moonslav59

Almost every team, every year, uses over 40 players in a season. To think caring about #38, #39 and #40 is not important is a losing strategy. One big reason we sucked in 2020 was that our bottom 10-12 sucked. In 2020, 19 players got a PA and 30 pitched to at least one batter. In our one good season under Bloom, we saw 23 non pitchers get up to bat and 34 pitchers throw a pitch (not counting the 3 everyday players who pitched.) That's 57 different players. So, #38-40 out of 57 are not important?

He also signed Kike, who had one of the best playoff seasons in Red Sox history. .408 BA .423 OBP .837 SLG 1.260 OPS 49 AB in 11 games 5 HRs 4 2Bs 1 3B 9 RBI 9 Runs scored I won't call him a "playoff hero," anymore. Apparently, that is only allowed for players on teams that win rings.

So, we'll get #25 and no other top 50's. Hmmm...

Agreed. Red Flags existed with the 4 year Nate extension, too, but to a large extent, he earned his $68M/4. I don't think there were any red flags on Price, other than his age, and that signing was "wrong," too, although one could argue he helped us win a ring. One could also argue, we could have won without him, especially if we spent his $31M x 7 wisely. HRam and Pablo? HRam had health issues prior to the signing, and Pablo had weight issues to worry about. The Porcello 4 year extension had no red flags, and he remained healthy all 4 years. All 4 years were within prime (ages 27-30,) and he did great one year, okay another and not so good inn 2 others, except to give 30+ GS'd and 175+ IP, every year. It's hard to determine whether our high risk signings did any worse than those with no or few red flags, at the time of the signings. All longer term signings are risky. Of course, the Sale and Story signings had known risks, up front, but I think those risks were factored into the contract total amount given to Sale, Stroy, Nate and HRam. Age is also a factor in many signings.

I'm sure he's not done, but even if he signs Andrus and trades for Wendle, he still spent the bulk of his winter spending, beyond the Devers extension that begins in 2024 on... 90M/5 on DH/LF Yoshida (+$15M posting fee) 32M/2 on a closer Jansen 22M/2 on DH/3B/1B Turner 18M/2 on RP2/3 Martin 10M/1 on SP3/4 Kluber (or $21M/2 w club option) 10M/1 on CF Kike (extended before the winter) 2M/1 Joely (or $6M/2 with club option) $112M spent on DHs with their positions being ones way down on our needs list (LF, 3B/1B.) Not counting the $15M posting fee. $72M spent on high priority areas (Closer, SO, RP, RP, CF) Even if we spend the remaining $23-27M on high need areas (SS, now 2B or OF/P/C), we'll have spent more than half on low priority areas. This, to me, is a major blunder by Bloom & Co., more so than not reaching some imaginary number that would have gotten BorA$$ and Bogey to accept or the Story signing based on faulty or accurate medical reports, which was actually not a "this winter" decision.

The "Bogey Fiasco" was not made the day he signed with the Padres. It was made months or maybe even years earlier, or so it seems.

Abreu got $58.5M/3, which is about between Yoshida and Turner's deals. I think Bloom was looking for a big addition to the offense and Abreu reportedly was his first choice. To me, Yoshida filled that desire more than Turner, but certainly Turner was signed to be the DH, like Abreu would have been. To me, this was one of Bloom's biggest mistakes, and I find it interesting that those who seem to delight in blaming Bloom for everything and anything, raely bring this up. Of all our winter priorities, why was DH number 1? I know we lost JD, but we did have Dalbec, Arroyo, EValdez, Refsnyder and others that seemed more capable than our depth at SS, CF/RF, SP1/2, SP3/4, Closer, RP2, RP4, C... Our biggest two signings were DH/LF (Yoshida) and DH/3B/1B (Turner). Yes, we filled the closer and pen slots well enough. Yes, we ended up signing a decent 3/4 SP'er, but why 2 DHs over a SS, CF/RF and SP1/2? We had a LF'er (Dugo.) We had a 3Bman (Devers) and 1Bman (Casas). We signed two guys best served at DH or LF/3B/1B. Talk about head scratching.

