5GoldGlovesOF,75

This is why some of us want to Swift BOOT Bloom (sorry, moon; typo). His farm looks good right now, but so did my garden in the spring before three months of rain drowned my best apple tree and stunted most production on my hot pepper plants. Old fans who can sense Satchel Paige catching up with us don't hate Bloom the person, just the whole concept of the Bloom Era. I'll bet Alex Cora and his coaching staff does, too. Imagine them sitting at a hotel bar on the road just before the season -- or just after the deadline -- lamenting what their boss has deemed acceptable to give them for a big league rotation... now go make the playoffs!

Somehow, the favorite punching bag for Red Sox fans in 2023 has become Masataka Yoshida. Punchlines have varied, from his defense in left field, body-type, running technique, and lack of Schwarber-like home run power. Main complaint -- as usual for anyone who doesn't earn multi-million dollars per year in any job (much less, playing a kid's game) -- is that Yoshida, signed for an AAV of $18 million per season, is grossly overpaid. Last point first: per Sportrac, there are at least 60 MLB players with a higher AAV than Yoshida (more than half make at least $30M). That's an average of two per team, but we know small markets don't pay, so it's probably closer to four per team. On the Red Sox alone, that includes Sale, Story and Devers. Ex-Sox who also make more include Bogaerts, Betts and Schwarber. A strong September for Yoshida puts him on pace for about 18 HRs, 80 RBI, .300 BA. Q: how many big leaguers averaged all three of those stats in 2022? A: FOUR: Judge, Alvarez, Goldschmidt, Freeman. Regarding speed, Yoshida is second on the club in stolen bases, 8-for-8 in attempts. Another short Sox player, Pedroia, was 7-for-8 his rookie year. But Dustin was a dirtdog... and a great glove at second base -- a defensive position a lot more important than left field. As MVP has alluded to, LF defense is hardly the key to a lockdown D on the diamond. As Max has constantly posted, D isn't even much of a factor, as long as a guy can hit. Moving Yoshida to DH won't solve the Red Sox' putrid defensive issues... the most it will do is allow another bat (most likely a replacement for too costly Turner or Duvall) into the line-up. Among AL outfielders, Yoshida also has the second-best K-rate to Steven Kwan. He can start in my batting order.

Gotta wonder if/when Tek somehow becomes Red Sox skipper, how he, himself, would consider a catching prospect ready to start in the majors... Who would know better than the four-time no-hitter receiver? Would his expertise conflict with metrics crunched by analyticals who never played the game?

Cross him off our list, but isn't this the kind of guy LA would be interested in? Did comp for Yamamoto just increase or decrease?

I predicted a few weeks ago he'll have a cup of coffee by next September. This isn't some teenager with potential tools. Teel was the best catcher in college baseball this year, and will already be 22 when next season opens. Fisk was called up for a couple games when he was 21, after 97 games in AA. After a season in AAA, he returned to the Show for the last few weeks at age 23. The next year he was the Red Sox full-time catcher and AL Rookie of the Year. Varitek was the greatest college catcher of his day, but didn't earn a full-time job behind the dish in the bigs until his age 27 season. He had a shot of expresso at 25, then was platooned at 26. Rutschman, the #1 overall draft pick, made his debut last year at 24 and immediately turned around the Baltimore franchise... but was second in ROTY to JRod. He also finished 12th in MVP voting. This year he made the All-Star team. Teel will be 24 in '26... when he might be the Sox regular backstop.

Rice, Greenwell, O'Leary and Manny just thumbed their noses at you. But Franchy didn't... he missed.

I just looked up Red Sox drafts the past five years and from 2019 found #6 pick Chris Murphy, and #26 Brandon Walter. So discounting lost Covid time, four years? Then from 2018 we have Ward and Politi-- two who maybe wouldn't have even made the majors in Boston this year, but were nabbed by other clubs in the Rule V. The pitcher from the '18 draft who the Sox said was closest to making the MLB right out of college was #3 pick Durbin Feltman, a reliever. He still hasn't... and at age 26 is now in AA for Oakland. Wonder how many of the same pre-Bloom employees are doing evaluations for the front office...

Rejoice. I want him in my dugout, clubhouse and community, including as part of a new coaching staff that will be here sooner than later. If the Sox don't see the wisdom in keeping Turner around, it's inevitable that another organization will offer him a job to help players improve. JT's value to team culture entails so much more than just stats, but unfortunately that concept is like asking all the Sheldons in Bloom's office to sit in different chairs...

5. Status quo. Owners: "We're making more money, and keeping more money... Chaim, keep doing what you're doing... the illusion of contention... Sam will leak to the media that we're in on every expensive free agent pitcher, but dang, just got overbid. Underdog, UNderdog, UNDERdog!"

If Bloom is smart, he'll strike fast and lock up one of the second tier first -- I'm still in on Montgomery -- then beg Henry to win the bidding on Yama. But one of the five bigger spenders will prob overpay, and that's when Bloom needs to swoop in on Snell. I'd prefer Urias, but just like with Dombro and Nola, if Friedman deems Urias worthy, he won't let him get away. If LA doesn't want Urias, I'd be very careful...

