oldtimer

Or Vaz could produce acceptable results in 2022 and be with the club in 2023. Hard to predict.

Suzuki is the most likely since he would be around for multiple years at a more reasonable cost and right field is a real need. Unfortunately, there will be a lot of competition for him.

That is true. It's fun to speculate but not very useful.

The trade o f Renfroe only makes sense if the Sox plan to get a replacement such as Suzuki. JBJ doesn't fit the need and was far too expensive for a 4th outfielder. I don't see the others we picked up as making up for the value difference. Perhaps Renfroe won't repeat his gaudy numbers, but still I didn't like the trade. Yes we need 2nd base help, 1st base help and perhaps catching help. There may be ways to obtain that internally. Our biggest need is still with pitching. i don't think Bloom's acquisitions have solidified our starting rotation or BP. I am also a doubter about the timing of the end of the lockout. Until then, nothing can happen that will allow Bloom to improve the team. All the talk is nothing more than speculation. Bloom seldom does what the fans speculate that he should do.

I seriously doubt we do more than kick the tires on Correa.

If and when we go beyond opening day without an agreement, pressure will mount faster on the players, who will be without a paycheck. Some are young and live the high life. The owners can afford to look at the situation over the life of the contract so break even in year 1 with the profits coming year 2 through 5 are in a different position. The fan reaction is probably not a big part of the equation. The players in the end will probably make some real concessions. A CBT form of cap may be included.

All in all an iffy proposition. Bloom is not stupid, so there must be something here we don't see.

Might we have gotten a better value for the money we are spending on Bradley?

My take is we shouldn't count on Paxton for anything in 2022 and we will need Wacha to transform himself, which I don't expect. Perhaps Hill can provide some value. I don't see these changes to provide much help for 2022 so wonder what Bloom was thinking. Likewise, I could see the rationale for trading Renfroe high, but taking Bradley back to get the deal made is very questionable. I hope Bloom has other moves in mind and will await his action.

Whenever this work stoppage ends, I am hopeful the Sox will sign Suzuki to 5 year, $55 mil contract (or thereabouts). The risk is that the transition from Japanese Baseball to the major leagues will not be smooth. The advantage is that we get a good defensive right fielder who can hit and is in his prime years. That move is in keeping with Blooms stated goal of making the team consistently better. The price in salary cap would not be exorbitant. Let others sign Correa for big long term contracts, they rarely work out.

Don't expect anything at all until January, and it doesn't look good even then.

Pretty tough to play without a catcher. All kidding aside, I expect we will see Casas and possibly Duran in 2023. Mayer and Yorke will probably come in during 2024. Downs and Jiminez may show enough but at this time they are not obvious MLers.

Priorities: 1. Get a starting pitcher of at least #2 starter quality without breaking the bank or accepting high risk in years (not easy to do) 2. Get a right handed quality outfielder to replace Renfroe 3. Get a high quality reliever for late innings 4. Extend Rafie

By your point numbers: 1. Both parties should be able to agree to a Universal DH and it does create openings for older players who still can hit.. 2. Expanded playoffs are something owners want to increase revenues and may offset to some degree what the players want in financial increases. 3. Minimum wage increases for new or marginal players is a cost to the owners. I don't think it has to grow to $750K in 2022 but I also expect an increase. I can also see it increase over the CBA period. Since it is aimed at a large number of players it should help move the vote. 4. Time to get to arbitration shortened by one year is also favored by a large number of players and should help move the acceptance of a CBA. I would expect the owners would want to see that the playoff move would defray the cost associated with this move. I don't think the owners will accept shortening the period to reach FA. It opens the door to further chaos and cost. 5. Some sort of so called Competitive Balance Tax with penalties favors he owners but effectively applying an upper limit on yearly spending. I can see that being raised a percentage yearly, but not what the players would like. Something like 3 % a year over the contract seems reasonable to expect. You didn't mention one which bothers players. That is where the team management holds back prospects ready to play to push back their time to reach arbitration. Rule changes to make it not beneficial to hold a player back should be favored by the prospect most and they aren't yet voters, so may not be a union priority. You also didn't mention computer assisted ball and strike calling and other rules to pick up the pace of play, such as a clock on pitchers to avoid the slowest in that regard. Many of these will be considered but are not the key financial elements so may be left off if controversial to one party or the other.

