moonslav59

I don’t claim I never lash out. Not sure why you ask. I’m not making continued false assumptions about your position or thoughts. My point was about a seemingly endless blame cycle that often goes off track in a frenzied bash fest.

...and add a few: Turner Duvall Renfroe

I've agreed the farm value is speculative. I'm not sure why you keep feeling the need to repeat it to me over and over. We agree. That's a rare things, so let it be. I've never said you have to finish in last to build up the farm or the future. I expected better in 2022 and better in 2023. It did not happen. The budget was part of the issue for a while, but to me, not really since the Story signing, although some claim our fall in the budget rankings is a sign of a change in priority from now to the future (or to JH's wallet.) I'm not just talking about the farm, here. I'm talking about tangible changes to the MLB foundation. The W-L records important, and it bugs me, too, we haven't seen dramatic improvemnt, there, but I'll repost this .... Judge for yourself: this was the roster at the end of 2019: (Remember: a team that did not make the playoffs and had already shed Kimbrell & Kelly without replacing them the winter before 2019.) Not brought back from 2019: Porcello- played some with NYM in 2020, then never pitched again. Betts & Price- famously traded for Dugo, Wong and Downs. Holt- played sparingly on 2 teams in 2 years then gone from MLB. Brought back: ERod- out for all 2020 with COVID Sale- out for so long, I forgot who he was. Nate- missed a lot of time and had one somewhat off season when he did pitch. Brian Johnson Workman & Hembree (traded by Bloom for Pivetta- they both sucked afterwards) Josh Taylor- out hurt for a long time DHern- lol Cashner, Lakins, Velazquez, Weber, Shawaryn, Brewer, Poyner, T Kelley, Chacin (You guys act like Bloom took over the 2018 team in full health.) Vaz and Leon Moreland and Sam Travis Marco Hernandez and Chris Owings Bogey Devers Beni (later traded for Wink & Gambrell plus Franchy and others) JBJ (left via FA after 2020 only to return in a blunder trade) Gorkys Hernandez JD That was THE FOUNDATION! Be honest. Look closely at that roster above. Now, look at the foundation for 2024's team. Yup, the rotation is in shambles, but what about the rest? Sure, we don't know how good Casas, Wong and many others will be, but we thought we knew how good Bogey, JD, Nate, Sale, ERod and others would be after 2019, and that turned out to be not as expected.

His sample size is rather small, but the rumblings about his bad D appear to be spot on. The .709 OPS in 127 PAs needs a lot of improvement to offset that bad D, but I'm not sure we can write him off, just yet.

Not much value in the short end of a DH platoon, but they guy does hit LHPs, pretty damn well.

LF, barely, and it helps that Fenway can hide that to a higher extent, but he's still not really a plus on D, to me. He may be, if he keeps improving. He really sucked just a year and a half ago.

HOU got to this level by tanking and firesales, but they have become a model on how to stay competitive, while losing top studs to free agency over and over. (Kinda like ATL losing Freeman and others before him.) When you keep winning, nobody cries over losing Springer, Cole, Correa, Verlander... Seriously, I'm here in Houston: nobody is crying and hardly anyone did, at the time these guys bolted for nothing but comp picks.

It was. No need to be sorry.

Sorry for lumping you in with the "posse." That was wrong of me. You don't twist what others say into strawmen, and I appreciate that. Me, I think Bloom has set us on the right path, except for improving the pitching enough to make me feel confident we will get "there" soon. He hasn't traded any good ones away, and the most promising ones he did trade were maybe Aldo Ramirez, Jay Groome, Frank German and then the Rule 5 loss of TWard and Song, that may not be as bad as some thought it might be. When you look at the Sox system since Lester, the issue was around long before Bloom and even DD. That's no excuse. In fact, it should have been a wake up call to focus our GMs on that very issue and to fix it. That being said, since Bloom took over, some of DD's pitchers and his own have made a bigger impact than I have seen in a long time. Bello may not be the next Lester, but he looks to be the closest thing to him than we have seen in a decade or more. 2020: Houck 2021: Whitlock 2022-2023: Crawford & Winckowski 2023: Bello Other teams have done better: some have done way better, but this is an improvement, and I'm not sure expecting massive and quick improvement should have been the expectation. I know, I know, 4 years is a lot of time, and yes, the farm should have more promising arms, by now, than it seems to have. That's a big hit on Bloom's "ace in the hole:" farm building. I get that. I would not be upset or shocked, if he is canned. He'd be an easy scapegoat for JH and Co. I'm not sure, if he is capable of producing more Bellos or adding established pitchers via free agency or trade. That's enough to justify your opinion and others. Like I have said, there is plenty to blame Bloom for, so why do people have to invent some that are not his fault or mostly his fault? That is what gets me to try and explain the context or deeper reasons (rightly or wrongly.)

