5GoldGlovesOF,75

None of us know exactly what Henry's personal budget is, just the official number that will hit the tax line. You don't honestly think every MLB owner spends precisely up to the league's imposed penalty threshold every year.

I'm with you, but will believe it when I see it.

Something's gotta give, because the Red Sox offense could possibly need an entirely new heart of the order and have to replace three '22 All-Star batters. Posters could argue Boston was fourth in the AL in runs scored (behind three playoff teams), but if you dismiss just three games when they scored 49 -- two 16s vs. the White Sox in May, and a 17-spot vs. Baltimore in September -- the Sox were very league-average in tallies. How's that for cherry-picking? Could stolen bases help compensate for a depleted attack? Well... historically, the Cora boys -- Joey and Alex -- combined to swipe 164 bags. Meanwhile, the only guys we know right now who'll be in the '23 lineup are Story with 113 career steals and leadoff man? Kike... with 13.

Maybe some people are just too obsessed with Tampa. Face it, the Rays just have better prices, much more affordable for fans paying to attend games, and for the front office paying guys to play games. They even have better weather sometimes, and when there are hurricanes or high fly balls crushed by Devers, they have a dome to protect everyone. And please stop with the Chaim Bloom comps -- the only thing Tampa has in common with Boston is Christian Arroyo, who the Rays once stole from the Giants as part of a 4-for-1 trade for a third baseman under contract for market value. But the AL East really likes Arroyo.

Well, we may never again see the likes of Shaw or Moustakas platooning at second... guys that twist with their elegance and grace to turn two may no longer be in such demand in the bigs.

Kluber -- at his age and salary-level -- is exactly the type of pitcher that would appeal to Chaim Bloom. Remember, unless you're truly aiming for first place, modern mound plans are to assemble a clique de sore arms and hope your savvy veterans can give you five frames maybe half the time, and then patch in with bullpen match-ups in a slog towards a wild card. As for Correa, it's great he has no QO, but does anyone have any evidence from Bloom's entire tenure in Boston that he's on the verge of paying $35 million dollars a year for any ballplayer in the world? That would be bigger news than even the Padres trading their farm for Juan Soto. MLB offseason articles the past two years always listed the Red Sox as one of many teams "interested" in lots of big name free agents or available star players. Not this year; so far, the only good player Boston has been linked to is Bogaerts, and that just may be obligatory regency.

What are the chances Pressly would have developed into the force he is now if left to ferment in the Red Sox system the past decade? Impossible to know for sure, except what we know about Boston's recent history of championship-caliber pitchers: grim and unfun.

I approve of this plan in a reasonable wild card drive towards third place. As long as the pitching acquisitions are reasonable...

Cora has cred with the Nation since he is an actual baseball lifer, unlike Sam the company deflector. I'm with you on defense. It's not only going to matter more, it's also the easiest way for a bad team to change position players and become respectable. Don't give the other team extra outs, don't tax your pitching to make extra pitches... do keep your club in the game (despite your offense), do entertain your paying customers by making big league plays. My latest Bogey hope (that he resigns) is Cincy just acquired glove-first shortstop Kevin Newman, who a team looking for a place-holder might covet. Then again, his career K-rate is a very un-Red Sox-like 11.7%...

Hah -- the only fever I have about these two is to counter your Gallo-fervor of the past month. Do you really think I want to watch Cody Bellinger upper-cutting from his ankles to his helmet in a Red Sox uni for the next Trevor Story half-decade? Or are you just in your weekly find-a-post to argue mode? I want absolutely nothing to do with any big whiffers -- including Judge -- and am all about contact hitters who put the ball in play... even if it's a bunt between the plate and the mound with a ghost runner on second or better, third. I can't stand all-or-nothing baseball, and have been vocal (or at least bifocal) about it since Boston featured eight guys with 100 or more Ks in the Cashner crash of '19. And I'll argue all day that walks aren't as good as hits, and because of that, OPS is an overrated stat. When I see a guy like Devers hitting a liner off a pitch that bounces, that's the guy I want swinging as much as possible. ps. and you may have misread my post about signing someone cheap so they can resign Devers

Gallo's K-rate rounded to 40% last year. That's way worse than Duran, Franchy, Story, Dalbec and Shaw (but eegads, not Jeter). And Joey's was a large sample size. In 2021, Joey Gallo struck out 213 times -- one more than the immortal (though not necessarily immoral) Jack Glasscock did in 17 seasons. If signing Gallo allows the Red Sox to resign Devers, do you think Red Sox fans would approve? Would it depend upon whether Cora told them -- or Sam Kennedy?

