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A lot of parents view athletic scholarships as an alternative to tuition…

Lou Merloni thinks enough to make an impact…

Kind of vague. What’s a “legitimate World Series” contender mean to you in mid-June?

His point is they do. Winter travel ball for baseball (and softball) is played indoors…

He’d probably ask what your definition of competitive was…

It’s not surprising, as Turner occasionally plays the field…

Yes. According to Lou Merloni, he never touched a baseball until April and was done before July was out. But he is excited about all these year-round travel leagues kids play in…

It wasn’t. But he did go from a useful velocity to a mundane one without ever slowing down…

Coming from a man who has only ever supported an opinion by citing a former MLB player…

Another way to look st it is when Ryan Brasier came up, the thought was that he was a good find because he can throw 95mph. Five years later, he was DFAd because he can only throw 95mph…

The point isn’t about whether or not a smaller individual is better/bigger/faster. The point was an entire league is bigger, more athletic, throwing harder and grew up playing lots more baseball. Oh and they come from a larger talent pool, so establishing yourself as one of the best 780 players in the world is more difficult than it was even when the league had 26 teams and only 650 players made it…

But saying the greatest player/team from 20 years ago or 30 years ago or 50 years ago is better than the greatest today, so therefore the entire league is watered down is not even remotely logical…

Actually Tampa doesn’t really develop a lot of pitching prospects internally. On their current roster, McClanahan, Taj Bradley and Yonny Chirinos came up through the ranks. Maybe a lesser bullpen arm. But nearly all the remaining ones were acquired via trade or minor league free agency/waiver claims out of other organizations. They acquired Jason Adam, Beeks, Faucher, Pache, Fairbanks, Rasmussen, Kevin Kelly, Trevor Kelley, Jeffrey Springs, etc. In fact from these names, Boston (Beeks, Kelley) drafted as many Rays pitchers (McClanahan, Bradley) as the Rays did. Of course I probably left off a RP from the Tampa system who to date has minimal playing time. Also Bloom hasn’t drafted any MLB pitchers yet, but he also only started drafting 3 years ago, so this isn’t too surprising. Shane Drohan was drafted in 2020 and has already reached AAA, which is encouraging…

I disagree. Here in Chicago they still revere the 1985 Bears as the Greatest Team Ever. On that team, William “Refrigerator” Perry was considered freakishly large at 325 pounds. Nowadays, I challenge anyone to find a team that doesn’t have at least 4 lineman that size. They also had Hall of Fame DE Richard Dent, who checked in at 265 lbs. Or roughly the same weight as kicker Sebastian Janikowski. (And Dent was the one playing in the Steroid Era.) This is why it’s so hard to compare across eras. Athletes are bigger, faster, stronger and that’s the norm. But there is a massive fallacy in saying the league is watered-down because you liked some team a half a century ago better. The league now has more teams, which can water down talent. But that gets countered by a much larger talent pool. How many Asian players were in the league in the 1970’s? How many Latin American countries had players? Remember how difficult it was for Cuban players to sneak into MLB back then? If you want to repeatedly present the league is “watered down”, don’t be surprised if you repeatedly get challenged for actual evidence. And I will be surprised if you ever present any…

It’s not just my opinion; I was paraphrasing Lou Merloni. If your evidence that the Red Sox are worse now than the 2018 team, that’s going to need a few thousand supports just to be upgraded to flimsy. Heck if you’re comparing any individual team from the past, that doesn’t prove a thing. If the 2022 A’s suited up against the 1979 Yankees, they’d crush them. Players are more athletic today, and more experienced in MLB than those teams in the past…

Watered down league? Due to the growth of travel ball and youth programs that have year round play, the overall talent level is actually rising. Not to mention the growth in scouting and advancements in metrics like launch angle , etc. and the new programs for pitchers to increase velocity. This year, 21 starting pitchers are averaging 95mph or more. From 2008 to 2013 combined, only 14 starting pitchers had a season with an average velocity that high. Twenty years ago, a pitcher like Sox minor leaguer Ryan Fernandez and his 97mph fastball would have been fast racked to MLB. Today, Ryan can’t even get out of AA. The league isn’t watered down. Far from it…

Clement’s issues were with his shoulder. In fact, his first 3 games upon returning from being hit were actually better than his last 3 before…

Do you honestly think they should sell?

I don’t see the Sox splurging on any pitcher is one elbow tingle away from detailing the season. Depth is king. Our Strider-to-be might be Brayan Bello. But rather than Ohtani or Urias or Giolito, I think the target might be lowered to maybe a Blake Snell or metrics-darling/performance flop Jack Flaherty. Beyond that, I’m just hoping to avoid the pitchers on the downside of their career, aka Kluber 2.0. I’m looking at you, Alex Cobb…

That’s certainly the easy way to rebuild. Unfortunately it’s also the easy way to need to do another tear down. Obviously an elite SP will only help. I just can’t call it a “need.” Baltimore has the third best record in MLB. Do they have anyone you’d consider an ace? Atlanta has the second best. Do they? Baltimore gets by with their topflight bullpen. Atlanta just has a bunch of good pitchers. The ace model is just one way to improve, but to me it leaves too much hinging on one player. Just look at the ace the Sox signed after the 2018 season…

We’ll just write it off as Friday Math…

Sox are 34-35. I think their 2023 winning percentage is a bit off…

Once again you confuse me with Bloom. It shouldn’t have happened once. Not adding anything to your credibility…

Bloom does seem to want that farm pipeline moving. And honestly, he probably needs it moving soon if he em wants to keep his job. BTV gives Verdugo a surplus value of $22.2mill. Turner a surplus value of $0.7mill. And Hernandez a surplus value of (-$2.1)mill. If he needs that pipeline, Verdugo is a logical choice…

I have doubts the Sox move Jansen or Martin. I could see them moving Verdugo, as his value likely only gets lower if they wait and he has the full season of control beyond this year. Plus he was publicly in Cora’s doghouse earlier. Also it could clear up a logjam by putting Duran/Refsnyder in CF, Duvall slides over to RF, clearing up the playing time logjam. So deal Verdugo got his seller mode and get a RP (Aroldis Chapman stops their never ending quest for a LHRP) for his buyer mode.