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It’s actually not uncommon for lesser defensive outfielders to get a lot of assists. Sometimes it just means runners challenge their arms more often. Alfonso Soriano was a pretty awful defensive outfielder, but he piled up the assists in his career. Because EVERYBODY challenged him...

Well, did his arm throw out more base runners? He gets an assist on a 7-6-2 putout at the plate. It does mean he hit the cutoff man and did his job, but is that really him “throwing out” a base runner?

Go Rays. And welcome to 21st Century Baseball, where the Rays would have as many titles as the Yankees...

While I want him to hit again, I am ok with Benintendi in LF next year. CF is the big question mark that I think goes to ether Duran or a short term vet placeholder for Duran. If the new Sox manager aligns the infield with Devers at 1B and Dalbec at 3B, I can get behind that, too...

The expectations in 2020 were pretty much in line with the results...

I think Benintendi is in LF for the Sox in 2021. His last couple seasons have not made him he desirable trade piece he was a couple years ago. He's signed cheaply and has the ability to turn it around. And the Sox need at least one outfielder already. If any of the current Sox take over CF next season, I would think Verdugo is more likely. Or maybe Duran. Although if they flank Benintendi with two elite defenders (like Verdugo), then maybe he can handle CF. But given their need for a CF and the type of players Bloom has acquired for that position in the past (Kiermaier,), I expect him to pursue a CF who can handle CF regardless of who flanks him...

That happens all the time out here. The vilification for people who DO discuss baseball in terms of economics and advanced statistics and trade values is equally present....

I don't think the ownership is as concerned with how he builds a winner as opposed to that he builds a winner. The Rays are 306-240 (.560) in the past 4 seasons while playing in the same division as two of the biggest annual spenders. Is emulating that approach really so threatening? Rooting for star players is really something I only found exciting to do when the team is not winning and the season is providing nothing else in the way of excitement, and even then it's always rather anticlimactic. The 2014 and 2015 seasons were abysmal for Sox fans, and their mere mention always provokes someone to complain that Cherington "finished last 3 times in 4 seasons". I have never once read a single post that follows up with "but at least we got to watch Bogaerts, Betts and Pedroia."...

One thing about Bloom is he seems to value defensive players...

There is always this test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhUSlM6LzcU

So basically... no matter if someone points out the cons of losing Betts or the pros of retaining him, you’ll be there to tell us why we’re wrong

You cannot submerge Panda. But you can watch him beach himself until the tide comes in...

Or even if he doesn’t blow out his arm, since Wayne Garland is like 70 years old...

No. That’s his average days per year on IL...

Well he did leave the Falcons’ secondary for MLB the same year Deion Sanders did, so I thought Deion was the more obvious (re: famous) candidate...

That didn’t take long at all. Yes Brian Jordan made the Pro Bowl his rookie year with the Falcons and played in the 1999 MLB All Star game as a Brave...

Bo Jackson Trivia Time Bo Jackson enhanced his legend by becoming the first player to play in the All Star game for two different sports when he played in the 1989 MLB All Star game and the 1990 Pro Bowl. Who is the only other athlete to play in an All Star games for two sports?

So Betts = Sale + Price

Maybe but it seems that way with a lot of MLB contracts, if not all of them. At best, you're conjecting. If the Sox had one player in the last 25 years you would give that type of deal to, who would it have been?

Well, did they just decide that number was too much on its own? Or was the decision it was too much on top of all the other expenses Dombrowski was responsible for? Those are very different questions...

And like Betts, no one considered Boggs to be much of a prospect...

All of whom were before Boggs. I went with Boggs as he was a clear HOF talent. Whether or not Mookie was a "better Hall of Famer" seems a bit nitpicky to me. At some point, we have to recognize the elite qualities of anyone in Cooperstown...

One thing about the "once in a lifetime status" for Mookie is, unlike players like Harper and Trout, Mookie was never a really highly regarded prospect. BA ranked him one time, and even then at #74, back before the 2014 season where was ranked below Garin Cecchini (#74). In 2013, Fangraphs had him at #15 in the Sox system. For some perspective, Brandon Jacobs was #13 that year and Anthony Ranaudo was #14. So Mookie was really not so much a "once in a lifetime" player as much as he was a "came from nowhere" player who was just overlooked by every evaluating staff out there. The big question for us Sox fans is, can we find another player to rise up so far from such obscurity? It's tough to picture, say, Hudson Potts or Connor Wong being so successful. On the other hand, Betts numbers in the minors were good (.880 OPS in 1315 PA), but they were also far from legendary. Wong has a .852 OPS in 904 PA and Potts has a rather pedestrian .743 OPS in 1792 PA, but has also been very young for every level. Obviously I don't think Wong and/or Potts are sure things to be the next Betts. But it is actually not out of the realm of possibility that someone is... .

Maybe "once in a Boston lifetime." Who was the best talent to come u through the Sox system before him? Maybe Boggs?

Well, there was definite Bait Potential in that statement. But I do think he is a different player next year...