moonslav59

Shaw is that 1Bman everyone wanted at the deadline! He takes Taylor's slot on the roster, but who goes once Taylor returns? Santana? Andriese? Robles? Potts, Rosario or _____?

We could see this, assuming we keep JD and Schwarber: 1B: Dalbec & Schwarber LF: Schwarber & Verdugo CF: Kike & Duran RF: Renfroe & Verdugo DH: JD & Schwarber 2B: Arroyo & Kike Essentially, that's 8 players playing 6 positions with Arroyo backing up SS and Dalbec backing up 3B. JD, Kike, Schwarber play FT (normal rest days) Verdugo & Renfroe get a tiny bit more rest than normal- Verdugo vs L/Renfroe v R Arroyo, Dalbec and Duran basically play 2/3 of the time + any rest anyone else gets- so maybe they all play close to 7 out of 10 games.

We could also play Schwarber in LF, Kike at 2B (one year left) before deciding on who DHs beyond 2022. Or, we could sign Schwarber to play 1B (or keep him in LF longer term) and try to extend JD at a lower AVV to finish out his career as a Sox DH.

We all knew Sale and Schwarber were coming. Seeing them do well out of the gate helps somewhat, but we all knew. We knew or should have known we had already played the toughest part of our schedule and other contenders had their toughest stretches going forward. We all know even the best teams go through tough stretches- sometimes prolonged ones and or very bad ones. I get the emotions, and the game threads bring out the worst of them, but how many times do some posters have to be "shocked" or "surprised" by the fact that players and teams don't always continue playing exactly like they have over the previous 7 to 14 to even 30+ day stretches? When we lose, we do look like crap. Because we look like crap, we cannot expect to ever win again. How many times does this line of reasoning have to go wrong, before people stop repeating it over and over? I guess that is what still surprises me. Not learning from repeated examples.

To me, the biggest improvement Bl0om has brought to this club is not to the farm and not to the top 20 players or the 26 man roster. It's to the bottom 14-15 men on the 40 man roster and the bubble players beyond them. (Yes, some are prospects, but compare this winter's projected 26-40 men to the 2020 bottom of roster. My projected 27-45 roster players this winter: Seabold, Bello, Groome, Winckowski, Crawford, Mata Rios, Bazardo, Davis Wong, R Hernandez Downs, Arauz Jimenez, Rosario 2020's Covey, Kickham, Hart, Triggs Brice, Stock, Walden, Hall, Lever Grullon, Lucroy Chavis, Lin Puello Not to mention the #22-26 type guys like Mazza, Godley, Brewer, Springs, Peraza, Arauz.

I'm not sure why it still amazes me how quickly attitudes can change on this site.

Had Sevy come back and Kluber not went down, the rest of the injuries could have been overcome. You guys are still in it, but somethings need to go right. The very tough A's schedule gives you a good shot at a WC berth. Watch out for the Jays.

Without Henry, where would we be? I can take some of the crap that has happened under and by Henry, because I went over 30 years wallowing in grief and frustration. Even many of the bad seasons we had since 2003 were years we went into the season thinking we had a shot at the playoffs. I think 2020 was the only one I had zero hope going into the season.

The 9 games after the Yankee 3 games in 2 days series looks pretty easy, but we have to romp and stomp. 3 v TEX (pay them back) 3 vs MIN (not the same team as earlier, this year- they are wrose) 3 @ CLE (not easy, but we need to take the series) Then, TBR for 7 of the next 10 (CLE the other 3). Then, another very tough stretch on the road: 3 CWS+3 SEA. We end with 3 v BAL 2 v NYM 3 v NYY 3 @ BAL 3 @ WSH

We can't let the Yanks catch or pass us, so 2 of 3 is minimum. That's not to say we can't rebound from losing 2 of 3, but don't give the Yanks the confidence to go off on a tear.

It's been a pattern not really a "at some point." Henry has forced a reset 4 times, and most of those times were followed by 1-2 more years staying under the tax line. It's what he has always done.

Gotta give Henry credit for swapping out GMs to fit the current situation. I had hoped he'd have given Ben one more year, but DD had more experience going all in. I'm hopeful Bloom can win a ring like Ben did, while he pumps up the farm. I also hope he doesn't make the Pablo-HRam type mistakes with free agency, like Ben did. I think getting Mayer is going to boost our farm value, and having the extra pick for not signing Fabian should help next year's draft be better than it might have been. I was a lot higher on a number of the prospects Bloom recently acquired than the probably deserved (Potts, Rosarion, Wallace, German and others), but Whitlock was a real gem, and Seabold, Yorke, Jordan, Wong and others still show a lot of promise. (I'm not done with Dows, yet, either.) Deepening the 40 man roster with a very limited budget was not easy, and we all seem to notice the Santanas, Corderos, Marwins and a few others more than Pivetta, Renfroe, Verdugo, Plawecki, Ottavino, Sawamura and yes, even Perez, who put in a very decent first half for us. Maybe Richards can redeem himself a bit in the pen, and Schwarber looks like the wild card.

