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A lot of that is simply asset management. If you invest $250mill in a pitcher for 8 years, you don’t want him to blow out his arm and miss two or three of them through straight up overwork. (Think Price and Sale.) Also having 8 man bullpens makes this much easier nowadays…

One culprit is the growing proliferation of the slider and the damage it does to the elbow. Increased velocity is an issue as well, especially at an early age. Lucas Giolito, for example, was throwing 98-100mph in high school and had TJ before he graduated. But higher radar gun readings lead to scholarships and signing bonuses so pitchers try to max out early on. It’s not like Giolito (and many others) needed to throw 98mph to get high school hitters out…

Expansion certainly has diluted talent, but this had a bigger effect in the 1960s and 70s when the league went from 16 teams to 24 teams (50% more players!!). Nowadays this is offset and completely countered by the number of foreign-born players in the league, particularly the Asian talent pool which was non-existent back then. Latin American players were common in the 60s, but not like today. One factor is diluting the pool has been contract exclusivity that prevented athletes from playing other sports, even recreationally. 50-60 years ago, there were players whose off-season job was another sport. Now, we don’t see that at all. And since other sports often have a faster path to the top level, many athletes choose them over MLB. Former NFL quarterbacks Drew Henson, Chris Winke and Cody Brennan all toiled for a few years in the minors before retiring from baseball to focus on football. Former Blue Jay second baseman Danny Ainge made MLB at a young age, but struggled mightily and instead chose basketball. I think this is a big part of the reason African American athletes are so sparse at the MLB level - a lot of them found a faster path to the top levels in other sports and were talented enough to make it happen…

Also bear in mind the medical advances. If you were a mega-talented pitcher in or before the 1960s or 70s and you tore a ligament in your pitching elbow, which probably happened to hundreds of guys, your career ended. As in, to get a non-baseball job. Nowadays I think every team has at least one guy whose career was extended by Tommy John surgery…

1. While “bigger and stronger” might not translate on its own, bigger and stronger baseball players do lead to better ball over smaller, weaker ones in general. 2. The 2023 Red Sox are a single example that doesn’t indict the entirety of the system. “Lack of fundamentals” is an overused term. The 2023 Red Sox are showing two simple facts in that 1. Not any player can play any position and 2. Teams that tried to adapt to some rule changes didn’t give themselves the advantage they were going for. Kike should not have been left at shortstop that look in. We all agree. But is Story a “bad fundamental” shortstop? Is Kike a “bad fundamental” center fielder? Also can people stop crying “bad fundamentals!” every time a player fouls off a bunt attempt?!? Bunting isn’t as easy as people seem to think and laying one down on a 98mph fastball is very, very tough. This is like calling a swing and miss by a hitter “bad fundamentals”…

You’d be wrong. More kids play today. And play longer thanks to the proliferation of travel leagues over the past 20 years or so. And now travel leagues even play through the winter in northern states on indoor stadiums and (unfortunately for the parents) round-the-clock schedules during tournaments. So not only are more playing, they’re playing more often. Not to mention the truckloads of Dominican players teams bring in for tryouts now, grabbing every 16 yo on the island and giving him a shot…

You’d get rid of someone who wouldn’t have made this mess?? Does that mean you’d keep someone who would have?

1. Yeah they are very very likely to keep Devers at 3b, probably at least until Casas reaches free agency. 2. Chapman to 3b/Devers to 1b is a Superior Defensive Pipe Dream 3. Duran absolutely should be traded. His still worth a lot based on his current performance, remaining control and pre-arb years left. Plus I think it’s a high sell, although chances he reverts completely back to the 2021 version are probably non-existent. 4. The Sox probably trade Verdugo instead…

Those are two big reasons. Also players are bigger and stronger now. Players start younger now. And play all year round now. The proliferation of youth and travel baseball has helped. Inceased talent pool as more countries contribute players. (How many Japanese players did Drysdale face again? Heck, how many Dominicans?) Or we could believe a bunch of white guys born in the 1930s and 40s were just flat out genetically superior at baseball through some freakish evolutionary quirk…

Two points. 1. Not sure you grasp the concept of what “watered down” means. 2. There are far more reasons to believe and support the notion that the if the 2023 Oakland A’s played the Big Red Machine, they’d beat the snot out of them.

Casas to DH. Leave Yoshida in LF…

Eflin was injured earlier this year. Of course the story o heard was Eflin wanted Tampa and wasn’t going to sign with Boston (or anyone else?) unless they passed on him. So he was never much of an option…

They have 4 major sports and are “passionate” about them all. The funniest story of the year was earlier in when Trea Turner was getting booed at home games by his own mom!!

The logic of “this player isn’t very good; the Sox should trade him” is supposed to bring back what exactly?

Apparently one of us. I mean you did say the Orioles managed to get in first place without Brooks or Frank Robinson or Jim Palmer as your evidence of a watered down league…

Refsnyder is a weak side platoon option with no glove. Schreiber is a decent middle reliever. Reyes is a fungible utility infielder. Bernardino could disappear from MLB forever at any time going forward… L

THAT is your evidence that the league is watered down? Seriously? “MLB is just watered down now! Back in the 1990’s, there were fifty Hall of Famers! Today? NOT ONE!! Not a single player playing today is in the Hall of Fame! This is just a pathetic watered down product played by NOBODIES!”

Maybe? I think they’d boo either one…

But he’s doing all that in a watered down league…

Somewhere, perhaps in a far off land, Kendrys Morales’ ears are burning…

They’ll boo him just like they booed Gandhi, the tooth fairy, and Francis the field-goal-kicking mule…

So.. not a lot of those pesky losing teams that keep beating us?

1. Probably others, but that involves research. Moniak I just recall. 2. I don’t think he inherited a ton of good prospects. He did hold on to some (Bryson Stott). He also dealt away a few that have turned into OK players (Matt Vaerling), but I don’t know what type of prospect most them were…

Mickey Moniak to the Angels for Noah Syndergaard.

Ok this is weird. Records since Dombrowski took over the Phillies Philadelphia: 236-212 Boston: 236-212