Duran & Refsnyder might be, too.

You crack me up.

No doubt. We could be way worse, since there is a pretty wide margin between a .500 team and the Royals and A's. If you want to deny that the outlook seems better, that's fine. (I'm not saying you are, but the amount of time you spend raining on others' optimism makes me wonder.) I've said many times, the future is speculation, but that doesn't mean you don't try to improve the odds on good results, and to me, Bloom has surely improved the 26 and 40 man foundation from when he took over. We had about 18-20 slots in need of great improvement prior to 2020. Last winter we had about 5-7, and Bloom bumbles or avoided improving the most important 2-3 slots. This winter, I see 3 major slots (SP1, SP2, SP4) and maybe 2 moderate needs (LH's RP & Big RH'd bat.) To me, the trend seems to be less and less major needs, but until we fill them all or maybe all but one, we won't be seeing teh results we all hope for.

Another off base assumption based on squat. One can be unhappy and not feel the need to lash out with endless blame cycles. One can be unhappy and not share your same opinion on where to assign blame or how much one single person deserves. What is weird is how you and others make so many false assumptions, despite being called out on it over and over. You persist.

Yes, of you and the whole naysayer posse. The sky is falling! Blame _____! Blame ____! Blame _____! Rinse and repeat.

Blah, blah, blah...

I have agreed that many of his major deals have been failures (JBJ "head-scratcher, Richards, Kluber and other less major ones) or have started out that way (Story and maybe Yoshi.) As for pitching prospects he brought in: Whitlock (MLB, now) Winckowski (MLB, now) Kelly (MLB, ow but on 60 day IL) Gambrell (MLB in 2024?) But, I agree, the farm hopes and Bello are mostly DD remnants, except for ... Drohan- on the downslide Some promise: Monegro, E R-C, Dobbins. Guerrero (RP), Hoppe. Rogers, ICoffey, Troye, Paez, Penrod, BBell, M Duffy. He has some major holes in his resume. I've never defended every aspect of his record or his assembled depth chart. We are sorely lacking at pitching, which happens to be very important, if not most important. I had hopes his budget was large enough, this past winter, to address it more fully and to concentrate more on quality over quantity, but for some reason, we keep working on depth (which did not work out well, either) over spending the same amount but on less players/slots. I keep hoping that changes. I expected it, last winter. I was disappointed. That being said, I do think the foundation is better going into 2024 than it was going into 2023, despite losing Paxton, JT and Duvall. (We also lost Kike, Mondesi, Brasier, Bleier and others.) I'm not going to be optimistic about a change, this coming winter. I can't figure out what the timetable is or if there even is a grand plan, except to build up the farm and maybe never spend more than $140M on anyone ever again.

Judge for yourselves: this was the roster at the end of 2019: (Remember: a team that did not make the playoffs and had already shed Kimbrell & Kelly without replacing them.) Not brought bacK: Porcello- played some with NYM in 2020, then never pitched again. Betts & Price- famously traded for Dugo, Wong and Downs. Holt- played sparingly on 2 teams in 2 years then gone from MLB. Brought back: ERod- out for all 2020 with COVID Sale- out for so long, I forgot who he was. Brian Johnson Workman & Hembree (traded by Bloom for Pivetta- they b oth sucked afterwards) Josh Taylor- out hurt for a long time DHern- lol Cashner, Lakins, Velazquez, Weber, Shawaryn, Brewer, Poyner, T Kelley, Chacin (You guys act like Bloom took over the 2018 team in full health.) Vaz and Leon Moreland and Sam Travis Marco Hernandez and Chris Owings Bogey Devers Beni (later traded for Wink & Gambrell plus Franchy and others) JBJ (left via FA after 2020 only to return in a blunder trade) Gorkys Hernandez JD Be honest with yourself. Look closely at that roster above. Now, look at the foundation for 2024's team. Yup, the rotation is in shambles, but what about the rest? I'm not calling Bloom a genius, great or even good, but I do count context when passing final judgement, and I see marked improvement on the 26 and 40. The farm improvement is all speculative and won't be known for years- good, meh or bad. If we change GM, and he chooses well on selecting next year's rotation, he may get us to the promised land and get most of the credit. Sound familiar?

