Nick

With starters basically trying to pitch 5 innings, shouldn't we have one more long reliever that can pitch multiple innings? I know we have two right now but to me Houck should be the third. Get couple of innings out of long relievers and get us to the eight inning. That would give us six pitchers left for two innings.

Gee, I sarcastically said maybe we needed 14 pitchers after all and all the hell breaks loose.....it was lightheartedly mentioned guys....we're 6-3 after losing to horrendous Orioles 3 straight at home....life is good.... I do have question for baseball guys...... How taxing is it to pitch back to back days for one inning? Say 20-30 pitches each day. Do you need two days of rest or three after that? Is it about the pitch count or number of times you get up in the pen?

Now I see why we need 14 pitchers. Do we have anyone that can be sent down in order to bring up fresh arms then bring him back up again?

Valdez had not walked a batter previously. 2 walks and 2 wild pitches today. Ugh...

Apparently spring training was over rated for JD...

Pivetta is another one that needs to experience success....sixth inning was fine but I'd pull him after one base runner. I know Cora is trying to save his pen, but...... Let him allow one baserunner, take him out, at most he's charged with one more run....

Good news is our bats will warm up OPS-PA JD 1.335 32 Vaz 1.176 31 Cordero .824 17 Xander .770 30 Devers 767 31 Kevin .664 11 Marwin .617 30 Kike .614 36 Verdugo .571 32 Arroyo .550 20 Renfro .361 20 Dalbec .269 23 Team .741 7th in AL

And someone said our pen was piece of crap....

Per MLB.com Domingo Germán was one of the Yankees’ most dominant pitchers this spring, breezily outpacing his competition for a rotation spot. His first seven innings of the regular season have not been as impressive, and after watching another two homers leave the yard on Saturday, the right-hander was optioned to the club’s alternate site. Continuing a homer-prone trend that dates back to 2019, Germán surrendered long balls to Austin Meadows and Randy Arozarena, lasting four innings in his second start since returning from suspension. The Yankees’ bats offered no support, held silent by six Rays hurlers during a 4-0 loss on Saturday afternoon at Tropicana Field Talk about a quick hook...He had been slotted as #3 starter...

He's got size, pretty athletic....think he'll be decent defender....it's way early..

Nice win....thought Cora did a good job pulling Richards after fifth inning with 3-2 lead. Why give struggling pitcher more rope to hang himself? Get his confidence up. Good job by Barnes shutting down Orioles in 9th and Andriese in 10th. I would love to see Whitlock get chance to pitch in later innings. My only concern right now is Dalbec. He's struggling at the plate.

Yep, Cora's his coach, not his buddy. Do what's best for Sox, not for his buddy.

Really good move by Cora to take out Richards. He gave us quality start and the lead 3-2. No point in ruining his day. I like the move. Let's see if Darwinzon can locate the home plate.

The guy is NOT ready. Starts out second inning with four straight balls....... I rather watch our young guys....hope we don't give this guy a long leash if he stumbles. Just not ready to start the year.....had a horrible spring training.

Per MLB.COM Tanner Houck, RHP, Red Sox Key stat: +2.2 mph of fastball velocity, +2 inches of slider movement Houck is currently at the Red Sox's alternate training site because they needed roster flexibility, but the 24-year-old's pitching during Opening Week was more than big league-caliber -- he has 10 strikeouts in six innings so far in 2021. Boston's No. 7 prospect per MLB Pipeline was nasty in his brief debut stint in 2020, too, but his stuff got even better. Houck is throwing 2 mph harder in '21 than he did in '20 -- his four-seam velo has jumped from 92.8 mph to 94.6, and his sinker velo has jumped from 90.9 mph to 93.7, giving him an overall velocity spike of +2.2 mph. Houck's wipeout, crossfire slider is moving even more, with his average horizontal break up to 15.9 inches from 13.9 in 2020. That break is a huge +9.2 inches above average, when you compare Houck's slider to similar ones based on velocity and release point. And Houck is getting the most out of it, throwing his slider 42% of the time so far, his most-used pitch type. With that stuff, he'll be back soon. Sure looks like he's first one up if someone falters.

