Nick

If they hire me to run the team, I will turn into DD when it comes to FA. No doubters, overpay them if you must. I will get the starting pitchers I need. That is my mandate, pretty similar to the one DD got when he was hired on the heels of 3 last place finishes in 4 years.

I'm just not freaking out over prospect of losing Verdugo. His value right now is at all time high. He may garner a $10M Arbitration 3 figure. I really like Abreu to take his spot. Remember that everyone here thought no way in hell can Verdugo play right field. Funny how that works. (I don't see how Duran as an example can not get better) From gathering "core group" to go get the next World Series title, Abreu makes more sense to me. CC Wong, 5 years CC McGuire, 2 years 1B Casas, 5 years 2B Reyes, 4 years SS Story, 5 years (including option) 3B Devers, 10 years LF Abreu, 6 years CF Duran, 5 years RF Rafaela, 6 years DH Yoshida, 4 years By all means, sign Duvall and Turner to supplant the core group above, even STARTING them over our youngsters. My point is we have a core group going forward with good team controlled years ahead. The goal for new GM obviously is to UPGRADE these guys when someone better is available. I am NOT MARRIED TO THE GUYS ON MY CORE LIST. IT'S MERELY A STARTING POINT. I THINK IT'S A PRETTY GOOD ONE FROM THE STANDPOINT OF TEAM CONTROLLED YEARS. Now go get some starting pitching.

DD made the right call. He decided hot shot Moncada was expendable because of Devers. One of best trades we made to get Sale. The extension of Sale was the problem in hindsight. Sale does have two more years to redeem himself. I think Sox will pick up his option in 2025 assuming he stays healthy all of 2024. Big if I know.

Duran has 5 years to Verdugo's 1.

It's a good starting point. Jansen has another year left so he's our closer for next year. I would pencil in Pivetta, Winckowski, Crawford and Bernardino on the roster for pitching.

Stick him in left field. He has athleticism to get better defensively, unlike Yoshida.

AMOUNT UNDER THE CAP FOR 2024 $103M LA Dodgers $ 80M Atlanta Braves $ 70M Houston Astros $ 80M Boston Red Sox $ 40M NY Yankees $215M Baltimore Orioles $ 96M Toronto Blue Jays I don't list Tampa because they won't spend money. This is what we're up against. We will need to break the first threashhold to keep up with the Jones. Good luck. And this is why we don't sign players such as Paxton. Bundle the money and spend it on QUALITY, HEALTHY PLAYERS. ps. Yankees are in bad shape.

Geez, it's all about business. It took Verdugo's fifth, team controlled year to finally be productive, offensively and defensively. Negative is whatever it is that Cora always has to set him down for a fireside chat. I'm going to ignore that aspect. I don't see much of drop off playing Abreu. He can hit. He sees the ball, he puts the barrel to the ball. Some guys just do that..... He is under team control for six years beginning in 2024. In theory, he has four years and in his fifth year to match Verdugo's stats from this year, mostly at a minimum wage. Use the savings towards PITCHING. That is what is all about with the Sox right now. SHIFT THE f***ING FUNDS TO PITCHING, PITCHING, PITCHING. We've already saved $10M by getting rid of a narcissist. That money will help pay for Devers new contract.

Why would we want Paxton? He ended up on the injured list. He is broken down. This is what Sox needs to get away from. Sign healthy players.

Neither was Verdugo in right. You do realize Duran has the athleticism to get better? Unlike Yoshida?

Can you imagine how bad this team would have been without Turner? Nice job by DD signing him.

I don't see him effective in 2025. We'll have Yoshida to DH. So essentially you want to pay him $25M+ for one year of service?

Anything is possible but it's hard for me to imagine a player that was drafted in the summer of 2023 to make the team on April 2024. I expect him to be a September call up at best.

How much more can Turner get with another club? He's 38, ready to break down at any moment. Nothing worse than being bad and collecting paycheck. I don't think that's Turner's MO. He loves Boston. I think he'll opt in.

Possible starting lineup? CF Duran/Rafaela 3B Devers DH Turner/Yoshida 1B Casas/Turner RF Abreu/Rafaela LF Yoshida/Refsnyder SS Story/Reyes CC Wong/McGuire 2B Rafaela (this was brought up by Cora, not me)/Reyes/Urias OK, that's 14

I would trade Verdugo and see what we can get this winter before committing to extending him. Our goal is to be in the playoffs annually starting in 2024. He should be replaced. I don't see much more upside from him to warrant a big contract.

