moonslav59

I have always felt we should have kept Betts. Had we just replaced his and half Prices budget space, not to mention Porcello and others, it might not have been 5, either.

I do think they felt we'd be better than this, by now. I'm not sure they were thinking ring in '23 (a 4 year plan.) I'm not sure we can count 2020 as a year of any plan, because they did nothing to improve the long term outlook, except maybe add Pivetta, but surely 2020 should count. It's been nearly 4 full seasons, now. Next year is 5. I mentioned 6 years, because I have no idea, if they plan on "going for it" in 2024. I think they have a strong enough foundation to do it, and that would be a 4-5 year plans, but I give up trying to project what the Eff these guys are thinking. I'm not "for" a 6 year plan..

Even if it is all on upper management, I'm not at the place where I want them replaced with some unknown new ownership group. I doubt we can do better than 4 rings in 2 decades. I'm not happy with the recent results, but I am cutting them more slack than some, it seems.

Says a lot about you.

At least Story still has time to give something plus. Sale has one year left and has given next to nothing for 4 years of the 5. 4 years 26 starts 4.14 ERA That's 26 out of a possible 142 starts or 18%. Story is not off to a better start, but 112 games out of 300 is over 33%, and a .705 OPS is about the same as a 4.14 ERA, IMO. At least Story knows how to grab a groundball and throw the guy out at 1B.

...and it took over 6 years of tanking to build this Astros team. Trying to build a team like them by halfway tanking is more difficult, but it seems upper management thinks ... "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"

Where did I say you have to do that? I do know what gloating is. You don't.

You think I act like a big superfan. All I can say is I think being optimistic about the team you want to win is better than being overly pessimistic about them. You obviously have issues with people actually trying to enjoy watching their team, even as they lose. Yes, I gave up on the Sox chances, last year, but i still watched every game and rooted like hell for the to prove me wrong. You, on the otherhand, stopped watching us as we were winning, and blamed it on a "watered down product." Cheers to you- superfan!

I'm glad you brought up the Astros- a team I know well, as I have lived in its suburbs for over 15 years. If you want to use them as an example of a 6 year plan, there's was longer than 6: 89-73 in 2005, then 82-80 in 2006. 51-76 wins for 6 years from 2007 to 2014, thn a year kinda like our 2023 season at 86-76 in 2015. Them sucking, badly is a major reason they are so good now. It's not even open to debate.

I don't really see it as defending Bloom, because I expected him to do better than he has done, even with limited resources and no upper management behind an effort to "win now." To be honest, I don't know who is behind this 5+ year plan that seems to be in place. That is why I hate to throw darts at someone who may not deserve it. If I knew Bloom talked upper management into huge budget cuts an no major prospect trades, I'd be firmly on the side of the Bloom cirtics, although I'd still think well of his work on establishing a foundation of younger players and a better looking farm. I can name over a dozen moves Bloom made that I did not like at the time, yet I feel like some think I jump to his defense on everything. I haven't graded any of his winter moves very highly. Yes, higher than many, but not anywhere near unreasonable. I swear to God, if nobody criticized Bloom for things out of his control or likely out of his control, I'd hardly post about him or "defend" him. He has not done a good job finding "gems in the rough," as I expected he would. He's found some, but not as much as I hoped he would do. He has not done well, so far, on his bigger signings and trades. He's done okay to good on mid level moves, except for SP'ers.

What if was JH & Co's idea to tell Bloom it's a 6 year plan?

If it would do them some good, I'd have no problem DFA'in Llovera, garza or someone else to add them to te40 and have a look-see, but I don't see any value in calling up players not ready.

Gloating is way different from criticism, but I don't expect you to know the difference. This team and management deserve a lot of criticism. Nobody is saying otherwise. Yes, I criticize excessive gloom and doom talk, and you criticize what you think is excessive optimism. I don't ever say no criticism is warranted. It is, and I join in on plenty of it.

So? What's wrong with thinking and saying we look to be getting better? Are you so locked up in the here and now that you can't even comprehend others are not just like you? At least I understand or try to understand where you and many others are coming from. You act like I'm another species for being optimistic and actually believing we had a chance, this year. To me, that's what being a fan is about. If you can't deal with that, so be it. I get the anger and feeling of great disappointment. 5 years is a long time with just one moment of near glory (2021.) It doesn't thrill me to watch this, but not everyone has to play the blame game and act like it's the end of the world, and we should all give up hope just because all young players are nothing but "suspects.".