It's way early but if our starters can give us quality starts we're right there......thank you Mr. Obvious.....Moon I'm talking to myself, not you...

According to Penn National Gaming study, it's estimated that Sox ranked third in lost gate revenue during 2020, little over $175M. But if you look at Cot's, Sox player payroll data, opening day payroll in 2020 was around $74M. That's $160M less than 2019 figure. I have no idea lost revenue from concession, gift shop etc . Strictly based on gate, Sox only suffered net $15M loss in 2020. (based on gate revenue vs player payroll) Unless the fan attendance is ramped up from current 12% capacity, Sox stands to lose more money in 2021 because Sox is paying for full year's salary this time around ($180M). Gate revenue at 12% capacity is only $22M, creating a loss of $160M in 2021 vs $15M in 2020. Ouch.

Mookie was traded because Sox knew he was leaving. It would have been a monumental mistake not to trade him at that point. If you were my GM and kept Betts, I would have fired your ass. By the way, David Price is pitching out of bullpen while collecting $16M each from the Dodgers and the Red Sox. We made the right call. Not unlike marriage, sometimes one spouse wants to leave and that was Betts.

Good year out of Codero, Renfroe and Dalbec will help the money crunch coming up. I still don't think we need major upgrade to our offense. Defense? Can't have it all. Just look at our 2B-SS-3B.

Nice win by Rays over the Yankees. Kluber and Richards, racing to the bottom of ocean.

I've never been a big fan of Barnes but maybe he's figured something out. Always thought his command of strike zone was inconsistent and little soft mentally. With Ottavino probably gone, this is why it's critical for Bloom to develop young arms. We can then spend money elsewhere. I had forgotten about JD's money. If we're going for it, you need a top line pitcher to go along hopefully with Sale, I think we move our chips in it next year. Sign free agents and retain our young prospects.

I know that it's way too early, but I would've been pissed to see JBJ ($12M) and Beni ($5M) in center and left for the Sox. It was definitely time to move on.

Again, our current offense will score runs. We'll have Duran, Downs and Casas coming up. We have plenty of corner position players. With the $45M (Ottavino, Perez, E Rod, Richards and Pedey monies), my preference is to re-sign E Rod and get a #1 ace this off season. Again we'll score enough runs with what we have and what we have coming up. It may cost us $50-$55M to add a big name pitcher plus E Rod. Eovalid and his $17M plus Price's $16M will come off the books for 2023 season. I don't see Xander optiing out, just my opinion.

The team is set for 2021. Couple of things. According to Cot's, JD had two opt years after 2019 and 2020, not 2021. He can't opt out. I trust Cot's. JD's cost is already baked in for 2021 and we're still below the cap. There's no point in doing anything with JD. We need a DH and he's here for two years. We've thrown much mud on the wall...the biggest one being Richards' $10M deal. Let's hope some of it stick and bring some clarity to the future. There's $23M available between contracts of Ottavino, Richards and Perez in addition to $13.75M from Pedey's contract expiring after this year. That's $37M along with another $8.3M from E Rod's contract, bringing the total to about $45M. We should be able to extend E Rod and acquire another top line, proven pitcher for $45M. Matt Barnes can be retained to be our closer. Incremental free agent cost for Barnes will be $5M or less. (to what he's making). Sale, E Rod, Eovaldi, Pivetta, $20M guy, Whitlock and Houck should be formidable rotation for 2022. Two of them can be jettisoned to the bullpen. Our bats may not need much of an upgrade for 2022. We're 4-3, a half of game up on Yankees. Life is good.

Another clean outing by Rule 5 Whitlock. 2 IP, 3 K, 0 H, 0 BB. He's going to be my favorite pitcher Because we got him from the Yankees for almost nothing...something like $25K... And we'll have six years of team control. He will start for us at some point this year. Book it.