The mission is clear. Sign 2 quality pitchers better than Bello. What is so hard about that? WE ARE BIG MARKET TEAM. Many posters here I haven't seen in awhile. Maybe we should have reminded John Henry and not blame all on Bloom.

* Bloom was ripped for not re-signing Xander Bogaerts last winter and there were times, especially before the 2022 season, that the sides likely could have come to terms on a reasonable deal. But I’d bet the decision to let Bogaerts walk will ultimately be one of Bloom’s best calls during his tenure. Bogaerts was the consummate professional and did just about everything right in a Red Sox uniform, both on and off the field. But the numbers this year (.764 OPS) and his imminent move off shortstop tell a major part of the story. ESPN’s Jeff Passan noted on a radio appearance Thursday that many teams in baseball view Bogaerts’ 11-year-, $280 million deal with the Padres as underwater already. I’ll do one better: within minutes of news of Bogaerts’ agreement going public, a Red Sox-connected person texted that it was “the worst contract in baseball.” Kudos to Bloom for not letting emotion take over on tha tone. A poster on this board is always defending Xander. Pointing out his fWar or some number. The bottom line is .764 OPS on a 11 year, $280M deal is not good in my book. I don't care what positives anyone points out. Bad contract. Only 10 years to go.

Well Bloom has repeatedly said that Sox did not have a team around Betts when he was traded. Our pitching staff on paper was very good heading into 2019 season. The the bottom fell out. Not sure I would blame that season on Bloom. It takes two to tangle and my perception will ALWAYS be that Betts wanted a new partner. He got a good one, I might add.

Baseball America ranked Boston’s minor league system No. 30 (dead last) in 2019, before Bloom was hired. BA ranked the Red Sox No. 5 in its 2023 midseason organizational rankings and wrote, “The Red Sox are stocked with up-the-middle talent, as all of their top 10 positional prospects play in the middle infield, center field or catcher. This current cache of prospect depth is likely Chaim Bloom’s greatest achievement during his time in Boston.Twenty-one of the prospects on Baseball America’s Red Sox Top 30 list are players Bloom either drafted, signed or acquired via trade. The other nine are holdovers from Dave Dombrowski’s tenure. Bloom’s prospects: Marcelo Mayer (1), Roman Anthony (2), Miguel Bleis (3), Kyle Teel (4), Nick Yorke (5), Shane Drohan (9), Nathan Hickey (10), Yoeilin Cespedes (12), Nazzan Zanetello (13), Chase Meidroth (14), Blaze Jordan (15), Enmanuel Valdez (17), Antonio Anderson (18), Mikey Romero (19), David Hamilton (22), Johanfran Garcia (23), Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz (24), Brooks Brannon (25), Wilyer Abreu (26), Yordanny Monegro (29), Hunter Dobbins (30). Dombrowski’s prospects: Ceddanne Rafaela (6), Luis Perales (7), Wikelman Gonzalez (8), Brainer Bonaci (11), Eddinson Paulino (16), Brandon Walter (20), Chris Murphy (21), Allan Castro (27), Angel Bastardo (28). I really did think he'd get one more year......

I am more interested in bundling $5-$10M contracts and signing a higher level free agents. Sure there are some risks. I think one thing Bloom has done is take care of team controlled position players. New GM obviously has to address our starting pitching.

Sept. 11: LHP Chris Sale pushed back a couple of days After Sale's latest sluggish outing since coming off the injured list, the Red Sox have decided to give him two extra days of rest. Rather than pitching on Thursday against the Yankees, Sale is slated to start in Toronto on Saturday. In six starts since his return to action on Aug. 11, Sale is 1-2 with a 5.53 ERA. He has pitched five innings in only two of those outings, and hasn't gone deeper than that. "Rest, that would be good for him," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said when asked about the motivation to push Sale back. "Just to work on a few things during the week and then be ready for Saturday." I am officially giving up on Sale. Horrible extension. We sure do waste money.

Only thing I would give edge to Yoshida is the fact he did play outfield. But, his defense was a suspect or adequate at best.

https://www.mlb.com/news/red-sox-end-orioles-win-streak-at-7-games Boston's young core shows out in win vs. powerful O's Little blurb on Bello, Casas and Rafaela. A five hit game by Abreu was impressive the day before.

Yep, shrewd 'move' by the Sox. "Sure you can opt out". "By the way, we're giving you the option year, so no, you can't leave."