moonslav59

For some reason, players don't perform as expected for many time frames. They slump and they streak. We rarely know why. We also don't know why some did or didn't in playoff situations. It could have just been a poorly placed slump or a lucky break streak. It could be choke or clutch, too. There is just no way to know for sure, and just because a few players have had numerous bad or good playoff stretches does not prove any reasons why they did.

I don't disagree, but I do think he was prepared to trade some of the future for some 2021 help- just not the prospects other GMs wanted. He held firm to the values he placed on our players/prospects.

We have way less holes and will actually have a bit of a roster crunch at the 40 man slot. Sure, nobody is going to cry, if we DFA Potts or Rosario, but Bloom has greatly improved the roster depth. Even some of our Rule 5 candidates for protection were acquired by Bloom, but I doubt Ort or Reed end up being protected. He also set up this next off season, nicely, due to many 1 year or 1 year + option year deals. We found out what we needed to know about Whitlock and pretty much Houck, too. We'd probably have liked to have been able to play Cordero more, but he did get one somewhat long look. Duran is still a question mark. Seabold never got tested. The Dalbec question is still a hard one to answer, so I think we'll add a 1Bman, this off season- even if just on a 1 year deal. (The Casas issue could force a 1 year deal, too.) The only real FAs needing to be replaced with top quality are ERod & Ottavino. We should have enough money to go large & long, if we want to at several positions/slots. I see our biggest 2022 needs as this: 1. SP 1/2 2. Closer/Set-Up 3. 1B 4. Pitcher 5. Utility That's a lot less holes than we had, last winter. Whitlock filled one. Houck filled one. Renfroe filled one. Kike more than proved he can fill 2B and or CF very well. Sawamura, Rios, Valdez and a few others still have some lingering questions, but our pen should be rather deep after we replace Ottavino and add one more pitcher.

Yes, I've always felt that trying to improve your current 5th starter by acquiring a "better on" is sheer folly. That's not to say adding starter depth is not worthwhile, but if you are weak at the top of your rotation, strengthening the bottom will not win you a ring, unless you're like KC or something.

I did say we didn't win every time we had 2 aces, and I should have left off the examples of not winning it all. (That being said, I'll do it again, also, in 1978, we had Eckersley & Tiant)

Because I do not think any other team was making a serious off like we did, but I did say "I think" not "I know."

Repeating good luck is unsustainable.

I do think we could have gotten him for less, but I loved and still love the deal, so maybe that is a veiled complaint, but what the hay.

It was about as late as big signings like his have been.

I've often pointed out that every winning Sox team had a second "ace." That doesn't mean every year we had two top pitchers, we won, but IMO, every year we won we did. We didn't win until we added Schilling. We didn't win the second time, until we replaced Pedro with Beckett. We didn't win again, until we added Lackey to Lester. We didn't win again, until we added Sale to Price. 1967: we had just Lonborg. 1975: just Tiant. 1986: just Clemens.

That's not a complaint. I think we were all happy to see JD join the team and still are. Those two things are a rarity.

Great observations. I think, when all is said and done, we will be very happy with what Bloom did to our team and system from top to bottom.

That's how I see it, and we also had Arroyo returning at some point. Maybe it was all a house of mirrors. I seriously doubt the fact that we only added Schwarber, who by the way was no minor addition, deflated the team's morale so much, it turned a sure winner into a flailing horror show. That idea seems rather comic to me.

No manager would really want to play him in the OF. As he gets even older, that becomes even more important. Yes, he can play corner OF, especially a short one. He could also learn 1B, if a team has someone else they want at DH.

All players adjust, at some point. I'd like to see some other payer's K rates after 85 PAs and what they are now.

I think the plan was to have Schwarber play 1B vs most RHPs starting around August 7th to 10th. The groin injury set that timetable back and may prevent him from playing 1B for a long while, if ever. Plus, if Dalbec hits well enough, that may play into it. I don't think they said to themselves, "We are balancing the now with the future and will just leave 1B as it is and roll the dice- hoping Dalbec rebounds and the future is the top priority. I really think they feel they addressed the 1B issue by trading for Schwarber. People can call that a mistake, but it wasn't neglect of the issue.

There was a lot of talk we bid against ourselves when we signed him to his last deal. He and his agent may think he's worth more than any GM thinks, but I doubt he tops Nelson Cruz's deal. $57M/4 (2015-2018) $26M/2 (2019-2020) $13M/1 (2021) He may think he will, and he's younger than Cruz was for most of these deals, but his numbers are pretty similar, and he's basically a DH-only player.

Did you forget momentum runs two ways? The season has many ups and downs, but you think with 30% of the season to go everyone is now locked into their current trend. Just weeks ago you said your team sucked. They may again over the next 6 weeks. Or not.

Me, too but I think less than 50-50.

Spell check made for a good one,

I don’t read it that way. It’s not like he admitted they should have made another trade or two- just that they have to take ownership for the results. I’m not sure they’d have done anything different in hindsight except then they’d have known Schwarber was not going to be playing 1B as soon as they expected.

Timely hitting. Maybe just one big comeback win can set us back in track.

It’s going to be easy, maybe in a year or two, when some our best prospects are showing to be duds, for someone to say, “We should have traded ________ for Rizzo and Kimberly and gone for the 2021 ring.

Another bad day for the Sox chances. NYY, OAK and TBR all won and gained a half game on us. It’s nearing severe crunch time. We need to grow a new pair.

How can you be so certain Bloom made mistakes, when none of us know what GMs asked for? Look, I’m not saying I’m happy the way things turned out, and it seems like decent 1Bmen are a dime a dozen, but I think Bloom really thought Schwarber could play 1B vs RHPs. The unforeseen groin injury put an end to that idea, and there is no longer waiver deals allowed. I can see thinking that was a “mistake,” but I don’t think hoping a bat like Schwarber’s could outweigh the slight drop off our 1B defense would suffer over Dalbec’s less than even average defense, is worthy of continued Bloom-bashing and insisting it was a clear mistake. Because Lou Merloni and most fans and media agree, it has to be true. Sure, I look back and wish he’d have added a 1Bman, too, but only because the groin injury set back the original plans, IMO. It’s okay to believe it was a mistake not knowing he’d pull a groin, but many teams have suffered from an injury. We all knew this team was skating on thin ice and had some pretty good luck avoiding major injuries all year, but I for one, think Bloom did very well by not giving more than the Yankees gave for Rizzo and what other teams gave up for players that would have made a serious difference. Without knowing the names of the players we’d have had to give up, we’ll never be able to judge the nondeals. Maybe Brian and others can later take some responsibility for the ring we win in 2022 or 2023.