moonslav59

German is out on alcohol rehab.

I think JH started the current plan with Ben, but gave up after the 3 last place finishes were just too much to handle. The fans and media were irate. He then switched gears from 1st to 5th, almost overnight. Maybe, this time he lets the plan run its course,

IMO, much of Bloom's biggest choices had to do with building for long term success. I think that came from the top. I think seeing Bello, Casas, Duran, Wink and a few other make an impact on the current team has only solidified the strategy they chose during the 2019 season. Like it or not, it seems clear all the talk of trying to stay competitive every year was mostly just talk. It may have been a low priority, but clearly not a top one. Bloom drafted mostly HS players, the first few years. The loss of a year of development in 2020, slowed the maturation process, a bit. It's really impossible to know just how good all these new players and prospects will be. Bloom's final grade will not be know for many years. The farm looks solid, on paper, with some weak areas, but in theory, it is much better than 2019's farm. Almost every major trade Bloom made involved bringing a prospect or young controllable player to the Sox. The Aldo ramirez for Schwarber represented one of the very rare prospect for Vet trade he has made. Certainly, mistakes have been made- more than anyone of us wanted, but again, when you have so many holes to fill and limited funds, you end up signing guys for $3M to $10M, and you basically get what you pay for. Add to that, most of those low range deals were one year and done deals. What do you expect for a success rate for a $10M/1 SP'er? 50%? Well, Bloom went oh for 2, but in theory, one was supposed to fail, so he really missed by 50% not 100%. He did better on his $4-9M deals and had some great hits on even lesser ones, like Renfroe, Refsnyder, Schreiber, Whitlock, Bernardino and others. It looks like Bloom will be here for 2024 and probably beyond. I thought this would be his "make or break" year, but I think JH sees it differently, and I can't say he's wrong for wanting long term success strategies put in place.

Because DD the Almighty liked the guy- twice! That must have value.

He's owed $43M, but HOU is not paying all that. The Mets are paying a combined $35MM of Verlander’s 2023-24 salary. They’d pay half of his $35MM salary in 2025 if his option vests. In all, they’re paying as much as $52.5MM of the nearly $93MM that could still be paid out on his deal, pending that option. -MLBTR That being said, I would not have traded Rafaela and Romero- about the BTV equivalent of what HOU gave up to pay him the difference. There were some trades, I think I might have matched in equal prospect value, but I think Bloom & Co. chose to ride the horses that got us here, and hope the returning horses give us the boost we need. It's clear that the extended future is a much higher priority than the here and now. Maybe, this time, JH will let it play out to its end (unlike replacing Ben with DD.)

Indeed. There are 30 teams in MLB. Even if you discount the 10 or so that are making no try at winning a ring, that leaves 20 all trying hrad for a ring. If we don't win, the GM sucks.

I thought the return of Judge might spark a fire, but the team is totally lethargic.

Sale's FB was 95, last night in his rehab. I know it seems like we've struggled for years, while singing the "Wait for Sale to comeback" song,but after struggling over his first 3 starts, this year, he was clearly near top form and the best pitcher on the team. From 4/13 to June 1: 8 starts/ 47 IP (just shy of 6 IP per GS) 2.87 ERA 2.72 FIP .633 OPS Against 7 of 8 starts with 3 or less ERs allowed 6 of 8 with 2 or less 5 of 8 with just 1 ER allowed I know, I know, "fool me once- fool me twice...," but I'm optimistic he will help, bigly. With a rotation of Bello, Paxton, Sale, Crawford and Pivetta, we can use the returning Houck and Whitlock from the pen, where they belong. I keep hearing people say, "But they both have ERAs over 5!" While this is true, so is this about THIS YEAR'S NUMBERS: OPS Against in 2023 Houck .504 1st PA in game .534 1st 25 PAs in game .596 PAs 26-50. Whitlock 4.85 last 5 GS with a 4.04 FIP Not great but better than before. I have to think these two are better than jacques and Llovera.

I think they are thrilled he didn’t sell. Lol. We have a very good chance to make the playoffs. Let’s talk again in 2 weeks.

