oldtimer

Beni can play center but isn't an optimum defender. He is better suited to left in Fenway but of course half the games are played in other parks. His bat is a significant question now as well. I know his trade value is low at this point but if we hold onto him and he lays an egg for$6.5Mil when we could have made a change, then we have made a bad gamble.

Of course Bloom and his team are looking at all sorts of creative ways to improve the team and no doubt he has in mind a budget in place for this year. I think Bloom will ask himself if any move they are considering will fit the goal of making the team consistently competitive. We know the weak spots. Those are CF, 2nd Base and Pitching (both starting and relief). We also have other questions we have to consider such as will Sale return and be competitive, will Beni be able to hit effectively, will Devers defense at third improve, will E-Rod return to form, will JDM also recover his form, will the Pedroia situation get resolved? He has to consider his prospect list and decide who looks to be worth a try in the majors and who he believes need to be replaced. I still consider Dalbec to be a prospect and then there are Duran, Chatham and several pitchers. Yes, Bloom has his plate full and probably will not be able to solve all the issues in one year, but I look for good progress in 2021 to build from.

The thing with Devers is not should we sign him to an extended contract but how should we use him going forward.

With Arroyo probably getting first dibs at the 2nd base slot, with need a utility guy or two. Flexibility is a desirable quality for a utility guy and Chatham has possibilities at 2nd and short and possibly in the outfield. He's a contact hitter. Arauz is less experienced but offers similar abilities. Of the two, I would take Chatham now and stash and develop Aruaz. Everything changes if we go out and get a quality 2nd baseman, then maybe Arroyo gets looked at for utility duties.

In the immortal words or Ronald Reagan, "There you go again". I'm just glad we have Bloom at the helm since I expect that he will stick to the plan of making the team consistently competitive. I see him making an effort to hang onto our best young talent while dealing away those who don't fit that description. DHern is in an area of critical need and should be kept. We can probably do better than Chavis and that applies to Beni as well. Dalbec is worth keeping but is certainly no shoo-in, especially since Casas may be a long term MLer at the same position. Downs and Duran are young and promising and should be kept. JDM does not fit the plan that well but is probably not tradable. I'll wait to see how Bloom goes, but I hope he really sticks with the plan.

You and others have speculated on many of the possible moves. hang in there and the management will make some moves. We have a lot of holes to fill. The questions for me are 1) Will they take on veteran players to make us somewhat competitive in 2021 or younger players with high potential who we can develop? and 2) Do they try to stay under the salary cap this year, realizing we cannot turn this sows ear into a silk purse in just one year?

Sure we had to give, so it was a win for both teams, and that is the way it should be. Betts put them over the top for the title and may contribute to them for years to come. How many is anyone's guess. They had to pay Betts big time on the kind of long term contract that a number of us on this site like to avoid. Price may be able to give them some value for the contract they took on, but probably not much. We weren't going to sign Betts so instead we got Verdugo and Downs who may prove to be a MLer and we got a prospect plus we got out from under half if Price's contract. The trade has started us down the path of recovery, but there is a long way to go. The next activity should be expected early in December.

Beni got some ink today. Other teams note his metrics are trending down and his trade value may be even lower than currently projected. If JBJ does leave, we have Verdugo with Beni questionable and Duran untested. Looks like the outfield will need some attention.

That is the problem. We can draft a top pitching prospect, but even that is risky. How many pitching prospects get injured or bomb out? We certainly can try to develop the best of the pitching prospects, something we have done poorly. As you say, trading for one is tough, since no organization wants to trade away their future. So to improve our staff, we need to get veteran pitchers and perhaps journeymen through FA or trades. Its not easy to improve our staff, so we will have to focus our offseason efforts in that direction.

Maybe Betts left just for the money or maybe there were other issues. Cora going, race related thoughts, just incompatibility with the northeast, or other issues may have been involved. As far as race is concerned, I have been in other big league parks and you always have jerks yelling in them. If it's not enough USA born African Americans on the team I am reminded that we are all of African heritage if you go back far enough. If it's not enough players of color, I would say there are quite a few, but they originate from Latino heritages. What I think is that it wasn't a main driver for Mookie, but I may be wrong. as far as Cora leaving, Mookie probably knew he would be back. Maybe he just liked the idea of being on the West coast and we were bound to lose him. We made a stong offer and he wouldn't accept it. It may play out in a positive or negative manner for us. With the length of the contract, I will probably not be around to see it.

Houck is working on a third pitch (changeup) which might help him succeed as a starter. Even the top aces on their respective clubs only had 17 innings pitched in the majors at some point. Right now the kid is one of our best prospects going forward. I still think we need to sign quality younger starters if we can find them.

Let's develop what we have. It is very difficult to obtain top pitching prospects from other teams. Bloom took a chance on a guy like Pivetta and that is probably the best we can do with lower cost pitchers with talent. He had to take a risk with the history of flaws. One right guess of that type can really help the team.