Guys like JH can only focus on one thing. That's how he got so rich!

You'd probably enjoy giving it.

I have never said I think Bloom is a great or even good GM. You assume I do because I have defended him often. I don't see everything as black and white, but that does not mean I am a man of no or ever-changing convictions. I have been wrong many times and freely admit it. I no longer think Cora is the greatest, but I did after 2018. If that makes my convictions meaningless, to you, so be it. You find one statement I have made that said Bloom was or has been a good GM. I have pointed out areas he has seemed to do well, like rebuilding the farm, but even there, I have qualified that by saying it is based a lot on speculation. I have graded out his moves and deals, several times, and usually come out at somewhere between a B- and C-, based on when I was grading and the results, at that time. Sounds like a ringing endorsement, to ou, I guess. I have often pointed out the context for many of Bloom's choices, like the idea that it was not his idea to trade Betts, and that there were not dozens of trade offers for him, once it was clear he was going to be traded. You see that as a ringing endorsement of Bloom, but I see it as just stating what I think is true and is actually a neutral view on Bloom. Same with choices made due to the fact that he has 10-20 slots to fill and a small winter budget to try and win with- again- neutral. I see a GM put in an impossible situation and doing about what I would expect- no better- now worse. You see that as my being in love with the guy. I don't. If they make him the fall guy for the an organizational plan, as I feel they did to some extent with Ben, I won't be surprised. Bloom knew what he was getting into, so I won't feel sorry for him, if they can him. If they keep him around, I won't be upset with him, if they limit his spending, this winter. I said last winter was his "legacy" winter and a "make or break" time in his era. He failed. That will be his legacy. I'm not sure it will be the "break," but it's not my call. I think he should have spent more on pitching. I think he should have made a trade for a young and solid pitcher, by now. That's my opinion. It hasn't changed or waivered, but that does not mean I can't or won't try to understand why it did not happened. If it was all Bloom's call, then it's on him. I'd be right in line with you and others calling for his firing. If it was the organization that decided to concentrate nearly all their priorities on building up a foundation on the 26 man roster, the 40 man roster and the farm, before splurging (money and prospects) on pitching, then why would anyone blame the GM? I don't know what the plan has been or is now. We all know it hasn't worked for the big club since DD's last year, here, which is now 5 years, and that is all that seems to matter to you and your posse, but I try to look deeper. Again, if Bloom convinced upper brass that losing for 5 years was needed, I'd say it was not a good plan, and did not need to last 5 years, but to me, it looks like this has been the ownership group's call, all along- starting with a major shift in focus while DD was still here. DD could not win under that new direction, either, but you would never dream of blaming him for 2019- yet the blame game runs rampant in today's society, and you and your posse excel at it. Hurray for you!

I'm not sure why you and others create this great fallacy image. The great scarecrow construction club. Yes, after 2018, I felt like Cora was the GOAT for Sox managers. I'm not so sure about that, anymore. There may still be time for him to win that title. I am not a Bloom fan, but you and others assume I am, since I spend a lot of time defending him against baseless or contextless accusations. I would not be upset, if they bring Bloom back or fire him.

Does that mean half this board thinks we need a fungicide?

Maybe he came to tell JH, to keep Bloom around for another 4 years. LOL

We did decide to not bring back Kimbrell and Kelly, and may have also decided to not bring back Mookie, once we extended Bogey, Sale and Nate. I chose to use the starting point as the inactive 2019 deadline, because we did spend a lot on those 3 extensions. That was more "new" money spent than several years afterwards, combined. Certainly saying the winter before 2019 was the start is a valid point.

I am "prepared to be bummed." I've given up hoping our spending patterns will change, despite still thinking it will, at some point. I do think Yamamoto might be one of our best chances, especially, if his friend Yoshida has good things to say about Boston. (Let's hope he doesn't read Bell's posts... LOL.) Big FA SP signings are, at best, 50-50 gambles. IMO, trades have a better hit rate, but giving up promising prospects goes against one of the other priorities, the team seems to value. Who knows?