My guess is some doctor, at some point, might have said, "You may need surgery, one day." I guess there is a chance one or more doctors might have said, "I recommend surgery, now," but also offered other plausible options. I doubt a doctor said, "You need surgery, now," (before last week, anyway) and Story and the team decided to go against the recommendation. Maybe a second opinion said rest and rehab had a good chance of working. We seem to be going around in circles- caught up in a swirl of what ifs and speculations.

Every team "worries" about the bottom of their 40 man roster. It is often where their stars of the future are hanging out. Winning and losing teams pay an enormous amount of attention to those 38th, 39th and 40th slots.

He's a career +4.5 UZR/150, but has been up and down over the last 4 years. He's +69 in DRS, career, but just +1 over the last 3 years, combined. That's not bad.

I'd trade Dalbec or Duran for Crawford plus maybe $2-3M. I mentioned Crawford, because he'd be one year vs Andrus 2-3, and he would cost anything in return- other than someone close to DFA level, anyway. He's just one SS of many out there. You mentioned DeJong, who has 3 years left. There is also Mateo, Mondesi and a couple others being dangled.

I hate to ask for clarification, but what were some of the "3rd options" that have failed, before, and what makes them 3rd, as opposed to second options? I'm not trying to bust your balls or overanalyze, but I'm curious about this "signature 3rd option in the fork in the road" comment. I'm pretty sure he and many GMs have had to settle on 3rd, 4th and even lower options, but what makes this "signature." If reports are true that Abreu was our first winter option, I'm glad we got our 2nd, 3rd or more choice, assuming it was Yoshida. But, that's just me.

Now that Correa is actually signed, the SS options are not that great or plentiful on the FA market (Andrus, Iggy, Simmons,) but there seem to be a more than 3 SSs on the trading block. I think it's a matter of several teams looking at trade options while telling the Andrus camp to not sign, quickly, until they explore other options. He is going to sign, somewhere and will likely get more than what anyone projected. I'd love to see us get him, even if for 3 years. We could trade him once Mayer wins the job. However, a trade might be the better option, anyway. We could possibly trade for a guy like BCrawford, who is owed $16M/1. We probably could get him for Dalbec or maybe Duran or Murphy. We'd still be under the tax line enough to get a pitcher or 2Bman, now or at the deadline.

Maybe someone did tell him surgery was an option, or even that "someday, you will need surgery, if you keep playing 2B or SS." I doubt someone said, "You should have surgery now," or "I recommend you have surgery, now," but who knows. Even if that was said, at any time, the doc might also have added, "Rest and rehab may work, too." There are so many unknowns in this situation, it's hard to form an opinion. That's not to say, we can't conclude we made the wrong choice by signing him, unless you think he's worth $140M/5, which in today's market, he may still come close to that in production, over the last 4 years of the deal- doubtful, but possible, maybe.

How many non pitchers have some degree of damage in their elbow and rest and rehab works? I know it depends on the extent of damage, which may or may not be known precisely and what position the guy plays, like SS v 1B, but my guess is there are dozens and dozens of MLB players who have gotten bye without surgery. Correct me, if I am wrong. Again, I'm not saying mistakes weren't made or that the blame should not be focused on just one or maybe two guys, but it's not a clear issue, at least right now. We may or may not find out details, later that focus more of the blame on one guy over another (or more,) but right know, we can only assume. I do think it's safe to assume Story, Bloom, JH, top brass and the team medical staff knew there was an issue and a risk. They made the wrong choice based on accurate or faulty information. We don't know, if there were factions within those who made the call that swayed the decision to sign Story, or who was in opposing factions, if there were some. They may have all known the risk, but thought he was worth it. Hell, for all we know, they may have decided that even if he missed a year, he was worth about $140M/5, too. It's not a simple process or decision. On the Sale signing, I do think they expected he might miss a full season and would still have been worth $145M/4, too. That's just my opinion, and it looks like Sale's deal might end being more like $145M/ 1.5 or $145M/2.

Yes, that was precisely "not so bad." Make a list of the players out hurt in 2021 and previous years. Plus, you traded for two guys on the list.

I'd feel better with Arroyo, EValdez and even Bobby Dee at 2B than Duran in CF. We could also sign Andrus and trade for Wendle. It can't be about the money with Andrus. It must be he wants 3 years or 2 with a hefty 3rd year option buy out. I'd say give it to him, just don't have a no trade clause.

