5GoldGlovesOF,75

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

I never thought this team had good enough pitching or defense to contend, but since Cora kept them close to the wild card this summer, it was worth a couple of mid-range prospects to make their best effort to join the crapshoot. I'd be in on those deals for pitchers, except any that required dealing Rafaela -- who the Flops better hang onto as a priority if they ever want to improve their crap D. I also would've traded for Montgomery and Stratton. And here's why: I have no idea how much one or two arms would improve their stretch run. But sometimes -- as has been well documented by players, ex-players in the media, and reporters -- just the gesture of a front office making a decent addition at the deadline gives a team the psychological boost, and vote of confidence, it needs to go for it... ... as opposed to what we've seen from the Red Sox players every single August of the Bloom Era -- including this one, so far.

Nearly every poster on this forum -- not to mention Red Sox players themselves -- acknowledged the need for pitching help at the deadline: starters, back-end relievers -- hey, even a better freaking bulk guy would have been better than what Boston trotted out there this weekend. To get a decent pitcher at the deadline (and I'm not including Verlander or Scherzer), the price was often a club's prospects in the #10-20 range. The Red Sox' farm system, recently ranked as high as #5 by some experts, has a surplus of middle infielders -- 13 of their top 28 by my count. I don't know if any of the Sox prospects were that attractive -- maybe they're vastly overrated by their own organization -- but don't pretend you weren't disappointed that Bloom couldn't even at least acquire a relief pitcher better than Llovera or Joe Jacques. And if it's true that nobody wanted any Sox prospects except our top 5, then that's just another indictment of Bloom the rebuilder...

How many hundreds of pages more before we can finally close this damn thread. What comes first, the end of Fire Bloom or the start of Sell, John Henry!? "Oh, but he's the greatest owner in the history of my lifetime..." (like, has any poster ever not had a relationship that was once great, maybe even for years, that ended on bad terms)

I just... can't... part... with... any of my two dozen 5'10, 165 lb middle infield prospects!

We need to finish bottom 6 to get into the lottery for #1. It will take a complete collapse, but the front office has done its best to initiate that. We can do it, just have to try harder not to try harder...

R & D (recruits and draftees)

For those enraged or depressed, Sam K is here to address all concerns: 1. The Dead (and buried) Line: we didn't trade any expiring contracts and will lose all those players when we refuse to extend them, but don't worry -- Chaim will just sign another bunch of band-aids on one-year deals next winter! 2. Pitching and Moaning: the front orifice acknowledges the right to bare arms, so we're rolling up our sleeves preparing to dip into the next market. Chaim has his entire brothel of analysts already scouring the dregs of orthopedics for waiver wire and DFA candidates. Our openers are not the problem; we need better bulk guys, and are prepared to make mid-level offers to the best available middle-inning relievers (suitable for matching by their favorite big league cities). 3. Last place: is actually First Place if you get the #1 Overall Pick in next summer's Amateur Draft. We welcome all Red Sox fans to watch us down the stretch for another fight with our arch-rivals, the Yankees, for top consolation prize. After all, for a mid-market team that can't spend its way to contention, when it comes to building through the draft to compete, what's worse than finishing fifth? The answer is obvious -- fourth! The answer my friends is blowing in the wins. Tanks for the memories... 4. Venmo: to better accommodate our loyal fans, we've set up a new pay portal for instant account drainage re. tix, parking and concessions: @sucker...

There's no way the Red Sox win this one, ever. Even if -- baseball gods forbid -- Mookie suffers a career-ending injury today, he's a Hall of Famer, based on JAWS and WAR compared to all-time RFers (and not Harold Baines). You can add up all the guys Bloom got back in the trade, and everyone else he spent the savings on, and it still comes down to this -- Hall of Famer in his prime lost: ONE. Hall of Famers brought back in exchange: ZERO

When they lost Betts, I guaranteed they'd eventually blow Mookie money on a much lesser player. But after all, Betts is already 14th all-time on bb-ref JAWS rankings for rightfielders. He has a 56.4 rating... the career average of 28 Hall of Fame RFers is 56.7. Mookie is 30 years old.

Am I stupid if I keep paying stupid money to watch these clever comedians?

Could it be we also acquire stupid coaches? What's that say about those who do the acquiring? And while we're at it, why has there been a team policy for decades to accumulate pitchers who absolutely negatively cannot throw accurately to any base except sometimes home base?

... and lately to play first, after they pinch hit Refsynder for Casas

Ultimately? How about the dumbass baserunner celebrating with his hands up in the air and loping around third? Managers just aren't allowed to bolt out of the dugout and tackle their own guys or push them back to second base to tag up. Now, it is worth debating how much a coaching staff is culpable when baserunning gaffes repeatedly haunt a ballclub -- a lax culture? inattention to detail? too many Red Bulls? too many gummies? is it Bloom's fault for not vetting IQs? So do we bring back an egotist who contrives discipline like Bobby Valentine and have Pedroia tell him, "That's not the way we do things around here"?

bb-ref '23 splits for three of the relievers the Red Sox have used in the first two Toronto showdowns: BA w RISP -- Jacques .458, Bleier .429, Llovera .231 BA in High Leverage -- Llovera .750, Bleier .458, Jacques .125 BA on Ground Balls -- Jacques .333, Llovera .273, Bleier .259 BA on Fly Balls -- Llovera .571, Jacques .417, Bleier .304 In contrast, Chris Martin: BA w RISP .152, High Lev .224, Ground Balls .154, Fly Balls .191 Only fans don't always get what they pay for...

Or was today a blown save because they didn't bring him in

Null plays all over the infield, but has never been healthy enough to be regular. Void is more versatile, and can also play outfield... but not good enough to stick in the Show. By the end of the month there's also a chance they could add Nada and Zilch, once they pass through waivers.