Maxbialystock

He threw two fastballs right down the middle and got a GIDP.

His terrified. When he's confident, he pitches pretty quickly. Right now he wants to be anywhere but on that mound.

Don't forget the Sox are paying Price, Sale, and Eovaldi $63M this year. None are on the active roster. When he was on it, Eovaldi contributed a WAR of +0.9. Sale pitched in 2 games after the rib injury cost 3 months on the IL, then went right back on after the broken pinky from a line drive and then breaking his right wrist on/off his bike to ensure he wouldn't return this year. The Dodgers own Price and are paying him I think $14M for his .6 WAR. All three--Price, Sale, and Eovaldi--were aggressively hired by DD and contributed significantly to the 2018 WS season (probably the best Sox season ever). To date Wacha has the highest WAR on the pitching staff, 3.3, and is getting $7M. Next highest is Pivetta, WAR 2.4, being paid $2.65M. Whitlock, 2.2 WAR, paid $720K. Houck, WAR 1.6, $716K. Eovaldi WAR .9, salary $22M, Hill WAR .7, salary $5M. Also interesting are these salaries for former Sox players: JBJ $17M; Price $16M; Vazquez $4.5M; Diekman $2.3M, Robles $1.1M--plus 6 other guys for a combined $700K. And this. Attendance is going down. In 2013-2019 it was about 36K/game almost every year, with 2013 being the lowest at 35K. Then the pandemic. But this year it was back up to 35K-36K per game, a strong recovery helped by last year's excellent season. In the past week it's been around 30-31K/game.

Meh. Eck got tons of good comments on talksox when he announced he's retiring. They particularly admired his candor. I wasn't listening today (or most games), but do not see how anyone could put a positive spin on this game. There were absolutely no good signs. Pivetta stunk and the bullpen was worse--and that only confirms why the Sox team ERA is 14th of 15 teams in the AL. The Sox had 13 hits, including a double and 3 dingers, but just 4 runs thanks to 0 for 6 with RISP.

A note on DD. He's now the President of Baseball Operations for the Phillies, and this year they look to get to the postseason for the first time 2011. Apparently it helped to fire Joe Girardi in May when the Phillies were 22-29.

I trust Cora to give him the right role. As moonslav says, a good starter is far more valuable than the best closer simply because he eats a lot more innings. However, we don't yet know whether Whitlock can go 180 or more innings in a season. We do know he's good pitching more than one inning per outing because he has an excellent repertoire and pretty good command. At least in the John Henry era, the most successful closers were on Sox teams that already had pretty good pitching--a good rotation and some good relievers. That was not the case this year--the Sox pitching stunk.

Actually, that notion was largely sarcasm. I'm pissed at Dugo's defense, but agree his bat helps--except that his overall WAR is a measly 0.5.

Well said except for the final point, bringing back Wong, a third catcher. I think he's a better fielder/thrower than Plawecki, but want Plawecki calling the pitches.

You mean Ortiz too? Among Dugo, Kike, and Pham, I put Pham dead last because his defense is worse than Dugo's.

Actually, I was impressed with last night's win and the 1 run losses the two nights before, both in the 10th inning and both because the Sox couldn't score in either 10th inning. I even said so and was greeted with stunned silence.

Love that. Hill is usually all business on the mound. So was Bello in his last start.

You said outfield?????? Dugo's DWAR this year is -1.1 and consequently his overall WAR is just 0.5. Kike ain't hitting this year but his career OPS is .736 compared to Dugo's .773. And Kike is an excellent outfielder. His WAR this year is 0.2 (in half as many games as Dugo). So, me, I'd keep both, put Kike in the outfield and Dugo as the DH.

It definitely is, but I kind of like to see those numbers--something to shoot for. I also like your enthusiasm today.

OK, that's it. I've had it. Where do you come off wanting to keep a guy Bloom cut a deal for when the consensus on talksox is that Bloom is clueless in Seattle. Plus this. Dugo will never be as good as Mookie, and that's why Bloom is dumb as a post. He should have kept Mookie.

