5GoldGlovesOF,75

Imagine how vastly different the outlook would be if ownership looked at the competition and suddenly decided to go for it -- and actually forced Bloom to acquire a top starter by trading some prospects? Right now, Cole is the only sure thing separating NY and Boston (not a peep out of Crankee fans about the IL, which have been initials for the Sox roster lately). In reality, we all know that pitching addition management is waiting on is postage paid and named Paxton, who finally proved he can get minor leaguers out!

... especially on a New York Yankee-Aaron Judge-loving website posing as an impartial platform purportedly highlighting heroics of all other 29 teams equally.

I see your point, though some deals - depending on how they work out - open up new holes that have to be filled with other deals. One can even be contingent upon the other: if we trade Manny for ARod to play short, then we can swap Nomar for Magglio Ordonez to play left...

I'll always root for him, especially for three reasons: 1. being the most dominant, unhittable pitcher I've ever seen in person; 2. bringing Machado to his knees; 3. fixing my cell phone for me so I could take a pic of him posing with my son.

Hey -- MLB.com's new power rankings are out. The Red Sox, who just climbed to a fourth place tie with a winning record in the AL East, are ranked 20th. New York, which only lost yesterday by 13 runs and are now tied for last place, is ranked 12th... because, after all, they're the Yankees!

That does it -- for the rest of this season, I'm not drinking out of a full-size glass. From now on, I'm using a shot glass, and filling it to the top.

I'd rather the returns turned into stud pitchers... but Bloom did the best he could by attaching a Hall of Famer to ensure the Sox got rid of Price.

Battenfield is also a good name for a hitter who doesn't use pine tar.

The most positive thing about Sale today isn't his stats or that he beat the below-average hitting Guardians... ... it's that when the game was on the line, Sale toughed it out, came up huge and left the tying run on third. He left it all out there, hit 98 on one pitch on the NESN screen, jammed Bell into tapping a one-stitch heater and got Gonzalez on a grounder to first. Then he even came back out in the 7th to get one more lefty. Hopefully, he didn't hurt himself -- and I'm not joking. Sale may not be able to baffle the best hitters anymore, but today he showed he still has the balls to compete and contribute big time.

Eovaldi isn't Kluber, Sale or Paxton in their prime -- but he's better than all of them and a legit #2 right now. That's something the Sox don't have. How much better would Boston be with Nate, who started more games and with a better ERA than any Sox in April... and with Bogaerts (and the return of the juiced ball) at short?

The new schedule -- less AL East games! -- might help the Sox win more than last year... and I will be the first to applaud the entire franchise if they win as many as 81 and finish .500. But the sked, in my opinion, was always an overrated factor in the Sox making the postseason, simply because the Rays, Jays, O's and Skanks all play less games vs. each other, too. There are three wild card berths at stake for October, along with three division champs. The schedule doesn't make it any easier to qualify for the Red Sox...

What have we learned after the first month? The AL bEast is a monstrosity, with three best teams in the league plus a big Bronx cheer for the World Series favorites... ... and coming up last -- but neither slow nor fast -- are your extra ordinary Sox, riding the spin cycle in the incongruous throes of instability. If they spelled it Socks, this would be the year you can only find one when folding the laundry (the other foot will drop out of a linen closet later, after hiding in a fitted sheet). With key pinstripes catching up to Boston on the IL, the New Yorkers are only one good starting pitcher better than the cellar dwellars. Imagine the stark changes in the outlook here if Bloom and Co. could acquire just one, reliable, consistent, healthy top-of-the-rotation starter? Just one...

I gotta say you are being very rational with your summaries lately. I want to be optimistic, too. I want the Red Sox to at least be alive for a postseason berth into September. I have high hopes for Bello and his stuff, but realize it may be a year or two before he strings together quality starts or better yet months of quality starts. As for the rest of the rotation, I just don't see such a happening for any of them... unless improvement is defined by two good games in a row. Houck has been ok, but is he already at his ceiling as a starter? For the others, we can hope and wish and pray... but this staff sure looks destined to bounce between a few games over and a few games under .500 into the summer.

Maybe I haven't been paying attention closely enough, but has Bleier ever had a good game for the Sox yet?

And yet, besides Bello's fingernail (growing pains?), when OB notes how this rotation is unlucky... do people say 90-year old drivers with vision problems and dementia are unlucky when they accidentally drive the wrong way on the interstate? Or are the unlucky ones the other drivers around them (those would be Red Sox fans during the Bloom Era).

