moonslav59

Maybe. Sounds about right. I know it's such a major point in Sox history to lose someone like Betts, but I do think the writing was on the wall. I think the pandemic did influence the contract he ended up signing. He'd probably have gotten $400M/12 had there not been one. He was never going to get near that from BOS. That should be totally viewed as JH's choice, not the GM.

Agreed. I think they did as they always do. The offer what they think a player is worth and don't budge much.

Story did average 26 Hrs per 162 games on the road when with COL, and the NL West is not known for HR parks. I'm still hopeful he will end up being a nice signing for us.

Thanks for the clarification. I'd have given Betts that. (I think I even suggested $400M/14 to bring down the AAV,) but I can certainly see why it would not have been a good idea. Dugo at 5 years Wong and Downs as prospect hopefuls $30M x 12 years to spend elsewhere

His defense is top notch. I've never been one to worry about K's, if the rest of the package is good enough, and it seems like it is- or will be.

They are the only untouchables on the roster.

No McWong or McGuire at catcher, today. Plawecki gets the nod catching Wacha. No JD. 1. Pham DH (Has been close to Pham-tastic!) 2. Dugo RF (Coming on strong.) 3. Bogey SS (Going for the batting title) 4. Devers 3B (Forevers, what else can I say?) 5. Story 2B (Playing like we had hoped.) 6. Casas 1B (In the house!) 7. Kike CF (Good to have him back) 8. Cordero LF (His only position beyond DH) 9. Plawecki C (Actually has been hot, of late.)

Daisy is 30.8 Kiza is 16.3 (due to her silliness and lack of focus.)

I realize I am just posting my opinions.

That site is very generous. For example: JD is worth $23.3M? LOL! Here are some... (They don't list Kike or Bogey) SP 43 Verlander 41 deGrom 32 Kershaw 31 Rodon 21 Bassitt 20 Manaea 20 Nate 16 Syndergaard Closer 15 Diaz 10 Jansen 9 Kimbrel 7 Chapman SS/2B. 29 T Turner 22 Swanson CF/RF 32 Judge 20 Gallo (what a joke!) 13 Nimmo (worth way more) RF/DH 20 Mancini (1B) 1B or DH 19 Bell 9 Abreu

He might get $40M/3 or $30M/2. I would not even offer him a QO, but it wouldn't be a crazy idea. I'd rather offer one to Wacha. It would be interesting to see us offer both one. (They'd probably bot accept.)

We're in September, and still have only one pitcher over 100 IP- Pivetta at 150. We have 22 pitchers with 9+ IP 20 w 16+ 17 w 30+ 12 w 50+

Some things to maybe watch for over the last 4 weeks of the season: Can Ref and Devers get to .900? Will McGuire and Wong maintain their .800+ OPS? Will JD end up above or below his current .770 OPS? Will Story continue bringing his OPS up (now at .752?) Who will finish second in rbi? (63 Bogey, 62 Story, 62 Dugo) Can Kike bring his OPS up closer to respectability? (.646 in 300 PAs) Will Casas earn the 2023 starting 1B job in these next 4 weeks? Will any Sox pitcher win 12 games, this year? (Wacha 10/Pivetta 9) Will Wacha earn a QO?

Refsnyder now has the best OPS on the team. Yes, it's only 138 PAs, but still a nice addition to the team, at no cost. Another nice Bloom addition, Schreiber, still leads the team in OPS Against, and if you don't count Sale at .584 in 25 PAs against and Valdez at ,589 in 72 PAs, he is way ahead of the rest: .539 Schreiber (215 PAs) .602 Wacha (347 & another Bloom addition) .608 Houck (247) .616 Strahm (145- Bloom again.) .637 Whitlock (299- Bloom from the year b4) .664 Sawamura (221- same as Whitlock) .670 Danish (134- sense a trend, here?) .688 Familia (37) .729 Barnes (139) .731 Pivetta (641 most PAs against and another Bloomer) .743 Davis (254 & gone) .744 Diekman (171 and gone for McGuire) .754 Hill (396- Bloomer and may padd Nate in PAs against, soon)) .774 Eovaldi (400) .794 Crawford (334- WOW on the PAs against number) .819 Ort (97- Bloomer) .828 Bellow (150) .831 Robles (111- gone/Bloomer II) .844 Wink (301- Bloomer) .853 Brasier (224) 1.296 Seabold (63- Bloomer) 1.376 DHern (43)

Why would Eovaldi get paid more per year than his last deal? I would not bring him back at his age, and with injuries always seeming to be right around the corner. (We have Paxton & Sale for those slots.)

