moonslav59

No, it's what fans liker you are going to get by demanding miracles, every year.

That's the most sense you've ever made. (LOL!) When you have impatient customers, give them cheap, shiny products that fall apart in a couple years. Instant gratification in the new business plan. How wonderful!

I'm dreaming, too, but I don't think extending Bogaerts is essential to building up the team, this coming winter. We have so many areas of need, that spreading out the upgrades might work better, and keep us from having too many large and long contracts that, more often than not, turn sour, and much too soon.

You were skewed, but I know I have said similar things over the past year, but not so much about securing higher draft picks, but for building up fan expectations to a point where it interferes with making trades to better the long term outlokk.

This has truly been a "snakebite" season. I'm not making excuses. Part of the reason we've done better than the Yanks for so many years, until now, is because they seemed to be snake-bitten by injuries and unexpected down-turns in key players, pre-past prime years. It is what it is. Bloom signed a bunch of injury prone players as a way to meet budget demands, and that bit us in the ass. Injuries to Kike, Houck and some of the younger players just added to the demise of the 2022 Sox. I still think we should have had a near total fire sale of all expiring contracts and maybe even a couple more players- not viewed as being part of the longer term plan. I know about fan reaction being tied to revenues, but I'd like to see us get back to winning, sooner rather than later, and I'm okay with sacrificing, as long as the future keeps looking brighter and brighter. I do think the deadline moves improved our longer term outlook, but not by as much as it could/should have been.

I don't see Henry doing what he did with Ben, and he gave Ben 3 last place finishes before pulling the plug on his 5+ year plan. I'm thinking Henry will be more patient with the whole farm-building plan he obviously endorsed when he hired Bloom, in the first place. I think the 2021 "tease team" actually hurt the optics of a slower rebuild, although not many Sox fans have the patience to sit through a 5 year rebuild. The rabid and demanding fanbase forces top brass to play thing "halfway" and sometimes gets in the way of having a quicker turn-around- hence the "mixed messages" and statements about there being a lack of a cohesive plan. IMO, our plan is so multi-faceted, it is, by definition, confusing, contradictory and hard to pinpoint exactly what the top priorities are. In reality, we have opposing and conflicting priorities than make rebuilding complicated and jerky.

I'm thinking Bloom will be looking at second tier-type FAs rather than the big ticket, large and long ones, although Swanson might very well demand 6 or 7+ years, and get it. We may also slide Story over to SS and look for a cheaper 2B option, and spend larger on OF, C and pitching.

How about 28 year old Dansby Swanson? He won't cost as much, and would allow us to spend more on an OF upgrade or a better rated pitcher or two.

The talk was about Bloom's lack of planning for a RH'd big bat, which he got with Story and the lack of a RH'd bat in the OF, which he had with Kike, before the injury and later with Refsnyder- the type of guy we all expected Bloom to find by the handfuls. It's a valid point to make, just as complaining about Bloom not being reactive after Kike's injury, Dalbec prolonged slump and the horror show on defense caused by players playing where they should not have been playing is the better attack point. Have at it.

Anywhere but Boston.

He only had a "big spending budget" one of his 3 winters, and he's made one big signing that is just 1/7th complete. That guy is still #2 in RBIs, despite missing over 20% of the season with an injury. I do wonder if Bloom is just a replay of Ben. Hire a guy to build up the roster and farm, and then bring in a guy with experience spending large. I hope they give him time to let the plan take hold, but they never let Ben finish what he started.

It seems obvious the late addition of Story to the roster made Bloom feel like the line-up had its big RH'd bat and could survive with 3 lefty OF'ers filling the 2 corner OF slots. Let's not forget the plan was to have RH'd hitting Kike in CF, FT.

They need to wrap Sale in bubble wrap and have him work out in a padded room with no sharp or heavy objects.

Adding Hosmer for free, McGuire (2 years remaining), Pham (an option for '23) plus 2 rising prospects for Vaz and DFA worthy Diekman seems like it really helped our longer term outlook without really hurting the 2022 club, overall.. Minus at C Plus at 1B Plus in OF Plus farm Plus budget in '22 and beyond.

They should concentrate on converting Dalbec to a hitter.

Year one, there was no "reasonable cost." He had to slash the payroll, bigtime (Betts/Price) just to have enough to sign Martin Perez & Co. Year two, he had a bit more, but he had so many open slots on the 40 man roster, he had to go cheap or 2nd/3rd tier. He did get some "half-decent" players from the deadline on 2020 to the deadline of 2021: Pivetta Whitlock Kike Renfroe Ottavino Schwarber, Iggy, Shaw I, Robles I & Davis and others. (He missed on quite a few, too.) This past off-season was his first real chance at spending, and i has not looked good, at all. The JBJ money added was the big head-scratcher, to me. The Story signing had me wondering, too, but Story may still pan out. The Paxton deal exposes Bloom's eye to 2023 and beyond than 2022. Wacha, Hill, Diekman and Strahm, combined, probably earned their keep, but very little more, thanks to injuries and Diekman's implosions. The Refsnyder and Schreiber deals look like his best ones, and they were the most under-the-radar moves of these listed. This next winter will be the telling moment in Bloom's career and may set the tone for the Sox direction for the next 3-5 years.

Bloom knew all along, he had an ace in his pocket: Refsnyder. What are you guys complaining about? LOL!

Me, neither. My guess is, we get neither.

Bloom finally added the RH'd bat, but forgot we need CF/RF not LF.

If Bloom had signed all these guys, then I could understand the need for some to blame him, but he is responsible for signing Paxton (more for 2023 and beyond: hint, hint), Wacha and Hill.

Yes, Ben 2. DD 3 Bloom 3+ or 4+ or more, if you count 2020 or not.

Let's keep it "realistic."

I'm not against trading away players or prospects, assuming we get equal or greater value in return at a position of higher need. I do see some positions with duplicated values, even if some of those values saw a tumble in 2022. I one way, it makes sense to keep as many as possible, in hopes one rises to the top, but too many crowds the roster and creates a situation where a manager has to trial and error until he finds one, if he ever does. 1B: Casas, Hosmer, Dalbec C: McGuire, Wong, RHern (Cottam) LF: Dugo, Pham, Duran I'd be fine trading 1 or 2 from each group, although some would bring back very little. Make the choice early and live with it. Choose to upgrade not to add quantity. Bloom's early task and strategy was to add quantity: this winter is the time to focus on adding quality over quantity.

I think when Casas is ready, he's going to be on the 26- maybe even this year. I think a free Hosmer will remain on the 26 for much longer than some expect. Of course, if he slumps, that changes. He was literally, the poster boy for up-and-down seasons over his first 8 years in the bigs: odd-good/ even-bad or so-so. Since then, he has a .743 OPS (2019-2022.) While that is not what we hope to expect from 1B, it's not awful, either. (162 avg was about: .270 20 90 w 50 XBHs.) I can see both being on the roster for a while. I don't like the idea of Hosmer at DH, but I get the feeling we will have to go "light" somewhere in the line-up, and DH might be the best choice, in terms of flexibility and the ability to easily fill via mid-season trade, if needed. We may choose the catching position (McGuire/Wong/RHern), 1B (Casas/Hosmer/Dalbec) or 2B (Arroyo/Downs) to go light, but I think 1B/DH will be Bloom's choice. I think we add, at minimum, a Catcher, 2B/SS, CF, RF and Pitching.

He could have said, "hit in the dinger," too.