Hugh2

Are you seriously going to use 5 innings showing his hard hit % going up? in more innings it was less than 2017 last year? Come on Moon you're better than that. And where are you getting his velocity Data? I mean if we are going to use his 2022 stats his fastball averaged 94.9 which is .4 higher than his average. The difference between 1 MPH is negligible if you're hitting your spots and getting movement, his fastball movement has not diminished. I'm not sure what you're looking at. The only year that backs an argument of his stuff as "diminished" is 2019, it's a good but not super strong argument but remember, this was RIGHT before he got injured. Could it be his harder hit percentage in 2019 was because of his arm was about to blow up? Seeing how his velocity and spin rate is back up SINCE then I'd say yes.

Yet he had his highest SO9 rate ever in 2019 and what a smaller rate in less than 6 innings? What stats are you talking about? other than his 2019 ERA. Why does a guy who has not lost velocity, not loss spin, and not lost separation have to be "crafty"??? CRafty is what you become when you fastball drops from 99 to 91 so you learn a new pitch and hit your spots better. Sale has not lost velocity.

My only labeling a young prospect as the "next DH" is that he is a guy who HAS to hit. The bar for offensive production is set so much higher, It also takes away from being able to rotate and rest guys, which is fine when your DH is David Ortiz.....but then again Ortiz could HIT. I like Kavadas, and think he could be great, but the bar is set high for him. He could be a nice trade piece too, would like to see him develop into at least and average defending 1B.

I hate making definitive statements based on small samples sizes, but stuff is stuff. If you're throwing your fast 95 MPH you're throwing 95 MPH. As athletes, you can either do something or not do it, like an NBA player dunking. In terms of stuff, Chris Sale still has it. If he ever gets healthy he's going to be great again. Now I can already forsee the dumb responses to this by the suspected characters about him never pitching again or staying healthy WHATEVER....I'm not saying he's ever going to be healthy and have a full season of health. All I'm saying is if he ever gets his injuries behind him and gets back up on the mound for a season he's going to pitch great. The pitch data supports that. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/chris-sale-519242?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb

Has he lost velocity on his fastball? has he lost separation on his fastball/change? and has he lost spin rate? are hitters swinging and missing less? On the pitching side of things, stuff can be measured. Chris Sale still has excellent stuff. He just sucks at staying healthy. If Chris Sale comes back and stays healthy you can bet he's going to pitch like a TOTRS.

That was also ONE inning, he looked pretty good down the stretch last year and he looked good this year. In terms of his stuff, it did not look diminished at all, he just didn't stay on the field very long. If you want to say a guy can't be an ACE because he can't pitch that's fine. But I'm totally uninterested in arguing semantics with people. The facts are his stuff hasn't diminished, if he's healthy he's going to pitch great. Maybe he never gets healthy again though. People can argue they want but he's under contract.

I just read that the way his contract is structured it's the same cap hit whether or not the Sox pick up his option so why not? I wouldn't pencil him into one of the starting 5 but I'd roll the dice and see how he looks next year. You can never have enough pitching.

Obviously it would like great if the Sox make a big more to bolster the rotation, but only the smaller side of things it will be interesting to see if the Paxton situation pays off next year.

Not the point. Point is, would someone really not resign Raffy right now because of a slump? Do we actually think he's regressed or just in a slump? seemed like a ridiculous statement to me that was all.

Subjective, let me rephrase. Sale hasn't lost his stuff, he just can't stay healthy. It's not like he's not a good pitcher when he can pitch....he just hasn't been healthy. He came back last year and pitched great in the ALCS. He did what you expect your ace to do.

It’s been said for a while that DD won that trade because none of those prospects really amounted to anything, Moncada was a bust. Kopech however is very young still and having a good season.

I bet no one remembers but I was actually against the Chris Sals trade at the time because I thought his arm was going to blow up. It did, but afterwards it seems to be misfortune to prevent him from coming back. Bones heal stronger, if his elbow is fine then great. He still pitches like an ACE when he’s out there. Still, Sox need to acquire an ACE as Sale can’t be trusted. If he gets healthy and pitches amazing then great, we’ll have two and be a real WS contender.

