Nick

Are we all not saying the same thing? Screw the job titles. DD became head of day to day baseball operations, the job Ben had. I don't blame Ben for leaving. My only point was I tend to think Henry is a good owner and I'll live with his decision making when it comes to hiring of his direct report. I'm assuming head of baseball operations has to answer to the ownership group.

But the point was DD became head of baseball operations, supplanting Cherington. Cherington was going to be DD's errand boy.

3 last places in 4 years. Henry signed off on DD hire. He's the best owner we've had. I trust his judgement.

Good question. I'd like for Bloom to have flexibility in coming years and not become bloated with long term contracts that go south. It's unfortunate but we can get a quality major league player with Dustin's $13M contract. Bloom has to stay away from non performing contracts. Not sure how you do that.

Per MassLive...Exciting Stuff Red Sox rumors: Boston could sign ‘a couple of free agent pitchers’ this winter; Trevor Bauer, Marcus Stroman, Taijuan Walker among top options (report) The Red Sox “have the money to sign a couple of free-agent pitchers” this winter, according to Peter Gammons of The Athletic. Gammons also notes that top pitching prospect Bryan Mata could make the major-league rotation by June. Boston’s rotation is in a little bit of flux heading into 2021, as lefties Chris Sale (Tommy John surgery) and Eduardo Rodriguez (heart ailment caused by COVID-19) might not be ready for Opening Day. Righty Nathan Eovaldi and lefty Martin Perez are expected to be back, and righties Tanner Houck and Nick Pivetta have each impressed in their first outings with the club. Though the club’s internal options do have promise, it’s likely chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom looks to add proven arms via free agency or trade before Opening Day. Earlier this month, Bloom said the club would be aggressive in its search for pitching. “I think we have to be,” Bloom said on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show.. “I don’t say that to disrespect anybody that we have, but clearly, you look at the results and you look at how it has gone, and it’s not something you can have if you expect to have a winning season. There’s no question. I don’t think I’m breaking news by saying that.” On the free-agent market, there is one clear high-end option -- Reds righty Trevor Bauer -- followed by a list of arms that are less attractive for various reasons. Marcus Stroman, Taijuan Walker, Masahiro Tanaka, Mike Minor, Robbie Ray, Jake Odorizzi, James Paxton and Cole Hamels will all be available, but virtually all of them dealt with injuries or struggles in 2020. According to Gammons, the Red Sox have high hopes for Mata, who has impressed club decision-makers with a strong summer at the alternate training site in Pawtucket. “Their best pitching prospect, 21-year old Bryan Mata, was consistently 97-99 mph in Pawtucket, and if he continues to improve his command, might be in the rotation by June,” Gammons wrote. “In addition, coming off Tommy John surgery, one of the most impressive pitchers in their alternate site was another former first-rounder, Jason Groome, whose velocity crept back into the mid-90s with his Max Fried-esque curveball and athletic delivery, and who is now a mid-2022 hope with a high ceiling.” Related links: Boston Red Sox will be aggressive in search for pitching this winter, Chaim Bloom says: ‘I don’t think I’m breaking news by saying that Nick Pivetta, Tanner Houck showing early signs that Boston Red Sox rotation could bounce back quickly in 2021

Good stuff Moon... I think the day is here that no starting pitcher should complain to the team about having plethora of starting pitchers... Can you imagine Eovaldi complaining "hey want to be traded to a team that has less starting pitchers". Sox..."Shut the f*** up. It's because of guys like you that we have to carry 7 starters. We're paying you $17M to be the insurance policy. And why do you care? We're prolonging your career." Don't worry, I'm not giving up my day job for writing novels.

Bloom will be freakin' trading genius.

I think we need to separate Sale's contract with the White Sox that Sox assumed and the new one he just signed. Signing both Pablito and HRam was unnecessary. One was okay but not both. I think all of us knew that back years of Price contract was in jeopardy from get go. He got massive amount of money for projected 4 years of production spread over 7 years. I thought Eovaldi's contract was reasonable, assuming he stayed healthy. Bad assumption I guess. Not knowing anything about pitching, I wonder why it's so difficult for starters to pitch 200 innings.

More likely that Sox had many top prospects that didn't pan out. Our 7th pick, Trey Ball for example. You need a major league player when drafting that high. Let's see how Bloom does with next year's 1st round pick. I like the guy. Kimmi, will he be another Theo?

I'm good with 3 first place finishes and a World Championship on the heels of 3 out of 4 last place finishes. Name names...what superstars did he trade away?

At the right price....not worth $10M/year on this team...

This is absolutely correct. Moon thinks Madison Bumgarner saved the team 100 innings worth of worn arms. Well I disagree. What happened was Bumgarner took away opportunity from another player posting a positive WAR for those 100 innings.

I agree on small sample size....but better than getting hammered or walking every other batter as some of our past 'top prospects' have done. And doing it against Yankees is very nice.

