Maxbialystock

I wouldn't label Rafaela "clutch," but am fine with "good and should get better." That play he made deep in the hole was fantastic. I would keep him at SS the rest of the season and Hamilton at 2b. If Story returns, I'd definitely play Story at 2b or SS, whatever Cora decides. Casas has surprised the heck out of me with his hitting and fielding. I regret calling him out for missing that popup near the stands. I say again for the umpteenth time, it's the no-names on this team who are making a difference. I get to call Duran "no-name" because that's what he was when the season started. So are Wong, Abreu, Rafaela, Hamilton O'Neill, Ref, Yoshida, Gonzalez, Jansen (catcher). Also Smith, whom you praised. Even McGuire, who was devastated when he was DFA'd. I cannot remember a Sox team or season with so many "no-names" contributing so much. Houck, Crawford, Pivetta, Bello, and Criswell are also well within the "no-names" circle.

You could be right, but my view is that they built a pretty good team. The sign-stealing was terrible, but we also know the Sox did some of that too--led by Pedroia.

Nice story. Good guy. His age and salary this season are astounding.

Also well said.

Sensible.

I'm a doubter too. Too many folks over-rate the 2b position, which this year has been adequate, especially after Valdez went back to Worcester. The best Sox team ever, 2018, had freaking Nunez (WAR -1.4) at second base. In other words, Breslow gave up a great starter, Sale, in return for a worthless second baseman he didn't need in the first place--on a team whose fundamental shortfall/need is pitching, pitching, and more pitching. And, yes, I agree we could not be sure in 2023 that Sale would be good in 2024. Nevertheless, keeping him--especially since we're paying his salary anyway--was better than giving him away.

Honestly, I recall zero f-bombs from you. All I can remember are your insights. Of course, I've been saying f-bombs out loud for over 60 years, as has my wife.

I think the specifics can always be debated, but your OP lays down what I think is a reasonable approach. Be willing to give up good prospects to get good pitching. And right now the Sox have pretty solid hitting overall and next year could have that plus decent infield defense and still trade away good prospects. Right now a blind man can see the Sox lineup is way more talented than the pitching staff. But both groups own 13 slots on the roster and therefore are equally important. The 2024 Sox are unbalanced and should be rebalanced, if doable, this offseason.

I use freaking a lot. But I don't mind foul language now and then. My suggestion is to wait another week or two to make your own assessment because you are far more expert in other MLB blog sites than any of us. I think we would follow your lead.

Our perspectives differ for obvious reasons. Tomorrow is Criswell vs. some 41 years old guy named Verlander. Plus he's a righty. Sox by a touchdown.

Your medical knowledge is far better than mine. But I'm pretty sure the Sox have access to enough medical expertise to make good decisions about whether to keep a player on the active roster. Right now I think they all want to play. McGuire is especially bitter because he got booted off. Smith probably feels that way too. But so do Devers, Duran, Abreu, Wong, Rafaela, Hamilton, Casas, O'Neill, Refsnyder, et al. Maybe not all the guys in the bullpen, however. For them, Madame Defarge is sittin' and knittin' right behind the Sox dugout. Because--my opinion--we Sox fans have been spoiled rotten by John Henry, we now have a powerful sense of entitlement. That means outbidding the far wealthier Dodgers for Mookie Betts. It means one of the top three payrolls in MLB. And it means regular excursions the Postseason and winning the WS about every 5th season.

Nope. A great win. A much needed win in a very exciting game. Pivetta was pretty lousy, but he went 5 IP and left the game when it was a 5-5 ties. The bullpen, which I have excoriated repeatedly, was fantastic tonight. 4 IP, 0 runs. And right now you have the winning mojo, so feel free to start the next game thread anytime between now and 11 am tomorrow (your rule).

He absolutely did. He struck out the first guy with that same junky stuff he threw tonight. Opposing managers should be reporting Jansen to the police for grand theft of ball games. And he's getting away with it with the umps checking his glove, his hands, and goodness knows what else. Kojii Uehara was much, much better in 2013, but the one thing both these guys had/have is absolutely no fear. The dinger last night was off the first pitch to the second Astros batter in the 9th. The mystery is why that doesn't happen half the freaking time. Credit to Cora and especially Breslow for keeping Jansen in Boston.

I think bringing Casas back was dicey because his injury was from swinging a bat and he reported he is still feeling pain when he fouls pitches off. But can there be any freaking doubt doing so was the right move? I hasten to add that's the same reason for keeping Devers around. It is still too soon to start checking these Sox players pockets for loose change. I did, however, just get a text message from Devers, Rafaela, Hamilton, and Casas who jointly apologize for not making errors tonight so that all the talksox boobirds could whistle their favorite tune.

It's his 24th and he threw the same stuff he threw last night. But last night was not for a save.

If we could superimpose last night's Jansen's pitches with tonight's, I swear we would find he three the same exact mix and locations. But this time he gets the save, and the Sox get a much needed win.

