5GoldGlovesOF,75

No way. Unless you mean maybe 140Ks (the all-time record for most strikeouts in a season is 223)... This past season, 46 players had OBP of at least .340, with about a dozen over 140Ks. Here's one that had a .341 OBP, 60 XBH and 145 Ks... and he drove a lot of Red Sox fans crazy, with what looked like a mediocre year at the plate -- JD Martinez. We know it was just mediocre for him, but do we want him back?

I care about Ks -- I can't stand them as a fan, and as a student of the game. And as far as OBP, a walk is just not as good as a hit. A walk can't advance another baserunner more than one bag, but a single can move a guy two bases or even score him from first (if he's fast and running on the pitch). All or nothing offenses are also boring, and bad bets to go deep in October against quality pitching. This final ALDS is quite the contrast on both extremes, with Cleveland contact vs. an opponent which can't muster a hit unless it goes over the fence.

What were they thinking, letting him face the top of the order a third time! If you overlay a bar graph on Snell's smile, all his teeth trend toward taking a bite out of a Philly cheesesteak.

How could you possibly hold any future Red Sox discussion by ignoring Enmanuel Valdez, the Mexican Home Run Derby champion? Valdez just set the all-time points record for HRs in Mexico City, leading the Sox to victory over the Yankees, Dodgers and Cubs. Of course, where would Boston be without Jocelyn Alo -- she of the 400-plus tape measure blasts?!?! Red Sox win Home Run Derby X grand final in Mexico City WWW.MLB.COM MEXICO CITY -- They traveled the world, crisscrossing the globe to spread a brand new game of baseball to fans new and old. There was music, there was food, and there were so many home runs. On Saturday at Mexico City's legendary Campo Marte, the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, and

The writer isn't saying LA's regular seasons are failures, but is questioning following rigid blueprints in the postseason, when situations continually change and often require modifications. Sometimes, those involve not making changes. Every time a new reliever enters the game there is a chance the new guy won't have it that night. That's what makes the Astros-Ms 18-inning game so amazing: 17 pitchers, and none of them choked -- only four BBs in the entire "doubleheader," including two by starter McCullers... one walk by Seattle pitchers in 18 innings.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hern-ndez-blame-andrew-friedmans-064220812.html Interesting take from the LA Times. Choice quotes: "What the Dodgers are doing with their pitching isn’t working. Any review of the Dodgers’ failure starts with the organization’s overarching philosophy implemented by Friedman that devalues starting pitching and calls for the use of an assembly line of relievers. This is an industry-wide trend, and it works — to a degree. The Dodgers have taken this concept to an extreme, as their management apparatus has demonstrated an inclination to stick with their pregame script rather than allow a starter who is performing well to pitch an extra inning or two. They can’t continue scripting pitching matchups for entire games. They can’t remove a starter when he's pitching well just because they decided to do so beforehand." From this perspective on the postseason, those that hope Bloom can be a future Friedman might rethink the hope...

Sox can use an outfielder like the 20-20 Beni at the beginning of his career... but the '22 version only had a slugging percentage of .399, which is just below Steven Kwan's .400 and Verdugo's .405. Part of the problem in Boston is that they need more outfield production than the average Verdugo type.

For the discussion about outfielders potentially available to join new clubs, the following data includes players in a minimum of 100 big league games who played outfield in 2022.: Judge, Alvarez, Soto, Donovan, McNeil, Benintendi, Kwan, Trout, Moore, Canha/Nimmo (tied for 10th at .367).

I'm all out on Gallo: 1,465 combined strikeouts and walks in 2,811 career plate appearances means in over half his times up he hasn't even touched the ball. That's not going to help the AL's most losingest team in extra innings -- you know, the one absolutely petrified with disturbing the ghost runner on second.

St. Louis has too many young hitters; perhaps they can be persuaded to shed some for young pitching... Houck, Gonzalez and Duran for Lars Nootbar, good RF with some pop and a .340 OBP. However, Bloom may prefer the more versatile Brendan Donovan, who plays infield and outfield; his .394 OBP was fourth in the big leagues, behind Judge, Yordan and Soto. But if the Cards insist on Donovan instead of Nootbar, the Sox must demand they throw in Juan ("Gone") Yepez...

I like his righty power better at Fenway than Nimmo's lefty stick. The latter's D has improved (still a career negative dWAR), and Haniger is a good rightfielder. If Bogey leaves, I'd sign them both, for CF and RF... Spotrac lists their combined AAV under the $30M that Bogey wants.

WAR is incomplete for pitchers because it doesn't track those who can actually throw to a base and those who can't... (every Red Sox pitcher is a POW).

