5GoldGlovesOF,75

Steely Dan song... maybe starring Wander?

Max, Moon, and my cousin Dipre are all right. The Red Sox' overall game is disrespectful to fans -- and my take is that the easiest way back to respectability is to tighten up the D. Good glovemen who can't hit are easy to find -- and cheap -- so carry a few on the roster; instead of the "white flags" playing musical chairs for the last spots in the bullpen. If starting pitchers aren't required to get 4 or 5 outs per inning every game, then good relievers wouldn't suffer from burn-out, and the pen wouldn't need a dumpster-diving, scrapheaping helping of bargain bins every August. The offense is deceiving. If Turner comes back, maybe he can influence others with two strikes to make contact and not pull their heads. Hitting can improve with proper practice. But I have no answers for the stream of baserunning blunders. Maybe base coaches can use big color-coded flash cards: green for go, red for stop, yellow -- Go Back, Fool!

They weren't defending their rings in October '19 since they didn't even make the playoffs, but Bloom inherited the greatest team in Red Sox history (except the scariest bullpen in Red Sox history, because Kimbrel and Kelly were elsewhere). And Cashner. And Gorkys. And Owings... f***it - flea-bomb the house!

This is the most likely scenario posted so far today. I love Duran turning singles into doubles, but not those of opposing batters. Because of the latter, he's also not going to fetch a good young pitcher, unless he's part of a multi-player trade.

They don't even get to the LCS with Betts, because he would never boot a ball into the bullpen. Betts can bowl, but Hunter kicks field goals.

I'm another apologist. I feel sorry for any Red Sox fan who has suffered through the disassembling and reconstruction of the major league team the past four years. When the current CBO got his mitts on the club, they were defending champions of the world. Apparently, he thought that was an alien world, judging by befuddling attempts at reverse-engineering the roster, as if it were a crashed UFO retrieved by the military from a southwestern desert. He befuddling...

Just as long as fans complaining about Yoshida's lack of power -- for 5 years and $90 million -- aren't the same posters who didn't want Schwarber for 4 years at $79M? With another month to go, plus probably the playoffs, Schwarbs has already hit 89 HRs the past two years, including the postseason. And for those who care about budgets and payrolls, he's only under contract for two more years. Schwarber helped lead the Phils to the World Series last year, when he led all Philly regulars in OPS, with Harper on the IL for a third of the season. If you're going to feature a strikeout king at DH, he may as well be the home run champ.

Or over the Wall. Where could we possibly play a guy who hits 40 homers a year.

In baseball, the DH doesn't use a glove, unless it's secured by Velcro.

Fair answer. I'm starting to wonder if they'll shop Mayer... partially because they played Rafaela at short in his first MLB start, and because of the possibility of having to trade top prospects for legitimate rotation help. Also: major changes are absolutely necessary on defense, and if they still thought they had a shot at the playoffs, why wouldn't they use Rafaela -- regarded in many reports as Gold Glove caliber right now -- in centerfield?

Q: Would you take Bogaerts back if he was signed for Story's contract? I would, because I don't think for a second that Bogie won't bounce back and become a more productive hitter through his mid-30s. I'd rather have a steady shortstop who is never hurt with a 17% K-rate than a guy on the IL half the time who looks really athletic whiffing with his 35% K-rate.

The thing is -- as a few posters love to type everyday -- none of us know for sure just how much control Bloom has or doesn't have over investing in player acquisitions via spending budget money or prospect capital through trades... except maybe what it costs for minimum transactions to get AAAA relievers DFAed by other clubs (for those guys, at least we THINK Bloom has total control). Ultimately, the failures of this organization are on Upper Management -- which includes both the front office and ownership. Sam Kennedy said today that going forward the Red Sox need "pitching, pitching, pitching." He mentioned free agency; remember at the deadline he adamantly refused to trade prospects. Times may be changing: Sam also told the truth today. When asked to agree with Pedro Martinez, who said Bello's stuff was better than his own Hall of Fame arsenal, Sam said... "No."

Man, you don't need to explain your reasons for being here. The way I see it, regulars on a forum come to post for two reasons: to share opinions about a topic they're really into, or to disparage others because of their own superiority complexes. We can agree or disagree with others, share likes and dislikes about a topic, offer stats, complaints, and jokes -- but making fun of fellow fans' posts offers zero contributions to a thread. And all name-calling really does is expose a certain level of maturity and/or IQ...

Just fire Bloom. ANY change at the top will be better right now... ... better for the fans, better for the media, better for the players in the dugout, bullpen, clubhouse -- maybe even in the minors, where guys like Dalbec may actually get traded and have a better shot at making the bigs. Make Cora the interim GM and Varitek the interim skipper -- that will keep the Red Sox semi-relevant for one more month. Bradford on August: "it was a result of taking the wrong path ... again. (re. the Astros) "That was the team that made the moves. That was the team that just swept you. That was the team can definitively declare what the Red Sox can't. 'This team, we’re built to win championships and to go deep in the playoffs,' said Houston closer Ryan Pressly."

