moonslav59

You undervalue Theo and Tito. Theo built winner while making and then keeping the farm very strong, at times, and stronger than DD at its worst. Yes, he inherited a nice foundation, like DD did, but he built two winners that were almost all different players. He then, left Ben with a solid foundation for the 2013 win. DD left a pretty weak farm, some bad contracts and aging players at key positions. I once called Cora our "best manger ever" and caught a lot of flack over it. It was not meant as a Tito bashing. I loved Tito. I do think Cora will someday be called the best ever by many, but he has more work to do. This season is a big feather in his cap. The expectations were low, and we have the best record in the AL. Tito often had underperforming teams vs expectation. Now, maybe our expectations were wrong, but Cora is on the path to being the greatest.

This is so very true, and his influence on younger players and other vets is immeasurable. That being said, he's getting older. Replacing this JD with the 34-36 year old JD might not get the job done, either.

I think another big part of last winters one year signings was about finding out about a few positions before committing tons of money where we may end up not needing it. We only signed Kike & Sawamura to more than 1 year guaranteed, and those two deals combined for $17M/2. We wanted to find out about... Dalbec at 1B Cordero in LF Arroyo at 2B To some extent, Verdugo & Renfroe in the OF Houck, Whitlock, Seabold, Bazardo, Valdez, and to some extent Taylor, Brice and others. The ace in the hole was Sale giving the team a boost in August, if we happened to do well, this year. It looks like Whitlock and Arroyo are making a strong case for FT positions in 2022. Dalbec is floundering, but it looks like he'll be given a few more weeks at minimum. Taylor is winning a 2022 role. Eovaldi is answering the durability questions. As well aswe are doing, I think we are better positioned for 2022 and beyond, and not just because of financial relief on the way. That does not mean we should scrap 2021 in hopes of better years ahead, but I don't think we sacrifice 2022 and beyond to make a hard push for 2021. I think we have 2-3 players that other teams may give us something good for, and who might not really be favorites to make the 40 man roster, next year, due to rule 5 additions and a few expected free agents signings.

The winter before 2013, I said we "played it halfway" (or more like both ways- now and for the future).

One can view the Marwin, Andriese, Perez, Sawamura, Santana and Kike deals as bridge deals- not really "contending moves." The Ottavino and Richards deals, and maybe Kike could be viewed as trying to compete for a playoff slot in 2021.

I doubt we trade Dalbec for a rental. I don't think Casas is 2022 ready.

I like our chances at reaching the WS as much as any other AL team. Once we get to the WS, our record is pretty damn good, but of course there's the whole "return to the mean" thingy that keeps getting in the way.

If Bloom sees a roster crunch, this winter, especially with the 5-8 Rule 5 players who look like they might need to be protected, he may surprise us by trading 1-2 rule 5 candidates or players currently on the 40, like Potts, Rosario or Groome.

A ring would help, but that might not be until 2022 to 2024.

I also think sending him to AAA is not really "giving up" on him, but the thing is, we are supposed to be more competitive in the next few years, so how is giving him another long look next year going to go over any easier with this board? If we send him down, now, he may never get another long look chance. This might be part of the decision-making, right now.

I'd have been for extending him to this deal before 2020, and it goes against my philosophy to think a poor small sample size in 2020 should have changed my opinion, but it did. You are right about after 2020, but maybe not so much about Barnes not being worth it, but more or as much about the uncertainty of the free agent market due to COVID. I don't think comparing now to then is just about the skillset evaluation of Barnes. I do know many cringed at the thought of using Barnes as the closer, this year. Many were not happy about Ottavino in the role, either and at that cost. The market has changed, IMO. Parks are full. Salaries should return to the norm.

Perhaps he is just their best option, in case an OF'er gets hurt? Maybe he gets called up, if Arroyo gets hurt, again (Kike to 2B).

1.7 may be over-valued, but he's not really a negative value, so it can't be by that much. I think they had him at around 6 earlier in the year. That was way too high.

Still, worrisome, but with all his other skills, the K rate may not matter much.

Yes, trend towards but never reach it, unless the script is flipped, which goes against the “norm”

I meant to say “a main” not “the main.”

It’s down to 1.7, now, and my deals were all plus to the other team by more than that.

If the 29% final number is correct this math does not add up.

Agreed, but I thinkBloom can walk and chew gum.

$14M x 3, then maybe counter with a 4th year option with a$3M buyout, making it $15M x 3.

Many felt German was the main part of the deal, but you are right. The $8M was a head scratcher. I know part of my questioning the deal was about us being against the wall on spending, which should not be the case with the Barnes signing AND we helped the Yanks stay under the tax line!

Not if we extend him first.

Fabian reduced his K rate a lot after starting the season K’ing all the time. Apparently, the high K rate dropped way down.

