oldtimer

It's good to look for some of the positives in this down season. Perhaps one of the most important is to get a look at some of the prospects so we have a better idea of prioritizing the off season moves. Still I have to wonder with acquisitions such as Familia if we are stuck in the dumpster diving routine. That approach hasn't worked well to date. As far as field players we would have a decent start with Devers, Bogaerts, Story, Arroyo, Verdugo, Hernandez and perhaps McGuire. We could use help at 1st. Hosmer is a good inexpensive fielder and perhaps we should look at Casas soon. We could get by with Pham but a top quality outfielder would be a plus and we will need a high performing DH. Pitching should be a priority. We do have a lot of prospects to draw on but Paxton was a bad idea and Sale is not reliable. Our need is for at least one quality starter as Nate will probably be gone along with Hill. We are also in need of at least one setup man/closer type BP arm. The money should be there, will Bloom use it wisely?

Bloom should be judged by the results of the team and the progress toward competitiveness. So far the results have been poor and we have gotten less competitive. I would suggest 2023 will be the final year for excuses. The team will have to show real progress if Bloom is to be kept as GM.

He didn't have to give up Vaz. At best, we got a couple of mid level prospects. The impact on the team probably involved negative feelings and decreased performance by some of our key players and also debatable performance loss from our catching position. It appeared to send mixed message from Bloom to the team and it's fan base.

If you look at Story as a SS, we have a very acceptable 2nd baseman in Arroyo. We also have a 1st baseman of the future in Casas. That would leave money for bolstering the OF and perhaps Tommy Pham is a keeper for a year or two. So Catcher and DH should be fillable and we should concentrate on pitching improvements and look to our prospects in later 2023 and 2024.

Are you trying to defend the Renfroe for Bradley + prospects trade? I thought you were against it.

I don't believe JDM will be offered as he is toward the end of his career. Eovaldi is still valuable but we will probably not want to resign him as we attempt to get younger. Paxton was probably a bad idea and cost the Sox $10 mil for nothing. Will Sale ever return any value for his Ace level salary? I wouldn't count on much there. Verdugo and Arroyo are the main hitters on the team this August. They seem to have more fire than most of the others and I would keep them as building blocks. Wacha has looked good and I would try to keep him.. We need a rebuild as most of the field players have been way off. Devers is the main keeper. Hosmer is inexpensive. Bogey is probably gone and possibly Story is tradable. With the season essentially over as far as making the playoffs, we should get a look at some of our prospects What is there to lose by doing it? Certainly Casas and Duran should get long looks. We have young pitchers who could get into some games. As you say, some of our prospects may be needed as trade bait for thee 2023 season. We should get a good draft selection this year. Give Bloom the money and I recommend we go for a major rebuild and change. I know this is a bit of a Debbie owner post but the sox look like a dispirited team that needs revitalization. Go for it!

So some notables who you have left off include Bogaerts, Eovald, Wacha, JDM. They either will need to be resigned or replaced with expensive talent if we are to become more competitive next year then we have been in 2022. We also lost a front line catcher and replaced him with a lesser player. Not easy to see a clean path to greater competitiveness, even with $84 million to spend. I highlighted additional guys who could be DFA'd or traded and in my opinion, it would be addition with removal.

It comes down to valuing a lineup that is good top to bottom with lower risk of losing a big part of the production due to injury (or other like Tatis, Sale, Price-you name them) or putting your money into a few stars and filling in with lesser journeymen players and accepting the risk of losing a major part with a single injury. My preference is to develop a team based on a tiered pay schedule and sticking with it. Others sign their young stars to lucrative quasi-long term contracts early. Baltimore is doing that, and it comes closest to resulting in a tiered schedule. If the Yankees pay Judge $50 mil a year on a longer term contract, they are accepting a huge risk.

Just an aside but I see the Yankees have gone into a real swoon. I blocked the Yankee fan who used blue coloring on his fonts but I'll bet his troll like posts have changed in tone of late. The Rays are holding the vaunted Yankee bats down again tonight.

Lots of essentially dead money still hanging over us. Sale, Price, Paxton, Barnes, JBJ. Some of that will clear for 2023.

Give Bloom a plus for picking up Tommy Pham. He has filled the roll of lead off hitter better than any other this year, at least in the brief look we have gotten. He is okay in left field as well and he brings some spirit to the team.

I assume it's Duran to be sent down since we will have a replacement utility outfielder in Refsnyder, although if we send Dalbec down then we don't have a replacement 1st baseman. I guess it's anyone's guess. Duran has had a few well hit balls caught of late and has been unlucky. Maybe it will depend of which player (if either) they think has the best chance of making the roster in 2023

If the message Bloom was trying to leave with the team is we are still in it and trying to make a run at a wild card, it seems to me that trading our number1 catcher and fixture in the clubhouse was off message. Getting McGuire and a couple of prospects in different transactions didn't align with making a wild card effort. It may bear fruit in future, but seemed to have had a negative impact when it was done.

