moonslav59

Well said and in less words than I’d have been able to use!

Like I think it was you who said, a while ago, no Sox pitcher has been overtaxed with innings pitched, so who is at fault for the pitching collapse, if blaming someone is the task at hand? I agree on it not being Cora.

This year or next?

Not unfair at all, although the Raffy one hadn’t even started. I have no issues with Raffy’s money if he plays 1B, either. Certainly all 3 look bad or questionable, right now. I’ve never had issues with criticising Bloom on things he is responsible or largely responsible for. Have at it, please.

I still think he’s best in LF but better than Teoscar in RF.

I don’t think they looked to be bad extended depth. None were thought of as our number 6 or 7 or even 8 or 9, if you thought Wink could have been starter depth in March. We knew Paxton and Sale would miss time, and I remember saying that counting on both to combine for 32 starts was pushing it, but to me we had more quantity than quality, but some potential in 8-9, then the three you listed. Sale Paxton Kluber Houck Whitlock Bello Paxton Crawford Winckowski Mata, Walter and Murphy were 10, 11 and12th, until the choice was made never to start Wink, so maybe 9-10-11th. I still don’t think, at the time, that was a bad position to hold.

I disagree, and the idea is Casas or Duran would do the trick if packaged with 1-2 second tier guys like Hickey, Yorke, Romero or maybe Walter + Murphy counted as 1. I don’t think some recent deals gave anymore. I suppose a Casas and Duran package would gain a lot of interest but that’s a lot of potential future leaving us.

Not many managers want to get another job with another team, and although many here think Cora sucks, he’d have several teams wanting him, if he was fired. I hope we keep him, but this team is really reeling and lost.

Red means counted on to be solid plus. How can you view Rizzo as being average compared to all 1Bmen? Some pen guys could be red. You mention the chances of a vet or young guy stepping up to red, but the same chance exists that a red guy gets hurt or declined below red. IMO, you might have 4 red guys in your line up, yet you say you think you only need to add just two bats. Please explain.

Do we have any MLB ready prospects in AAA or AA that we might want to give a look at the ML level? We could DFA some FAs to be to make room of the 40 and 27. On 40: Dalbec Murphy Robertson Weiss Not on 40 (Rule 5 anyway?): S Scott G Gambrell J Hagenman Wikelman DFA guys we will likely non tender, anyway? Garza Llovera Barraclough Jacques FAs? Paxton Duvall

Today, MLB.com projected the A's would pass the Royals and not have the worst record in 2023. They forgot the Royals play us.

Our last pick was Teel from college. 10 of our top 12 picks were from college. I hope you were just being sarcastic?

You need to get over this. If a HS shortstop is the best bet draft choice, I'd hope we draft 20 in a row. That's the way it should be. That's the way it is for every team for every draft.

For the same reasons you and I really like Casas, other GMs do, too. I am 100% convinced Devers would be better on D at 1B, in maybe 1 month. It's not like 1B defense is at the top of the priority list, but improving the D at 1B and 3B would be a significant plus. I'm not fine with Duvall in CF or RF. He's best in LF, which is position we are already overloaded. If we traded Duran or Dugo, then maybe...

I think having Houck, Pivetta and Crawford scheduled as your 3-4-5, is asking for trouble and a repeat of 2023. If it ends up being them due to injury, okay, but we cannot sign just one SP'er, have Bello as the #2 and go with what we got to fill in the rest. If we do, I'll be looking at 2025 on day one of 2024.

Kluber, once we struck out on Eflin.

I'm not against the idea. I do wonder about the Sox not wanting to move Casas to DH, so early in his journey. I know you are not arguing the Sox will do this but only that they should, and I'm liking the idea more and more, as I think about it.

