oldtimer

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.

I wonder how Cash would have been thought of if Morton's reliever had blown it and the Rays had lost the game? At the time of the move, with Morton pitching so well, I thought Cash is making a move that could lose the game. Lucky for him it didn't but the relievers were not that solid, especially finding the strike zone.

I don't get a the kick out of proposing trades that you seem to. I expect Bloom has many possibilities in front of him and ultimately, he will make the decision. His guidelines have been stated and they are to make the team consistently competitive at a high level. Since we are going from non-competitive in 2020, I am willing to give him time to achieve his vision for the team. What the Rays have achieved gives some insight into his approach, although with the Sox, he should have additional resources. My hope is that he will be willing to get rid of poor performers no matter that they might be fan favorites. He did it with Betts, who was a great performer for us but his salary demands and length of contract did not fit the long term vision The Betts deal indicates to me that Bloom will make moves that are necessary. We will see the first round with FAs after the WS is completed.

NESEN took a shot at next years starting roster. https://nesn.com/2020/10/red-sox-offseason-preview-way-too-early-opening-day-roster-projection/ I doubt if Chavis makes the infield and I also doubt if Beni makes the outfield. JDM is no more than an emergency outfielder so I see the outfield as Verdugo, Duran and a replacement with Munoz, who Nesen left off as the ultility outfielder. Realmuto at catcher for Vaz is questionable. Do we really need to go big at catcher? Three new names at pitcher. All seem to be reasonable.

What I see with the Dodgers is a lot of guys with long looping swings and only a couple who try to hit the opposite way and move the runner. That approach might work against average pitching, but both Atlanta and the Rays have much better than average pitching and like the Yankees with hitters with similar approaches, the Dodgers are finding the going hard. When we go after players I hope that they look for guys who make hard contact, have speed and have low strikeout rates Home runs are nice, but are not the whole story.

[QU OTE=Bellhorn04;1356558]One of the craziest splits ever: only 63 PA's, but Mookie hit only .185/..302/.204 against lefties this year. Last night he went 0 for 4, all against lefties. The Dodgers better be careful The Braves are similar to the Rays. Good pitching, excellent defense and better hitting than the Rays. The injury to Darneau hurt last but the Dodgers may be going home this round anyway. Mookie may not be enough to make the Dodgers a wnner.

You watch the playoffs this year. Teams with great pitching usually have guys who induce ground balls. Just one error can lose a game. Maybe in 2018 we were just that much better that it didn't mean much but knowingly putting a poor fielder at the hot corner is high risk. He needs to show improvement or be moved to a position where he can succeed.

Our outfield is fertile ground for change. I prefer we resign JBJ at center, but if that can't be worked out Kevin Pillar would be a suitable and low cost reacquisition. I would like to see us trade Beni and Chavis, which probably means another change via trade or free agency. I know you don't consider Duran as a viable outfield option for the Sox, but I fully expect him getting play in Spring training and making the team. If I am correct, we would carry Verdugo, JBJ/Pillar, Trade/FA/Duran on the 26 man with Munoz as a capable backup. I wouldn't use JDM in that role at all.

I agree that Devers is a core player for the Sox, but watching the Rays play leads one to appreciate exceptional defense. Can't have a 3rd baseman making 35 errors a season and expect to advance in the playoffs. Devers has either got to greatly improve his defensive numbers or move to first base. We have a better defensive man on the team now so it could be done.

The Rays won another with very good pitching and good clean defense. The bombers are not winning against them, at least not as yet. I'm expecting Bloom to reflect the Rays success in the moves he makes this offseason. Get rid of the weak sisters on the club. (lot of those) Enhance the BP and starting pitching through trades and FA Start to use capable young players from the prospect list. One doesn't have to be 25 to make the team. Look hard for solutions with players who are error prone. One error last night would have sunk the Rays Draft well and make only moves which make the team better on a consistent and long term basis.

If the Sox outright release him then he also is not on the 40 man. That's another way to at least preserve a slot even if nothing can be done about the DBT hit.

Is there any way that Pedroia could be removed from the 40 man? I doubt if anyone believes he can play a single game so having him on the roster hurts the team. I believe they will try to keep JBJ and if successful may avoid another FA outfielder. I also believe Beni will be gone and Duran brought up.

I read the article today regarding the extensive changes expected to our 40 man roster during the offseason and I tried my hand at predicting who will go by spring training. The team should change and it looks certain to be very different. Here is my attempt. 40-man roster: PITCHERS (22): Yoan Aybar, Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier, Austin Brice, Dylan Covey, Nathan Eovaldi, Matt Hall, Darwinzon Hernandez, Tanner Houck, Mike Kickham, Robinson Leyer, Chris Mazza, Martin Perez, Nick Pivetta, Jeffrey Springs, Robert Stock, Domingo Tapia, Josh Taylor, Andrew Triggs, Phillips Valdez, Marcus Walden, Ryan Weber. 60 day IL returnees E-Rod, Chris Sale, Brewer, Godley, Hart Rule 5 Draft Protectees: Groome, Mata, Seabold, CATCHERS (3): Christian Vazquez, Kevin Plawecki, Deivy Grullón. INFIELDERS (10): Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Bobby Dalbec, Michael Chavis, Jonathan Arauz, Christian Arroyo, Yairo Muñoz Tzu-Wei Lin, José Peraza, C.J. Chatham. 60 day IL returnees Pedroia Rule 5 Draft Protectees: Potts, Rosario, Wong OUTFIELDERS (5): Jackie Bradley Jr., Alex Verdugo, J.D. Martinez, César Puello, Marcus Wilson. I 60 day IL returnees Benintendi In addition, there are a couple of minor league FA candidates we may want to keep and no doubt Bloom will be actively seeking additions to make the team more competitive. So there are 40 now with 2 FA we may want to keep and 12 additions, If we keep both which 12 get cut? How many will Bloom add? Say it’s 6. Who are the additional players leaving? Is there some way to drop Pedroia from the 40 man?