Nick

Bloom on Duran in May...."He has chance to be a great player" Now he's a trade bait? I thought Bloom was the guy when it came to unearthing diamond in the rough.

I love your idea of strengthening our starting rotation. I would take chance on Syndergaard myself. It's like rebuilt engine. He'll return to his elite status. I think it's easier to project next year's lineup than going from 2020 to 2021 season. We got tons of answers this year. Devers....capable of winning MVP at some point. Kike....can play 2B, ideally he's our CF and leadoff batter. Renfroe....he's our every day RF. Arroyo....when he's healthy, he's a solid 2B or high value utility player. Dalbec...If I've been in comma and woke up yesterday, I'd say he's had a pretty good rookie year. Not great, but serviceable. Schwarber...he can hit. Knowing that we paid $22M for JD, it's easy to stomach whatever we have to pay to sign him, regardless of if JD opts out or not. Pivetta...not sure how much more upside he has but one of best pick up last off season. 3 more years of team control. Whitlock...whatever role he pitches in (hopefully a starter), best value for money spent. 5 more years of team control. Sawamura...two more years of team control, hopefully he'll have learned and gained experience in American baseball. Darwinzon...he has higher ceiling, you keep working with a lefty don't you? I would love to see the team go over the tax limit by $20M, especially knowing that Price money, JD money (if he stays) and Eovaldi money are coming off the books. Let's hope that players union won't retreat against the owners. I predict Eovaldi will be extended similar to Chris Sale and before Devers. He's becoming a pitcher, not just a thrower.

I think we're all in agreement. I want Schwarber reardless. We can have both if JD stays. He can opt out and we can always find a DH.

He's a big 'teaser'.....will the real E Rod stand up?

in essence he's taking a two year deal worth $8 per year. Why in the hell would he do that? What agent is going to tell him "you're sucking" so you should take $35/3 offer?

Yes, that's called tampering and that's definite no no.

who would pay more? just curious.

I get the sense we can match any team for services of Schwarber. Who would value him more as it stands now? (ie no DH in NL) I only say this because we paid JD $22M AAV as a DH. Not sure if any DH has come close to that figure. Even if we pay Schwarber $15M, that's savings of $7M for us.

As an IU grad, I'm Schwarber's biggest fan. He was a catcher and batted 2nd. His group elevated the baseball program at IU. I would love for us to extend him and let him work more at 1B during this winter/spring. More positions he can play adequately, better for the team. I suppose JD still thinks of himself as an outfielder so it's never crossed his mind to get a first baseman's glove.

I don't disagree.......we should always look to make the team better....

There will be time to reflect on what transpired in next 25 days or so in November. Yesterday's game is over and there's really no point in discussing it. Everyone here know what the issues are. We are what we are and we can't change it. We scored 10 runs yet still lost. It's becoming clearer by day having both JD and Schwarber in the lineup at the same time will hurt our defense. It appears Kike will be one of first to return. He will solidify our defense in CF. Added bat to what looks to be a run scoring unit will further enhance our ability to score. I'm waiting anxiously for Darwinzon to return. We need more depth, even if it's mediocre. We knew Sale would not win every single game regardless of who's fault it was. It just isn't going to happen. Toronto is surging and we have no answers for them since we won't face them again. All we can do is to win and stay ahead of them. We're starting what could arguably our best three starters as of now. Not sure exactly when it happened but the Rays are the best team in AL East. And maybe it's not even close.

Why does Cora continue to use Josh Taylor so early in the game? I think he does come in during high leverage situations but I'd like to see him pitch in later innings.

who is hurt?

Top 8 teams in AL are going up against each other. Let's see how much movement there is in three days.

Sox are third in runs scored with 699. Rays are at 733, leading the majors. I just can't get my head around that. When did they become run scoring machine? I thought they were all about pitching and defense.

Discussion on player move to majors. I've had arguments about when a player should leave college to join NBA when a NBA team tells you that you are being drafted. As an avid college basketball fan, my first inclination is always to say stay another year and develop your game. The counter argument is why not develop your game while you're making money? NBA teams have the best facility, best coaches and best trainers. Coach to player ratio is almost 1 to 1. Wouldn't you develop just as well if not better going up against professionals day in day out, watch and learn even if you're not playing? I was reading about Dalbec and how he is one of hardest working players on the team. Looking to improve his hitting. It's my contention that pitchers can work effectively on their craft in the minors better than the position players. If Dalbec is demoted, he's going up against inferior pitchers. They are not major league pitchers that he's already faced and struggled against. Look at Cordero. He continues to demolish AAA pitching. He's done it twice before. What is he working on exactly? A pitcher can throw a certain pitch throughout the outing and develop that third pitch as an example. His stats may not be pretty but the organization is cognizant of the fact that he's working on a certain pitch. You can't do that as a hitter. You can't tell the opposing pitcher to throw certain pitch that HE'S having trouble with and would like to work on. Sox did the right thing by keeping Dalbec with the parent club. He can work just as well at Fenway on his swings. I'm glad we kept him.

