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I think we prefer he be a man on a remote island with a megaphone…

Exactly. Hope Sale can maybe reach 10-15 innings next season, Paxtonbounces back, Diekman stays away, Devers doesn’t. And Bogaerts returns, although I have my doubts…

Their record before the Vazquez trade wasn’t exactly stellar either…

No, I’m telling you there’s a difference in moving Alex Gordon to LF or moving Craig Biggio from catcher to 2b than from having Bobby Dalbec practice at 2b because his manager (per the article) wants depth, presumably just in case. It’s really not a big deal, but you are trying to make it one and make sure it’s the fault of the GM, who, as far as anyone else can tell, had nothing to do with it. This type of thing happens all the time. Did yo know Mookie still takes groundballs at 2b? In fact, he always has, even through all his years with the Sox. Peter Gammons actually asked him why, since Mookie had long established himself as an elite outfielder. Mookie gave an obvious answer. “In case I’m needed there.”

And with only 12 years and some $320 mill left on that contract. I bet they will try to move him this off-season. Try being the key word…

Seriously? The Dodgers - that other team run by an ex-Ray exec - have been utilizing the very Swiss Army knife strategy you criticize. For maybe the past 10 or 12 years, using players like Jamey Carroll, Justin Turner, Chris Taylor and Kike Hernandez and using them not only as regulars, but in several cases, turning them into All Stars. And as for players changing positions, I can promise you every team in MLB has a starter who started out playing another position. The best catcher in MLB? He used to be a shortstop. The most underrated shortstop in MLB? Used to be a catcher. Heck Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman? He started somewhere else too. Every team in MLB has players who do this. Every team..

The Rule 5 draft Carrie’s no risk but that doesn’t mean all successes are just luck…

The same talent evaluation that determined Bradley could bounce back also pegged the unprotected Whitlock in the Rule 5 draft (after several teams passed on him) and grabbed John Schreiber off the waiver wire. There’s been good and bad. Evaluate him off both…

Dalbec was in the Sox organization long before Bloom. And he did finish very strong last year, posting a .900 OPS from June 15 until the end of the year. They clearly don’t have any sort of deep infatuation with him, which is why they kept trying others (Shaw, Cordero, Vazquez) at the position and possibly just viewed him as a placeholder for Casas…

Philly is a possibility as well. Of course one of these teams might prefer the younger Correa…

Is that really Bloom’s philosophy? Others are complaining his philosophy is to acquire too many players who already play too many positions, like Marwin Gonzalez and Danny Santana, And Cora (like many managers) does constantly try players at new positions in games and presumably in practice. For example, in 2019, he played Christian Vazquez and Michael Chavis at 2b, with the total prior experience was the 7 games Chavis played there in the minors. And that was BEFORE Bloom was hired. But the bottom line is, there are 29 other teams doing the exact same type of thing and seeing the exact same types of failures and successes. The Sox did similar things under Dombrowski and Cherington and Epstein. But no one ever said anything about it. Not even when Bogaerts was trying out 3b for the first time during a pennant run. Probably because fans use the phrase “natural position” for players, be it where they played in college or what appears on their baseball card, and assume that’s their defensive limit. Cora and, well, every manager ever bases the player’s position(s) on some part of their skill set that makes them think they can handle the position. In this case, Dalbec has yet to appear ina single game at 2b and people are complaining. The article also said he was taking flyballs in the outfield. Why no complaints? I wouldn’t be surprised if Cora thought 1b was a bad match for Dalbec. His two biggest defensive assets are a very strong arm and surprising speed (he’s actually one of the fastest players on the team), neither of which is exploited at 1b. That they’re trying him out for an in-game emergency or just seeing if there’s another position where he’s a better defensive fit, these are both good things. Not to mention, so far it’s only been in practices…

McGuire is somewhat similar to off-season target Jacob Stallings with his good field-weak bat profile. Except McGuire is a bit more, well, athletic in appearance…

The Astros are not signing Bogaerts. They seem rather content with Jeremy Pena and have a few arb-eligible pitchers. I agree with dgalehouse in his market may not be as exciting as people expect, especially if he wants to stay at SS. Will the Twins go big at SS again? The Cubs are certainly a possibility. The Angels have too much money tied up elsewhere and really need to make a decision on Ohtani. Certainly an unexpected team can leap into the race. Who had Texas down for Seager and Semien in the MLBTR free agent contest last year? I bet even Seager didn’t. I suppose Baltimore might be ready to spend. Or any team opening a new stadium in 2023. (Is anyone?)

Apparently Cora just wanted him to be more versatile. Not like they want him to start there…

And Corey Seager didn’t mind one bit…

Bogaerts did something similar last time. He was one year away from free agency and took a below market deal…

So you’re saying teams have depth but not depth that can play baseball?

I keep hearing it’s an excuse and every team has them…

They’re agents with very specific foci will handle the negotiations. It will be about money and years and not winning and feelings…

So… more than Semien? Despite Semien being the better player as measured by fWAR?

The Sox were 39-37 in games started by Vazquez behind the plate this year. Of course, at one point, they were 3-6 in those games…

And Enmanuel Valdez is 23, making him nearly 3 1/2 years younger than the average age of the players in the International League…

Stork always adds 2 years to every Sox prospect’s age. No idea why. Maybe just trying to remove doubts about his adding ability?

They already offered Raffy the $21mill AAV and got rejected. They’re going to have to up it by quite a bit. I am sure abloom got some leeway based on the situation he walked into and whatever his goals are, but at some point, he will need a winner. And keeping Devers (or equivalent) is essential, and his farm should at some point make Devers more affordable by supplying minimum wage talent…

I’m assuming $150/6 for Bogaerts, $270/9 for Devers. $55mill in AAV total, bringing the team to $143mill. Is this unreasonable?