"Excuse" for what? Posting in bold? Yes, I freely admit I am obsessed with the Sox. I have battled OCD my whole life. I have improved quite a bit by channeling most of it into 3 areas: my work, contract bridge and the Sox. Go ahead and shoot me for being optimistic about the Sox and being obsessed with the Sox. I do think I'd rather be obsessed with the Sox than obsessed about someone else being obsessed and optimistic about the Sox. The obtuseness is firmly in your court. By the way, I have a life outside here. I teach ESL at a low eco-dis school. I spend hours and hours beyond school hours to insure our 500+ ESL kiddos get the education they deserve. I crunch numbers and data to help with that. My wife and I also care for her schizophrenic sister. Stop pretending you know what my life is like, and acting obtuse.

Thanks, bell. These drive by posters crack me up. Speaking of which, I'm shocked there has been no Stork troll sighting, today.

Thanks for choosing me as your punching bag and only thing you feel the need to comment on. I feel honored by your well thought out and "meaningful" rant.

For someone who is as tickler for allowing everyone to have their own opinions, you sure do go overboard in jumping to wrong conclusions and bashing others points of view. How in God's name does bringing up your criticism of optimistic fans have anything to do with thinking anyone thinks you are a bigger problem than anyone of the team? Note: I don't expect an answer, as always- just deflections and misconceptions/misinterpretations.

Despite the overwhelming malaise, there is a lot to be optimistic about going forward, if anyone chooses to look for it.

You are clearly gloating. I already said how I'd feel if we finish in last and/or below .500. Cora and Bloom are not going anywhere and I like our extended outlook, despite being very disappointed with 2023. I'm not sure why it upsets you that a fan actually roots for his team and thinks they may have just enough to go right to have a chance. It clearly bothers you when someone does not have the gloom and doom outlook you and others hold, and before you go on about the majority being behind you, I could give a flying EF what the majority thinks or feels. I choose to remain optimistic about the direction of the team. I have patience and hope. Bash that all you want.