Actually, I probably agree with the notion that Bloom could be in "over his head," but with some caveats as follows-- 1. As others have pointed out, this is first time as the honcho. He was great at the Rays, but never fully in charge. 2. The Rays system of finding and developing players is vastly different from the Sox system. If nothing else, the Sox can afford to spend at least twice as much on salaries as the Rays. They rarely develop good pitchers and prefer to buy 'em by the gross. The Rays find and develop good pitchers every freaking year. 3. DD inherited a ton of talent drafted/developed by Cherington and Epstein--and left a train wreck. Where, for example are all the great prospects he drafted 6 years ago, 5 years ago, 4 years ago, and 3 years ago? I don't see any. But DD inherited Mookie, Bogey, Raffy, Beni, JBJ (when he was good), Holt, Leon, Vazquez, Porcello, ERod, Kelly, Barnes, et al. So all DD had to do was go out and buy Price, Sale, Kimbrel, and JDM--all of whom were paid handsomely--to get that 2018 WS team. 4. By train wreck I don't just mean no player development. I also mean the Sox are still paying major bucks--$63M for Price, Sale, and Eovaldi--this year even though they aren't doing jack for the Sox. I also mean that, partly because of those salaries, keeping three of the best--Mookie, Bogey, and Devers--became impossible in Mookie's case and problematical in the cases of Bogey and Devers. 5. At Tampa there wasn't a lot of pressure because their fanbase was and is virtually nonexistent. Sox fans ain't so patient. Actually, if talksox and this thread are any indication, Sox fans have zippo patience. It's like working for the Queen of Hearts, whose usual remark is, "off with the heads." And I'm pretty sure that chant started in Bloom's first season, 2020, which to me was a nonseason because of the pandemic. Did it abate during or after the very successful 2021 season? Not so's you'd notice. And this year so far it's now a 235 page thread.

Agree, agree, agree. First, I too don't think Bogey's day is done. Second, I absolutely, categorically think long term contracts inevitably pay players salaries way above their performance level. Third, I agree JDM was a great acquisition, but this year he's overpaid. That said, he did not get a long term contract.

Fortunately, my words are just above yours, so everyone knows you are intentionally misquoting me.

Career? So, just like that, you wipe out last season as irrelevant. Actually, that makes sense because you have characterized 2021 as a non-season so you can continue to claim Bloom is clueless.

Funny thing, but I also though JDM was a great signing and I don't mind giving DD credit for it. He already had a bunch of good bats thanks to Cherington (and Epstein), but JDM filled the gap created by Ortiz's retirement and, I think, made everyone else in the lineup better in 2018. He does have a problem with sliders from righty pitchers, but he has been valuable until this year.

It is beyond question he basically collapsed last year and stayed that way this year. His WAR to date is -.5. But that's based mostly on April and May when his ERA's were 5.87 and an almost world record 9.64 in May. Grounds for DFA? I'm guessing many on talksox thought so. Instead, the Sox put him on the IL for over 60 days, which turned out to be a wise move. Somehow he seems to have regained his knuckle curve and almost his fastball that worked so well in the first half of last season. And, if you watched him last night in his 3d stint in 3 nights, you saw one very determined guy. The jury is still out on how long this will last, but it is crazy not to say, "boy did we and don't we badly need some version of the good Matt Barnes right freaking now." Houck is out. Whitlock is back, but Cora can't use him every night. Schreiber is still good but not as good as earlier, plus he is a one inning guy. I just looked at the wild card standings, I readily agree the Sox are definitely a long shot to get to the postseason. They are 8 games back of the Jays and Mariners with 36 games to go, and their run differential of -44 ain't promising. But, as moonslav loves to remind us, in baseball, including especially MLB, anything can happen.

Plus Bogey has never quit on this team, especially not this month when he has been in a slump. I'm not sure I would give him the contract he has reportedly demanded, but I do think he has been a stalwart since he came up in 2013 and played 3b in 12 of 16 games--including starting all 6 games in the WS--in the postseason when the Sox won the WS. Hard to believe that was 9 years ago.

Yep.

He fooled everyone? He's been the Sox most reliable reliever in August with an ERA of 1.74 in 11 appearances--8 of them against teams with winning records. Last night was his third stint--against the Rays and Jays--in as many nights--and he pitched a 1-2-3 inning after Brasier gave up 4 runs with no outs.

The guy who managed the Sox to their best season ever in 2018 and to the ALCS last year? Yeah, what a bum.

Freaking brilliant quote. Plus I too enjoyed that game.