jacksonianmarch

Deivi throws another gem, offense goes bonkers. 6 in a row

Missed the year with a teres tear. Likely to have his option declined. This is the kind of reclamation project Bloom will be after

That was a Mariners team that faded badly down the stretch and still won 89 games. The prevailing thought was that they markedly overachieved early and that the second half was more their true identity. In retrospect, the Mariners made a good decision

Or it is due to the owners personally deciding to limit their losses. There is still a real chance that fans are either not allowed into games or will be severely limited come opening day 2021.

Houck suffers from what a lot of hulking right handed pitchers with machine guns for arms suffer from. He lacks a reliable, controllable pitch that moves away from a lefty. The righties who can handle lefties best have circle changeups or have really solid 2 seamers which move away from the lefties. Also, there were issues about stamina and health with Houck. My bet is Bloom starts him off next year as a bulk guy to see what they have in him after a "hopefully" normal spring training

The idea of a one year contract is less from Bauer's ramblings and more because of a lack of money for the usual suitors due to COVID19. If he does not get an offer to his liking, he could be far better off taking a one year deal or a glorified 1-2 year deal (think JDM's contract with multiple opt outs) and re-test the market when everyone has money again

More likely that Bauer has a limited length to his deal, which might behoove the Sox. My bet is if Bauer doesn’t like the landscape, he’ll sign a one year deal at big money and try again

Expecting more is fine, but being realistic makes far more sense. While the Sox were being the doormats of the AL during a pandemic, the Sox brass were cheering the fact that they reset their Lux tax on Twitter. If you aren’t given a budget, you’re left to throw s*** against the wall. A little bit stuck. When you have no farm, you’re left literally finding retreads and throwaways. For a builder, having a year without minor league baseball to grow your talent is also a lost year.

Last I checked, the team he left is a half game back of the AL’s best record. And that team is built on just Xander’s and JD’s salaries! If you give bloom 5 years to build into a true WS contender, I think he’d keep the Sox there for a decade

That’s actually exactly who Bloom will be looking for. 3’s-4’s that can give innings at league average or better production. Or guys with ace stuff who don’t have ace production. Bloom has his work cut out for him. But he finds guys with big arms and builds a full stable of them. Magically, they seem to find it in weird roles. Some in 1 inning roles, most in a hybrid 1-2 inning role

Taylor had a late rookie season where he was good, then his follow up campaign was injured and ineffective. Same with Brasier. No clue what either can bring you for next year. The Sox need a full pen rebuild. But with their rotation in shambles and the offense needing some tweaks, they shouldn’t spend on it. The pen is where guys with good stuff and poor performance or rookies with high upside but endurance or command issues should go to. Pivetta, Houck, etc. You build a pen from within and then add to it. Trying to create a pen from scratch by starting on the FA market is a really good way to flush money

The guys has been awesome since coming on to replace Judge. His offense has been top notch showing power and far more patience. Plus defense this year has really helped. He’s always had the speed, but he didn’t have the maturity to utilize his speed and skills in the right way to make the catch. He’d lay out when he wasn’t near the ball, take haphazard routes, get his feet tangled going back on a ball. This year, he’s worked his way into the Yankee plans, and with Judge, Urshela and Stanton coming back, Frazier has earned a starting spot with the Yanks. Boone has said he will be shuttling between LF and RF. I’d presume he’ll be in RF when he spells Judge (who likely will get the Gleyber treatment and play 2 out of every 3 games) and then start in LF the other games. Really nice to see him reach his potential.

Bloom’s biggest deal in TB was Morton for 2 years. My bet is he either finds a trade partner to get young pitching or he goes older veteran pitcher on a short term deal. If you go with Bauer, you’re locked into one player for a long time and it matters not what his production or durability is, you’re stuck with him. You go out and sign a guy like (not saying you should, but just as an example) Happ for 1 year and a vesting option, you get out of it fast if he falls off a cliff.

Quietly, JA Happ has been very, very good. 36IP, 30K, 1.18WHIP 3.96ERA. It seems Boone has learned his lesson. He’s gone more than 5 innings 3 times in 7 starts, but more than 6 just twice. Yesterday, he was pulled after 5 strong at only 74 pitches. At this stage of his career, JA is at most a 6 inning pitcher, and really should be a 5 inning and then real quick hook kind of guy. As it seems at this point, he’s likely our #4 in the POs after Cole, Tanaka and Deivi.

4 in a row

There is no chance the Sox sign two high priced relievers and a starter. Bloom isn’t going to spend big on pieces with a high likelihood of injury or failure

If we can get healthy and our pen remembers who they are, then we will be in good position.

Garcia turned into the stopper. Bout to sweep the DH, Toronto gettin smacked. All is good now!

Devers is going to be looking for a Mookie contract. He’s going to be very young as a first time FA and he’s a rare breed that can hit for plus power and plus average. He is what the Blue Jays hope Vladdy Jr can be Btw, am I the only one who’s autocorrect changed Mookie to Millie every damn time? I don’t even know a Millie

Vaz to the Rays makes all the sense in the world

Yeah, I guess the shine is off Beni. That 2 yr $10 mil extension the sox signed with him that looked like a full out steal is looking a bit suspect, even. But let's look a the sox in depth here. C- Vazquez- 2 yrs left, pretty cheaply, Highly valuable trade chip 1B- Dalbec- He's a guy you're gonna have to roll with, but his amount of swing and miss is concerning that the league will catch up to him 2B- Downs- he isnt ready, but he is your future here SS- Bogaerts- opt out in 2 years. NTC now. Still a total star, but you will need to spend big on him in 2 years 3B- Devers- stud who you will need to spend huge on in 3 years. LF- Beni- who knows, but he has two years left of control before you have to sign him CF- ??? RF- Verdugo- 4 more years of control DH- Martinez- maybe its the lack of video, maybe its the shortened year or maybe he is starting to break down. 2 more years at big dollars For the offense, the sox are going to need to spend big on Vaz and Bogey in 2 years if the goal is to keep them. They will increasing start spending more on Devers as he runs through arbitration. You will need to rely on Verdugo's last year of cheap coverage and then hope you can get Duran, Downs and Dalbec to produce while they are cheap.

You can spend, win and still stay on top. Ask the Dodgers. The key is to emphasize and not completely tear apart your farm system. Once DD spent the sox into a bind and traded off any possible cheap reinforcements, it was pretty clear what was coming

Building a full rotation and pen isn’t easy when you need to save cash to start paying your offensive stars

There’s a difference between a team who lacks talent playing over their head and a good team playing poorly. The Yanks “should” sweep them. In a standard year, this start wouldn’t be an issue and I’d anticipate a stretch of great play to vault them into first. But in a sprint season, the best team doesn’t always win. So who knows. I will say, the Red Sox played this year perfectly. I’m a die hard baseball fan and I’m finding this farce hard to watch. A minor league stadium for the Jays. No fans, players clearly not prepared appropriately leading to sluggish play and a disproportionate amount of injuries. If there was ever a year to reset, it was this year. If a die hard fan like myself finds this year almost apathetic, how will the casual fans take it?

Hardly. For one night, we put together a complete game. But seeing the future on display in a must win game was pretty sweet. This kid is really, really good.