moonslav59

Nope. Not going over the tax line for Price. The Dodgers aren't paying $20M.

I didn't realize that was a criteria. His short time here eclipsed Rice's whole career, IMO.

I feel the same, and part of the appeal of dumping Price's contract was the belief that we'd use the budget space to build up more quickly. So far, we haven't really seen spending like the days of old.

Maybe they just sign Odorizzi, who will be cheaper than Price. This brings up a point I made about liking the Price dump to the Dodgers. Who here would prefer Price at $30M/2 over Oddorizzi at $40M/3?

I would put the odds at better than 50-50 he's traded. The Dodgers are famous for doing these types of deals.

On paper, your pen blows ours away- and other teams, too. Your rotation has a ton of question marks after Cole- about as many Q's as the Sox starters. Sure, you have more young starters with a chance to make an input, but most are unproven at the big level or have some other major issue going on. Your line-up looks great, but don't short-change the Sox line-up that despite have big down years from JD, Devers and Beni, still placed pretty highly in your all important 2020 season.

Weber is pretty far down on my list, and it also looks like Bloom might be keeping some budget space available for a deadline move. Here's my depth chart, assuming no more additions: SP Sale (60 day IL projected) ERod Eovaldi Richards Perez Pivetta Houck Whitlock Gossett, Hart, Kent, Weber Mata, Seabold RP Ottavino Barnes DHern Brasier Taylor Andriese Brice (out of options) Valdez (a starter not in the current rotation) Brewer Walden Gonsalves Weber, Hall, Springs, Poyner In terms of expected IP for 2021, assuming reasonable health? Starters: 170 ERod, Eovaldi, Richards 150 Perez, Pivetta 130 Houck 90 Sale It is highly likely we use more than 7 SP'er for 5 or more starts. I hope Weber does not get 5, but maybe Whitlock, Mata or Seabold do. RP'ers 70+ DHern 65 Ottavino, Barnes 55 Brasier, Taylor 40 Andriese, Valdez, Brice (Whitlock, if not used as SP'er) Brewer, Walden and maybe someone like Weber might get a lot of IP'd here, but I'm still hoping Bloom adds a pen arm, soon.

You are basing you whole position on a 60 game season. If you really believe we were the 4th worst team in MLB, on paper, last year, then I can see why you might doubt we have any chance, but I do not think you are that short-sighted. Your complete write-off of Sale shows your bias. You have turned something that is unlikely into something that is impossible. While many point to 2013 as that magical season where so many players had career years (actually not true), the 2021 season does not need "career years" from anyone. We just need a few players to return to near their 2018, 2019 or 2020 season, and since only Ottavino is over 33 years old, it's not a stretch to have some optimism about making the playoffs. You mentioned a few teams better than the Sox, on paper, but some of those teams got worse from 2020- the season you put so much value in. If Sale comes back at a 3/4th level starter in July, that could be a huge plus. ERod & Richards replace guys like Mazza. Ottavino is a plus. We lost no significant pitchers. EHern & Renfroe vs JBJ is questionable, but certainly not a clear step backwards, and besides, had we kept JBJ, you'd be projecting a decline from him anyway due to his age and loss of a step on defense. Devers dipped a little, last year, but did well near the end. He could and even should provide a big boost to 2021. He could even have a career year. Bogey is peak prime. Verdugo is just reaching peak prime. You cat like it's impossible for 2-3 of our players to have great years, when JD, Verdugo, Bogey, ERod, Sale, Richards (maybe not so recent) and Devers have already had very good to great years very recently and guys like Beni, Vaz, Ottavino, Barnes and Renfroe have had very nice seasons very recently. It won't take a miracle to make the playoffs- just a return to or near prior form of enough current players. Our core of good to great players is bigger than you think. Now, can too many of these guys NOT return to or near form? Of course, and that is what you are saying is a slam dunk occurrence. Fine, that's what is expected of a Yankee fan, but deep down, I think you know our chances are better than you give us credit for.

