moonslav59

I was wondering about that assumption, too.

Of my sisters? No. All of my 5 sisters are very smart. In some areas some are much smarter than I. In others, maybe not. We all get along, which is no small miracle for a family so opinionated and outspoken as we all are.

My two eldest sisters went to Yale. There are many kinds of "smart."

+It seems there are already too many hands in the decision making. Why add another one?

So, no "disrupt family" excuse is readily available for him. I'm assuming he'll have no excuses, because he'd jump at any GM opportunity in MLB.

GMs are let go, all the time. It's nothing new. It comes with the territory. No doubt, the Sox have had more turnover in the last 12 years than most other teams, and in some cases 3 more changes. I'm sure thinking you may be uprooting your family in 4 years might play a part in your choice, and does seem to be the "easy excuse" for saying no, but I'm not sure it's the number one factor for most of the "no's" we've gotten, so far. For all we know, some who have backed away might have asked about the plan on spending over the next few years and not liked the answer. You can't exactly tell the media, "I didn't take the job/interview because they said they were not going to spend." They also cannot say, "I wanted to hire my own manager, and JH wouldn't let me."

It's hard to know how any person we pick will work out or not, especially those with very little or no experience being a GM. I just hope the pick the right guy- someone who takes a balanced approach, but I guess that part comes from the top. The budget will be a major component of how well the next GM can do out of the gates and going forward. If there was some sort of moratorium on trading top prospects, I wonder how long that goes on, too. IMO, whoever comes in may have to deal with some dysfunction or micromanaging from above, but the person will have a decent 26 and 40 man roster foundation (minus 3 SPers needed) and a well-regarded farm (minus many promising pitching prospects.) It's not the task handed to Bloom, but it will have a share of major challenges to overcome. Let's hope this one meets and exceeds those challenges.

Damn Astros pulled off a nice win on the road.

It was a worthy sacrifice.

The guy did an amazing job building a juggernaut.

MLBTR... Yuki Matsui To Explore Signing With MLB Teams By Mark Polishuk | October 14, 2023 at 11:13pm CDT Star closer Yuki Matsui looks to be interested in a potential move to Major League Baseball, as a Yahoo Japan report (Japanese language link) indicates that Matsui has exercised his international free agent rights, as well as his rights to freely negotiate with other Nippon Professional Baseball clubs. Matsui doesn’t turn 28 until later this month, but he has already accumulated 10 seasons with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. As a result, the left-hander is a full free agent, and can be signed by MLB teams without an additional posting fee to the Eagles. His age and experience also make him exempt from MLB’s international bonus pool structure. It isn’t necessarily a sure thing that Matsui is headed to North America, as the Eagles are reportedly set to offer him a four-year contract worth $1.6 billion yen (roughly $10.7MM in USD) to remain in the fold. However, Matsui has hired WME’s Bryan Minniti as an agent, which could hint that the southpaw is more interested in seeing what Major League teams have to offer. Minniti has recently moved into the representation arena after a long front office career that included stints as an assistant GM with the Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Nationals. At least nine Major League clubs have already scouted Matsui, including the Padres, Red Sox, Cubs, and Yankees. It isn’t surprising that there is significant interest in a pitcher who is hitting the market at such a relatively young age, and who has already amassed such an impressive resume in Nippon Professional Baseball and on the international stage. Matsui was a member of Japan’s championship team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, though he only made one appearance during the tournament, throwing a scoreless inning.

MLBTR... Yuki Matsui To Explore Signing With MLB Teams By Mark Polishuk | October 14, 2023 at 11:13pm CDT Star closer Yuki Matsui looks to be interested in a potential move to Major League Baseball, as a Yahoo Japan report (Japanese language link) indicates that Matsui has exercised his international free agent rights, as well as his rights to freely negotiate with other Nippon Professional Baseball clubs. Matsui doesn’t turn 28 until later this month, but he has already accumulated 10 seasons with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. As a result, the left-hander is a full free agent, and can be signed by MLB teams without an additional posting fee to the Eagles. His age and experience also make him exempt from MLB’s international bonus pool structure. It isn’t necessarily a sure thing that Matsui is headed to North America, as the Eagles are reportedly set to offer him a four-year contract worth $1.6 billion yen (roughly $10.7MM in USD) to remain in the fold. However, Matsui has hired WME’s Bryan Minniti as an agent, which could hint that the southpaw is more interested in seeing what Major League teams have to offer. Minniti has recently moved into the representation arena after a long front office career that included stints as an assistant GM with the Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Nationals. At least nine Major League clubs have already scouted Matsui, including the Padres, Red Sox, Cubs, and Yankees. It isn’t surprising that there is significant interest in a pitcher who is hitting the market at such a relatively young age, and who has already amassed such an impressive resume in Nippon Professional Baseball and on the international stage. Matsui was a member of Japan’s championship team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, though he only made one appearance during the tournament, throwing a scoreless inning.

