moonslav59

LOL. It seems there is no longer an issue, but the yearly numbers lumped together may still make it look differently.

Kluber may be one more appearance away from a DFA, but he'd be replaced by a pitcher...maybe Schreiber replaces him.

It's pretty scary to see that only one Sox player is above a .777 OPS in the last 30 days: 1.042 Ref .777 Yoshida (.842 last 15 days) .757 Turner (.797 last 15) .731 Wong .728 Devers .709 Tapia .710 Casas .700 Kike .687 Dugo .647 Reyes .626 McGuire (.848 last 15 days) .534 Duran RBI Leaders: 17 Devers 14 Kike 13 Turner 9 Yoshida 8 Duran 6 Ref, Dugo & Reyes XBHs 10 Devers & Yoshida 9 Turner 8 Dugo, Wong 7 Casas 6 Kike, Duran

Great points. Kike, Arroyo and Reyes have no options. Duran does. Ref does not. Casas does, but is not and should not be demoted for Chang. It's not an easy call, but I think we'll DFA Reyes and keep Duran on the 26. A bigger choice will have to be made when Story and/or Mondesi are activated and then called up. Both will need a 40 man slot opened up AND a 26 man slot, as well. I do wonder if Chang is all that much better than Reyes. He is clearly better on D at SS but not O.

Did someone finally read our posts?

I do think Bloom made a mistake not building up the rotation more, last winter. He falsely placed hopes on Sale &N Paxton. He likely expected Kluber & Pivetta to repeat 2022's production- in hindsight, that was a mistake. He placed high hopes in Bello, Houck, Whitlock and other younger pitchers. He spent too large of a percentage of capital on the offense over the rotation. I think spending big on the pen was the correct choice. He's never spent more than $10M/1 on a SP'er. Some of that is/was his choice, but some was forced on him, more so before this past winter. I ask, what should be the expectations for SP'ers between $6-10/1M? What should be the expectations for SP/RP paid between $3-5M/1? Sale got over $25M/yr. Nate got $17M x 4. Here are the pitchers Bloom signed for over $3M/1: $16M x 2 Jansen $10M Kluber & Richards $9.4M x 2 Barnes extension (not FA) $8.5M x 2 Martin $8M Ottavino trade (not FA) $7M Wacha $6M Perez I $6M Paxton '22 $5M Hill $4.5M Perez II $4M Paxton '23 player option $3M Strahm $3M x 2 Diekman (traded for McGuire) Clearly, this has been a big weak area for Bloom, even when you factor in expectations for pitchers signed for $3-10M/1. They weren't all failures, and some seem to be more about missed timing than being awful pitchers, but it is what it is. That being said, he also added these guys for cheaper than $3M: Whitlock (Rule 5) Winckowski (trade) Schreiber (waivers) Pivetta was okay for 2+ yrs (trade) Still, overall, the pitching choices have not been great, and when considering the budget, I'm not sure you can say it's been way below what should be expected for that money. 3 of the top 4 cost pitchers, Kluber, Richards and Barnes sucked by any definition or context. Overall, I'm not sure the word "sucks" fits, but it sure as hell has not been good.

It's not that simple. I don't know one poster who fully supports Bloom or thinks he's done a "great job," but I know several who think he has been somewhere between bad and horrible. Your mention of going from #5 to #11 tells part of the context, but there were some major changes to team strategy under Bloom than the guy before. 1. Not trading top prospects for win now players. 2. When trading away players, the return almost always included a prospect. 3. Only 1 contract was given out beyond 6 years (Devers, and that starts next year.) Only 2 are at or beyond 6 years (Story & Devers) and 3 at 5 or more years (add Yoshida.) Then, factor in how almost every vet Bloom inherited declined in production, some by a lot. (Some, like Sale gave us next to nothing and still is.) It's about context and expectations. Some never believed we had issues during and after 2019. They saw the 2018 team in the 2019 and possible 2020>> teams and never accepted the budget cuts and Betts/Price trade mandates were on JH. Expecting a team already in decline, who then loses Betts & Price, among others, while being forced to not replace their budget space with any sort of cotly talent for over a year, and who also sees near total decline from every vet carried over to 2020 and beyond to be much higher than .500 is what?\ If you expected more, you think Bloom has failed. If you knew it would be tough, but expected 4 years to be enough, despite all the context, maybe you think Bloom has been okay- maybe not. If you knew things were going to get rough after 2019, even before seeing Betts & Price traded and their contracts not replaced for over 2 years, maybe you cut Bloom more slack than others, which isn't the same as being a "Bloom supporter." To me, Bloom has tried to do what he was asked to do: Rebuild the farm and 40 man roster depth. Make some under-the=radar deals that keep us better than we should be. Sign stop-gap players over and over, until we reach the point where we may decide to spend more or trade a prospect or two for the hear and now. It looks like the spending has ticked up a notch from 2019 to the Story signing right before the 2022 season, but we are looking at a reset. It looks like the farm and 40 man depth has improved, but much remains to be seen, as many of Bloom's picks were HS players. It looked like last winter might be the "splurge" winter, but it was not. Bloom was given a big budget, but he lost some talent, too. Will next winter be the "all-in winter?" Who the hell knows? I'm sure many see me as one of Bloom's biggest defenders, and some probably think I'm a big Bloom supporter, but I don't see it that way. I have defended Bloom, a lot, but only because I feel the criticism has lacked context and perspective.I've also been critical and highly critical about many choices he has made. I think Bloom has done or tried to do what he was asked to do. I had hopes the rebuild would not take 4 years, and we are nearing that 4 year mark, soon. In that sense, it appears Bloom has failed, as we are at .500, right now. I do think our farm is much better, our 40 man roster depth is much better, and our short and long term budget is much better. Some are hard to grade before prospects mature, but it looks better. Bloom has made some mistakes, but in all seriousness, how big of a blunder can a $10M/1 year signing be? How are those signings hurting us more than the Price and Sale deals did? Even Nate, JD and Bogey declined from 2017-2019 to 2020-2022. How that is Bloom's fault, I'll never know. To me, Bloom's grade is hard to pinpoint. I find it hard to think it's below a C, but I can understand why many think it is.

