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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Nick Pivetta -- the best trade acquisition of the Chaim Bloom Era... #5 starter and swingman, able to bulk up after openers, or close out playoff Ws. Pivetta is about it, with 7.5 WAR in Boston since 2020. Verdugo leads all guys Bloom traded for, with 8.3 WAR. For those in LA keeping score, Mookie also has 8.3 WAR... this year.
  2. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Merloni said the same thing last night, but then really blasted Baltimore -- (paraphrasing): "Flaherty? Flaherty would've helped the Sox more than the O's -- a 100-win team passed on top free agent pitchers last winter, which was a big disappointment... but this deadline they needed a Verlander -- best farm system in baseball, use it, trade up, their time is now. They need an ace with postseason experience."
  3. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    BB-Ref's chart, not mine. But it's a fact the '18 champs had four regulars at 4.8 or higher -- three stars in their primes and another young outfielder who looked like he had star potential. That club also had 21-year-old Raffy, who posted a 5.4 WAR the next season... not to mention, Sale on the mound had 6.4 WAR in '18. There's no way we'll know if Bloom's draftees will ever challenge that group in the MLB -- or even make the bigs or be regulars. But if some of his top prospects aren't awesome, we'll have plenty to type about to at least ward off Old-Timer's disease...
  4. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Maybe it was Bloom's or company policy... not to pay one dollar more for starting pitchers than the failed anal dept's market evals. Instead, we were treated to Richards and Kluber -- and if any Wacha actually earned a raise, it was easy to point him to the Mass Pike (it's right behind the Monstah).
  5. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    This may be wrong, because maybe Bloom actually invested more time on the farm than in the big city. We don't know how much time and resources he devoted to scouting and developing prospects... but we do know that overall, Bloom was a terrible judge of big league "talent" -- based on what he added to the roster (including acceptable players forced into unacceptable roles), and what he passed on or let walk. And saying he wasn't allowed to spend is an excuse, considering big money was spent on positional free agents with (so far) mediocre results. So -- giving him the benefit of the doubt -- he was either too busy with the future, or just sucked at the present. Glad that's in the past (maybe... we'll see).
  6. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    The first 5 slots in any batting order are usually reserved for teams' best hitters. On winning teams, those guys are often star players. The 2018 champs were loaded with star players. Their first five batters in the final game when they won their rings featured four players with a minimum of 4.8 WAR -- Betts, JD, Bogey, Beni -- plus World Series MVP Steve Pearce. The 2023 chumps have zero players with 4 WAR. Devers is the closest at 3.5 WAR, and no other position players even have a 3 WAR. Baseball Reference considers 5+ WAR as "All-Star Quality." The last-place Red Sox have no stars and no quality.
  7. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    The drummer wasn't uniformed personnel, but a Pete Worst patsie who had been banned from other boy bands.
  8. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Or already by Boston...
  9. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    That's because miles are a standard unit of measurement. Our analytics dept. is all about modern metrics. So our staff does throw a lot of pitches that are hit at least 160.9344 kilometers per hour.
  10. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Years from now when the Red Sox finally win again, inside reporters will collaborate on a tell-all podcast exposing front office bonus pay to any batter in Sept. '23 that intentionally whiffed at outside sweepers in an organizational tank that eventually led them to drafting their famous 21st century curse-breaker: Kookie -- the son of Mookie -- Betts!
  11. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Post was in ref to the Yankees playing call-ups in September, and the Sox not playing their recent call-ups. It had nothing to do with Casas or Duran. If you stopped watching the Sox this month, you spared yourself the sight of beaten veterans flailing away at three straight pitches, and if they did make contact, jogging to first -- sometimes even dropping their bats for a second before trudging back to the dugout. Ya, those guys are really trying to impress scouts around the league to offer them new contracts over the winter...
  12. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    None of the Sox' relievers in 2019 were as trustworthy in the second half, which may have been why Cora felt he had to use Pivetta to finish games in the LDS, and even a cooked Eovaldi in the LCS. Meanwhile, Houston's 6-man relief crew -- fortified by legit reinforcements at the deadline -- allowed zero runs in sweeping the last three LCS games to get them into the World Series.
  13. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I'd give it to Martin. He was the best player at any specific position all season.