Looking at the fWAR Leaders in 2023 Pitching, I can't help but notice all the ex-Sox pitchers and one that we apparently came close to signing (Eflin): 5.1 Wheeler 4.8 Strider 4.7 Gausman 4.6 Gray 4.0 Gallen 4.0 Eflin 12. Pablo Lopez 3.6 (no link to a trade with Sox, but listing anyway) 14. Luis Castillo 3.2 (see Lopez) 15. Nate 3.1 21. Senga 2.9 22. ERod 2.8 41. Seth Lugo 2.2 50. Wacha 2.0 Were available, recently: 31. Stroman 2.5 35. Civale 2.4 49. Walker 2.0

MVP Outlook: AL: It has to be a lock for Ohtani. He's the best hitter in the AL and a damn good pitcher, too. The race is really about who finishes second? fWAR 6.5 Ohtani + 2.3 pitching fWAR = 8.8 5.3 JRod 5.2 Robert 5.0 Whitt 4.7 Semien 4.4 Jose Ramirez 4.3 Tucker The NL race is still open, but two guys are clearly the front runners: 7.8 Betts .317 38 116 (Great D 6.7 Acuna .337 30 83 (1st timer with 30 and maybe 35 HRs and 60 and maybe 70 SBs) But... 6.9 Freeman .338 25 111 5.2 Lindor .251 24 85 4.9 Kim .277 17 76 4.6 Olsen .268 43 103 4.6 Riley .278 32 98

I wonder why GOOGLE missed it.

I can see why it's hard to imagine Bloom trading any highly regarded prospect or young player, and similar things were said about Ben, before DD took over. I'm not so sure we can assume it is a rock solid tenant of Bloom's philosophy on roster building or has just been a strategy put in place to get us to a point, where the priorities can change and so do the strategies to meet the new circumstances. I have no basis for this belief, but I think Bloom will eventually be open to making a big trade, or he may be steered into doing one from above, but the timing of such a trade would likely only happen when the organization believes at least two things are in place, and I'm not sure now is that time: 1. We have a major league roster foundation set where only 1-2 major additions are needed to open a highly competitive window of at least 2-3 years. 2. We have a farm system set up that can afford to part with a package big enough to land a top player but still remain strong enough to promise continued infusions of talent to the big club. I'm not sure we can ever get to this point, but personally, I think we are close, now. A third aspect to the 2 major points above might be that the budget is set up where there is very little deadwood, and going over the tax line is possible due to the previous season being under the tax line. (This looks okay, now.) To get a major young pitcher, I have to think it would take Casas or Mayer. Trading Bello defeats the purpose of improving the rotation. Anthony's stock is on the rise, so maybe he could be a centerpiece. I would not be for trading 2 of the 3, and that might be what a team would demand, but I'd say no to that. We aren't getting a top pitcher by trading 5 second tier prospects or young players from this list: Duran, Bleis, Houck, Yorke, Rafaela, Crawford, Perales or Wikelman. Here are the values given by BTV: 59 Mayer 47 Casas 41 Anthony 40 Devers 39 Bello 29 Bleis 27 Houck 25 Duran 19 Yorker (perhaps over-valued) 17 Crawford 13 Yoshida (likely over-valued) 10 Verdugo 7 Screiber 6 Rafaela (likely underrated) 6 Wink 5 Drohan 4 Perales, Wikelman, Wong & Romero 3 Meidroth, Walter, E R-C, Abreu, Urias & Alcantara 2 Pivetta, Cespedes, Bastardo, Monegro, Mata, Murphy, Castro, Hickey, Brannon & Bonaci

I believe you. I was just wondering where you find this info, as I googled it and searched MLTRs, today.

I'd say the chances are less than a half a percent we sign Chapman and start a domino fall.

It also moves Casas to DH and keeps Yoshida in LF. Yoshida in LF might force Duran and Ref to play CF/RF more than we'd like to see happen.

I know a lot of people will hate this idea, and I am extremely hesitant to trade such a promising hitter, but if we sign Chapman and move Devers to 1B and Yoshida to DH, thereby improving 3 positions on defense, we could make Casas the centerpoint to a trade that brings us a top young pitcher with several years of team control. I got no names, but Casas has a lot of value. Again, I'm not for trading Casas, and don't say I want to dump him, but I realize we will have to give up a lot to get a top young pitcher in return. Duran or Dugo won't get us one. Rafaela plus Yorke won't get us one.