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He spent about $87mill on the 5 pitchers in the rotation and about $9mill on the bullpen, and that bullpen money includes some deadweight like Thornburg and Wright. While he didn't verbalize "This team is built on the rotation!" he did spend money on the rotation and extended Sale and did absolutely nothing about the bullpen. I hate how he ignored the bullpen, but the bullpen has not really been the same level of problem the rotation is. And "Blown Saves" are sort of a misleading stat. First off, they're not all loses. And while they do represent a lead that went unheld, that doesn't even mean a relief pitcher had a bad outing. Workman had at least one blown save this year when he didn't even give up a hit (against Texas). I bet other Sox relievers did as well. Sometimes blown saves are the fault of the SP or another RP because an inherited runner scored. Heck an error by an infielder and an unearned run can cause a blown save (which is what happened to Workman in Texas). Think about it. If a reliever comes in with the bases loaded and none out and is trying to protect a one run lead, he can induce a 4-6-3 double play, and be charged with..... a blown save. Sure that instance doesn't happen often, but that's a really weird outcome. The relief pitcher came up with the best possible outcome for that hitter, and statistically he gets nailed with a Blown Save. It's another stat with uses that can be misleading. A lot of blown saves are not from pitching poorly, just from really tough situations. Except the blown saves from Ryan Brasier. Those were all from pitching poorly...

So JD Martinez has reached the point where a .960 OPS is disappointing?

Must be that offense that was only 6th in MLB in runs scored...

Well you wanted a closer, and even suggested only a few people can do it. The Sox have a lot of blown saves, but the overwhelming majority have come in the 6th through 8th innings. They've only blown six 9th inning leads all year, or one more than Kimbrel blew last season. (And the Sox are 2-4 in those games.) Considering that's all spread out among a ton of pitchers, "closer" isn't the Sox problem nearly as much as just having too many mediocre relievers is. I never got why they were so enamored with Ryan Brasier and his 32IP in the past 5 years. But this is supposed to be a team built on the rotation, and the rotation that got us to the WS last season has failed miserably this year...

Right. If only Dombrowski had brought in a closer we'd be in first place. Is that what you're saying?

Oh I would have fired him in March. But the Sox issues were the rotation. Their bullpen was actually better than I expected...

Per B-R.com, if Cashner pitches 340 innings between 2018 and 2019, he makes $10mill next season. Currently he has 283.2 IP, leaving 56.1 IP until the clause goes into effect...

So your entire argument that the only difference between the two teams rests on a career closer being better in one category than a pitcher whose only had the role for 3 weeks? The Sox built their team to have the best rotation in the American League. It's where they spent all their money. The rotation failed. Those 5 pitchers make more money that the entire salaries of one of the teams the Sox are currently chasing for a WC spot. They SHOULD be among the best rotations in the game. The fact that they are performing worse than the Yankees rotation - which is their weak spot - should at least say SOMETHING to you...

It was not a point in his favor...

There's actually a decent chance Seattle decides their "gap" to their prospects can be filled by Santana, Smith and Haniger. Broxton's .514 OPS in Seattle isn't screaming "KEEP ME"...

I don't exepct him to be JBJ out there. But it's not like every flyball to CF will automatically become a hit, either. With Betts in RF covering a significant amount of territory, Bradley has been somehwta held back defensively anyway, as he simply doesn't have as many opportunities as a lot of other CFs. But then a lot of that assumes the Sox go for the full reset (per some rumor somewhere), and they need to replace him. I could see them getting another CF or a corner OF and shifting either player over...

Weak case. The Yankee rotation (4.82 ERA) has outpitched the Sox rotation (5.02 ERA) by a greater margin in ERA that the difference between the 2 bullpens. Yankee bullpen ERA is 4.02, which the Red Sox is 4.16. Our bullpen is closer to their bullpen than our rotation is to their rotation....

If the Mariners want anything better than Brian Johnson, the Sox can look elsewhere. Broxton was DFA'd by the Mets and Orioles already this year - two organizations that needed temporary outfield hep and decided Broxton was not it. http://www.baseballtradevalues gives Broxton a surplus trade value of $0.5mill, which is less than Chris Owings. I think if the Sox offered just about anything, the Mainers would probably accept it. And if they didn't, the Red Sox would probably look elsewhere. They really might not even need to fill CF if they shift Betts or Benintendi to CF...

So when (I'm going with "when" here) make the WC game, who should be the SP? And then who takes Game 1 of the ALDS?

He's been released twice this year. Do you think he suddenly has trade value?

Clearly you are unaware of Fenway Popcorn prices...

And it’s not like any of us were helping build that bullpen. Heck, Dombrowski STILL hasn’t returned any of my calls...

He’s 28 now...

Thank you

Sometimes if he is comparing two players, he also incorporates their ages or compares them at the same ages. He’s been doing it since BDC. Remember his unpopular Will Middlebrooks/Mark Reynolds comparisons?

Ignoring the bullpen was stupid, but the rotation is what this team is built around and has been disappointing everywhere except ERod...

I think taking health and games played into an account is an asset. Let’s see batting average do that...

The Sox bullpen has been better than expected The Yankees invested heavily in the bullpen and it’s working. The Sox invested heavily in the rotation and it isn’t...

Harmony does it daily...

The fact that we still have optimistic fans and an outside chance does mean the team is competitive. Ask harmony if he thinks the Mariners are this year...