Bogey, Haniger, a real MLB closer and an ace pitcher. Boston has to get a top starter asap, whether they're going for it or not. Luis Castillo cost Seattle a ton of prospects, but they signed him longterm, and now have a legit starting rotation locked in for the next five years of contention. The Ms could afford to lose a few minor leaguers, because they already have youthful future stars in the line-up. Castillo threw 76 pitches yesterday 97 mph or harder, more than any pitcher has thrown in an outing since pitch-tracking began in 2008.

Top WAR Integration Era 1947-2022 (bb-ref; rounded off) 1. Bonds 163 2. Mays 156 3. Aaron 143 4. ARod 118 5. Henderson 111 6. Mantle 110 7. F.Robinson 107 8. Schmidt 107 9. Pujols 102 10. Morgan 100 11. Yaz 97 12. Mathews 96 (most underrated HOFer?) 13. Ripken 96 14. Musial 95... (The Man could play in any era) 15. Clemente 28. Williams 77 (him, too... and we know he'd be close to the Top 10 if he didn't serve a second time in the military)

Even a Blind Chicken Finds a Kernel of Corn Now and Then

I have had the same thought. Trades often involve positions of depth. I'd also keep Rafaela because he's already the system's best defensive player. Maybe he won't have a repeat Mookie extra base hit season, but good defense doesn't go into slumps (and having solid D is the quickest way for pro teams to regain respectability). I also think he'll be in Boston sooner than most predict, depending on how much infield Kike has to play.

It all depends on one's definition of "worth it." If you asked a hundred Red Sox fans at the end of the '21 regular season if they thought signing Kike Hernandez for $14 million after he hit .250 was worth it, what do you think the majority would say? What if you asked them after the postseason, when he hit .408 with four doubles, one triple and five homers in 11 games?

29 of 30 teams that don't win the final game of the World Series could say their season was all for naught. But for fans of clubs who go deep in October, I'll bet they enjoyed the ride. Red Sox fans did last year and didn't even get out of the AL. As for the payroll, forget the dead money owed Price and any others (I won't even count Sale, with his whopping 5.2 IP), but how much did Bloom pay out for actual new player additions -- Wacha, Hill, Diekman, Paxton's gym shorts, etc? That to me, is the accurate guage of whether a franchise is sincere: how much are they spending that year and on whom? And the luxury tax can't be an excuse this season, since they went over and chose to stay over.

I'm in between, but as stated plenty of times they have to start investing in star players again (and that could include extending their own). Even if they think Bello can develop into a #1 or #2, they can't wait around for a few years without acquiring an established ace to transition back to respectability. And at trade deadlines, if the team is winning and in contention for a postseason, it should deal for quality to improve areas of need. MLB clubs are in the business of entertainment, and owe it to customers and employees to provide the best product -- and not take for granted they'll have a shot every year (or a better one, next year). The end of last June was the worst front office inaction -- coming off a winning month, we all could read the upcoming schedule for July. Bloom interns will blame it on injuries, but before the ILs we all saw that the Sox had blatant roster holes to fill. Unfortunately, instead of acquiring actual big leaguers, they chose to rely on obviously inferior minor leaguers. That turned off a lot of viewers and TV sets.

Having five or six big leaguers in the starting pitchers will stabilize the club, but the Red Sox nor anyone will actually contend for a ring unless they have a #1 and usually a #2 at the top of the rotation. And it doesn't matter if the roster is a last-place group, the change has to begin with an ace. You fill in other needs and positions around your pitching staff. There's nothing wrong with adding a stud pitcher asap, whether it's Rodon this winter, Gausman last winter or whoever becomes available. All the playoff teams continually add quality pitching; even the Braves with their wealth of young homegrown starters signed Charlie Morton for depth.

So who is the coveted free agent for 2024 that will make it time to go for it -- Josh Hader?

Better get used to Kike; he may be the shortstop in 2023.

Bloom and Co. are backed into a corner -- the one where the cellar door leads into the garage, and off into the sunset. The mouthpieces have told the Nation they're going to spend and be way better in 2023. A bunch of Garrett Richards guys or even veteran comebackers like Wacha and Hill just aren't going to do it this winter.

Agreed, and even though a 5-year contract for a pitcher usually ends up as an albatross, let's face it: there's no way the Sox are going to get an ace to sign in Boston unless they offer the same years or more from other contenders. Let the trades begin. One issue: Bloom's history is he takes forever to swing a swap, but maybe it's time to identify targets and get them, before someone else does.

Just a phrase; what it really means for Judge to play for the enemy is that the Yankees would no longer have him on their side. That would weaken New York considerably, but Boston would also have to anticipate a slip in production since he'd no longer get to feast off Red Sox meatballers. In regards to the former: back when Steinbrenner signed Luis Tiant, even with his career winding down, there was definitely a demoralizing effect in the Sox' clubhouse and throughout the Nation. I'd still rather Bloom spend on Rodon, Diaz and Haniger on 5-year deals.