moonslav59

I get the reasoning behind setting a price and not going much over it, but when you keep getting run over, you have to just bite the bullet, at some point. I did not think the Story signing was a big overpay, so maybe Bloom finds more deals like his.

The comp pick is not as good as it used to be and it's highly a pick can equal what we could have gotten in trade a year or two ago, or even at this deadline. They took a lot of grief for trading Betts, but that's no reason to let Bogey go for just a comp pick. So much for supporting Bloom.

I'm just saying what he said. I tried googling the statements but can't find them. I think he meant they got away from the model of not relying heavily on free agents, but they kind of did for many of his years here, not just at the end. I do think the farm was not as great in 2012 as beforehand, but many of their major prospect trades were long before 2011 (Schilling and Beckett trades.) Was he implying the AGon trade and extension was a mistake? The Crawford signing was probably viewed as a major mistake, and by the time Theo left, Lackey had yet to show much production, so maybe that was the main focus of his feelings.

Is not saying anything about ongoing discussions with Bogey pretty much confirming talks have ended between the two?

One could blame DD, Bloom, JH and our farm system personnel. I'm sure others could be named. Or, one could even blame the players- old school!

Now, they have room for him at DH, so he can start every game.

My 11-20 was... 11. Anthony 12. Wikelman 13. Valdez 14. Jordan 15. Lugo 16. Murphy 17. Bonaci 18. Hickey 19. Kavadas 20. T Ward This means Anthony went top 10- maybe #10: something like this: 1. Mayer 2. Casas 3. Bleis 4. Rafaela 5. Romero 6. Mata 7. Yorke 8. Walter 9. Perales 10. Anthony

After Theo left, he spoke about how the team got away from the model they wanted, and relied too heavily on FA signings and prospect trades. That was before Ben. I think Ben was handed priorities similar to Bloom, but I'm not sure why they didn't learn the lesson from what happened before Ben and even during Ben. The moves DD made created an awesome window that should have lasted longer than it did, but I'm extremely thankful for that 2018 season, but the team clearly got away from trying to smooth out the lows.

No. I expect Sale and Paxton to get maybe 20-30 starts, combined, but a plan should be in place for 0-19. One problem is with the 40 man roster. We can't put Sale & Paxton on the 60 day IL, until opening day, so keeping them on the roster makes it tough to add a bunch of pitchers. I think the Story injury was unforeseen, but I was getting at the amount of such injuries that might tilt the excuse meter a bit.

People make comments others disagree with. Those people respond. It's what sites like this are all about. Does it matter who commented first or responded first? I know I'm as biased as anyone else, but I think 99% of my posts "supporting" Bloom seem to be in response to someone criticizing him to a point where I think it is either unfair or does not tell the whole story (lacks context.) I know I have also been sharply critical of a number of moves Bloom has made and got push back from several posters (like my "head scratching" comment about the JBJ trade, Diekman signing and Story addition without having him play SS.) I didn't get all upset about those push-backs. It's all part of the give and take. I heard notin's context about the team trying to improve defense, and Bell's comments about the budget hit not being as bad as I made it out to be, as Renfroe had a couple arb contracts coming up. It didn't change my opinion, but I appreciated the specific and perhaps constructive criticism. Others criticize some moves Bloom has made that I have not felt were all that bad. I make my points. Some make blanket statements implying Bloom has donr nothing to improve the team, and I point out the moves he made that helped. I don't even view that as "supporting Bloom" but rather fact checking.

I agree, but I'm just giving possible scenarios where I might not be against firing Bloom. Another one might be, if he swings and misses badly on his winter additions. Unforeseen injuries might be another factor, but that would have to far surpass the norm to be a big enough excuse to defense Bloom.,

I'd totally understand that. It would mirror the Ben firing. Now, if JH only allows Bloom to spend $40M, this winter, I might think a firing would be more questionable.

The Astros are meeting with Contreras, now. My guess is they would rotate the DH (Contreras and Abreu), while Contreras backs up catcher and Abreu 1B with or without Gurriel.

