moonslav59

I think we can resign Bogey or someone like Swanson, Nimmo in RF and a couple good pen arms and still reset the tax. The hard part is getting a 1/2 starter. To me, he'd have to come via trade, and I'm not sure the top brass thinks this is the time for that. We can extend Devers and not have it count on the 2023 tax line, of we can look to reset in 2024 and extend him, this winter with a hefty signing bonus. I think it is entirely possible we can have a nice team for 2023, reset, and keep the future intact, but I don't see us being a top 4-6 contender without pulling off a big trade or going way over the tax line... maybe both.

Kike had a great second half to 2021- not just the playoffs. He was clearly worth $7M. IMO, if the majority of Sox fans thought a 108+ OPS with GG-type defense isn't worth $7M, I'd say I don't care what they think. He and Dalbec just about carried the team in July and August. Kike had some big hits in September, too. Kike hit .876 after June 27th (73 games). I think the recency affect would have given him a favorable vote, even before his playoff heroics.

You forgot Story and Strahm. Overall, the FA signings was a net plus, IMO, but the JBJ trade took a big chunk our of the overall winter gains. The injuries and drops in production by returning vets, to me, was more of a reason for our major drop from 2021. Perhaps we played over our level in 2021, so maybe that was part of the total equation, too.

The end result was that McGuire and Pham did okay to very well, and it obviously wasn't enough. To get a lot better we'd have had to trade better prospects. Should we have traded Mayer and Rafaela for Luis Castillo? Would we still be playing, now, if we did? Would making the fans happier for a few weeks have been worth it?

To be good, we have to do more than slightly improve on the 2022 JBJ, JD and Nate. That will be costly.

We both keep saying the same things. What clues to you have that the here and now will become our top priority, this winter? It's all speculation, of course, but to me, the trend seems to be keep rebuilding.

The problem is not replacing the 2022 JD, Nate, JBJ and Vaz; in a sense, we need to replace the 2021 Nate, the 2018 JD, the 2020 JBJ and the on year Vaz to get back to near top competitiveness. There is a lot of improving we need to do over the 2022 team. Better health can help, a lot, but there doesn't seem to be enough resources to fill all our needs.

I'm not pretending I do. I do think there are many clues that support the idea that the longer term is a higher priority than the here and now, but like I said, that could an has in the past, "turned on a dime."

We are seeing what going all in ends up doing. 2018 and the consequences. Repeating that does not seem like a a good plan, and yes, there seems to be vast and fierce differences of opinion of this.

I don't think it's that simple. I also think they will want to reset this winter or next, and signing Devers, Bogey and Story will make that very difficult, unless they go cheap nearly everywhere else. I think the "all in NOW" idea is a pipedream.

He had restricted spending. He could have "settled Bogey," but we'd have no Story and the same amount of holes to fill.

Yes, we know this is your opinion. I disagree this foundation is close the ones where we added Pedro, Manny, Schilling, Lackey and Price to.

I'm not arguing against staying even by signing Devers and Bogey. I disagree on your characterization of "Bloom letting it get to this point." He had little choice and did very well on many of his "choices," but certainly holding that opinion has merit and a large following.

I remember saying the Carl Crawford signing would "cripple us for years." Luckily, we were able to get to dump him, but it took getting rid of a couple stars to do it.

We will have to spend so much just to stay even at 2B, SS & 3B. Is wasting the future worth going after a questionable "win NOW" plan? In the past we had a bigger core to "go all in" around than we do, now. The foundation has to be built up, first. We have too many high need areas to expect any GM to hit the jackpot on in one winter of flurry- more like blizzard- spending and trading.

I've been agreeing with you far too often, lately.

I think it will be a big trade not a big signing that puts us over the top. Think Pedro, Schilling, Beckett and to a lesser extent Porcello for the 4 ring years.