Boston.com Round 2 (40): Jud Fabian, OF, Florida An immensely gifted player with loud tools whose stock fell in 2021 based on his performance. Fabian entered the year in the conversation as a potential candidate to land in the upper half of the first round. He has immense power, speed, and big league-caliber defense in center – a rare combination. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he hit .294/.407/.603 with five homers in 17 games. But he struggled in 2021, especially early. Fabian hit .249/.364/.560 with 20 homers and a lot of walks, but his 29 percent strikeout rate raised significant concerns about his future offensive profile. That said, he seemed to settle in as the season progressed, including a 23-game on-base streak from April to mid-May in which Fabian hit .304/.441/.759 while slashing his strikeout rate. Fabian thus comes to the Sox as a college performer with upside but swing-and-miss issues that raise questions about his floor – not unlike 2016 fourth-rounder Bobby Dalbec. Round 3 (75): Tyler McDonough, 2B, NC State McDonough played mostly center in college but was announced as a second baseman. A 2018 graduate of Moehller (Ohio) High School — the same program that produced Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Larkin — McDonough was a consistently solid college performer. In 2021, he hit .339/.423/.631 with 15 homers and 37 extra-base hits in 55 games. He showed an uptick in power this year though his strikeout rate elevated to 18 percent, up from 13 percent in his first two college seasons. Even so, the 5-foot-10 switch-hitter has been a solid performer and key contributor at a good college program, suggesting a strong likelihood of reaching the big leagues in at least some capacity. Round 4 (105): Elmer Rodriguez, RHP, Leadership Christian Academy (PR) At a Perfect Game event, he was up to 94 mph. His size (6-foot-4 but just 165 pounds) suggests projectable stuff as he adds size/strength. Round 5 (136): Nathan Hickey, C, Florida The Red Sox turned back to Florida for this selection. The lefthanded hitter posted a .317/.435/.522 line with nine homers and more walks (42) than strikeouts (40) this season. He finished the year with a tremendous performance in the SEC Tournament, hitting .429 and slugging .643. In addition to catching, he also played first and third at Florida. Round 6 (166): Daniel McElveny, utility fielder, Bonita Vista HS The Red Sox scouts who made dozens of hours-long drives to Chula Vista, Calif., to see first rounder Marcelo Mayer clearly made the most of their time. In the sixth round, the team selected another high school player from Chula Vista, Daniel McElveny from Bonita High School (down the road from where Mayer played for Eastlake High School). As a senior, McElveny hit .435/.580/.764 with five homers in 29 games. He has a commitment to play at San Diego State. The Sox viewed him as a strong hitter with some power potential. He played both infield and outfield well enough in high school to suggest a range of positional possibilities moving forward. Round 7 (196): Wyatt Olds, RHP, Oklahoma Olds moved from the Sooners rotation into their bullpen. Olds has power stuff — a fastball that reaches the mid-90s and a slider in the mid-80s — that generated a ton of swings and misses in college, though he was hit hard at times. The 6-foot-tall righty, went 4-6 with a 5.23 ERA while striking out 101 batters (12.0 per nine innings) and walking 37 (4.4 per nine innings) in 75 2/3 innings in 2021. Round 8 (226): Hunter Dobbins, RHP, Texas Tech Dobbins missed the 2021 season after suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament and requiring Tommy John surgery in his spring buildup. Dobbins threw well in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, allowing three runs in 20 innings (1.35 ERA) while striking out 25 and walking five. According to this profile, the Indianapolis native was topping out at 98 mph this spring before suffering his season-ending injury. Round 9 (256): Tyler Miller, 3B, Auburn The Red Sox added to their day-two haul of SEC position players. In 2021, Miller hit .313/.354/.601 with 16 homers, which led the team. His low walk rate suggests questions about his approach, but there’s real power in his lefthanded swing. He played and started 51 games as a junior, including 48 at first base for the Tigers this season. He was drafted by the Pirates in the 23rd round in 2018. Round 10 (286) Matt Litwicki, RHP, Indiana Litwicki has spent four years at Indiana, but has barely pitched in that time. He missed the 2018 season with Tommy John surgery, returned for 9 1/3 innings as a medical redshirt freshman in 2019, recorded 10 innings before the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, and was on the mound for 12 innings in 2021. Yet those 10 innings were fascinating, as Litwicki showed career-best, high-90s velocity with 17 strikeouts and two walks.

BTV accepted these trades: R Hernandez, Groome, Ward & Chavis (16.6) to DET for Boyd, Schoop & Cisnero (12.8) _____________________________ Mata, Groome, Rosario & Chavis (18.9) to KCR for S Barlow (3+ yrs), C Santana , D Duffy & $2M. (19.5)(18.9) _______________________ R Hernandez & M Wilson to TEX for Gibson Groome, Ward & Chavis to COL for Gray & Cron _______________________