters....not sustaining winning...You can't follow 6-game win streaks with disturbing 2-game losing streaks v. bad teams. This is the .500 Sox of 2023

 

I don't have a big problem with 6-game win streaks followed by disturbing 2-game losing streaks. That happens to the best teams.

 

But it does feel like this team is hovering on the brink between playoff contention and total sub-.500 irrelevance. So are a bunch of other teams, but that's small consolation for Sox fans who had bigger expectations from Bloom's 4th season.

[notin]

Themes, bad defense, errors in situations that kill the Sox...pitchers who are throwing great--then felled by injuries...Inconsistent hitters....not sustaining winning...You can't follow 6-game win streaks with disturbing 2-game losing streaks v. bad teams. This is the .500 Sox of 2023

 

The Sox defense has been noticeably better since moving Kike off shortstop.

 

The Sox are currently 24th in DRS (up from 29th!!) and are somehow 6th in UZR/150. Sixth!! That’s not a typo.

 

And while the evidence of poor defense is that miscue on a nasty grounder by Casas, has anyone noticed Devers has been slapping the leather like Mike Schmidt for this entire series?

 

Defense in MLB seems to be one of those thing most only notice when it’s bad…

[notin]

But it does feel like this team is hovering on the brink between playoff contention and total sub-.500 irrelevance. So are a bunch of other teams, but that's small consolation for Sox fans who had bigger expectations from Bloom's 4th season.

 

 

That also applies to the Blue Jays and the Yankees. The Sox have helped themselves in this regard by going 9-1 against these two teams…

[moonslav59]

I don't have a big problem with 6-game win streaks followed by disturbing 2-game losing streaks. That happens to the best teams.

 

But it does feel like this team is hovering on the brink between playoff contention and total sub-.500 irrelevance. So are a bunch of other teams, but that's small consolation for Sox fans who had bigger expectations from Bloom's 4th season.

 

I thought you had low expectations.

[Bellhorn04]

I thought you had low expectations.

 

I had high expectations before this past offseason. I had low expectations after this past offseason.