Maybe the Red Sox will finally trade a top prospect this offseason. Maybe they played Rafaela at shortstop last night to see if he's good enough to let them deal Mayer. Or maybe they're showcasing Ceddanne... One thing's for certain: Aldo Ramirez was definitely worth trading for Schwarber, who already has 83 MLB home runs the past two years! For Philadelphia...

I just threw in the links for anyone who may think the inept Little League defense that has turned our stomachs ALL season isn't the main problem with this excuse for a big market big league club... ... as if putrid fielding doesn't extend innings, up pitch counts and strain arms on the mound -- nor putting pressure on the offense to press to catch up -- every single game for five straight months. The D in '23 made it impossible to mount any consistent runs at contention.

Thanks for preparing us for threaded discussions on all available players of reported interest to the Red Sox who will be outbid by more attractive clubs that match offers taken to them by super agents. Though I'm confident the front office can scrape together enough bodies to fill jerseys and field a team. But I swear, when we're finally good enough, then we'll get some really good players...

The debate about Yoshida vs Duvall -- at least, on defense -- was settled by Baseball Savant's new stat called Fielding Run Value. Of all position players with at least 400 fielding innings, Yoshida ranks #51 out of 54 leftfielders, while Duvall ranks #48 out of 50 centerfielders. They both suck. But at least they have bad company: Duran ranks #44 of 50, cementing the Sox with the worst centerfielders in baseball. Other lowlights include Casas (#47 of 49), Raffy (#46 0f 51), and of course, Kike (tied for #47 of 47). The only player even middle of the pack is Verdugo, #23 of 51. With Red Sox obits being written before September even begins, posters can lament all the predictable injuries to the rotation, and the predictable damage it did in draining the bullpen. But this club's defense can't be blamed on a season of bad hops -- it was assembled this way by the front office and management. https://www.nbcsportsboston.com/mlb/boston-red-sox/how-bad-is-red-sox-defense-even-worse-than-youd-expect/550483/ https://www.audacy.com/weei/sports/red-sox/alex-cora-details-what-has-gone-wrong-with-the-red-sox

What-Have-You-Done-For-Me-Lately: starring Duvall as the hero, Yoshida as the zero. But with a month to go, they're about even for season contributions. Sure, Duvall has the edge in WAR, but there's no guarantee he'd post positive if he played the entire season. On bb-ref, his career high is 3.3, all the way back in 2016 (bb-ref describes a player at 5+ as "All-Star Quality" and 2+ as a "Starter"). My issue with Duvall isn't so much the player, but Bloom acquiring him to be the centerfielder, where he isn't as good as at the corners, and as we've seen, takes a beating trying to cover ground. Give Duvall credit for all-out effort, but when a guy is on the IL, he's not contributing; though it's not his fault he's out of position. Yoshida has three Es in left, but usually makes the plays he can get to. He has less range than Duvall, who has also missed some plays that other more fleet natural centerfielders make in the majors. Yoshida has a 12% K rate to Duvall's 28%, but has been hurt by a power outage the past month. Still, a guy who was leading the league in batting average during the first half obviously has to be consistent at making contact. If grading, I probably wouldn't give either higher than a C+ because both have had to miss a lot of games for various issues. But I'd like to see if a healthy Duvall can stay hot for an entire year. I also think Yoshida will be a more productive player, at least on offense, next season after the adjustments from this initial campaign in a foreign land.

After the Bear Claw Game, most fans and media can see their ever-lasting summer fading fast, and are now calling the season a failure before mathematical elimination. If the Red Sox finish with a winning record or even in fourth place, it's an improvement over last year. But if they don't qualify for the postseason, most of us here view 2023 as a failure -- at least in the fact that Boston would fail to make the playoffs. As for your grades, I'm not sure how you calculated an overall GPA of B- If you assign whole numbers of 4 for As, 3 for Bs, 2 for Cs, and 1 for Ds (0 for Fs); the point total adds to 36... divided by 24 players (or subjects) = a GPA of 1.5. That's a solid D... overall for Chaim Bloom's additions to the roster. Subjectively, I agree with most of your individual grades, except I'd go a little higher on Masa and a little lower on Duvall. A guy with a .300 batting average most of the season -- even without a lot of power -- contributes to the offense, and while a lot of fans are really down on Yoshida for August, he actually had a higher OPS in July than Duvall (who has had two hot streaks, but never had an .800 OPS for an entire six-month season in his career). Those two, along with Turner, Jansen and Martin, have definitely compensated on the report card for the Ws -- subjects from last year that Withdrew or Went away...

"The owners failed to make changes at the top of the organization, staying with those responsible for assembling a big league roster worthy of World Series contention, and a front office fully committed to rewarding Red Sox fans who paid higher prices for tickets, parking, concessions, and cable bills with... uh: sincerity, integrity and honesty about delivering those goals-- um, hold on... wait a min-- "

Bloom's judgment? He's "surrounding Devers with talent!" I know, I know, he didn't say on the diamond... but Raffy has a really good interpreter, and masseuse, and videographer, and curfew attendant who tucks him in and sings "Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur..."

DDDHHH... now that makes sense.

It... it just... it has to make sense.

They have to protect Bear Claw, at least for all the future merchandising profits: t-shirts, bumper stickers, bobble-hand night, etc.