moonslav59

I'm glad you are not our GM. I'd have to switch to another team.

LOL. Yesteryear saw players bound to teams for life. When my wife was searching for a school district to work for, we chose the one that paid the most, including benefits/insurance. Where was the love?

Actually, he was about half of the budget given to Bloom.

Plawecki filled "a role" nicely, this season. The Munoz pick-up shows promise. Not many others surprised us. Let's see how he does with a more significant spending budget.

99% of players go after the most money. We'd have nobody left if we wanted all of them gone and it happened.

I agree. While I do have my concerns about Beni, I think he's been given a bad rap over some not so bad seasons- one of which was shortened and messed up. The kid is still pretty young. It's not uncommon for players to have ups and downs, early in their careers, and Beni's have not been all that extreme. In fact, his first 4 seasons all fell between .061 range (.774 to .835). His power fell at a pretty steady rate (20>16>13 HRs), but he's 26, now. He's entering his peak 2-3 years of prime. There is reason to be hopeful.

I'm not "sold on" Dalbec or Houck, for that matter, but it's nice to see some promising new faces actually do good in the bigs, tiny sample sizes not withstanding. Dalbec gets on base, too, so to me, it's not just about his promising power. Our farm should start helping us out- maybe as soon as mid-summer (Duran, Mata, Seabold) and 2022 (Downs, Ward, Rosario, Potts among others). We still have lots of holes to fill and precious few resources to acquire them all. At the very least we need a solid & durable SP'er, 2 solid RP'ers and a CF'er. Some could argue we need another SP'er and RP'er as well as a 2Bman added to the short list. The number seems to be somewhere between 4 and 7 new players. Will and can that all happen, this winter, as maybe some bargain basement deals become available? I'm hopeful. I'm thinking our timeline is more likely geared towards 2022 and 2023, but maybe 2021 can be an enjoyable season full of hope and optimism and maybe a playoff thrill or two.

The rebuild has begun. We are beginning to build a core by adding a few players to the few left over from DD's regime. We added a few prospects to a pretty bleak but not barren farm. Downs, Seabold, Rosario, Potts, Wong and Wallace along with recent draftees and the rule 5 addition of Whitlock. While some seemed to think rebuilding the farm would be easier and quicker, the rules and new structures have made that harder to do, especially for a team that was drafting late for many years in a row. While replacing Betts with Verdugo may seem like a punch in the gut, the money saved by not extending Betts can be used to get us near the top, again. I guess it's about trusting Bloom's talent evaluation. He had a good record finding gems in the rough with TB, but does not have much of a track record with higher profile additions. That does not mean he's doomed to fail with his first major acquisition, but the concern seems deep among many fans, here. The winter signings have been few and far between. As notin pointed out, the only "big splash" signing has been Morton. Can we give Bloom a break? Last winter, his hands were clearly tied. His feet, too. Now, he seems to be given a reasonable amount of budget space to work with, and has barely started spending it. Let's let the winter play out and see what happens. Even if we end up not liking what he does, we should maybe be prepared to be surprised by how well some of his under-the-radar players end up doing. I have faith. My optimism on our longer term future is growing. That hasn'y been the case in several years.

Agreed, and the financial risk is low.

Not by much, but I doubt they trade for Vaz. Philly might.

Per MLBTR: The Sox were second to the Dodgers on signing RP'er Tommy Kahnle. Apparently, the Sox "like" SS Marcus Semien. I doubt they sign him to play 2B, so of they did sign him, who would be moved or traded? Bogey to 2B? Devers to 1B?

It would be like signing Carl Crawford. We need 3-4 pitchers, badly. You can choose to not believe Bloom has a spending limit, but that won't change the fact that he does. Signing Springer means no signing any pitchers. That's the biggest mistake of all. There are other reasons beyond the budget, one of which is his blah defense. He's also past prime. Bloom is not overrated. He built a solid Rays team. His hands were tied, last year. They are somewhat tied, this winter, too. Give the guy a chance. There is zero chance we sign Springer, so if that's what we need to do for you to stay a Sox fan, adios. Go follow the Dodgers or Yankees.

Like a knife in the gut.

That was a heartbreaking season for me, at age 16. Yes, Yaz was brutally honest. He was including himself in that statement. It was painful watching him suffer then beat himself up over it.

Theo- Love Ben- Hate DD- Love Bloom- Hate

Reminds me of the guy who swore up and down we needed to sign Hosmer.

Signing Springer would be a huge mistake. H U G E !

I'm with you 100%. It's a great game. I started as a Sox fan after Yaz had reached his prime, but the guy was a winner and a fierce competitor. I could tell it pained him deeply never winning a ring, He's got my total respect and should have everyone's, as well.

I can tell you guys really love Bloom.

Seems like a good depth signing, but I'm still waiting for our first major acquisition.

$11M x 2 is a lot for TB.

Agreed. To me Chatham might be worth 1-2 not 4.9, and Chavis may be worth 3-5 not 7.5. This does not make the site "horrible." Out of all the Sox players listed, those seem like the only glaring over-valued players. I don't think Duran is all that over-valued. He may be worth 9-11 not 12.1. Maybe Pitt might want Chavis and Chatham, if we take Bell & Frazier from them, but there's a strong chance they don't. If we take back Polanco or Kiermaier, that team may want Duran. Maybe not. I do think most teams would like or want Ward (4.5) and Groome (3.9) and even Bello (1.0) - maybe more than Chavis and Chatham.

We are talking about two teams that are in constant money-saving mode. Vaz is not only a true value- he fits their salary structure. While Anderson's first arb is after next year, Vaz is worth more. Pitt is going to trade Taillon and or Musgrove and have been shopping Frazier and Bell, as well. (I'd do the deal without Bell.) I think you may undervalue Duran even more than I do. I'd sub Ward and Groome for Chavis and Chatham, if needed or even add them to the deal. (BTW, TB loves "change of scenery guys.") The site has serious flaws, for sure, but it is not "horrible." Are you just upset they value Castillo way more than Torres?

I don't disagree, and I was one of those who felt we should pay Betts to stay for your reasons listed and because he'd be worth it.

Good point. I'd do it with Groome- maybe with Ward.