Bellhorn04

I was hearing numbers like 19 tossed around here. I like 9 to 11 much better!

The way Arroyo is hitting, he might be a candidate for 2023 DH!

OK, I have read Rosenthal's piece. It's solid, but there are no earth-shaking revelations or ideas. In fact, it closely echoes many of the points we've talked about here. Here are the opening paragraphs: Let’s start by giving the Red Sox something they do not necessarily deserve: The benefit of the doubt. Let’s account for the unfortunate timing of many of their injuries. Let’s excuse the unexpected collapses of three young players — first baseman Bobby Dalbec, center fielder Jarren Duran and infielder Jeter Downs. Let’s concede the 2022 season is turning out almost the opposite of ’21, when the Sox came within two games of reaching the World Series. A near worst-case scenario instead of a best-case. Fear not, kind, patient and empathetic citizens of Red Sox Nation. That’s where the pity party ends. For Sox ownership and chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, the coming offseason looms as a turning point, if not a breaking point. These are the Boston Red Sox, not — as some fans lament, citing Bloom’s previous employer — the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s imperative the Sox spend big this offseason, locking up third baseman Rafael Devers and ideally shortstop Xander Bogaerts, then filling their numerous other holes. It’s imperative the team’s bizarre feast-or-famine tendencies, which the hiring of Bloom in October 2019 was supposed to correct, come to an end. And the closing paragraph: The Sox need to spend, and spend wisely. No more hedging. No more excuses. The benefit of the doubt, if they even deserve that much, is about to expire. Sound familiar? One little nugget that was somewhat positive: The 30,000-foot view of the Red Sox shows a farm system that MLB.com placed No. 11 in its midseason rankings, noting the Sox just missed making the top 10 for the first time since mid-2016. And in closing, here is Chaim's boilerplate answer to the question of keeping Bogey and Devers: “We want to keep them both here, on deals that are going to be good for everybody,” Bloom said. “Obviously, we haven’t found those deals yet, and I know that until and unless we do, it doesn’t matter what we say. But we’re going to keep trying. Above all we want to win championships and we want to do it with both of those guys here.”

Hugh likes him some Judge.

Montgomery 5-0 with Cards with a 1.47 ERA. The genius that is Cashman.

Good post.

So many contracts are expiring and so many acquisitions are required that I'm not sure there's such a thing as a true level.

Ya never know in this game.

The relief ace concept is simply based on the idea that the best way in which to use your best reliever in a particular game might not be to wait until you have a lead in the 9th. Terry Francona was probably one of the first managers to get on board with the idea. I already mentioned Andrew Miller in 2016. But a much earlier example was how he used Keith Foulke in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. He brought Foulke in in the 7th inning with the Sox losing 4-3. Foulke went on to pitch 2.2 scoreless innings. And the rest is history.

According to the Sox FO as represented by Sam Kennedy, Bloom's mission is to build a sustainable winner while also competing each year until we get there. Critics can certainly argue that he crapped out on the second part this year.

Of course. But surely you don't think anyone's answer has changed since last week. We all tend to dig in deep on our positions. You and Old Red and a bunch of others still think he should go. Me and moon and a bunch of others still don't.

.500 in the last 3? Bench his ass!

I thought you might respond to my last post on the "How would you use Whitlock next year" thread, about how Cora used him in the last game with Minnesota.

So what's the point of asking the same question again? We all know how each other feels by now, I would think. It's all just shooting the breeze between games anyway.

In the last 2 games JD has 3 hits including a homer, and a walk. If it's all about the hot hand, he should be in the lineup too.

What irked me was we heard they were talking to Collin McHugh, and then we signed Diekman. McHugh got 2 years and $10 mill while Diekman got 2 and $8 mill. McHugh has a 2.73 ERA in 56 innings and a 1.1 fWAR, equivalent to about a 3 fWAR for starters.

Yes, and many others.

Whitlock is the relief ace. But as another poster said, we have too many jokers in the deck.

I'm a subscriber. I'll copy and paste some of it when I get a chance.

Yes, analytics hates giving away outs. Bunting for a base hit is a different story, mind you.

If you said mediocre I'd agree. But sucked and horrible is simply wrong. There have been much worse busts.

Yep. Story fWAR 2.2 bWAR 2.5

Schwarb has an fWAR of 1.9 and a bWAR of 1.6.

2 WAR is average for full-time position players and starting pitchers. You have to adjust for part-time players and relievers.

The article states "Average starting pitchers are worth around 2 WAR." Not sure how much clearer it can be.