5GoldGlovesOF,75

Even if ownership is happy Bloom didn't blow money or prospect capital going for it, they can't be glad he didn't optimize more expiring assets before they're gone... two deadlines in a row, now.

Moon, can you see how these can sound contradictory? As Sox fans, we're all disappointed... and all on this forum together. No one is happy to root for a last place team. Some of us just express our angst in more graphic ways than others, but no one here should be disparaged from fellow fans for also feeling down about what we've witnessed during the Bloom Era on the parent MLB club that plays in Boston. Some of us deal with it by wise-cracking. At least we have takes. Unfortunately, there are others who are so bitter they waste their posts mocking soxtalkers, using adjectives to insult. Maybe they could work on their own takes on the Red Sox... or at least mix in some vivid verbs along with their cliches (at least something that didn't get George Carlin banned by the FCC).

I know. Football's the enemy.

I had a girlfriend who I was really close to, and we cared a lot about the same things, but she hasn't been around much for the past four years. I heard she's been spending more time with European soccer guys, and hockey players, even race-car drivers. But I know she'll be back. How can she resist? I just know it. You'll see...

No, I'm saying you didn't read my post about building "next year's Red Sox"... not next year's Drive or Seadogs or WooSox. I wasn't referring to drafts or farm development at all. But as a fan of a mediocre major league club the past four years, I'd just like to see Boston's big league team fill any future holes with established MLB players who regularly play those positions. Marwin's not a leftfielder, Arroyo's not a rightfielder, Schwarber's not a first baseman, and Franchy's not a big leaguer anywhere on defense. Some will also argue Kike's not a shortstop and Duvall isn't a centerfielder, because those aren't their best positions, either. Bloom didn't invent square pegs in round holes. But in the past when we saw Hanley stumbling around in LF or Swihart getting injured and hurting his career out there, it seemed more outrageous. Now there are so many guys bumping into each other, misjudging plays and throwing to no one, fans are just inured... it's easier to just change the channel.

No matter who they decide to let build next year's Red Sox, he or she better start with the basics. Recruit fundamentally sound players for the positions they actually play -- if you need a centerfielder or shortstop or catcher who can actually catch and throw the damn baseball, then go get guys who are legitimate big league players at those spots. NO MORE versatile utility types who the front office thinks can move to those positions because they played there once in college or high school or Legion or Little League. If you need starting pitchers, go get one or two or three. NO MORE castoff DFAed relievers who the front office thinks can open (because they can't close). I know, imagine we fans figuring out a better approach for the offseason. We must remember more baseball than the young analysts in the front office ever forgot...

The CBO of a big market sports team builds a roster that annually produces the worst record in its division... ... then brags about being the underdogs?

Do it today, John Henry.

He'll give Bloom the two most valuable assets an asshat could want: versatility and control. But he can't pitch.

All you cynics lamenting Lamet... you act like all of Bloom's pitching additions every year are inept crap-tossing cheap waiver wire DFAed minor league bargain basement dumpster dive pick-ups. Sure, the last 17 may have been, but have you already forgotten he signed Chris Martin? Just get me to the 7th or 8th with the lead! It could happen...

Kennedy is such a bad liar that he could yell everyday for years that an election was rigged and stolen -- without zero shred of evidence -- and somebody somewhere still wouldn't believe him.

Some there have posted that once Bloom finally gets fired, he'll never be rehired to run another club. But imagine if he goes into a different profession... and is tasked with cutting corners in a new industry. Customer: "My burger tastes strange... almost as if the meat comes from a different animal..." Waiter: "Well, the higher prices reflect sustained family fun: there's a singalong at dessert, and on Fridays staff wear yellow bibs... but we never said the burgers were still made out of meat."

The Red Sox can't bring up Rafaela too soon, so he keeps his rookie status for next year. Remember, a team with the Rookie of the Year gets an additional draft pick after the first round. Teams with rookies who finish second or third in the voting get additional international picks. How many times do the Sox have to tell you it's all about making sense. CBO Bloom and GM O'Halloran have repeatedly noted they'll make any move "as long as it makes sense."

I remember sitting at a PD once and being told, "This school's population is 75% minority." And I pondered, "Then wouldn't that be the majority?"

Why do have to be so realistic? Didn't Sam tell you our best deadline acquisitions will be the players returning from the IL?

They had to keep Pablo... not for last night, but because he tied for the best ERA on the pitching staff over the weekend: one IP, ZERO runs.

No doubt. Which is why is seems so mystifying to us to hold back your best young starter. We fans see "the biggest series of the year" and the Sox start two openers? Seriously? Could it be those in upper management glued to fangraphs and bb-ref are looking at some bigger picture approach? Now I'm waiting for a fan or two who have actually posted "none of us knows as much as we think" to rip this concept to shreds...

Way back... WAY back... DAL bec!

This is probably game thread stuff, but upon reflecting on the past weekend pitching usage vs. the Jays -- and what Cora has often said, from what he learned from Francona ("Don't chase wins")... ... is it possible that Red Sox management looked at this week's schedule (basically the next 10 games), and decided they would rather line up their pitching to take their best shot at beating lesser teams like KC, Detroit and Washington? They gave Bello an extra day rest so he'd miss Toronto -- and opted for two bullpen games instead. Sure, they were 7-0 previously vs. the Jays, so were probably confident they'd steal another one, especially if Paxton could win Friday. It didn't happen, but maybe they think 7-3 in the next 10 (so 7-6 total, still a winning record) is better than 5-5 in the post-Jays series (even with one win over the weekend, that's only 6-7). Somewhere in an analytics office there's a guy or guys doing these longterm projections. The key might be to have momentum when they finally face the Yankees -- and before the Astros and Dodgers...

On the forums of most big league teams, this would be a very valid post. Gotta hit to stick in the Show. Yet Rafaela already has a skillset all too rare on the Sox' MLB roster. It's different here these days. The old adage -- shake a baseball tree, and 10 gloves fall out for every bat -- no longer applies in Boston... where most of those gloves are regularly dropped, booted and thrown away.

Papelbon was so critical that it would be surprising to ever see him back on NESN. But he was so refreshing, I'm going to tune back in, hoping to see him again (ratings) -- especially as a foil to all the other company mouthpieces.

One of these Augusts in Bloom's career (it may not be in Boston), he just might want to care, after seeing all those rats jumping off yet another sinking ship.

Agreed. Starting pitchers who can get outs three times through the order seem like more of a premium than ever before. Adding better openers and/or bulk guys is still pushing the odds. Bullpen games might work once in awhile out of desperation, but to plan them every other night -- hoping that every reliever is on, when all it takes to backfire is if one is sore, tired or off -- is too big a gamble. And any "rental" the Sox trade for should be assumed to be someone good enough -- and affordable enough -- to extend; this is the big market Boston Red Sox, after all.

You should write this immediately to all the professional players, ex-players and reporters who stated the opposite before, during and after the deadline, and straighten them right out.

True dat... or, as many of us blabbed on and on, even before the season began, if only Bloom had actually acquired a healthy, average, legitimate big league shortstop