moonslav59

Looks like we have a pretty deep catcher situation on the farm from top to bottom, and 2-3 guys that have decent to fine ML back-up catcher profiles (McGuire, Wong, RHern,) but some serious doubts about having a solid #1 on the big club. Maybe a McGuire-Wong tandem will be enough, but the word was put out they are looking for an outside addition, and I don't think Caleb Hamilton was what they meant.

Another option might be to take on a contract like Avisail Garcia, who could be an OF'er with bounce back possibilities as a way to lessen what we'd need to give Miami for one of their SP'ers.

I'm crushed!

This where I really see the people who expected Bloom to produce immediate results are missing a key aspect of how GMs build winning rosters. Tanner Houck is the only guy since Devers graduated from prospect status in 2017. Let that sink in! The near miracle of getting Whitlock does not count as a farm addition, but where would we be without that addition?

Good point.

My point was, I'd trade more for Berti than Laureano- way more, despite the similar BTVs. That's what I meant by "costly."

Agreed. The top of the farm was very week from mid 2017 to mid 2022. The middle and bottom were not looking all that great either, but some of DD's additions have risen more than expected.

Had Mata and Ward not been injured, they might have been ML ready by 2021 or 2022. Not sure that would qualify them for top of the minors. Mata did pitch in AA some in 2019, I believe.

Duran & Dalbec. (Sub Hosmer, if they want him, instead.)

I get your point about Laureano being almost a sure bet to be available, but there has to be more. Hell, Renfroe is apparently available. I'd take him back over Laureano, despite the worse D, higher contract cost and maybe less upside potential. Your man Berti would be worth an overpay in trade.

Houck, although he was not really expected to be this good. That's about it. (Taylor or Crawford is maybe second & third best.) These are the graduated prospects since Devers in Sept '17: Brasier 8/18 Taylor 8/19 Dalbec 5/21 Whitlock 6/21 (not from our farm) Houck 9/21 Duran 7/22 Crawford 8/22 Wink 9/22 Bello 10/22 People who want to minimize the affect a weak farm has on a team need only look closely at this list from the start of 2018 to late 2022. 5 years from Devers in 9/17 to Bello in 10/22 with just Houck, Taylor and Crawford as minor league additions! That is god-awful!

I think Bloom has done a better job at rebuilding the farm than I expected. With the rules that make more spending hurt your draft positioning and bonus pool allotments, I thought it would take longer to get to where we are now. Having a high draft pick in 2021 helped. Not going over the tax line in multiple consecutive seasons helped. Not signing QO FAs helped, but Bloom also traded for a lot of prospects, signed a bunch of minor and minor/major league FAs and used the Rule 5 draft to both strengthen and deepen the farm from top to bottom. Of course we don't know for sure just how good the farm is or will be, until we start seeing results, but many of Bloom's trades have sped up the timetable on early returns, and DD's farm turned out to be not as bad or "decimated" as many said it was. We've had some rough times, since Devers was called up. Only Houck has done anything substantial, but from this year to what is expected in 2023, we have a lot of hopes and promising prospects that are expected to see ML action: Graduated in 2022: Bello Crawford Winckowski Duran ETA: 2022-2023: (ranking) 2. Casas 4. Rafaela (late) 6. Mata (mid) 8. Walter (late) 11. Wong 12. Murphy (mid) 14. EValdez (mid) 23. Seabold 24. Downs 27. German 29. Kelly 32. RHern (mid) 49. Politi (mid) 56. Granberg (late) Maybe a couple slated for 2024 may surprise us with a late 2023 showing in the bigs: 17. Lugo 18 Ward 26. Abreu

But top 5 on your list? What happened to the higher OBP aspect?

He'd be a nice addition, but I was wondering about notin's criteria. It seemed to be high OBP and plus RF defense. I wouldn't put him in my top 4-5 wish list additions for the OF.

I'm not saying I love or even like high K guys, and high K guys with high OBP and power are rare, but I don't dislike a player just for having a high K rate, and since this was started over Story, I will add that he is an exceptional defender, a clear plsu on the basepaths, and has shown power and the ability to get on base near a .340 clip in his past. I won't be calling Story a success, if he continues near a .300 OBP. That would make the signing a failure. He won't be hitting 45 HRs or 75+ XBhs to make up or partially make-up for a .300 OBP, either.

