moonslav59

Yes, in reality nobody Ks over 250 times and has a great offensive season. I was just talking theory. Here are the highest K% since 1922 with a fWAR over 1.9: 4. 36.8% Gallo in 2017 2.8 fWAR 8. 35.9% Gallo in 2018 3.1 11. 34.6% Gallo in 2021 4.2 13. 34.4% Story in 2017 1.9 16. 34.2% Dunn in 2012 2.1 18. 33.7% Reynolds 2009 3.3 20. 33.6% J Baez in 2021 4.0 24. 32.9% Cust in 2008 2.1 25. 32.9% C Davis in 2016 2.2 26. 32.9% R Deer in 1987 2.2 28. 32.5% Chapman in 2021 4.1 31. 32.4% Napoli in 2013 3.4 32. 32.3% Cust in 2007 2.8 34. 32.3% J Hernandez in 2002 4.5 Other biggies w 30+ K%+: 45. 31.3% Tyler O'Neill in 2021 5.6 50. 31.2% E Suarez in 2022 4.1 53. 31.0% C Davis in 2015 5.4 60. 30.7% Judge in 2017 8.7 63. 30.6% K Bryant in 2015 6.1 Most Ks in a season: 223 Mark Reynolds in 2009 (.260 44 102) 222 Adam Dunn in 2012 (.204 41 96) 219 Chris Davis in 2016 (.221 38 84) 217 Yoan Moncada in 2018 (.235 17 61) 213 Joey Gallo in 2021 (.199 38 77) 212 Chris Carter in 2013 (.223 29 82) 211 G Stanton in 2018 (.266 38 100) 211 Mark Reynolds in 2010 .198 32 85)

That, too, but there are lots of prospects that may be traded, instead.

Abreu may very well not amount to anything much at the big league level, but I like the odds of at least one from E Valdez and W Abreu making a meaningful contribution, someday.

I don't think they liked the idea of turning an .819 OPS twenty-six year old player with 33 HRs and 62 XBHs in his first 566 PAs into a platoon player. I wasn't talking about the complex tax budget issue. (BTW, if we signed Schwarber not Story, we'd have been real close to resetting.) With Dugo in LF, Kike in CF and Renfroer or JBJ in RF, I don't see them thinking one needed to sit- despite Schwarber being a clearly better hitter than all 3- maybe combined. In hindsight, sitting Dalbec or JBJ became the choice, anyway. No doubt, I'd love to have had Schwarber on the team. I suggested we try and find a way to trade JD, but that did not seem very realistic, and at what cost would that have been? I will now take this opportunity to speak about those who just seem to despise all high K batters. Schwarber led the league in Ks with 200 in 577 ABs, but he also led the league in HRs and sported a decent .323 OBP. I'll say it again, if you get the job done, 300Ks is okay with me.

Agreed. I think many times official offers are never made, because the first call shows a vast disparity in what a first offer might even look like. No offer does not mean there was no effort or keen interest. Bloom obviously liked Schwarber. He traded for him. (BTW, wasn't Aldo Ramirez for Schwarber a good deal by our "out of his league" GM?) We had JD at $22M. We'd have had to construct a complex platoon and rotation system to get everybody the PAs they seemed to deserve after 2021. In hindsight, Dalbec sucked, so badly, Schwarber could have had all the 1B PAs and a few in LF as Dugo could have ousted JBJ in RF, but at the time, it looked very complicated.

Red's Utility Man of the Year Award

Just heard "interest in" rumors. We might never know, if any real offer was made. Probably, if the sides seemed too far apart, no offer was made.

My question was more about the winter moves, but I do think Bloom won the deadline moves, too- slightly on 2022 and bigly on 2023 and beyond, on paper. If McGuire works out, we save a ton of money at catcher and maybe even improve. Hosmer is free, and even if DFA'd, I think I'd take Ferguson & Roiser over Groome. E Valdez and W Abreu look like better prospects than Binelas & Hamilton. Oh wait, did I just say that out loud? Wacha, Hill, Strahm and Refsnyder outweigh JBJ. It's not even close, IMO. I can understand not calling it highly "intelligent," but the additions were a plus. For various reasons, it just didn't work out.

Yes, a lifetime deal at $78.9M.

Yup. Wilyer Abreu: king of walks. Not some slouch prospect.

Sounds like they will look for an upgrade, but maybe would be okay if they can't find a deal worth completing. Not that it matters, but I feel like catcher is pretty far down on the priority list. (It is on my list, though.)

