moonslav59

It looked that way for Brasier, too, until last night.

The drop off from 2018 to 2019 was .097 in winning %, and the team was forced to cut over $40M in salary. The 2020 season reflected that along with Sale and ERod missing the entire season. blaming Bloom for 2020 is laughable. Blaming him for the .076 decline in winning % from 2021 to 2022 is fair, but then what about crediting him for the 2021 near miracle? Also, the decline from 2020, the worst point in recent Sox history, to 2021 is less than from 2018 to 2019. (.054 drop compared to .097) The farm is undeniably much better. The budget looks much better, in terms of dead money and added dead money from the DD era to now. That's not excusing 2022. We suck, and Bloom is partially responsible- even a big part.

No one is holding him blameless. The Renfroe trade sucked. BTW, he is the one who signed Renfroe and created the 2021 roster with a tight budget. Was that "inept," too? Are GMs only rated by current standings? We are better now than after 2019. Thinking otherwise is inept thinking. The team is better. The farm is better. The amount of deadwood is better. The budget is better suited for improving. The record sucks. There is no denying it. Some of Blooms moves sucked. Some seemed okay, but they ended up sucking. Too many key players got hurt. Just about all returning vets declined- many by a lot, and many were not Bloom acquired players. That's not excuses. We sucked, Period. But, facts are facts.

I'm still optimistic about him being a big help in the next 2-3 years. I hope that's not perceived as being a blind Bloom apologist. His defense is superb. Maybe he just needed an adjustment period to the AL, but the guy has skills. K's don't ever bother me, if the players gets on base or helps in other ways.

Wacha is making a strong case for a QO.

I hope you are being sarcastic.

My eye test detected many RBIs. That being said, he's been a major letdown through the 1/6th point of his contract.

Because we are tanking?

Do we count prospects we obtained via trade, minor league free agency (even if they have some ML experience) or Rule 5? Then, there is the IFA's, who most count as prospects, even if they cost $63M. (I think they counted Dice-K as a prospect/rookie, too.) IFA 2009 Bogey Iggy Montas 2010 Aro 2011 Margot 2012 2 x Basabe (traded for Sale and Brad Ziegler) J Guerra (part of Kimbrel trade) Bautista (part of A Reed trade) 2013-2014 Devers DHern 2014-2015 Moncada (main piece in Sale trade) Espinoza for Pomeranz Castillo Bazardo 2015-2016 Mata 2016-2017 H Velazquez 2017-2018 Bello Rafaela Jimenez 2018-2019 WGonzalez Paulino Bonaci 2019-2020 Perales 2021 Bleis Current Rule 5 & Trades Whitlock German Seabold EValdez Ort CWong RHernandez WAbreu Binelas Almonte Wallace Koss Ferguson Rosier Downs Hamilton Potts Minor League FA signings/Waivers Brasier Arroyo Schreiber Refsnyder Danish I'm sure I left some names off this list.

I don't know of a debate about players checking their metrics or not. It's amusing to me that you think there is one.

Slumping is not quitting. Also, one reason players slump is that they are trying too hard. That's the opposite of quitting. I'm not saying Devers is trying too hard or has lost focus. I don't know. It is "sad," though.

RBI per AB 63/412 Devers .152 58/307 Story .189*** 57/435 Dugo .131 49/422 Bogey .116 46/392 JD M .117 42/294 Vaz .143 32/281 Dalbec .114 29/271 JBJ .107 28/228 Kike .123 24/215 Cordero .112 21/184 Arroyo .114 Men on Base (RBI/AB) 55/208 Dugo .264 51/166 Devers .307 51/149 Story .342 45/203 Bogey .222 41/189 JD M .217 36/128 Vaz .281 RISP 46/85 Story .541 44/116 Bogey .379 42/120 Dugo .350 38/117 JD M .325 33/88 Devers .375 33/88 Vaz .375 *** If you take away those 10 big games where Story had 22 RBIs, which is not really fair, as the Sox went 8-2 in those games, he still ended up with 36 RBI in 268 ABs. That is a .134 RBI per AB rate, which still outshines Bogey, JD and almost everyone else on the team without taking away their best 10 games streak.

Sox OPS Leaders (200+ ABs) 1.060 Kavadas (what do expect from a Domer?) .893 Rafaela (making a strong case for top 100 status) .888 Sikes (not much talk on him) .858 Casas (will we see him in September?) .833 Jordan (perhaps his drop on soxprospects.com was premature) .821 Mayer (not bad for first year, but...) .821 Stewart (hardly talked about) .809 Lugo (on the rise) .797 Paulino (Will he be Rule 5 protected?) .792 Granberg (Impressive for having only 9 XBHs) .790 Sanchez (AAAA stamp of approval) .783 Northcut (44 XBHs & 35 singles/ 23 BBs & 135 Ks) .776 Bonaci (80 BB/ 78 Ks) .773 Wong (next year's backup? .745 RHern Notables: .761 Koss .755 Binelas (despite the .203 BA) .728 Downs Less than 200 AB Notables 1.021 AAA Almonte (acquired for cash) 1.057 Meidroth (draftee off to a fast start & promoted to Salem) .896 Bleis FCL .893 E Valdez (Vaz trade 2B/DH type) OPS Against (40+ IP) .479 Frank German .559 Bello .559 Z Kelly .562 Winckowski .585 Walter .587 Mata .612 Murphy .632 Keller .637 Politi .641 Wikelman .648 Seabold .658 Uberstine .679 Drohan

The clubhouse leaders let him know how things are done around Boston.

