moonslav59

I think about $30M from this winter and way less from last winter’s spending. Only Kike is guaranteed through 2022, as a significant winter signing, and he just got two years.

Well said. With his hands tied he hasn’t really been able to do anything major, so it’s hard to judge him, yet.

Key word: much.

I think we not only get something good from the Mets, but by including $2.8M to KC, we’ll get something promising from them, too.

I think Ottavino is the default closer.

Money spent this winter (2021 cost listed only): $10M Garrett Richards FA $8M Adam Ottavino Trade $7M Enrique Hernandez FA $5M Martin Perez FA $3.1M Hunter Renfroe FA $3.0M Marwin Gonzalez FA $2.1M Matt Andriese FA $1.2M Hirokazu Sawamura $800K Franchy Cordero Trade +$2.8M Beni -$6.6M Andrew Benintendi ($5M lux tax) Net cost: about $40M. Added 9 players- lost 1 (Beni)

No doubt, 2019 was the beginning of cutting back in some areas. (We also let Kelly go.) Some felt having Eovaldi and Pearce back for a full season would make up the difference. Nobody expected a 24 loss swing.

Here are some recent numbers by current Sox hitters: OPS 1.031 JD in 2018 (.939 in 2019) .959 Dalbec in 2020 (just 92 PAs) .939 Bogey in 2019 (.883 in 2018) .916 Devers in 2019 (.830 career) .907 Marwin G in 2017 (.771 since 2017) .857 Plawecki in 2020 (.708 since 2017- 658 PAs) .844 Verdugo in 2020 (.827 combining 2019 & 2020) .836 EHern in 2015 (.806 in 2018) .805 Renfroe in 2018 (.778 in 2019: 67 HRS in last 965 ABs) .801 Vazquez in 2020 (.798 last 2 years combined- 30 HRs in 655 ABs) .766 Chavis in 2019 (.719 since 2018) .754 Cordero '18-'20 (216 PAs) .736 Arroyo in 2020 Lots of players, here, that have already put up some good numbers.

Seems like he fits right in.

Yes, I stand corrected.

Hey, I tried.

No. I'm saying if this was the Yankee rotation....

So much for "I am giving him a chance. "

Agreed. Only in hindsight does HRam look bad. Had we signed Scherzer & a lesser 3Bman (Headley), we wouldn't have signed Price and might still be "in the window."

LOL! Good stuff and fairly accurate. Can I ask you to one more thing? What would be Jacko's take on this 2021 fictional "Yankee rotation": Sale Richards Eovaldi ERod Pivetta Perez Houck Whitlock Mata

Yes, I agree. 2016 and 2017 were pretty close to "all in" as well. One might argue 2015, but they just spent the money on the wrong guys.

The Bloom adherents are having to make excuses or blame others for the mess . Their loyalty to their guy is commendable . But how long can it last ? Is the mess we're in really Blooms fault? Mostly his fault? It's not excuses or blame. It's reality. Yes, over time, we expects results to improve.

Neither did I.

Some of Blooms words... Before the trade: https://www.wcvb.com/article/red-sox-chief-baseball-officer-chaim-bloom-expects-to-keep-star-mookie-betts-in-boston-for-2020-season/30446891 After the trade: Read where Bloom says he expected to be "applauded" for trading Betts... https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28675624/chaim-bloom-says-red-sox-prioritized-big-picture-fan-reaction-trading-mookie-betts

It actually does, in terms of 2 decent SP'ers and rest scrubs, especially on teams with limited spending budgets.

It's a big part of our culture.

I, for one, don't blame Henry or Bloom. I just said it makes more sense to blame Henry (and Dave) than Bloom. How can I blame Henry for bringing us 4 rings and then wanting to reset and walk things back a bit before the next splurge?

I'd have to agree on both Eovaldi and Verdugo with more faith in Verdugo. I like ERod, but his health condition is so wildly unknown, at this time. My sleeper picks- not for all star picks but for surprisingly good years are Pivetta & Cordero. I'm also thinking we might see a mammoth year from Devers. Who knows, maybe even Bogey could have a Betts-like season.

For sure. My point about signing Betts for 10-12 years was that the first 5-7 years would more than make up for the back end, but I'm really over losing Betts, but certainly a deal like that takes a heavy toll on a team. Verdugo looks like a nice pick-up and still has 4 years of team control (ages 25-28). Downs and Wong are still unknowns, but both show promise. We've added a lot of depth to the farm and short term ML contracts to the 26 man roster. Once we decide to spend big again, we'll have a big winter budget to work with. Verdugo was a nice get, but under Bloom's watch we've also added these players to the farm: Downs Seabold Rosario Potts Wong Wallace Arauz German Whitlock Winckowski Koss and draftees Yorke, Jordan & Drohan plus IFA Bleis That's better than I expected.

The 2021 Red Sox Line-Up 1. Cordero CF (The biggest non pitcher question mark. Lot's of raw talent and IL stints) 2. Verdugo RF (Could be poised for a break-out season) 3. Devers 3B (Yes, he can get even better than 2019's season! Will 2021 be "that year?") 4. Bogaerts SS (Steady Bogey!) 5. Martinez DH (Need a bounce back. We don't need 2018 or 2019, but a .850+ OPs would be great) 6. Renfroe LF (He's not as bad vs RHPs as many think - .717 OPS) Marwin? Chavis? Kiki in CF & Cordero platoon?) 7. Dalbec 1B (Next to Cordero, largely an unknown over a full season in the bigs) 8. Vazquez C (Has been somewhat up and down on offense.) 9. E Hernandez 2B (We could end up really loving this guy! Bench: Plawecki (capable back up), Marwin Gonzalez (can play almost anywhere- worst at 2B & CF, though), Arroyo (can play 2B, SS & 3B) & Chavis (Time to prove you belong) 2019 vs 2020 PAs and OPS: 248 Devers .793 (came on at the end. I expect .875+) 237 JD M .680 (hoping for .800+) 225 Bogey .867 (just more of the same, please) 221 .Verdugo 844 (can get better at age 25) 217 JBJ .814 (hard to replace.814 & plus D) 189 Vaz .801 (repeat,please) 158 Chavis .636 (won't play much staying at .636) 126 Pillar .795 (played well for us) 120 Peraza .617 (easy to replace) 92 Dalbec .959 (just give us .800 + with 500 + PAs) 89 Plawecki .857 (not likely to hit like this again) 80 Arauz .644 (may not play at ML level in 2021) 79 Moreland 1.177 (tough to replace, even if we sign him) 57 Lin .355 54 Arroyo .736 52 Beni .442 45 Munoz .844 11 Puello .875 I doubt Chavis gets 7% of our PAs in 2021, so we will likely replace some of his playing time as well as JBJ's 9%, Peraza + Arauz's 9% combined, Pillar's 5% and a combined 6% Moreland+ Beni. (3% Lin, Puello & others). All total, we lost over 33% of our 2020 PA's. They will most likely be replaced by E Hernandez, Renfroe, Cordero and more from Dalbec and Arroyo.