oldtimer

Time to tighten up the laces and to play every pitch as though it may be the last. Grind it out, swing at good pitches, keep the line moving. All clichés, but going for a HR on every AB is the wrong approach and maybe why our offense has looked weak for a while now.

Are we swinging for the fences?

The Sox are not fully competitive as constituted. Major changes are needed. Lots of fans will squawk when Bloom makes them. I hope Henry gives him the resources and go ahead to move players.

The Sox put out a weak defensive slow team of thumpers on the field and scored 4 runs, all in one inning. At least they got the win but certainly looked marginal until the last out.

Exactly. You got a 1 in 3 chance of giving up a hit if you throw strikes and a 100% chance of a baserunner if you don't.

Back to the subject of changes needed for 2022, I see the Rays and Jays are already formidable teams and will no doubt make moves to improve still more. The Yankees will try to throw money at their problems, leaving no choice for the Sox but to make significant moves for 2022. Moon has already suggested the addition of a #2 and #5 starter to back up Eovaldi, Sale and Pivetta. That assumes we may make a QO to E-Rod but then trade him. Also it assumes we will have one or more of Houck, Seabold and Whitlock fill in when the inevitable injuries occur. I agree with Moon on this line of improving the team. In the case of relief pitching, we have Taylor, D-Hern, Swamamura and Whitlock who I would keep but would be willing to trade any of the rest for a solid closer and setup man. That includes Barnes, Brasier, Ottavino, Richards and Robles. Perhaps we keep some of those, keep some and fill in from our minors program. Catching is a weakness for us with Vaz not performing all that well. It is difficult to find quality catchers so I would expect the cost in salary and/or prospects to be high. Our infield has significant defensive issues. Devers is not improving and Dalbec has looked awkward at first. Bogie has range issues. There are drawbacks to any moves which have been identified and discussed. We need to improve the defense while no sacrificing our offense. I have been around and around of this. Could we acquire Trevor Story, Move Bofie to third, Devers to first and bring Kike in to play 2nd? Assuming Dever's could play first adequately, it would be a very competitive infield but Story wouldn't come cheaply. I happy with Verdugo in Left field, Renfroe has defensive lapses but his arm is very good and his hitting adequate. That would lead us to finding a first rate defensive CF with a decent bat. We shouldn't try to keep 2 costly DH who are primarily limited defensively. JDM is still good but I would trade him if he doesn't opt out in favor of the younger and equally good Schwaber My suggestions require the following additions: 1. #2 and #5 Starters 2. Closer and solid setup man 3. Primary catcher 4. Shortstop (here I suggest Story) 5. Quality defensive CF with a satisfactory bat. 6. Keep Schwaber as our DH and let JDM opt oit or trade him Pretty big wish list with the hope of becoming a leader in the AL East

I agree that starting pitching needs to be strengthened but that is not easy to do in a competitive market. There is also an issue with our ability to score with the last 4 games capped at 3 runs. I am for really considering moving several players. Vaz and JDM are two of those and for different reasons. Better defense, better base running and timely hitting have to be considered. It's worth asking how much value does Devers represent. Same question with Dalbec.

Three hits all night and as you say, 2 HRs with nobody on base. Devers missed a playable ball. If we can't beat the O's we don't deserve a PO spot.

Marinak said players subject to the ABS will be measured before their first game, and the top of the strike zone will be 56% of their height and the bottom 28%. The strike zone will be measured two-dimensionally at the front of home plate. Since the concept is a work in process, they may ovalize the box to reduce the differences at the very front and bat such that the calls will seem more consistent with what a good umpire would call. No more catcher framing. The call is relayed to umpire through an earpiece and there is no use arguing. Hope that helps.

In my opinion, Bogaerts is the most consistent and best hitter on the team. His defensive issue is primarily his reduced range. It looks like Marcelo Mayer will be ready to make the club in late 2023 or 2024. until then, Bogie could remain our shortstop but after that perhaps he could move to second or third. I hope he can be signed with that understanding. Devers is more of a natural hitter with great hand-eye coordination. He does swing at a lot of balls out of the strike zone. Will he get better plate discipline as he ages? That is not a given. His defensive issues are major and are due to his inconsistency and sloppiness. I don't see there is another position for him so we either accept his error prone ways in order to get his offensive production or we trade him. I expect we will keep him and hope he becomes more of a complete player.

Perhaps that call should have been reviewable. It materially impacted the outcome of the game and clearly it was an errant call.

Back after a 10 day cruise without internet. I did see the last loss. Bad call but to a large extent, we make our own luck, good or bad. Still time to get a wild card although now there is no room for a bad day.

