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Even his detractors don’t think he’s an idiot. There’sa reason he’s been the GM of 4 teams and his most unsuccessful tenure was his stretch in Detroit as the Annual American League Runner Up. I just was never a fan of his short term run for glory followed by the inevitable mess he leaves behind. Even Detroit is still dealing with this as the biggest contract on their payroll was one he negotiated, and this will be the case in 2023 as well. But when he had years like he had in Philly, for whatever reason, he’s doing the type of job I want to see. Of course, it’s also possible Philly we see the Old DD very soon..,

If you like to call that one a whiff for DD, I’m fine with it. He still didn’t run the Phillies like he ran the Red Sox…

Even Nimmo, as on board as I am, is not without health issues. Judge’s next contract has Nightmare Potential…

Hernandez is only on a one year deal. If the Sox bring in Kiermaier, a similar deal might also be reached. Ditto for Grigorius or Segura. That would clear the path for both Mayer and Rafaela in 2024, assuming either or both are ready…

The season did end in disappointing fashion, but it always does for 29 teams. It should have been a very fun 6 month stretch for their fans…

It could be, but not nearly as bad as Price or Sale. And Castellanos’ biggest issues are mostly related to his (lack of) defense. The man couldn’t catch a cold if he was naked in Norway. But that might not be too big a deal as Philadelphia can bury him at DH…

If Mayer us the starter in 2024, I’d just assume putting Hernandez at SS and looking for a CF placeholder for Rafaela. Kiermaier would be acceptable if he could stay in the field. Or, if a stopgap shortstop is the plan, Didi Gregorious? Jean Segura? Of course a DH better than Hosmer would be necessary…

Of the two, I’d prefer Devers…

Says the guy who wants Judge, Diaz, etc. It would be expensive and it only works out of the Sox get sufficient minimum wage help from below. Casas and Bello are a nice immediate start. Maybe not enough, though. The only reason to think it’s possible is the Sox did go big of Story for some reason…

Maybe Correa is the plan? He is younger than Bogaerts, and much better defensively. Certainly he looks like Fenway is the park for him. And reportedly Cora is a fan. Now will Correa be willing to move to third base at some point in the 8-10 year deal he will require? I can’t answer that. Maybe he can’t either. But if he does, his glove and bat will play well there. The Sox have been giving mixed signals to Bogaets. A lackluster offer. A promise not to trade him (that they followed up on). And an announcement that he was priority. MLBTR thinks Bogaets is gone. If so, the Sox simply can’t go and get, say, Miguel Rojas to be the stopgap between now and Mayer without making up the offense somewhere. Benintendi and Nimmo are fine targets, but are they enough? Will the Sox find a way to get a highly productive DH? I think if Bogaerts goes, Correa is a likely replacement…

I like the change in approach for DD in Philadelphia. He didn’t sign any free agents to ridiculous long term contracts that will hold the Phillies back in the future. His biggest deals to date was a 4 year contract for Schwarber that, while certainly not small, has not only given immediate short term help but also is very unlikely to handicap the payroll, and a 5 yea LF deal for Castellanos that should produce similarly, especially since the NL now has a DH. He didn’t empty the upper levels of the farm system and instead used his younger players like Stott, Vierling and Dominguez to fill gaps. And even when he did make trades, he got younger minimum wage guys like Brandon Marsh to upgrade, making the heavy contracts he inherited (Harper, Wheeler) easier to carry. His one “flop” was he reverted to his Detroit strategy of just hoping the bullpen worked out. The closer he brought in (Corey Knebel) had a significant injury history that predictably recurred. This postseason, the team has been relying on Seranthony Dominguez, whose historically struggled in that role but is thriving right now. The Aaron Nola contract situation might be his first heavy contract. But this year DD was just a flat out smart GM who built an immediate winner without setting the team up for long term failure. I wish he was able to do that in Boston…

Bait taken. Beni gets on base. The Sox need players who do that…

The point you clearly missed was I was never pro-shift. I was just against outlawing defensive alignments and strategies. The shift is annoying, but I’d rather it went away by teams beating it…

And there isn’t a pencil sharpener in the world large enough to make a point that you can grasp…

I said I don’t like making rules to limit defensive alignments, and made a slippery slope point that guarding the lines shouldn’t be banned. Are you telling me your brain cell decided that was saying guarding the lines is the same as the shift? I was right; you’re first language really is Strawman…

Not hooked on Gallo, but I can acknowledge his Gold Glove skillet absolutely has its usefulness. The Sox outfield defense got far, far worse when they let JBJ go. Didn’t Jarren Duran teach you anything about outfield defense? He literally cost them games with his poor play. Next year, with no shift, defense will be at a premium. The best way now to stop the opposition is to supplement pitching with defense…

Yes but the shift versus right-handed hitters is less common and far, far less effective. It’s the lefties who will benefit the most…

The problem was Dombrowski left the Sox in a very bad position payroll wise. Had they kept him, they wouldn’t be better off now. You would just have to acknowledge DD was the GM who traded Betts. Or worse, didn’t trade Betts and let him walk for nothing…

Why worry about offense? With the shift being banned next year, defense is the premium. Hits, especially for LHH, will come much more readily just based on rule changes. So maybe putting Kike at SS and grabbing, for example, Kiermaier and Gallo/Duvall for RF to maximize defense and then also get increase in offense every team will experience anyway…

Syndergaard (2.2 fWAR) and Bassitt (2.7 fWAR) are not a marginal upgrade over Hill (1.8) and Wacha (1.5); they’rea 2 win upgrade based on last year. And if they can improve on their 300 IP ( likely as Thor only has 134), they could become a huge improvement. Kodai Senga should also be on the Sox radar… And that increase in IP only helps the bullpen as well…

Also don’t try to argue now that out was a compliment when you refuted that yourself three posts previous…

You might be the first person I’ve ever encountered whose first language is Strawman…

Whiffing on Schwarber was understandable. His best position is DH, and the Sox had a $19.4 mill solution already in place there. The only real possibility might have been if the Sox put Schwarber in LF, Verdugo in RF, Bradley in CF, and moved Kike to 2b and not signed Story. I’m not sure how much better that solution is. Any other alignment - especially one that involves keeping Renfroe - simply doesn’t work defensively…

Right. It’s one of those neutral references that people make when they want to make no point at all. The truly sad part is your denial. It’s actually OK for you to have not liked Schwarber and then like him now, even if it’s for only transparent reasons. It’s not even hypocritical…

Exactly. So why overcommit for one now? Bloom can always dig up someone like Nelson Cruz to grab a bat…