I think they just needed to give Story a day off, and with Reyes out, it made more sense to play Rafaela at SS and have Refsnyder play over DHam. I'm not sure if a big prospect deal is in the works this winter (or ever again,) but I think the timing is right. Who we choose to trade would be an issue of contention, and it might just come down to who another GM values more than Bloom & Co. do. Some important questions from last winter got answered, although nothing is ever a sure bet in MLB, I think management feels "safe" going with... Wong & McGuire at catcher (maybe protect Stepen Scott and knowing we have Teel in the system) Casas at 1B, although he needs to improve his defense. (I think he will DH some, when Yoshida "rests" or plays LF.) Story at SS is a lock. I also think we feel better about Reyes and Urais as back up than we did with Yang and DHam. Devers at 3B is a lock, despite our talk of moving him to 1B. It ain't happening, unless we trade Casas or decide to move casas to FT DH and go with Yoshida in LF. (Nope) The OF has question marks, but we have several good options and several more very promising choices: LF: Duran/Refsnyder platoon with Yoshida as DH and LF back-up. CF: Rafaela with Abreu and Duran as back-ups. RF: Dugo with Abreu and Ref as back-ups. DH: Yoshida with casas as back-up. We may add OF depth- someone like the 2023 Duvall or someone who can play 3B/1B like the 2023 Turner or maybe even a middle infielder who might also be able to play CF, not like the 2023 Kike. Our pen looks solid, as long as we don't have to overuse it, and if we can add enough SP'er to the mx, so we can have 2-3 of these guys as long men, it could be one of the pest pens in MLB: Whitlock Houck Pivetta Crawford (All have shown they do better in long relief than starting. If somehow we could go with all 4 in the pen, I'd say this could be the best pen in Sox history. Jansen, Martin, Schreiber, Winckowski, Crawford, Houck, Pivetta & Whitlock (Depth: Bernardino, Joely, Kelly, Mills, Murphy, Walter, Mata, Gambrell...) That leaves at least 2-3 SP slots to fill, but we all know we will put Houck and or Crawford/Pivetta in the rotation and maybe just add 1 or 2, effectively just replacing Kluber. (SAD!) IMO, we should sign one major FA SP'er: the guy from Japan or Urias or some other SP'er on the younger side of 31 or 32. (Two would be great.) And/or trade some top talent for a solid #2 type. Since far away propsects don't carry the trade value they used to, it does not make sense, to me, to trade Anthony, Bleis or Zanetello. I know some fans will get upset when I mention trading some top prospects, and think I am devaluing them or wanting to "dump" them, but the fact is, you have to give something to get something, and our farm and system is weak on pitching and strong on everyday players. So, who do we have that other GMs want and who are 1-2 years away from the bigs? Here is the BTV values given to the ones I am listing here and SP's ranking and ETA to the bigs listed as well: 1. 59.3 Mayer (late '24) 4. 6.4 (wow!) Rafaela ('24) I ahave to think many GMs value him higher than 6.4. 5. N/A Teel (late '25: I doubt we deal him) 6. 19.0 Yorke (late '24) 7. 4.2 Perales (SP's says ETA is 2026) 8. 3.9 Wikelman (mid '25) Now, we are getting away from "top prospects status, but they could be enticing pieces to a package or bundled up to take the place of one top prospect.) 10. Romero 11. Drohan 12. Bonaci 13. Walter 16. Meidroth 17. EValdez 18. Hickey 19. Jordaan 21. Mata 22. DHam 23. Abreu Vet values that could possibly be traded: 46.6 Casas (Devers to 1B and sign a 3Bman or play Urias at 3B) 39.1 Bello (defeats the purpose of adding SP'ers) 27.1 Houck (see Bello) 25.1 Duran (see high?) 16.8 Crawford (sell high?) 13.1 Yoshida (seems overvalued at 13.1) 9.5 Dugo (one year left) 7.0 Schreiber (Has he been just smoke & mirrors?) 6.2 Wink (some numbers show him to be near or below average.) So, to get a very good controllable pitcher, it looks like it has to be Mayer + 1-2 second tier prospects or Rafaela and Yorke plus maybe Perales or Wikelman, unless we consider Houck. I'm not advocating trading any of these guys, but if you had to trade from one of these choices, who do you choose? Mayer + Romero and Hickey Casas + Hickey Rafaela, Yorke and Hickey Duran + Yorke and Hickey Houck + Yorke and ____? Dugo, Yorke and Perales + ____?

And you say you don't gloat. You got what you wanted. Congrats.

It hasn't been great, but the amount of times they have needed to get 4 or more outs in an inning has been astounding. In many games, it happened in 3 or more innings. BTW, our xFIP is 4.17 (18th ranked and 0.10 from 13th.) Our SIERA is 4.04 (17th ranked and 0.02 from being #15.) We are 24th in actual ERA- at 4.50.

Sadly, it seems to be how management is looking at it. I get no sense of urgency, at all. They talk in cryptic cliches trying to reassure the fans they are trying to build a winning team, but it seems so clear to me, the major focus has been on the extended future. The drafting of pretty much only high school kids for the first 3 years of Bloom's tenure was very telling. The massive amount of one year deals for the first 3 years was further evidence. The lowering of our team salary ranking seals the deal for me. This has only been paying lip service to the fans each season, while trying to secretly carry out a long view top priority. (It was not the only priority. We did spend enough to keep hopes mildly alive each March, after 2020, but it's plain as day what the plan has been. The questions, now, are... When do they see us at the point where that focus can shift, even if slightly? Or, and I have said before, quoting that great The Smith's song, "How Soon is Now?" You see, I've already waited so long and all my hope is gone Will we ever "splurge" again? I don't mean Cohen-like spending, but clearly enough to know we are "going for it, now." I have no idea what the timeline is, of if they will ever "splurge" again. Maybe they really want to become the Rays of the North.

I didn't view Aldo as being near a top tier prospect, either, at the time. I thought the trade was a steal for us, and it was that kind of trade I hoped Bloom would have made, earlier this month- but for SP'ers. (I like the Urias trade, but we needed pitching.)t