moonslav59

That's a good thing.

MLBTR reports many teams are interested in Tanner Houck. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/red-sox-trade-rumors-tanner-houck.html

We had 18 roster spots in need of major improvement and were handed a massive budget cut. Tell me how you'd have handled that. I'll wait. Want more specifics? We lost Betts, Price, Porcello, Pearce, Nunez and then watched ERod miss the 2020 season and Sale basically miss the last 3 years. That's over $60M in budget cuts and the new GM was handed $20M to spend. Call it "spending for players down the roster," if you wish, but how do you sign studs with just $20M and 18 slots to fill? Counting the Ottavino salary in 2021, Bloom was given about $40M to spend, which barely brought us to within $25M of the 2019 budget. He had about 12 slots to fill on that roster. That's less than $4M per player. Tell me how you'd spend the money? I'll wait. Now, did Bloom sign only good players? Hell NO! But, unlike you, I ask what should I have expected at $3.8M per player?

I'm not so sure why you and Red are so fixated with brown noses. Nobody is defending horrific spending and bad signings and trades. Pointing out the situation whoever the next GM was going to be is not sucking up to anyone. I'd have pointed out the same difficulties had DD stayed and been handed the same demands and budgets. It really has nothing to do with Bloom. I have nothing invested in Bloom. Many saw the writing on the wall before 2018. I'm happy as hell with everything we did that led to those glorious 3 seasons from 2016-2018, but that doesn't mean I have to bury my head in the sand about the consequences of what we did to get there. No GM in the history of MLB could have turned the 2019 team, with the budget and farm they were handed into a winner in 2020. One could easily argue the 2021 team was nothing short of miraculous and the 2022 team a let down, but we've only now reached the point, budgetwise, where we were in 2019, and we are now staring at a reset. Add to this, the state of farm infusions after Devers, and to me, it's a bit off the wall to have the expectations some here had and still have. Fine: look only at the budget inside a bubble and ask no questions, except, "Why aren't we winning?" Not me.

We also stopped adding big FAs before 2019 and made no prospects for star trades after the 2018 deadline. We extended Sale, Nate and Bogey (with an opt out.) That was all we did until the Story signing. From devers in the summer of '17 to Bello & Casas in the summer of '22, we added just Houck from the farm. That's 5 years of no Betts, Bogeys or even Beni and JBJs. Basically, nothing. People keep thinking Bloom was handed the 2018 team. Even DD was not happy with the change of philosophy during the 2019 season.

Ask yourself how much Bloom had to spend and what team and farm he was handed. Does that question matter? The 2019 was already showing signs of serious decline, and that was after subtracting just Kimbrel and Kelly from 2018. We had no farm input, since Devers in 2017. Then, Bloom was forced to cut so much salary he ended up losing Betts, Price and Porcello along with minor key pieces to the 2018 team like Pearce, Nunez and others. The budget cuts were massive. The Sale and Nate extensions had not even started, yet, but they counted on the budget you are holding against Bloom. Ask yourself why that's Bloom's fault that $60M was cut and a winning team was supposed to be created with $20M to spend on a team already on the downswing. Is that some whacky question to ask yourself? Then, in 2021, he's given $40M, which does not even bring him to the 2019 level. Still, no farm help, unless you count Houck. ASsk yourself why you expected a winning team, not why a miracle didn't happen. Oh wait, a miracle almost did happen. Finally, in 2022 (March to be exact), the pursestrings are barely opened up for the Story signing. Still, only Houck has shown any plus from the farm in 5 years running. Ask yourself, why we should have won in 2022. Our biggest contract was on the IL, all year. We were still paying for half Price. Nate was not the Nate of 2018 or 2021, and was still on DD's payroll. Maybe the right questions need to be asked.

You said that over a thousand times... (I thought that automatically makes it true.)

I'm kinda glad Cora and Bloom, perched above the mighty confines, did not give up on Dalbec in 2021, after an equally long sucky stretch as Duran had, if not longer. I remember people bitching about keeping Kike at leadoff. I know it couldn't possibly have been you, but Kike went on to have a .372 OBP over the last 80 games of 2021 and then had a non-heroic playoffs to boot. Sometimes you hit- sometimes you miss. I'm pretty sure most GMs would not totally give up on Duran after 2022, let alone after just 112 PAs in 2021. Again, I've never been high on Duran, like many here were, but he hit well in AAA- average, OBP and power. He had speed. His D was always the biggest concern, and they gave him 2 chances. My guess is, if he hits well in 2023, he'll get an other chance on some team.