In another MLBTR report... J.D. Martinez was known to be a Red Sox trade candidate heading into the 2022 deadline, and WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford reports that the Dodgers came “very close” to a deal to land the veteran slugger. However, talks fell through when the Sox asked for Evan Phillips to also be included in the trade package. At the time, Phillips was partway through a breakout 2022 season that saw him post a 1.14 ERA over 63 innings, and he went on to another outstanding year as the Dodgers’ first-choice closer in 2023 (2.05 ERA over 61 1/3 frames, with 24 saves). Since the Dodgers pivoted to adding Joey Gallo at that deadline, it’s easy to wonder if Martinez could’ve or would’ve done more to upgrade the lineup, yet it’s hard to fault the team’s logic in wanting to retain Phillips. As it turned out, L.A. got the best of both worlds in 2023, with Phillips closing games and Martinez delivering a big year at the plate after signing with the Dodgers as a free agent last offseason.

This from MLBTR... Kim Ng Preferred Justin Turner To Jean Segura Last Offseason By Leo Morgenstern | October 18, 2023 at 3:37pm CDT Former Marlins GM Kim Ng remains a popular topic of conversation around baseball, following her surprise departure from the organization earlier this week. This morning, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald provided some insight into one of Ng’s worst errors of judgment during her tenure in Miami: signing Jean Segura to a two-year, $17MM deal last winter. According to Jackson, the executive wanted Justin Turner to play third base for the Marlins in 2023, but she was forced to change gears and pursue Segura after Turner signed with the Red Sox.

I'm pulling for the Rangers to shut these Astros fans up.

I'm hopeful there is a "bump," but it always seems to happen to someone we least expect it from. This year, it was Duran.

Swiharts Ghost has risen and can finally rest in peace.

Indeed. I was actually hoping we signed him.

Touched a nerve? Again, the difference is, I admitted it. You never can. You claim you gave up watching because the league was watered down, then came enthusiastically rushing back, once we started losing. Baseball suddenly was no longer watered down, when we started losing. Got it. I never went anywhere, last year. I watched every last game and was not happy about being right about the team sucking and how we should have sold off everything not tied down.

You don't? But, you wear the t-shirt, proudly? Mic drop.

Umm, just because I say you point it our everyday, does not mean I disagree. I agree that our FO is in turmoil. We are leaderless, right now. Yes, Bloom, JH, kennedy and others all share in the blame. I'm not disagreeing. I'm just pointing out how this all seems to make you giddy and nobody else.

Good post. I never thought about it, this way. Thanks.

Fine with me, too. I'm hopeful he can do better than a 102 OPS+, but 102 over 600 PAs and GG defense at SS is more than fine.

Are you denying you said you were not a Bloom basher? What's "long ago?" For someone who criticizes me for using the term, you sure don't seem to mind, anymore. It's funny how when we were doing well in July, you went into hiding. You criticized me for saying you seem to get giddy when we lose, from all your self back patting. Now, the team and FO is in turmoil. You point out every day how "nobody wants to work for JH." Your giddiness is leaking out of my laptop, as I type. We lost: you won! Hip-hip hurray for Ole RED!

I do not deny defending Bloom vs overly zealous attacks. Defending does not mean I'm the leader of some legion or that I am okay with most or part of what he did. That's where your reasoning and choice of words go off track. IMO, I had to defend him more than I should have. If most of the board was calling him a great GM, I'd likely be called a Bloom antagonist. I said, before last winter, that offseason would be Bloom's "make or break" winter and likely his "lasting legacy." Somehow that sounds like a big supporter to you and a few others. That was a long time before his firing. You also confuse optimism about the team's chances with thinking a lot of what Bloom did was right. We all knew he neglected the rotation for way too long. I gave reasons to why I think he did, but it's not like I ever agreed with neglecting the rotation. If I am known for anything related to baseball philosophy, it is always about building a rotation from the top. That's been my mantra for decades. If that sounds like a big Bloom supporter to you, I can only laugh. Again, I do deny defending some of Blooms moves or adding context as to why he may have been forced to do so many questionable, half-ass moves. I thought he should have had a fire sale in '22. he did not. I thought he should have been a buyer in '23. he did not, and it probably wouldn't have helped, anyway. I was on the sign Andrus bandwagon and later wondered why Iggy signed with someone else, when we needed a SS badly, mid-season. I hated the Diekman signing day one, and took flack for that. I wasn't thrilled with most of the signings for 2021 and 2022, but pointed out that "for the money" several did better in '22 than in '21, but it didn't seem to help. I can list more. I got many wrong, for sure, and I'm not embarrassed to admit it, and did at the time for most of them.