notin

I think no matter what they got, people would say it’s not enough…

And what is so special about it, besides adding extra 0’s to the dollar amount?

Because fans have been looking for reasons to not like Bloom since he was hired?

He has no track record of pursuing Hall of Talent?? Like he avoided drafting it? Or didn’t trade for it? Because we all know the Rays’ ownership was willing to meet those types of salary demands…

Do people think the Sox should have gotten back another future Hall of Famer for Betts?

Which Judge has been twice…

I don’t like to pretend I know who makes the decisions. I do find it easier to believe Whitlock to the rotation was Bloom, but moves like Arroyo to RF seem to fall more on Cora IMO. Same with using Houck to piggyback Hill. But I would never claim to know these things, so I can’t actually blame anyone for them…

I have too. We only differed on which of Houck or Whitlock should close. I preferred Houck in the 9th and Whitlock tackling the high leverage/best opposing hitters, the role Cora has basically handed to Schreiber (which makes his season even more remarkable)…

Even Carl Crawford was tradable…

Two OFs, 2b, C and DH. Internally OF is weak. I’ve suggested Nimmo and trading for Oakland’s Ramon Laureano. I wouldn’t mind both, but what Forst wants for Laureano will forever be a mystery. At least to me. C. Internally we have some intriguing backup types, including McGuire and Wong. They might work out. I’ve suggested a Barnes/McCann bad contract swap. I have faith NYM would do it, but less faith in it making the position a plus. 2b is a mystery, unless Bogaerts extends and pushes Story back. Internally the Sox have the fragile Arroyo and the defensively lackluster Enmanuel Valdez. Moving Duran back should be on the table, but probably isn’t. DH. If JD is offered a QO, he might accept. Not so sure I like this, as he simply is not the hitter he was 4 years ago. A cheap solution is a Valdez/Dalbec platoon. And maybe Casas at some point. (Hosmer has some internal value due to his salary, so he might hold 1b for a while.) There are probably a couple questionable contracts the Sox could move on as well, headlined by Jorge Soler.

Judge turned down 7 years $213mill from the Yankees. No idea what he wants, but his ag and injury history make that contract look questionable. So unless he’s holding out for less, pass. But if the Sox do add an OF via free agency, there is one guy they need to priorize IMO. A guy who fills a need that’s been missing since Betts and a guy who excels in one area the Sox have largely ignored for the past 6 years despite making it a foundation of their offense back in the early Henry era. Brandon Nimmo Not exciting, but Nimmo has one elite offensive skill. What does Brandon Nimmo do, fictional character played by Jonah Hill? “Gets in base.” The Sox have no high OBP leadoff guy. Nimmo is an OBP machine needed at the top of the order. He’s an average CF/RF type. And I don’t think should require a 7 year deal. I would expect something in between 3 yrs / $39mill and 4 yes / $56 mill. Not cheap, but not 7-8 years, either…

Next season’s rotation is a question mark. Headlined by Chris the Unreliable, along with Paxton, Pivetta, and then two from Whitlock, Winckowski and Crawford. Bello and Mata serve as the immediate depth. But Sale and Paxton both make depth more important. The Sox might add one MLB starter, say Manaea, and push, say, both Whitlock and Crawford to the bullpen along with Houck, Schreiber, Brasier, Taylor (hopefully) and Barnes (unfortunately). A few reliever arms are needed. Wondering if Barnes can be part of a bad contract swap. To me, two reasonable candidates are Cody Bellinger, whom the Dodgers might be wiser to simply non-tender, or James McCann. The Dodgers would probably not be on board, for the reason I stated. But I’ll include Bellinger because I can’t speak for Friedman. The Mets would definitely be on board, since McCann has 2 years and $24.4 mill left on his deal and has not worked out. He’s typically serviceable, but has an All Star appearance on his resume, so he’s not a total loss if the Sox get him….

If you are one of those who believes you can’t re-sign a player you traded away, then there is at least one positive to keeping Bogaerts at the deadline…

To me his biggest mistake was dismantling what could have been a decent bullpen instead of reacting to Sale’s injury once it was announced. If they started the year with Houck and Whitlock nailing down the 8th and ninth innings as needed, the team doesn’t start 10-19…

His previous injury came from a baseball struck by a bat. Sort of tough to protect him from those occupational hazards..,

This is too much. Maybe it’s time to just realize Ol’ Chris Sale is just suffering too much and needs to be put to sleep…

Yeah, but it looks more of a “hey we’ve never done it that way” type of not understanding than a “what the f*** is he doing?!?” type of not understanding. And it mentions no names, so what’s Henry thinking?

Ok I’m not seeing Elktonnick’s questioning of Bloom’s plans in the way he is implying. Now the headline alone gave me that same impression. The story, not so much…

Story isn’t a RH bat? Also - see Refsnyder above…

Bloom did add Refsnyder in the off-season and he’s been up with the parent club since early June…

Sadly the Sox best defensive OF alignment right now might be Pham in LF, Cordero in CF and Verdugo in RF. Not saying it’s a good alignment. But it’s probably their best. Duran can maybe platoon with Pham in LF until such time as a defensive replacement is needed…

I’d feel different if Sale was healthy and then signed and THEN got hurt. I don’t fault GMs for injuries (unless the player in question has a significant history that shouldn’t be ignored)…

The real problem is that he’s so fragile but also so important…

At some point upper management does acknowledge have over $100 mill and 4/5 of your rotation on the Injured List at once is a detriment. Losing Sale all year on its own has been a big factor…

I think Judge is moot. The Yankees are extremely unlikely to let him go…