Maxbialystock

Right now Craig Breslow has to be quietly ecstatic. Taking the Sox job was/is high risk given JH's reluctance to spend big, especially for starters. So of course Craig started out by signing Giolito for $36M for 2 years, which quickly became $36M for one year, if that. Then he dumped Sale to the Braves, where he is now their ace and, to sweeten the deal, the Sox are paying $17M of Sale's salary this year. Horrible!! Surprise, surprise, the Sox pitching is right now, 75 games into the season, 5th in MLB in ERA and the best it's been in a long time. Better, in fact, than the high-priced Sox pitchers in 2018. The only expensive Sox pitcher is closer Jansen, $16M, who just might be worth that insane price. Gotta love that phone call to Cora: send me in. Credit the new pitching coach and maybe Breslow for insisting on replacing last year's model. The Sox hitting is basically a bunch of no names except for Rafael Devers, who's having a pretty good season (not counting rbi's of course). Lately the no names have been, well, hitting the dang ball and--hold onto your hats, folks--actually scoring runs. Thus 7 wins in 9 games vs. the Yankees, Phillies, and Jays. The defense still stinks, but maybe a little less. And the baserunning slightly compensates with all those SB's. A month from now when it's trade time, Craig Breslow just might be in the catbird seat, dealing from strength, not weakness.

That makes sense.

Fascinating. Credible.

Ease up on JH and/or his managers. In his reign the Sox have won 4 WS. In Willie's 22 seasons with the Giants, they won 1 WS. Kike had a terrific year in 2021 and was one of the big reasons the Sox made it to the postseason and then to the ALCS.

Oh stop it. Bloom was nobody's "guy." I have defended him because I think John Henry has set some rules down that would make it difficult for any CBO, but I don't disagree that many of the acquisitions by Bloom have bombed. I have also, however, also pointed that Breslow's acquisition of Grissom--for Sale, who is now Atlanta's ace and $17M of whose salary the Sox are paying--and of Giolito have been awful so far. Giolito is being paid $36M for at most one season. I do see the case for keeping Yoshida on the active roster, but that doesn't mean I think he was a smart acquisition by Bloom. Nor was Story and a few others.

In my business, shaving was obligatory, and gold chains, had they ever been worn, would have been scorned. I think the beards and gold chains are entirely about getting people's attention, which is what most if not all adolescents do. And let's not forget all the hand waving, etc whenever anyone gets a hit. Look at me, look at me, look at me. I accept all that because it's now part of the game, but I don't think any of it makes the game better. I do, however, have the sneaking suspicion that MLB likes the gyrations, the beards, the jewelry, etc because they hope it will increase attendance and/or viewership.

Fine with me. How's Maine? Hot like the rest of us?

Good points. Duran may be 28, but 2023 was his first meaningful year in MLB. Same goes for Wong, who blossomed last year and played 126 games vs 33 total in 2021 and 2022.

I'm beginning to think that on this thread pessimistic is synonymous with realistic. It you are high on the Sox, you must be high on something else--bourbon, whatever. Well, count me out of the pessimism school, and here's why. The 9 latest games: 3 vs. the best AL Team, 3 vs. the best NL Team, and 3 vs. the 47% winning Jays--and the Sox won 7 of them with good enough pitching and surprisingly good hitting. Season to date--and we are at 75 games, almost at 81, which is half the season--the Sox team ERA, 3.45, is 5th best in MLB. The 2018 Sox finished at 8th, ERA 3.75. The hitting is not nearly as good as 2018, which was 1st in runs scored and OPS. However, the 2024 Sox are 9th in runs scored and 5th in OPS, and I think they can get better--barring further key injuries--because two of their top OPS guys, Casas @ .857 and Abreu @ .829--missed those 9 games. Plus there are really only three experienced hitters--Devers, O'Neill, and Refsnyder--on the active roster. Wong, Casas, Abreu, Duran, Rafaela, Hamilton, Valdez, and Gonzalez are still learning. That's a double-edged sword, I know, but I take those 9 games in June as being very timely in terms of the future. Old Julius said it best: I came, I saw, I conquered. He also said Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, which freely translated says there are 3 wild card slots in the AL. Defense still stinks--well, the infield, anyway--but maybe with fewer unearned runs. We'll see. And a tiny counterbalance is that the baserunning adds to the offense to help compensate for those unearned runs (also earned runs that weren't). I think the Sox need 92 wins to make the postseason. How doable is that? They need to play 60% ball the rest of the way. So far they are winning at a 53% rate, so the improvement needs to be 7%. Piece of cake--if the 53% is valid and not, as too many on here seem to think, blind stupid luck. To remind: if it's luck, it's almost half a season of luck.