Here goes: an ace pitcher sets the tone for any club, giving it the confidence that there's a good chance for a W, every five days, all season, providing consistent quality starts and "quantity" starts -- eating innings and keeping scores close (even on days he doesn't have his best stuff), giving the bullpen a breather and preserving relief arms from burn-out that comes from bad or thin rotations, resulting in too much bulk-guy/opener/high leverage overuse. An ace can also share with his pitching staff experiences that made him successful, such as work-outs, routines, pitch grips, books on hitters, umps, etc. Because he throws many above-average shutdown innings and outings, his supporting cast has less pressure to press, on defense and offense. His own batters can relax at the plate, knowing they don't all have to hit grand slams to outscore opponents, and because he throws so many strikes, the defense stays alert and on its toes. An ace makes any team better -- and for fans, better to watch -- and if there's no window open yet, watch out... because if he can't create a window by firing fastballs through the wall, maybe his grateful teammates will bash one open with their Old Hickory sledge hammers.

None of them at the position of importance considered by the Baseball Research Journal as "somewhere between 75 and 90 percent of baseball.”

Watched Nola closely on Fox TV last night. Good curve, but eventually got crushed by Milwaukee, last in the NL in team OPS. If Nola was really worth it, does anyone think Dombrowski, with full bankroll support of Philly owners, would let Bloom outbid him for Nola? But if Dombro allows Nola to leave, isn't that the ultimate buyer beware? (like holding a suspected witch underwater; if she drowns, then she isn't a witch)

If and when the Red Sox invest more in starting pitchers, the obvious key has to be to go more for swing-and-miss stuff than pitch-to-contact guys. We keep going round and round about how stuck we are with some bad fielders -- like Devers and Yoshida -- or budding core guys like Casas and Duran (who may be swapped out for Rafaela). Isn't the quickest solution, then, to just spend a little bit more on strikeout pitchers who are more apt to minimize the below-average support behind them? Are power arms at higher risk for elbow blow-out than junk-ballers snapping off more breaking pitches? Or are rotator cuff injuries more common these days than TJS? (it doesn't seem so...) Maybe this concept is why Bloom felt he just had to protect Ort over more finesse hurlers last winter...

Deer in the dead red lights... Cities shouldn't invest too much in police depts or fire engines, either... risky businesses

But... Sam told us our best deadline acquisitions would be the lackquisitions. And we all disbelieved him.

Good point -- bring them up at the end of August. A young guy could start off hot vs. pitchers challenging him, which could keep fans watching, hopeful for the future... before analytic depts distribute a book on the kid.

What really bites is the Red Sox have 27 games left, and in order to exceed last year's win total, will have to somehow win 10 more. Let's see: maybe Bello and Crawford win 2 each before being shut down for the season. Houck should be able to manage a couple (right?), Pivetta's got two Ws left in him... or one for him, one for Wink (they're both hanging, huh)... anyway, that's eight... Whitlock... just doesn't look right. But Bernie can throw a scoreless inning in the middle somewhere while the troops take a lead. Let's call that nine. Who does that leave (notice, I'm not mentioning Sale nor Paxton, because neither may win another in their careers). Martin and Jansen are both good enough to hold the fort and triumph late... but that would then mean the Dead Sox would have to rally-- damn.

For four years, Bloom and Co. have been crossing their fingers at the rosters they assemble, while upraising fingers at Red Sox Nation.

Promises. This is why also-ran teams traditionally play minor league call-ups as much as possible every September -- because rookie prospects have absolutely something to prove, with an eye on something to earn. Veterans have their eyes on golf, fishing, beaches... Fans know this, so want to see more of Rafaela and Abreu

Wacha's always hurt! He must be a pitcher... the guy who had 11 wins for a last place club last year, and who has another 11 Ws this season for a team that's 10 games under .500. Kluber has three wins. Where would the Sox be with another eight victories? (said the fan who doesn't give a crap about Wacha's four-year contract for a whopping whatever million dollars... not when we're all alive this summer)

Imagine a guy full of crap like Chaim or Sam in the dugout? He'd have to be on quaaludes to answer the same media questions every single night about why ballplayers on his roster suck so bad at pitching, fielding, throwing, running the bases or even moving the runners...

I said this was guaranteed when they traded Mookie. I didn't think the guy would be Raffy, but I knew they'd eventually give Mookie's money to someone else not as good... because very few have been as good -- in the history of baseball.

For most of the Bloom Error, fans have read, heard or typed that if the Red Sox organization doesn't care about them, why should fans care about the Red Sox? Now imagine pro ballplayers, abandoned by their front office at every trade deadline. Does anyone here really think the Sox' losing records in every single August the past four years are a coincidence? Professionals are people first, and if you mistreat them or disrespect them, it will affect their work days and production -- no matter how much you pay them. Morale is everything in a company. A school superintendent recently shared this story. The day before school begins each year for students, districts hold convocations -- a required assembly of every certified teacher, tutor and principal in town, where they all report to one location. Parking is always a nightmare, but this year a teacher suggested using a school bus to transport everyone from each of their respective schools. The super liked the idea, made appropriate phone calls... but was shocked to be greeted at the auditorium with a standing ovation. Sometimes it doesn't take much...

He was trying to play Genie and blink Bloom into outer space.