5GoldGlovesOF,75

Any minor leaguer should be expendable if part of the right deal for a rebuilding team. Nick Yorke's top asset has always been bat skill, whereas Story's rep is more athletic on defense and baserunning. Both started in pro ball as teens, but Story has always been prone to more strikeouts. Yorke's progress promises more contact as a possible impact bat. Neither is so good at second base that they can't move to other positions, though.

Figures, Bloom would waste all that money signing a one-pitch pitcher.

How far back is "this era" -- I'm spoiled by seeing many Red Sox rookies or young players burst onto the scene and just rock the league in their first full years: Fisk, Lynn, Rice, Clemens, Boggs, Greenwell (2nd in MVP), Nomar, Pedroia, Ellsbury, Mookie... Some notables that took a few years of adjustments: Dwight Evans, Varitek, Youk, Bogaerts... I'd say Raffy, but he's still making adjustments today to the league's adjustments to him.

And you didn't read my posts -- or just took lines out of context. I never said the Red Sox should win the World Series every year or even spend top dollar to try to win it all every year. Expectations in Red Sox Nation should always be to "contend for a playoff spot." Not pretend. I've been a fan for most of the same decades you have, and you know what spoiled me? Not John Henry's rings, but the fact that the Sox were just about always good -- with a chance to be great -- with homegrown stars they paid to keep that fans could identify with and root for, from '67 to the end of last century. In that timeline -- my life as a fan -- Boston didn't finish dead last six times like they have in the past dozen years, nor floundered for as long as they have in the Bloom Era, with his revolving roster of mediocrity.

Hamilton at shortstop -- super quickness, shaky throws -- is how I imagined Story there, as described by Bloom in this paraphrase: "His elite speed will compensate for any arm issues." Just make sure Turner (nice pick on a bounced throw last night) or Casas give each other enough rest in between stretches at first.

"The owners made him!" ... sign Jansen... and Story and Devers... but forbid him from signing Betts or Bogaerts or Schwarber (as for Eovaldi -- that was just personal, from Nate dissing Chaim for last summer's deadline two-step). The poor guy; all he's ever allowed to do on his own is scour waiver wires for castoffs from other organizations... and draft high school hitters.

I'm still going back to actual fan expectations, not analysis of a CBO's inherited system or ownership mandates/restrictions. The expectations for the six-state region of New England baseball fans should always be for their Red Sox to contend for a playoff spot. Not .500 or just over .500... ... and for the people who run the team to use resources -- every year -- to at least sustain that goal. Without the BS. You think New York fans ever disagree with the Yankees signing expensive free agents or trading prospects or going over the competitive balance tax?

... but more stability, getting what you pay for with two more legitimately decent players.

This is a fair assessment. The only thing I question is what defines "unrealistic expectations." While it's unreasonable to expect World Series teams every year -- especially with limited prospect capital for trades and budget limits -- is it really unrealistic for loyal hoards of fans of a big-market club that charges top-of-the-industry spectator fees to expect the franchise to invest enough each year to legitimately contend for a postseason berth?

Comparing draft picks within respective rounds is hard to resist, but we all know it's highly speculative, and basically a crapshoot for all big league teams from year-to-year. I've said it a few times recently; I can't give credit to Bloom for who he drafts, because overseeing the amateur draft is part of his job, just like it is for all other GMs. Plus, picks are organizational decisions, based on input from a lot of personnel, and susceptible to assigned numbers in each round, allotted signing budgets, etc. The international amateurs signed each year may be a better gauge of an effective front office: trusting scouts abroad to know who's legit, build up good relationships, and allowing them to make reasonable offers to recruits. Clubs get lucky all the time, but the smartest approach is still You get what you pay for...

Not even for an established under-30 big league starting pitcher like Dylan Cease? Bradford proposes this deadline deal: Cease and Andrew Vaughn for Casas, Rafaela, Yorke and Liu. That's four Red Sox prospects, including three Top 5 guys. Gotta give up something to get something. Vaughn replaces Casas, Duran's breakout makes Rafaela expendable. What says Chicago expert notin: are these White Sox players/personalities worth our top farmhands?

I wonder if the Boston brass views Polar Park with ambivalence and even skepticism. All the longballs flying out of there can certainly give prospects confidence, and boost chances for promotion. But then players are faced with immediate adjustments -- not just to big league pitching, but big league ballparks.

To me, any trade where you lose a Hall of Famer in his prime (who continues his Cooperstown trajectory in another city) that doesn't replace him with another Hall of Famer, weakens a team. Four years later, the Red Sox finally have two players from the Betts deal in the starting line-up: Verdugo is having a career year, and Wong is pretty good defensively. Still, their combined WAR is .3 more than Mookie... right now. I won't even call the Benintendi trade a win for Bloom, because personally I wouldn't trade a decent everyday regular for a decent relief pitcher. Something sapped Beni of his power, but he's still a .280 hitter and Gold Glove outfielder. Maybe if Gambrell eventually contributes to the parent club, the scales will legitimately tip to Boston -- just remember, the guy better be an above-average pitcher to make up for all the ghastly Franchy days. And consider this about why Bloom spends more on hitters rather than high-end pitchers -- entertainment... Any serious fans know that all title teams focus first at the highest point on the diamond -- the hill, smack-dab in the middle of the field. But we, along with every GM, also knows that pitching is the most expensive commodity. Meanwhile, teams can still draw fans in a place like Fenway if they're bopping big flies off the Monstah!

