Fan_since_Boggs

I'm not saying they should fire Bloom, but he has made a lot of mistakes and he didn't perform very well this year. There is something wrong when you have the payroll the Red Sox have and are basically a .500 team. The GM has to take responsibility for that. But all GMs make mistakes--Theo signed Carl Crawford, Cashman has made a ton of mistakes. And when did Theo or Cashman ever win a W.S. title with a small payroll? Theo and Cashman have spent big and to a large extent the spending is/was behind their success. Bloom has added some talent to the farm system, but he has also done a lot of weird things and made some trades that didn't benefit the Red Sox at all. There is reason to be concerned about his judgment, but time will tell.....

If a general manager couldn't see Dalbec's long swing, inability to lay off the high fastball, low contact rates, and conclude that Dalbec was a risky player going forward, a player with a fringy hit tool, then that GM shouldn't be running a team. Should Bloom have seen this? Yeah, why not. Fans saw it, you would expect a GM to see it too. And Casas was probably a year away. Bloom went into this season without a competent plan at 1b, together with his horrendous OF decisions, and the fact that the Red Sox basically got nothing for Mookie Betts (Bloom's fault). All of these factors matter when evaluating Bloom--he has made a lot moves that didn't work out. He inherited a core of some really good players, Devers, Bogaerts, and Martinez has declined but can still hit. And Bloom completely failed to obtain some moderately decent offensive players to supplement that core. That's pathetic.

I know: Dalbec got hot in the latter stages of last season but there were still people who were very concerned about his future due to his fringy hit tool and that offensive success was something Dalbec wouldn't sustain. It wasn't that hard to figure out.

The Mets seem to be moving in this direction.

The Red Sox love affair with Dalbec is perplexing to say the least. Maybe Bloom just sucks at evaluating talent? After all, this is same general manager who traded for Jackie Bradley and made him the starting RF against RHP. How much more evidence do we need to prove that Bloom walks around with his head up his ass half the time?

The Mets now have a better record than the Yankees. Ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Mets! The best baseball team in New York! The thing is, while the Mets improved at the trade deadline, the Yankees got worse at the trade deadline when they lost Montgomery and replaced him with a shoulder injury.

I don't know, there is a difference between Judge and a freak like Andre the Giant, who was also a poorly conditioned athlete. Dave Winfield is not an outrageous comp for Judge and Winfield had a 138 OPS+ at age 40. Judge will want a long term deal, a little under 10 years, and will want to be paid at least 30 million per year and someone will probably make that kind of offer. It'll then be up to the Yankees to decide if they want to match it or not and they probably will match it. NL teams have the DH now, it isn't like the Pujols free agency when NL teams were worried about giving him too many years. With the DH in the NL, more teams will be open to the idea of signing Judge knowing they can move him to DH in his late 30s.

This is interesting reporting. You never know with John Henry, he has been through so many general managers, perhaps he will pull the plug on Bloom after the season.

Bloom inherited some quality core offensive players like Devers, Bogaerts, and Martinez, and needed to surround those players with half-way decent contributors at a reasonable cost and he completely failed to do that, raising some concern about his ability to make sound baseball decisions. I wouldn't fire Bloom but I would fire him a year from now if the same level of incompetency continues.

Dalbec at 2b or CF makes a lot of sense. I also like the idea of converting Franchy Cordero to catcher--that would be a very Bloomian move, and the Red Sox need a starting catcher next year. Bloom is really into Franchy, he might even consider adopting him as a son.

I would be shocked if the Red Sox offer JD Martinez a QO, he isn't the same hitter he was in 2018. JD will accept the QO and the Red Sox don't want him around next year--he contributes nothing besides his bat and his bat is clearly on the decline. The Red Sox probably didn't want him around this year but unfortunately JD exercised the option to stay. While I would estimate that there is basically no chance the Red Sox extend a QO for JD, the Eovaldi situation is harder to figure out. If he finishes the season strong, I suspect he gets a QO; if not, the Red Sox don't bother. Bogaerts will be the third best SS on the free agent market behind Correa and Turner, no? I wouldn't bring back Bogaerts--I would make the splash for C.Correa who is a few years younger than Bogaerts. If the Red Sox move Story to SS, they create a hole at second with no one to fill it. But maybe Bloom has some kind of special plan for Valdez at 2b and that is why he traded for him. I like Valdez better in LF, let Duran and Valdez battle in spring training for the starting LF position with an awesome keystone combination of Correa and Story at SS and 2b. This would be a sexy infield: 1b: Hosmer 2b: Story SS: Correa 3b: Devers

