oldtimer

Does anyone have an inkling about whether MLBB will allow the Sox to hire and announce the hiring of a GM prior to the end of the WS?

Yoshida just doesn't fill a need on the team. He is slow, a below average fielder and is possibly a decent hitter, but left handed and with average power or less. It looks like we have a lot of good outfield candidate and would like to have a right handed power hitter take most of the PT at DH. To me if we can avoid paying the majority of his remaining contract it would amount to addition by subtraction. He still might have value to another team as a DH and part time utility outfielder, just not the Sox in future.

The next GM may not ne a guy.

The sooner we get a GM signed, the sooner we can start to make the much needed moves to structure the 2024 team. Let's hope we get someone up to the task this time.

as We need starting pitching beyond Bello and Crawford. We have Sale although expected him to shine for a year might be too optimistic. To spend in the FA arena for pitching is risky and costly. To have the money available we would have to rely on playing some of our rookie players. Casas, Rafaela and Abreu come to mind. We have some highly paid players in Devers, Story and Yoshida. so it's important to balance them with lower cost players. Clearly, we should keep Devers as a core player. Story is a dependable defensive shortstop and he has a right handed bat if he can get back to hitting. Mayer may not be ready as yet and Rafaela may be better in the outfield. Personally, I think Yoshida can hit but his other skills may not be ML caliber. We have other outfield options and we really need right handed bats. I would be for trading him if someone will take his contract and instead keep Duran. I'm not against keeping Verdugo, but it might require a multi-year deal and we have Anthony in the wings as a potential star. Yorke may well also be a second baseman of the future and he has a good right handed bat. Turner is an old pro and clubhouse presence who we should take a risk on as a DH and occasional utility infielder (ist, 3rd). Losing the Kluber, Paxton, Mondesi and Duvall contract costs could set up a lot of FA money. Desperate times require desperate measures. Bloom was unwilling or unable to take those measures and soon we will find if our new GM will be active and wise.

Duran is younger, faster, less expensive and a better fielder than Yoshida. If we are doing comparisons, perhaps we should trade Yoshida and keep Duran. They both have 4 years of control. We wolld clear more money for pitching if Yoshida's contract would be eaten by another team.

I am wondering if Teel will make the squad instead of McGuire for the start of the season. Let him play winter ball to gain experience. Both Teel and McGuire bat from the left side.

Turner has been a very effective player for Boston in 2023 and the experienced player and right hand bat we will need in 2024. I hope the Sox extend him, he's earned it.

The Sox are headed for their 3rd last place finish in the ALE in a row. Bloom's moves and in some case lack of them contributed to this, although a case can be made that DD left us in dire straights. I don't see that we had a plan for resolving the pitching issues in 2024 so moving on from Bloom made sense to me. A question remains in my mind about Cora. He managed the team during the last 3 year period. Did the Sox perform as well as we might have under his tenure? If the answer to that is no, Then maybe a complete shift of leadership is in order. If the new GM wants to make that call, perhaps he should be allowed to.

Sign Turner for 2024.

Now we are learning that Bloom could have traded Sale to a team who would have accepted the cost of his final 2 contract seasons and provide some players (probably not top quality) in return. Bloom turned that down, which in retrospect didn't help the Sox. Not having that essentially dead money contract hanging over the Sox might have allowed for the acquisition of one quality starter. The bottom line is that sometimes a trade not taken can be as negative as an acquisition not achieved.

Will the new GM want his opportunity to pick a new manager?

What is wrong with a starting outfield of Rafaela in RF, Duran in CF, Abreu in LF with Yoshida as DH/OF(Util) in 2024? Keep Refsnyder and trade Verdugo and don't compete to sign Duvall to a multi-year contract starting at age 35. Saves money for pitching, which is our greatest need.

Whoever comes in will have an improved farm system but will have to make wise decisions on who to keep, who to trade and who to acquire through FA contract. Let's hope we someone decisive and with a winning mentality.

I would have supported Bloom until recent events which show us as near or at the bottom of the AL East with perhaps even a losing record. Serious decisions will need to be made and soon. I would hope we could find a better over all decision maker than Bloom. He has rebuilt the prospect list but now we have to decide who to keep and who to trade to achieve a balanced team that can at least be competitive in the league.

