moonslav59

I can understand why many people see it that way. He was the guy who pulled the trigger, so it is what it is. It does make me wonder, how the views of DD and Bloom might be very different, now, if DD had pulled that trigger in the summer of '19. In my view, they hired Bloom to try and build a winner without spending much. They hoped he could repeat what the rays had done, but with a higher budget, maybe win a ring, unlike TBR. He failed at that task, pretty spectacularly, 2021 notwithstanding. I do think Bloom had some spending limits no other Sox GM had, in terms of a full 4 year stretch, although we often heard there was not a limit. (Like we should believe that crap.) Bloom did spend some money, and he swung and missed on most of his bigger deals. He failed to get every pitcher he made offers to and signed for more than $10M. That was the worst mistake, IMO. (Nate or Eflin would have helped his legacy, but likely was not enough to save his ass.) Story, Yoshida, Barnes, Richards, Kluber and Kike II were 5 of his largest contracts given out, and now the Jansen one is looking sketchy, too. His lower to mid level deals were not so bad, but you rarely win rings on those guys, and we didn't.

It was bound to happen. He last longer than most. He had a very long run at greatness or near greatness. Who knows, maybe he can regain some magic before retiring. He did miss some ST'ing, so maybe he is still trying to find the "lost groove." Maybe it can never be brought back. A subjective breakdown of his years: First 284 games (6 seasons) 2.25 ERA/ 2.00 FIP (0.966 WHIP) 4.5 K/BB Middle 324 games (5 seasons) 2.44 ERA/2.50 FIP (0.852 WHIP) 7.7 K/BB Last 219 games (4+ seasons) 3.02 ERA/3.29 FIP (1.131 WHIP) 2.9 K/BB That last era was a step down from the previous ones, but it is still damn good. It is also heavily weighed down by his numbers with the Sox: 3.51 ERA/3.78 FIP (1.344 WHIP) 2.4 K/BB Those numbers with BOS were greatly weighed down from the end of July to now. July 29 to end of 2023 (14 games): 6.10 ERA/6.06 FIP 2024 (7 games:) 2.70 ERA/4.60 FIP (9Ks, 8 BB, 1 HBP) Only 4 hits July 29 to now (17 IP): 4.76 ERA 5.76 FIP -0.2 fWAR (Only jacques has worse numbers than this, since last July) Note: 17 IP is a small sample size, so we cannot know for sure, that this is the new Jansen.

He was not hired to win a ring, if that matters.

I don't think it was a reason to hire him, and I'm not even sure he told him before hiring him, but he probably did. Bloom was hired, IMO, to try and be the next Billy Beene with a bigger budget.

It is known that DD was about to trade Betts back in 2019, but a winning stretch forced the idea to be tabled. I think it is a safe bet to think there is no way DD wanted to trade Betts, so I think that is enough evidence, for me, to be convinced the idea can from above. I think that idea was forced on Bloom, so I don't view it as Bloom's choice. I do not remember him as "that guy."

Also, he was called out, a few times, for going a few years without spending to "get us over the hump" or "make us respectable" in the past (including before 2013.) This may be a longer low spending stretch than others in the past, but nobody knows for sure. In terms of spending, he did extend Devers, and has not really dipped for that long of a stretch (end or 2020 to Story & Devers deals) and post Devers deal. What has happened is that several other owners jumped their spending by a huge amount, and JH did not keep up with them. He has not stopped spending for more than 2 years in a row, that I know of, in his 20 years, here. In that sense, not much has changed, yet.

CBS Sports lists these ETA dates: April 17: Devers, Martin April 18: O'Neill April 21: Whitlock, Romy G April 23: Grissom, Refsnyder April 26: Pivetta April 27: Campbell May 1: Mata August 1: Hendriks 2025: Story, Giolito, Murphy, Fulmer

Like we are going to grab one, then?

We saw so many pitchers signed to minor league deals that we could have signed to a min MLB deal, so Whitlock could stay in the pen (instead of Joely or Campbell.)

Good point, and nobody, and I mean nobody knew Kike was going to suc so badly on D, at SS, last year. He looked like a very capable back-up. Mondesi was supposed to be "ready" by May or early June, so they had 2 back-ups in place until Story was to return in July or August. The issue was not that they did not try. The issue was the guys we got were hurt or sucked. (Chang also got hurt, last season.) This year, there was not much of sa back-up plan, but losing Story and Grissom, then Romy did not help.

At least the opps will not have had a chance to see 4 seamers before bringing him in. Bring up Guerrero or Booser is fine, too- just put Mata on the 60.

