Hugh2

Do you think this is a function of NFL players being model citizens? or do you think it might have something to do with the fact that they have money, and people with even more money than them who are billionaires have a vested interest in them staying out of trouble? Remember Chris Carters "you need a fall guy" comment? Arrest rate doesn't mean someone hasn't committed a crime. Dudes, murder, rape, steal, and assault people all the time and never go to jail for it.

The cliff talk was always about striking a balance. The “cliff” was never a guaranteed destination rather a possibility. There’s no argument here, the debate is over. This season is a perfect example. Bloom didn’t mortgage the future and struck a balance. No cliff looking, only the apex, and we’re still competing for a WS this year. It must really hurt, the butt hurt must hurt so much to be so wrong, with a hyperextended, pullled brain by doing mega mental gymnastics. Good organizations, make calculated, strategic, long term moves most of the time. They don’t salivate at every big name and throw blank checks at them to appease the fans, because the real appeasement comes from WINS. Plenty of that going around now. Winning!!

The only thing that matters is what he’s done down the stretch and into the playoffs. I could care less how much he stinks at other times completely irrelevant. Blooms job was to find help this year, and he did, much cheaper than his opposition who he beat. This alone, should end the argument. Full stop.

This, 100x over. No doubt his stock has taken a hit but most people saying that it has probably over estimate how much it has gone down. His stock has probably only fallen a little for the reason you outlined. Extreme example, but if the Sox promoted Nick Yorke to Boston and he hit .100 this year does that mean he’s a prospect with no future or that he was rushed? Downs should have started the year in AA and the Sox left him to sink all year in AAA. Not his fault. Professional teams, with professional talent evaluators know this and look beyond box scores.

You’re forgetting the most important part of the argument here. The whole “cliff” argument was about what could be vs. what will be. Roster building is cyclical, and if done with the future in mind can be done in such a way that your down seasons do not have to be as bad. That’s is precisely what Bloom did by building organizational depth over the past few years. You can be in a “bridge” moment and still competitive. That ideal that the Sox weren’t horrible last year and the year could just be thrown away is ridiculous, but the moves made then and now have created the team we have today. We could have traded away from our minor league depth, and gone over the cap the past couple years to be more competitive, but we did not…..and we are still competitive. The Bloom haters are going crazy and digging for whatever argument they can make.

I don’t care what a guy has done in his career I care what he’s going to do down the stretch. Isn’t that what this all about? Wasn’t that the battle cry back in July? Screw the farm, screw the money, screw the future, we want to WIN now. So a GM makes a calculated move to buy low ok a guy with a shaky career who he identifies as someone who will be better down the stretch and the move 100% pays off and we’re still complaining? We didn’t make the moves the Bluejays made but here we are in the playoffs and they’re sitting on the couch. We didn’t make the moves the Yankees made, but here we are still in after being THE TEAM that knocked them out of it. We didn’t make the move TB did, but here we are 1 game away from reaching the ALCS and up on them. When are people going to stop their crying and just admit they were wrong like real men. It’s ok. This is a safe place.

Right! So Bloom did nothing. Nothing except get a guy for peanuts who performed but it’s still a s*** move because people have feelings and get nervous. Lol you can’t make this s*** up.

So, A guy existed younger than him? So what? Does that make him old for the level?

Dude goes 15 straight appearances without a run down the stretch and into the playoffs and he stinks. Lol, some people just want the Sox to suck so they can be right. Pathetic

Some of the best results for the lowest price, imagine how these Sox would look if the armchair GMs ran this team? Or the real G.M.s acting in their image? Man, we’d have a whole team of 38 year olds and a payroll of 300 million, no farm, and we’d be watching golf right now. ……and they’d be complaining about the GM still. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 They’re really the reason I come back and read the comments.

Judging by the looks on their faces and the interviews from the FO after the draft, they were ecstatic to get Mayer. They were in on Leiter because they thought he was more likely to be there. They looked giddy in the war room when Leiter went 2nd. Because at that moment they knew Mayer would fall to them because Detroit had a deal with Jobe. They knew one of Mayer/Leiter would fall to them after Davis went 1, and they looked in celebration mode early. I think if they had the choice, they’d take Mayer over Leiter.

