oldtimer

#33 Despite their improved rosters, Yankees, Rays, Orioles and Blue Jays all play worse then they did in 2023.

Sure looks like the Sox ownership has no idea of fielding a competitive product in 2024. It certainly could lead to a sale soon.

It doesn't look like we are doing much with the FA path this year so perhaps Breslow will complete advantageous trades. I would like to see some actions in January as of this date we appear to be no better than last year, maybe worse. We have some surplus in the outfield and perhaps Mayer will become trade bait.

I think Breslow will continue to be more decisive than Bloom and still is actively trying to trade of assets for more pitching and perhaps for an additional bat. We have Yoshita and we have more outfielders even without Yoshida than we need. Possibly Myer is expendable. I expect that Breslow will get one more starter either through FA or trade and that he will also find a quality bat with food power who can DH and at least play a field position on a part time basis. Clearly we need to make improvements in at least some positions if we hope to leave the NL East cellar in 2024.

I'm all for trading Yoshida if we can shed his salary and then apply that to more pitching. He is a defensive liability, is slow on the base path and while his OBP is good his power is not a strong point. If Breslo can find a trade that improves the team, he should go for it.

Happy New Year to you as well and to the others on the site, and have a safe return flight. My only negative to the Sale trade is based on the rumor that we could have given him away at full salary the year before but Bloom was indecisive. If so, we would have saved two years of $27.5 mil and perhaps applied that to a solid starter. Bloom is gone now and we have a guy that is making moves. Lets hope he is clearing payroll space to take on a quality starter. It may take shaking up the outfield and or relief pitching, or other prospects. I'll give Breslow some freedom from criticism, at least until opening day, to see what our team looks like.

Did you think Sale was worth the $27 mil he was getting? We got Grissham and we have $10 million we wouldn't have had with Sale.

It's a start.

After months of speculation about FA signings and trades on these sites, it is looking like the management's full throttle response is in reverse. Time to sell the team to an owner who wants to be competitive.

The Sox have spent the last few years near or at the bottom of our division. During that time, we have improved our minor league prospects and we reset the payroll (a year later than necessary). Clearly we need pitching upgrades for 2024, plus we have an outfield without plus plus players, a hole at 2nd base and defensive issues at the corners. Otherwise, we have a lot of room for improvement. The choice for starting pitching will be either to get into the sure to be bidding wars' for mature FA's. Big multiyear contracts, or we can try to trade for quality arms by offering some of our best prospects. you have identified possible choices in other posts but they represent our best prospects (Rafaela, Anthony, Mayer, Yorke, etc. We have money to spend, but so far notching has been done there. Will the fans be facing a 2024 in which the team tries to integrate our best prospects while unloading those that are marginal? Perhaps that would be a better path than trading those prospects for a couple or arms that will only marginally move the team forward. Will Cora be with the team in 2025? I wouldn't count on it. So bold moves are required but also done wisely. So far nothing has happened that suggests we are on the upswing.

The idea of Yoshida helping to sign Yamamoto is now ancient history. Do we really need slow, below average fielding players who can only realistically perform as DHers on the team. We seem to be going full throttle but are driving a Citroen 2CV. We need bold moves that bring us above average players at all positions, particularly pitching. I am not optimistic that is our direction.

I think the Sox have made a good faith offer to Yamamoto but the probability off winning the bidding war is around 20%. I think the Sox are awaiting settlement of that issue, by Jan 4th, before committing to other expensive offers. It is a risky approach as other quality arms might take offers before the Sox get in the mix for others. My fear is that the Sox will wind up not getting anyone of note and go into the 2024 season no better off than during Blooms years. We have seen talk the talk before, now it's time to walk the walk. Still, moves have to be made wisely. So far, there have been no high level acquisitions.

I made the same point on the other string but perhaps showed more frustration. Just do it!

So far, all I see is more of the Bloom approach, mostly smoke with no fire. Are we going to be told we made a good try for a front line starting pitcher or are we actually going to get at least one or hopefully two? Also, lots of talk about 2nd base but nothing yet. Reminds me of the Bloom years.

These are insane salaries. No doubt about it and no end in sight although it could all come crashing down. I find it hard to believe the revenues can keep rising fast enough to pay these guys with the fan base incomes barely increasing in real terms.