Jansen get his walk, and the Astros pitcher deserves some kind of booby prize even though they can still get out of this inning.

You're darn right it doesn't. And tonight has been a perfect night/game in which to vent our frustration. If you will remember, it was 10-20 games ago when the the Sox came to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning with the score still tied--the Mariners had failed to score in the top of the 10th. The Mariners manager brought out a lefty reliever and pitched to Devers, who promptly tattooed the LF wall with the winning hit. The consensus on talksox, was naturally that the Mariners manager was an idiot for even thinking of pitching to THE GREAT ONE, RAFAEL DEVERS. And I said it was apparent the choice of a lefty reliever meant the manager wanted to pitch to Devers. If he got him out, he could always walk the next Sox hitter, a righty (Ref?), who would be followed by one or more lefty bats. I did point out that statistically Devers is not only weaker with RISP but also against lefties. No one agreed with me of course. Top of the 9th and Devers just crunched a screamer to RF.

This year I think I've seen Bailey out there more often than any Sox pitching coach I can remember. I like it because I like him, but I have no idea if those mound visits are working.

His freaking shoulder was hurting early in the season and ever since, and this is the best season he's ever had for the Sox. These days, thanks mostly to the MLBPA, players are pretty well protected from abuse. Plus, of course, Devers has a guaranteed contract. I think he is playing hurt because he wants to, Cora wants him to, and the doctors say it won't make his shoulder worse. I do share your frustration with his at bats tonight, but I haven't given up on this team in this game or for this season.

Last night Astros committed 4 errors (plus the ump-called K on the batter for a false step at a critical point in the game) and gave up 3 unearned runs and 1 earned run. But they won because they outhit the Sox by a big margin, 13-7 and even though one of their runs was also unearned. Tonight Casas, Duran, and Abreu have been carrying the load with all 5 rbi's, 6 of the Sox 7 hits, etc. No errors by the Sox, plus Casas has looked pretty darn good at 1b. He uses his height better than anyone I can remember in stretching to get those throws to 1b. I could be wrong and often am, but I do think the starters overall would do better if they all had good changeup pitches. With Ref in LF and O'Neill in RF, the Sox have their weakest defensive outfield. Both are also hitless at the plate tonight.

You're the pathetic one. Devers, with all his faults, leads the team in OPS (.958, highest of his career), dingers, rbi's, and BB's--and he is second in total bases. His 4.3 WAR is 2d highest on the team.

You got me, dead to rights. I did say sabotage, and it does mean what you say it means. And it's just wrong. I was exaggerating, but failed to make it clear I was. The rest of that long post is pretty close to what I think. I'm not a Breslow fan, but I also think he took on an impossible job because John Henry and the Sox seem to be in some kind of weird transition phase. And I quote moonslav because I think he's got it about right. The lineup this year and next looks pretty good, and Breslow could be the right guy to fix the pitching (rotation and bullpen), but he can't without the monetary support of owner John Henry. And the weird part about that is that for his first 18 or so seasons of Sox ownership, JH supported a big payroll, usually among the top 3 in MLB. In 2018 and 2019, the Sox had the top payrolls in MLB. Since then, a steady progression downward to 11th this year.

I never said or implied Breslow "threw a season." In fact, I've repeatedly praised him for insisting on a new pitching coach and bringing in Bailey. I think the Sale and Giolito deals were stupid, but agree with moonslav that last winter they almost made sense. Certainly his intent was to improve the rotation and not destroy it. Once DD was fired in 2019, which was just 5 years ago, I think the Sox entered something akin to what Rod Serling called the Twilight Zone. Big bucks for big starters were out and overall the Sox payroll went from #1 in MLB in 2018 and 2019 to 11th this year. Chaim Bloom was hired, I think, to replicate the low cost success of the Rays, and that simply did not happen. Not even close. Instead, CB hired short term starters and was allowed to give Devers the big extension--but not Mookie-- and 5/6 year contracts to Story and then Yoshida. moonslav has pointed out that this upcoming offseason is a great opportunity to fix the rotation and the bullpen because the Sox can offer some (not all) of their best prospects and at the same time pay good money for quality starters because they can spend $90M more and still avoid the surtax or whatever it's called. But moonslav also says we have no idea whether JH will go for that. The irony of that is that right now this year's lineup--the 1/2 of the team that scores the runs and now and then plays defense--is hitting up a storm and most will return next season along with Story and 1 or more of the hot prospects now at Worcester. The bats look pretty good, and, if Story and Mayer are both viable, the defense should be too. I'm not a big Breslow fan, but I also think he was given a near impossible task. In fact, right now I doubt that John Henry or anyone else even defined what that task was. But now he's about a year into the job and can see clearly what needs to be done. Thanks to that core of Devers, Duran, Abreu, Rafaela, Ref, Casas, and Wong--along with Story, Mayer, et all in the wings--Breslow can focus on the pitching. But, as moonslav insists, he must have JH's support in getting that pitching.

Why would any fan want to spend his money/time watching pitchers, catchers, and hitters challenge balls and strikes?