A Realistic View at 2024: Part III

[Bellhorn04]

5 minutes ago, Old Red said:

There is plenty of Blame to go around, but three years in a row now is more than just coincidence, or bad luck at the end of the season, and Cora is at the helm of a sinking ship once again, and Cora just saying we got to do better just doesn’t cut it.

It's also 3 years in a row of jacksquat help at the deadline.  Breslow tried, but it was 3 swings that missed by a yard in Paxton, Garcia and Sims.  

[Bellhorn04]

There's definitely plenty of blame to go around.  I thought Casas's return would give the offense a big boost.  Sure looks like I was wrong.

And I love Devers, but it's uncanny how bad he has been with multiple runners on base this year, as I documented recently.  2 more chances last night with 2 runners on each time that yielded nothing.

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

If we focus on this year's team, they were widely projected before the season to be about .500.  We had a couple of bursts of hope, one from the great start by the pitchers, another from a hot streak that pushed them 11 games over .500.

Now it looks like they'll end up right around where they were projected to be.  

So does Cora get credit for keeping them afloat as long as he did, or blame for letting them sink.

I'm still going to put most of the blame on those who assembled the roster and set the budget. 

To me, a first year CBO wasn't going to be hitting 450' moonshots from day one. We're in this mess because of ownership. Breslow is going to have to grow into this role. 

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

It's also 3 years in a row of jacksquat help at the deadline.  Breslow tried, but it was 3 swings that missed by a yard in Paxton, Garcia and Sims.  

Paxton wasn't much of a swing at all. Garcia pitched well for the Halos before the deal. Sims had good peripherals. It was an ok deadline, but nothing special. Better than '22 or '23 for the MLB team. 

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Paxton wasn't much of a swing at all. Garcia pitched well for the Halos before the deal. Sims had good peripherals. It was an ok deadline, but nothing special. Better than '22 or '23 for the MLB team. 

Craig's luck in his first go-round has been off the charts bad...

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Craig's luck in his first go-round has been off the charts bad...

The Verdugo trade was really good. That could have gone very bad. 

Slaten was good.

I think his instincts aren't terrible. He's just inexperienced and has JH for an owner. I understand why people want to give him an F- though.

[Old Red]

6 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

To me, a first year CBO wasn't going to be hitting 450' moonshots from day one. We're in this mess because of ownership. Breslow is going to have to grow into this role. 

Breslow was a 12th round pick to be CBO, and he may never be anything more than that.

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Old Red said:

Breslow was a 12th round pick to be CBO, and he may never be anything more than that.

Keep using that line. It'll hit one day. 

[Old Red]

11 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

There's definitely plenty of blame to go around.  I thought Casas's return would give the offense a big boost.  Sure looks like I was wrong.

And I love Devers, but it's uncanny how bad he has been with multiple runners on base this year, as I documented recently.  2 more chances last night with 2 runners on each time that yielded nothing.

There was nothing to suggest Casas was going to be any immediate help with the bat after missing so much time as he usually starts the season off slow anyways. Raffy is what he is being Devers Forever for a stretch, and Never Devers for a stretch. 

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Keep using that line. It'll hit one day. 

It’s not a line it’s a fact. As it turned out Boston wasn’t the place where everyone wanted to be like Sam says when 10+ candidates turned down to be even interviewed for the CBO job. Fact, and not fiction.

[Bellhorn04]

4 minutes ago, Old Red said:

It’s not a line it’s a fact. As it turned out Boston wasn’t the place where everyone wanted to be like Sam says when 10+ candidates turned down to be even interviewed for the CBO job. Fact, and not fiction.

I can't wait to hear the new messages Sam has in store for us this offseason... 

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I can't wait to hear the new messages Sam has in store for us this offseason... 

Sam said all of baseball ops failed Two years ago. What more can he say, but to repeat it again?

[Old Red]

25 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Paxton wasn't much of a swing at all. Garcia pitched well for the Halos before the deal. Sims had good peripherals. It was an ok deadline, but nothing special. Better than '22 or '23 for the MLB team. 

Low bar was set, and a low bar was gone over. Low expectations, and low results, but not enough to really matter. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

34 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

It's also 3 years in a row of jacksquat help at the deadline.  Breslow tried, but it was 3 swings that missed by a yard in Paxton, Garcia and Sims.  

