5GoldGlovesOF,75

"Defense has always been a question, but Yorke enjoyed success last year, taking home Eastern League’s Defensive Player of the Year honors at his position." (J.McWilliams, BGlobe, 3/17/2024)

I know -- why would any player deserve promotion for doing well! There has to be some other suspect striking out all the time who would fit in better on the parent club. Is he good... or just doing good? Ask the other high school picks from the 2020 who are already in The Show. You're killing me, Smalls sample size (Whitman's Sampler 36 oz, 72-piece box recommends a daily limit of three pinky pushes to the bottoms of assorted creme chocolates to determine filling flavors). Team president Sam Kennedy just reiterated "resources will not be a problem when it comes to doing everything we can to be a winning championship team for the now and for the long term." Pressed for specific examples, he reportedly listed fossil fuels, solar power, banned library books, campus posters, unfolded maps, Google Earth, and Volume S of the Encyclopedia Britannica currently holding up the broken window in his office...

I see what you did there...

He was with the Braves, replacing the equally-impotent Arcia... unless he was a cheap rental to replace O'Neill, who was part of the Seattle blockbuster for Bryce Miller.

"Certainly there was consideration for the component of durability as a mitigating factor of the Sale trade, especially the probability of potentially facing him in the postseason," said Craig Bloomslow.

I do: Grissom will hit a walk-off homer in Game Six of the World Series vs. Atlanta off Tanner Scott, but Sale -- the Braves' scheduled Game Seven starter -- will then take a pregame tumble upon arrival at Fenway, tripping over a cross-walk on Lansdowne Street, then getting bonked on his pitching elbow off a BP dinger by Bo Bichette. Instead, the Braves will be forced to pitch a rookie who Boston has never seen before. Twenty-one Red Sox will strike out swinging at sweepers two-feet outside, but after a couple speedsters get on base via late-inning walks, Raffy will throw his bat at a lowball in the righty batter's box... and barrel the championship-winning hit off the Monster... with lucky, unrepeatable RBIs! The ring-bearer will be the Incredible Houck, who, as a rookie, was referred to as a righthanded-Chris Sale. "I told you," said Sale.

Don't forget the number of pitches Pitchman Dave O'Brien makes every night; this isn't a knock, but this batter doesn't have a knock yet tonight, though he had two knocks last game, and is among the team leaders in knocks, and needs a knock -- there's a knock between first and second, and that's going to be a knock... there's his knock.

Atlanta minor league execs are already looking at their levels for other former high-ranked prospects whose stock has dropped to offer Breslow for Story next winter.

Yankees are the greatest team in the history of two months ago. Every May, they're going to the World Series. In their last three Mays, the Yanks won over two-thirds of their games, with a record of 59 and 26. In their last three Julys, New York is 24-33... so far.

Crawford may not be a Hall of Famer -- or even a hallway monitor -- but I like his act, embracing emotions and sweating out each pitch and outcome. It's not hard to imagine amateur pitchers reacting the same way, if suddenly forced to take the mound and battle the Bronx, smackdab in the middle of a national network's AARON JUDGE SHOW. In that way, Crawford is more fun to watch than stone-cold Maddux, the android assassin from The Terminator.

Every time I see Breslow interviews, he seems to speak with restraint. He just can't allow himself to get excited about hot streaks Right -- just wish the Sox weren't underachieving, according to the team president. Maybe Brez would recruit some reinforcements, if only they could just... achieve...

Every time I see Breslow interviews, he seems to speak with restraint. He just can't allow himself to get excited about hot streaks, hot pitchers in the Spring, hot hitters in the Summer, or a hot manager all season (with this roster). When asked to comment about the current team, he always has to repeat his stock line about doing what's best for both now and the future... It would be shocking if the Sox traded a top prospect for a top-of-the-rotation ace. But it would also be disappointing if they didn't at least deal some farm depth for a big league starting pitcher -- someone reliable to just take the ball every five days for the next three months. Bassitt, Flaherty, guys like that are out there -- and will be moved to contenders. If Brez supplies the latter, it's a sign he's also supporting Cora (with more hopes of retaining him, as well). Help for the rotation also helps the bullpen, where Wink could move back to, and provide quality innings. If Brez instead just decides to lean on Criswell, or another Criswell-type acquisition, he knows and we know just what the inevitable burnout to the pitching staff will mean...

Every year Eovaldi was in the postseason he was excellent.

An Eovaldi reunion in Boston would be great, but MLB might forbid it. You see, FOX Sports denies that Nate ever existed as a Red Sox -- at least, they do in every Red Sox-Yankee game they telecast. In FOX facts, the entire postseason history of Boston-New York begins with the Babe and ends with Big Papi; 2018 and 2021 never happened, the Sox aren't 4-1 vs NY in their most recent playoff games, and Eovaldi never wiped out the Yanks in both the Bronx and Fenway.

Nobody in Red Sox Nation wants Breslow to fork off. And it doesn't really do any good at this point to wait a week or two to pick a lane. This is the roster. Casas and Hendricks may contribute, but because of their specific injuries, it's unreasonable to expect either to be as good as new this summer. Tris isn't coming back to swivel with reckless abandon for the fences and Liam won't be throwing as fast as the past -- maybe next year. So pick a lane -- which won't bitch: buy or sell? I always want the Red Sox to improve, but if the owner won't allow them to take on added salary, then dump anyone they're not planning to invest in. Just don't wait until one minute before midnight August 1st, thinking offers will be better then. You might wake up the next morning and be Bloom.