I do believe Bloom when he said we need to upgrade the outfield and trading Renfroe coming off his top performance made sense, although the return was certainly questionable. I look to Bloom to try to find a longer term solution in the form of a near prime right handed hitter with good defensive qualities, and that makes Suzuki plausible if somewhat risky. There will be a lot of competition for him though. I can't find a lot good to say about Bloom's pitching moves so far. We may have gotten an over the Hill, a Wacha capable of and a Paxton on the IL. More is needed.

Thoughts on the CBA: Being an old curmudgeon, and not yet accused of being a member of the posse, I have some thoughts to share relative to the ongoing discussions leading up to any new Collective Bargaining Agreement. On the owners side we have a bunch of successful business men who have run corporations with the goal of making a profit. In addition, they are sett up as a committee. It's hard to get a committee to agree on anything. Their collective goals include increasing the value of their franchises and getting a solid ROI. Of course some may truly love the game and not want to harm the goose that laid the golden egg. They also can be competitive. Winning can be a bragging point and also can be reflected in the value of the franchise. I read somewhere that a percentage of CEO's are psychopaths (not the evil killer types) so some of their decisions may seem calculated or even irrational. On the players side it is interesting to note that the average salary is $4.17 mil and going down. More interesting is the median salary is $1.1 Mil. The average years in the majors is 5.6 although a player has an 11% chance of losing that status at any time. I couldn't find the median years in the majors but one would assume there is not that much difference from average. I assume that young men who get a big check are likely to reward themselves with cars, housing and high living unless someone clues them in. Players want to get to the majors as soon as their talent allows and also want to get a high starting salary and qualify for arbitration and then free agency as soon as possible. The players form a collective union which believes is should get a substantial share of the total MLBB income. So the median player may expect to make around $6 mil during their time with taxes eating up about 40 % of that. Union voting would be based on the median. Clearly the baseball owners are reluctant to give on any of the players desires as it cuts into their profits. What can they do to make it hard for the players and hence the union. They can continue to bargain until well into the season, knowing they can at least break even if they get a season underway in June. Years 2 through 5 will presumably be full with full profits as well. It's tough for the median players to resist as they go without checks while their expenses still must be paid. The risk owners take is pissing off the fans. Joe Blow who is being asked to fork over $200 to take his son to the park may finally have had enough. My view is there is a very real chance baseball doesn't get going on time and maybe even being delayed into the summer. Hope the owners come around and the players union remains somewhat flexible. Only time will tell. Merry Christmas season.

All the speculation on potential Sox moves came to naught, with only a few head scratcher moves and none of which appear to make the Sox better. According to Bloom, we pursued a number of FAs and trades but were outbid, which makes me believe we weren't that serious. Maybe the plan was to make a strong bid in 2023 all along. Now we have a lockout, which could last until the Summer. There really will be little to talk about until the lockout ends unless of course we want to argue with each other over trifles. Time to go on vacation.

I don't think Renfroe was in the Sox long term plans and they saw a chance to trade him and pick up a couple of prospects and a good defensive outfielder. I don't think Bradley is in the Sox long term plans either.

Stroman as well.

Why did they non-tender Locastro?

I am against the Sox taking on that kind of risk, as it could easily turn out bad and seriously effect the teams flexibility in future.

A lot of the FA big boys have been scooped up and some in long term risky contracts.(refer to https://www.espn.com/mlb/freeagents) I opined earlier that the Sox management may be treading water this year, while they wait for a few existing contracts to expire or clarify. The presumption is that they plan to wait for 2023 to make a splash. By then the new player/owner agreement will be settled and the Sox can make a major push to get better. So far, by the lack of action by Bloom, it seems to give my opinion some credence.

With the huge FA contracts being handed out it seem as if the Competitive Balance limit will have to be raised. More than $43 mil a year for Mad Max, Seager cashing in and Semien. Wow!

Great reply.

As a depth addition to our starting rotation it probably makes sense. As you say, we need more of a front line starter added to the team as well.