moonslav59

Yes, you had one criteria for Beni and another for Kike. I always have someone bashing someone like Bloom..." I admit, I don't understand that point but can guess whatever it is, I won't agree.. Being critical of someone just to get under someone's skin, perhaps because you don't agree with him being overly grateful or optimistic about a Sox player doing well, is the very definition of trolling. Your stated intent was to "rag on Kike, because [i like him too much.]" That's being a troll. (look it up.)

Bloom "treats Hosmer right." Nice choice on who you do and who you don't... “Our roster isn’t complete yet, but as we build our club, we feel it’s important to give Triston a clear lane, and that carrying two left-handed hitting first basemen would leave us short in other areas. Given that, it’s important to do right by Eric and give him time to find his next opportunity. We knew when we first got him that this day would come at some point, and wanted to make sure we treated him right.”

It's a very legitimate question, as with any signing, and more so with bigger and longer ones. For some reason, they chose Yoshida. For an even more questionable reason, to me, they chose to spend almost half their winter spending, so far on LF/DH. They obviously think his skills will translate into something special, or at least worth equal or more than $105M. It's a stab in the dark, whereas the signing of a MLB player may be just a stab in the dusk. I get that, but the guy has a skillset that looks super special, and even if it transfers over to the bigs at 80%, he would be worth it. We still need a SP, SS and RF'er. The Sox are on the clock.

You admitted you bashed Kike, because he was my "boy toy." That is trolling. You obviously don't know what trolling means either, because trolling myself makes no sense. I won't ask you to explain it. I won't ask why you just turned this into Beni vs Kike, because I said you switched the criteria on one vs the other, but it is how your twisted mind works, I guess. I won't try assuming you thought I was comparing their two skillsets.

You confuse not understanding to not agreeing all the time. I totally get your point, and it is a valid one. I asked a simple question to shine some light on my point, which you obviously DONT UNDERSTAND, b ecause you respond with answers that show you just don't get it. Not that I want you to agree, but to understand and respond to my actual point. Does it matter if we sign a .220 Japan hitter vs a .310 one? If no, then you attach some value to Japanese data. If no, then we can agree to disagree on that one. You won't answer, though, and I think I know why.

Couldn't the same be said of Beni by selecting certain years to compare? Doesn't Yoshida's consistency add some value in this comp with Beni?

Oh, so you were just trolling me, because I liked Kike more than you. Got it. Quick question, why does Beni's last season or 1, 2, 3 ... seasons matter more than Kike's did after 2021? Just to bust my balls? Admit you shift your criteria like the wind.

...and Moncada got us Sale.

I didn't miss your point, and I still get it 100%. I'm just pointing out you contradict yourself by shifting criteria and don't recognize that bringing up failed signings of MLB players who have "proven they are good" to support Beni as a better pick over Yoshida is laughable, and that's being nice.

You brought up Sale, Pablo and CC, not me. Bringing them up helped prove my point about MLB projections being conjecture, too. Yes, Rusney and others prove Japanese players are conjecture as well. Nobody is denying that.

This makes sense, but I think we need to consider how winning is what draws the most fans. We replaced AGon, Beckett and CC with Vic, Napoli, Stephen Drew and Dempster, and fans seemed irate, at the time. The 2023 ring sure changed the mood of Sox Nation in a hurry, right? If done right, it can work. The Astros let Springer and Correa walk- two huge fan faves, and also let Cole and this year's CY Young winner go, and despite some minor grumblings, the team's consistent winning kept fans in the seats and watching cable TV. What we are missing is the winning more than fan fave players. Sure, having stars usually leads to winning, but teams can and have won after letting them go, including us- several times.

That is my biggest beef about this winter, and if don't fill some of those higher needs, and it's because Bloom talked JH into thinking Abreu and then Yoshida was the biggest need, it's a major strike against Bloom and seriously changes my view of him as the GM. He was already at his "flashpoint," IMO, and this winter was supposed to be his defining or "legay" moment. So far, not so good is probably being nice. If he spends the other $40M in good ways and or makes a good trade or two, his "grade" can be improved. If he's not allowed to spend near the $40M, then some of the blame goes to JH and whoever else decided it was better not to spend, but Bloom still "missed the boat," as far as I can see, so far. If Yoshid does great, and the pen turns things around from last year, my grade can change. I wasn't thrilled with Wacha, Hill and Strahm, and I barely heard of Schreiber and Refsnyder, but those turned out better than my initial grades. The JBJ and Diekman additions turned out pretty closely to what I expected, if not worse. Yes, pitching was our greatest need with SS close behind, and RF top 4 or 5, at worst. The pen attention looks very good, on paper. I like Jansen and Martin way more than I did Diekman & Strahm, last winter, but when you look closer, the subtraction of Whitlock and maybe even Houck from the pen negates or almost negates those two signings, while boosting a slot or two out of the 3 open slots in the rotation. I like the pitching moves but we need a solid SP'er of the net pitching change is a clear negative, unless too many prayers are answered by Sale, Paxton, Bello and maybe Mata, Taylor, Barnes and others.

It doesn't bother me you think we overpaid even a tiny bit. It's how you switch around the criteria to fit your opinion and make it sound like your "facts" count more than others, while saying we always do that to you. (We all do it, maybe unintentionally.) Why does what Beni did last year and over the last 4 years count, but last March, you totally dismissed what Kike did his previous year and 4 years? "That was last year," we heard over and over- like it doesn't count or "prove" anything, yet Beni's recent history "proves" he's legit and Yoshida is not, until he "proves it."

