5GoldGlovesOF,75

bb-ref told us never to compare players within one or two WAR wins -- so that stat is too close to call for Tiant and McLain in '68 (fWAR is even closer). So... the MVP or the ERA leader? The world champ who led the league in 9 pitching categories and was second in 7 others, or the third-place ace who led in 12 categories? McLain is the only 31-game winner in the past 90+ years, but Tiant won 21 and posted a great 1.60 ERA… though only about one-third of a run better than Denny’s 1.96. I give the edge to McLain for his league-leading Innings Pitched: 336… which was 78 more than Tiant's. That's basically 9 more complete games, which Denny also led in, with Luis second -- 28 to 19. Some may argue McLain pitched for a great team… but others may counter that a great pitcher can make a good team great. Otherwise, why has the world of baseball credited Ws for over a century to the only player – in the center of the diamond -- who touches the ball and initiates every play while he’s in the game? Agreed with the choice of Clemens in '90, a great pitcher who made a good team finish first. I'd also argue Dave Stewart and Eck were better than Welch on the A's alone that year. The connection to discussions about the '24 Red Sox all winter is that a great pitcher (not necessarily one with a great W-L past) can make any team better, even a doormat. And one guy can boost a mediocre team to a postseason. We just need to find one: buy one, take one, make one...

It wasn't random when qualified voters picked the AL Cy Young winners in 1968 and 1990 -- they just voted for the two guys with the most wins in the past half century. But in retrospect (and because the '24 Red Sox have zero aces again), this is up for further debate: who was the "best" AL pitcher in those years: 31-winner Denny McLain or Luis Tiant in '68, 27-game winner Bob Welch or Roger Clemens in '90?

But imagine how many funs ways 3 Notins in an office could deconstruct, destruct, mister and misconstrue the field reports of a couple dozen 5Gs just begging the department to trust the qualitative data...

Sorry, John Henry. How are your 33 analysts doing building that core the past five years while not supplementing it with actual big league talent through free agency and trades.

It just means they have too many usual suspects in the front office to fit into a police line up. Not that any fans could identify any, if we saw them. The Globe today reported 33 Red Sox analytics personnel; they could fire about 30 and afford a couple dozen more scouts. It's appalling there's been no core for half a freaking decade now. In Boston. Raffy in the middle holding up the stem, with a lot of dead space around him where maggots ate the rest.

... unless the Red Sox in their current business plan intentionally fail to offer fair market value to lock up Casas longterm. His words about Sox offers so far: "nothing enticing." Uh oh, sounds like we've got another young man ungrateful for the opportunity of the Fenway Experience (discounted student tickets, 7th-inning singalongs, 40-degree rainy nights, enemy fans all over the stands)... When can we get three meh prospects for him.

Thanks, Craig. Red Sox fans are glad you dusted off the blueprints that Henry buried in the archives in 2018. The "timelines" are a bit confusing, though. During the Bloom Era, some impact starpower left or was given up -- Betts, Schwarber, Bogaerts, Eovaldi (the best pitcher in baseball in another postseason in '23). If the Sox are rebuilding -- for what, five years now -- then maybe the timing wasn't right to resign any or all of them. But then, how or why did timelines line up with inking Story or Yoshida or extending Devers? Especially when none of these damaged goods, or good-bat/no-glove guys were/are as good as those we didn't keep...

But Bobby's height advantage can better protect the Green Monster's strike lights... which have to be at least two feet off the ground.

CJ Cron -- 4th most similar batter, career and through age 33: Mitch Moreland. Range factor as a first baseman: 1st NL 2022, 2021; 1st in AL 2019...

"We're gonna take care of this kid," said Cora, about a grown man wearing a costume full of colorful logos and name and number on his back.

It's March -- the month the regular season begins. If I'm a contender, I want my top pitchers getting ready together, drilling and practicing with the team, stretching it out and working up pitch counts in exhibition games... ... not glued to their cells awaiting reprieve from Warden Boras. I dont care if he has his own camp; it's not the same and clock digits are flashing.

