5GoldGlovesOF,75

Sheesh, what a grinch (I suppose those don't exist, either). Google "unicorn lunch box" and then try telling all those kids that carry them that their hands are actually empty... Edit: what an idiot I am... of course their hands aren't empty; they're holding cell phones. The unicorn lunch boxes are in their backpacks.

Sheesh, what a grinch (I suppose those don't exist, either). Google "unicorn lunch box" and then try telling all those kids that carry them that their hands are actually empty...

This is why they need to hang onto Nick Yorke. If you check the prospect list, there are just not a lot of righties in the Top 20. Gotta hope at least one outfielder of Rafaela or Bleis makes it. After that, all the best hitters are lefty sticks, except for maybe Lugo or Blaze Jordan.

Hamilton has been good since joining the Sox org -- 70 SBs last year, .955 OPS this spring -- but no one ever seems to mention him as an actual prospect... not uniform personnel, front office types and definitely not those who cover and rank the system. Soxprospects.com currently lists him #19, while MLB.com has him at #27, behind 10 other middle infielders (though they may outdated, as Drohan is still #29). The mystery remains, as others have said, why he's on the 40 and not worthy of helping the big club in need. If his D was that bad, why is he the starting shortstop at the next level below the bigs? Are they showcasing Hamilton to make him more attractive as trade bait? I always assumed Bloom acquired and protected him in advance of the new rules revitalizing speed on the basepaths... but maybe it was a ploy to generate interest in clubs that value stolen bases more than one that plays jai-alai off the great wall of monster half the time.

NESN would call those sweeping sinkers slurving somewhere...

I wouldn't disparage Volpe just yet as he adjusts to the big leagues... here are his power-speed numbers in two full seasons in the minors at four levels: 27 HRs-33 SBs in A; 21-50 in AA/AAA. If Marcelo Mayer (who already has the D) posts stats like that by the time he's 22, he'd better be called up to Boston...

Good point, and other guys with dugout jobs or futures may have been likewise influenced: Cash, Roberts, Kapler, Varitek, Mueller, Pedroia, Lowell, Julian Tavarez (kidding)

Lying, cheating -- oops, that's my ex-wife... Good modern managers aren't so much seen as strategists, but people-people -- guys players want to play for. Cora and Francona have been the best in that regard in Boston the past half-century, and the words of actual Red Sox players back that up. The anti-Tito was Bobby Valentine, for calling out his guys in the press. Other historic hardasses met with mixed results: Duroucher, Mauch, Martin, Williams, etc.

It can be a harsh label for people feared for some reason or another by others who consider themselves more rational or logical (or are seen by still others as overly sensitive). The word is better used in debates as the verb it is, like when I once typed (paraphrasing me), "I hate the Bloom Era for what it represents to fans of the Red Sox team and players, because a lot of fan favorites are leaving Boston." Never hate the person, but his actions and words are free game on forums, and always subject to praise and ridicule through good and bad (though as far as we know, to posters, Bloom's no groom nor Supreme Court justice, so it's not a life sentence). What I would love is for our CBO to somehow land a top starting pitcher right now, while the team's on a roll. Big time free agents are all signed elsewhere, and most of them are busts so far -- good job, Chaim. The best one to date acquired in trade looks like Pablo Lopez, but the Sox didn't have a .400 hitter available. There are underachieving teams that may be primed for dealing... if only Bloom could get a guy like Joe Ryan, who the Twins stole from the geniuses in Tampa for aging DH Nelson Cruz a few years back...

Bludgeon the curmudgeon! Send him to the dudgeon! Wait -- he's been bailed by Forrest Grump, recruited by the LA Codgers, on a dinner date with Misanthrope... ... I want to root for the Old Red Sox... but just cant... ankerous...

Agreed, but almost all big league pitchers grew up being The Guy. And no one wants to be an official loser.

For pitchers on the IL, are there more older guys not used to the clock? Younger arms that came up the past few years must have all made adjustments in the minors (pitching with a clock, they all made the majors). For increased velo hurting modern pitchers, does anyone really think the smaller-weaker-slower old-timers from the 1970s, 1960s, 1950s, etc. still didn't throw as hard as they could? For ghost runners skewing stats: imagine you're an effective relief pitcher doing your job, inducing two routine 4-3 ground-outs... the winning run scores, though he doesn't go against your ERA -- but let's hang a big fat L on your permanent record.

