oldtimer

Lets hope we don't get foolish with the next FA front line starter. It will be competitive for 2021 but the COVID season may depress contracts somewhat.

I pray that 2021 will see the application of an effective COVID-19 vaccine beginning early in the year, first to those most in danger followed by a full scale roll out. May life begin to return to normal and may we see fannies in the seats at least to partially fill ball parts beginning in April with a full return by the end of June. My vision for the Sox in 2021 is for a competitive team that can win at least 80 games. We have Bloom and he should lead us in developing a team that gets progressively better over the next few years. I expect Cora back as manager with Roenicke by his side. That pair will have a goal of using a strong draft, effective use of international money with trades and FA pickups all aimed at improving our farm and making incremental steps forward. I see us staying below the competitive balance tax this year with 2022 where we really go big again. We have some interesting pieces provided we don’t trade away our strength, but instead build upon it. My vision is for a 26 man consisting of 13 pitchers and 13 field players to start the year. Starting Pitchers: ( A Weakness) 6 of the following: Eovaldi (or closer) E-Rod (assumed recovered from heart inflammation) Perrez (5th starter) Pivetta (has the stuff but a reach) Sale (Back by August?) Mazza Mata (when will we bring talent up?) Seabold (Good reports) FA acquisition Bull Pen: (Also not a strength) 7 of the following Barnes (If not traded) Brewer Brice Hernandez Leyer Walden Weber)Corner FA or trade Catchers: (Stay with what we have) Vazquez Plawecki (if we can bet back) Field Players: Bogaerts SS Devers (corner infield) Dalbec (corner infield) or Chavis (1st and Util) Peraza or Arauz (Placeholder for Downs later in year) Lin (Util) Chatham (Util) Outfield: Verdugo RF JBJ CF (if we can get him for 2 years at 6.5 mil/yr) Duran (Hope to see him up regardless of JBJ situation) Benintendi (verdict is out after bad 2019 second half and terrible start 2020) Munoz (depending on Beni and JBJ) DH: JDM (contractually with us -but is he declining and does a change make sense?)

You are also not sure he won't be the best option. Someone in Red Sox management, or perhaps a team will have to consider the options and take a guess and then live with it.

Back to the point of not wanting to tie so much of the available resources in one player while also accepting a high risk of eating many years of it when the inevitable fall off in performance occurs.

Your talking about building a Rays like team. We have the right guy in Bloom to do it. We have a couple of impediments. We haven't had a decent draft position in years and we traded away a lot of quality prospects. I also wonder about the quality of our player development. Case in point being Dalbec, who came up with years in the minors with a reputation as a power hitter with a high strike out rate. His first period seemed to confirm the book on him and then after a few days coaching he seems to have found a way to improve significantly. If coaching was what this kid needed, was it lacking in the minors? Probably the answers are more complex but it begs the question Are we lacking in the player development area?

He is 30 and still is an excellent defensive player. He is durable, can run and by all I hear he is good in the clubhouse. This year he seems to be making more consistent contact, something that has eluded him in the past. He plans to go to free agency so we have to decide what to offer to keep him. I have heard $5 million for 2 years here with one suggesting 3 years would be acceptable. I assume some club with offer him more and for 3 years. Beni got $6.6 mil for 2. Our option right now is Duran who is unproven. Maybe they should move before the end of September with whatever offer they deem appropriate.

Yes I know. He is at the alternate site though and has probably earned a start in AA ball next season which puts him in position to move forward if he keeps hitting.

There seems to be a lot of people as fans and in BB who talk about young players not being ready to be brought up to play. Sort of a reverse age discrimination. i remember when Mickey Mantle was brought up early as was our own Rick Porcello by the tigers. Here is one list that includes young players who started on opening day. Lets hope if we get a great talent that he doesn't languish in the minors until he is 24 or 25. Youngest players to start Opening Day WWW.MLB.COM There have been 20 teenagers to start on Opening Day in the Modern Era (since 1900), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. All of them have been position players -- the youngest pitcher on record to start on Opening Day was Catfish Hunter at 20 years, 4 days old in

Of course and would you give him an extended contract?

https://nesn.com/2020/09/triston-casas-home-run-boston-red-sox-prospects/ Casas hitting at alternate site

The team will still need utility infielders and outfielders. These guys can be old pros signed on one or two year contract or young and not too costly guys that can do a reasonable job should the inevitable injuries occur or regulars just need rest. I see guys like Lin, Arauz, Peraza and Chatham on the list and at least one of these guys should be kept for that purpose. If Chatham fits that requirement then he should be kept. I put Munoz, Dalbec, Valdez and Taylor in the marginal category along with Chavis and expect we wont keep both Chavis and Dalbec on the roster next year. Maybe one or the other, whoever impresses. JBJ will be a FA and will likely be gone so we will need a replacement. Will it be Duran or another? I have moved Beni in my thinking from core player to marginal. Is he the best we can do for left field? He has to demonstrate a positive trajectory to stay in the core. So the outfield is an area that needs work as well as second base.