A lot of those names are guys the Red Sox should be in on -- for now and the future. The Cardinals are most intriguing, but not in trades; St. Lou has to be looking for younger, controllable pitching in return, and that's not something even the clever Boston ops can afford to dangle. For teams going nowhere this summer, it'd be better to wait until winter and just sign Montgomery. As for Snell and Wacha, can't see the Pads giving up, and at the same time upgrading their rivals in the West. SD's weakness, for some reason, is making contact, with the second-lowest batting average in the NL. Maybe they should offer Soto to Boston for Yoshida, a .300 hitter locked up for basically half-price of what a guy who turned down $400 million will be making for the next decade. Then again... maybe Bloom should refuse any Soto-for-Yoshida deal, and look like a financial genius -- long after he's gone from Beantown (at least he'll have a positive legacy)?

If Bloom is as smart as a Yale grad, he'd be on the phone today with both the Diamondbacks and his favorite go-to, the Dodgers. They're 1-2 in the NL West, only two losses apart, and each team is hurting for starting pitching right now -- with key guys on the IL and team ERAs higher than the NL average. Wonder what a bidding war for Paxton, the AL Pitcher of the Month, would look like between two rivals, each trying to recruit him and keep him from going to the other club? This may be of particular interest to the Red Sox: 6 of the top 10 prospects for both Arizona and LA are pitchers...

3. cb But some tear down or at least renovate teams, based on "you know what's coming!" 3. cb f-minus Still waiting for our CBO, to "surround Devers with talent, because now it's ok to bet on him"

X might still be at short in Boston, while Mayer would be SS in some other city, probably -- traded for a bonafide starting pitcher prospect with actual upside. It's still very irksome that an entire department of front office analysts somehow agreed to prefer a shortstop with a bum elbow who strikes out an average of 191 times in 162 games (vs. Bogie: 127 Ks/162). Granted, those numbers are inflated, reflecting career highs, but how about these career K-rates: Story 27.9%, Bogaerts 18.3%.

Is it bad when I read this that I could only think of one man in charge of any MLB franchise that would even think that would be a good idea?

I mean, can't they hire competent doctors or actors who play them on TV to check out prospective pitchers for brittle ribs or shoulder blades or elbows or even cheekbones? Where in the name of Brusdar Graterol are the damn medicals when recruiting these guys?

Ya, but today Ort symbolized what's in store for a team forced to rely on openers in their rotation while supposedly still fighting for a wild card. Three pitches, three rips, game over. And the worst part was that Bernardino looked really good when they took him out...

It all depends how many more games the Sox start Bernardino, then remove him even though his stuff is moving and basically unhittable... and bring in Ort.

It's not bad for fans, of course, to wish for the best... or even hope history repeats itself. Worst to first has happened more than once, in Boston alone. But there's no way I was falling for the unreasonable optimism going into this season that Bloom's veteran recruits on short-term contracts could parallel the 2013 Sox... if only everything goes right. Ya, and if only the '23 Sox already had a Hall of Fame DH in the middle of the order, a stolen base king (70 in the majors) leading off, a borderline Hall of Fame second baseman, and the winningest lefthander of his era at the top of the rotation... like the '13 champs did. Nope, these Sox just have Raffy.

The Red Sox aren't serious contenders to win a ring this year with a playoff rotation of Paxton, Bello, Crawford and openers, with a below-average defense behind them -- that's where they stand today. And that's assuming that Paxton will stay healthy and awesome the rest of the season -- when we know he already had a knee issue a week ago. Paxton's value will never be higher than right now -- Bloom has the best pitcher in the American League, as judged by the June Pitcher of the Month award, available to the highest bidder. We all know Bloom isn't going to resign Paxton next winter to the multi-year contract at market prices for a top-of-the-rotation starter that he'll be (maybe deservedly) seeking. Last winter Bloom let Eovaldi, Wacha and Hill walk -- other injury-prone starters in their 30s -- and had no choice but to retain Paxton, who accepted his player option to stay in Boston. And none of the decent or useful pitchers the Sox let go were asking for big money after maybe receiving a Cy Young vote or two (it's possible, if he continues to shine). The Red Sox are in a unique position with Paxton -- they might just be able to land a top pitching prospect to be part of their future core and under control through the decade... but the clock is ticking. He's still healthy today.

The thing is, with our particular injured players, nothing is guaranteed they'll be back near 100% when they do return. Look at the way Duvall has been hitting since his wrist supposedly healed. Does anyone really think Story's elbow brace will make an actual body part as good as new? Or Mondesi's knee -- if it ever allows him to play again -- will make him just as fast as he was when he was two years younger? Chang actually had a body part (a bone) removed from his hand, and has suffered pain in his rehab attempts; this is a pro athlete reliant on the use of his hands... it's not like this was a useless appendix. As for the wounded pitchers, we can only hope Houck won't be gun-shy forever when he returns. The rest have arm problems -- good luck with that.

Damn, we got Oakland coming up on the schedule...