The shift ban definitely helps, but the '23 Red Sox are better because they feature different batters making better contact. Yoshida and Turner are pro hitters, along with an improved Verdugo. But the recent hot streak also includes guys who were playing in Worcester at the end of last summer: Duran, Wong, Valdez, Casas. Boston has the fourth lowest strikeout rate in the league, with only 14 more Ks than Cleveland, the best contact club. Last year the Sox struck out higher than the league average, with 251 more whiffs than Cleveland... '23 Ks, AL leaders: #29 Casas, #38 Kike '22 Ks, AL leaders for the year: #15 Martinez, #34 Story (in 94 games), #41 Bogaerts, #42 Dalbec Where's Raffy? He didn't make either top 42... he's tied for #43; last year was #48. Devers is Devers, leading the league in homers, while 42 others fan more (when Judge broke the AL HR record, only two guys struck out more times).

I'll bet most of our Uncle Georges are the better players we've known who didn't go pro. But if we agree all those who make the majors are the best of the Georges, how many have repeated heroics in the big leagues more than a couple times? For those who argue that those few are the very best, can we at least agree that it usually takes more than just superior physical skills to reach potential? And if that's a given, then what defines that X factor that allows rare athletes to slow the game down at the same time it's speeding up on everyone else? Do some guys actually have a way to sharpen their focus in big moments... or are they just lazy in the MLB because everyday at anything becomes a boring job, but then just try harder when it matters most on a big stage?

It was a hanging curve -- they should'nt have thrown it anywhere near his bat... that pitcher gagged.

Dunno, but on baseball dinosaur reference.com, Wong is a TriCERAtops

Interesting concept. I'm just not sure how realistic it is to expect Duvall and Story back full strength when they return. I have more faith in Chang recovering from a cracked handbone playing short than Story with an artificially-repaired throwing elbow. I do think Trevor can upgrade the offense, and I'd put him back at second, where he was really good last year. Duvall got hurt playing outfield two years in a row, so I may make him the DH and leave Yoshida in a position where he's thrived in his U.S. transition. Kike can platoon with whoever needs a break and can't hit some lefties as good as he can. No idea if Mondesi, who relies on speed, will be the same player whenever he returns from a major knee injury.

Bloom deserves credit for acquiring Wong in trade for the highest-paid pitcher of all time. Youk would say it was synonymous beyond belief: "Incredible, just unbelievable... but not implausible." OB is gonna agree by using the future tense to describe something that just happened. "That's gonna be ball four, and the Red Sox are gonna have a baserunner," he's gonna say, after the batter already walked to first base.

Connor Wong leads the majors in dWAR... for all positions. Last catcher to lead MLB in dWAR was Jody Davis in 1986. Last Red Sox player to lead MLB in dWAR was John Valentin in 1995. He also led in '93.

Couldn't help laughing at Youk and Wake dissecting the shape of a cutter which could be a slider as opposed to the definitive slider which sometimes breaks late and down as opposed to early and up or out unless to a lefty then it's in but hopefully not down or they might take it out.

Whitlock was a starter in the minors for the Yankees before his elbow ish, an injury that happens to a lot of starters at a lot of levels.

The first two are hurt and nowhere close to helping the shortstop position in Boston. The last was a starting pitcher for the Yankees -- who probably still has the arm for short -- but hasn't been a star in the big leagues since 2006 or 2007. The Red Sox need someone who can be at least an average shortstop for the month of May, while they're still in it. If it's not Rafaela, the two best defensive shortstop prospects in the system are in A ball: Marcelo Mayer and Luis Ravelo.

I doubt the walks are because he's wild, but from just missing the black. He's smart enough to know the velo is gone, and the toast will be burnt sooner if he doesn't paint. In other words, there may not be another game you want Kluber to pitch against a good offense.

They want him to start. Cora said as much, and Bloom didnt extend him for four years to be a reliever.

Be prepared for some posters to jump all over you about the 40-man roster... but it's not like it's unheard of for MLB clubs to call up a glove guy sometimes to fill the most important position on the diamond behind the battery.