moonslav59

Let's see what he actually makes. I'm not sure overpaying him will reset the whole top tier market. Did Seager's massive overpay really create a big boost to other top players' contracts?

Amazingly, he still has an option left- not sure if he will in 2023, though. I have several players on my DFA/trade list ahead of him, but if he goes, I won't be even mildly surprised.

I like it, and we still have plenty of cash to sign a big plus 2B/SS and SP'er.

It's very rare to make meaningful trades in late May/early June, but usually 1Bmen are plentiful, and I do think we could have gotten a serviceable 1B after the Casas injury on May 24th. I think Bloom and Cora were hoping Dalbec would repeat his 2021 second half hot streak, but it never happened. (BTW, he is at .729 since July 8th.) I also think Henry was against adding more salary, so the types of 1Bmen available after May 24th, might have been mostly salary dump kind of 1Bmen.

I defended it at the time, saying he got the money he deserved for 4 healthy years on a 5 year deal. The deal sucks, now. I know many felt it sucked at the time, and they were right. I and others were wrong. I don't see anybody saying it was a good deal, in hindsight. I see Bloom being bashed for trying to construct a roster based on serious financial obstacles, such as Sale's deal, Price's commitments, and underformancs by other highly paid players like Nate, JD and to some extent Bogey's lack of run production. Sure, Story, Kike, Diekman and recently Wacha, Hill, Strahm and others have underperformed, too, but at much lower cost and much better WAR per dollar spent ratios than the DD players.

Depending on how you value talent, Bloom started out with a 40 man roster having 18-22 serious holes in it, along with a farm that appeared to be very weak, especially on the ML ready area. He was then asked to make a serious cut in the budget while trying to plug 22 holes and build the farm up at the same time. His strategy was forced upon him: try and acquire as many potential gems in the rough as possible, or better known as throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. Just because that strategy is, in some ways, "the Rays way," doesn't mean Bloom chose that strategy. He was likely hired because he had experience with that strategy. All-in-all, he did a pretty good job building up the 40 and farm during and after the 2020 season, but again, he was given a highly restricted winter spending budget before the 2021 season. Luckily, the farm he was handed turned out to be slightly better than expected and guys like Houck and Dalbec contributed to the 2021 success. His Pivetts and Whitlock additions, along with FAs like Kike also were keys to the 2021 season. Now, the next winter arrives, and it seems like Bloom's hands are tied, again, but suddenly the Story signing comes out of nowhere. Call it a failure or near failure, if you must, but it was his first and only major FA signing. With the success rate of major signings being about 50%, league wide, I'm not sure Bloom deserves to be bashed for not being at 100% success in major signings (1 for 1). He still had a restricted budget. Yes, he could have not signed Story and spread the wealth around more, but then he'd have been accused of using small market strategies on a big market team. It's still an area worthy of criticism, as was the JBJ deal that further restricted spending elsewhere. No doubt, Bloom made some poor choices, but to me, that should have been expected, when you have to try and make many "under-the-radar" type deals to fill in so many weak slots on your roster. I can't expect a GM to be even 50 or 67% successful when being forced to use a low cost strategy. Whitlock, Kike, Pivetta, Arroyo and others worked out pretty well in 2021. Many did not, led by Marwin and Andriese. Richards, Perez and Ottavino were rather meh. Wacha, Strahm, Hill probably earned their 2022 salaries but could be called meh. Schreiber and refsnyder exceeded expectations, but are the types of guys Bloom had to count on to fill out the roster, due to finances. Diekman and Barnes were failures. IMO, the jury is still out on Story, but so far his 2022 contribution is clearly lacking. I do think he has a plan. The plan is not based on hoping for miracles. It is based on a consistent improvement of the 40 man roster and farm. I think the plan also involved not adding prime players on long deals, until we felt like we were close enough to being highly competitive to make it worth it. I know this part hurts fan excitement and viewership, but the idea was to keep us relevant enough, until the time came to "pounce" and maybe go all in or in enough with sacrificing the future like the DD plan did. Of course, this is just my opinion and perception of what Bloom's plan is, and I could be totally wrong or partially wrong, but it looks that way to me. IMO, the big question is about 2023. Do Henry and Bloom think this is the time to "pounce" or partially pounce? It's Devers' last year of control, so it's hard to imagine our chances being better in 2024 without Devers or by paying him $30M a year and having less to spend elsewhere. I'm hoping they view this coming winter as the time to go large, without sacrificing too much or the farm. I think that's Henry and Bloom's plan, but maybe 2024 and beyond is a higher priority. The thing is, if 2024>> is the major plan, signing a couple studs, this winter can still be a big part of that timeframe, too.

