Maxbialystock

Neat.

I'll just bet you were delighted when JH didn't renew Francona's contract after the 2011 season. For 2012 they brought in a monster--no doubt picked by that CBO--who lasted one season. The very next season Farrell managed the Sox to their 3d WS win in the JH era--but JH fired him after the 2017 season even though the Sox went to the postseason in 2016 and 2017. Cora has stayed--missing the 2020 nonseason--because he's good. Forget 2018 and look at the amazing job he did with the 2021 Sox, especially in the postseason when as a wild card they made it to the ALCS without a closer and with a team ERA ranked 15th in MLB. JH has stuck with Cora because JH knows he's good and because JH knew that the team wasn't getting the full support of management, specifically with regard to signing good pitchers. Sale and Price poisoned that well. Like everyone else, I love having three rookies on the active roster. They represent the future. However, unlike you, I'm not ready to kiss this season goodbye and let Campbell, Mayer, and Anthony start every game as you no doubt want them to do. In fact, I like the way Cora has given them opportunities--largely because Bregman and then Abreu went on the IL--while at the same time managing to win games. Mayer has missed some starts, and so has Anthony. How well has Cora managed? After Bregman's last game the Sox were 26-26, the Sox plummeted to 30-35, but now they are 1 game above .500 despite playing the Rays and Yankees over the last 9 games. I'm guessing you hate this resurgence because you want the Sox to collapse and Cora to be fired. And I feel the exact opposite. I've rooted like crazy for the Sox since 1949, and that included 55 seasons of the 86 year drought. In too many seasons the Sox had what we called the "June swoon." We are now in the John Henry era, by far the best in Sox history. We no more need to fire Cora than we did Francona after the 2011 season (when his contract ran out). I'm all for getting good pitching. You can never have enough. I won't mind trading one of our outfielders when Abreu returns (June 20) and we have 5: Abreu, Anthony, Rafaela, Ref, and Duran. I would love for another team to take over Yoshida's contract, but seriously doubt that will happen. Right now he simply is not needed on this team because Devers is a far better DH. I of course think Breslow is better than Bloom, but let's not forget that JH has loosened up the purse strings as he refused to do for CB. No way, no how would JH have allowed a Crochet to get the contract he now has. Ditto Bregman's $40M. Also, as I keep reminding everyone (ad nauseum), Breslow dumped Sale and replaced him with Giolito. We make the postseason last year if Breslow had simply kept Sale and ignored Giolito. Breslow also bypassed his manager to tell Devers he should place 1b. Dumb! Replacing Casas has been painless because he was having a lousy season and both Toro and Gonzalez are much better. Nevertheless, because this is Breslow's first shot at CBO, he should get some leeway.

For now, I prefer to focus on what the Sox are doing because it's downright amazing. They lost Bregman on May 23d and then nosedived from 27-26 to 30-35 and are now back to 1 game over. In the absence of Bregman, Devers OPS dropped from .984 to .905. Nevertheless, he is still 3d in MLB in rbi's with 58. The leader (Alonso) has 63 and Judge has 60. Meanwhile, a bunch of other guys have emerged, plus the rotation was stunning this weekend. Now comes a daunting trip to the West Coast and Seattle, the Giants, and the Angels.

Bello was fantastic. Devers not so much.

Agree you can never have too much good pitching. Getting an ace is tricky even though Breslow did it last offseason.

Wow.

I think they had a good one in 2018. One of the hit songs from Damn Yankees is "You gotta have heart," and I think our guys showed a lot of heart this weekend and, actually, the last 9 games.

How the heck did you know that?

I wrote the above after Devers hit the dinger in the 5th. So definitely my bad. I was on the road from Virginia to Greensboro and simply missed it on my iphone.

My guess is that the zeal to fire Cora might have been tempered somewhat by the past 9 games. I've always favored him, but I do not especially give him credit for what appears to be a real turnaround. I give the credit to the players, especially the rotation. Now a quick flight to Seattle followed by the Giants in SF and the Angels in LA. A tough road trip, but I think there's a day off in there.

Of course they should. Meanwhile, why not give a little credit to three of our starters for what they did to the Yankees this weekend. Sheesh.

Sure was. Too bad moonslav didn't notice. He's been watching the same game and has decided with we need is starters. Mean Everyone in the front office plus Cora would trade him for frontline starter, but no one would take that deal.

Bernardino is crap for the second or third straight appearance.

Meanwhile, we can ignore that we have just Crochet, Dobbins, and Bello pitch 21.1 innings while giving up 1 freaking run to the Yankees. You guys need to keep up with what's happening--or what seems to happening. I'd like more starters too, but right now I'm borderline ecstatic about the rotation. As for the lefty bats, I frankly don't give a darn. The Sox hit lefties better than righties, and today Cora had 7 righty bats in the lineup. You guys are trying to fix something that right now doesn't need fixing. On the other hand, I can't resist saying I'm completely disgusted with Devers. He has done his best to be the savior of the Yankees pitching staff. His OPS has dropped 100 points since Bregman went on the IL. He's in the right position, DH, and he's being paid a king's ransom, so he must deliver at the plate and emphatically is not.

Guess what? Abreu may not hit lefties, but the Sox do. Against righties their OPS is .742 and against lefties .787. They also have had just 648 at bats vs lefties and almost three times as many, 1796, against righties. I honestly don't have a preference between Duran and Abreu. I would trade the one that gets the Sox the best value in return.

Disagree. He sure ain't earning his salary, but I still like his consistency at SS or 2B. It's his hitting that is the problem, which of course means the Sox will have to pay a percentage of his salary wherever he goes. His OPS in 10 games this month is .870. I think our best infield is Bregman, Mayer, Story, and Toro with Campbell and/or Gonzalez and/or Hamilton as backups.

Agree with who you want to keep. However, I also think the Sox must get value in return. So, if Abreu gets better value in return, I would trade him in heartbeat. By value I mean good arms, bullpen and/or starter. This is an excellent topic because I think the Sox need to do something when Abreu gets back, which should be next week. When Bregman returns in July, another move has to be made.

I think so too. But Bregman returns in a month or less.

I think sellers is the wrong term. The Sox need pitching and will shortly have 5 outfielders: Rafaela, Duran, Abreu, Ref, and Anthony. The first three have the 4th, 5th, and 6th best fWAR's on this team. When Bregman returns, they will also have at least one extra infielder.

True, but that one hit was huge in a low-scoring game. When Abreu returns, the Sox will have 5 outfielders: Duran, Rafaela, Abreu, Anthony, and Ref. Something's got to give.

I think Mayer could well be the better defensive SS, but I like Story's experience and smarts at SS. But it's also a fact that Story was pretty good at 2b in his first season with Boston.

Right. Duran, Toro, and Mayer (2). A week from now I'll do doubt give Toro's dinger by to Anthony.

Normale.

My bad. I think I gave him credit for Duran's dinger. But I agree he still looks good. 3 dingers by 2 rookies has a nice ring (but a wrong one). Sox looked great all around--dingers, defense, pitching, you name it. Huge CS in the 8th by Narvaez. Huge.

Smart alec that I am, I have to say I never expected the rookies to be this good. Even Campbell with his struggles clearly has potential. That was a hard hit double tonight. Attendance 36K!! Against the Rays. With the Sox having a losing record. The Fenway fans like those rookies.