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What are the chances Mayer ends up playing short in Boston by the end of '23? The current big league shortstops include Kike and Mondesi, the projected starter coming off a hip injury and a speed guy who blew out his knee. It's possible either or both experience setbacks. It's also doubtful Story returns to the line-up and plays shortstop, with his Tom Jon brace (modified Tommy John option). If Mayer progresses to Portland and crushes Double A -- and the Red Sox are in a wild card race and need a spark -- it could happen. If Boston is out of it, look for stop-gaps to fill in and finish out the year: Arroyo, Goodrum, Cora, etc.

Don't know much about Seattle's bullpen, but it's mind-boggling that any reputable site would chose the Sox' old and rehabbing question-mark rotation over the young supple muscle tissues of the M's' starters.

Remember when Al Kaline refused a $10K raise because he only hit .278 with 16 HRs and 71 RBI? He insisted on playing the 1971 season for $90,000. Hey, look -- JD Martinez batted .274 with 16 HRs and 62 RBI... no wonder he accepted a paycut of $10 MILLION. He'll be DHing for LA for only $10 MILLION. Btw: Kaline hit .294 the next year, felt he earned his raise, and finally accepted the extra $10K.

This is one of my main criticisms of Bloom; every GM misses on some acquisitions, but Chaim seldom keeps the good ones he finds. The rotating roster makes for a cruddy fan experience, too -- just when you get used to liking a player, you have to start rooting for a new one who might not be as good. I realize there are some x-factors beyond injuries or retirement that fans will never know about that lead to player turnover. But usually teams are always looking to upgrade positions when making changes. The Bloom Era is the first I can remember in Boston where it doesn't always feel that way.

Maybe fans are more protective of their homegrown heroes than replacements brought in from the outside. However, Verdugo -- a decent player, but not a star -- maybe gets a pass from the saner fans who realize nobody can replace a Hall of Famer. Story, though he may be better than Verdugo, gets more grief because 1. most suspect he was recruited specifically to "force" Bogaerts out; 2. Story's first year at the plate for the most part looked like a righty Carl Crawford (that's all the name-calling I got today).

Bloom vs Dombrowski debates are futile. Even if their situations were reversed -- and their hirings were switched in time -- there's no reason to believe they wouldn't act and operate like themselves. Alternative universe, offseason 2018: Red Sox GM Chaim Bloom passes on paying $20 million per year for DH JD Martinez and another $7.5M for 1B Keith Moreland, and instead signs the following on one-year deals: Lucas Duda, 37, $3.5M, Curtis Granderson, 41, $5M, and Mark Reynolds, 39, $750,000. Bloom was also able to use the savings to land starting pitcher Trevor Cahill, 34, for $1.26M, and reliever Jesse Chavez, 39, for $1.6M. After the season, when Boston finished two wins from the World Series, Bloom was ordered by his bosses to lock-up Mookie Betts for life with a $366 million pact. He then traded shortstop Xander Bogaerts to LA for Verdugo, Wong, and pitchers Mitch White and Yadier Alvarez. Alt. U, offseason 2023: GM Dombrowski celebrated another Red Sox title by signing World Series hero Mike Wacha to a three-year, $60 million dollar contract. Dombro also extended Raffy Devers for 12 years at $376M, and landed free agent Zach Eflin for $50M, after the latter threatened to sign with Tampa. Dave hopes the addition of new shortstop Trea Turner will offset any ankle worries about Red Sox infielder Carlos Correa, who may take it easy this year by platooning at second base with either Turner or Javey Baez.

Maybe with better depth in the minors, we'll finally get to see Bloom start to swing a few more trades, which is supposedly one of his strengths we have not seem much of -- as far as bringing in high quality contributors that become core roster members. It sure doesn't look like he wants to give up young talent for any talent... yet. But looking at how recent blockbusters have worked out for others, can we blame the boss of a bad team for hanging on to the future (even if that means he's gone before it becomes the present)? Look at what San Diego gave up for Soto, or what Seattle gave for Castillo, or LA for Scherzer and Turner -- and none of them made the World Series. At least the M's extended Castillo, so there's hope for their future...

You know it's not just about 2019. Looking at the majority of your list of 18 names, there were a lot of Bloom acquisitions the past three years who were good and fit in -- Iglesias, Wacha, Schwarber (omg - where would we play a Home Run King) -- but not retained... even Strahm looked decent and wasn't part of the problem in the pen. I'm trying to give the guy credit for picking up these players who looked like keepers. I just detest his strategy of constantly recycling them for the next worst thing to save value... and I get this was the reason Henry hired Bloom -- which makes it all the more deplorable for a fan not interested in collecting baseball cards of faceless Red Sox uniforms.

I look at this list -- not with disdain for the performance of the players -- but with distaste with how Bloom operates. I count 18 different guys, and most of them came and went, almost as if Bloom was playing his own little game of building up and tearing down rosters. Only four of the 18 -- Kike, Verdugo, Whitlock and Pivetta have been kept as fulltimers -- but it's not like we couldn't use a lot of the others who really contributed: like home run hitters, good middle infielders who really liked Boston, and a starting pitcher with 3+ WAR (and please don't bother reiterating the value of saving a mil here by dumping a guy for someone comparable there -- we root for Boston). As a longtime baseball fan who grew up identifying with core players on Red Sox teams good and bad, I'm just not into disposable acquisitions that we use up and then let leave when they want market wages for what they've accomplished.