To me, if we choose to spend the $90M on 4 slots and not the 5 I listed- removing a catcher from the list, we might still have a solid team. McGuire, Wong and RHern handle the staff and catching duties, and now we have $90M+ to spend on 4 slots. That's $22.5M a slot as opposed to $$18M per slot ($90M/5) or $15M ($90M/6). Maybe we trade for one of those 4 slots and now have close to $90M to fill 3 slots. Now we are talking about being able to make a serious run at 2 or 3 of these guys (not likely): Judge Trea Turner/Correa/Swanson/Bogey Rodon/Verlander (short term)/Kershaw (short term)/de Grom Haniger/Nimmo Contreras We might go with 1-2 large and long plus 2-3 next tier guys like... Nate/Syndergaard/Bassitt/Morton (short term) Abreu (shorter term) Muncy/KWong TAnderson Kike/Brantley Cruz/JD Diaz/Chapman/Jansen

This is where we'll see who the true Bloom is, unless Henry puts some serious brakes on spending, which I do NOT think is likely, after fans' outrage over 2022. He should have about $90M to spend, at minimum and 5-7 or 8 key slots to fill. If that number is 6, that would be about $15M per player x 6. We ight see $25M x 2 and $6.5M x 4, but either way, there should and better be some serious talent coming into the fold. While the roster framework I posted still has some salary deadwood and too many "bubble" type players, I think our foundation is solid enough to be able to put together a solid team in 2023 with an even better outlook for 2024 and beyond due to some exciting Rule 5 additions and lower level prospects moving up the line towards maturity. Of the 10 listed bubble players, there might only be room for 2, so maybe we can deal some of them for prospects or maybe some sort of 3 for 1 deal. We may also see us make a move like Ottavino's, but hopefully, the ML component of that type of deal does better than he did. (German is looking like a keeper!) Maybe we do a salary swap like Barnes and Sawamura for Myers. There should be enough opportunities for Bloom to "do his thing," and to me 2023 will be the flashpoint for Bloom and maybe even Cora, depending on pre-season expectations based on roster strength.

So, after the deadline moves and JBJ DFA, a slightly better idea of what 2023 looks like is coming into view. We will be adding some Rule 5 players and likely will make a trade or two to supplement several key FA signings, but this looks like the framework: The 26 C: _____? McGuire, Wong or Hern 1B/DH: Hosmer 1B: Casas (trade?) or Dalbec 2B or SS: Story SS or 2B: ____? 3B: Devers LF: Pham, Duran CF: _____? RF: Verdugo, Refsnyder Utility: Arroyo SP: _____, Sale, Pivetta, Paxton, Winckowski/Crawford RP: Houck, Whitlock, _____? Schreiber, Taylor, Davis, Crawford or Winckowski the rest of the 40: RHern of Wong Dalbec or Casas Rafaela Paulino Duran Bello Mata Seabold Murphy German W Gonzalez B Walter Bubble/Trade/DFA Downs JDavis Cordero Sanchez Danish Sawamura Barnes Brasier Ort DHern Bubble Rule 5: Ward, Koss, Song, Cottam, Jimenez, Feltman

Some real doozies! Some, not too bad. $217/7 Price $160M/8 Manny $154M/7 AGon (traded away) $145M/5 Sale (extension) $142M/7 Crawford $140M/6 Story $120M/6 Bogey (extension) $110M/5 JD $110M/8 Pedey (extension) $95M/5 Pablo $88M/4 HRam $83M/4 Porcello (extension) $83M/5 Lackey $73M/7 Rusney Castillo $70M/5 JD Drew $68M/4 Beckett $68M/4 Eovaldi $52M/4 Ortiz $52M/6 Dice K (+ posting fee of $52M) $41M/4 Youkilis $40M/4 Renteria $40M/4 VTek ($31.5M signing bonus to Moncada, later traded- for Sale)

Wow, that's a new theory! LOL.

JD was worth it. the 2020 season should not count against anyone.