So if Raffys agent came to JH and said we will sign for 280/10 you say no?

No, I think he knows something we don’t. Time to stock up in supplies and build that bunker

Ummmm, is the world ending in a few years???

Then who plays CF? Kike hurt, JBJ gone, Pham was t here until recently (also not a CFer). Letting go of JBJ was stupid, especially if it didn’t free up any money.

I didn’t look at Fwar I only checked Bwar. And I didn’t say Story was better only that he’s of comparative value…at least that’s what I think I said.

Trevor Story career OPS .848 > Bogaerts .812 plus better defense. Not calling Story better, only saying he produced as good as value as Bogaerts. Facts

Story’s been hurt for a long time and is still 2nd on the team in RBIs, has better defense and more power. Look at their stats before this season as well, Story had a good bat, as good as Bogaerts. Slightly less average but more power better defense. The knock on Story was Coors field, him and Bogaerts had identical OPS playing away which bit that narrative in the butt. But don’t take my word for it, look up what Story has done the past decade.

Story, Arroyo, and Pham, all Bloom moves.

When it comes to evaluating talent teams use both methods. Statistics gives insights the eye tests can not and is not as subjective, it’s absolute. The eye test shows us things not seem in the stats, the WHY at times. Also, the quality of the eyes matter too, we don’t see Jack thru the TV.

Why do you need fans to explain this to you when you can look it up. It would be like asking your uncle to explain vaccines to you instead of your doctor. WAR is a very understandable concept, it’s formulation is no secret and you can easily look it up and understand it yourself. This just screams bating, if you have a problem with WAR, why not specifically state what that problem is and how’s its calculation is flawed

Again, let me reiterate. I never said he accomplished the mission. He’s succeeded at rebuilding the farm. That’s it. Winning is obviously the objective, and I ponder with a rebuilt farm and payroll flexibility for the first time in years what direction the team goes in this offseason.

I was specific to say “to date” and not mission accomplished. Read my last comment above.

I think Bloom is going to surprise everyone with the moves he makes this off-season, for better or worse. He keeps on being labeled as a small market GM managing the Sox like a small market team who will not go out and make the big moves. It seems this opinion is largely shared by those who want Bloom fired and those who are giving him more patience alike. I think, or at least I hypothesize you’re all wrong. Bloom was brought in here to mix small market ideals with a big budget team. To model an organization like LA (maybe not quite as high a payroll but who knows). Let’s look at what LA does, they stay competitive by adding payroll, but they surprisingly always have a strong farm and mix in their talent with young players as well. Despite a lower draft position year after year, they do this by keeping the farm intact and superior scouting. The first thing you have to do to get to this point is rebuild the farm. In 3 years we’ve gone from the worse farm system to a top 10 system in baseball. So this is where we are at, no disagreements here. You can’t argue that Bloom has accomplished the mandate of rebuilding the system. After that a divergence occurs, many fans can’t stomach several seasons in a row of non-competivness (We did almost make it to the World Series last year). Now we find Bloom in a unique situation. People on both sides don’t think he has the balls to make big moves because he’s a small market GM. Well, here’s my argument to the contrary. He WAS a small market GM, he came into Boston and had no payroll flexibility, his job was to shed payroll and build up the farm. Mission accomplished. But now he’s walking into an off-season with 100 million to spend. Premium free agents who play positions we have big holes at, and a year in which a large number of other big market teams are up against the luxury tax and seemingly don’t have the ability to be as active as us. Bloom has never had this opportunity before, and I think it’s unwise to assume he’s going to run the Sox like the TB rays this off-season. I think this off-season is the year they make their moves. If I’m wrong, I’d be perfectly content moving over to the fire Bloom side. But he has a golden opportunity to build a great team this off-season. Let’s see what happens.