That's the sentimentality reasoning that plagues us. Giving a player well into their thirties a long term contract makes no sense. Oh but think of all the wonderful things he has done for us in the past should not be a consideration in the contract signing. It should be based on what value a player will have to the team going forward and risk analysts should be involved. If the player involved is unhappy with the dollars and length of contract, then its time to trade him. It's the hard nose Billy Ball approach but it would not result in so many of these unproductive long term contracts that we have lived with and are living with now. I prefer being competitive at every position to the idea of having a few superstars and weakness in the other positions. Bloom knows how small market teams navigate and soon he will have more resources from which to build the team back into contention.

I hope they go after pitching prospects. Maybe Blooms changes to player development people will see an improvement. What 5 Golden Gloves says about mt bringing up pitching prospects is probably true. We don't bring them up under the guise of their not ready. The truth is probably more to do with arbitration years.

I am all for giving Munoz, Dalbec, Chavis and possibly Chatham as much PT this season as possible so we can get a look at who we want to keep and who we will trade. I don't know how Okimey fits into all of this as they have made no inferences about bring him up for a look this year. We could well see Peralta, JBJ, Lin, Arauz and one of Chavis or Dalbec gone for 2021, which means we need to carefully evaluate options. I don't think there will be enough resources to upgrade our pitching needs and deal with weaknesses in our position player roster. I favor spending on pitching this off season.

It could be very difficult unless E-Rod makes it back and perhaps Pivetta will be some version of a starter. I don't expect Sale back until mid season and then who knows how. effective he will be. If we get a starter from our prospect list then we still need a top of the rotation guy. That is a best case scenario. we could need 2 or more. Starting and relief pitching should be our focus. Maybe some of the player development personnel we are changing will help us and we can bring up useful players from the minors. The process of strengthening the team will take time as many of our experiments will not work out.

I didn't realize he left without notice. Not a good thing to do. No doubt Sox management had a long talk with him about how they expect him to behave going forward.

The Sox are a team that had Jimmy Pearsall(sp) playing for them. When you find a talented guy you hope to accommodate a little zaniness.

Dalbec has been in the minors for a while and was a swing and miss guy who had power when he connected. I'm for continuing with Dalbec this season and giving him the chance to perform. So far neither his past performance and his ML start are where he needs to be to make the team in 2021. I doubt he makes it. In the case of Casas, he is more of a contact hitter with a lot of power. I advocated a rapid move to high minors for next year. If he can handle that, then and only then we should bring him up.

We may have struck gold with Verdugo and now Munoz as parts of the 2021 team. Munoz is thought of as UT and is flexible to play either outfield or 2nd. Clearly we need to play Munoz consistently for the remainder of the season to see if we have a ML player here. Right now I would not be thinking of Dalbec as making the team in 2021. Duran remains to be seen but reports are favorable. Chatham might make it at the UT infield level. I can see Casas making the jump to AAA quickly. I argue against a special talent being held back in the minors too long, if he shows the ability to move up the ranks quickly. I am all for Bloom stirring the pot and reconstituting the team with players who can perform. This is beginning to be an interesting ride, despite the terrible season we are living with in 2020.

Those of you who accuse Bloom of dumpster diving without results will have to reconcile the addition of Munoz. He appears to be a guy who is flexible defensively and can hit at the ML level, Is he a new piece to the 2021 lineup in the outfield or at 2nd base? Stay tuned.

Possibly Downs toward the end of the season, depending on the progress he shows. The Sox will still need to decide on which of any of our many possibilities we will settle on during the majority of the season or whether we look in the FA market. I am hopeful that the majority of resources will be used for pitching.

Pitching has to take precedent. Will none of the prospects be able to fill the 2 base slot?

Dalbec is 26 years old and has spent a long while in the minors where he also had a high strikeout rate. The Sox brought him up because he has power when he makes contact and he is a tolerable 1st/3rd base prospect. He should be given some leeway this season but it may be a choice between Dalbec and Chavis next season (or neither). I see it as he either performs now or loses his chance with the organization. Casas is waiting in the wings and may turn out to be the better option.

If Dalbec is our 7th best prospect, it doesn't speak well of our farm.