moonslav59

The concept of context has no meaning to you. You think DD wins a ring in 2020 with $20M to spend? $20M doesn't even cover Betts and the $16M saved on Price.

What else are you counting? No rings? That is simple-mindedness, personified.

Not fiction, and when I made my statement, I qualified by saying he was given a solid core of 8-10 players and maybe another 10 so-so players. I stand by that statement, and will defend it. 1) Counting Betts as a core inheritance misses the fact that he was forced to trade him. 2) Counting Price and that contract as part of a solid foundation is what I'd call fiction. 3) Counting Sale with his injury situation is questionable, too. The cliff deniers want to think back with nostalgia at the 2019, and not recognize the train wreck was upon us, much quicker than even the cliff dwellers had imagined. I was very clear about the "mess" being the bottom 20 on the 40 man roster and a farm that had very few ML ready assets. Not the top 10. Maybe partially the next 10. Betts - to be traded Price- to be traded as salary dump Sale- injured ERod- to contract COVID, but certainly not known at the time of Bloom's take-over, so don't count the illness, if you wish. Bogey Beni Nate Barnes That's 8. Saying 10 by counting Vaz and Moreland, who was due to age decline very soon, and did is stretching the limits. I'll count them, but to me, they'd be in the so-so category of the next 10. Yes, teams do win with a core of 8-10 solid players, but it is very rare to see a team win with next to nothing as a supporting cast, and that's where the "mess" Bloom inherited was clearly focused on in my statements. Looking back on my statement, I'd say my biggest mistake was not calling it a mess, it was saying we have 10 "so-so players" after the core 8-10. Here's the reality: Betts & Price shouldn't really count, but they did bring us back Verdugo, who could be counted as a solid core player or a so-so player. Blame Bloom, if you must, for not getting a better return, but throwing in Price, someone you felt had plus value back when the trade was made, was one reason our return was limited. It was fantasy then, and hindsight proved Price was washed up and not a solid core guy. The "so-so players" I mentioned proved to be near replacement level players, mostly. Workman- good Taylor- good Chavis Dalbec Plawecki Walden DHern Hembree You call this not "a mess?" That brings us to 18-20 players, and that's counting Sale & ERod. The rest of the 40 man was a total disaster, and that is reality- not fiction. Being forced to trade Betts & Price, and having 10+ ML level slots to fill while also trying to upgrade the other 20 slots on the 40 man roster with just $20M to spend was clearly and certainly a total mess. That part was. Having a solid core of 8 players, including 2 that had to be traded and 2 that were hurt or would get COVID is not much of a foundation to work with. Then, your manager is forced out for a season, and Beni gets hurt for much of 2020, too. Big Nate misses 25% of his starts, and you guys, cling to your belief there was no such thing as a cliff approaching, chose to live in La-La Land and somehow expected Bloom to make us a contender in 2020. Too funny! Then, after some nice deadline moves in 2020, and the steal of Whitlock in rule 5, Bloom is given just $40M to spend before the 2021 season. Sure, several of his signings flopped or flopped for half the season, but Bloom, somehow built a winning team, but what? You guys thought a ring was called for under those conditions? Please! Talk about fiction!

You think he ends up in Greenville before the season ends?

Where did I even hint at saying no? Bloom took over a mess and got us to within 2 games of the WS in 1 year. We are in the race again this year.

Being proud of having a simple mind is not something to brag about. Context is needed. He was handed a 40 man roster with 20 holes and 10 so-so players, told to dump Betts and Price and given $20M to make them a contender in one year? He was handed $40M, the next year, which is not much, and he made them into a contender. Is that simple enough for you?

I doubt they rush Rafaela, but he's already got the D down. Duran and Rafaela would save money, so we could afford Judge. Maybe trade Verdugo for that much needed closer?

Top Pitchers by Level OPS Against AAA .506 Seabold .511 Kelly .562 Winckowski .594 Ort .603 German .674 Bracho AA .460 Bello (.543 AA/AAA) .518 Politi (.571 AA/AAA) .522 Murphy .554 Walter (.585 AA/AAA) .680 Santos

Top Hitters by Level AAA .952 Refsnyder .894 Duran .858 Fitzy .816 Casas .801 Sanchez AA .893 Granberg .758 Koss .737 Castellanos A+ .962 Rafaela (.977 A+/AA) .860 Lugo .860 Northcut .828 Binelas .754 Jimenez A .956 Mayer .911 Kavadas .856 Hickey .821 Sikes .752 McDonough .749 Paulino .729 Jordan

Rafaela... http://news.soxprospects.com/2022/06/scouting-box-score-ceddanne-rafaela.html

So, we play Arroyo at 2B and sign Suzuki for RF and Iglesias to close, and never call on Story and Wacha.

Go ahead and count year one, where he was forced to trade Betts & Price and given $20M to spend, then Sale and ERod missed the season. Go ahead and count 2021, where he has $40M to spend and 10 slots to fill, while lasting longer in the playoffs than your Yanks. Yes, every team has injury issues, but not every team was handed a roster with 20 holes and a tiny spending budget. I'd like to see how well DD would have done with those budgets.

I heard he sneezed.