Good points. As of now, it looks like these teams will be out of it, and might be interested in selling certain pieces: GB WC 20.5 OAK 18.5 KCR Maybe... 9.5 DET (-5.5 ALC) 8.5 CWS (-4.5 ALC) 7.5 COL 7.0 WSH 7.0 STL 5.5 CHC Borderline... 5.5 CLE (1.5 ALC) 5.0 SEA 4.0 BOS 3.0 NYM 3.0 CIN 2.5 SDP 1.5 LAA 1.5 PHI 0.5 SFG 0.5 TOR

Last starts and some recent numbers from our SP'ers: Bello- 7 IP 2 ER 5 H+BB (3.08 ERA/.710 OPSA in last 9 starts) Whitlock- 6.1 IP 1 ER 8 H+BB (4.71 ERA/.702 OPSA in last 4 starts) Houck- 6 IP 2 ER 4 H+BB (3.38 ERA/.680 OPSA in last 3 starts) Paxton- 7 IP 2 ER 8 H+BB (2.25/.591 OPSA in last 2 starts & 3.81 ERA in 5 GS) Crawford- 3 IP 2 ER 5 H+BB (4.50 ERA/.667 OPSA in last 2 starts- 6 IP total) Let's hope these trends continues.

A lot can happen in just a few short weeks, and we have over 90 games to go. Almost anything can happen, but I have to think the Rays are untouchable as division winners. It looks close to impossible to think we can pass the Astros, despite the fact that are missing 3 from their rotation or the Rangers, who are 5 ahead of HOU. MIN or CLE should win the ALC, even if they have a worse record than all 5 ALE teams. That leaves BAL or NYY as the most likely targets to pass and make the playoffs. We also have TOR and LAA between us and them and SEA right on our heels. Here is the current WC standings: +4.5 BAL +0.5 NYY +0.0 HOU -0.5 TOR -1.5 LAA -4.0 BOS -5.0 SEA -5.5 CLE I'm not going to predict good times are here, but the upcoming schedule gives us an opportunity to gain some ground, while also having some games vs teams we need to pass. Here are the teams we play next: 3 COL day off 3 NYY 4 @ MIN 3 @ CWS day off 3 MIA 3 @ TOR day off 3 TEX 3 OAK ALL STAR BREAK (4 days off) The run up to the AUG 1st trade deadline: 3 @ CWS 3 @ OAK day off 3 NYM 2 ATL day off 3 @ SFG 3 @ SEA (trade deadline in middle of this series) 3 TOR 4 KCR 3 DET 3 @WSH I know hopes are low, right now, but I'm not giving up, just yet.

Last 28 Days, not counting today's gem by Bello: OPS AGainst .481 Garza .500 Martin .581 Jansen .654 Wink .656 Bello .670 Craw .680 Whit .701 Sale .717 Pivetta .717 Bernardino .719 Houck .728 Paxton Our younger pitchers with 3 or more years of team control seem to be stepping up. ERAs by our biggest innings pitchers in the last 28 days, not counting tonight's game: 5.19 Houck 26 IP 2.86 Bello 22 (2.86 after tonight, as well) 3.86 Paxton 21 4.24 Pivetta 17 (went down, tonight) 3.38 Whitlock 16 2.30 Sale 16 (on 60 Day IL) 9.22 Kluber 14 1.46 Wink 12 4.09 Craw 11

Huge game. Bello is gaining a reputation. The pen came through, nicely. Duran might be starting a comeback. Kike leads the team in HRs and RBI since May 24th, before today's key RBI. He also scored a big run. I won't say he's heating up, but some good things are happening when he's at bat- something we haven't been able to say since his good half season in 2021. Haven't heard much CERA talk about McGuire for a long time. Let's hope this win springboards us into a nice stretch.