How about Matt Carpenter as next year's DH? He will be a free agent, the Yankees aren't the right fit for him and the Yankees are going to spend a fortune on Judge, I could see Carpenter going elsewhere. Sure, he might return to St.Louis but the Red Sox could bid for him--a one year offer to avoid spending big money on a DH and Casas will be ready by 2024 (if he isn't ready by 2023). At this point, it might make more sense for the Red Sox to hold on to Duran as a 4th OF. Will anyone want him in a trade? It is not only his poor defense and lack of hitting, but he looks like a mental case out there.

A bad weekend for Brian Cashman. Montgomery throws 5-6 innings of shutout ball, gets the win against the Yankees, while Montas and his barking shoulder suck crap on Sunday in his Yankees debut. The Yankees go from Montgomery to Montas and in the meantime lose out on a top pitching prospect in Waldichuk. Cashman had a terrible trade deadline and it is going to cost the Yankees.

C: Wong 1b: Hosmer 2b: Story SS: C.Correa (free agent) 3b: Devers LF: E.Valdez CF: resign K.Hernandez to a one year deal RF: T. Naquin (free agent) DH: ??? Trade Duran, trade or non-tender Verdugo, obtain comp pick for Eavoldi, don't resign JD Martinez, get comp pick for Bogaerts.

It sounds like Bader is a stud defensive player but the Yankees have that guy in AAA and could call him up while keeping Montgomery. Montgomery isn't Steve Carlton, I get that, but he is good enough to be the 4th starter in a 7 game playoff series. I don't like subtracting depth from a starting rotation when you are a win-now team and a buyer at the trade deadline.

Interesting point:

Groome has been disappointing this year; I'm fine with the trade since the Padres are picking up so much of the money. I was hoping Groome would take a big step forward this year but that hasn't happened. At best, Groome looks like a bottom of the rotation starter, but his future might be in the bullpen. With Hosmer in the house, I have to rework things for next year: C: Wong 1b: Hosmer/Casas 2b: Story SS: Swanson 3b: Devers LF: Duran CF: resign Hernandez? Rafeala takes over the starting job in 2024 RF: Gallo on a one year contract? I can't figure out the RF position and apparently the Red Sox can't either. DH: Casas/Hosmer

So who is the starting catcher going forward? I don't get it. The Red Sox finally have a 1b, but no catcher? How strange. Maybe Bloom wants to move Cordero to catcher? That's probably it! Franchy Cordero, forget about 1b, you are now a catcher.

Another strange deal by Cashman.

That's the problem -- Bloom didn't seem to know which one to do. What a disaster. This is even worse than last year when Bloom failed to solidify the pitching staff. The Red Sox improved at 1b but created a black hole at catcher. Brilliant.

No one wanted JD, he is an aging declining player who can't run and can't field. Thankfully he will be off the team next year.

Bloom seems lost. So the Red Sox finally get a 1b and now create a big hole at catcher for the rest of the 2022 season? What is Bloom doing? Why trade Vazquez but hold on to JD Martinez and Eavoldi?

I don't get it, though. The Red Sox got worse by trading Vazquez, no? Yet, they get better by acquiring Hosmer. What does that mean for JD and Eavoldi? If the Red Sox hold on to JD and Eavoldi, with the idea of trying to win a wild card this year, why did they ever trade Vazquez?

Waldichuk has an amazing 13.72 strikeout rate per nine this year and is a true 4-pitch pitcher. Cashman is desperate and dealing a top SP prospect for a guy with a barking shoulder demonstrated that. I think Cashman should have kept Walichuk and traded for J.Quintana instead. Just imagine this trade by taking out Waldichuk and putting in Peraza. Would the A's have made that deal? Of course not.

My guess is that the A's didn't have much interest in average Yankees prospects like Volope and Peraza. The A's really like Max Muncy and see him as the future at SS. Waldichuk is now the best pitching prospect in the A's system, they needed to find a guy who profiles as a future ace. Nice job by the A's. Medina is interesting, he can hit over 100 on the gun, but he is a bit of a lotto ticket as a SP. He might profile best as a relief pitcher and has the ability to be a dominant one. Cashman is just so desperate to win a championship this year that he took a big gamble on a guy who recently experienced shoulder issues. Montas is a shoulder injury waiting to happen.