Ok that’s an exaggeration.

Using ERA alone for a single A pitcher who wasn’t even old enough to drink a beer is about as an absurd an argument I’ve heard on here.

With the exception of a bad inning tonight all of Blooms deadline acquisitions have been great. He also acquired these players for peanuts compared to what the opposition paid. Chalk it up for another loss to the armchair instant gratification G.M.

I'm not sure what's wrong with operating close to and at times above the luxury tax limit. Teams that consistently operate way under do so because they just don't have the same financial might to do so. This is why we have 4 championships in the the 21st century, lets be thankful we are not the Marlins.......yeah that's right, Florida had two teams in case ya'll forgot. lol.

half those guys will never play for the Sox, and that rotation is missing an ace.

No one is claiming Jimenez, if he was a pitcher a team might take him and stash him in the back of the bullpen but a hitter is a different animal I think. I think they leave him unprotected, he's just too far away to be a legit risk of losing.

Jimenez is ranked 7th by Soxprospects. 10th by MLB.com, 8th by prospectslive, and 10th by BA. That's high, but that's not super hyping a guy up either. That's a range you're in if you have talent but aren't a blue-chip prospect either. I think he's appropriately ranked and has the potential to take off if the power comes. Here is what SP has to say about him. " High ceiling, low floor. Wide range of outcomes due to how raw he is and how much development he has left. Can dream on him becoming an everyday center fielder who adds value at the plate and in the field. One of the highest-ceiling players in the system and could establish himself nationally with a strong full-season debut. Will flash four average-to-better tools at least, but is raw at present. One of, if not the most athletic player in the system. Improved physicality and changes at the plate give him a much better chance to hit and to hit for some power as well. Needs work to refine his defensive game, but has the athletic ability and arm strength you look for in a centerfielder. Possesses great work ethic." That's the type of guy who is usually the 2nd or 3rd piece of a bigger trade.

There seems to be a lot of talk about Whitlock in the bullpen next year, but everything seems to indicate that the Sox plan on converting him BACK to starting next year. He never failed as a starter, he just got hurt and turned up in the bullpen as a rule 5 guy who needed to stay on the roster. His usage is indicative of his performance and the Sox needs, I don't think it changes how they view him in 2022. If anything Houck is the guy who ends up in the bullpen but given his performance through 5 innings almost every start you have to think you let a guy like that fail first before you make the move. Not sure you can have two question marks in your rotation like that in 2022 so it will be interesting to see how that shakes out.

So Bella pitch in Hartford the other night. Easy velocity, holds it well deep, he was still hitting 100 mph in the 5th. He also fielded his position very well, which I love. The downside was his maturity, he became visibly frustrated in the first when he struggled with his command, the defense couldn’t make a play and an infield hit loaded the bases. To his credit, he worked out of it, but he held true to the scouting as a guy who has good stuff but some command issues. If he can improve his control he could be a starter in 2023 on this team.

Ok I read that wrong, I thought you were saying that's what the rankings would or could look like at the end of the year.

If Mayer passed Casas, then Yorke passed both of them. Casas is a beast, very age advanced, and has been hot lately, yes he's a 1B profile but to me being much closer to the majors bridges and exceeds that gap in prospect value right now. I could see Mayer becoming the #1 prospect in baseball, I think his ceiling is that exciting, but I suspect Casas will have graduated by then. Maybe.

I don't think Mayer passes Casas. He's still #1 in my mind and knowing how the soxprospects guys rank players I'd guess they will keep him there too.

The SS free-agent class is huge this year. You replace Bogey now, let him play 2b/3b in 2022 and if he works out an extension with the Sox to stay there long term...awesome.

Exactly, which is why I like the idea of signing a replacement for Bogey this year in a class that is going to be much deeper at shortstop than the following year. Move Bogey to 2B for the year, it might actually help his market if he can flash plus there if teams think his defense is going to decline at SS.