When Wendelstedt called the game the other night, the hitters had calls against them way outside the strike zone. While some umpires do a decent job, others like Hunter, screw up too often. I am a proponent of technology assisted ball and strike calls. Fans won't have to know the difference as the umpire can get an immediate indication by a signaling device held in their hand. Hitters will have no beef about the calls.

To me the most difficult issue to deal with is where to put Rafie. We know we need him on the team as he is a terrific hitter and may even get better if his plate discipline is improved. The problem is where to put him on defense. 1. Leave him at 3rd base and accept 25 errors a year 2. Move him to 2nd as a left hander who doesn't have the agility needed 3. Move him to first base and force Dalbec to move and also block Casas 4. Use him as DH and don't take Schwaber or JDM 5. I'm not serious about this, but LF. I would hate to have to make this choice, but right now 3rd looks like the best place as none of the options are attractive. That allows Dalbec to stay at 1st where he is getting a bit better on defense and is hitting much better. Also Casas can come up and platoon with him when ready. Schwaber can be signed as a DH first. LF second player. That leaves dealing with SS and 2nd base open for action. Arroyo still has upside if he can remain healthy. Bogie is a very professional player and hitter whose range is less than optimum for the position. As far as the outfield is concerned we have Verdugo who could play right or left and Kike who can play any outfield position and second. Renfroe is good but not irreplaceable and a top notch CF or right fielder could be targeted. It will be interesting to see what Bloom will do since pitching is also a need and probably the more important place to spend. We also need to plan for how to integrate our prospects going forward. There are Casas, Duran, Yorke and Mayer all making cases for their addition to the club in the fairly near future. For those who disparage Duran, I believe you are wrong and the kid will be a solid contributor to the club, perhaps in a secondary role at first.

Fortunately, we won the game today but two errors again. Rafie was involved in both. First was Renfro's throw to him on one bounce that he probably should have picked or at least stopped. Renfro got the error. The second on his wild throw to first on a play where he had enough time to make a normal throw. The beat goes on. As far as Houck is concerned, he had really good stuff tonight but got unlucky with two soft contact hits. He doesn't show it, but he seems to ges ragged with men on base. A walk and wild pitch by him allowed the game to be tired. He settled right down in the next inning while not under pressure. The BP had another strong night. Great to win this one as our hitting disappeared for 7 innings but came alive in the 10th. We kept pace.

Here we go, starting Schwaber in left, Renfroe in right, Rafie at third, Bogie at short, Dalbec at ist. Clearly the emphasis is on offense over defense. With the players we have, it may be what we need to do this year.

We have our most effective starter up and arguably our best offense against a lefty tonight. Good chance of winning. Let's hope our defensive (and base running) bugaboo doesn't rear up and bite us again.

I don't see Devers at 2nd base. The position really needs to have a right hander who can pivot and make the double play throw to first. Maybe too much to ask for Devers. You probably will get the same version of Devers at 3rd base as 2021. Error prone, particularly on the throw. Could he handle first base. At least he wouldn't have to make as many throws. Of course that blocks Casas and forces a different position on Dalbec. Nothing easy with Devers. Would that he learns better plate discipline to improve his already stellar hitting. Also, I wish he would get the chaw out of mouth. It's a dirty habit and one that may result in eventual mouth cancer.

These extreme contracts are great for the players but seem to be counterproductive for the teams. Is Lindor what he is being paid? Is Betts really worth the contract he got. Will anyone who gets a long term contract for 1/3 of the Rays total budget be a long term benefit to the team? If I were the owner, I would want the front office to create a plan of reasonable expenditure and risk and stick to it. We are still eating the Price contract so let's not take another millstone on.

Errors are difficult to overcome. This time using Schwaber at 1st base was the cause. A different one every night.

I have an allied question. Do you think the Rays, who are one of the most consistently winning teams these past few years, take on any of these pitchers under these contract terms. I don't think they would yet they continue to win. Other teams need to consider the Rays example before shelling out big for these guys.

Very true. Three one run games. Our pitching was solid but so was theirs. Our hitters just couldn't come through today and we made a costly error. Had we pulled it out, we would have won the series and still be in the wild card lead. It's not over for us as yet.

Trevor Story is almost equal to Correa so I would consider him a strong alternative. He is 28 and makes $17 mil. He plays SS but possibly could handle 3rd.

Disappointing error costing a run so far and taking Pivetta out of the game.

I was unable to watch the game last night. It appeared to be a thriller. Did anyone get to watch it? I was especially interested in how Seabold looked. Another bad error by Rafie but also some good defense by others.