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It's actually possible that, as a team up against the tax limits, Bloom wanted to know what the parameters of the new CBA were before signing anyone. Detroit has no such worries...

There is a very good (roughly 100%) chance you're reading way too much into this. One thing I have learned over the years of watching baseball - while players do occasionally leave teams because they want off that particular team, it's nowhere near as common as fans think. I've seen players sign with teams they had on-field brawls with the season before. Signing with a new team is almost always about 1 of 2 things - years and/or money. Bottom line with ERod is, Boston probably did not match Detroit on both...

Replacing ERod with Houck/Whitlock is already a step down. Not sure why people think replacing him with either of two pitchers who have never thrown 6 innings before is such a lock…

Archie Bradley and Lou Trivino?

Taylor rejected his QO...

I think the logic is easy. Both are outstanding relief pitchers and unknown commodities as starters. It doesn't strike me as being all that difficult to believe, Especially given how important the bullpen is rapidly becoming...

Can someone dazzle me with the appeal of Matz?

Not to mention the notion that we have to keep all of our good prospects out of trade consideration is very counterproductive. The very ones we want to keep are the ones most teams will want. And in the long run, some of them are going to suck. But sometimes prospects are like cryptocurrencies. Deal them when you think they're at the most valuable, and then let someone else HODL...

but more likely he will be traded...

I'm not sure sure. The Tigers ranked 30th out of 30 in team UZR and UZR/150 last year. The Sox actually ranked 11th. The Tigers ranked 29th in DRS. The Sox ranked 19th...

I would venture that not all of them are future conrnerstones. Now, Castillo might be one. If the Sox can get Luis Castillo for Houck and Duran, it's probably a wise move. Houck is good, but Castillo is better....

To be fair to him in Philly, he inherited a few good relievers that have just struggled to stay healthy...

The Sox didn't finish in last place in 5 of 6 seasons. They finished in last place in 4 of 9 seasons...

Maybe Bloom did match it. His agent would be negligent to not ask around unless for some reason no human will ever fathom, ERod wanted to go to Detroit...

I think Noah Song and his 0 professional career IP might not jump into the rotation as quickly as many would like...

Yes. Next question...

The funny thing about the deal moving Miley was Dombrowski came to Boston with a well-deserved reputation for ignoring the bullpen. But three of his first moves with his new team were to acquire relief pitchers (Smith, Kimbrel and Tyler Thornburg), twp of which were actually complete flops. I was starting to understand why he ignored bullpens so much...

It was 100% about the money. Wade Miley was only in Boston for one year, and while he was actually pretty good, he was then turned and dealt for a reliever who gave the Sox 23 ineffective innings over the next 3 seasons. I actually liked that trade at the time, but it turned out to be a disaster in hindsight. Miley gave the Sox 193 unappreciated innings with a 3.81 FIP and was credited with 2.7 fWAR and 2.3 bWAR. Although maybe his personality was a problem, since I once heard Joe Castiglione strongly hint that he was an insufferable *******...

The "cliff theory" is based on how good a team can continually be if there are numerous aging players making millions upon millions while declining and no minimum wage players coming up to pick up the slack. For all the annoyance the occasional reset brings, even during those years the Sox are still among the highest spenders in the league. Heck, the Sox have not splurged on a major free agent acquisition since JD Martinez, and yet they are STILL among the league's top spenders...

70, I believe

Agreed. I'm sure there are other candidates we are not even thinking of, but some of the pitchers in Oakland are certainly going to be moved somewhere. The rotation will likely be Sale, Eovaldi, Pivetta, Whitlock, and someone acquired via trade. (There are not ordered, and I am not saying it will be a #5 starter)...

The 2011 team was highlighted by the offseason acquisitions of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. Neither lasted 2 seasons in Boston and were part of the horrific collapse that September for a team that was 83-52 on August 31st with a 1.5 game lead in the AL East and then concluded the year by going 7-20 in the final month. And even by 7-20 standards, it was still ugly. Both Crawford and Gonzalez were dealt less than 1 year later along with Josh Beckett and (for some reason) Nick Punto for a package that included no major league talent better than James Loney. But somehow, it still worked because they won a title 4 months later...

Yes on Rodon, but no on Gausman and Stroman. Losing ERod is obviously a big loss that the Sox are going to need to fill. It's still possible (likely?) that this need is not filled via free agency, however. I would have liked ERod back, but I do have faith that the Sox are not going to simply stand pat on the pitching market. If last season is any indication, Bloom will make some moves that just look flat out stupid but will pan out better than expected...

It also requires financial flexibility and the ability to make key changes. Look at the run the Yankees made from 1996 through 2001 - a stretch of only 6 seasons. The only players there for all six years were Jeter, Bernie, Tino, Posada, Pettitte and Rivera. Only six seasons, but only two pitchers were there. That 1996 team had Kenny Rogers and Jimmy Key as the pitchers behind Pettitte. They had Rivera, but he wasn’t the closer. The rest of the team turned over a lot and turned over a lot. They also maintained the highest payroll in MLB to make that success happen, and were carried by a bunch of farm system players. They didn’t bring in anyone on any sort of crazy 7 year $200 mill contract and watch them age out of usefulness. But they had the guts/brains to sell high on David Wells, held on to their younger players and rearranged a lot of seats. The 2018 Red Sox were never in a position to replicate that. It’s not just about “hard work.” No amount of diligence from DD was going to keep Price effective, and no amount was going to lower his costs or increase their flexibility. “Sustainability” is not a buzzword; it’s a plan.

That depends on whether or not you acknowledge 2020 ever happening. Obviously it’s pure speculation, but do you think this team would be better off right now with Dombrowski still in charge or worse off?