Silly or not there is a lot of smoke indicating an early November departure. If they part ways with Bloom, early November would allow for whoever the new guy was to have his own impact on the off season.

Did you notice Larry Vanover made a season high 29 miss calls at the plate last night, Long past the time for technology assisted ball and strike calls.

That has been clear for some time. Expecting the Sox to somehow win the majority of their remaining games was more hopeful then realistic. That is why it is smart to get a look at our prospects to assist in the evaluation for 2024.

So should Bloom or Cora be worried going into 2024? I am personally not advocating Bloom should go unless he lays an egg for the 2024 season. I have mixed feeling about Cora and whether he is getting all the available wins out of his team.

Looking at our outfield for 2024 I am wondering who the Sox will view as a trade chip and who they will want to secure for the next 2 or more years. In alphabetical order we have a long list of quality players and prospects who can fill the position and also who would have value as a trade chip Abreau is well thought of but at this point his talent is questionable in comparison with several others Anthony has advanced at a very rapid pace and may be proving himself for 2024 (the Yankees brought up a 20 YO) Bleis is a good looking prospect but has been injured and has yet to show ML offensive capability. He is at least a year away from consideration Duran proved himself to be a good hitter but without great power. His speed is a real asset and his fielding has improved Duvall has power And is that brings a much needed right hand bat along with good fielding. He brings experience to the lineup. Can we sign him as a FA (He say he loves' Boston) Rafaela is a versatile player with excellent defensive skills who could play center or infield positions. He is fast but has not played in enough ML games to demonstrate his hitting Refsnyder is another right hand bat that is a proven hitter against left handed pitching. A low cost utility option Verdugo has experience, fields wells and is a good ML hitter. Signing him may cost significantly more and his attitude is questioned (we lived with o0ther mavericks like Manny, Jimmy Piersall, Spaceman and others) Yoshida has shown he can hit ML pitching although is a step slow and is marginal defensively. He has value to the Sox and his contract will make any trade considerations unlikely Of the list, i would think that Abreu, Bleis and either Duran or Verdugo are tradeable if we decide to and can sign Duvall to a 2 to 3 year deal. If not Verdugo or Duran are likely to be kept aboard. Rafaela and Anthony are likely the next young stars.

What's the old joke about the best ways to lose money? Fast women, slow horses and running a ML baseball team? The best idea is to run things in a businesslike way but make wise decisions. Spooning out money unwisely leads to Mets like performance.

Our farm system was weakened under Dombrowski as he tried to trade for or buy major league ready players. We also spent more freely during his tenure. His approach can look good for a year or two but with good results we also got poor slots in the draft selection process so our farm was weak when Bloom came in. The Sox also have a poor record in the pitcher development area, so we have paid a price for that as well. Bloom has made some unwise moves as well. Renfroe, Kluber, not getting below the salary tax cap the year before are examples. I haven't seen a consistent plan from him but admit to not knowing all the issues which confront him. I do agree that maintaining a strong farm is critical to maintaining consistent excellence. I'd like to see an emphasis on bringing at least 1/2 our input from the minors to be pitchers. Wise decisions from the front office are also critical. There has been some wise and some unwise during Bloom's tenure. I also agree that he is now in the situation of produce or be gone. We need to be patient, but there is a limit and we should give him only one more try.

I would like to see us find a way to unload Sale and save at least a part of his remaining salary. We might need to include a prospect to do that. I don't know if there would be any takers, but Sale's ship has sailed for the Sox.

Casas has been our best OBP guy and is only in his first full year. The promise is there for 30 HR in future years and probably his fielding will improve, particularly if he can take off 10 pounds. Who is to say that Devers can really be any better at first defensively. For those reasons I would keep Casas and I know you are not advocating trading him but instead looking for any solution to the improving the 2024 Sox. I too with be fine with keeping Duvall as either a RF or CF in future. We should seriously look at our leadership going forward. Have we really improved much in the last 3 years?

Extend Verdugo and dump Cora