Sale has been the poster boy for boys posting the past half decade. But to me, Paxton will always epitomize the ineptitude of the Bloomslow Era.

Paxton -- the AL PITCHER OF THE MONTH in June '23 -- was the best trade chip this doofus front office had in the past half decade -- but they just had to keep him until he inevitably broke down. Then the very next year -- to prove their insanity (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results) -- they bring Paxton back, just so they can have him again until he inevitably broke down.

Or maybe, they aren't that dumb... but expect fans to continue to be -- sorry, I realize that sounded like politics.

[moonslav59]

59 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Yeah, I'm a Cora fan, but it is starting to become troubling that his teams seem to fall apart after the ASB.  I'm not sure how much of that is on him and how much on the bunglers who give the team no help at the trade deadlines.   

Even when he tried over-resting player over the first few months, they fell apart, got hurt and declined over the last 2 months.

Even in 2021, we went 29-27 from AUG>Oct (29-30 from JUL 29>>>)

27-32 in '22 (30-41 from JUL 16>>>)

22-34 in '23 (22-37 from JUL 29th>>>)

13-17, so far in 2024 (17-24 from JUL 19th>>>)

We weren't all that bad, each year, up until the last 2.5 months of the year.

[moonslav59]

6 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Sale has been the poster boy for boys posting the past half decade. But to me, Paxton will always epitomize the ineptitude of the Bloomslow Era.

Paxton -- the AL PITCHER OF THE MONTH in June '23 -- was the best trade chip this doofus front office had in the past half decade -- but they just had to keep him until he inevitably broke down. Then the very next year -- to prove their insanity (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results) -- they bring Paxton back, just so they can have him again until he inevitably broke down.

Or maybe, they aren't that dumb... but expect fans to continue to be -- sorry, I realize that sounded like politics.

Hopes and Prayers in this team's motto.

[Old Red]

6 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Sale has been the poster boy for boys posting the past half decade. But to me, Paxton will always epitomize the ineptitude of the Bloomslow Era.

Paxton -- the AL PITCHER OF THE MONTH in June '23 -- was the best trade chip this doofus front office had in the past half decade -- but they just had to keep him until he inevitably broke down. Then the very next year -- to prove their insanity (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results) -- they bring Paxton back, just so they can have him again until he inevitably broke down.

Or maybe, they aren't that dumb... but expect fans to continue to be -- sorry, I realize that sounded like politics.

Well said. Brez was just driving down the lane he picked after a few months of analyzing' and just happen to notice Paxton, and Hill hitchhiking, and decided to stop, and give them a lift to Boston.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

52 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Well said. Brez was just driving down the lane he picked after a few months of analyzing' and just happen to notice Paxton, and Hill hitchhiking, and decided to stop, and give them a lift to Boston.

It was risky picking up both, in case they were bitter escapees from an old-timer's league. But Brez assessed the situation, and determined that even if they ganged up on him, they were too brittle to do any damage to his longterm health.

[mvp 78]

With all this losing over the past 11 games, they've gone from 4 games back in the WC to 4.5 back. Unbelievable!

[mvp 78]

24 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

It was risky picking up both, in case they were bitter escapees from an old-timer's league. But Brez assessed the situation, and determined that even if they ganged up on him, they were too brittle to do any damage to his longterm health.

The issue is that acquiring guys at the deadline is very expensive prospect wise and JH only wants to grow this team through prospects rather than financial leverage. It's easier to make trades in the offseason when the price isn't being driven up by teams pushing for the postseason. We'll see if he's able to do it then or not. Last year, it was or not. 

[Old Red]

13 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The issue is that acquiring guys at the deadline is very expensive prospect wise and JH only wants to grow this team through prospects rather than financial leverage. It's easier to make trades in the offseason when the price isn't being driven up by teams pushing for the postseason. We'll see if he's able to do it then or not. Last year, it was or not. 

So when you add things up the Red Sox just aren’t in it to get in it, and are just going to flounder again like a fish out of water at the end of the season for the THIRD year in a row. I agree.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

14 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The issue is that acquiring guys at the deadline is very expensive prospect wise and JH only wants to grow this team through prospects rather than financial leverage. It's easier to make trades in the offseason when the price isn't being driven up by teams pushing for the postseason. We'll see if he's able to do it then or not. Last year, it was or not. 

