moonslav59

I did not remember it was him.

Setting the rotation up for the WC game, I'm sure.

nope

What does starting Brad Peacock tell you about the rest of the staff, at this point in time, anyway?

When I think of Tony Clark, I think back to the days I believed players could be skilled at clutch hitting. I was happy we got him. Career Late & Close .834 (.799 high leverage) With the Sox: .399 (.739) It's like we were the reverse of what TB is today. The guy hit .857 with DET. Came to us at the ripe age of 30 and hit .556. He hit .861 the following 3 years after leaving Boston.

Is Sale on 6 days rest all year? Not starting him also pushes back Erod and pushed Eovaldi right out of this TBR series.

Plawecki will be back in 2022. We stayed under with Ottavino, and he's been a plus. (I'm not talking plus per dollar) Wong and RHern are likely better than I forgot who, last year. Valdez & Rios seem better than many on that list of 19 I provided. Yes, Bazardo was in the system long before Bloom.

That's because Florida is the model of how to handle COVID.

You left off Plawecki Wong Valdez Bazardo R Hernandez Ottavino- yes Rios Maybe Munoz

You may be overstating how good the 20-50 slots were on this team, last year. No doubt the 30-40 slots still need a big upgrade, but they are better than 2020's, nonetheless. I'm expecting a huge gain, this winter, thanks to rule 5 (not many Bloom prospects but some, like maybe Winckowski) and FA signings as well as additions by subtractions from several FAs (some of which were Blooms). To me, these are the worst players on our 40 man roster, right now- in rough order: Santana Robles Davis Perez Espinal Cordero Rios R Hernandez Potts Rosario Arauz That's about 11, and many will be gone, this winter. There's 19 guys on the two pitching lists alone that are as bad or worse than these guys. You really think the 20-40 slots have not improved significantly from 2020? That the outlook for further improvement, even with just moderate FA signings, this winter is also present?

You thought this team was just Rizzo and Kimbrel away from winning the division? If you think yes, then you must think Bloom did a better team building job than I do, before the deadline.

Most of the 2019-2020 winter signings were min wage and minor league deals. The biggest signings were: Under $20M 6 Perez 4.2 Pillar (traded) 3 Morelaand (traded) 2.9 Peraza 1.5 Lucroy 0.9 Plawecki 0.9 Osich (traded) Everyone else was under $700K

They spent $40M- almost all on 1 year deals ($33M). That's a lot, but we had like 20-25 areas of improvement needed on our 40 man roster, and you bash Bloom for not getting every move right.

Seriously? You can balme Bloom, if you want, that seems to be your thing, for how bad the 2020 team was, but come on. This team is light years better than 2020 and not just the 26 man roster. The rest of the 40man is way better and the players beyond the 40 man, as well. We've made a major step up. Why deny it? One last point to make: you think this year's pitching is bad, and no doubt, right now, it's not lookin great, take a look at the pitchers who made up 26% of our IP'd, last season: IP ranking 1. Perez 4.50 3. Weber 4.40 5. Mazza 4.80 These guys actually did pretty well for the money spent on them and what was expected from them, but now this: these guys pitched 46% of our 2021 IP'd: 6. Godley 8.16 7. Brewer 5.61 8. Brasier 3.96 10. Springs 7.08 11. Brice 5.95 13. Osich 5.74 (actually traded for something) 14. Covey 7.07 (on a pace for over 35+ IP!) 15. Kickham 7.71 (35+ IP pace, too) 16. Stock 4.73 (35 IP) 17. Walden 9.45 (35) 18. Hart 15.55 (25+) 20. Hembree 5.59 21. Hall 18.69 (20) 23. Triggs 4.50 26. Leyer 21.21 27. Tiapa 2.08 That's 239 IP from these scrubs, but you don't see improvement? Are you totally jaded by the "swings and misses" like Richards, Peres, Marwin and Andriese.

No winter spending budget.

I can only think something physical is bothering Valdez, and Rios, too.

Their innings in RF were likely on the road- in short RF stadiums.

True, but the Nats won under this system. I'm not liking our odds much at all, and that's one reason I did not think it was wise to go for broke at the deadline, but this team has a grit I compare to 2013's team. That's not to take anything away from 2013 or make anyone think I believe we will win it all, but I still see hope. A sliver, maybe.

We likely could have gotten better pitching, but at what cost, and we'd never be sure getting anyone better than Robles or Davis would have worked. The fact is, the team chose to not spend over the lux line and to try and keep every promising prospect they had- probably becuase they liked our chances next year and beyond over 2021. I can't say I fault that logic, but yes, it seems like, if they were willing to part with Ramirez for Schwarber, they could have done "just a little more." I have to say, though, in all honesty, I'm glad Bloom did not trade more prospects. It seems he knew we need more help than even Rizzo, Kimbrel and Berios would have given us combined. It sucks we started out so well, only to piss it all away, but I'm loving the team's long term outlook, and I still think we have another good run in us for 2021- maybe at just the right time.

