moonslav59

It's a tiny sample size of a guy playing a new position. Sure, he may K like Horn, but he'll be a plus defender at 1B before too long.

He was left with a solid foundation oif young stars and a farm fullof prospects other teams wanted badly enough to trade Sale, Kimbrel and others for. What was Bloom left? To me, it's not a close comp.

Like I said, I don't see many that fit our immediate needs, so you may be right. Ozuna? Springer? LeMahieu? (Trade Downs and others for pitching?) Less splashy Hendricks Colome Green/ Walker/ Tanaka/ Minor/ Ray/ Odorizzi/ Quintana/ Paxton Brantley

We have 3-4 RP'ers who will likely help (75%?) and 3-4 who may help (50%?). We have 10-15 guys with very little hope ( We still need 6-7 additional RP'ers. That's "dire."

I don't see Bauer as being Blooms first big splash. It's not like there are a bunch of other "splash" pitchers out there, this winter. Who knows.

Well, Verdugo was the major piece, and it's not like Downs is a given at the ML level. True, he's healthier.

Not that #26 usually wins a team a ring, but we can do better.

I feel the pen has over achieved the last 2 years before this one.

He was a more than decent defensive 3Bman, so I don't think defense will be an issue. He was named the 2018 Defensive Player of the Year in the 2018 Sox farm system.

I think he will make one splash signing or deal but with the longer term in mind. He'll still have plenty of budget space to make plenty of smaller type additions.

Houck called up.

Some will make it, and the 3 you listed seem more likely than others, but we still need 6-7 new arms. Assume 14-15 arms get significant innings. Those 3 plus maybe 5-6 out of Perez, Barnes, Eovaldi, ERod, Sale, DHern & Valdez and the number is 6-7, and that's with good luck on health and figuring only 15 arms are needed for significant innings.

Cots does... https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WWRsQNsGZkWuJZwlY8--xVBXMJGjh230D45KiHTHuvY/edit#gid=1520401900

Dalbec doesn't need bailing out.

So is Barnes.

Yes, he has, but we've seen this before. He'll likely keep his roster spot for 2021, but in no way does this lessen our need to make some serious pen additions this winter.

I disagree. We do not need to fill every slot to be competitive, and to me, it makes the most sense to identify the slots we need filled that are most likely to be filled adequately from within the system, and which ones are least likely. I have more faith in Dalbec and Chavis at 1B than Duran &Wilson in CF or Pivetta, Weber and Seabold at SP'er. I have more faith, although certainly not a lot more, in Arroyo, Chavis, Munoz (Chatham) at 2B than anyone we have to fill JBJ and maybe Beni's hole in the OF or the 6-7 open slots on the pitching staff. At minimum, we have about 10-12 open slots: CF OF 2B 1B SP SP RP RP RP RP (SP/RP) (RP) With "only" $60-70M to spend, we won't be getting anybody all that great, if we try to fill all these slots with roster additions. We have to choose the best chances of in-system fill-ins. Now, that doesn't mean we can't or won't sign some veteran journeyman 2Bman at a low cost to bridge us to the hopes that Downs will be ready by 2022. Maybe we can find a 1B/2B player or a 1B/OF type that would fill 2 slots and allow more money to be spent on 2B, but to me, other than Dalbec at 1B, I think 2B is our next best chance at being adequate with what we got.

I think, if he identifies a player he sees as being part of our extended future, he may pounce on one big signing. Then, he'd complement that signing with some moderate, role-filling signings and a few attempts at finding some "diamonds in the ruff." If we assume he has a spending budget of $60-70M, there certainly is enough roster slots needing upgrades or filling to decide to sign 10 guys at $6-7M each. He could try to limit most to 1 or 2 year deals to keep future flexibility as we learn more about which, if any, prospects appear to be capable of filling some of the key slots we have open, now and will have open as more players are losing team control. I think Bloom will likely keep $8-12M for summer spending, and will sign one guy to a decent deal ($12-22M/yr) and then use the remaining $40-50M to sign 5-8 players at relatively low prices.

Agreed. I only listed Peraza as a possible option, but he looks less and less possible. Lin may be non-tendered but may still end up as AAA depth. I've never been high on Chatham, and having him as minor league depth makes more sense than counting on him as winning a slot on the big club, but there is a chance he improves and ends up helping. Thanks for pointing out Arroyo. I'm not sure why I forgot him. The 2B battle will likely come down to Arroyo, Chavis and Munoz with the hope that Downs takes over by late 2021 or early 2022. Of course, nobody could shine, and we have to go 2B hunting during or after 2021, when, thankfully, Pedey's deal expires.

...and that's with no Betts or Price payments!

He's already started rebuilding the farm, despite our not jumping in the team farm rankings. Let's see what we get for those PTBNL, but adding Downs, Potts and a few others will help, and getting some team controlled years from Verdugo should help our longer term plans. I'm curious to see Bloom's spending tendencies, this winter, when for the first time, he should have a spending budget 3-4 times as large as he has ever been given.

Yes, and of those highlighted in red "may" be part of the 2021 team, but not likely as a significant net plus. More likely, they would just be innings eaters with net negative input. These guys would look fine in AAA, with the best ones being called up when needed, but we need better to be considered "competitive" on paper, and this is while assuming pretty good health from our top 6-7 pitchers- something I find hard to imagine.

I'm not sure anyone has said they think we will continue reduced spending beyond this reset year. Plus, it's not like we still aren't spending a lot. Even our projected 2021 of $70M below the budget line, with no additions, would still be spending more than many teams and way more than the Rays have spent.

I agree. Our pitching staff is a huge "pile,"especially down roster. The few young, bright hopes we have in the system are farther away than 2021. DHern is about the only real hope for anything great from our youth in 2021. Assuming we get anything approaching solid seasons from Sale, Eovaldi, ERod, Perez and Barnes is a stretch, for sure, but even that is only 5 guys. Add DHern & Valdez, certainly both not being sure bets and we might, if super lucky have a staff foundation of 6-7 pitchers for 2021. That leaves 6-7 gaping holes with this "pile" as the only current in-system hopes and prayers: Pivetta Taylor Brewer Weber Seabold Brasier Walden Mazza Brice Covey Hall Kickham Stock Springs Triggs McGrath Poyner Shawaryn Youthful prayers: Houck Mata Ward Feltman Sure, one or two may earn a slot in the top 14-15, but realistically, none should be counted on to be anything but AAA depth.

Well said. I will add that it seems like nothing adversely affects Devers' mental state. He reminds me a little of Manny- not the clownishness, but the calmness, determination and ability to blur out distractions and not let a few failures affect your next AB.