  14. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Then there's the theory they signed Story so they didn't have to pay Bogaerts. Remember, it was company policy to add players at $2 million dollar salaries, so they could dump similars who were due market rates of $3 million.
  15. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Unlike the Yanks, the nefarious Sox haven't started energy guys like Rafaela every game, instead of tired old vets going through the motions. If we played all the young guys going balls out, we might get worst draft picks next summer. Whooped 'em again, eh Josey?
  16. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    This is the ideal scenario, and one many of us extolled for at least the past year. That is, if Crawford/Houck/Whitlock/Pivetta are actually good enough -- the only one we truly know, as far as potential, may be Pivetta. The big problem may be that none of them are 100 mph strikeout guys -- which means, we have to rely on the defense. Yes, it will be better. But someday soon, the new GM has to address the elephant on the hot corner...
  17. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Does anyone here think managers might make different bullpen decisions, depending on whether they actually have a good team or bad team? For example, if you have an offense like the Rangers -- who have scored over 100 more runs than Boston -- you might bring in your best reliever in a close game, with the confidence to catch up. But if you're the skipper of a tanking club that is 0-for-Kajillion with RISP this month... maybe you don't chase... wins...
  18. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    This post sums up my feelings -- and fears, when Bloom was hired -- all along. Even blowhard Kevin Millar has said the same things: it's all about star power. And that includes multi-tool position players combined with ace pitchers. I'm glad owners fired Bloom, but only if it truly signifies the end of the Bloom Era (which was never about the guy whose name will forever mar this period in Sox history). As for Bloom's legacy, I refuse to laud him for doing his job and drafting players who someday may become big leaguers. On draft day, every GM, along with an entire front office staff, crosses off names on a list until it's their turn to pick the best player available. What really defines GMs are players they acquire from other organizations -- and not just signing free agents (if their owners allow it). If Abreu and Valdez become MLB regulars -- for what became a few months of a back-up catcher -- that deal will be known as Bloom's best move.
  19. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    To me, true contenders are built not only to make the playoffs, but to win in the postseason. And that almost always come down to pitching: two starting pitchers can make a big difference -- as long as they're a #1 and #2 -- with a deep bullpen of good set-up men and a lights-out closer. There are exceptions, but usually any deficiencies are exposed. Boston's first three World Series winners this century all had ace starters and automatic closers. The 2018 champs featured three Cy Young starters and a hot rover. The '21 Sox fell short because they had a bad bullpen. But even better arms couldn't sustain a run through October for the current Sox, whose pitiful defense would sabotage even the great pitching staffs of the Baltimore Orioles from 50 years ago... although maybe the best skills of those O's pitchers was to induce batters to constantly hit the ball to all-time defenders Mark Belanger, Paul Blair, and Brooks Robinson (RIP, Human Vacuum Cleaner).
  20. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Bearclaw is wearing all those stick-on tattoos to make it look like he's Houck tonight. But we're not falling for it...
  21. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I think you meant some are beyond approach...
  22. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Dugout conversation after the 1st... Cora to Houck: "Dude, BP was at 5; this is the real game, now." Tanner: "I know. I was serving meatballs because I wanted to see if someone could drill that lazy slug at third for me."
  23. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I've only been watching or playing baseball for half a century, but in almost every game uniformed personnel in dugouts try to steal signs from third base coaches to baserunners, who they try to pick off from the mound or the plate with special plays; they even have a sign of their own for pitch-outs! But not once did any of those players or coaches ever receive such hatred.
  24. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Honestly -- this might be the first time I've ever said this as Sox fan -- there is not one single player on the entire MLB roster or in the entire farm system that I wouldn't include in a trade, let walk in free agency, or just cut and say goodbye. This big league club is so far from contention -- legitimate World Series contention, SamKennedy -- that I'd like to see a new wheeling-dealing GM come in and engineer a multi-team blockbuster trade that cleans house of about 10 players from Boston and totally turns over the line-up and rotation.
  25. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Cora's team broke secret codes? From other teams giving secret codes to deceive opponents? OMG!!!!!!!!!! How can we ever trust any of them ever again? Why, just yesterday a poster on another thread typed, "It is extremely rare for any Major League manager to give a completely honest appraisal..."
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