moonslav59

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.

Yes. That's what I meant by "speculative," but on paper, it appears Bloom has rebuilt the farm quickly, deeply and strongly- much faster than I thought it could be done, but one major boost came from DD's prospects that have exceeded almost everyone's expectations from 3-4 years ago. Bello, Casas, Wong, Wink, Crawford, Kelly, German, Duran, Down Rafaela, Mata, Walter, E Valdez, W Abreu Murphy, R Hern, Bazardo, Polito, Wallace, Granberg Some are very promising, some not so much and some long shots, but the sheer numbers are impressive.

Just start when you turn the key and have no major dings or dents. He doesn't "need to do better." He just needs to play nearly every 5th day.

Well said, and really it comes down to seeing the context of what B loom was hired into and hired to do.\ The building up of the farm looks very good, to me, but of course, we won't really know about Bloom's positive or negative influence on the farm for a few more years, and those who are a bit more impatient may not want to take that into consideration when weighing all the good and bad moves that have been made. The fact is, many of the best players we traded away involved taking back some level of prospects. Of the trades made, we have yet to see much success with the prospects, even though many were ML or near ML ready when acquired, but the jury is still out on most of them. Downs & Wong (with Dugo) for Betts Seabold (with Pivetta) for Workman & Hembree Jacob Wallace for Pillar German (with Ottavino) for basically nothing Winckowski and 3 lower level prospects (with Cordero) for Beni Binelas & Hamilton (with JBJ) for Renfroe Ferguson & Rosier (with Hosmer) for Groome E Valdez & W Abreu for Vaz That's quite a few vets traded away to help improve the farm and longer term 40 man roster depth. Some of these moves were made with the budget in mind, not just farm and depth building, and the budget is a major aspect of determining how well or poorly Bloom has done, up to now. The budget was extremely slashed year one, and it only got close to the 2019 level with the Story signing in March of 2022. To expect greatness in less than 3 years was setting oneself up for major disappointment. If Bloom is allowed to bring the budget up to the tax line, this winter- with or without Devers (or Bogey), there should be enough money to construct a pretty competitive team, barring major injuries and/or minimal input from the 10-15 young players who have recently come up or will come up from the farm, this year. Many of the incoming farm help is from the DD era, but we finally are seeing some light at the end of the pipeline. I'm thinking this should be when Bloom is held to the fire, assuming factors beyond his control do not have a major impact on 2023.

No doubt. IMO, Judge equals Bogey and JD's 2022 numbers, by himself.

I still think we should bubble wrap then shrink wrap Sale up for the winter- like they do my parent's pontoon boat.

My guess is, if Bogey and Devers bolt, their money will be spread out, but there is only so far you can go with improving your roster depth. Eventually, you need to address quality- maybe at the expense of quantity, don't you? The 40 man roster and farm depth have already been greatly improved, on paper, anyway, and that is what is usually referred to as an essential element of having a foundation to build on. Times up, IMO. We will be seeing 12-15 prospects or very recent grads getting a look in 2023. We have "only" 6-8 weak areas to fill, and while that seems like a lot, it's way less than past winters, and this winter's spending budget should be Bloom's largest, even if we choose to reset. It's make or break time for Bloom & Co.

We may, once again, need him to be healthy and damn good to have any real chance at glory.

Of course he knew what he was getting into on day one. The budget was slashed by a massive amount on a roster and farm that as already in big trouble. The hobo status ended with the Story signing, which came very late in Bloom's 3 years of being the GM. Of course he is open to criticism, but context is needed. If you take all of his moves up to the Story signing within the context of a very limited budget and a priority to build the farm up through trades and not to build up the big club by trading the farm, I think the overall grade is at worst, a decent one.

Are you answering as a "Bloom basher?"

But is it Bloom's fault he didn't spend much from the winter before 2020 to the Story signing? Or, was it his fault for not producing miracles with low level signings? Are you saying, "If he spends big, it's on JH, but if he spends small it's on Bloom?" Granted, he made some bad moves and signings, but it's hard enough for GMs with hefty spending budget to get everything right.

They'd have to skimp on pitching, too, but it might be worth it. Also, they could structure Devers' deal to start in 2024, so maybe they could still reset in 2023 and be bloated, afterwards. Can you imagine? 1. Kike 2. Judge 3. Story 4. Devers 5. umm...

I guess we can haggle over wht "prime means, but to me, Dye was not "prime," when they signed him. He has one really good year in 2000 and a couple nice years in 1999 and 2001, but the 3 years prior to the signing he had a 95 OPS+. Now, his first 4 years in Chicago were "prime:" 126 OPS+, so one could argue they signed a "prime FA" in hindsight.

Getting both might make even the Bloom bashers climb aboard, even if we had Arroyo at SS, so we could afford it.

I don't want to appear to be nit-picking, but I'm only speaking to this statement you made: Historically in the free agent era, every franchise that won a World Series signed a prime free agent that helped get them over the top. So, when you say Jermaine Dye, that implies you think he was a "prime FA," right?

Jermaine Dye was a big FA signing? What about the 2015 Royals? Look, your point was sound- just not the word "every."

How about... $285M/10 Devers $248M/8 Judge

Yes, it is very rare, but GG said "every franchise...."

He was going through a tough divorce and after denying taking painkillers was an issue, at first, he later said this... “I went and saw the proper people and it was not an issue,” Francona told Hoehler. “It never became an issue, and anybody who knew what was going on knows that.” But in a 2013 interview with ESPN’s Jeremy Schapp, Francona appeared to backtrack somewhat on his denial. “I had some, I had accumulated some pain pills and that’s not good,” he told Schapp, admitting to the ESPN reporter that he was “self-medicating.” “And that’s not good and I understand that,” Francona said. https://heavy.com/sports/2016/10/terry-francona-use-drugs-why-fired-red-sox-rumors-divorce-affair-hazel-mae/

The 2015 Royals won a WS without a big FA.

The 2015 Kansas City Royals signed who? Yes, they traded for Cueto, mid season, but no big signings. I'm not sure, but I think the 2008 Phillies didn't have any big FA signings. The 2005 CWS?

Tito admitted he made mistakes. In hindsight, I don't think they warranted his needing to go, but at the time, it seemed like a change was needed. Just my opinion. Was my opinion partially shaped by exaggerated reports? Probably. I realize our rotation had a terrible season, especially in September, and some were pitching while injured, but we still got his many Spet starts from these guys: 6 Lester 5 Lackey 4 Wake 4 Beckett 3 Bedard 3 Weiland 2 Miller