notin

His failure to learn from his mistakes is not encouraging. At what point does he give Betts the Miguel Cabrera contract that runs through age 42 and hamstrings the payroll for more than half a decade?

He’s 26 and you’re comparing his age 25 OPS to his OPS at ages 21 and 22 to determine that. Plenty of players step up their offensive game at his current age...

Yes. He was completely foolish this off-season. And followed it up by continuing to do nothing for the first half of the regular season...

It’s not easy when you get all the tough outings. He may not be the best pitcher for the high leverage situations. Or maybe the Sox need TWO relievers they can count on in those type of outings...

Yeah apparently he’s no annual 30 home run hitter like Clint Frazier...

It’s not about guys not handling high pressure. All Barnes sees is high pressure. Has he ever come in with a 3 run lead facing the 7-8-9 hitters? That’s a save situation he just doesn’t get handed. The problem is, after Barnes and Workman, there isn’t much. Hembree is injured and inconsistent when healthy. Brasier, Smith and Walden are 30+ year old career minor leaguers, and Velasquez as well but slightly younger. Brewer has shown improvement, but has no real track record. Taylor is a fringe talent. What other major league arms does he have?

And the Mets added two “proven closers” this off-season in Diaz and Familia. Three of you count Justin Wilson. Barnes isn’t the issue. He’s had 4 ninth inning ave attempts and converted three. But in all 4, he’s started the inning facing the one of the top 3 hitters from the other team. Really, most of his appearances have been against the top of the order for the other team. He’s been given the rough innings. The issue is, after him, there isn’t anything. Brasier hasn’t been good at all, especially as a closer. He blew a 2-run lead against Cleveland facing the bottom of their order and gave up home runs to two of the worst hitters in the AL. He gave up a walkoff home run to Nicky Delmonico (not quite the same as Jose Abreu), and overall seems to have been handed way too much responsibility in the bullpen. Sure the Sox could get a dedicated closer who faced the top of the order 1/3 of the time and also the bottom 1/3 of the time (like Kimbrel did). But the biggest impact will be pushing Hembree/Brasier etc. down a notch on the depth chart. But Dombrowski has been hesitant. How many MLB relievers has he added to this team since trading for Addison Reed? I guess two, if you count Corey Brewer and Erasmo Ramirez. His ignorance of the pen has been devastating. Also, at some point, Marcus Walden is very likely to revert to being a pumpkin. I think the. Sox are well into this transformation already. Not sure why DD doesn’t think so...

Also for the record, his dad was arrested 13 months after Groome was drafted. Do your comments still apply?

Right. And all hitters are equal...

Only issue is how little usage he’s had the past few years. I know he’s a knuckler, but can he step in and give 80-100 IP the rest of the year? If so, I do prefer him over Johnson/Velasquez/etc...

Saves aren’t the problem. Lack of good relief pitching is the issue. The Sox expected Brasier to be a quality late inning arm after 30 IP in the past 5 years. Brasier was the fourth man in the pen even at the end of last year. This year? First or second? Bad idea...

Actually this was his first blown save in the ninth inning this year. And he does have the disadvantage of almost always facing the better hitters on the other team. It’s not an easy job...

Not really an issue until after the 2021 season...

Lindor is one of the best players in the games today, but he isn’t attainable for the Sox. Luckily we already have an outstanding shortstop anyway. The Sox just need to figure out where Chavis plays next year - 1b or 2b, and then fill the other position...

Why? They weren’t drafting his dad. I don’t think anyone would have passed on Groome because of his dad. His outrageous signing demands were another matter...

Lindor has two seasons of control remaining and has resisted all attempts by Cleveland to sign a long term deal before free agency. The Sox have neither the pieces to acquire him nor sufficient blackmail leverage on Cleveland GM Mike Chernoff to make a deal with their existing chips...

He did say “for next season.” All DD has to do is not accidentally re-sign those players...

I’m predicting at some point next month, DD makes a move for Shane Greene. What will it take and will DD give that up are two other issues...

Maybe he’s just sitting closer to the computer now?

And he had a gun to his head!!!

Pillar over Bradley represents a lateral move for the sake of a move. I thought the idea was to “sell high,” but Casas and Hernandez might be enough to get Smith in their own. And SF would have little interest in a Bradley hot streak, as their in full blown tank mode...

This does include a 2-6 stretch by the Red Sox where they opened the season against the only 2 teams in MLB that were already into their regular season...

Needed to open a spot on the 40 man roster...

Well, plummeting back to Earth certainly sounds like it could be painful...

So you want to unload Bradley, due to his frustration levels, and the solution is Kevin Pillar? Out with Bradley’s career OPS+ of 92 and in with Pillar’s 86!!