... in your opinion. Mine is that Bellinger's wheels will make him a bigger impact player on a bad team with a depleted offense trying to manipulate the new rules that favor base-stealers.

... comes from a hockey family -- his brother coached the Mighty Ducks.

More likely Bloom targets: Cody Bellinger and Joey Gallo, both Gold Glove outfielders. Here are some 162-game averages from baseball-ref: Bellinger (6 years) -- 33 HR, 92 RBI, .248 BA, .332 OBP, .819 OPS, 150 Ks (23.2% K-rate) Gallo (8 years) -- 38 HR, 83 RBI, .199 BA, .325 OBP, .794 OPS, 226 Ks (37.3% K-rate) Both are coming off a couple serious down years, but Bellinger at 26 may be a better risk to rebound than Gallo, who turned 29 today. Bellinger is also a fast baserunner, with double figures in stolen bases in four seasons; Gallo doesn't run ever... this should be a factor with the new speed rules. That said, if Gallo costs $1 dollar less than Bellinger, who do you think Bloom signs?

Bleis and Perales signed when they were 16, Ravelo 17.

I also expect top prospects that were signed as teenagers to be in Boston in two or three years. For the best ones, as their bodies and minds continue to mature with experience, there will be no holding them back (bar injury or another pandemic). And I don't necessarily mean U.S. high schoolers liker Mayer and Yorke, who need the game reps, but internationals like Bleis, Ravelo, Perales, etc. These are guys whose entire job is baseball... Bogaerts and Devers made it to the majors when they were 20, called up by good teams. For bad teams, a youthful infusion can provide hope for the future for fans, and a less-than-pennant-race-stress transition.

It is my money department: weren't we all willing to pay $12 dollars for a can of beer and $50 bucks for parking to go watch Mookie in person? I'm not defending Betts, but if I went pro at a job done mostly at night and outside, and wanted to extend my career as much as possible (not to mention if I hailed from the South), I'd want to work in warmer climes than crappy-Spring New England. As for the fishbowl fandom of Red Sox Nation, that comes with the career that almost all these guys dreamt of as a kid. Boston isn't for everyone, though for some guys, there's nowhere better (and some don't realize it until they leave). For Mookie, already dabbling as a DJ and documentary producer, Hollywood is ok, too.

I never said that, but there's no point in arguing how good the Astros' bullpen is now, or that they are great in finding, signing and developing international starting pitchers, young star replacements like Tucker and Pena, and minor league trade targets like Yordan. The Red Sox need to do all those things to narrow the gap, but which area to improve upon is the quickest route to returning to respectability?

Don't get me started on football, where every single prediction is based entirely on what a team did just last week. And I disagree with how much the media emphasizes the thrill of victory, agony of defeat and how only titles can determine whether a team had a successful season. I can appreciate a good year for a player or team, and I'm not thoroughly disgusted and call the season a failure if my team doesn't win it all in the end. There's certainly less bitterness -- for this fan, anyway -- when a favorite finally wins a few rings after decades of coming up short.

Sports is all about cherry-picking -- fans don't care about chronology, because the media's only focus is on the end of seasons, and the pile-up celebration of the next champions, over and over again. So that great run in the postseason was made possible by a two-run homer by Devers in the last inning of the regular season. It doesn't negate any other game-winning hits by Raffy or teammates leading up to it, but it's still the most memorable... until the next one.

It may have seemed lucky the '21 Sox had to sweep last-place Washington the final three games to make the playoffs -- but even that was a struggle. The Nats were all done, but the Sox still had to pull the last two out in the 9th inning -- including one that Houck pitched a perfect game through five.

You Get What You Pay For doesn't always work with the relief specialist, which may be the most mercurial of positions. But the Astros are paying Pressly $14M, Montero $11.5M and Nerris $8M. And they're in the ALCS every year.

Manfred has the documents to verify, but he waved his hands to declassify them... now his office is busy recoloring the pinstripes to Cubs' blue or Rockies' purple.

He was also the first GM/CBO/GRS (Guy Running Show) in my over half-a-century as a fan to say, after trading his best player, "We're not going to be as good this year." It was his first months on the job. Has he ever been so admittedly transparent since?

Agreed. The first part of the plan might take the longest, while teams assess budgets and needs. The second half is on the clock, since there are only so many Rogers, Chafins and Fulmers left out there...