For all the talk about how the Red Sox should've acquired Anthony Rizzo at the trade deadline, Dalbec has badly outplayed his more hyped Yankees counterpart. In August, Dalbec hit .339 with seven homers, 21 RBIs, and a 1.205 OPS. Meanwhile, after a hot start in New York, Rizzo has cratered. He hit just .209 with two homers, 10 RBIs, and a .620 OPS in August, undone in part by 11 days on the COVID IL. I am a fan of Dalbec but I too joined in on the demotion bandwagon. Original goal was to hit him 9th and see what developed. As a rookie, he has not done poorly offensively. We're always talking about developing talent internally and get some cheap years out of our players. Well Dalbec fits that mode. Under current rules, he's under team control for five more years and two more years before arbitration eligible. Until Casas comes up and demonstrates that he can hit major league pitching, Dalbec belongs with the parent club. He can even platoon at 1B, maybe DH a little and relieve Devers at 3B. That is unless he becomes an every day player.

I changed my mind....it makes sense to pitch Sale on 9/28 so he can pitch the last game of the season if needed. Otherwise he can get an extra day of rest for the Wild Card game. Good call, Moon.

Of course whole thing can become moot overnight if COVID strikes.

No way Sale can pitch 6 games. He won't be available to start the WildCard Game. His 6th start will come on the last day of regular season. Now it's possible we may need to win that game to get into the playoffs. We'll have a better idea after the Yankees series.

9.06 Sale (Rays) 9.07 E Rod (Rays) 9.08 Eovaldi (Rays) 9.09 off day 9.10 Houck (@White Sox) 9.11 Sale (@White Sox) 9.12 E Rod (@White Sox) 9.13 Eovaldi (@Mariners) 9.14 Seabold (@Mariners) 9.15 Houck (@Mariners) 9.16 off day 9.17 Sale (Orioles) 9.18 E Rod (Orioles) 9.19 Eovaldi (Orioles) 9.20 off day 9.21 Houck (Mets) 9.22 Sale (Mets) 9.23 off day 9.24 Pivetta (Yankees) 9.25 E Rod (Yankees) 9.26 Eovaldi (Yankees) 9.27 off day 9.28 Houck (@Orioles) 9.29 Sale (@Orioles) 9.30 Pivetta (@Orioles) 10.01 E Rod (@Nationals) 10.02 Eovaldi (@Nationals) 10.03 Houck (@Nationals) I think pitching Sale on 29th works out better for the rotation of remaining games. Otherwise you need to bring up a pitcher to start one of the games at the end.

Good Idea Moon. I didn't really have time to think it out. No way he goes 9 days without pitching as I have it.

Possible starters 9.06 Sale (Rays) 9.07 E Rod (Rays) 9.08 Eovaldi (Rays) 9.09 off day 9.10 Houck (@White Sox) 9.11 Sale (@White Sox) 9.12 E Rod (@White Sox) 9.13 Eovaldi (@Mariners) 9.14 Seabold (@Mariners) 9.15 Houck (@Mariners) 9.16 off day 9.17 Sale (Orioles) 9.18 E Rod (Orioles) 9.19 Eovaldi (Orioles) 9.20 off day 9.21 Houck (Mets) 9.22 Pivetta (Mets) 9.23 off day 9.24 Sale (Yankees) 9.25 E Rod (Yankees) 9.26 Eovaldi (Yankees) 9.27 off day 9.28 Houck (@Orioles) 9.29 Pivetta (@Orioles) 9.30 E Rod (@Orioles) 10.01 Eovaldi (@Nationals) 10.02 Houck (@Nationals) 10.03 Pivetta (@Nationals) I suppose you try not to use Sale if you can and save him for the wildcard.

It's time to quit pussyfooting around. Quit babying Chris Freakin' Sale. Starting pitching for Rays series should line up as Sale, E Rod and Eovaldi, all on 4 days rest. Or do they all need a day off, Cora?

Remaining Games Sox (11 Home, 12 Away) Home 3 vs Rays 3 vs Orioles 3 vs Yankees 2 vs Mets Away 3 @ Orioles 3 @ White Sox 3 @ Mariners 3 @ Nationals Yankees (13 Home, 12 Away) Home 4 vs Blue Jays 3 vs Rays 3 vs Guardians 3 vs Twins Away 3 @ Blue Jays 3 @ Red Sox 3 @ Mets 3 @ Orioles Toronto (12 Home, 15 Away) Home 3 vs Yankees 3 vs Rays 3 vs Orioles 3 vs Twins Away 4 @ Yankees 3 @ Rays 4 @ Orioles 4 @ Twins Sox only have 6 games vs AL East contenders. Yankees play 13 games vs AL East contenders. Blue Jays play 13 games vs Al East contenders.