Schwarber is going to play 1B, when he comes off the IL. Dalbec will be on the bench or AAA. I think that's pretty certain. (I'm not sure about the mutual option for 2022, but I thought the team had first control for 2022.)
Most of us felt we should not "count on Sale" giving us anything, but now it looks like he's our best hope, along with Schwarber and Houck. That's not such a horrible thing, since we know more about his health and velocity, now than we did back in the winter and spring.
I know many are very disappointed in the lack of moves made at the deadline, but I am certain Bloom looked under every rock. I, for one, am glad he did not overpay, and since every other major contender got better, we'd have had to have done better than them to improve our odds. That would have meant doing much much more and emptying or nearly emptying our farm- both in quality and quantity.
Have we learned nothing from 2019 and 2020?
We were extremely lucky several low-drafted picks by DD have risen quickly in the ranks. We are extremely lucky we got Bloom, and he was able to greatly improve the farm and young players via the Betts trade, Whitlock steal and other moves. The "cliff" turned out to be very short-lived. Posters like Jacko were talking 4 or 5 year rebuilding plans. Bloom was able to work miracles, and people are blasting him for not abandoning the rebuild plan to blow it all up and go all in on a highly doubtful chance we might have pulled it off, this year. Had we gone for broke and got Scherzer, the Dodgers would have gotten Berrios, and we'd have gained very little ground.
I still like our chances. I think this is just a funk we are going through, but I do realize maybe we are being exposed, as we speak, and we were never as good as these overachievers led us to believe they were or could be upon the return of Sale.
We played a tough game, last night. We fought to the last out and pitch. Maybe we were never as good as we looked, at times, this year, but we are also not this bad, now. The Yanks still suck. Rizzo is all glitz. They traded a big chunk of their future for a pipe dream. I'm actually happy they did- same with the Jays. We're still better than both.
On paper, the Rays, Astros and White Sox may look better, and having to win a WC game seems like a huge letdown, but lets give this season some perspective. We still have a good shot to win the division and even to have the best AL record. The Rays lost Glasnow for the season and have more black holes in their line-up than we do. They also don't have 4 premier hitters, like we now do. The Astros tried to improve their pen, but the jury is out on those moves. The CWS seem to struggle vs good teams and have none in their division.
Once Sale and Schwarber join the 26 man roster, Sawamura and Arroyo return, and we lose some dead weight, we should be much better than we have looked over the last week and month.
I'm staying positive, this year, after being one of the first to ditch 2019's team. Our players have shown to be true fighters with a ton of grit. They are worthy of our support. Any true Sox fan should give it to them.