Since 2002, only Millar has a worse UZR/150 in RF and over 500 innings than Renfroe. Kike's +11.7 ranks him 1st out of 8. Yes, ahead of Crisp and JBJ. Verdugo is 2nd out of 12 at 6.4 Our OF UZR/150 Leaders since 2002: 22.0 Reddick 14.6 Vic 14.5 Castillo 14.3 Betts 11.7 Nixon 11.7 Kike 9.1 Crisp 7.2 Jake 7.0 C Ross 6.9 Drew 6.8 JBJ 2.1 Nava 2.0 Verdugo 2.0 Gomes 0.8 Renfroe & Kapler 0.5 Beni The worst: -27.1 Millar -23.3 Cameron -21.7 HRam -20.3 Manny

I guess Renfroe's arm masks the rest of his D. Fenway always dings LF'er on UZR/150, and Verdugo's career UZR/150 in LF is a very nice +9.6. (21 DRS in just 933 innings in LF!) Kike is a +9.5 in CF and +11.9 in RF. Renfroe in RF does have a +13 DRS in almost 3200 innings, but I do see how an improvement in RF could be made. I do still think that OF is a solid plus, as is, as long as Kike plays FT CF and is not pulled to 2B more than a handful of games. On Duran, it does seem like defense was one major reason they held back calling him up, but he has room to grow and learn. Despite his speed, LF it is, until he proves otherwise. To me, our highest defensive needs are (in order) SS C 1B 3B (flip 1B and C, if you wish.)

Name names. Espinal? Okay, Robles should never pitch another pitch for the Sox, and he may not, but look at the choices: 7 Days ERA- OPS Against 9.00 Sawamura 1.071 9.00 Espinal .804 6.75 Barnes 1.433 6.75 Davis .717 6.75 Perez .853 Several players are worse than Robles over 14 days. Who do you think deserves to pitch more foetn? 10.13 Barnes 1.270 9.00 Espinal .804 7.71 Perez .926 6.43 Robles .854 4.91 Sawamura .851 4.91 Taylor .764 4.05 Davis .644 I see lots and lots of losing choices. Robles and Davis had the epic breakdowns that led to memorable losses, but bringing in any of these other guys offered no better guarantees. Again, we are facing lose-lose choices almost every pitching change we make.

Face it: every GM does. We don't go from 2020 to 2021 by swinging and missing, too often. He has a lot of misses, and will have more. I, for one, wanted Kluber over Richards. Sure, there are examples of pitchers who have done better while making about what Richards makes or less. Perez looks like a big swing and miss, but he was a major reason we got off to such a great start. He had a 3.09 ERA over the first third of the season and wasn't bad at the half way point. He looks like a total swing and miss, now, but some context is needed. Marwin and Andreise made $3M or less, so it's hard to expect greatness from them. He connected on... Whitlock Kike Renfroe Schwarber Sticking with Dalbec Mehs were... Ottavino The Beni trade Sawamura Earlier connects... Pivetta Arroyo (waivers) Plawecki Seabold Yorke Jordan Mayer I wont get into Verdugo, Wong and Downs

It's 3D chess to checkers.

Call it whatever you want. I call it jumping ship. It is no slight on the team to lose to a team like the Rays. They are no fluke. The Yanks were always better than us on paper, and instead of celebrating staying so close for so long, we have turned to anger and bashing our own team. Had we simply flipped April and May for July and August, the tone would be way different, but it would still be the same team. We are not as good as the Rays. Being up on them early should be viewed as a credit, not a sign that we are chokers. The Yanks had their "dog days" early in the season, and that also led to our expectations for 2021 rising to unsustainable levels. Am I disappointed, frustrated and more? Hell, yes, but this team deserves a lot of credit, IMO. I jumped ship on 2019, because that team lost it's heart and soul. I guess, I can understand people thinking this year's version has, too, but I don't see it that way. I see a team playing way over their heads for over half a season- pulling games out of their asses left and right- by sheer grit. I see them still fighting tooth and nail, now, but coming up short more often than not, especially in crucial situations. Call it regressing to the norm or whatever, but I still think this team has spunk and grit. Moments like the Arauz and JD homers were not all that long ago. I may end up being very wrong about believing this team has another good run in them, and I'll be the first to admit it, but I still think we make the playoffs easily and will give the Yanks a big fight in the WC game. From there, unless we play the Rays, next, I will be confident. Although I'm not a believer in the playoff crapshoot philosophy, exceptions do happen, and we have a ring as a WC team to prove it can happen.