What could be the cover-up? The docs said, "Major injury risk," and Bloom ignored them? The docs said "moderate injury risk." and Bloom took the chance and now doesn't want people to know it was all on him? Is the cover-up about top brass meetings where Bloom went to the mat defending taking the risk and had to convince JH and others the risk-reward was worth it? Who know? Maybe something like this did happen. I'm not sure why following the law and not discussing medical information with the public "sounds like a cover up." Somehow the info got out on why Correa's contracts were not finalized, so maybe we'll hear more about Story's situation, at some point. I know some are dying to find out it was all or mostly Bloom's fault, and when your the GM, that's the way it works, and often, it is the GMs fault or mostly his, but as of now, it's kind of speculative.

I don't wonder. There are confidentiality laws about talking about these things. Yes, nobody knows what the physical revealed and what sort of risk level was given by the medical staff. We may never know. I'm sure they knew there was a risk, despite what Dr. Biggio and Dr, Bagwell thought, it's not a given that every player with this type of elbow issue ends up under the knife. We can speculate all day. We can lay blame all we want and focus it on one person or a few. The fact is, we made the wrong decision and now have to hope he can redeem some of his value in the last 4 years of his deal. Another large and long deal looking like a stinker for the Sox. I can see why the team has avoided these types of deals, recently. Since the Price deal, only the Story deal has been longer than 5 years (Sale, JD & Yoshida were 5, and Nate was 4.)

I'm no expert on prospects, even our own. I was high on Seabold, last winter. LOL! Here are a few prospects I think might take a big step up, next season: soxprospects.com ranking 3. Bleis- It's hard to imagine taking another big step, but this 18 year old looks to be a true 5 tool wonder. 8. Walter- His next step should be at the ML level. The guy put up some impressive numbers at AA/AAA: .585 OPS Against and 75 Ks to 7 BBs in 58 IP. He's 26 and does not have to really improve on his numbers; he just needs to translate his skills to the bigs. I know- easier said than done. 7. Romero- He was a surprise pick in the first round in '22, but he looked very impressive. 10. Perales- Seems like he might be poised to bust out in '23. 14. Lugo- He's my sleeper pick, this spring. He had some early hype and took a while to start showing promise, but he's still only 21. 6. Mata might end up being a solid MLB pitcher as early as this season. 11. Paulino- He's just 20 and seems like he could be a plus in the IF or OF. Kinda raw. 5. Yorke- He did not look all that good, last year, but I'm expecting a bounce-back. The fact that SP's kept him at #5 shows they still have faith, too. 16. Bonaci- He's only 20 and looked much better in '22. 9. Anthony- I admit I don't know much about this guy, but he got an overslot bonus picked in the 3rd round. Let's hope Bloom & Co. knew what they were doing. 19. Elmer Rodrigues-Cruz is supposed to start in Salem, this season. He's 19 and has some serious upside. 18. Hickey- Despite being 23, he put up some nice numbers, last year, including almost as many BBs as Ks. If he can stick at catcher, maybe we found someone good. 20. Kavadas- He struggled after his promotion, but his numbers were off-the-charts. I still have hopes this fellow Domer can keep rising. Older prospects like #17 EValdez (24 yrs old) hit the ball real well in '22, #25 Zach Kelly (27) might end up being a key piece in the Sox pen and #23 Frank German (25 yrs old)showed serious numbers in the minors, last year (.495 OPS Against was the lowest of any Sox pitcher with 49+ IP), There are also Abreu, Murphy, Drohan, Ro Hern and a couple other older prospects that might step up. Other younger prospects that may shine: 12. Wikelman (20) 15. Jordan (20) 21. Coffey (18) 28. Brannon (18) 29. Paez (18) 32, Guerrero`(22) 35. F Encarnacion (17)

No. You are overanalyzing. The whole world, except Bloom, knew Story was going to need surgery, even Biggio and Bags! Until we can get a GM that overrides the medical recommendations of his staff, we have no chance at ever winning again.

Only on the Red Sox, yes... OWWWWW!!!!

Agreed, and while judging a farm is highly speculative, we have several players like Paulino and Rafaela. We might also see Bleis take another big step up. Maybe I'm just pink galling it here, but...

Nothing on Google. Might have just been a drunk caller on talk radio.

He was a better football player.