So, we spend much of our winter spending budget to just not get worse at SS and 3B. We are left needing to fill the innings left by Wacha, Hill, Nate and Strahm and the declining bat of JD. The only solution to "going all in" in the "PRESENT" would be to spend significantly over the tax line for year 2 OR trade a few top prospects to improve at some higher need areas- most likely both would be needed to be a top contender in 2023. Do you really think this is what JH and the top brass wants Bloom to do? If your answer is no, why would they look to replace him? He'd be doing what they wanted. I do think we could see a repeat of Ben, as he was expected to create somewhat contending teams during a rebuild, but failed badly in 3 of 4 years. Bloom needs to hit on his additions, but IMO, he did pretty well in that area, last winter, but the results were a last place team. I do not see a DD type replacing Bloom, if the axe does fall after 2023. It will be someone with the same outlook as Bloom, but maybe better at it.

You said it much better than I.

I think the problem with your position is this is that JH and upper brass share the longer term priority strategy they hired Bloom to put in place. Why would they get someone to switch to new philosophies they don't share? They also see the falling attendance and NESN subscriptions and have to walk the thin line. I understand you and probably the majority of Sox fans want more immediate success, especially after going pretty long with near total disappointments since 2018. I'm frustrated, too, and I'm probably one of the most extreme "in for the long term" Sox fans in existence. In my opinion, the Sox will push hard to make the playoffs in 2023- harder than 2021 and 2022, but they will not go "all in," just yet. If they fail to make the playoffs, again, perhaps heads will role, but I seriously doubt they bring in a DD type GM who will trade away much of the farm. I think upper management is sold on the idea of sticking to a sustainable winning system being pout in place and adhered to for the long haul. It's just my opinion. At any moment, they can turn on a dime, like they have in the past. With so much budget flexibility, this winter, one could easily argue "NOW IS THE TIME," but with so few major impact FAs out there, I don't think this is the year to spend large and long on several players. We could try to sign some mid-tier FAs to 2-5 years, who we think will not only help in 2023 but beyond, as well. A big trade is probably needed to make us highly competitive, but that might not happen until the following winter. This should be a very telling winter, and if Bloom does not go "all in," it shouldn't be viewed as his choice, alone.

Bloom may need some arm-twisting to pull off a big trade involving a top prospect or two. I think it will happen, as I felt Ben would have eventually done, too, but I'm just not sure this winter is the time they choose to pull the trigger. We have a ton of young talent that will get some playing time on the big club in 2023. I count 14-16, not including Whitlock or Houck. Maybe we wait to see who shines, and where we need the most help. I know the natives are restless, and maybe that will force a deal sooner than planned. I'm not sure those fans can be placated with a bunch of one year signings, as we punt the major decisions down the road one more year.

A true Sox fan. I'm with you 100%. I'm pretty sure many of our younger players will struggle of fizzle out into obscurity, but with so many coming up in the next few months, I'm pretty certain quite a few will shine and some will fill some lesser, yet important roles on our team going forward. Bello Casas Rafaela (late '23?) Mata (mid '23) Walter (late '23) Wong Kelly German E Valdez (mid '23) Murphy (mid '23) TWard (late '23) R Hernandez Bazardo Winckowski Seabold Duran Downs 2024? Mayer Yorke Lugo Kavadas Abreu Drohan Binelas, Koss, Hamilton, Politi, Wallace, Granberg

They also wrote that their end of year rankings will come out Thanksgiving week.

soxprospects.com answered my query about Enmanual Valdez's Rule 5 and Minor League Free Agent status, thusly... He will be a minor league free agent unless resigned or added to the 40 man. If he's signed to a Minor league deal he would be rule 5 eligible. Otherwise we don't list minor league free agents on the rule 5 list cuz they're technically not eligible. We anticipate he'll be added to the 40 man.

Boggs in NY was demoralizing, too. I'm actually hoping some GM forces Cashman to wildly overpay for Judge. His contract will cripple them for years to come.