The Braves could lose 20 in a row, go into sell mode, and give Sale back to the Red Sox and it wouldn't matter. On the flight back to Boston, turbulence would cause him to hit his head on the overhead rack, and he'd miss the entire second half with a concussion. And the turbulence wouldn't even come from storms or angry birds -- just indigestion from a passenger sitting in front of Chris.

Just checked Fox pregame. Remember, in Fox World, the Sox-Yanks rivalry ONLY extends from Ruth to Dent to Boone, and ends with Roberts' stolen base. Eovaldi doesn't exist, and never beat New York at the Stadium, 16-1, in '18, or in the wild card game in '21. Brock Holt never hit for the cycle, Nunez to Pearce is a nothing burger, and Bogaerts and Schwarber didn't croak the great Cole. FOX: the Playoff Deniers' channel.

It's fun to speculate, and trade proposals are part of being a fan. But reasonable Red Sox fans (who always suspected the worst reasons for the Bloom Era) don't expect any deadline acquisitions beyond maybe a Jack Flaherty... for a package of prospects all due to become Rule V draft picks.

It has to be encouraging that everyone on this board -- the Saturday after the best win of the season -- is prepared to part with "the future" for "the present" (and the gifts it will continue to yield for coming sustainable contenders). Ramble on: now's the time, the time is now.

Moe just asked Curly, and he said, "Soitenly!"

White Sox are probably going to dump Luis Robert and his big bucks contract, as well -- so will want star outfielders. They just might demand Anthony and either Duran or Rafaela for Crochet... ... and I still make the deal, if I'm Breslow -- because even if he doesn't think this year is worth investing in, getting a top starter is always worth it for now and the future... especially, since the Red Sox farm has Dick Bupkis as its future ace. Crochet could be the next Wheeler (or Tommy John). But if the BoSox stand still, another club acquiring him will blow right past them, and if you blink, Cora will, too. Cause time goes by like hurricanes.

Alex Cora -- who next season may be managing in either dugout in a Red Sox-Yankees series -- speaks of getting greedy with the '24 Sox. Clearly, Boston is better than New York right now, and only three behind the annual World Series favorites in the loss column. For dreamers, second place doesn't seem unattainable. Casas will make a full recovery and slug homers all summer to protect Devers, the bullpen won't burn out, and not one single starting pitcher already pushed beyond career innings totals will get hurt the rest of the season. Now, let's get real. This team has a legit shot at making the postseason, but with clear needs. Foremost has to be a good starter, and three of the top five in MLB pitcher WAR are available: Fedde 4.1 and Crochet 4.0 from the White Sox, and Anderson 3.5 of the Angels. Crochet leads the AL in Ks, K/9 and FIP... is 25, and not a free agent until 2027... so, which one of the Red Sox' Big FOUR would you trade -- because that's at least the cost it will take to keep another top-of-the-rotation #1 out of Baltimore. The Orioles have prospect capital ready to make the deadline painful... Start the deal with Anthony or Campbell, and keep Teel and Mayer (potential star catchers and shortstops are more coveted -- but perhaps Chicago has interest in quantity, and asks for both Garcia and Arias as longterm chips)... Fedde and Anderson will cost less, but not for a team that wants to land them before the last minute of July. It's a seller's market!

Yanks definitely have star power, but their overall line-up on the field is awkward, while the Sox actually look more balanced. I said it a month ago: Yankees are going nowhere with Judge in centerfield. He has a negative dWAR, and doesn't make diving attempts for anything close (I suspect the club told him to stay on his feet -- and not to risk injury -- since his bat is the key to their season). Soto also has a negative dWAR. Boston may have four outfield gloves better than NY's two starting All-Stars: Duran, Abreu, O'Neill and Rafaela -- who may not have the numbers of Duran, but makes a highlight catch in just about every game he plays CF. Any fan watching nightly already knows: Ceddanne is our best fly-chaser since JBJ.

I thought Smith was Lonnie, a regular position player who won rings with three different teams in '80, '82, '85; he also got back in the World Series with a fourth team, but lost in '91-92. Another guy of note is Orlando Cabrera, a starting middle infielder for five different cities in six postseasons from 2004-2010. He only won one World Series -- Boston '04 -- and apparently wore out his welcome quickly wherever he went. But nobody can call OC a loser; all five of his clubs were first-place teams.

Right, but I can't give credit to a CBO who drafts good prospects with picks that are the direct result from his big league team losing nearly every year. Drafting the best player available left on the board when it's your turn is standard practice for baseball GMs. It's their job, and most follow suit. Media who cover the draft reported surprise that Mayer and Teel fell into Bloom's lap. His strategy to take Yorke so he could afford Jordan, on the other hand, raised eyebrows. Later round guys like Anthony and now Campbell developed faster than the industry expected -- or just show the crapshoot variables of drafts, where there are loads of past examples, from Betts to Judge... A CBO should be judged on how he builds his MLB roster each year, and supplements it with sufficient big league depth to properly deal with annual injuries. Epstein and Dombrowski were good at that, and Bloom wasn't. Argue if you want that the same owner determined their fates, depending on his spending moods. And pray he gives Breslow a chance to improve... our summer entertainment value.