It was out of convenience, My point was about players with MLB experience who had "PROVED" they were good turned sour and the hopes back then were based on CONJECTURE, too. Rusney had no MLB experience, as many others who failed did not. How is mentioning Rusney speaking to the point that those with MLB experience are just conjecture, too. Again, you miss the obvious and clear point.

Indeed. It's weird how it hasn't gotten them over the top in a very long time.

....but, but, but, Sale, Panda, Hram and CC all proved they could do it in MLB, and that's a fact- JACK!

See, this is exactly what you say we do and bash us for it. You set the criteria as only MLB past data counts and is "fact." Yes, Beni has MLB data and Yoshida does not. Yes, that's a fact, but it is not a "fact" it is the only thing that counts. It might to you, but not everyone. I asked a question earlier. I'll reword it and would appreciate a response and reason: Would you prefer we signed a .250 OBP guy from Japan for $18M x 5 or a .400 OBP guy from Japan for the same? Why or why not? Using your criteria that only MLB data matters, you should not care which one we sign. Of course it matters, and you know it. To what degree is certainly up for discussion, but having spectacular numbers in Japan counts for something- just as having less than spectacular numbers in MLB counts for something. We all weigh it differently. I could say, "The fact is" Yoshida has an OBP of ,400, so say good night Dick.

He might get it, here, too. I'm not arguing he will, or that the happenings with Bogey and others hasn't soured him enough to tip the balance away from BOS. I'm just saying I don't think Boston is the poison destination many seem to think it is or is becoming. At worst, not to the extreme some seem to be implying it is..

Yes, but also maybe an outlier. It's all conjecture. It's hard to compare apples to oranges, but Yoshida has had way better numbers than Beni over the last 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, career, but the conversion factor is speculative. Again, it's all conjecture, but what's the feelings on who will have a better fWAR or bWAR when the 5 years are up? If Yoshida spends much of the time as DH, he may/should end up with better or much better offensive numbers, but Beni might catch or pass him with just decent defense.

Next year is conjecture for every single player. Both Beni and Yoshida could be (Yoshida0 or could have been (Beni) a "fatal blow." It's funny how you act like what Beni did last year assures he's still doing it, but at the start of 2022, you said over and over, "last year is last year" when we spoke of Kike and other returning vets who did well in 2021. Yes, Kike s*** the bed, but what makes you think Beni will not? fWAR prior 4 years Beni: 2.8, 1.7, -0.4, 1.8 (5.9 total) 1.5 avg per year (106 OPS+) Kike: 3.9, 0.1, 0.7, 3.3 (8.0 total) 2.0 avg per year (102 OPS+) try to stay consistent in your evaluation criteria.

Bogey watched what we did with Lester and what happened to Betts, and was still dying to stay with the Sox. I don't think Boston is viewed as a place players don't want to play anymore. We spend big. We make the playoffs and win more often than most teams. There is a good chance to make endorsement money, if you are good enough. I'm not going to look it up, but how many MLB have made the playoffs or won a ring in the last... 2 years (50%/0% BOS) 3 years (33%/0%) 4 years (25%/0%) 5 years (40%/20%) 20 years (55%/20%)

Of course, MLB conjecture is usually better than Japanese conjecture, but they both are conjecture. MLB conjecture> Japanese conversion conjecture Yoshida's numbers >>> B eni's numbers Looks pretty close to me, and the AAV is, too.

Yes, agreed. I have said, a few times, we may not spend up to the line. We don't know, if we can trust anything Sox brass has said, and I'm not usually the one to take them at their word, but they did say they wanted to add 8-9 players, and they've added 5. They did promise Kike, they'd "be better," and it's hard to claim we are, so far, although IMO, we are better at more positions, now, than worse over 2022. Even if we add very little or no more money, the fact remains, we spent about half our winter spending budget on LF/DH, which was maybe 7th or 8th on my high need ranking list. Okay, one could claim a big bat, regardless of position was a top 4 or 5 need, but there were plenty of big bats around that play RF, SS or even C, CF or 2B,

Conjecture- same as with Beni. He does have some stats and skillsets to base it on. Would you be as happy had we signed a .220 hitter from Japan for $85M? Why not? The Beni trade is a separate issue, but you always love to slide a Bloom jab in anywhere you can. The trade results are over on one side. We saw what Beni did under his 3 controlled years. We saw what Cordero has done, and I have no hopes he adds to it. We've seen a taste of Wink and nobody is impressed. Slightly hopeful, maybe. The other 4 prospects have not done much, but they are still far away. Only de la Rosa shows decent promise. The money saved by trading Beni can be seen as helping us sign Renfroe (big boost to the trade grade) or Marwin (big minus to the trade grade), but those are separate deals, too. The $3M savings spent, however. The AGon, CC, Beckett deal was not judged by DLR or Webster, but by the FAs it allowed us to sign for 2013 (Vic, Napoli, Dempster & S Drew). That example is much different from this one, but money saved in trades can and has helped.

I think the chance we sign Nate s about the same or less than the chances we trade for a solid SP (maybe not a 1/2 type but a solid #3 or decent #2.) Kluber is the one guy I see us having a decent chance at signing. They were interested, last winter.