The decision was complicated by the fact that JDM had a player option and wanted to stay. I understand why we kept him but would not recommend any thought of resigning him. That is not to knock him, He has produced very well for the team and we got good value from his contract. We have had quite a few stinko contracts but his was not one of them.

Is there a message in the majority being Latinos? More advanced due to an emphasis on Baseball?

I agree on Correa. Good but also higher risk. Not a good match for the Sox.

The Wacha performance last night was our best pitching demonstration this year. I have not been expecting him to be in the Red Sox plans in 2023 but maybe he is a better bet than Paxton.

With Mayer probable for 2024 and Bogaerts potentially leaving, what is the smart move for the Sox to make going forward? Here are 4 possibilities. 1. Keep Bogaerts and play him at short in 2023 with and eye to using him at 2nd/DH going forward. Keep Story at 2nd in 2023 and look to trade him in 2024. 2. Switch Story to SS with Bogaerts leaving and play Arroyo at 2nd in 2023. Plan on moving Story back to 2nd when Mayer makes the jump and Arroyo to utility. 3. Go big by signing Trea Turner for short with Bogaerts leaving, Story at 2nd and Arroyo utility. Trade Story when Mayer comes up. Turner wants to return to the East coast. 4. Bring Mayer up in 2023 instead and get him on the job training assuming Bogaerts leaves. Story at 2nd AND Arroyo utility. My option #1 is workable provided Bogaerts is willing to go in that direction. It would be costly since Bogey would want a 6 year contract. My option 2 is least costly and leaves room to spend money in other areas such as SP, Closer, CF and Catcher. My option 3 is also expensive but would give us a terrific defensive capability up the middle will spend and hitting at short. It would create another problem with Mayer arriving in 2024 My option 4 is high risk as Mayer might need another year. It is low cost and leaves the freedom to spend in other areas.

Slight change in subject. I see the Atlanta Braves has brought up two 21 year old players to their 40 man roster and these guys are playing. The two are Vaughn Grissom and Michael Harris II. I wonder why it takes our prospects so long to get to the bigs. Is it because we don't draft high enough, develop players fast enough or we have a bias that says kids need 5 years in the minors to make it to the bigs? Devers is the last younger prospect that we brought up and Casas remains in AAA. We hear we are developing a strong farm. Let's see some results.

I didn't vote since no category seemed to fit my assessment, which is his efforts have been a mixed bag with some good and other bad decisions. The lack of meaningful action at the winter meetings, before the spring kickoff and at the trade deadline didn't match his rhetoric. All of this seems to be part of a pattern with him. The Sox still exceeded the CBT threshold while dropping to the bottom of our division. If I were a teacher I would give him a grade of C- and closely monitor his progress going forward.

What one is done or in this case what's not done is also done (over). Let's see if Bloom is really up to the job of building a more competitive team. The verdict is not yet out.

I think we have given Dalbec enough plate appearances to prove what he can do. I would rather see him moved then being with the team. Surely we can get right handed DH candidate who can hit better.

i believe we had some nice pitching and fielding out there last night. As far as hitting, it looks like Devers has read his press clippings and is now overswinging and trying to go long on every pitch. Hosmer overswings as well, but I think he has done that throughout his career. What bothered me more about the effort was the mental errors of some of our players. Did it make a difference? That is hard to say, but it does show we are not playing our best ball. Three plays come to mind in particular. Bogey getting picked off second on a bonehead play. Tommy Pham retreating toward first before heading to second on Devers little dribbler He was forced out when he should have made it. Then the lack of preparedness for the squeeze bunt that essentially won the game. The defense wasn't set and that was on Cora, although the players should also have reacted without managerial guidance. We have seen a lot of sloppy play this year. It's not just the lack of Bloom's moves involved but his approach hasn't helped much either. Watching the Sox this year, it becomes clear that JDM has slipped as a hitter and needs replacement. Schwaber would have been better but I can understand with the contract circumstances, why Bloom stayed with JDM.

Chalk up another loss in a game that we had a read chance of winning. Just the degree of ineptness we demonstrated can't be there on a team that needs to play it's best ball to have a chance.

It was a game that we had a reasonable chance of wining. It sad to see mental mistakes that reduced our chances. Getting picked off 2nd with a Yankee pitcher under pressure and then not setting the defense to look for the safety squeeze. The last when the pinch Tommy Pham retreated to first on the evers dribbler and got himself thrown out at second. One was on Bogey, one on Pham and the other on Cora. They individually didn't lose the game but did show a degree of ineptness. I do think that Devers is in a slump. My take is he may be over swinging now. He needs to make adjustments but hasn't for the last while. Hosmer also has a all or nothing swing. The Yankees won the game by playing smarter.