Seriously? Is this a losing face thing? If so, it's item #3.

A key point. Baseball is nothing if not unpredictable, but those games were very encouraging. Plus Abreu and and Casas will be back soon.

I guess it's fair to wrangle over Hamilton and Yoshida. I mean, this is a thread on the CBO and moves he might or might not make. But, as a fan, right now I'm reluctant to endorse dumping anyone when the Sox are playing--and especially hitting--so well. Besides, Cora is a proponent of the dud liberation movement. You put someone on his 26 man roster, that guy is going out onto the field of play. And so far Hamilton has played in 50 games and has a WAR of +1.3, 6th best on the Sox. Yoshida, meanwhile, has played in just 31 games with a WAR of 0 and an OPS of .662, which is down 120 points from last season. I see 2 reasons to keep Yoshida. First and foremost, are the sunk costs of his $90M contract. As underperforming as he has been, he's ahead of Giolito, who is missing this entire season--he's getting $36M for 2 seasons--and could miss big chunks of next season or even bomb. Story's getting $140M for 6 years, and so far has delivered 3.5 WAR for the first 3 years. Yoshida has delivered 1.5 WAR in 2 years. The Sox are paying Sale $17M this year to pitch for the Braves and Turner $6.7M to play for the Jays. The other half of the Yoshida case is that he actually can hit--or certainly did in Japan. Maybe his problem could still be adjusting to this country and MLB pitching--on top of the injuries. In any case, we can be pretty sure Cora will give Yoshida opportunities to prove his worth.

I'm kind of anti-beard, so the Yankee rule doesn't bother me. But overall I think beards are harmless. The gold chains, on the other hand, strike me as vanity run amuck--and that absolutely includes guys like Mookie Betts. When I see the chains, I silently hum "I feel pretty" from West Side Story. Interestingly, neither actress who played Maria in the two West Side Story movies wore a necklace for the simple reason they had to dance.

Orioles scored 2 in the 10th for the win. Twins and Royals--our competitors for wild card--both lost. First two starters in Cincy are Crawford and Pivetta. No name listed for the 3d game on Sunday. Assuming Criswell stays out (Worcester?), the next guy up would be Houck, who pitched yesterday, so by Sunday he will have had 5 days rest.

Dugo is playing CF for the Yankees and just made a terrific grab in deep CF with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 9th. However, the Orioles still lead, 5-4.

Great play by Martin!!!! That guy wants to win, and so do the Sox. 5 straight!!!!! Thanks to Martin, Bello, the Sox, SPLENDIDSPLINTER, vegasbob, and all the ships at sea.

It's those uniforms.

I liked his Dad, Bobby Bonds.

I thought that might be the case. Too funereal. I definitely got used to the blue and yellow uniforms, which I agree are not good baseball colors.

If Manny can be Manny, let Jarren be . . . fined!

9 hits, 7 runs--a pretty good ratio, I would think.

That's 4 errors by the Jays. My, my. 7-3, Sox, with 6 outs to get.

I'm sorry, Jays, but I don't like those uniforms. West Pointers are sometimes called the "black knights of the Hudson," but they don't actually dress that way. I like the Jays and I like Toronto.

He's back. Probably a good decision to ask for and get 2 weeks on the IL.

You have a point. But I have to remind you it will be the same guys--the pitchers and the lineup--who got us the lead. So, me, I can't help but root for the good guys. I mean, they're a bunch of nobodies except for Devers and Jansen. And tonight could be a sweep in Toronto, right after taking 2 of 3 back to back against the Phillies and again against Yankees. Who are these guys?