Bloom is high on Nick Pivetta...delaying his major league debut pushed back his FA to 2025. He’s a big, physical, power pitcher,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said Aug. 21. “He’s got a really good fastball. Good breaking ball. He also has a changeup. A guy that’s shown the ability to carry a starter’s workload. And a lot of the underlying traits there have shown the potential for a lot more success than he’s enjoyed in terms of his results. Again, power pitcher that we think should be capable of holding down a rotation spot. Really feel like he’s a good fit going forward and that we’ve got a chance to help him reach a level he has not yet in his career despite his big stuff.” It appears he trades away guys with limited upside for younger guys with more upside than shown. A good trader.

Why waste an expensive acquisition's first year deal on a mediocre team? Do you have someone in mind that you want to give a 5-7 deal to at the end of this year? Name a free agent that will get us over the hump? Just curious Moon.

2021 is not the year a big deal would put us over the top. Our current team has gaping holes not dissimilar to swiss cheese.

$16M and $9M are very reasonable Moon. I'm talking about signing guys for $25M+; that I'm not in favor.

If Eovaldi is having a good year, we trade him next year. Keep churning Bloom until the deck is full. Then strike. Not ready to strike yet.

The problem with spending every bit of cap space in 2021 is hindering Sox from signing players post 2021. It has to be the right mix. Devers and others will start to cost more in near future. I just don't see us being competitive next year based on this year's performance. Sure we'll be better. But how much better? Good enough to compete for a playoff spot better?

Move on from veterans such as JBJ. I too rather see someone fresh, young such as Duran. I want to see his speed.

To base next year's draft order on two year average makes absolute no sense. Teams with bad record from 2019 ALREADY benefited from having a bad record. Why would you reward them second season in a row by combining team's ineptitude from 2019? MassLive The Boston Red Sox dropped to 18-32 (.360 winning percentage) with an 8-4 loss to the Marlins on Wednesday. Only 10 games remain in this shortened 60-game season. The Sox are on pace to finish with 21.6 wins, which would put them near the bottom of the MLB standings. The Pittsburgh Pirates at 14-34 (.292 winning percentage) are the frontrunners to finish with MLB’s worst record. Boston has played better baseball recently. It is 6-5 in its past 11 games, and 12-14 in its past 26 games. But the Red Sox still have the second worst winning percentage in the majors, which is a positive looking ahead to the 2021 MLB Draft. Two potential frontline starters sit at the top of the draft board. Vanderbilt righty Kumar Rocker is projected to go No. 1 overall. Jack Leiter, another righty from Vanderbilt and the son of former major league pitcher Al Leiter, is projected to go No. 2 overall. The order of the MLB Draft in a normal year is determined by reverse standings. The team with the worst record the previous season receives the No. 1 pick. The team with the second worst record receives the No. 2 pick. But commissioner Rob Manfred has the ability to modify the 2021 MLB Draft order because the 2020 season is fewer than 81 games. As readers have pointed out to me on Twitter recently, if a 60-game season is enough to crown a World Series champion, then it should be enough to determine draft order. That’s a good point. Best-case scenario for the Red Sox is to lose as many of their final 10 games as possible, finish with a bottom two record and hope Manfred decides to use the 2020 reverse standings to determine draft order. Baseball America reported Aug. 31, “Sources believe nothing will change in terms of how the draft order is determined." But MLB Pipeline’s Jonathan Mayo wrote Wednesday, “We don’t really know what the 2021 Draft order is going to look like, but we expect it to be some kind of combination/hybrid of the 2019 and 2020 season records.” Mayo speculated MLB either combining each team’s record from 2019-20 or giving “equal weight to both seasons in a 50-50 split.” Mayo further explained, “Teams who have surprisingly done well or poorly this year move down or up more in the 50-50 system, pushing a team like the Padres down seven spots or a team like the Red Sox up five.” The Red Sox were in position as of Wednesday to draft 14th by combining the 2019-20 records or ninth in a 50-50 system, Mayo pointed out. Worst winning percentages in MLB this season: Pirates: 14-34 (.292 winning percentage) Red Sox 18-32 (.360 winning percentage) Rangers 18-31 (.367 winning percentage) Diamondbacks 19-31 (.380 winning percentage) Nationals 18-29 (.383 winning percentage) Angels 20-30 (.400 winning percentage) Royals 21-29 (.420 winning percentage)

Any thoughts on where the CBA Agreement will land after the 2021 season? Both sides claiming COVID of 2020 has put their side on lower financial spectrum. Who'll have better arguement?

You trade a player when his value can't get much higher, that's Verdugo and Devers. If you can get two ace potential pitchers with team control, then you have to consider it. Fastest way to rebuild is through pitching. Just don't sign some 33 year has been to a 7 year deal. That will kill this team again. Learn from mistakes. Pay little more if you have to but limit the length of contracts. You can and should walk away from any deal you're uncomfortable with. Best deal sometime is the one you don't make. But right now, we need more major league talent than anything else. Not sure getting an ace for next year at a significant loss at another position is a good thing at this point. We need to solidify the 40 man roster through small deals and small free agent signings. We're nowhere close to being a playoff contender. I don't expect Chris Sale to return to100% health until 2022.

I'm sure that was the plan all along....smart move by Bloom

it's always about the value you get back....Yeah, I would take 2 Devers for 1 of our own....I'll fall in love with the new Devers