The problem of not caring about now -- more than then -- is there might not be a then.

All we have is now, and the best potential for most prospects is that someday they'll grow old.

[mvp 78]

54 minutes ago, Old Red said:

So when you add things up the Red Sox just aren’t in it to get in it, and are just going to flounder again like a fish out of water at the end of the season for the THIRD year in a row. I agree.

They weren't setup to be in it from day one. They made a good effort, but they didn't have the horses pitching-wise. 

[mvp 78]

55 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

The problem of not caring about now -- more than then -- is there might not be a then.

All we have is now, and the best potential for most prospects is that someday they'll grow old.

They are putting a lot of pressure on some guys that just may never pan out whether due to injury or otherwise. I don't know why Henry believes he shouldn't have to spend anymore, but here we are. 

[notin]

2 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Sale has been the poster boy for boys posting the past half decade. But to me, Paxton will always epitomize the ineptitude of the Bloomslow Era.

Paxton -- the AL PITCHER OF THE MONTH in June '23 -- was the best trade chip this doofus front office had in the past half decade -- but they just had to keep him until he inevitably broke down. Then the very next year -- to prove their insanity (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results) -- they bring Paxton back, just so they can have him again until he inevitably broke down.

Or maybe, they aren't that dumb... but expect fans to continue to be -- sorry, I realize that sounded like politics.

Paxton’s rather significant and recent injury history probably made him less of a desirable trade acquisition than Xander Bogaerts and maybe even JD Martinez the year before.  But the decision both years to fritter, hum, twitter, waffle, and possibly even dawdle for two deadlines in a row was such a detriment.

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They weren't setup to be in it from day one. They made a good effort, but they didn't have the horses pitching-wise. 

Story, and Casas going out early didn’t help, but I agree. Starting pitching started out good, but that was too good to be true, and couldn’t last. D has been a big problem once again, and there doesn’t seem any effort to try, and fix it such as something simple as a glove first SS. There just doesn’t seem to be an urgency as much as bad D has cost the team. Cora has said he makes the lineup out according to who the opposing pitcher is. The Offense as good as some of the season long stats look have been a Big problem too at times like the past few weeks. It all adds up to a record either side of 500, where I guess they should be. It’s just frustrating how they play after the AS break once again.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

With all this losing over the past 11 games, they've gone from 4 games back in the WC to 4.5 back. Unbelievable!

We lost a great chance at passing someone.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

The issue is that acquiring guys at the deadline is very expensive prospect wise and JH only wants to grow this team through prospects rather than financial leverage. It's easier to make trades in the offseason when the price isn't being driven up by teams pushing for the postseason. We'll see if he's able to do it then or not. Last year, it was or not. 

This is a key point.

It is better to add too much in the winter, and deal some away at the deadline, than continuously having to overpay every deadline.

This year, we did trade some prospects, of which maybe Portes was the only one worthy of keeping. I doubt we protected M Lugo, so I don't see him as being a big loss. Yorke could do well in the bigs, so maybe it's 2.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

6 minutes ago, notin said:

Paxton’s rather significant and recent injury history probably made him less of a desirable trade acquisition than Xander Bogaerts and maybe even JD Martinez the year before.  But the decision both years to fritter, hum, twitter, waffle, and possibly even dawdle for two deadlines in a row was such a detriment.

Last summer, Paxton was the one commodity that everybody's always looking for at the deadline: a good pitcher.

Just lookit what the Jays got last month for Kikuchi, who wasn't even good this season: Bloss, a younger arm who already made the majors after getting drafted just last year, plus two young starting outfielders, Loperfido and Wagner (I saw the latter in WOO and he just rakes).

[dgalehouse]

Baseball has changed, in my opinion for the worse. Instead of an exciting pennant race, we now have a bunch of mediocre teams scrambling for the third wild card spot. That is the focus for Sox fans as well as several other team's fans.  It is nothing but an MLB con game to milk more money from the addicted fans.  MLB is run by a group of slick operators who pad their pockets with money from the gullible fans.