Red Sox brass said Feltman might step right from his college campus into the big leagues. Little did they know that right after the draft he enrolled in med school and law school, and got his teaching certificate, to pay for books on the side. The latter profession requires a Masters in some states, but they give you eight years or so to finish the credits.

Depends on what they're promising. But just look at what the AL East rival rotations added: NY - Rodon, Toronto - Bassitt, Tampa - Eflin, Baltimore - Gibson? Well, maybe the O's starters are full of as many question marks as Boston's... Then again, the Birds also have the best young catcher in baseball, eight top 100 prospects (including #1), and the top-rated pitching prospect in the AL... The Orioles also had eight batters with 13 or more home runs last year. The Sox had four -- and three of them are gone, baby, gone.

Horseshoes are this year's Red Sox theme. Just gotta get close enough... to grab a wild card. Pitching horseshoes, that is... which is more precise (and hopefully less explosive) than lobbing grenades. Hey, we didn't have to finish first watching the submarine races in high school, either.

Does hammering into hooves have the same negligible pain effect as fingernail piercing? I'm not into either one, and don't find piercings or tattoos attractive on the opposite sex. But I assume tattoos on cattle hurt more than cowshoes.

Yep, except the prospects about to make the most immediate big league impacts are Dombro's. And it's not a stretch to imagine Bloom's best prospects becoming stars when the next GM's in charge. It's not fair, either, comparing which guy is the best farmer when the rules and regulations have changed so much -- and have become more restrictive -- since Theo and his boys signed and paid everyone.

If I agree with you, then you'd be wrong.

The '88 Red Sox featured an entire line-up of homegrowns, with a lot of key rookies or second-year men like Greenwell, Burks, Benzinger and Reed. Old-timers Evans and Rice were winding down, but the top three arms in the rotation were Clemens, 25, Hurst, 30, and Boyd, 28. System surplus also allowed them to trade Anderson and Schilling for Boddicker, 30.

I look forward to the days when a Sox GM starts trading prospects again before they lose value when exposed to the big leagues (see Dalbec, Duran). Right now, on the MLB's Red Sox prospect list, there are 10 players in the top 30 who can play shortstop. Even if the best of them are moved to other positions, there has to be a few expendables that can be added to a package for a legitimate arm or two. Either that or at least bring one up that can provide stellar D, even if its in the late innings. Instead, Bloom trades a pitcher for a speed guy who blew out his knee.

Two lists this week: Law had Rafaela #37... EPSN had him nowhere.

Years of control are of course major factors in trade returns for impending free agents and/or salary dumps. My point has always been that the Dodgers were obviously dealing for a superstar they planned on keeping longterm -- and could have/should have been persuaded to give up more for a Hall of Famer... if they really wanted him, which they obviously did. Back to the future: good teams are strong up the middle. Right now the Red Sox plan to open the '23 season without one single regular who has ever played an entire MLB season at C-SS-2B-CF. They're not bad players, but there is a lot riding on the hope they'll all stay healthy enough to be stable and productive. It's worrisome that the exact same thing can be said about the starting rotation (the mound being the most important location up the middle). I have less doubts about the offense, and the adjustments required by Yoshida and Casas to become legit threats. Along with Devers -- and the no-shift rule -- the Sox lefties will rake!

And the Dodgers didn't trade for 12 years of Betts... they just decided the day before the 2020 games began that he must be good enough to extend for the next dozen seasons.

Bloom doesn't get blamed for the Betts trade as much for all the bad trades and signings he's made since. Especially after telling fans the Sox now have so much more young talent to surround Devers, when explaining why Raffy was signed over Mookie. Here's a Tomase take from today... main point: Keith Law's current ranking of the Red Sox system at #23 is only two places better than when Betts was still in Beantown. https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/red-sox-bottom-10-farm-system-ranking-indictment-teams-entire-plan

Not even close, and I was including Verdugo, who was always called "the centerpiece" of the deal -- even when it was hard for him to center himself between Graterol and nobody else. At least the Sox would have received three good prospects for what turned out to be 12 years of Betts. Though that still wouldn't be quite the return of Seattle's #1, 3, and 5 prospects, plus a flier, that the Reds got for what turned out to be 6 years of Luis Castillo (after extending him, too).

Pitching. I said it that whole winter: Gonsolin, Gray or May. But it's plausible Bloom and old mentor Friedman had a secret pact: "Andy, baby, love ya -- but this is my first big deal, and my boss says you have to take Price." "Ok, Chaim... but no arms for you!"

If Mookie wasn't any good for the next decade, I'd bet every longtime Dodgers fan you meet will still say the trade was worth it, just for that one World Series title.

The varied grading scale most likely reflects positives like getting rid of David at any price, and getting anything for Mookie before he fled. But could anyone give the Dodgers less than an A+? In 2020, Betts only led baseball in WAR again and LA to a world title.