Not at all. I expected him to get a shot, and before Refsnyder, for sure. I'm a bit shocked he ended up 4th in OF innings because of how badly as he played on D and O. Cordero was actually flirting with .700 somewhat late in the year, but he was needed at 1B for a while. Refsnyder should have played more as the season progressed, and that's not a hindsight position, either. By the time JBJ was gone and Pham was in the mix, it didn't matter, anyway. Once we were out of it, I'd actually have preferred we play Duran over players we knew were not part of our longer term plans. Find out, once and for all, or at least as much as possible, if he has any redeeming qualities.

Shocking to me is how he ended up 4th in OF innings, last year and with 50% more innings than Refsnyder, who hit .881.

Ask yourself a few questions.

One encouraging quote from Bloom when asked about the club’s need to add a couple of up-the-middle players, he said it “doesn’t even need to be limited to two.”

They played him in May and early June. After Kike got hurt, he was "in the plans" as the back-up to Kike. Nobody ever heard of Refsnyder at that time. Like it or not, Duran was our 5th OF'er behind Cordero. Arroyo in the OF was an after thought. and a bad one at that. My guess is, most teams expect their 5th OF'er to play during any given season, so yes, he was "in the plans." It was one of your biggest beefs against Bloom was his lack of acquiring OF and 1B depth. Like it or not, Duran was "in the plans." Like you, I hope he is not in the plans, this year, but we no longer have JBJ, Pham or Cordero. Our OF depth, assuming Kike plays SS or 2B is: Yoshida LF Dugo RF (Better in LF) Duvall CF (better in LF) Refsnyder LF/RF (better in LF) Duran LF.CF/RF (better in LF) It's not Arroyo. On opening day, it's not Rafaela. I'm hoping we add a middle IF'er or two, so Kike moves back to OF (or we add another CF'er) and Duran is knocked down the charts, but until that happens, it's fair to mention his name.

He played because he hit pretty well in AAA, and we had no other options. The options are thin, this year, too. Yes, he sucked in 2021 and 2022. He actually hit better in '22 but was asked to play more often, so it only looked like he sucked more. The one area he seems to have some hope in, beyond his speed, is hitting vs RHPs. He has a career 114 OPS+ v R. It's 45 v L. In no way am I trying to argue this is enough for him to get a chance, again, but until we add someone else to the mix, he's on the short depth chart- like it or not. Duvall is not a FT'er. He started 80 games, last year and had a 76 OPS+ v R, last season. Refsnyder bats righty, so hopefully he is the choice every time before Duran, but never say never. BTW, players often suck in their first 300 PAs in MLB. Many never get better or get another chance. A few turn it around. I'm not predicting a turn-around, here, but I'm not si sure the Sox feel he never deserves another look-see.

I don't ever want to see Duran play another inning for the Sox. In no way am I advocating it happen. You may hear things on talk radio, and I read things on MLBTR like... Whether Duvall will play center on an everyday basis or be in more of a timeshare depends on the development of young Jarren Duran, whose meager .221/.283/.363 (78 wRC+) slash line in 2022 was held down by a massive platoon split; Duran slashed just .184/.238/.211 against lefties for Boston, translating to a virtually unplayable 22 wRC+. Against righties, however, he batted a more palatable .229/.293/.398 (91 wRC+). Duvall and Duran manning center would allow Enrique Hernandez to play the infield, helping to cover for the loss of Xander Bogaerts in free agency and Trevor Story to injury. I'm not pulling crap out of my ass. There is a difference between what I want to happen and what may or may not happen. You never seem to get the distinction. I'll spell it out for you. There is close to a zero percent chance Dugo is platooned, but I think it makes sense, in some cases, especially if we end up with Kike back in CF, which looks highly unlikely. There is way more than a zero percent chance Duran gets another chance to prove himself, whether you or me want it to happen or not. Teams don't give up on prospects so easily, at times. I'm not going to project how they feel about Duran, at this point, but as of now, with Kike looking like a sure bet to play SS or 2B, even the Duvall addition leave our OF depth looking very thin, and two of our starters having really bad L-R splits. It's not absurd to think Duran may, at some point, get a chance to play or at least earn a platoon role. It's not like Duvall is a proven FT'er, at this point in his career. We happen to agree on Duran, but somehow you still make it sound like I like the guy.

