oldtimer

No reason to bring him back early as this team is going nowhere.

I agree. He is a valuable player, but not a $30 mil although some team may overspend for him. What I thought was fair was 22 AAV. I was told that was ridiculously low. I think it is fair but if it took $25 for 5 I would still do it. More than that is an exercise in overpay.

I thought Duran getting picked off first set the tone for the night. He didn't dive back. He is not doing himself any favors regarding a return next season. Thing is, the Sox are remarkably short of outfield talent. Even Kike was not hitting before his injury.

Of those, Devers, Kike and Story are injured and JDM is in a major slump. Hard to win with what we have.

The Sox took another miserable loss last night with very little hitting evident. I wonder why we haven't raised the white flag yet. The only prospects who are hitters that are nearly ready to be brought up are Casas and Yorke. Our outfield prospects are interesting but a year away. What can Bloom do? Bring up what we can and trade for prospects that might fill our needs. NO sense going for FA or ML ready players in trade as we are going nowhere this season.

Tell me you're kidding.

To say this lineup is weak is an understatement.

One hit in 6 innings. Bring Devers back.

That is just dreaming. We wouldn't have enough top prospects to make it happen and then it would only be for 2 1/3 years. He will go to a team that has the prospects to give and who has a reasonable chance of playing in the WS. Still, if one is dreaming we could put together quite a lineup and perhaps lose JDM's money to make the next 2 1/3 years financially possible. Arrange a lineup of Devers, Soto, Bogey, Story, Dugo and Vazquez. Fill in with scrubs and it would be a scary team to face.

Bad time for him to slump and Duran 's not lighting it up these days either.

MVP raised a question about your math. Did you count Devers twice? If Casas can fill !st base with Dalbec as a backup and Franchy gone, there is no increase in expense. Keeping Vazquez along with our best prospect solidifies our catcher I advocate finishing the season by playing our best outfield prospects to see if one can stick. FA outfielders are available for one position unless Ref can hold one down. A top class starting pitcher could be a major expense. Will we go after a top of the line or someone below. I can't see us affording two. A lower cost DH for 2023 makes sense as I doubt we can become fully competitive in 2023. Just too many holes.

Good question.

Maybe Yankee stadium will be his cup of tea. I don't think he was vaccinated though.

Straightforward trades will be made earlier but where there is significant bidding it will go to the last day and moment.

If it isn't the pitching, it's the lack of offense. If the offense is decent its errors and base running. The Sox are going bad and finding ways to lose. The Sox need to get players back healthy and need to fix some of the weakest spots. Unfortunately, that will not happen before the trade deadline and decisions will need to be made based on where we are and how we are going. For whatever reason, Bloom id not make the moves that would have made the Sox competitive. I have been a fan since 1947 and I have seen bad spells like this one before. The front office has not done it's job but perhaps there is a plan that will be more evident after Aug 2nd.

I agree but would keep Verdugo of the two. I would look for a ML FA OF and get reps on our best two prospects before this season gets much further. Those that believe we can still be competitive this season are unrealistically optimistic in my opinion. We do need to keep a core and build around it. Clearly we need OF help, !st base replacement, replacement of core players if we let Bggey, Vazquez and JDM walk. I gave my thoughts on that elsewhere. Another quality starter and improvement to the BP is also needed. Maybe it's too much to hope for in 2023. but Bloom needs to show more than he has been allowed to do to date.

I may be in the minority, but I do think we should offer Bogey a reasonable contract, such as 110/5. He might accept the security it represents. He is a good athlete, has been consistently providing above average WAR and has flexibility to play second or third when needed. He also would be a good designated hitter candidate when he needs a rest. Besides that he is a fan favorite, should be team captain and may act as an incentive for Devers to stay with the Sox, instead of a disincentive should we let Bogey walk. The way contracts have escalated we won't find a better player for the money. I'm probably also in the minority as I would also offer a reasonable contract to Vazquez. He also can anchor our position but we should be out looking for a younger replacement. Right now I don't see that guy in the Sox system. The way the team is playing, we may be in a good draft position to get or either trade for prospect talent. I know Moon doesn't appreciate his defensive skills but he still is one of the better overall players on our roster. I am all for trading JDM. he has earned the money we paid him but I can't see resigning him for even another two years. He probably has some value to a NL team in the pennant race. One good prospect would be the best we could hope for although his remaining salary might be hard to trade off. Of our outfielders, Verdugo is my choice to keep. He may be quirky at times but at least he looks like a major league player at the plate. Duran's lack of defensive instinctiveness may not be fixable. He has shown improved plate discipline and possibly the light may yet go on. but perhaps we have a prospect who would offer us more.

This is not a team that could contend for a WS ring. Even when Devers and JDM get back, we still are not capable one through nine and our depth is not there.. The real problem is pitching depth. We won last night with pitching, garnering only 6 hits against average pitching. I see Bloom as having made the choice to build the team for 2023 and beyond.

Dalbec takes a called 3rd strike fastball with 2 on and two outs. Par for the course.

Let's hope that the decision made going forward will be smart and at least result in improvements in the team for 2023.

I believe front office decision making going forward has got to be better or we will continue in this malaise. The Renfroe/JBJ trade is one example of where we hurt ourselves for no real financial gain. Then there was the decision on Schwaber vs JDM. Could we have traded JDM and had a designated hitter moving forward? I also wondered why we decided to stay with Dalbec and Cordero. There were some notables available if we had been willing to improve the team. Freddie Freeman comes to mind. Was the cost too high? Just a few good moves might well have put us into contention now. Will Bloom's moves going forward wind up being more beneficial for 2023 and Beyond?

at less Not a bad idea to look at Houston, which has a payroll of a little over $190 mil. They have a few big contracts but let Springer walk when he got too expensive. They have Verlander for one more year at less than Sale gets. Putting a very competitive team on the field, with a few stars and good two way players throughout is possible, especially when you can bring up future stars from the minors.

I was not alone in saying that Mookie would probably be a great asset on the Dodgers team in the near term. My issue was the length of contract representing substantial risk. The risk includes injuries and waning of ability, which might leave the Dodgers with a big dead money liability to swallow. Very long contracts for prime age players all come with similar risks.

My take on the players that you mention: Duran - I was a supporter for a long while, thinking his speed was valuable, especially if he could hit anything like his minor league example. First time up he was extremely strikeout prone. The second time up he was better about pitch selection but his swing is long and he isn't getting hits out of his contact. His shaky defense hasn't improved. At his age, it appears we need to look elsewhere. Downs - He has shown defensive abilities but hasn't hit in the minors and is lost in the majors. Perhaps we should give him additional time in thee minors and see if the lightbulb comes on. Otherwise, he is no major leaguer. Cordero - Some power but a very poor hitter who is also a very poor defender. Let's move on as he is not going to help the team to be competitive. Dalbec - He has power and has had his moments but doesn't appear to see the ball that well. He has had enough time to demonstrate his hitting which is not good. He is a still defender at first an doesn't move well enough at first. Another guy that we should move on from. Refsnyder - He is an older guy who couldn't make it with other teams. Of the lot he appears to be the best, but a utility role should be his limit. Good enough to hang around with a low salary commitment. We don't have much time to wait before the trade deadline and we see what Bloom is intending to do. Probably sell. If that is the case, why not bring up Casas and others and jettison those that won't be with the club next season. Perhaps that causes a money issue that I don't understand, otherwise bringing up prospects and getting a look makes sense. If we can make a decent trade for a ML player or prospects, fine. Let's start looking to 2023 and beyond.