True, but I think people might be surprised at how long some of his goos stretches are. The problem is, when he is bad, he is really bad.

It looks like TOR and either TEX or HOU are our best bets to pass in the next 2 months. The AL 66-41 BAL (up 1.5 on TBR but 3 in the loss column) 61-46 TEX (up 0.5 on HOU) 55-53 MIN (up 2.0 on CLE, but neither are a real WC threat) WC 66-44 TBR +7.5 on BOS 61-47 HOU +3.5 on BOS 59-49 TOR +1.5 on BOS 57-50 BOS -1.5 56-52 LAA -3.0 55-52 NYY -3.5 (2 down on BOS) 55-52 SEA -3.5 Next 12-13 games after tomorrow's series finale: BOS: (1 more @ SEA), 3 v TOR, 4 v KCR, 3 v DET, 3 @WSH (after SEA, we play 10 of 13 at home.) TOR: (2 more v BAL), 3 @BOS, 4 @CLE, 3 v CHC, 2 v PHI 7 Home-5 Away after the BAL series. TEX: (2 more w CHW), 3 v MIA, 3 @OAK, 3 @SFG, 3 v LAA 6 H/ 6A HOU: (1 more v CLE), 3 @NYY, 3 @BAL, 3 v LAA, 3 @MIA 3 H/ 9 A vs all winning record teams These next 2 weeks gives us a chance to gain some ground, as those in front of us will be knocking each other off. We cannot afford to slouch vs lesser opponents, anymore. We need to win 2 or 3 games in every series.

Although TEX got Scherzer, I'm thinking HOU wins the division, and we have to pass TOR or TEX with TBR and BAL as much longer shots at falling sharply.

I was thinking of starting a Part III thread, as I have done in the past, right after the trade deadline, but this one was so uneventful, for the Red Sox perspective, that I won't do it, this year. We may see some major changes to the 26 man roster in the next few weeks, as Urias joins the team, Schreiber and McgUire start playing more, and players start coming off the IL. A 100% healthy team would create some difficult decisions to be made, but that's not a bad thing, and besides, has that ever happened in Sox history? It looks like Story may join the club in a week or so. Arroyo, Reyes and Chang are out of options, but apparently Urias has one remaining. Sale should be the first SP'er to come back- maybe in 10-15 days. Jacques can be demoted or Llovera DFA'd to make room on the 26 or 40, as he is on the 60 day IL. (Ort is on the 60 day, too, so DFA'ing him does not free up a 40 man roster slot. Houck and Whitlock's ETAs are a bit murky. Some say September, but apparently they are throwing pen sessions and may start rehabbing at any moment, and could possibly join the big club in 15-25 days, or so. Joely's return might cause a squeeze, as he has no options (DFA Bleier?) Kluber could easily be DFA'd once he comes off the IL. Is this the best 26 man roster? 13 Pitchers: SP: Bello, Paxton, Sale, Crawford, Paxton LR: Whitlock, Houck SR: Jansen, Martin, Schreiber, Winckowski, Bernardino, Joely (DFA'd due to out of options: Kluber, Bleier, Llovera) 13 Everyday Player(DFA due to out of options: Reyes) C: Wong, McGuire 1B: Casas 2B: Arroyo (0 options) SS: Story, Chang (0 options) 3B: Devers LF: Yoshida, Refsnyder CF: Duran, Duvall RF: Dugo DH: Turner The rest of the 40 (players with options): P: Murphy, Walter, Robertson, Mata (to 60 day IL?), Jacques (DFA?), Garza (DFA?) C: none 1B: Dalbec 2B: EValdez (to 60 day IL?) SS: DHam 3B: Urias (SS/2B) (to 26 and DFA or phantom IL Chang until Sept call-ups?) OF: Abreu, Rafaela That's only 12 players. Do we demote Bernardino, so we can keep Bleier? (that makes 13 in the minors) If we can get healthy or even just 24-25 top men healthy, we can be a force. This could be our line-up: 1. Duran CF/LF 2. Yoshida LF/DH 3. Turner DH/2B/1B 4. Devers 3B 5. Casas 1B 6. Story SS 7. Dugo RF/Duvall RF or CF/Refsnyder LF 8. Wong/McGuire C 9. Arroyo/Reyes/Chang/Urias 2B

BIG Win!