He may look to upgrade Wong/Hamilton but not make a big splash addition. I'm not convinced McGuire is "the guy," but I think he fits their profile for a defense first catcher. I'm not sold on his bat being able to sustain the D, and his short sample size here should not be viewed as what he can or will give us on O.

There are different parts of the hand that can be hit. Are you saying his fragility was the reason he missed more time than most do?

2020-2022 Games Played: 327 Schwarber 295 Story 2017-2022 748 Schwarber 742 Story Pretty close.

I don't disagree, but I'd like your answer to my question.

Tough call. I don't think they see RHern or Caleb Hamilton as a viable back-up either, and many view McGuire as just a back-up. I don't think catcher is viewed as a higher need area, but if something pops up, they may act to improve there.

Yes. Getting hit in the hand by a pitch is not really a sign of fragility.

Good points, but think about Vaz going forward as he ages. Keeping him might have meant a decline from 2022 to 2023, too. And, he'd have cost much more.

True, and he did pitch one game for the Sox in September, 2021. Even taking that move away, do you see the post 2021 season moves combined as a net plus or minus?

If he can spend right up to the tax line, he should be able to assemble a better team than 2022, on paper. Replacing Bogey, Wacha, Strahm, Hill and to some extent JD will not be easy, but I see this, already: C- I feel the McGuire/Wong duo will be better than the 2023 Vaz-Plawecki duo. 1B- Casas, Hosmer/Dalbec > Dalbec/Cordero 2B- FT Story> PT Story CF- FT Kike> PT Kike RF- More Refsnyder> less Refsnyder DH- JD and others is close to equal to Hosmer/Dalbec/Arroyo/EValdez Where we need to stay even or improve, and have a lot of money to do so, are: SS SP SP RP RP RF

The Schwarber signing looks great, but I'm still not sure, as a long term signing, he'll be a better one over Story. (Both signed within days of each other.)

2022 was not "respectable," agreed, but with all the injuries and significant declines by many returning vets, it seemed like intelligent use of income would not have been enough. If one looks at how all the money and other resources, namely Renfroe, was used, last winter, it's hard for me to say the net value was negative. Renfroe for JBJ and 2 prospects- very bad for 2022. The Story signing was not good for 2022. The Diekman signing looked bad, to start, but we got out from under the deal and acquired McGuire for him. (Net plus?) The Wacha signing was a huge success for $7M. Getting Refsnyder for min wage was extremely intelligent, financially and otherwise. Schreiber was another "smart move." The Strahm signing worked out very well ($3M.) The Rich Hill signing went well, too for $5M. Do you, or anyone else, really see Bloom's winter moves as a net negative? In hindsight, one could take the money paid to Story and construct a much better FA signing package with his money and the 2022 season, only, but I can't see how one can view the entirety of Bloom's winter moves as being dumb or even below average. The in-season moves were not really designed to give a big boost to 2022, but in hindsight, they worked out well for 2022 and improved our longer term outlook, on paper. No way, can I see a logical position saying the deadline moves look like a net negative. Basically, it was this... Vaz, Diekman, Groome & Northcut for McGuire, Pham, Hosmer, EValdez, W Aybar, M Ferguson & C Rosier I'm curious to know, if you think Bloom's overall 2022 moves grade is C or worse.

They probably felt like a .650-.675 OPS was acceptable, due to his great D, but that .578 OPS, with us, was just too low to keep plugging on with him. And, when the rest of the offense started sputtering, "burying his bat at number 9" became too much to bear. His OPS was also falling- .483 his last 33 games with the Sox. He was getting uglier.

Yes, the make or break aspect of 2023 may include the deadline. Here's a list of 20 names, but it could be more. Easily, 8-12 may do poorly or never get a 2023 look. 4-6 may fill a minor role. 3-5 may contribute in a meaningful way. Who know? Maybe 1-2 do very well. Two may be all we need, if Bloom does well on additions to the roster, this winter. The Rule 5 protectees look to improve our 40 man roster, too. Bello, Casas, Wong, Wink, Crawford, Kelly, German, Duran, Down Rafaela, Mata, Walter, E Valdez, W Abreu Murphy, R Hern, Bazardo, Polito, Wallace, Granberg

Exactly, and a GM has to try and build a farm with many quality prospects. In many ways, it's a crapshoot on which ones develop into something special, but by and large, the more the better.