moonslav59

Off to a good start, today. ERod went 2.2 IP (1 ER). 4 runs scored in the 1st with the first 6 guys getting a hit or a walk.

I'm not complaining about the great Manny signing- just pointing out that we had to dump him, and that was an 8 year deal- not 12. Look, I was one of the few saying pay Mookie for 12 years, so I'm not happy we lost him, but clearly there is a strong justification for not committing 1/6th of your yearly player budget to one guy for 10-12 years. You can convince yourself, henry can and could spend all he wants, but he hasn't, doesn't and won't- like it or not. He has limits, and I'll never bash the greatest owner this team has ever seen. You haven't responded to the facts presented about this team changing stars every 2-3 years with near total turnovers every 2-4 years. This is not any different from the strategy that has brought us 4 rings, except that Betts was not on the wrong side of 30, but then again, no past star was demanding 10+ years and $35M plus before, either. I wish we still had Betts, but with a pretty much limited spending budget, the rest of the team would have been severely restricted by spending allowances for 10 more years. It wasn't a slam dunk decision to sign Betts.

Basically, everyone but Verdugo, Bogey (except opt out) and Perez have significant questions to be answered.

Their years total about the same, combined. In hindsight, I agree, but I really liked the sale extension, so I can't really, now say we shoulda-coulda...

He's supposed to be a huge plus on D. Why say "average D?" "Strong instincts and reads. Very quick first step. Really can go get it with great closing speed. Will make highlight-reel plays, fun to watch. Potential plus defender in center field. Above-average arm. Plenty for any outfield position. Speed and defense are known quantitites..." -soxprospects.com

I totally agree. Things could go horribly wrong, too. A lot of questions will be answered- for good or bad. Is Vaz worth extending? (.798 from 2019-2020 is great for a catcher) I'm hoping Chavis gets a chance to prove he belongs or frees up a roster spot for 2022. Is Dalbec for real? (Can he offset the high K's with a decent OBP? It looks like the power is real. 2B? EHern, Arroyo, Arauz, Munoz, Downs, Chavis, Marwin- can one show they own and deserve the job? Bogey, will he opt out? Devers, can he get consistent on D? Can he repeat or improve on 2019? Renfroe-Cordero? Platoon or FT or bye-bye after 2021? Verdugo? Not much to question, here, except maybe whether CF or RF is best for him. JD? Was 2020 a sign of serious decline or a blip? Sale? Can he regain all of most of his greatness again? maybe 2021 can give us a sign. ERod? Did COVID hurt him long term? Should we extend or re-sign him? Eovaldi? Will he ever put in a full season? Richards? It's been a long time since he's pitcher even near a full season. Will 2021 be it? Pivetta? He's got the stuff, but can he put it all together? Perez? I think we know what he brings. Houck? Were those 3 starts just a tease? Ottavino? Can you give us a big year? can you close? Barnes? Can you be our solid #2 again? DHern? At a record breaking K/9 pace, but can you slow the walks? Taylor, Brasier, Andriese, Brice, Sawamura, Whitlock and others? Can just 1 or 2 of you do much better than last year's clown circus?

Exactly. As much as I argued to keep Betts, this would have been unchartered territory for the Sox, despite their history of some pretty big contracts in the recent past.

Price: no, but at the time, his signing made sense, so I find it hard to use him as a tool on why we let Betts walk, assuming he would have signed with us for $1M more than the Dodgers.

I'm not saying there was no good reasons for letting Betts walk. I'm just saying we have let a lot of players walk- some stars, but most were on the wrong side of 30 or had health issues. Betts is a unique case, but I do NOT think his loss signals a major change in team building strategy. It was a tough call to make. Earmarking 1/6 to 1/7 of your player budget to one guy for 10+ years is something that does not come up very often. We did it for Price for 7 years. And, we ended up dumping him. Manny was signed for 8 years, and we dumped him, too.