There has been no patience on this board for every minute of those 4 years. We are seeing an improvement, this year, especially on the young core of players that is better than any young core since pre-2018. You can choose to see only doom and gloom, or not.

The JBJ trade sucked. I said it then, and still think it was horrific. I don't judge GMs on one deal, and besides, Bloom was the one who signed Renfroe for just $3M. The overall grade on Bloom's moves is still TBD, because so many involved prospects coming to us, including Wink, Wong and others, but as of now, I would grade It at B- or better. His main task was to rebuild the farm, and that is an even bigger TBD, but as of now, it looks pretty damn good. We went from bottom 5 or 10 to top 5 or 10. The budget is in better shape, should JH ever decide to spend again. (BTW, JH has had 2-3 year stretches in the past with very little new spending, so it might happen, again.) If you want to focus on the worst move every GM has made to judge them, there would be nobody left to take Bloom's place.

Framber Valdez snaps out of a July funk with a No-No on the first day of August.

It's Henry's joke, not Bloom's.

You were right, the $4M saved on Diekman just paid for the berthing fees and maintenance of Henry's yacht.

I'm not so sure the new direction is the wrong one, but patience is not a virtue on this board.

Blalock was no push over. He could turn into a good ML pitcher. 2.3 years of Urias does sound better than 1.3 of Arroyo, 2.3 of Chang and 5+ of Reyes, DHam and EValdez. We needed a SP'er. I guess these guys have more faith in Sale, Houck and Whitlock returning than I do, or they are all about the future. If it is the latter, please stop the lying and just come out and say it.

It's obvious the number one priority, by far, is the long term future and not 2023. Maybe not even 2024. It sucks, but I doubt this is Bloom talking Henry into that plan. My biggest wonder is what happened to the $10-12M we "had to spend" and still stay under the tax line? Spending that much more does not affect the future, at all. This bothers me more than not trading anyone more than Blalock to improve our 2023 chances. I wonder, if Bloom wanted to trade for a salary dump pitcher, who still has talent, but was told not to spend more.

Story may be back before any pitchers, but CBS has this: August 11 Sale 15 Houck, Whitlock & Joely September 1 Kluber 5 Ort Word is Sale pitched w Woo, Tuesday- the same day Houck and Whitlock throw pen sessions. I'd guess Sale in MLB by maybe AUG 15th and Houck and Whitlock by AUG 25th? Who knows?

cots has us over $12M under the tax line, so I wonder what Bloom was told to do. I find it hard to believe they told him he could spend as much as he wanted but must stay under the tax line, and choice to leave $12M on the table- both last winter or at the deadline. This irks me more than making a couple wrong choices in Kluber and the Mondesi dream. I still have faith we can squeek into the playoffs, but it will be harder to do after the Astros, Rangers and Rays improved. The O's and Jays seem to have improved a little, at the deadline. Our hopes, once again, rely on Sale and maybe Houck & Whitlock plus Story. If just 2 comeback and do well, it might be enough. If 3 do, we should make the playoffs. We just got Schreiber and McGuire back, and have yet to get any gains. Let's hope we can stay healthy and see these upgrades, sooner rather than later: McGuire> Alfaro Urias > Arroyo, Reyes or Chang Story > Chang, Reyes or Arroyo Sale > Jacques Houck > Llovera Whitlock > Bleier Joely> ??? We gotta get on track- starting tonight! Go Bello!

He's got 2 more years of team control. That's one more than Arroyo. He's a plus defender with a .720 career OPS in just over 1500 PAs. (.720 is not bad for 2B. Arroyo is .695. and .719 since 2020, Chang is .624 and Reyes is .670.) He's likely better than DHam and EValdez. He might be better than Reyes and Chang, so maybe my initial read was off base.