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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I know, we've both said our opposite views here before on all-or-nothing hitting. The reason I brought it up is because there has already been some coverage of improved offenses in Boston and other cities for the simple explanation of line-ups making better contact. Certainly, lefty pull hitters have benefitted from the no-shift, but there is also more emphasis on the Sox, and talk on MLB network, for example, of more batters using the entire diamond, going with pitches more, opposite field, gap-to-gap. The Red Sox hitters look different this year, including guys with different approaches that were already here, like Verdugo and Duran. More hits = more baserunners = more runs; but it's also about hitting behind runners and moving runners. It makes for better entertainment.
  2. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    The Sox are 24-20. No shift, juicier ball, but the main reason: new faces. Devers leads the club with 38 strikeouts. For those pining for the return of Story, through his first 44 games last year he whiffed 60 times. Through the end of last May, JD and Bogie each had 44 Ks, Dalbec 38, Bradley 34. Yoshida has 15 in 160 PA in '23... last year at this time, Franchy had 20 in 83 PA.
  3. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Porque?
  4. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    This is pretty obvious. The Padres' young power hitters will pick on Old Man Paxton, and Snell will throw a no-hitter through the first six. However, analytic guys will run onto the field to pull him off the mound, and the Sox will rally to win late vs. SD's bullpen.
  5. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    And yet, what separates Toronto from Boston, maybe not in the standings quite yet, but in most, if not all, season outlooks? It's not the offense, because even though the Jays have a few young star hitters, the Sox score more runs per game with a higher batting average. Count me as in on some of those of the next winter starters, because we have to start somewhere. But I have no reason to think Bloom will suddenly be competitive for any #1 or #2 guys, because he's never been. Maybe it's just his own policy. Remember, Eflin -- his supposed below-market find and a pitcher with starter upside -- threw exclusively out of the bullpen in the postseason for an NL team that made the World Series, with 10 relief appearances. Now he's 5-1, 3.38, in 7 starts for the AL pacesetter.
  6. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Good examples. The Jays are a club that wants to win, willing to pay market prices for good starters. The trade for Berrios hasn't set the world on fire, but it was also the right approach: acquiring a durable All-Star just entering his prime, and then locking him up longterm.
  7. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    If it was Eflin -- who was reportedly offered $40M/3 (which would've made him the costliest "starter" of the Bloom Era, at $13,333,333 AAV) -- then Kluber was a blah Plan B consolation prize. And was it really just coincidence that Bloom's old colleagues were just as interested in his prize target... or that he even had to fall back and take one of their leftovers? Hey, it worked with Wacha -- but can he think outside the Trop and get someone actually good from somewhere with his old Tampa brain before the like-minded Rays nerds out-swoop him?
  8. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I don't know if he likes any of them, but the only one he has done is buy old vets who are either past their primes or trying to comeback from age-related injuries (and yes, both characteristics are interchangeable on the cause-and-effect barometer). And even though Bloom obviously has set a budget limit on the annual salaries he'll pay for starting pitchers, I'll bet someone like Moon can add up all the cut-rate contracts (below market of #1 or #2 guys) expenditures on the Richards, Klubers and Paxtons of the Bloom Era to see just how much the Red Sox -- I won't say wasted -- allocated on rotations...
  9. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    The Brewers, Guards and Twins are contenders, and because of their divisions, usually are. The Pirates and Dbacks are surprises so far. That leaves the disappointments in SD and St. Lou -- and no starters on those staffs are pitching like an upgrade right now (except maybe Wacha). But the White Sox, another flop, have two AL-tested guys that would definitely help. But they'd want young pitching to replace them. No matter what Sam Kennedy says, is it rational to go for a ring this year and trade Drohan? Discerning posters just cringed. The Red Sox could really use a difference-maker, a George Kirby type, but the cost would be very painful. But that's what would have to happen if they're serious about this season.
  10. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Pablo has the same + and - as a hitter and pitcher. Let's see Ohtani do that!
  11. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Great lists, as always, moon. I remember when they let Pedro and DLowe leave saying that the latter would be the guy with more longevity -- and IP -- going forward. I didn't think Bronson Arroyo would be "the one that we let get away," but he had even more wins and WAR than Lester post-Boston. This has been said before here, but the way staffs, starters and bullpens are used nowadays, a guy like Houck would seem most valuable as a 2-3 inning reliever... since everyone knows he is at his best and often lights-out one time through the order. No need to fix him in that role; he's already very effective at it and can help a team win and contend right now in the modern game.
  12. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    ... for two prospects!
