5GoldGlovesOF,75

My son has a Topps card of Collin McHugh in a Red Sox cap. Gonna assume the photo is airbrushed (not hairbrushed).

Come on, Sale was only MIA in Boston for HALF A DECADE The difference with Mondesi -- I mean Paxton -- I mean Fulmer -- I mean Hendriks -- I mean GRISSOM... is that they were Red Sox a long time before Red Sox fans ever (if ever) saw them in Boston uniforms.

Or: It has taken a while to see what he looks like.

Depend on how many more starters go down. He's already got the stuff and length to be an opener, and then could get stretched out in one inning increments: three IP, four IP, five... golden rings... More likely, Uwasawa is the next Criswell, and Slaten sets up Hendriks in the second half.

Ok why even have a home plate ump if you're going to let the corner umps get air time to fist pump check-the-check? Home plate ump calls "Ball" twice in a minute, then checks-the-check -- first base ump pumps his fist -- three pitches later -- third base ump pumps his fist. Both relays show Red Sox batter STOPPING their bats -- not SWINGING their bats. But at least both corner umps got to call balls as strikes.

Consistent pitching costs money.

Grissom 4-for-4 Sunday, up to .333 in his Triple A "spring training"; he may just get to Fenway when Spring actually comes to Boston... temps projected in the 70s soon!

The betting shows must have taken a bath on those odds, with LA giving 222 "runs" -- plus, don't forget, "for every five dollars you blow, we promise to light a match and burn 150 more of your bank account dollars."

I was thinking their pitchers should've saved some of those scoreless innings for today -- Pablo! Also, starting to worry about Slaten; if he continues to imitate '21 Whitlock, how much longer before they make Justin a starter and send him to the IL?

I really want to agree, but fear Counsell's contract has upped the ante for name skippers beyond the Red Sox' current business plan. Maybe -- and this is a stretch -- they'll factor the coming cost of Cora as insurance protection for their biggest investment: Devers. AC has always been a valued mentor for Raffy, and also has the respect of many players from the DR, PR, Venenzuela, etc.

He's going to make a lot of money next year on a team aggressively trying to win that's not afraid to get what it pays for.

Add: metaphorsaken manager, at the top of his game, in a contract year...

Most unearned runs allowed. Least earned runs allowed. Most batter strikeouts. Least healthy roster. Most baserunners caught between pizza boxes. Half game out of a wild card spot...

... at the cost of no players in return... in exchange for cash considerations... and undisclosed routing numbers... not even check inconsiderations...

Good work compiling this list. I just would label Giolito (SP) and omit the #1. He never did a single thing to earn that label in Boston except sign an expensive contract that no other club offered him. His 5 ERA the past two seasons means he lost any #1 status. The Red Sox paid him to eat innings, but nobody is going to leave a guy on the mound if he's continually getting shelled, like Gio at the end of last year... just like former Cy Young winners Corey Kluber or John Smoltz, when they were here. There was hope Bailey could revive Giolito's career, but nobody even knows now how he'll recover from surgery -- not every pitcher is automatically as good as new after TJS.

Yeah, Giolito doesn't have two pitches, but he does have two years to get paid for maybe throwing zero pitches.

Pablo Reyes, cut last year by an A's team in the process of losing 112 games, isn't being counted on to hit -- even though he bats sixth in the order. He's in there for his glove, especially while Raffy heals. And what a replacement! Red Sox third basemen in '24 Devers: 12 games, 1 error, fielding percentage of .958. Reyes: 10 games, 4 errors, fielding percentage of .852.

Blame Yoshida for the new culture. Ever since the Sox started lifting inflatable plastic dumbbells, all they can do is hit solo home runs.

Before these 2020s mostly flopping around near the cellar, the last sustained dark days came in the early 1990s, when broken-down nugatories like Jack Clark and Andre Dawson were batter versions of Kluber imitating the last gasps of John Smoltz. Then Wakefield and Nomar brought back hope until the masses were blessed with a messiah named Pedro. What's the lesson? Don't waste time and money on has-beens. Develop prospects, and only chase stars in their primes. And keep signing affordable second-chance guys cut by others... some can actually help.

Hatteberg got traded for Pokey Reese, immediately signed with Oakland, and never played catcher again. And he became famous for it -- and not just because Pokey threw out the last batter of the greatest comeback of all time (but that was freaking good enough).

Kyle Teel may not make the majors and become a star catcher, but it won't be for lack of effort. During a pregame ceremony in Hartford Wednesday honoring students and teachers, there was only one ballplayer on the field. Keel knelt in front of Portland's dugout, while a coach at the other end used a pitching machine to fire balls in the dirt at him. Keel was honing his craft, practicing blocking "pitches"... warming up to be a big leaguer.

Brez is still evaluating, but over time the right profile -- the right thought partner -- will avail itself. He knows that part of building a consistent winner at the major league level is making really bold, difficult decisions -- and some of those include favorite players and some of those include leveraging prospect capital to enhance the major league team. But he also knows that they have some needs to fill on their roster and there are multiple ways to get there. His job is to take as comprehensive a look as he can at all possible paths. In the meantime, the idea of deploying players in a way that maximizes possible outcomes by creating the most positive matchups that they can is a term that he calls optimization -- and that includes synthesizing analytical information with real-time feedback from players and coaches to make sure not to leave wins on the table. Craig said he was given a very, very clear, unwavering commitment to winning from ownership... and that the front office will search all corners, overturn every stone, and unearth every option.

Keep shaking that bush, Coolhand Luke. "I'm shaking it, Boss!" (... Baseball Bush, out of which very few bats fall out; but where there's lots of gloves)

Are the Red Sox good or just doing good? Am I well or just a little unwell? There's no such thing as living in the moment, because if you are, then you just missed it reading this (I missed it, typing that). April 25th isn't still early in April, and so far this season, the Red Sox are good. I'm living in the month. Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream.

Portland bounced back with the longball last night. With the wind blowing out in Hartford, three home runs reached right field's upper deck by Mayer, Yorke and Decker. Mayer signed a few pregame autographs, and the good vibes carried over at the plate with two extra-base liners to right and a single to center. He looked good at shortstop; his error came after a diving stop up the middle when he bounced a throw from his belly. Jordan and Anthony both signed again, and Blaze had another good night with a single and double. Roman's swing was more contained, and produced a single and two opposite field deep drives that were caught. Paulino whiffed three times, but slammed a 390-foot double to CF. Yorke looked ok in LF and added two nice hits, as did Binelas. Teel walked twice and is a fast runner for a catcher. This Seadogs line-up may produce half a dozen big league regulars, but Portland's pitching is suspect. Penrod's mix was all over the place. Olds, Webb and Cepeda had better velo and were harder to hit.