moonslav59

I am truly shocked. Cora must be crying.

I don't like starting the next year's thread until we are out of it, but maybe that's not a good idea.

They have not faced the CWS or HOU all year and have 70% of their remaining games against contenders. The Sox have 40%.

I don't think hitters are more patient and forcing more pitches per inning by starters. The Rays have used 12 starting pitchers - 7 with more than 4 starts. Most IP (7 or more IP) 19 Hill (traded): 8.0, no 7's 17 Yarbrough: 9.0 & one 7.0 17 McClanahan: one 7.0 (his last start) 15 Wacha: only 2 as high as 6.0 14 Glasnow (out all year): 8.0. 7.2, 7.0, 7.0, 7.0 11 Fleming: one 7.0 8 Patino: nothing higher than 6.0

The A's have a very tough schedule remaining. 7 CWS 3 SFG 6 HOU 4 NYY 3 TOR 7 SEA 3 @ LAA 33 out of 47 remaining games (70%!!!), including ending with 13 vs HOU & SEA. We end with 9 of our last 14 vs BAL & WSH. Our tough games remaining: 4 TBR 3 @CWS 6NYY 3 @SEA 2 NYM That's 18 out of our remaining 45 games (40%)

But, Melroni says we should have bought more.

He left the farm a mess and a bloated budget. You did not mention Price, Pedey and others... Had DD stayed and been given the same budget restraints as Bloom, he'd have done no better or quit. BTW, we are 12-11 in Eovaldi's starts, this year. We are 14-8 in Pivetta starts and 12-10 in Perez starts. (See how I left out Richards?) We'd be crap without Whitlock, Kike, Plawecki and others. Sure, Bloom swung and missed on many acquisitions, but with his budget, did you expect better?

We were sellers at the 2020 deadline.

Yes, I misrepresented your position. I, too, think we didn't have to go to that extreme, but in baseball, with no guarantees, I was okay with the overkill and enjoyed the best season the Sox have ever had.

Sure it is. You are choosing October 3 to October 30th as your sample size and calling it a skill.

Yes, if you randomly fed a career .931 OPS guys numbers into a random generator, you have a few outputs like what Papi did, a few very bad and many around .930. The random samples would mirror reality, but with names attached not blank data.

That's totally expected. Other great and very good hitters hit poorly from July 15th to August 10th.

Perez had a 3.09 ERA after 11 starts (1/3 season) and was leading the starters, at that point. It was no fluke. Opps had a .658 OPS against by June 7th, despite a poor defense behind him and a .301 BAbip, at that date. He still had a 3.89 ERA after 17 starts (1/2 season), but his OPS against had ballooned to .768 and his BAbip rose to .328. He was at 4.18 on July 29th (20 starts). He was supposed to be our 5th starter. He is not the reason ffor our troubles.

I misread that point. The OF plan was C0rdero, Verdugo & Renfroe with Kike as the 4th OF'er (Arroyo at 2B) and eventually Duran as mid season help. It wasn't a horrible plan, until we saw how badly Cordero played, and how poorly Renfroe started in April on offense. All along, I said Kike should play CF and the other 3 should platoon the other 2 slots, but that depended on Arroyo/Marwin doing well at 2B. The plan failed with Cordero, but improved once Kike played CF. Arroyo's injuries hurt the other part of the plan, and Marwin's offense destroyed a part of our offense, too.

They did have varying seasons, and chokes like Bonds became clutch, and clutch like Beckett became chokes. To me, it's the same as saying player X is great on Tuesdays but sucks on Fridays. It's a skill.

I knew you wouldn't.

Before the year started, I thought it was going to be, and I think Bloom did, too. That's why Dalbec and Cordero were given long leashes, and Perez and Richards were give 1 year + option deals. The argument is over whether the plan should have changed after our unexpected good start to 2021. I say, no. It wasn't the time to go all in, because the roster had too many holes to fill to become a major contender. (I'm not part of the playoffs are a crapshoot club.)

It is, but unless you are doing great, you may not get to the 5th by the time the 19th batter comes up, and I think Whitlock is better suited to go 5+, next year. Plus, we'll need an Ottavino replacement. I'm fine with Houck starting, but I like Whitlock better, and I think we'll sign a better SP'er, this winter. (if not, then both Houck & Whitlock start.)

To not go over the tax line, so we'll be much better positioned in 2022, 2023 and 2024. To not trade away any highly promising prospects. To try and at least appear to be competitive in 2021, so fans would watch the games. Win. Win. Win.

We both knew it was coming. We disagreed on whether 2018 and the 3 division wins in a row was worth the price, but the writing was on the wall. I had hopes the window would last longer than halfway through 2019, but I also thought, under the current rules, it would take much longer to rebuild the farm and team that Bloom was able to accomplish. The farm still has a long way to go, but adding Mayer and the other players Bloom has acquired has sped up the timetable more than I thought possible or likely.

Me, too. I do think NYY will pass OAK, and we'll play them in the play-in game.

I have said, I agree, especially with Houck- enough so, that I now think Houck should be in the pen, next year.

I guess Bloom was supposed to know Manfred mania was going to kill those two, midseason.

Was the Ottavino trade worth it considering how close it got the Sox to the cap? If we stay under, the money part is not a big deal, unless it kept us from getting someone better. (We would likely have not traded promising prospects, anyway, so I'm not sure the money was the main reason we did little at the deadline.) What the Richards deal a good deal? It sucked, but so did Kluber, who was the guy many felt we should have gotten, instead. Has Perez been worth his contract? Easily, yes. His first 11 starts were priceless, and got us to the playoff slot we currently hold. He didn't need to be started so many times, recently. That's on Cora/Bloom. Was the plan the FO had for the OF a good one? Better than "good." It was excellent and still is, IMO. Are you ok with them not getting a veteran backup in the offseason? Yup, considering the budget and counting on Houck & Seabold as depth. Several people questioned the SP additions (as always), the RP additions, the lack of a 3rd OFer, the lack of a reliable 1B. I did, too, but with a limited budget, Bloom had to roll the dice at the positions he thought could get by in-house. Not all did. 1B: Dalbec, Marwin> Failed OF: 3rd OF'er was Cordero> Failed/ 4th was Kike (Arroyo at 2B)> Worked SP: Worked for 2.5 months, then failed, and now is showing some renewed hope. RP: Far exceeded expectations, until just recently.

You know the answer. They planned on a Cordero-Renfroe-Verdugo-Duran OF and Kike-Arroyo at 2B. You still didn't answer my question, which seems to happen often, lately. Why not mention all the players we added? Plus, you mentioned Perez, who we added, last year but not Pivetta.