Some have rolling out of bed or sneezing, though. Not Bobby Dee!

LOL! You crack me up.

The whole "Let's see what we got in our system" mantra is code for punting.

yes!

There is a lot of gray area in this case, maybe Shades of Gray. How much was consensual, if not all of it? How much was he "set up" (see texts by accuser.) I'm sure most of us can't understand this type of behavior or think it is sick, and just think he should be avoided. I can understand that position. That being said, I'd give him a shot.

We have reached the 1/9th of the season mark and are in our usual place in the ALE standings: 12-6 NYY 11-6 BAL 10-8 TBR 10-8 TOR 9-9 BOS Dead middle in the AL (7 better and 7 worse or tied) We have a +3 run differential, while TOR is at -15 and the Rays at -17. DET is 10-7 with a -1 run diff. Surprisingly, the Royals (+39) Guardians a(+38) re best at run diff. +25 BAL +18 NYY +13 TEX

Yup. I was okay with the idea for a while.

We are exactly 1/9th through the 2024 season. Our rotation has been the driving force in allowing us to not be under .500. Our pen has been mostly fine, but has had quite a few hiccups. The defense has not done the staff many favors, and it has forced the need to get 4-5 outs, too many innings. This is one reason the IP numbers don't tell the whole story for our pitchers. The offense has been very inconsistent and has not been an overall plus- something we needed it to be. Injuries are part of the game, and they have been a large part of our start to 2024, but the neglect shown towards providing capable back-up to key positions, like SS are like a stab in the backs of fans. We've had a few things to enjoy, so far, but few and far between. Here are a few bright spots: 1. The rotation, of course. (Top 2-3 in most major categories, despite poor defense behind them) 2. Slaten 10+ IP and looking very good. 3. Bernardino (was not on the opening day roster) 4. O'Neill (238 OPS+, but now injured) 5. Casas (149 OPS+) but his D has not improved 6. Our Catchers look a little better on D, way better on CERA and 158 OPS+ from Wong and 121 OPS+ from McGuire. 7. Duran (112 OPS+) and 6 SBs w okay D Some numbers that are killing us: 1. Our defense is ranked bottom 5 in just about every measure. 2. -84 OPS+ Dalbec (20 PAs), 23 by Reyes (33), 38 Rafaela (61), 40 Valdez (51), 58 Abreu (37) & 64 by Yoshida (71) 3. Campbell (6.72 FIP) & Joely (5.02) Add Weissert at 5.44. 4. Bello has yet to get on track (4.80 FIP) 5. Jansen with a 24% BB rate and 1.800 WHIP 7. Wink and his 2.06 WHIP

That is a list that rivals the usual Yankee injury list in number. This team needed everything to go right to have a shot, and number one was health. Losing Gio & Story for the full season probably ended all hope, but the others should return. I suppose, if they do come back strong, and we have no more major injuries (yea right) we might still hang around that last playoff slot for longer than many expect. Not acquiring a capable back-up SS has been an issue for waay too long. Our pen would have been okay had we been able to keep one or two from Whitlock, Houck & Pivetta there, but sadly, our management team decided Gio was enough, and then failed to try and replace him once we found out he was toast for 2024. Asking for us to pick up a SS from another team, right now, is highly unlikely, no matter what we think. Calling up Kelly might work. (DFA or IL Joely.) DFA'ing Dalbec or Joely could allow us to add Booser or Guerrero to the 40, and call one up. (We could also place Mata on the 60 and keep everyone, which means there is no excuse.)

Well said. I will add this, as an indicator of where the league is, right now, and how our SP'ers are actually not taxing our pen more than the average: IP/GS league avg is 5.2 (not 5 and 2/3, but 5 and 1/5.) 5.9 Houck 5.5 Pivetta (injured) 5.3 Crawford 5.2 Bello 5.2 Whitlock (left early in his last start) 4.0 Criswell (filling in for Pivetta) Team: 5.2 Pitches per game: (Can we see this increase, and if yes, will it translate to more IP/GS or just more batters faced in 5.2 IP?) 93 Houck 92 Bello 88 Crawford 83 Criswell 80 Pivetta 80 Whitlock

Sad. But true.

Not only will I not cry, I'll rejoice! Bring up Kelly.

So, I'm 0-3-1 on game thread success?

The footwork and throw by Rafaela allowed the big ru to score. Abreu's earlier error hurt, badly. It was nice to see us fight back to take the lead, but this D keeps killing us. It also looks like Wink has come down off his high from last year. We've credited Brez & Bailey for turning around our starters, so do we blame them for Wink? (Just asking- not telling.)