I think we paid Renteria $40M for one lame season. We paid Rusney over $70M for squat. CC was at least $100M of the $142M in the toilet. Pablito $95M. We paid Price for a couple good seasons and one good playoff season. Wow! $210M deal and then had to use Betts to help dump him. (Kinda like CC and AGon.)

Is Murphy going to get a look in the bigs, this summer/fall?

You make a good point, but plenty of very good pitchers do it without "electric stuff." Sure, the electric guys have a better chance, but if we can get a serviceable #3 or 4 SP'er or two from the other group, that would be extremely helpful, as we would have more money to spend on other high need areas. What encourages me is the quantity of "second tier" pitchers we have and some of the recent numbers they have put up. We don't need all or even half to succeed- only 1-2 out of the 5 or 6 listed below: Winckowski: doing well in the bigs Crawford: doing very well, lately Murphy: lead Sox minors in IP (104). Has a .595 OPS Against/3.12 ERA & 110K:45 BB Walter: .585 OPSA/3.59 ERA and a great 75:7 K:BB ratio (58 IP) Seabold: struggled in MLB, but .538 OPSA/2.26 ERA in AAA (55:14 K:BB in 56 IP) Ward: Looking okay since coming off surgery Drohan: .711 OPSA/4.33 ERA but 123 K:37BB in 95 IP Uberstine: .677 OPSA/4.27 ERA but 90K:29BB in 78 IP When's the last time we had 8 or more pretty good looking second tier pitching prospects doing this well? Then, there is German for the pen (.497 OPSA and 49K:17BB in 35 IP.) I, too, am I high on Bello & Mata. Wikelman struggled this year at A+, but he still looks hopeful. Did you mean Luis de la Rosa? The guy we got for Beni?

Just got caught up-live. Nice game by Wink. I hope he's back on track. Welcome back, Schreib! OUCH! Better close this one out!

They started benching JBJ, mostly vs LH'd pitchers. Not once, even as a late inning switch, did they play Dugo in RF. Not one inning. In the 107 games JBJ was with the Sox, this year he started 76 games here: 59 GS in CF 17 GS in RF 31 on the bench I get how Kike was here for some of these games, and the righty Refsnyder was doing well in RF and JBJ played some CF, but really? At no time vs a RH'd starter after Kike was hurt, could we have tried Dugo in RF, JBJ in CF and Duran in RF? When Kike was healthy, could we never have tried Kike in CF and Dugo in RF with Duran or Cordero in LF? (No, we played Cordero in RF over Dugo?)

When we signed Renfroe to replace Beni, I expected Dugo in RF and Renfroe in LF. I was surprised to see them flipped. When I realized the great arm Renfroe had, it made some sense, but what was lost by Renfroe's subpar defense in every other area of defense? Obviously, Bloom & Cora thought his defense brought down his overall worth to the point where they felt the need to trade him. I've never said I felt Dugo was a left-field only OF'er. (If I did, I did not mean it that way.) I said the Sox are treating him like that. To me, playing Duran in CF, instead of Dugo, solidified my opinion on how the Sox viewed Dugo's D away from LF. Now that we traded for our 3rd LF-ONLY OF'er, Dugo is given the green light to play RF. I'm puzzled by that choice. I'm not against Dugo playing RF- just puzzled.

It's not easy to get team to trade in May, but it can be done, if desperate enough. Bloom did let it go too long, but I will say that Dalbec had a .595 OPS on June 8th of 2021, and was still at .648 on August 5th. Bloom/Cora were praised for sticking with him. as Dalbec was essential to our offense after August 5th. That was about 100 games into the season, too. I'm not trying to paint this season's 1B as some sort of success story: clearly it was not. I'm just saying the winter/spring plan was sound. We had a career .813 1Bman returning and a seemingly decent back-up in Shaw, as well as out top prospect, who was ML ready of very near so waiting in the wings. Dalbec and Shaw sucked, and Casas got hurt in the end of May. Waiting 100 games did not work, this year, like it did last year, and our 1B play was a big reason we were on the outside looking in at the deadline. That being said, I don't fault Bloom for the initial plan for 1B. I don't fault him and Cora for giving Dalbec and Shaw a look-see. When Casas got hurt, one can make a good argument a trade should have been made, at that time. It's hard to expect a GM to get a deal done in one day, so let's say June 1st. That was game 51. I'm fine with saying Bloom dropped the ball from game 51 to 105 (deadline). Personally, I thought sticking with Dalbec, after seeing what he did in 2021 made some sense, beyong June 1st, but there is a lot of merit to say no to that idea. Trying Cordero was a disaster, but was trying Schwarber the disaster many predicted, last season? This doesn't absolve Bloom/Cora. I'm not trying to argue the moves were justified or successful, but I do think some context is needed to judge the severity of the choices that were made. Hindsight is always 20-20, and who is to say, had we made a trade June 1st, maybe the guy we got would have sucked and we happen to have benched Dalbec right before he was going to get red hot- like last August and September? Of course, we know now, he did not, but at the time, no GM could know the future. It was a mistake, in hindsight. At the times of the choices, one can argue most made sense or some sense.