Enjoy yours with family and friends but take care, we are almost through this terrible pandemic. We have a takeout Thanksgiving dinner which we will share with my 84 year old brother and his wife. Don't stay up late thinking up trades. What will be will be.

The idea of hating DD is just one person's invention. Many may dislike the way he ran the payroll up with underperforming long term contracts. In addition, many are also exasperated with the dismantling of the minors. That's a different thing than hating DD. Most have moved on from DD to a discussion of what can be done to make the team more competitive in the long term.

It's fun for you to act the would be GM and propose lots of different trades. The ones that count of course will be made by Bloom, lest we forget. I agree that Chavis is hanging by a thread in the organization. He has good power but his contact rate is too low for an everyday player. As a utility player, he is below average defensively at all positions, but he can play outfield and infield. When compared to Dalbec, they both have power but Dalbec hits with that power to all fields and is solid defensively at first and also purportedly 3rd. I see Chavis below Dalbec as far as roster. In the case of Chatham, I see a guy who is reasonably proficient defensively and can play 2nd and short and possibly the outfield. He doesn't have much power but makes reasonable contact for a utility player. With Lin gone, I would be relucttant to trade Chatham away unless we have identified a utility infielder who can sub in at short.

There will be many more changes to the 40 man and Pedey's fate is far from decided. I'll be very surprised if Pedey occupies a roster spot after the winter meetings. Improving the pitching should be the first priority. With Sale not back until sometime in June and with no guaranties he will be dominant and also E-Rod having questions we start the season with Eovaldi, Pivetta and Houck. Only others are Mazza, Seabold, Mata and D-Hern and they at best would be a leap of faith. I agree we need a solid starter and maybe another back end starter if we want to be competitive. We also don't have a closer and maybe one or two useful relievers to displace some of our current 40 man. We are kidding ourselves if we think the pitching moves will come cheaply. What money is left could be put into an outfielder and a second baseman. With JBJ probably gone, we could fill center field with Verdugo and while many don't think he is ready, Duran is knocking on the door. I'm for replacing Beni in left. Ozuna is a possibility but maybe too expensive based on our pitching needs. Picking up a placeholder until 2022 may be the best answer. Second base may be our lowest priority, with Arroyo serviceable and Downs not too far in the future. Again, put the money into pitching and if a deal comes up too good to pass on take it.

Next deadline is for non-tendering on Dec. 2nd. We shall see. I expect we acquire through trades and FA 1 or 2 starters and at least 2 relievers, plus possibly a center fielder and a second baseman. Maybe we lose 6 more guys from our 40 man. Depending how many we get, we might have to offer some current roster guys in trade. As you point out, Chavis could be one, Grullon another and even Beni could go for the right deal. I'll sit back and await management moves. So far so good.

Am I correct in thinking whoever we might pick up would have to remain on the 26 man all year or we would have to offer to return him to the original team and lose $50k in the deal? Do we really think there are many out there who we would be enticed to take under those conditions when very few of our own rule 5 guys might fit that approach. Maybe Mata, who else?

We have been speculating on moves for weeks. Now the Rule 5 Draft Protection deadline will force some real moves to occur and much of what has been batted around will be settled. I look forward to real moves being made by the Sox management.

Why would he be a priority for the Astros but not for the Sox? Is it because they think they compete at the highest level and we think we are 2 or 3 years away?

Cora said he would like speed on the team and also to play good defense. He specifically talked about Devers and how he had worked with him and wondered what the program was like in his absence, since the results weren't good.

He has the best chance of bringing JDM back from purgatory.

The Bruins had an awesome line in the 70's with Espo, Cashman and Hodge backed up by Bucyk , McKenzie and Westfall. Orr, Sanderson and Smith and of course Plante. Those were the days.

Clearly the pitching should be easy to improve on and Bloom and Cora should make the moves necessary to do that for 2021. Maybe we don't get a new ace but instead get good solid pitching 1 thru 5 or 6 and we strengthen the BP. If we do that alone, we will be a much better team. I also expect Bloom to continue to strengthen our minor league program as part of his promise to make the Sox a consistent competitor. Finally, there are a number of positions to consider for improvement. We seem likely to lose JBJ and Beni is questionable, so there are two spots to deal with. I'm not sure Bloom can improve our CF position if we lose Bradley. Left field could use some magic. Having to hope JDM returns to his previous glory days is a concern to me but there doesn't appear to be an alternative. Finally, dealing with Pedroia and deciding whether Arroyo is adequate at second base is the last place to look for improvement. I would think Bloom and Cora can make moves inn those areas and make the team a competitor for 2021. There are a lot of good teams in the division, so winning will not come easy.

We shall see. If Duran looks ready in Spring Training and if the Sox don't resign JBJ, he could and should get the start.