In Summary, the Sox got a marginal offensive right hand hitting outfielder with a good glove and gave up a better hitting , but less power, left hand hitting outfielder with a good glove but some difficulties with management. The Sox got pitching prospects and gave up pitching prospects. Did the Sox get better pitching prospects? That remains to be seen. It looks to me that these were sensible trades for the Sox but not ones that will make a significant difference in our 2024 win/loss record. Breslow has to do better and let's hope he will.

The Mets and the Padres threw a lot of money at players and got poor results. Just spending big on FA's can result in disappointments. Let us hope that when we spend, we get value and that our management is wise enough to have a plan to improve the team and sticks to it. Our contract with Sale has been a disaster and most teams make serious blunders. Good management is critical to our performance going forward.

Bloom watched and waited and was rather indecisive when making moves to improve the team. The result reflected his approach. I am waiting to see what Breslow does but time is going by and I'm hoping he is going to make meaningful deals early on. He really hasn't shown much yet, other than a pitching coach.

I hoping that Sox management will aggressively make moves that will be unlike anything Bloom was willing to consider. There are no real star level performers in our outfield. They are average players with some attractiveness and other issues, or they are too new to really count on. I would like to see changes that make us more dangerous. If Dugo has to go then so be it. Same with Yoshida and even Duran and Ref.

Ifr some team will pick up Sales contract it would free up money to go big on at least one starter. Sort a replacement with a more reliable starter.

It's my view that we have to keep both Devers and Casas bats in the lineup as full time players. Casas may well improve at 1st but he doesn't fit anywhere else while Devers can play 3rd, despite his tendency to throw wildly. I differ with you on Yoshide and would like him to be gone and instead find an older right handed power hitter for that role. I don't see where getting Devers reps at 1st does anymore than complicate his handling of 3rd base.

I'd much rather we unload Yoshida and his salary if at all possible. He is slow, hits fairly well from the left side, but without great power and is a below average left fielder. He may have some value in attracting Yammamoto. On the other hand, Duran cost less, has above average speed is flexible enough to play any outfield position, but certainly not at the GG level. He is younger and hits similarly to Yoshida. If we can rid ourselves of Yoshida's contract we should be able to find a quality right hand DH who could at least provide some flexibility in the infield. I'm okay with trying Rafaela and Abreu in the outfield and see if one can shine enough to take the position, while the second becomes our utility outfielder. I would consider dropping Ref. It looks more and more like Dugo will be traded and I like the idea of signing a quality right handed hitter with good defensive capability as our every day right fielder. It what you mention happens, we could wind up with two right handed hitters in the outfield and my thought would give us a right handed H. With SS and Catcher being right handers anx 2nd unsettled, we could achieve more lineup balance. Teal, Anthony and Mayer seem closest to the majors and are all lefties. It will be interesting to see who Breslow offers in trade since we will have to give to get 2 starters unless we can sign Yammamoto and a quality FA I am anxious to see Breslow get started early instead of approaching the business with delay and indecision as was the case with Bloom.

Somehow, we need to lose Kluber, Paxton, Sale and Jansen's contracts and maybe offer Houck as trade bait. That would free up money for two top quality starters and perhaps a different closer.

That possibility would relegate Yoshida to the trade market. That move would remove one defensive liability, however neither Mayer or Yorke have proven themselves at the ML level.

Interestingly, a look at the Diamondbacks makes one wonder about all the whining by Sox fans about how little JH spends to get competitive players. Somehow, the Diamondbacks have put together a very competitive team while spending a very low $119 Mil. How have they done that? Well, they have very capable people coaching and in the front office. Louvollo and Hazen come to mind. As you point out, their pitching is very solid but without having the biggest names. The do feature a very good defensive team with a lot of speed. They seem to be a determined bunch who look to get on base and are willing to run and do it effectively to get into scoring position. Getting a run or two is enough in some cases, with their pitching and defense. So far they have shown themselves competitive with teams with more than double their spending budget. Does that mean I am against spending big bucks to get very competitive players? Not at all, as I would love to see a Cory Seager in a Red Sox uni for instance. What I would like is for our baseball operations to be wise enough to go after or develop players who have speed, play defense, can pitch and or hit better than some of those we currently have. I use Yoshida as a case-in-point. A decent hitter but slow and below average defensive player who we overspent for. I'm optimistic that we have new key management and hope he has the talent and will be allowed to use the talent we all ready have along with moves to replace substandard talent to produce at least a competitive team in 2024. Time will tell.