oldtimer

I was a bit surprised by this move as the Sox need pitching and he did the job of inning eater and had generally good results with 2 exceptions. What does this mean about the Sox pitching plans going forward? Stay tuned.

Whoever Bloom chooses will be fine with me

What my main concern is that the CBT threshold sets a soft limit on the amount that can be applied for the entire teams salary and benefit costs. When one or two players get a significant percentage of that payroll the owners either have to shoulder the burden of a higher payroll increased by an escalatory tax, plus there are impacts on draft choices and international money. Lets face it, the also good players wind up being paid less and the team becomes less competitive overall. The guys making $35 million don't care about the guy making $3.5 million who is really contributing. By the way, the risk associated with long term contracts can be monetized and for contracts that run 10 years or more, they are onerous and can kill a team's competitiveness for years to come.

The WS is over and now expect a flurry of action. Manager, 40 man moves? I am looking forward to it.

I assume Seager will be looking for equivalent money, since he was probably the best Dodger player in the playoffs. two position players in long term contracts drawing down $65 mil between them. How does a team afford to do this and still have ace pitching and good players throughout? Good for the individual players to be rich beyond their fondest dreams, but what does it say about baseball going forward?

The WS game last night might be illustrative of who we should be looking for in our next manager. Cash is the ultimate metrics type with radical shifts, 4 outfielders, openers etc. Clearly his team lacked in offense and he had to make up for it with pitching and defense. It carried the team to the 6th game of the WS and that was quite an accomplishment. Last night he admitted that the staff had 2o different preplanned alternatives depending upon game circumstances. That level of preplanning is an eye opener in itself and speaks to how managers approach games these days. One of the plans had to be to get as much out of Snell as possible and then revert to the stable of hard throwing BP arms to take it home. Sure enough, Snell gave up a hit in the 6th and Cash was out of the dugout like a bolt of lightning, there to save the day. I am certain that the move he made to take Snell should be and will be debated by Rays fans. There is no way to know what would have happened had he left Snell in for a few more hitters. We do know what happened with the move, which was a disaster for the Rays. The question that comes to my mind is whether Cash was too rigid following his preplan and not discretionary enough to really see the situation in front of him. 1. Snell was in the 70's pitch count range. 2. Snell being a lefty could better hold the runner at 1st. 3. Snell had great command and his velocity was still up there 4. Snell had handle Mookie and Seager like no other Rays pitcher. 5. While the strong BP had a great record of holding, they had been used a lot. 6. Command had been an issue for the BP in the series. 7. Did the BP have the cold bloodedness needed to come into a pressure cooker. A few pitches later, a fastball catching too much of the plate, a wild pitch slider and the game was tied with a man on 3rd. An infield hit and the Rays were behind. My view is while we need a manager who is metrics friendly, we also need a man with discretionary thinking that will not blindly stick to a plan when the evidence suggests otherwise. Bloom had a lot to do with Cash, will he try to find another just like him or will we find a gem that can handle all parts of the game?

What a disingenuous comment. If he wished to stay with the Sox he had $300 million reasons over 10 years. In reality he was looking for whatever he could get, even if the extraction of that much would have reduced not increased the competitiveness of the team. Like Kimmi, I find myself rooting for the Rays, in no small part because of the ridiculous coverage, which depicts Mookie as some kind of a hero.

Funny how Soxprospects.com leave off several of the prospects likely to get a long look in spring training. Duran, Mata, Ward

And two of his top starters were sidelined for the year and he was put in the position of trading away Mookie and Price. Lets see if we make solid progress toward sustained competitiveness in 2021. I expect more than 1/3 of our 40 man roster to turn over this year. The object is to get rid of nonperformers and replace them with better. That alone should bring us back to respectability.

By the end of next week we may well resolve the name of our new manager, get to the first pass of the 40 man and then be in a position to make meaningful trades and FA acquisitions. The fans will be given a lot of material for discussion here. It will move from speculation to substance. We know our needs, 2 starters, two or three relievers, an outfielder and at least a utility infielder. How that gets accomplished, whether a mix of internal and new acquisitions will be great fodder for discussion. I trust Bloom.

