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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Agree with all of this, except Kike on his one-year contract plays SS, Duran/Ref platoon in CF, and Rafaela is promoted to take over center midseason. What's the point of spending money on Elvis to win three more games, when 75 wins isn't much different than 72 wins...
  2. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    bWAR 2019-22 (through age 25): Soto 20.1 Devers 14.0 Acuna 13.7 Alvarez 13.6 Tatis 13.6
  3. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Normal fan reaction to gaping holes in favorite team's starting line-up (and/or starting rotation and/or back-end-of-bullpen): let's go, make some moves. Normal front office uses resources to acquire the best available talent. Bloom Era: reported interest in all options, but only do what "makes sense," which is somehow to wait until the best players have found new homes, and only then pick off the leftovers with one year contracts.
  4. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I am -- in Florida next month. Throw them right in there and see what they got (with no pressure, since only Sam Kennedy thinks we're winning the World Series). There will be plenty of cheap replacement players available by the end of March if the front office thinks we still need to pretend.
  5. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    No reason to spend any more money on acquisitions for '23 now. But -- looking forward to some February rookie excitement in Florida! Not going to suggest Mayer, who just turned 20 (only top prospects like Raffy and Xander make the bigs at that age)... but how about Valdez hitting bombs over palm trees and platooning at 2B, or Rafaela and Duran splitting CF and stealing first (now that Kike's our SS).
  6. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Don't worry, the Red Sox already hired a police escort to bring back Stephen Drew to play shortstop. And JD Drew to play right field. And Nancy Drew to solve the starting rotation.
  7. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    The Story narrative officially sucks. It sucks that he missed almost the entire second half of last season, and will now miss at least the first half of this season (and that he struck out 30 percent of the time when he played). Most injuries are unpredictable, but everyone saw this one coming. Masa Yoshida better be good. We've got one last chance to make it real...
  8. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Some posters are obsessed with defending a CBO who told us less than a month ago that Story playing shortstop is "on the table." He just didn't specify lying on the surgeon's table. Remember, Bloom insisted that Story's range is so good he can compensate for having no arm, by throwing on the run. So why would Trevor have to miss any time? There's just no excuse for the front office on this, with Spring Training a month away. They need to better monitor the condition of all their players and have a better rapport with all their agents... so they can plan for contingencies, like losing one of their key, highest-paid players for a big part of the season. Again.
  9. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    It would seem unlikely that Rafaela, 22, would be a huge upgrade over Jesus Sanchez, 25, who played half Miami's games in CF in '22 and has already shown extra-base pop in the big leagues the past two years (162-gm avg of 25 HRs). Sanchez did it in the minors, too, with a 1.000+ OPS in AAA, which Ceddanne hasn't even reached yet... I don't doubt Rafaela's D, since I watched him from the stands last summer. But like you said, the Marlins are looking for MLB offense this year. Verdugo and Dalbec would seem most expendable... But they're definitely preparing to deal a young arm, since they just sign Cueto. Scuggs on MLB.com says clubs are asking more about Cabrera over Lopez, coveting the big arm.
  10. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Good point. Lopez would be a good addition to an established rotation on a club pushing to go deeper into the postseason. But a case can be made that it's not worth trading future core Red Sox like Casas for even two of Miami's starters not named Alcantara. After all, the Marlins' under-30 rotation started for a team that lost 93 games in '22, and 95 in '21. And Miami also has two young position players better than anyone under-25 in Boston right now. Arguably...
  11. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Sale had a bad record in '19 but still had big strikeout games, like when he fanned 17 Rockies (but didn't win because he couldn't hear me screaming at the TV not to throw Arenado a fastball). He actually just beat ERod for team lead in Ks with 218... and no Red Sox pitcher has broken 200 since. Sale helped the Sox make the playoffs in '21, but was just coming off TJ rehab and was only really effective vs. a bad Baltimore club. Two years later, his arm should be plenty rested, at least. But we just have no idea to what extent a healthy and happy Chris Sale will recover and regain his mojo. It's similar with Devers -- who played at an elite level swinging with one arm at the end of '21, and not so much swinging on one leg the second half of '22. The difference is, Raffy will be 26 this season. Chris will be 34...
  12. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Sorry, still can't forgive her for poisoning the cannoli in GF III. All the technology in weaponry by then and she has to go ruin a good pastry. Clemenza was turning over in his gravy.
  13. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Only two more years at third? After all his progress last season? DH at age 28? We'd better pray not, but he won't be replacing lockdown discount candidate Casas, who's already as good as any Sox first baseman since Mientkiewicz stole the game ball (unless he's traded for Alcantara). Maybe Raffy won't be the next Adrian Beltre, but he won't be the next Adrian Balboa.
  14. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    I was in on Chafin early in the offseason, and then I saw that he opted out of his contract. We know what that means: he'd want too many years in Boston than Bloom would want him in Boston. Calling Dombro, calling Cohen, calling Mickey D's!