Well, Duvall sucks vs RHPs and Duran's only decent area is hitting vs righties, so I'd avoid saying "never" when talking about Duran. As for the platoon idea in RF, saying a RF platoon makes more sense than a CF one is just an opinion. It doesn't have to mean it has even a 0.0001% chance of happening. (I know Cora will not platoon Dugo. He never does it, despite the obvious need to do so.) Say it 10,000 times, if it make you feel better.

I hope they don't think a Duvall/Duran Platoon in CF is okay. At this time, I'm still hoping against hope we add a SS (Andrus, Iggy or by trade) AND a 2Bman (Harrison or by trade) and keep Kike in CF. A Duvall/Dugo platoon in RF would make more sense. I know, I know- NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!

Here is the list of OF'ers by innings played since 2020 (25+ innings): Red= Good enough to play CF or RF on D 2916 Verdugo 1385 Kike 1213 Renfroe 1167 JBJ 686 Duran 463 Cordero 419 Pham 351 JD 302 Refsnyder 228 Pillar 147 Santana 124 Schwarber 108 Arroyo 100 Beni 96 Chavis 90 Munoz 65 Almonte 58 Lin 51 Davis 39 Peraza 25 Puello

Yes, I neglected to mention him- another OF'er we have best suited for LF and maybe ONLY LF. Ref started 16 games in RF. That makes 52 starts by back-ups, worse defenders and someone not named Dugo.

B-R has Duvall listed as a LF'er/1Bman, so one can view this signing as yet another head-scratcher, but if he can do okay in CF, I guess things might work out. It seems strange that defense was such a big thing, last winter, that we thought swapping out Renfroe for JBJ was worthwhile, but now we seem to have no problem putting a guy we avoiding putting in RF, like the plague, last year out there FT in 2023. Then, move a GG caliber CF'er to SS and replace him with a LF'er, put a DH-type in LF and call it a winter. That being said, the line-up might look like this, and might not be so bad (on offense): 1. L Yoshida LF 2. R Kike SS 3. L Devers 3B 4. R Turner DH 5. L Casas 1B 6. R Duval CF 7. L Verdugo RF 8. R Arroyo 2B 9. L McGuire C Bench: R Wong C, R Refsnyder OF, R Dalbec 1B/3B, (L Valdez 2B or L Duran OF) My guess is we will add a middle IF'er and Duran & E Valdez will start the year in AAA.

It just further reinforces the idea that Bloom is a great farm builder!

Oh, I worried about them, too. I'm sorry, but defense matters to me. Maybe too much. Maybe too little to you. I know what I saw from Kike in CF, and all the metrics and stats support the idea that he is great on def4ense in CF. It seemed just as easy to add a SS over a sketchy CF'er. I'm trying my hardest to bash Bloom and Cora, but you Bloom brown-nosers are making it hard on me!

He could very easily be better than Renfroe in RF (on D.) Of course, he won't have Renroe's arm, but yes, he supposedly has trimmed down, this off season, so maybe that will help. I know I ranted a lot about the team having 8 left fielders and Kike, last year, but most of my issues about Dugo in RF were about the team being so reluctant about playing him in RF as JBJ was struggling mightily for months and months. I figured, how bad must Sox management feel about Dugo's D in RF to try Arroyo out there and not in LF? How bad must Sox management feel about Dugo's D in RF to try Cordero out there and not in LF? How bad must Sox management feel about Dugo's D in RF to try Duran out there and not in LF? Even Almonte played a game in RF over Dugo. It was only when we traded for Pham that We moved Dugo to RF. GS & Innings in RF 11- 124 Cordero 16- 108 Arroyo 5- 46 Duran 3-24 Ja Davis 1- 8 Almonte 36 starts by these chums! None would be better in LF with Dugo in RF?

I'm on record as being in total disagreement with this plan. It makes zero sense, to me. It's not like no SS are available on the market (FA and trade.) While I do think Kike is a great athlete and may end up doing fine at SS, it's not worth the gamble. I will add one point, before Kike pretty much became our FT CF'er he had only player CF for over 150 innings in a season one time, and that was just 373 innings in 2018.

Can he play it well is another question.