May 24 to yesterday: (25+ PAs) OPS .918 Wong (.389 BAbip/36% K rate) .855 Yoshida (.340 BAbip) .850 Ref (.375 BAbip) .833 Casas (on the rise) .781 McGuire (rebounding on CERA, too) .778 Dugo (.340 BAbip) .759 Devers (.262 BAbip- bad luck?) .695 Turner (2 HRs and 8 RBI both tied for second on team) .690 Kike (3 Hrs and 11 RBI both lead the club.) .510 Duran (brought it up, today.) .422 EValdez (back in AAA)

Bloom has F'd up enough time to make a long list. I just don't get why people have to piss on his good moves and finds.

Tonight?

3B has, but with the same guy there, but I doubt it stays that way for long. 2B has, too. Maybe the return of Story will help. Bloom did not change players at 2B and 3B. OPS by position '22>'23 "22 Position "23 .694 C .756 +.062 .683 1B .754 +.071 .724 2B .640 -.084 (no major player change- just injuries) .856 3B .789 -.067 (no player change) .815 SS .640 -175 .696 LF .824 +.128 .671 CF .837 +.176 .661 RF .809 +.148 .763 DH .760 -003 Pitching: ERA/OPSA 4.49/ .763 SP 5.12/.787 4.59/.722 RP 4.03/.707 39/29 Sv/BS 17/7 Bloom has not swung and missed at every position, and we still have over 60% of the season reaming.

No doubt, but you are looking at the guys he replaced 2023 numbers not 2022 numbers. True, Kluber has not replaced even the 2019 Nate or the 2022 Wacha or Hill. That was a terrible signing, in hindsight. The thing is, so would be signing deGrom and several other big FA pitcher signings. That does not make the Kluber mistake any better, but many were hoping we signed other failing SP'ers, last winter. Rate these changes, as of June 11th 2023: McGuire/Wong vs the 2022 Vaz/Plawecki (They are way better than the 2023 Vaz/Plaw combo) Casas/Turner vs the 2022 horror show at 1B or what any of those guys are doing in 2023. Our 2023 OF vs the 2022 OF (adding Yoshida and Duvall over JBJ, Pham and Franchy) Our 2023 Pen vs the 2022 Pen. (That's 3 players: Jansen, Martin, Joely over Starhm, Diekman, Davis, Sawamura and more) Yes, the .790 JD was better than the .749 Turner, but I would not bet against the 2023 final DH OPS being higher than 2022's. (Right now, it's .763 2022 to .760 2023.) Nobody expected JD to hit like this in 2023. I guess one can blame Bloom for not projecting the rebound, if one wants to do so. The massive drop off from 2022 SS to 2023 SS is a major factor to our current record, for sure. Perhaps, it looks like enough to offset all the good replacements listed above.

Good one.

Some of these guys are not starters or shouldn't be, but it seems like it has been a long time since we've had so many promising young or younger pitchers with 3 years or more of team control: 24 Bello (pre-arb) 25 Wink (pre-arb) 27 Crawford (pre-arb) 27 Whitlock (signed with options until 2025) 27 Houck (pre-arb) 29 Schreiber (pre-arb) I'll be the first to admit our farm arms have largely been a big disappointment to start the 2023 season. Mata, Walter, Wikelman and Murphy have all taken a step down. Kelly is on the 60 IL. I'm not thinking the rises from Drohan, E R-C, Guerrero and others outweigh the down steps.

Go back further and add Lackey, and the results don't improve. Seemingly, big ticket FA pitchers fail more than they are even okay or better.

Be careful what you wish for. The history of big pitcher FA signings is not good. It's not even okay.

And, it's all Bloom's fault that almost all the vets he inherited saw their number decline or drop off a cliff, too. Don't forget that part.

It's like everything Bloom does right has to be assaulted. We all know he has made many blunders and deals that looked okay when made but failed miserably, but that should not mean all his good deals have to be explained away as luck or whatever.

I can see expecting Bloom's overall record to be near .500 after 3.5 years, given the state of the budget demands and lack of farm infusions, but I expected a winning percentage curve going more or less steadily upwards by year 4. .400 '20 .546 '21 .481 '22 .492 '23 Had 2021 been switched with 2023, not many would be complaining.

Certainly the length of contracts matters, or else we wouldn't be signing 1-2 years deals for 4 years. Yes, AAV counts, too, and I'm going on the supposition that 2023 is a reset season set ins tone. Show me how we sign so many more players, had we brought back just Bogey, JD, Nate and Wacha. Who do we not sign, because surely we could not have signed everyone.