Rickey Henderson had some power, unlike Phillips, but his career OPS was fueled a lot by his OBP, and there was a big differential between his BA and OBP. Here are some others, too... BA/ OBP Player SLG .267/.403 Henderson .408 (lower SLG than Phillips) .268/.399 Nick Johnson .441 .273/.392 Phillips .409 .286/.392 Dave Magadan .375 .301/.392 Brett Butler .373 .262/.399 Randy Milligan .413 .283/.378 Tim Raines .405 .289/.378 Knoblauch .406 .270/.372 Q Veras .362 (very low SLG) .267/.368 M Lawton .417 .290/.368 L Castillo .351

Good news!

No, but the data does show he's not very good on defense at 2B. My wish is Cordero stays healthy and comes of age, this year. I'd love to see him do well in CF. If he doesn't, I think EHern makes the most sense. I don't think there is a drop off on offense between Cordero v LHPs and Arroyo/Chavis/Gonzalez or Renfroe v RHPs and Arroyo/Chavis/Gonzalez. The pluses on defense at at least 3 positions should tip the balance. Now, if Cordero & Renfroe show they are hitting off-handed pitchers well, and or Cordero is playing good defense in CF, I'll be fine with EHern playing 2B nearly everyday. My guess is, everyone will get a chance to shine or cast shadows, and the choice will become clear during the season.

OK, he couldn't beat out the .805 hitting Taylor. Look, I'm not saying EHern is an All Star OF'er. He's just better than what we have.

I don't agree with every signing Bloom has made, so far, but he does deserve a chance to see how these recent signings work out. He had virtually no winter spending budget, last year. Bloom spent more, this winter, but he had so many weak spots on the 26 and 40 man roster to fill, I'm not sure what more he could have done. Kluber not Richards? Is that a sure better signing? We needed 2-3 SP'ers, 2-3 RP'ers, a CF'er, a 2Bman, a 4th OF'er or utility player or two and some serious 40 man roster depth. That's about 10 serious slots to fill and another 4-8 40 man roster additions. Had we signed a big name player, we'd have had to go dirt cheap at 2-4 other slots. Here's who he added since the end of 2020's season: Richards Ottavino EHern Renfroe M Perez Cordero Andriese Sawamura Gonzalez Whitlock R. Hernandez © (F German, Winckowski, D Santana, 3 PTBNLs and more) I think Bloom has spent about $41-43M, this winter. Tell me how you'd have spent that, assuming we could have gotten players to sign for us, instead of where they did for $1M more. Players acquired, last summer: Pivetta Seabold Potts Rosario J Wallace Z Bryant

Plus, we've been "overhauling" a team that under performed in 2019, which had a few players on the wrong side of 30, one of which was making over $30M a year. The 2020 team was the worst in 2 decades. Injuries can explain some of that, but to think we didn't need an overhaul is being short-sighted. People complained about losing Price, and he ended up opting out of 2020 and does not really have high expectations going forward. We kept JD, and he fell off a cliff- people bitched, even when we keep the stars. We let Porcello, Kimbrel, Kelly and a few others go. Is anyone trying to claim we should have kept them, specifically? Beni and JBJ were not players we NEEDED to keep. Betts is the one guy that does not fit the narrative, but people are acting like we let 10 Mookie's go.

The loss of Betts is really the only loss that does not fit in the Sox narrative over the last 20 years. It's a huge loss, but I'm not sure it is the sign of a massive change in spending philosophy or team building strategy.

Maybe? Probably? It's hard to judge mid season, "Oh, the Rooster is not getting on baselike last year and will continue not to do so." We shoulda never canned Carbo... among others.

Look at the OF'ers Dave had to choose from: 2018-2020 Innings in Dodger OF: 1926 Bellinger 1859 Pederson 1052 C Tavlor 987 Pollock 965 Puig 923 Verdugo 849 EHern 441 Betts You don't see Cordero and Renfroe as belonging in that group?