Because it's no use complaining about the absolute worst starting rotation in the big leagues that's not a flock of lame ducks soon flying south to Las Vegas... The current Red Sox front office won't sign, draft or trade for any frontline pitching, so why even bother talkingsox about it.

Listened to the bottom of the 8th on the car radio driving back from my son's Little League game. When Devers got up with the tying runs on base, my kid -- who watches every game and pays attention -- said, "He's going to strike out on three pitches." When it got to 0-2, I mentioned that any pitcher would be crazy to throw him anything near his bat... because he'll still be swinging for the fences no matter what. After Raffy whiffed on the splitter, we discussed how much better he'd be as a hitter, and for the Red Sox, if he adjusted his two-strike approach and just tried to hit liners off the Monster (there's little doubt that a focused Devers can barrel more pitches in more locations than anyone in the line-up). It may be blasphemy on the boards to question the Raffy in the room, but his .231 batting average is now second-worst among full-timers to Casas, and he's third in Ks to Casas and Kike. Boston needs help in so many areas, and starting pitching should always be the priority... but since the Sox are so committed to Carita longterm, it almost makes sense to get another premium bat like a Papi or Manny presence to share the pressure and allow him to thrive...

Like any hitter, Valdez needs to get regular ABs to learn pitchers, adjust to their book on him, and get in a groove. He might benefit as a DH full-time somewhere on a club not pretending every year to be a contender. The Red Sox invested in Turner to be their DH, and are otherwise too left-handed already. Bad starting pitching can't afford sub-par defense on the diamond. But like others have posted, why doesn't Bloom see the value of good, available, affordable glovemen for any of his rosters?

What is true about the adage "shake a baseball tree, and 10 gloves fall out for every one bat"... 1. it's an old saying that I didn't invent; 2. if a ballplayer can hit -- "the hardest skill in sports" (another adage) -- some team will find a spot for him on a roster So what's more likely in the case of Enmanuel Valdez being tried at virtually every defensive position on the diamond except pitcher in his pro career: clubs see his potential as a versatile utility man... or dude can swing the lumber?

Also notice if a Rays guy doesn't do the job with the leather, they don't keep him around very long. Maybe that was Bloom's thinking about Renfroe...

Thanks, but other than Yandy, none were/are key guys for Tampa's annual playoff contenders... Meadows for a few years... Not trying to make you do more research, but it'd be interesting to see recent lists of positive Rays vs. Red Sox...

Good point; the Rays are known for solid defense as a unit -- which is important for a team that prides itself on churning out endless pitching depth. If they're the heads on that coin, then Bloom's Red Sox are definitely tails. As for whether good gloves are always available, just shake the ole baseball tree... 10 gloves fall out for every one bat. Fielding a line-up of fundamental professionals shouldn't be that costly, and it's the fastest way back to respectability. Maybe Bloom ignores it because according to him, rebuilding is unacceptable in the Nation.

Here's a line from milb.com on Valdez' career fielding stats (the 2s are Games and Games Started, the 17 is innings, the 1.000 means he didn't make any errors there): Minors Career - - Minors SS 2 2 17.0 7 4 3 0 1 -- -- -- -- 1.000 Nobody cares, but it looks like he's played every defensive position professionally except pitcher and centerfield... link: https://www.milb.com/player/enmanuel-valdez-665839?stats=career-r-fielding-minors&year=2023

1. He was in Houston. 2. He's a good enough player at something to make the majors... ... which brings up another tangent in the Bloom Era: in my old-guy memory banks, there haven't been as many players promoted by the Red Sox who looked so hopeless on defense as in the past four years. Maybe it's just because so many are groomed to play out of position: Dalbec, Franchy, Duran (at least his first two seasons), Kike at SS, Verdugo in CF, Duvall in CF, Valdez -- Hey, at least Wong leads AL catchers in dWAR!

Nobody. I watched him up close at a AAA game and said he looked like a competent professional that day, because he made the routine plays and even turned a DP. If you watched yesterday's game, Valdez actually made one good play with quick hands and throw. I'm not defending Bloom, but do you think Houston -- the club that goes to the ALCS every year by replacing Cole, Morton, Springer and Correa with prospects -- would deal an actual good player for a back-up catcher?