notin

We’ve all seen Robinson Cano do that, and he is hardly the fleetest of foot...

Would not have minded short term as well...

He's throwing his curveball a lot less and his slider a lot more. If he had a tendency to hang the occasional curve ball, it could significantly impact his HR rate. In fact, if you look at his HR/FB rates year to year, they pretty much mirror his curveball rates...

No one said they weren't. I just don't expect many of them to show up here...

I couldn't find any data on this, beyond the fact that the Sox are in the middle of the league in both BB and HBP with no men on base (which does include leadoff hitters, but is obviously a bigger set). But I was not even able to break it down between starters and relievers...

Brice cannot be demoted without being exposed to waivers, which he might not clear. Don’t get me wrong; I’m still in favor of it...

Or sometimes they cling to “yeah but that prospect we traded away never turned into anything good”....

Renfroe has been a monster in his limited role since May began. He entered today’s game with a .871 OPS, and has added a home run today. Dalbec entered today with a .410 OPS in May...

No. Bogaerts is never in the Gold Glove conversation. But you are correct in that to date, he is a good MVP candidate. If you have any faith in Fangraphs and fWAR, he entered today’s game tied for second in the AL with 1.7 fWAR, along with Vlad Guerrero Jr. and teammate JD Martinez...

If anything, the Sox pitchers have been hampered by the inadequate defense...

Nope. He is carrying a career ERA of 0.00 and a career WHIP of 1.00 Granted, 1 career IP in a scoreless relief outing against the A's...

.. with early Cy Young candidate John Means....

I agree that it really depends on who and why is starting 3 IP 0 ER from, say, Andriese is considered a good thing. While it is techncially the same as 3 IP 0 ER from ERod, I don't think we would look at it that way. I thought at one point way back when, a Quality Start was 7 IP 3 ER or less, but I can'r find any evidence of that. 6 IP 3 ER seems like a borderline start and no one gets excited over a 4.50 ERA...

Also the Sox had met their quota of Dimaggio's...

What? They're already winning half the time!!

But those crazy velocity raptors behind you leaning on the horn are another matter!!!

I have never heard of any GM in any sport telling his boss “Keep the money. I don’t want to spend.” It’s a bit shocking. The guy has managed to put together a winning team in Tampa on no budget, and some fans are trying to hold that against him. “Well he never spent before.” Yeah neither did LeBron when he was growing up in Akron. Go Google his house. It turns out access to money can impact people’s spending habits...

I mentioned the no hitters early in this thread. Didn’t you just know someone would throw one when I posted that?

Per my cursory research, the record in a season is 7, done 3 times. 1990: Mark Langston & Mike Witt, Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Fernando Valenzuela, Dave Stewart, Terry Mulhollan, Dave Stieb 1991: Nolan Ryan, Tommy Greene, combined 4 Oriole pitchers, Dennis Martinez, Wilson Alvarez, Brett Saberhagen, 3 combined Braves pitchers. 2015: Chris Heston, Max Scherzer (twice), Cole Hamels, Hisashi Iwakuma, Mike Fiers, Jake Arrieta. 1991 would have had 8 as Mark Garnder of the Expos no-hit the Dodgers for 9 innings 2 days before Dennis Martinez perfect game (mentioned above), but the Expos failed to score when he was out there. None of the years above had 3 no hitters by May 6. Only one of the no-hitters above (Langston/Witt) was by that date. Offense is down. Could we see eight this year?

It's May 7th and we have already had 3 no-hitters in the league...

Then at least add the proper addendum and know your audience. Like: “A Baltimore win coupled with a Yankee loss means the Yankees are still in last place on May 7th.”

I know you fear the unknown and think Bloom will always spend like a small market revolving door roster GM like he was in Tampa, but that notion seems silly. Don’t forget that even after two years of no pricey additions and several pricey subtractions, THE SOX STILL ARE AMONG THE HIGHEST PAYROLLS IN MLB. Sorry for the caps and hope your ears are ok. We’ve seen small market GMs go to big market teams before. I’ve never seen any of them turn down the chance to spend. Whether it was Duquette in Boston or Friedman in LA, if they get to spend it, they usually do. Now they might not spend the way you or I want it spent. Maybe Bloom thinks Devers won’t be worth it. But he likes Luis Castillo or Cody Bellinger instead (no idea if those contracts coincide). Maybe he spends there. But he will spend. Because his job depends on winning. In Tampa and Oakland and Pittsburgh, a GM makes a name for himself by building a competitive team on a budget. In Boston, New York and LA, that’s not enough to make anyone care about the job you did...

Pujols does have an OPS (.622) almost 120 points higher than Dalbec (.507). Like him or not, he is an improvement and would be available for a pro-rated portion of the league minimum. I wouldn't find it terribly surprising if the Sox gave him a shot, as the risk couldn't be less. If he flounders like he has recently (3 for his last 23), he could be jettisoned by the Sox and at most cost them only $400,000 or so...

Any deadline additions will probably be minimal. If the Sox are in a position to be buyers, I still think they will do something like a "buyer and seller" dual role like Billy Beane used to do back in the 90's. Matt Barnes headlines the list of trade candidates, especially if he keeps this up...

They only did it to entice Matt Barnes to sign an extension