moonslav59

Maybe taking Whitlock out of his starting and long relief roles means we have less save opportunities, later. The guy did great in long relief, last year and has done well, this year, too. It's not a simple equation. Now, in hindsight, not using Houck as a piggy-backer and maybe using him as a closer, might have made a bigger difference than moving Whitlock out of a role he has done well in.

How many games did we start behind or tied and the pen kept us in the game, and we either won of failed to score enough to win? How would taking Whitlock out of his long man/starter role have affected those games? How do we know Whitlock would have excelled in a 1 inning traditional role, when his history as a closer is tiny and not so good? You make a lot of assumptions, and tend to only see the good side of taking someone out of one role and putting him in another. Sure, we lost some games Whitlock started, but only two because of him- maybe. I'm not disagreeing about giving Whitlock or Houck a chance at closing, but assuming we'd have won way more games is just a guess.

So, the best closer in the league never blows saves? So, has we not started Whiltock, his replacement would have done just as well, and not lost any of the game we won when he started? You are assuming perfection from the closer, and equality from Whitlock's replacement. You are also assuming what we spent on a closer would not have affected other spending and created a hole somewhere else. Maybe we signed a closer and not Strahm and Wacha. Still gain 8 wins? Are you assuming we signed everyone we did sign plus a top closer? Once again, you won't tell your plan or ideas- just some vague, "should have got a closer," or "Whitlock as the closer..." Look, I'm not saying Cora and Bloom are blameless, and that going with this pen to start the year was a good idea, or that counting on Sale, then Paxton to be good, this year was prudent, but there were only so many dollars to spend, and we had 2-3 holes in the rotation, 2-3 holes in the pen, a hole at 2B, and 2-3 holes in the OF, plus a catcher who can't hit or handle a staff very well. Expecting a GM and manager to strike gold at every slot needing improvement on a limited budget is not logical. Blame who you want. The blame game seems to be the way of the world, now. I'm giving Bloom more time to fix a system that was very broken, when he took over. I think he's done a pretty good job along the way. We won't know, for sure, for a while longer, and I understand the impatience and the feeling that we are wasting prime years from Bogey, Devers and JD. We can't trade them for the future, of Sox Nation will go bonkers. We can't sign big FAs to supplement these few stars, because Henry won't allow it. We did better than expected, last year, and are doing worse than expected, this year, but when you look at 2020, we've come a long way. Maybe the farm does not pan out. Maybe they are as good as the guys DD traded 4-5 years ago, and Bloom would be right to trade a bunch of them, before their value drops. Maybe he should have traded some, already. I'm just thinking the farm appears to be improving quickly and deeply, and the area we have always struggled in, pitching, is looking better than I've seen in a long time. We'll see what happens, and ultimately, Bloom will be judged by that and his signings/trades. Like most GMs, he's been hit and miss on many of them, so far. We've seen some massive decline by Sox players in or nearing their prime. I guess Bloom is responsible for not knowing that was going to happen. I think he did well replacing Richards and Perez with Wacha and Hill, replacing Ottavino with Strahm. Maybe a push on Schreiber/Diekman for Andriese and others, and too early to call on replacing Renfroe, Marwin, Santana & Chavis (plus in season additions of Schwarber, Iggy & Shaw) with JBJ & Story. These moves are not the reason we have sucked; it's the players who were already here and dropped off a cliff that are the main reason for the sharp decline in wins, IMO.

Many of the blown saves came before the 9th, so it's not like having the best closer in MLB means all 12 blown saves go away. We lack an 8th inning guy. We lack a 7th inning guy. We lack a second ninth inning guy to pitch when your closer needs a rest. We lack an 8th inning guy to pitch when your 8th inning guy need s a rest. I seriously doubt having the best closer in the league would give us more than 4 more wins.

Sounds like I worded it correctly. Since none have produced, yet, they are useless. What am I missing? Your disdain for prospects is obvious, and you just showed it again. Again, no plan. You have no plan, or want to keep it a secret. A no plan GM is just what we need. Fire Bloom. Hire Red!

No, I don't think a "huge" impact, because you have to subtract what either gave us in their other role. Who starts, instead of Whitlock? Crawford? Is it a slam dunk Whitlock cuts the blown saves in half? Let's say he does, and takes away 6 of our 12 blown saves, which is not likely, since many of those blown saves were before the 9th inning, so how does he save those games, if he's the traditional 9th inning closer? Let's say we lose only 1 more with him not starting. We gain what? 5 games at the very most? I guess that would be a big impact, but I'm not sure "huge." We'd be luck to be at .500.

2nd and third, no outs and 2 of your best hitters up. This team is snakebit.

I read the post correctly.

Who is saying either is a liability?

Rafaela with a bases loaded triple give Greenville an 11-10 lead. (He is 3 for 4 and batting .324.)

The fire sale to end all fire sales.

Me neither. We've blown a bunch of saves. Our pen kept us in many games, early in the season, when the starters were struggling, and the bats were silent. I doubt having Houck or Whitlock closing would have made a huge impact, but who knows? The offense killed us early. The pen killed us in the middle, and now it's something different every loss. We're back to Devers throwing the ball away, and the bats sleeping.

We're not even sure what he's asking, and how much he will accept. I don't think he's demanding top 3 pay.

You never give your idea on a plan. You have repeatedly said (in so many words) prospects are not to be valued. You leave is guessing what you mean, because you won't say it.

Look it up yourselves.

He had his bags packed and ticket bought.

McDonough is now 4 for 5 for Greenville, who was up 8-3 but now down 10-8.

V Santos went 7 IP, tonight. 4 H 1 ER 0 BB 5 K

Koss has really come to life. We got him for Yoan Aybar. Maybe he needs to be at Woo.

I don't think they have high hopes for Granberg or Northcut. That being said, I think nthey have room for him on the Woo roster.

If you wont pay Mookie, how do you replace him, if you won't pay the next guy Mookie money of keep the farm improving? Tell us your idea. It's easy to point at ideas that are not working, but tell us yours. Saying we need to cut our blown saves in half is not a plan. Should we have signed R Iglesias, instead of Story? People swore signing Suzuki instead of Story was the solution. Now, cricketts.

He's against everything and for nothing but criticizing everything and anything.

This has nothing to do with the question at hand. I know many Sox fans are not Bloom supporters. I still talk to a lot of my friends in Maine, and go there for 4-7 weeks every summer. So, since you won't answer my question, can I assume you'd trade the farm away like DD for a 1-2 year window. Remember, it's Henry who decides how much we spend, but you act like it's Bloom. Bloom got us Story, an all around player to replace Fred Flintstone. He got us Wacha and Hill to replace Richards and Perez. He got us Strahm and Diekman to replace Ottavino and Andriese, and we are worse than last year. You and all the talk show callers can bash away at Bloom all you want, it doesn't change my opinion, and my idea of what a good long term plan for sustained winning looks like. Just because DD's trades all look good in hindsight, doesn't mean the guys we trade, now will suck like most of DD's ended up doing. There was a time talk show callers were wanting to trade the stars we have now, when they were "valueless" prospects. There is a time to go for broke, and a time not to. Blame who you wish. I'm not blaming Bloom, Cora or last of all Henry, but your beef should be with Henry more than Bloom

You are very good at criticizing the plans of Bloom and some of posters suggested ideas, but you rarely give your own plan or solutions. How can we win now AND set up the future for continued winning? (Please don't say Henry should spend more.)

I get it. I'm not trying to act like I'm better than other fans. I hate seeing those stars "wasted," too, but they did get a ring and 3 straight division wins, so not all was wasted. Devers may be around for more.