I don't think we have the right QB in the system, now, although Joe Montana was the third string QB, my freshman year, and he led us to the National Champiuonship.

Sox prospects has this on Nick: After the Red Sox acquired him from the Phillies in 2020, he pitched at the Alternate Training Site until making his final two starts of the year in Boston. Was kept in the minors for long enough in 2020 to delay his qualifying for arbitration and free agency by a year each. Entered 2021 in the Boston rotation.

Ort was a minor league Rule 5 draftee, so I'm not sure Bloom expected much, either. You take a bunch of minor league flyers in hopes a couple pan out. Whitlock had to be on the 26, so that was more meaningful than Ort, although a Rule 5 pick is not a major gamble, as he can be returned very cheaply. Pivetta seems to be an example of a guy everyone knew had nasty stuff, but just couldn't put it together enough, especially with the high BB%. Maybe he can be used as an example of a tweak made by the Sox to improve, but it's interesting to note, his BB/9 has increase from 3.4 w PHI to 3.7 w BOS. The improvement has come from lowering his H/9 from 9.5 to 8.4, while slightly improving hi HR/9 from 1.6 to 1.4. His ERA+ went from 78 to 99 with BOS! Schreiber, Whitlock and Wacha are Blooms big hits.

His "strength" was being part of a system that developed young pitchers very well and spotted pitchers on other teams that they felt had something special, or something that could be adjusted to make them better with them. While Bloom literally "wrote the book," we don't really know if he was the talent that made it happen. My original point is that he has seemed to hit on some hidden gems, like Pivetta, Schreiber, Whitlock, Wacha, Strahm, Hill and a few others, but that some of his "misses" have maybe, and I stress the word "maybe" been just bad timing. Of course, one wonders why they didn't or couldn't have done better while with us. Where was that "adjustment" we seem to see with the Rays, even now, after many of their top management guys have left to go to LA, HOU, BOS and elsewhere? He missed with Richards, Perez I, Andriese, Paxton (so far), Sawamura and kind with Perez II, but he has also done pretty well on several others. The jury is still out on Seabold, Wink, German, Kelly and Wallace. (I'm probably missing others.) I'm not sure what the success% in in TB on non-drafted pitchers.

Laureano has a .302 OBP since 2021 in over 750 PAs. He does not fit what you have been saying we need.

The problem with Gallo is that he no longer gets on base like he used to. If I knew he would get to .340, I'd take him. He's been at .319 since 2020, and his .183 BA brought down his SLG to .409 ince 2020. That is not the numbers I am saying can support 200 Ks.

A lot depends on defense, too. I'll take .800 as a plus on O. Has anyone ever had a .340 OBP and 60+ XBhs and been under .800 or 100 wRC+?

I think we did "see something" to get him in the first place. We just lost patience and/or like R hernandez's hopes better.

I used exaggeration just to make a point. Here are some real examples of some of the highest K rates in a season since 2000 with the players OBP: 37% Gallo in '17 .333 (62 XBHs in 532 PAs) 36% Sano in '16 .346 (48 XBhs in 495 PAs) 36% Happ in '18 .353 (37 XBHs in 462 PAs) 36% Sano in '17 .352 (45 XBHs in 483 PAs) 35% Gallo in '21 .351 (52 XBhs in 616 PAs) 33% Cust in '08 .375 (52 XBhs in 598 PAs) Most of these guys were easily over an .800 OPS.

I'm not saying anyone should try to K more, or that it is a good thing. I will say it is better than a DP, and that maybe less DPs help even out the less base runners advanced on ground outs or sac flies. My point is, there are a select few players who K a lot, but they also produce when they don't K. I'm not sure why a .340 OBP with 60+ XBHs doesn't outweigh 200Ks. Add to that, great D and good base-running, and Story would be a big plus, if he can get to .340/60 XBHs, no matter how many K's he has. The man who led MLB in OBP and HRs, Aaron Judge, also had a 25% K rate. Trout had a .369 OBP and a 28% K rate. It's not common, but these guys are damn good, despite the high K rates.