oldtimer

E-Rod may cost more then he is worth as well.

Pivetta gave up another and the hole is getting too deep. Need to get to Fairbanks if he comes in.

The Rays won't chase, so E-Rod needs to have command and continue the strategy of walking no one.

I trust Cora's assessment of Barnes readiness to contribute. Perhaps the long season just got to him and the hope he can recover for next season as we have laid money on the line for his extension. I doubt if Perez gets in unless we get far behind. Santana vs Arauz or Duran is 6 of one half a dozen of another. Probably none of them get in without an injury or if a pinch runner is needed.

This season his OPS vs RH Pitching .893 and LHP .558. Such a marked difference may have him sit tomorrow. If JDM is not available, there aren't many choices.

Now you are showing your age.

Moon is prolific but I appreciate his contributions, however he chooses to make them.

Very satisfying win. Anytime you can knock the Yankees out of the playoffs it is especially satisfying. Part of the reason was an error free game and very solid pitching with zero walks. Personally, I thought Cole was a bad choice by the Yankees as a starter since the top Sox hitters right now are Schwaber, Devers and Verdugo. I understand why they went with Cole as there would have been immense criticism had they not. He was not sharp and Nate was. The Sox played with fire and will move on to face one of the best TEAMS in baseball. On the negative side, Dalbec looked overmatched at the plate and Arroyo needs more ABs to get it going. We have the chance ahead and with our reinforced BP we could be tough to score on. Interesting that Cora went Brasier, Houck, Robles and Whitlock to get his outs. Taylor was up. Swamamura pitched recently. Kind of identifies who Cora has faith in. Now we need our starters to be on. in Tampa.

Or we could aspire to be a team with good hitting, good defense and smart baserunning. The Rays have found a way to do it on a budget. You make it sound like it is either one or the other, which is a misleading statement of the issue.

You are saying what you think may happen, but not necessarily what you recommend for next season. Some of what happens will be based upon how much Henry is willing to spend and how competitive the front office sees the team in 2022. If more resources were available, you might well recommend a different path. S1. Sale (I no longer see Sale as our #1 starter despite his ace level contract through 2024. I see him as a #3 if he can stay healthy and perhaps improve.) S2. ____ (I'd be thrilled if we could pick up a #2 level starter to bolster the staff. Bif bucks but hopefully reasonable contract length depending on his age) S3. Eovaldi (I see Eovaldi as our current #1 starter or #2. He is here through 2022 and is worth his contract.) S4. I happy with Pivetta as a #4 or #5 starter. I think Bloom got a steal with him S5. I would be happy if Bloom picks up a serviceable #4 or #5 starter while I expect E-Rod to opt for FA and Richards and Perez to be gone.) S6. I think we look at Seabold, Houck and Witlock as furnishing a starter when the inevitable injuries occr. R1. Houck R2. Whitlock R3. _____ (I'm for adding a quality RP as a setup man R4. Barnes ( I would trade Barnes if we see an interested party and we can get a solid return) R5. Taylor R6. DHern R7. Brasier R8. Sawamura R9. Valdez/Davis/Bazardo (I would keep Robles before Davis. Both have issues but Robles still has an impact arm. Other relief help from the minors will be needed. The choices may expand for next year) C Vaz, Plawecki (Finding a FA catcher we can afford could be difficult, but replacing Vaz should be a Bloom priority. Hernandez in the minors may offer some flexibility as a backup) 1B Dalbec, Casas (The option of using Devers at 1st should be explored. Hold on to Dalbec for his utility and delay Casas until 2023 or the experimental results can be assessed 2B Arroyo ( Go into the FA market and sign Simien and keep Arroyo for Util. Don't resign Iggy) SS Bogaerts (Move Bogie to third where range issues will not be a problem. Sign Trevor Story) 3rd devers (move Devers to first and Bogie to 3rd) LF Verdugo (Verdugo is solid and Duran can backup the outfield. Time to cut Cordero loose) CF Kike (If we don't bring Kike to 2nd then he has done well in CF and can be left there RF Renfroe (Renfroe has had his best offensive year and is acceptable even if not a top defensive outiflelder DH JDM ( If JDM doesn't opt out, I would trade him and bring in Schwaber) What I am suggesting would require a large expenditure but would make us a powerful team capable of competing at the highest level. I doubt if Bloom will have the inclination, or the mandate to make such bold moves. It is a path to the top for 2022.

Our best hitters have been Schwaber, Devers and Verdugo so the Yankees may be doing us a favor starting a right hander. With all the pitching available, I expect the winner will have to hold down the opponents run production. With luck we will get a couple of runs early and Eovaldi will hold the Yankees to 5 or 6 scoreless innings. The pressure of being behind late on either team will be enormous.

Who will pitch for the Yankees?

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.