I thought someone from the Sox said they were interested in Baez.

No doubt. And, they should not be ignored. Criticism is fine and even expected. I think we are in agreement. It's not as simple as just blaming Bloom and wanting him fired.

Agreed. We'd really be signing him as a DH and maybe back-up catcher.

I remember you named one name not "names," and you never stated who you would not have signed to get Jansen, instead. Wacha & Hill? Hill, Diekman & Strahm? It's easier in hindsight, but never done at time.

We all keep it going, including you. Not many of us feel the need to say more people agree with me than you. That's something you do or feel you need to do. You may very well be right that more share your opinion, but most fans don't even know Bloom was handed a mandate to trade Betts, cut the budget and concentrate on rebuilding the farm, and most could care less, if anyone tried to tell them that. They see losing seasons and form their opinions on mostly just that. It's their right to do that, and I'm okay with a majority, if it is one, thinking like that. I will disagree and push back, where and when I feel it is needed, but I'm not trying to say I am better than them or you. I'm not claiming you don't "understand" my position, because you don't agree, but I will try explaining why I think your opinion lack context. I know I will probbaly not change your mind and respect your differing opinion, but I will keep responding, everytime I think someone says something I feel needs a response or context added. For the same purpose you just posted this post: I post mine.

I think he gets $200M/8, but I would not match that. $190/7 seems about right, too. I'm sticking to our max offer being $160M/6 or $180M/7.

Good points. While I have praised DD more than criticized, I have mostly blamed him for the fact that we've only added Houck in the 5 years between Devers and Bello/Casas, but I'm sure JH was fine with that overall strategy and long term planning. I guess what I'm saying is that although I don't think a team has to suck in the years between rings, I'd rather have the past tow decades than more consistent winning without rings, like what we saw before Henry. Also, I don't think they planned on 5 last place finishes. In 4 of those years, our pre-season outlook was not all that bad, and the 2020 season could be blamed on Covid and the fact that Sale & ERod missed the whole year. (I do think they knew 2020 might be a last place team, when the season started.) Our budget remained pretty high, even in losing seasons, so I don't think the losing was intentional- like say, the Astros before their extended window opened several years ago.

That's enough to convince me to suggest we pass.

Very well could be a ploy to force Boston to defend itself by maybe making a significantly improved offer to Bogey and leak it to the media. This would maybe force a bidding war to commence. Just what BorA$$ wants.

I think it was all playing the media. From the time we signed Story, I felt Bogey was as good as gone. I know Story looks to remain at 2B, but paying Story $140M/6 put the budget squeeze on other positions, IMO, and I don't think they value SS who are not known for defense like many fans do.

I'm already resigned to the idea of going with Dalbec-Hosmer & Co at DH in 2023. I was never sold on Duran as a FT OF'er, but had he proved he could be, yes, we'd have enough to upgrade DH or Catcher, this winter. The reoccuring Sale dilema is getting old, fast. Not being able to count on him has hurt, and we haven't seemed to have had enough resources or the will to part with them to find our next ace. In our past ring seasons, we had acquired a second ace a year r two before winning: Schilling add to pedro in 2004. Beckett added to Schilling in 2007. Lackey added to Lester in 2013. Sale added to price in 2018. We can't even say we have one, now.

...and him allowing the team to move too far away from a sustainable farm system that provides low cost and positive production on a steady basis. A few swings and misses on bigger contracts hurt, too. I guess that could be blamed on JH, but for various reasons, the Price contract hurt on the second half (as somewhat expected), the JD contract was a good one, but tailed off near the middle and end, the Sale extension bit us in the ass, and the Boget extension added one year, but the opt out left us hanging. (Before that, the Castillo, Pablito and HRam signings were not good, and the Castillo gamble failed. I'm not sure how much input JH had one those major signings, but he probably had to give approval. Overall, I find it hard to be too critical of JH. I'm too damn thankful for the 4 rings, to get all worked up enough to criticize.