I get that and that context is legit, but when Bloom was responsible for $20M of that in 2020 and had a $40M winter spending budget before 2021, how can that be held against him. I think that context is important, too. Look at all the players we used in 2020. That wasn't all Bloom's fault. $20M for 20 players is going to net any GM what we saw in 2020. He's made some bad moves, for sure, but he's vastly improved the 40 man roster, the farm and the long term outlook of the budget.

Found this...

I'm curious on what people expected Bloom to do when handed what he was given after 2019, told to dump Betts and given just $20M to spend on 2020 and $40M on 2021. I guess expectations were much higher than I had. This was the roster at the end of 2019: Sale (IL), Eovaldi, ERod, Price (to be dumped), Porcello (FA) and B Johnson Workman, Barnes, Taylor, Walden, DHern, Brasier, Hembree and a bunch of scrubs named Lakins, Weber, Velazquez, Chacin, Brewer, Poyner, T Kelley Vaz & Leon Moreland & Sam Travis Holt & Marco Hernandez Bogey & C Owings Devers Beni & Gorkys JBJ Betts (to be traded) JD Sure, there is a solid core of 6-10 players, but the rest were at or near replacement level, and Betts & Price were traded (not Bloom's fault), and Sale & Erod missed 2020 while others like Beni missed some. Bloom was supposed to make us a contender on a $20M winter spending budget? Really? Seriously? Okay, he was given $40M to spend before 2021, but when you consider we needed about 10 slots filled, not to mention trying to beef up the rest of the weak 40 man and farm at the same time, I think building a team 2 games away from a WS appearance rates at higher than a "C". This past winter, he was given a comparable amount to spend as other past Sox GMs, but still with limits. Diekman looks like a bust, but that was just $4M x 2. Story has not lived up to expectations, so far, and he was his only LNL signings, so I guess maybe some are taking away big points on this move. Hill has been Okay. Wacha and Strahm have been miracles. Other key additions made by Bloom since taking over: Whitlock- rule 5 Pivetta & Seabold- trade (Workman & Hembree) Schreiber- waivers Kike- FA A Davis- trade German- with Ottavino trade Paxton- FA more for 2023 and beyond Arroyo- waivers R Hernandez- trade Sawamura- cheap FA signing Verdugo, Downs and Wong (Betts) Cordero, Winckowski and long shots for Beni JBJ, Binelas & Hamilton for Renfroe (who he signed to replace JBJ B4 2021) Draft & IFA: Mayer Yorke Bleis Murphy McDonough Lugo Song Jordan Hickey

Does anyone know what happened to Sale's ribs?

Wait... Refsnyder is pregnant?

I think the Dodgers used Kershaw in relief in the previous WS. The interesting thing about 2018 was that once Eovaldi volunteered to pitch in relief (in a loss, no less), a line formed outside Cora's door with other starters wanting in on the idea.

And baseball smarts also help players take extra bases on its, too.

Good stuff. When you figure Mayer missed time, his 8 looks even larger.

The fact that he totally bought into the FT 2B role, even if Bogey got hurt or needed a rest shows he's fine playing 2B, and he has quickly turned himself into a whiz on D, there. We might try finding a 1 year solution at SS, next year, or give the kids a chance. Right now, the most ML ready SSs might be Downs, Fitzy or Arroyo. I'm not sure Sox Nation could handle that part of the plan. I guess if we get someone else glitzy at another position, they might live with it. But who? Judge? BTW, I see different numbers for Story at SS. fangraphs: 2021 +9 DRS at SS +3.1 UZR/150 2019-2021 DRS 40 Baez 36 Correa 36 Story 30 Delong (-18 Bogey) UZR/150 9.5 Rojas 8.2 Simmons 7.4 Delong 6.7 Lindor 5.9 Story 4.6 Baez 2.2 Crawford & Correa 1.8 Adames 1.4 Kiner-Falefa, Ahmed & Bogey

This is the thing I love about Devers, and it's not stat based or metric driven. The guy is an unconventional hitter with amazing instincts, batting skills and hand-eye coordination. My philosophy is that a winning line-up needs batters with varying approaches and a bit of unpredictability, especially to beat teams that study the hell out of their opponent's tendencies and hitting strategies. How can any team or pitcher plan to pitch Devers? You can't. What you beat him with the previous 5 times will lead to a homer on the 6th. When you are facing a pitcher who seems to have our line-up's number, there is always Devers there to throw a wrench in his groove. He may look bad swinging at some pitches a foot out of the zone, but he has a certain calmness about his approach that strongly reminds me of Manny. He also seems to have fun playing the game- like Manny, too, but without the immaturity or childishness coming out in bad ways. Sign this guy. PLEASE! Just do it. Devers Forevers!

Certainly a possibility.

I had a few head-scratching moments, this winter, and giving this guy two years was one. He's not making big money ($8M/2 counting his 3rd year buyout), but with the very few 2 year deals Bloom has given out, Diekman's seems strange. (Sawamura is another, but at $1.5M per, he's making nearly the min wage.) I doubt Bloom gives up, this quickly, on Diekman, but I share your opinion. He has been deserving of a DFA.