I get your point, but when you look at the 2019 team, on paper, at the start of the season, it sure looked like a fun and exciting team to watch: it turned out not to be. I happen to think this season could be interesting and possibly even exciting. Sometimes a team with low expectations and a roster full of some talented players with pride, special things can happen. This is not an old team. The majority of our key players are firmly within or approaching prime. A few are past peak prime but not by so much that all hope is lost for a good to even great season. Of course health and injury history is the major concern with a number of our key players, and it's nearly impossible to project what several Sox players will do for us in 2021, but in terms of age and what many of these players have done in very recent seasons (2018-2020), there is reason for hope (and maybe prayers in some cases.) Our oldest player on the 40 man roster is Ottavino at 35. While he is likely a key to Sox success in 2021, we're talking about maybe a 60 IP RP'er. JD is 33 and showed some signs of decline in 2020, but I think most of us think he has a strong chance at rebounding- maybe not to the 2018 level, but somewhere in between. Next is Brasier at 33. We are not going to live and die with Ryan. Richards (4th starter?) at age 32 is 3rd on our seniority list. That's pretty amazing. Age 32 is not really all that old, especially for a guy without a lot of innings under his belt. (Walden is 32, also, but he may not even pitch on the big club in 2021.) Our 31 year olds are Sale (our ace, when healthy), Andriese and Mazza. Age is not a concern for Sale- his health is. Eovaldi, Vaz and Barnes are all 30. That is still prime. In terms of the longer view, Richards, Ottavino & Barnes are FAs after this year and JD, Eovaldi & Andriese will be after 2022.

Nice post. I will add that it seems obvious that Blooms hands have been tied, and you did say he "deserves a chance," but the moves he has made, so far, are withing a framework of only being able to spend X amount of money for two years in a row. It's been a while since we've done back-to-back budget crunching. That being said, one can look at the Ottavino trade and think, "This Frank German better be worth it," because Bloom used a lot of this winter's spending budget on Ottavino and a guy like Richards. I'm cutting Bloom a lot of slack, maybe more than he deserves, but I think we should reserve conclusive judgement until after the time he is allowed to spend large and long. I thought that time might be this winter, and I hope it's next winter, but who knows?

The Dodgers are clearly the Yankees of the Steinbrenner era. I get the argument than once a team makes the playoffs there is an element of a "crap shoot," but seriously, what would the Sox have had to do, this winter, to come close to the same winning it all odds as the Dodger. Even becoming the odd on favorite of winning the AL Championship would have taken mammoth spending and trading away of prospects. When looking at the moves Bloom has made, and more importantly not made, this context is needed. Bloom is moving us in the right direction and positioning our future spending budget in a positive way.

Pedro is in the group with Ruth, Teddy, Yaz & Rice.

Frank German better be worth it.

I guess there is still Strange-Gordon.

...and did I miss the Schoop signing? Even though I've been pulling for us signing him, even I would not be upset, if he signed for $4.5M elsewhere.

Not trying to bust your balls, here, but honestly, I don't understand a single point you just made.

If we hadn't traded Lynn and his subsequent injury ridden decline or the Fisk fiasco, they'd likely be part of the list. I'd add Pedro.

The pleasure will be even better. (BTW, you don't need to be great to make the playoffs, especially if they expand them.)

You are going to make it so much funner when we make the playoffs.

$65M/4 with a chance to make $80M/4.

The opt outs may make it an even shorter deal.

I remember saying the same thing about Dan Duquette coming from Montreal- back in the day.

The pattern of additions we've made, other than maybe the Ottavino trade, seem to indicate we are trying to stay under the tax line- so no Bauer, no Ozuna, no Rosenthal, no JBJ and probably no Schoop.

The Dodgers don't seem to have many limits to spending. They have become the Yankees from the 90's and early 2000's.

Long time vets that would DH would likely be paid more than young 26th men on NL rosters.