moonslav59

...and even if you think he has a big say in what the Rays, did, they had severe financial limits, so judging by the "Ray's Way," is futile. Now, do I think we hired him to try and find some low cost gems? Yes, but that does not mean that's all we hired him for.

Just like your troll friends. Got it.

Why assume I think there are not others. I actually like the idea, too. I think Houck should have been tried, first, but I've agreed on one of them being tried as the closer since opening day. Again, I don't want to, need to or care to hear talk show yappers.

Just because he was with the Rays for all those years, doesn't mean he doesn't like Shiny objects. He did sign Story. When did the Rays ever do that?

I'd call up Fitzy before Arauz. I see nothing in Arauz.

I remember thinking AGon would hit 50 Hrs with Fenway as his home park.

It's not just what other fans are reporting. You've been on the Whitlock as closer bandwagon for months. Stop hiding behind others who agree.

Maybe. He was also being paid like an .875 hitter.

Is that a plan? LOL

I've never said my opinions, ideas or plans are better than others, but at least I offer my ideas and possible alternative plans, whether I like them or not, instead of bashing anything and everything like you and others do, often in hindsight, but not always. I have no problem with- my or your opinions being in the minority. I don't even care about that like you seem to do. I could care less what the majority of talk show callers are saying about Bloom. Are they supposed to represent the majority of Sox fans, and does the majority really know what may or may not be right for the success of the Sox- both now and in the long term? Sure, it might matter for the amount of season ticket purchases, to some degree, I guess. I also said I'm fine with you not having or stating a plan, only that your criticisms ring hollow to me, when you do that. I could care less if it rings hollow to others. You seem to have Swi and a bunch of trolls on your side, so good for you! Enjoy your fame. It's my opinion that statements like "cut our blown saves in half," and making claims about how many more wins we'd have by moving Whitlock to closer without addressing who takes Whitlocks role, and how many losses that may lead to rings hollow, because it is hollow. You want us to magically better support our stars with solid teammates, but not to pay anyone large and long, while at the same time wishing we'd give Duran, a guy you think will fail in the igs, a shot at playing more. That's about the extent of your ideas- scattered, contradictory and aimless- kinda like hollow.

We still have a lot of season to go. We will have so many open roster slots due to free agents, I'm not sure it will come down to having to choose between Downs, Fitzy and Arroyo. I would keep Arroyo over Arauz. I see a few guys on the 40 man roster I'd DFA before Arroyo, too. I do still have some hope that Arroyo can hit over .750 going forward. He's not a bad fielder at certain positions. That being said, if we DFA him, I won't blink an eye.

Pedro had one good year for the Mets and then had 240 IP over the next 3 years, combined. Agon had a .793 OPS with the Dodgers over 5.5 years. At that contract, he was not even close to being worth it. He did have 3 decent years, but the last 3 were a big drain. Damon did do well with the Yanks, but I think we did better with... LF: Manny/Bay CF: Crisp/Ellsbury RF: JD Drew DH: Papi I'm not sure paying Damon what he got would have been worth it.

...and the listeners of the lowest of the lows?

Hell, people are still pissed about letting Adrian Beltre walk, and we only had one season to get attached to him. Overall, since Henry took over the reigns, we've done a pretty good job knowing when to say good bye. Nomar Pedro Damon Beckett, CC and AGon Ellsbury Sure, some went on to great things, but we've done okay in this area. The Betts choice is still in limbo. The Bogey choice seems to have already been made. I think Devers might e 50-50, at best.

We lost most of our games long before the 9th inning, so far this year. We're 23-3 when leading to start the 9th. Sure, a great closer would have helped us win a few more. Maybe the guys we used as closers would have done much better in set-up roles. Maybe not. Who do we not sign, if we had signed an elite closer? Who do we start and use in long relief, if we moved Whitlock to closer, and how well would that guy have done? It's not a simple equation. There are many moving parts to a team.

So, it's all about majority of talk show callers and water cooler banter? I call it disdain for prospects. Even now, you single out Downs. It's obvious. It's my opinion. I'm glad you have the support of all the others, and nobody ever criticizes your opinions at the coolers. King Cooler should be your nickname. IMO, when you criticize everything, even contradictory positions without adding any ideas, it's hollow.

I think one ring, within a reasonable time frame, would help fans get over the loss. I doubt we deal Devers this deadline, and maybe not until next deadline. The story signing sealed Bogey's fate, IMO. It will be interesting to see what we get for him, but it might not be what we hope. This winter will be extremely interesting, especially if we have a summer fire sale.

Agreed, assuming Arroyo does not impress down the road. I'd keep Downs and Koss over Arauz.

I'm not giving up on Downs, but I think he'll be a 2Bman not a SS, and others are passing him, or will shortly.

We all know Downs will never play SS for the Sox. Even 2B is a stretch. Maybe we keep him there to improve his trade value, but his stock is not going up and may never again. I'd play Koss at SS and move Downs to 2B or another team.

What's hard to understand about the farm being the future, and someday that future will be today. The Betts, Devers, Bogey stars you cling to, were the prospects of yesterday. The ones not traded away. The ones that gave us low cost massive production and a ring in 2018. Of course no "farm boy hit a HR" for us, tonight. Nobody is saying they did. It's obvious you have disdain for prospects. You have exposed your disdain over and over. How do I think minor leaguers are "more than that?" They have future value. Some will not make it, some will. The more you have the better the odds. The better you have, the better the odds. It's no sure bet, no matter what, but increasing your odds for success is what baseball is all about- at all levels, not just the bigs. A GM has to weight the here and now vs the future. A good GM tries to balance them and improve the odds in all areas at once. It's not easy. Again, you don't have to have a plan or even any ideas, and listening to talk show opinions all day long may be what brings you enjoyment as you join together in nonconstructive and hollow criticism. Carry on. I'll stay tuned out of that circle jerk.

Will you get off your talk show rant. Fine. Don't give a plan. Just keep bashing away at everyone else's. Don't pay big for guys like Betts and Devers, but don't waste their years with us. Without telling us a possible solution or plan/idea, your continuous bashing rings hollow. Your vague statements about getting pitching for Betts, not doing this or that is not a plan or a better idea.

Knowing this team, maybe pretty well. They are master confounders.

I seriously doubt a perfect 9th inning closer adds 8 wins to our total, as Red suggests. Taking Whitlock out of the long relief/stater role, where he as dove pretty well, to be the 1 inning closer would hurt our chances at even getting to a save opportunity in those games.

Maybe someday I'll go over each of our losses and or blown save games, but a quick look at the numbers shows we are 23-3 when going into the 9th with a lead. Now, some of those games were surely not save situations but I'm not sure how we'd have 8 more wind with a great traditional 9th inning closer- be it Whittlock or Raul Iglesias. We are 20-4 when leading in the 8th, and 19-5 in the 7th. I suppose we blew some saves in some of those wins, by allowing the opponent to tie the game, and we then scored to win a few. We can't assume every blown save leads to a loss, and it is also possible to have multiple blown saves in the same game. We are 1-7 in extra inning games, where traditional closers are not used very often in tie games. We are also 0-19 when behind in the 8th and 9th. (0-18 in the 7th.)