5GoldGlovesOF,75

Not sure if owners of the Red Sox feel quite the same way about their club. Ever-increasing irrelevancy may bother them, but Fenway still thrives as a lucrative tourist attraction, especially now with more tickets available to fans from opposing teams happy to invade Boston on group road trips.

A few notions we should prepare for: if Breslow isn't going to overpay for a free agent pitcher, then at least one of the red names will be traded soon; also, if the org decides instead to go with the org, the ETA for others may be accelerated (to even 2024)... especially, mound prospects, who the new pitching regime may want to work with more in-person; finally, look for some of the names at the bottom of the list to double or triple their value next season -- who do you like?

Yes. It's a mystery why Boston wasn't listed as the first key player on the Yamamoto List. Full Throttle or Full of Crap?

Breslow is so smart, that he left two pitchers exposed to get picked out of the top six selections -- just to open up a spot for an arm he coveted from Texas, that the Mets agreed to draft and immediately flip to Boston in an obviously pre-determined agreement. This is how molecularly physical our new CBO is: Boston set a record for losing the most guys on Rule V Day WHILE trading up for their top choice (that they somehow seduced another club to nab...)...

Damn -- Fitzy... a legend on his own Woo t-shirts. Brez was on this; he knows the Sox just got a new Fittsy in the Dugo Purge...

Drohan picked 4th by White Sox!

I totally expect Breslow to acquire a viable right-handed hitting outfielder soon (and this will be an immediate difference from Bloom, who identified the same need in early '22 and took a year to fill it). If Duvall is resigned, he can play LF, while Yoshida DHs more. Or someone like Gurriel or Teoscar may be in LF, with Duran and maybe Michael Taylor platooning in CF (unless Duran is traded), and a rookie platoon of Abreu/Rafaela in RF. Taylor, a Gold Glove, actually hit 21 HRs last year.

I know a song

Just busting balls... ... unlike Holley: "Verdugo for three nobodies!" However, Tomase points out that one was Eastern League Pitcher of the Month. Hint: his name was dreaded in school by any substitute teacher who had to take attendance... "Who's -- "

I get it -- "any return is better than letting him walk and just getting a draft pick" -- but then again, look where it ended up: Verdugo -- "the centerpiece in the Betts trade" (as he was called by media, even when it was just him and Graterol and no center) -- has now become, basically... just draft picks -- that the enemy deemed expendable. I was all in on acquiring Verdugo because of his potential, but looking at his Boston career, he wasn't even Benintendi, who some posters deem overrated, as well -- Dugo had 8.2 WAR in his 4 years for the Sox; Beni 10.2 WAR his first 4 years... and Alex never hit 20 homers or stole 20 bases, like Andrew. The latter was also an All-Star and Gold Glover once he left Beantown... achievements that have eluded Verdugo so far...

If Sox fans who defend Bloom's trade in any way want to insist it was just for one year of Betts, then they should never care about how good Mookie has been in LA since 2020. But the Dodgers traded for 12 years of Betts. It's apparent their intention was to build their sustained contenders around Mookie, as they locked him up longterm in the first month he played for them. The Red Sox could've, too -- they've never denied they couldn't -- and Mookie has said he and his wife were shopping for homes in Boston the winter he was traded.

Not a salary dump, but a Verdugo dump (like he dumped on Cora and his teammates, showing up late on game-days). Good for Breslow, who just opened the door for an outfield acquisition... unless he resigns Duvall. The Sox aren't going with Yoshida-Duran-Abreu, unless they want to finish fifth again. If not Duvall, I'd prefer Gurriel, for his all-around solid game... but suspect it will be Teoscar Hernandez; the guy is a two-time Silver Slugger.

I don't how many steals he allowed last year, but Giolito gave up the most home runs in the American League. No thanks.

... or the guy who replaced Duvall in Godfather III... ... or the guy who replaced Duvall in the Sox '24 line-up -- who Breslow hasn't even signed yet (but who we already know will swing and miss at low sliders off the plate)... ... or just Godfather III.

But a lot of older fans actually preferred Curly, when he replaced Shemp...

... preferably, if they turn out special in Boston, and the Red Sox complete the original plan and hang onto them with longterm contracts while they're young (or -- depending on whether some are actually traded this winter as promised -- their return counterparts are kept around as part of a new core of sustained contenders).

Cohen, circa 2023: "Remember, you can only sign two pitchers pushing 40 years old for $40 million AAV apiece -- just two, no more!"

Was it ever proven as fact that Bloom's budget was limited or that he even spent right up to the limit? Is it possible he was just more bad than good on what he spent it on? Did he even care about limits; after all, he chose to stay over the tax threshold at the '22 deadline... For all we know, maybe it was just Bloom's personality or professional approach that often saw the Red Sox interested in free agents, but outbid at the last minute -- except for the quick strike on Yoshida. We do know he was always hesitant to spend prospect capital and make trades. Still hard to believe he refused to sell high on Paxton and acquire more prospects...

All three for nine years of Mookie?!?! "Freidman's doing alright," typed posters on leavedodgerstadiumearly.com

I was happier as a fan rooting for Bellhorn's 87% of Red Sox winners from '66-'11, compared to Bellhorn's 50% of Red Sox losers from '12-23. Each span includes two Boston World Series champions. You can ride the roller coaster. I got seasick on a freshwater lake (maybe since it connects an AL East rival's state to another's province).

Honest answer, thanks. Making the postseason is always a goal -- can't win if you don't play -- and wild cards win it all sometimes. But this Sox team the past year, even if they squeaked in, was still one of the thinnest, mismatched globs of one-tool fools that I can ever remember rooting for (and that's a memory that spans at least four summers). Going back to your comparison of the '79 Sox, I can honestly say I had more fun cheering for a 91-club loaded with All-Stars, including the best player in baseball that year, that led the majors in team home runs, batting average and OPS. Compared to rooting for Chris Martin... Meanwhile, the M's just traded Kelenic and are letting Oscar walk... sounds like a team in need of at least one decent outfielder. Maybe a club with a surplus can pry a pitcher loose...

Here's HOW you answered -- you completely made s*** up, because I never said I'd be happier if the Sox didn't win a WS. I directly responded to the two eras Bellhorn posted -- when the Sox had winning teams 87% of the time (including rings in '04 and '07) and 50% of the time IN THE PAST DOZEN YEARS -- and said for me PERSONALLY I was a happier fan in those decades when Boston didn't have a losing record half the time, like they have since 2012. I referenced '67-'03 because it was a time without a world championship, to show how a fan can NOT be elite -- compared to the past dozen years from Bell's post (and not '04-23, that you assumed) -- and said for me PERSONALLY I was happier rooting for a club that has winning seasons 87% of the time compared to a span of only 50%. You could have just given your opinion, and talked sox, like others have... instead of taking words out of context and pasting them onto your own conclusions about one poster you've decided to group with being part of a "crowd" or "people" because of "all that crap."

You're still stalling. Answer the question.

I knew I could count on two typists who thrive on picking apart an honest post, but I didn't expect them not to actually answer the question I posed: HERE IT IS AGAIN: Were you happier as a fan of a team that was a winner 87% of the time over 46 years -- or one that was a loser half the time in the past decade?

But there's no qualifying offer attached to her...