Beyond drafting, minor league FA additions and IFA signings, Bloom had traded for the following prospects. While the list seems more quantity vs quality orientated, I do feel like we have some promising prospects and some long shots with various degrees of upside potential. soxprospects ranking 9 Winckowski (w Cordero & others for Beni) 11 Seabold (w Pivetta for Workman & Hembree) 17 Binelas (w JBJ for Renfroe) 18 Wong (w Verdugo & Downs for Betts and Price) 21 Downs (w Verdugo & Wong for Betts and Price) 27 German (w Ottavino as salary dump trade by Yanks) 30 Koss (Y Aybar) 36 R Hernandez (Mazza & Springs) 48 Hamilton (w JBJ & Binelas for Renfroe) NR Luis de la Rosa (w Wink, Cordero & others for Beni) Freddy Valdez (w Wink, Cordero & others for Beni) Grant Gambrell (w Wink, Cordero & others for Beni) H Potts (w JRosario for Moreland)

Bloom said the deal came together quickly after that, as the Red Sox found a match for a position they’ve long needed an improvement at. https://www.sentinelsource.com/sports/national/red-sox-trade-for-padres-first-baseman-eric-hosmer-in-only-deal-on-deadline-day/article_803c4c88-e115-537c-a229-73372c1af303.html

To not have played Dugo in RF for even just an inning in 2022, until JBJ's DFA, makes me think they wanted to avoid playing him there at all costs. When they called up Duran, the played Duran in CF rather than Dugo, which further strengtherned my view that they felt Dugo was an only LF OF'er. Of course, it's just my opinion, and he's playing RF, now, so clearly they think it's okay. It just seemed all so sudden, to me. We were dying for a CF/RF'er, when Kike went down. If Dugo was okay in RF, why not go with ... vs RHP LF Duran CF JBJ RF Dugo vs LHP LF Dugo CF JBJ (or Duran) RF Refsnyder How many times were we thinking about trying something different but having no in-system choices. Well, we had one.

Mayb e we DFA Plawecki and call up Wong or RHern.

Casas can field a position and probably very well. If you meant, right now, maybe not just yet, but he's close to being fully re-habbed. Duran & Refsnyder are already filling FT roles. Well, Ref is on the IL, but when he comes back, we could have 3, if we want to call Casas up. I agree that Downs, Davis, Sanchez and Almonte aren't capable of filling any role FT, but maybe Wong or RHern can fill the back-up catcher rule before the year is over (DFA Plawecki?)

I caught a lot of flack for scratching my head, at the time of the trade. I'm hopeful Binelas and or Hamilton will help soften the blow this trade made on the 2022 team, but at least it's not a long lasting hit. One side of the Beni trade ends when this season is over. We know what Beni did for KC and will have done with the Yanks to finish out the season. The other half of the trade is far from complete, yet many label it as a clear blunder. First of all, I doubt Beni would hjave helped enough to get us any farther than we did since his departure. Secondly, the money saved on tphe trade allowed Bloom to sign his OF replacement- Renfroe (as Dugo was moved to LF.) Once can argue, this alone, balanced the trade. What Wink, Cordero and the other 3 prospects give us is still pending. The Betts/Price trade was a salary dump and forced on Bloom. Judging him or blaming him for trading Betts, without adding Price to the equation and the context of Bloom needing to cut salary is missing the full picture of the situation. There is plenty of other things to bash Bloom for, but IMO, not the Beni & Betts trades, yet.