These days, maybe $40-45M/3. I'd offer him the one year QO.

Barnes will be slotted right behind Whitlock on your list, assuming Whitlock is not starting. The 5th starter, assuming it's not Whitlock or an addition might be one from Mata, Crawford, Wink, TWard, Walter, Seabold.

Isn't the $30.4M number due to differed money?

Iggy's D has diminished, greatly, and I think he got $5M/1. I doubt he gets $8M/2, this winter. I don't think Swanson gets what Bogey will get.

I can't see Bogey taking less than $175M/7. I'm not sure the Sox will offer him $150M/6- slightly more than Story.

Another good point, however, even if you move Devers and Bogey to the plus side of returning vets improving, staying the same or declining, the scoresheet is still wildly skewing towards many more decline than improvements- hitting and pitching. The decline of the 2022 Sox was way more driven by returning vets than the moves Bloom made since last season. Blooms winter and in-season moves have been a net plus, despite the JBJ trade, and he did it while also building the farm up (on paper, anyway.) Now, if you want to count not bringing back players from last year who were FAs, that's a different narrative, because of budget constraints, but even then, for every Schwarber and Iggy, there are three Marwins, Richards, Andrieses, Santanas and on and on...

No, because this IF would mean trading the Messiah Casas.

He's not much of a fielder, either, but he's better than Dalbec-Cordero, and as a platoon, actually pretty decent. I would not DH him. I don't think wasting 2 roster spots on a Dalbec-Cordero DH platoon should even be considered. Throw Arroyo into the mix at 1B and DH, and I still don't want 4 roster slots going to Hosmer, Dalbec, Cordero (who can try to play OF, too) and Arroyo (who can play other IF slots when healthy.) I really like Casas, and do see a big need for him at 1B. BTW, he's currently not a great and maybe not even a good defensive 1Bman. Read between the normally rose-colored soxprospects.coms assessment of his defense: Confident picking out throws in the dirt. Soft hands and surprisingly fluid actions. Moves well enough for first base. Potential solid-average defender there. Drafted as a third baseman, but footwork was choppy, he lacked range, and looked awkward fielding the ball there given his size. I fully expect Casas to be our cost-controlled, capable 1Bman for the next few years. He won't be platooned, unless he proves to need it. We may go "light" at DH, or sign someone to play RF with Refsnyder, who can also DH. We may keep one from Dalbec and Cordero on the 26, but not both, and I think both still have options remaining. I think Arroyo has earned a 26 man slot, if healthy and maybe Enmanuel Valdez might bump Dalbec or Cordero off the 26. Our need in CF is the clearest. To me, 2B or SS is second among everyday player needs. RF/DH might be third. I think we may stay put at catcher. 1B is the last possible need area without Casas, but with him is not a n eed area at all. I would not sign a 1B/DH type. I'd sign a RF/DF type.

1. When I suggest a possible trade, I'm not saying Bloom would do it. 2. It is a suggested idea of a trade. (I make some trades on BTV that I don't even click the like button on for the Sox.) 3. Suggesting trading a player does not mean I don't want the player or feel we don't need him. It could mean I think we gain more at the position we trade for than we lose at the position we trade from. (I don't think a Hosmer-Arroyo-Dalbec: choose 2, is worse than out CF, RF, 2B/SS and DH positions look, right now for 2023. Suggesting we trade Casas for an ace like Lopez is actually showing just how much I value Casas. In the end, I doubt we trade Casas, Mayer, Bello, Rafaela or Bleis, and we aren't getting an ace with 5 of anyone else. Mayer is pretty close to being the most untouchable player in our system, to me. One note: I'm very much in favor of a continuing approach of building up the farm, and generally am against trading a whole lot of prospects to fill several holes, but I'm fine with one every now and then, and we've b een adding so much to the farm through trades, over the last 3 years, that I'm thinking the timing might be right for one major farm trade. It's silly to think anyone here might say no to a Casas (and even adding Yorke) for Alcantar. Is that being anti-Casas or saying he's worth double what he really is?

This is one reason why offering one's plan when criticizing would be the fair thing to do. It's easy to go back in hindsight, and say he could have done this or that, but what did you really want back then? I'll be honest, I wanted Baez, McHugh and Suzuki and I think a SP'er (via trade?) I wasn't alone on Suzuki. Others wanted Rodon, Gausman, Correa, Semien or Freeman to take up most of the winter spending budget. Many would have been better than Story, for sure, but I'm not really sure the checkbook was open when they signed.