It will be amusing to read what the Bloom detractors say about the Betts trade in the event the Dodgers don't win the world series. The Rays are not chopped liver and still have a chance to win this year.

Duran was getting positive reviews for his hitting and would be the fastest player on the roster if he makes the team following spring training. I believe he is 24 years old so no kid. Time to bring him up and give him an opportunity to play CF. Bringing in some low cost poor hitting glove man if we lose JBJ sounds like a poor idea.

It's not surprising that the Sox would do due diligence by interviewing a slate of qualified candidates. He sounds like a reasonable interview candidate.

Now the Dodgers may have problems signing Seager based on the Mookie contract. What goes around comes around.

Another question to ask is what if every player looked for whatever the market would bear regardless of the impact on the long term competitiveness of the team? The assumption is there is only so much available in the pot of gold and the question is how is it shared?

Very good point. The Rays shift a great deal.

They don't

My view of Willie Adames is that he is a magician at short with great range a rifle arm and to me it brings the UZR rating into serious question. Adames doesn't hit well but his defense is great. Joey Wendell is likewise with great range and soft hands. His throws are in question but perhaps he wasn't the third baseman for much of the season. Maybe that is where the negative UZR comes from. I believe what my eyes tell me. JBJ is a fantastic defensive center fielder but apparently the defensive metrics don't reflect what we see. Is it bad perception or questionable metrics?

Teams win in many ways. Pitching and defense for the Rays. Their doing it with a miniscule budget. When you can't afford the big bats, you have to get creative. The Dodgers have the best of both worlds and yet haven't gone ultra big on contracts, although pounced on Mookie.

To me, Beni is an average defensive outfielder with a so so arm but with the speed to move over to center field in a pinch. His best position for the Sox appears to be left field, where one would hope the player we use there would pose some power threat. That is not and hasn't been Beni's forte. As an offensive player, we thought we had a guy who would have a high on base percentage as a result of good plate discipline and the ability to hit the green monster and to place hits often enough to have good rbi and run totals. His average exit velocity was low but he did manage around 15 home runs. What we appeared to have was a keeper and we could look for power elsewhere. Beni must have become convinced that if he gained weight he would hit with more power. He gained the weight but lost some agility and his hitting also fell off so he took the extra weight idea and canned it, but his hitting has trended down. This past season was very short, but his hitting was pathetic, leading one to believe he was having mental problems with the game, whether depression or something else. The Sox shut him down for what was reported as a rib cage strain. Do we want to take a chance on Beni by tying up a roster spot with the hope he can return to his best form or do we just go out and get a guy who will perform better without the risk? I prefer not to wax sentimental about giving the kid another chance and instead give the risk to another team while improving our team now.

I have heard that Judge is down to around 265.

I think the Sox avoided a costly mistake with the huge and lengthy Betts contract. The risk was very high and instead we got a very nice player in Verdugo and possibly two other ML quality prospects at far less money. Some of that saving can and will be applied to improved pitching. We also were able to offload some of the Price contract which was a foolish one when made. I haven't heard anyone argue that Betts was not a star player now, who will hit well, make plays in the field and perhaps help the Dodgers win the WS this year. Will the Dodgers extend another $30 mil plus long term contract to Cory Seager this year and where does that put them with flexibility should either of these guys get injured? Baseball front offices need to think hard about where the game is going.

240 pounds Sandoval broke into the big leagues in 2008 and was listed at 240 pounds at the time. In his first full rookie season in 2009 and at the young age of 23, the Kung Fu Panda batted .Apr 16, 2013 Sandoval was 5'10" 240 pounds and is now 268. Will Devers trim down or balloon up?

If Bloom goes after a FA outfielder through trade or free agency, I would hope we would get someone with a little more consistent power. Verdugo should have right field sewed up and Duran or one of a couple of other prospects are capable of playing center so that leaves left field. I don't believe Chavis is a long term solution and Beni has very little pop even when hitting. Find a LF player.

Yanking a starter who has excellent command for a hard thrower from the BP is risky since there is no way to tell if the replacement will get the ball over. Later in the game two Rays relievers walked players and put the game at risk. It's a tough decision and one that can and almost did backfire.