Nolan Ryan. He was the first star pitcher in the 1970s noted for some bad records on bad teams. Despite leading the AL in stats like Ks, IP, CG, SHO, H9 (and no H9), Ryan lost 15 games a year for almost a decade. On the Angels, he was the Mike Trout of pitchers. The Ryan season that should end this debate, however, was 1987 on a below-.500 Houston club. That's when he led the NL in ERA, Ks, FIP, H9, K9, ERA+, K/BB... but for some reason only finished 5th in Cy Young voting, with 0 1st place votes. Maybe it was his won-loss record: 8-16.

Did he throw up this morning because of last night's tequila shots or bad crab legs? And check his temp, because a fever could mean the flu.

"Budget parameters!" said Sam.

WHIPPER Wacha! 1.1 the last two highly-mocked-on-talksox years...

President Sam said this yesterday: "This is a responsibility, a stewardship by John [Henry], Tom [Werner] and Mike [Gordon] to do everything they can to put a winning, great product on the field, and that will continue in 2024 and beyond.” Can't wait until Andrew Bailey teaches new grips to John, Tom and Mike -- and makes them all 20-game whippers.

Name a guy who's ERA and WHIP were better than only a handful of starters in the NL in '23, and in the AL in '22... Hint: rhymes with Like Skywalka

I was going to say Smoltz in the 1-0 Game Seven of the '91 World Series... but he only pitched into the 8th. Jack Morris threw a 10-inning shutout for the win -- but let's not dive back into his Hall of Fame resume... ... then again, there was the classic where Marichal bested Spahn and each pitched 15-inning shutouts before Mays home run gave them both decisions.

I'm still trying to figure out if in Montgomery no-decisions, he gave up 3.89 runs on average in the 5 innings he averaged in those starts... ... or is notin's 7 in 9 IP -- or moon's 2.1 in 5 IP?

Remember when David Price's career postseason record in 11 games started for four different teams was 0-9... until he finally won the last game of the 2018 ALCS? Maybe the best-paid hurler in history at the time didn't always pitch like dogsquat in October, but the record sure looked like it. A lot of people -- fans, media, David, and I'll bet some teammates -- couldn't get over that fact... until he finally beat Houston and the Dodgers.

I agree an ERA of 3.89 is good -- and ERA is calculated per a 9 inning game -- but what if a starter gives up 3.89 runs every 5 innings (the average IP in Monty's no-decisions)? Does the number change over 9... what am I missing? A "Quality Start" is supposedly 3 earned through 6 IP...

How about career splits? In the 38 starts he won, he had a 1.45 ERA in 236.2 IP (average 6.2 per start) In the 34 starts he lost, he had a 6.38 in 169.1 IP (almost 5 per start) In 69 no decisions (68 starts), 3.89 in 349 IP (5.1 per start) What these stats may show: in basically 25% of his starts he's 2000 Pedro, in 25% he's 2023 Kluber, and in the other half he's an average guy who might pick up more Ws on a good team or absorb more Ls on a bad club. What they don't measure are the intangibles on the rest of the staff and the attitude in the dugout and clubhouse by adding a pretty good starting pitcher who will take the ball every five days and keep his team in the game around 75% of the time.

Even 10 can be very significant. If you add Montgomery's 10 wins in '23 to last year's Red Sox, it could mean a World Series -- since Boston would have 88 total wins, and then make the playoffs over the Rangers, who would have four less Ws (that Monty won for them), giving them only 86 totals wins.

Or a home run. Or one-third of a game's worth of immaculate innings. This ain't celtstalk.com... nor have I stalked a celt, lately. Not while we all wait for Montgomery. "Monty is trying to steal show..." General George S. Patton once said.

Montgomery was amazing after he got traded by NY to St. Louis at the '22 deadline. In his first six starts he had an ERA of about a buck-and-a-half and a sub-1 WHIP. His teammates must have been really good in those games, too, because his W-L was 5-0. And the Yankees, who had the greatest team in the history of the first half of that season, looked pretty dumb... especially when they got swept in four straight by Houston in the LCS.