  15. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Interesting prospect list by one website, dated 1/5/23. After Mayer-Casas-Rafaela, they have #4 Niko Kavadas, #5 Yorke, #6 Matthew Lugo, and #7 Bleis. It's a fantasy site, so Niko's .437 OBP is big... also, noted is Lugo's rise after shifting full-time to third base (he's 21, so there's still time to move him to another position, unless he can wait until he's 32 and Raffy's gone). https://www.pitcherlist.com/boston-red-sox-top-fantasy-baseball-prospects-2023/
  16. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Dusty Baker said Houston traded for Vazquez to pinch-hit for Maldonado and play in late innings -- not to upgrade the position, but to augment it. The Astros were never going to replace Maldonado as the #1 catcher last year. The reason they didn't trade for Contreras, instead, is that Dusty said he didn't want an All-Star pouting on the bench. Maldonado's been the Astros' top backstop the past three seasons, which includes two World Series teams, and the pitching staff -- a major strength -- is obviously comfortable working with him. The question for the '23 Red Sox catchers is how well will they adjust to the new pitch clock and pick-off limitations? The running game may be a bigger factor than ever... ... and a clever club may really benefit from the thievery possibilities. Maybe that's why Bloom hasn't been overly concerned with replacing power hitters since '21.
  17. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    We always agree on the rotation... and the phrase probably not enough.
  18. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    It's good that some posters believe in second-chances, even for pro athletes who hurt other people. Even a convicted dog-killer gets to play quarterback again. For a guy like that, I can only hope for a second chance with his victims and that he gets to spend the after-life in a fenced-in kennel with the spirits of man's best friends.
  19. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    But not even the Uncle Uppers think the Sox will have a better record in '23 just for bringing back a guy they already had on a cellar dweller. However, the Devers' deal is cause for optimism on so many fronts: Raffy is now the load-bearing pillar in the entire reconstruction of the next sustained contender... his extension signifies the grand reopening of the bandbox relic on Lansdowne Street, paying top dollar for top talent... and with Raffy the life of the party, it will hopefully make Fenway an attractive destination again for other superstars to join in the festivities... ... and subtly, there's a new culture on a roster relieved of big contract distractions and impending relocations. The cloud of doubt that drained the '22 Sox' famous free agents and their teammates is gone -- maybe that alone will lead to a happier club.
  20. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Most of these match-ups are fair, but a good GM has to anticipate some regression and/or injuries and prepare accordingly. For example, Nate's history. Also, Barnes was broken, and nothing going into '22 showed anyone he was fixed. I was going to question your Story comps, but was surprised to see Arroyo as '21's most games played at second base, with only 51. Kike was next with 47... then Marwin 37 and Chavis 22. Bloom really needs to leave Story at second, period. Who on your list do you see as most likely bounce-back vets in '23? A healthy Kike would seem obvious, but he's also two years older. I'll nominate Arroyo, who hit .329 with an .806 in the second half last season. It kinda goes without saying that Pivetta and Dalbec need to improve.
  21. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Eovaldi was the big change, and there was just no viable contingency to replace the injured ace. Your data shows that ERod wasn't sufficiently replaced, either. Houck pissed me off all year, and despite the numbers, Whitlock seemed way more valuable in '21. At the plate, I would've thought Dalbec was the biggest downgrade of himself from '21, basically because he was invisible. This year seems like a make-or-break, wherever he lands.
  22. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Generic maybe-living-in-the-past-intensity reason to be skeptical about Paxton: despite his stats, Yankee fans disliked him; how would that translate in Boston? AL East and Tampa connections, at least, seem to be a factor with Bloom -- he likes recruiting ex-Rays for the rotation: Wacha in '22, Kluber in '23. He's even still recruiting pitchers for the Rays... and we can't wait for Raffy to spin Eflin's head around like the Exorcist for the next three years.
  23. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    It's a hard call to blame three guys who made the All-Star team as the main reason the club faltered. Arguably, the second-half production of Bogey, and definitely Raffy, was diminished by nagging injuries. JD -- who knows -- the dead ball could've hurt him as much as a dead bat. However, all had less protection in the line-up without Schwarber, Renfroe and a healthy Kike. Story just wasn't the guy; except for one month, AL pitchers couldn't wait to throw to him.
  24. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Here's where we differ: I give Bloom credit for making some key additions before the '21 season -- esp. Whitlock and Kike -- and then one big one at the deadline with Schwarber that changed the culture of the batting order to get them deep into the ALCS. However, his moves and non-moves a year ago turned a WS contender into a last place team. And that includes acquiring injury risks and not providing the roster with the proper depth to overcome them. But focus on '23: Devers' deal -- whether it was ownership overriding Bloom's methodology or not -- makes this offseason a triumph, because there will be no major contract distractions looming. If Bloom fills in the last few obvious holes, there can definitely be a path forward for improvement; if not, the rebuild will still have positive vibes with new faces and young guys trying to prove themselves.
  25. 5GoldGlovesOF,75
    Catching a no-hitter in the World Series has only been done by one other catcher in the history of baseball. He had a couple big hits and earned his second ring. I'm not even a Vazquez fan, but trading him for prospects -- and the way it was handled -- wasn't perceived as a rallying point for his teammates and manager in a playoff run.
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