Maybe Bogey calling him "Captain" put undo pressure on him. Maybe, the Story signing put undo pressure on Bogey and sapped his power. Maybe, I'm just BS'ing...

You refused to listen. (LOL) Also, you wasted some decent prospects for a false hope. Something you cauctioned Bloom about not doing.

Relax. It's just a pitching slump.

The O's are one game behind being in the top tier of AL teams (top 7). They are 8th, now.

We used to be the butt of jokes for being behind the lowly O's. It appears maybe a few teams may end up below them, including the Jays and Rays.

There are plenty of example by some Bloom bashers that labels a group of those who tend to defend some Bloom moves as extreme loyalist. I think the analogy "stupid sheep" fits the bill on their viewpoints (some not all). Misunderstandings are part of life, but sometimes just trying to get a better understanding by asking pointed questions is met with anger or disdain. I'm not pointing fingers, as I know I have done that, often, too. Making assumptions, jumping to conclusions and reading more into statements than what was there or intended to be there is often the main trigger points on this site and not really the point being made.

He's Rule 5 and not likely to be protected. True, A+ players are not usually protected, but the fact that he won't be protected does not bode well of his future, to some extent, right? Is it too late to be part of the Sox future?

Those that are defending Bloom against the near constant bashing are not saying they are happy with everything he's done and the last place standing of the Sox, this year. Not a singler poster here is "blindly" supporting everything Bloom does. I don't even see a 75 percenter. Some take a longer look and use context more than others. That doesn't make them better or smarter Sox fans- just different from those who only look at the team's current record or trend. Just about any point someone brings up will get push back or blow back- pro or con to Bloom. Some might try to justify the thinking at the time of the deal as a way to explain why that choice was made. That doesn't mean they are defending the deal as being a good one. It is easy to judge in hindsight, and yes, we fully realize many of Bloom's moves were criticized at the time they were made, too. I'm think I'm included among what some call a blind or Bloom loyalist, but I hated the JBJ trade when made, and said so. I hated the Diekman signing and said so. I initially scratched my head at the Story signing and decision to play him at 2B not SS. I'm not sure how that fits into the blind loyalty narrative, but maybe there is a strawman out there that has been more "loyal" than I.

We won't ever know. So, let's say we kept Betts at what the Dodgers paid and still cut the budget in 2020 to the same amount. Speculate on how we do that. Who else do we trade with Price to dump his salary? If we keep Price, how do we dump over $40M and that's not counting any additions. Speculate on where that leaves us in 2021 and now... (Note: I wanted us to extend Betts, so I'm not being a pain in the ass, here.)

Having first round draft picks at 20 or lower makes it hard. Here is a closer look: 2012 #37 Pat Light for the great Abad. #151 Ty Buttrey for Ian Kinsler 2013 #143 Corey Littrell was part of the Lackey for the great Joe Kelly deal. #323 Carlos Asuage was part of the Kimbrel trade 2014 #26 Michael Chavis (should have traded Duran not Chavis) #33 Michael Kopech was big part of Sale trade #374 Jalen Beeks was traded for big Nate 2015 #7 Beni was traded of Wink, Franchy & 3 other #231 Logan Allen (Part of Kimbrel trade) 2016 #12 Jay Groome traded for Hosmer & 2 prospects #51 CJ Chatham traded for Santos #88 Shaun Anderson traded w GSantos for Nunez #118 Dalbec was the steal of the 4th round... lol #178 Stephen Nogosek was included in the trade for Addison Reed 2017 #24 Tanner Houck #131 Jake Thompson #221 Tyler Esplin #491 Kutter Crawford 2018 #26 Triston Casas #100 Durbin Feltman #130 Kole Cottam #160 T Ward #190 Devlin Granberg #220 Jarren Duran #340 N Northcut 2019 #69 Matthew Lugo #137 Noah Song #797 Brandon Walter 2020 #17 Nick Yorke #89 Blaze Jordan #148 Shane Drohan 2021 #4 Marcelo Mayer #136 Nathan Hickey #316 Niko Kavadas #556 Tyler Uberstine 2022 #24 Mikey Romero #41 Cutter Coffey #79 Roman Anthony

So, not giving up = giving more money or more years (or both) than they wanted to do. I happen to agree, and wish they did offer more. Who knows, if he takes what the Dodgers ended up offering a year later.