  13. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Pablo is a .421 hitter in Boston! The A's tried to stash him in the minors until their big move to Vegas, but Bloom saw right through their little ruse. Chaim's like Branch Rickey running Pittsburgh, going up to Canada to pirate Clemente away from the Brooklyn Dodgers. Reyes could be his legacy!
  14. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Pablo Reyes is the turning point in the season, from 30 mph Leephus pitches to 2-run doubles off the Monstah. Sox should extend him to a longterm contract now, at least through the summer solstice. Bloom needs to lock him up, literally, until the trade deadline...
  15. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    What I suspected all along... Bloom got rid of him before scribes like us disclosed the scandal of the sham of his "awkward clunkiness," saving Pivetta, and making a hero out of Vazquez. I actually tried that once playing centerfield. A long blast landed over my head and bounced away on an open field... with my back to the plate I gave it a little boot into the bushes and held up my hand for a ground-rule double. The ump wouldn't fall for it, and signaled home run. Moments like that explain why I just type about baseball nowadays.
  16. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Pivetta is now saying the right things after a talk with AC, but can anyone blame him if he's thinking he just turned 30, while Kluber just turned 37, with the same basic stats this season (except on their paychecks)... Nick was also a postseason hero coming out of the bullpen in '21; Corey hasn't pitched a good playoff game since '16.
  17. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I'd argue Price was definitely a reason for dealing Betts -- no one would take Price, even at half David, unless we included a Hall of Famer in his prime. Price was toxic to the brand, and a worse signing than Sale, just because the Sox had to keep paying half his salary to make sure he was out of Boston for good. Prevailing bs is that Bloom's first order as CBO was to trade Mookie. Instead, it may have been to get rid of Price and change the culture: no more sourpuss with the press, no more half-hours between pitches, no more excuses vs. the Yankees.
  18. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Fricking forgot Barnesy...
  19. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Dombrowski was the anti-Bloom -- maybe he wasn't right to trade so many future big leaguers, but he was right when he said (paraphrasing here), "A lot of prospects are just prospects." As for Bloom, if he... keeps on... hanging... on... does he really envision the next great Red Sox team to be a roster rife with say, the top 5 guys currently toiling in each of Worcester, Portland, Greenville, Salem, and Florida?
  20. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Duran looks like a big leaguer this year, and sometimes a big-time player. I never saw it coming, and not because of his physical skills. But I accept that I've been retired too long to appreciate the adage. Students learn at a different pace on different levels, and there are no age deadlines for teaching dirtdogs new tricks.
  21. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Everyone knows it has to be painful -- to get, you have to give. But we (well, the front office) has/have to identify the up-and-coming core of the next great hopefuls... then keep them and build around them. Casas and Mayer look to be two as of now, the best prospects or young players in the system at their respective positions... meanwhile, the generic redundancy of the following may make two of these four expendable trade bait: Yorke-Romero and Rafaela-Bleis. Those are just top 5 or 10 men. Others have already seen their stock rise, like Hickey C, Ravelo SS, Anthony OF, etc. For Bloom to wait this long before dealing any actually good prospects either means the Red Sox are continuing their tradition of overrating their system... or Chaim has a long leash on his job security and is content to wait for maximum development time.
  22. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Many fans say a pitcher's expensive longterm contract is worth it -- even if he was mediocre or not much of a star for more than a year -- as long as he helped win a ring. If a couple of good weeks in October made it worth the pain -- DiceK and Beckett in '07, Lackey in '13, Price in '18 -- then Eovaldi was a better investment for two memorable postseasons (the Sox didn't win it all in '21, but knocking out the Yankees was the next best thing).
  23. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Too early is overrated here. This isn't some high school kid getting his first taste of pro ball in instructional leagues or even a raw minor leaguer suddenly promoted in an emergency. Yoshida will be 30 in July and has been a professional for a long time. Slightly different baseball, park conditions, pitching repertoires, etc, but still hardball: making adjustments all the time. Analytic departments -- and better yet, pitching staffs -- will write a book on him soon enough. But we know it'll be a first draft... that Masa gets to edit. And he has a lot more experience with the red pen and word processor than the average rookie.
  24. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Duran has visibly changed his approach. He's going with the pitch (instead of trying to hit it out of Worcester when he's in Boston), and thinking double out-of-the-box on every single. That aggressiveness, fueled by confidence, has carried over on defense, too.
  25. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    To me, those were easy to imagine: two pitchers who succeeded in Boston and wanted to stay. Just wondering: what would be easier to imagine? Not blowing $40+ million per on 40-year olds or dealing Mayer-Bleis-Bello-Casas for Alcantara?
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