The choice is really Cordero and Renroe vs off-handed pitchers vs Arroyo/Chavis/Gonzalez. A Renfroe-Cordero platoon is much better than each playing everyday. Here are the career splits: vs RHP .786 Cordero (243 PAs) .740 Chavis (168 PAs) .732 Gonzalez .717 Renfroe .678 Arroyo (176 PAs) .673 EHern vs LHPs .912 Renfroe .820 EHern .724 Gonzalez .699 Chavis .597 Arroyo (129 PAs) .573 Cordero (72 PAs) There are better offensive options based on some small sample sizes, but when you factor in defense, I'm not so sure keeping EHern at 2B is the best idea. Okay, let's say Chavis starts in AAA, and we discount Marwin's trashcan-banging season and just compare Arroy0 (.678) to Renfroe (.717) vs RHPs. Is Renfroe really that much better, off handed, as to make up the difference on defense at 3-4 positions? (worse at 2B, RF, CF and maybe LF) Versus LHPs, Renfroe and EHern are playing- no doubt. So, who is the next best? Fine, throw out Chavis and Marwin, again, and Arroyo still looks better than Cordero on offense, small sample sizes and all.

The bigger purge was during 2014, and it continued afterwards. The ring team from 2018 was very different from 2015 and almost totally different from 2013. The Sox have seen some massive overhauls and recycling of stars.

2004 and 2007 Sox Top Players 2004 by PAs Damon Ortiz Manny Bellhorn Millar VTek Mueller Kapler Reese/OCab 2007 Ortiz Lowell Lugo Youk Crisp Pedey Manny JD Drew VTek 2010 PAs Scutaro Beltre Ortiz JD Drew VMart Youk BHall DMac Pedey/Lowell/Lowrie 2013 PAs Pedey Ellsbury Ortiz Napoli Nava Vic SDrew Salty Middy Gomes/Carp/Iggy 2016PAs Betts Bogey Pedey JBJ Ortiz HRam Shaw Holt/Young Leon/Vaz 2018 PA (2 years from 2016) Beni JD Betts Bogey JBJ Nunez Devers Moreland Holt Leon/Vaz/Swihart 2020 PAs Devers JD Bogey Verdugo JBJ Vaz/Plawecki Chavis/Dalbec Pillar 2004 IP Schill Pedro Wake Lowe Arroyo Foulke Timlin Enbree Mendoza Williamson/Leskanic/DiNardo 2007 IP Dice-K Beckett Wake Schill Tavarez Okajima Lester Papelbon Timlin Snyder 2010 IP Lackey Lester Buch Dice-K Wake Beckett Bard Papelbon Atchison Okajima/Delcarme/RRamirez 2013 IP Lester Lackey Dempster Doubront Buch Uehara Tazawa Peavy Breslow Workman/Aceves/Miller/Webster 2016 IP Price Porcello Wright Buch ERod Pom Barnes Ross Kimbrel Hembree 2018 IP (2 yrs from 2016) Porcello Price Sale ERod Johnson Velazquez Pom Kelly Kimbrel Barnes/Hembree/Workman Eovaldi/Wright 2020 IP (Sale & ERod out all year) Perez Eovaldi Weber Valdez Godley Brewer Brasier Barnes

We still have Bogey, Devers, JD, Vaz, Sale, ERod, Eovaldi and Barnes from the 2018 team. The 2013 team had just went through one of this team's biggest purges in the Dodger dump. An even bigger dump happened after 2013, when we purged the whole starting rotation and watched as every single starter was replaced by 2018. Yes, some guys retired- like Papi, but others were let go to free agency or traded. Most PAs in 2013: 724 Pedey 636 Ellsbury 600 Ortiz 578 Napoli 536 Nava 532 Vic 401 S Drew 470 Salty 374 Middy 366 Gomes 243 Carp 234 Iggy 116 Ross 107 JBJ By 2015, only 4 of those top 14 players remained. (The pitching saw an even bigger turnover.) Note,I'm counting JBJ as a member of the 2013 team. Some may discount his roleo n that team. By 2017, only Pedey and JBJ were left over. We won in 2018 with best record in Sox history.

Yes, but it's not like the racism ended in the late 60's. (See the Tommy Harper incidents.)

Who said anything about not liking JBJ? We have a budget. You can wish we don't. You can argue We should have signed JBJ over Richards.

I'm a huge Cora fan, but I'm baffled. I can see, if they had hopes in Cordero in CF, but putting EHern at 2B and Verdugo in CF, it weakens 3-4 positions. Maybe his plan is Duran in CF. BTW, I don't expect to agree with everything a manger does, and I trust he knows more than I do.