moonslav59

Best move: Getting Schreiber off waivers Second best: Signing Refsynder to a minor league deal Third best: Signing Wacha and Strahm, both of whom have already earned their pay. Fourth best: Finding someone to take Diekman's contract and amazingly give us a catcher with 2+ years of team control. 5th, 6th, and 7th are so minor and bunched, I'm not sure it matters where we rank them: Getting Hosmer for min wage. Getting two rising prospects for 2 months of Vaz. DFA'ing JBJ, Robles & Shaw. Signing Danish to peanuts.

Who has made that point? Another prolific poster?

"Everybody?" WOW!!!

I'll always remember JBJ fondly. I don't blame him for signing a bloated deal and being put in the line-up long past his expiration date. I'll never accuse him of not trying hard. Great D- always.

I'm fine with anyone complaining about Bloom waiting too long to find a 1Bman, and even rare May/early June deals do get done from time to time, but I really think the winter/spring plan to have Dalbec and Shaw start the year at 1B with a ML ready and top prospect like Casas waiting in the wings was not a flawed plan. My guess is most GMs would not have touched 1B with so many other pressing holes to be filled over the winter. No doubt, Dalbec's record of extreme droughts and hot streaks were concerning, but IMO, he did seem to be improving on D, last year and came on very strong the final 2-3 months of the season. He also had a decent first year, although the sample was small. With 6-8 gaping holes at other positions, and a limited winter spending budget, what GM looks to replace a player who posted these numbers in his first 156 games (545 PAS)? Some might have expected improvement possible. .244 33 94 (.819 OPS) Yes, the 195 K's are frightening, and a close eye and possible short leash would be understandable, but the guy started off slowly, last year, too, and Cora's patience paid off in spades. BTW, maybe some remember his hot streak being short, but his cold streak was shorter. .595 first 45 games (173 PAs) .709 middle 45 games (145 PAs) 1.114 last 41 games (139 PAs) .684 first 66 games (242 PAs) .914 last 67 games (215 PAs) Cherry-picking sample sizes, I know, but still... .916 his last 280 PAs .847 his last 324 PAs .805 his last 404 PAs The kid deserved a look... a long look in 2022. Travis Shaw had shown serious decline since 2021, but he did look pretty good, back with the Sox, in a tiny 48 PA sample size. The kicker was Casas starting out slowly and then getting hurt. I get the criticism about waiting too long to make a move, but I don't think a move should have been made in early May or maybe even early June or late June, but that was when Casas went on the IL. Pitching depth and RF were and are still open season, IMO.

Did we offer to pay some or most of his contract?

Get what? I've never heard that every team always has a member of the top brass at every road game. Maybe I'm wrong on this. Maybe they had planned on one b eing there, but an emergency came up. I'm sorry, if I come off as naive, but really, I don't care, and don't care that others do or don't. It seems to me that posters are graspin g at anything and everything possible to find wrong with team management.

Good point.

Maybe it reflects conflicting priorities Henry has given Bloom. (Just a possibility.)

Who cares?

If our team culture was going in the toilet, maybe making changes was needed. Shouldn't "great" team leaders have been able to help right the ship and get other players to stop making bone-head plays? I'm not deflecting from Cora. It's on him, too. I don't mean to just single out Bogey and Vaz. Where was JD, Nate and other vets? Maybe just as a wake-up call. Maybe to avoid making a managerial change, they settles on Vaz. Who knows. To be clear, I'm not saying these players deserve to be bashed like Cora and Bloom have been, but why so much praise for being "team leaders" and "great in the clubhouse," while also saying (in so many words) the team is rotten to the core?

Some of us were critical of certain aspects of Vaz's game long before the trade. I'm not sure anyone thought he was a negative net value player over his time with the Sox. The guy had 2 months left, and it seems probable, Sox brass did not view him as someone they wanted in 2023 and beyond- like it or not. Considering where we stood in the standings, it made some business sense to trade him. I get the clubhouse stuff, and I don't mean this as piling on Vaz and Bogey, but I keep hearing some posters bash Cora for not addressing the team's lack of focus, but at the same time continue praising our clubhouse leaders while we are in last place. Yes, the buck stops at the top, but I feel like there is some selective bashing and praising going on. (Not like I don't do it, too.)

I never want to speak for Max. He does a well enough job, as it is, but I'm sure he and other supporters of Bloom or much of what Bloom has done don't think last place is good either. I don't think those critical of Bloom were not upset when we had the 3rd best record in the AL, back in June. Thye season is not over. Context is needed, IMO, but certainly finishing in last place is not a feather in Bloom's cap or legacy.

Bloom did hire him back after his suspension.

Who takes explaining, adding context or defending certain moves by Bloom personally? I can name names on this Q.

Never, for some.

I thought 1B was addressed in the winter. Dalbec and Shaw looked decent and Casas was expected to be ready early, if needed. Now, once the middle of May and June rolled around, how easy was it to acquire a decent 1Bman? How long a leash should Dalbec have been given, after seein g what happened in 2021?

True, but the JBJ deal was a chosen extra "hobble."

Does anyone steal bases, anymore?

fair enough. I’m sticking with 100:1.

Certainly saying less than 1 in 100 chance of the trade being just okay is making a call.

I'm not as hopeful about the prospects, as I was before, but the trade is not over, until we know for sure. I'd say the odds are less than 1 in 100, it turns out okay.

I'm not comparing 2021 to 2018, but both teams came back the n ext year, largely intact, but s*** the bed.

None, unless a prospect does well, yes.

You act like every move was bad. Whitlock Schrieber Refsnyder Kike '21 Strahm Wacha- already worth $7M Pivetta (I'm probably missing some) The jury is still out on the Beni, Ottavino and even the JBJ & 1 year of Betts deals as the prospects might do well.