I've always been very high on Bello. He could be the guy that makes a difference, sooner rather than later. This was my rankings from a week ago on the prospects page: My top 30 1. Mayer 2. Duran 3. Houck (I'd flip Houck and Duran, now.) 4. Casas 5. Bello 6. Jimenez 7. Downs 8. Yorke 9. Seabold 10. Song 11. Jordan 12. Winckowski 13. Murphy 14. Mata 15. Wong 16. Groome 17. Bonaci 18. Wilkelman 19. Crawford 20. Howlett 21. Lugo 22. Bleis 23. Hickey 24. McDonough 25. Cannon 26. Bazardo 27. Rosario 28. Ro Hernandez 29. Paulino 30. Arauz/Lira/Potts/Drohan

No arguments, here. Ownership chose DD as the right guy for that philosophy. It was a great choice. It worked very well. Then, we paid the price. (It's this part some can't seem to even think about, let alone say.)

Take away the SFG games, and Oak still has a tougher schedule going forward than the Sox. We play the same amount against CWS, but the difference is, we've already played them more. That's part of the reason we are only tied with Oak. We also play way more games vs these AL ranked teams: 1T. TBR 6. NYY 7. TOR 15. BAL Oak plays most of their games vs... 1T. HOU 8. SEA 9. LAA 14. TEX I'm pretty sure who had the tougher schedule, all year, and I'm pretty sure ours was tougher, to date, and we're tied with the A's. If we pass them, because the A's have a tougher schedule going forward, I won't cry any tears for them. Team Records: Sox vs .500+ teams: 42-35 Oakland 22-31 Sox vs .500- teams 26-16 Oakland 46-18 Tell me who has played the tougher schedule?

Again, nobody is arguing with your point, but you asked what was extreme, and we said the amount of prospects traded in a short time- not the quality- the quantity, and you did respond to that point, until maybe, now. BTW, Moncada, Kopech & Margot are not trash. Almost all his prospect moves proved to be good ones. No argument. The farm was over-rated, No argument, except that even in hindsight, that farm was not bottom 3. I never said he traded too much, in hindsight. I said I disagreed with two of his moves, and that both turned out well. One I agreed with, did not. In hindsight those trades were a big plus. All this has little to do with the farm and budget issues he left Bloom. Why is it so hard to just say it?

Oakland and TBR lost to bad teams, today. The Yanks are up on the CWS 5-1, late. TOR up big on SEA. HOU now has the best AL record. We are 3 down to TBR, but 5 in the loss column. We will be tied with the CWS for the 3rd best AL record, if they lose to NYY. It looks like we can gain ground as quickly as we lost it.

It helps we have tomorrow off, and the Yanks don't. Also, the Yanks pen has been in shambles, of late, too. Chapman hasn't pitched in over a week (Aug 5th). Britton has been lit up (10.13 ERA in last week) Even Chad Green has a .741 OPS Against in his last 5 games and .867 in his last 12.

Yes, LAA & CLE are no push-overs

Some Selected OPS Numbers on New Teams 1.167 Schwarber .962 Rizzo .864 Turner .808 Bryant .720 Gallo .559 Baez ERA 1.74 Scherzer 3.18 Gibson (3.60 Sale) 3.86 Berrios 5.40 Kimbrel 9.00 Heaney

MIN 4-4 TBR (7th) TB has bases loaded w 1 out NYY 3-0 CWS (6th) TEX 7-3 OAK (7th) LAA 0-0 HOU SEA 0-0 TOR

I'm not saying there is no need for concern, but the concern over our rotation evaporated pretty quickly: i'm hopeful the pen concerns will be, too. While Ottavino and Barnes have looked extremely shaky, of late, it seems the rest of the pen may be able to take up some slack. (BTW, Ottavino's OPS against was .522 over the past 2 weeks, before today.) Last 2 weeks: .543 Sawamura .674 Rios Last week: .533 Perez .543 Sawamura .700 Taylor Last 3 inning game: .682 Richards I'm certainly not ready to anoint Richards the pen saver after just one pen appearance, but it could be a great role for him- maybe Perez, too.

Is Houck, if he can't get by the 19th batter? Sure, if he can get 14 to 16 of the first 18 out, every game, but I'm not sure we can count on that from anyone.

We could do that, but I think we'll use the spending budget on a solid SP'er and use Houck to fill Ottavino's role or become the closer. Sale Greinke Eovaldi Whitlock Pivetta Houck and Barnes as the top 2 RP'ers. (I'd be fine swapping Houck & Whitlock, but as of right now- and things can change- I think Whitlock fits the role of SP'er pitcher better for 2022.

With 3 of the next 8 days off and despite the doubleheader on Tuesday, our pen is now well rested and should not be taxed until after next Monday. I'm not saying that's all they needed, but let's see...