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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. The more I mull -- if the Sox were a true contender, then acquiring a true closer would be a priority. Building from the back forward isn't reverse engineering in modern hardball, as evidenced by the bullpens that won rings in Houston and Atlanta the past two years. But in Kike Hernandez' world, being way better next season doesn't necessarily mean Boston has to find a specific reliever who can retire Yordan Alvarez in November. The Sox have a few candidates coming off surgeries who might close. Meanwhile, one way back to respectability isn't to blow big bucks on a single guy like Diaz, but to spread investments into stockpiling good arms for legitimate depth. Let's start with Montero and Eflin from the World Series teams...
  2. Minion poster: "Bello!"
  3. What - no faith in Bloom to swing a six-way trade for an ace starter, a closer, a clean-up man, and a leadoff hitter?
  4. Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream...
  5. I have hope for Valdez just because he's from the Houston system. Have announcers mentioned the Astros are also doing just fine without Brantley, their best hitter the past three years? Or that not only have they been ok in centerfield since Springer left, but that a guy like McCormick allowed them to trade Straw and Siri (a guy who'd look like a star in Boston or NY)...
  6. A lot of posters here would agree a deep farm yields both core players and prospect capital to trade for MLB areas of need; which, for the Red Sox rings, was usually pitching. But free agents have a long history of putting teams over the top, whether you call them key or prime, or just Howie Kendrick, the 2019 World Series MVP. Pre-free agency trivia (from an old Baseball Digest, circa 1968): the '67 Impossible Dream Red Sox won the AL pennant with 17 homegrown players on their 25-man roster. They actually did add a free agent that season -- Ken Harrelson -- signed after being released by the A's for bad-mouthing owner Charlie Finely. The Hawk was recruited down the stretch to replace injured slugger Tony Conigliaro, beaned out of the season in mid-August. Unfortunately, Harrelson didn't approximate Tony C's All-Star bat in '67. But the Hawk led the bigs in RBI in '68 and finished third in AL MVP voting.
  7. Both Bloom and Scott Boras, Bogey's agent, like to wait until the last possible minute before making deals -- mulling every last offer and/or squeezing every last penny. But Chaim Bloom simply cannot wait until just before Spring Training to make serious moves and invest serious resources. Not this winter. The Xander situation must be resolved, one way or the other, ASAP. Correa is another Boras' client, but we already know he's leaving $35M AAV (for each of two more years) in Minnesota. Does anyone really think he and his agent aren't confident he'll get the same rate at more years somewhere else? What makes more sense for Boston: keeping X and Devers for close to $400 million... or paying Correa 6 for $210 and swapping Raffy for a good young pitcher?
  8. It does seem like a potential double standard for him, since he stated he's dug in at short in Boston... but may have to change his tune in negotiations with another club willing to give him his proper respect...
  9. If that happens I predict there will also be a new third baseman in Boston. The Sox won't pay both Correa and Devers, who will also fetch the best trade return of any Sox MLBer this winter. Plus, Correa may be amenable to moving positions eventually, as he already played third for Cora in international ball in the past ; this will make for smoother transitions in the future.
  10. Spotrac's market value for free agent pitchers, with approx AAV: Verlander and deGrom, $41M; Rodon and Kershaw @ $31M Nola @ $26M, Bassitt @ $21M; Eovaldi @ $16M, Thor @ $15M Taillon and Walker $14M, Tyler Anderson @ $13M; Manaea and Wacha $12M, Heaney @ $11M Which guys -- if any -- make sense for Bloom? The Sox really need an ace, but age and health issues make one Verlander or one deGrom less sensible than a trio of Anderson, Manaea and Wacha...
  11. I have no reason not to think he's gone, no matter what Bloom said the day after the season. Even if in the past month the Red Sox already made a fair offer to extend Bogey, the fact there's no news can only mean that he (and his agent) are intent on testing the market.
  12. Right. And while the timing of injuries may be unpredictable, some are more inevitable, especially considering the age and history of individuals. Franchises with foresight and the resources to stockpile sufficient depth are better prepared than those that wait until the last minute at the trade deadline... and then change direction in the final 30 seconds.
  13. But what was so predictable in '22 was at the end of a great June, with a killer sked coming in July... the Sox needed major league reinforcements -- not minor league prayers -- a month before the deadline. And this isn't hindsight, because we all read the schedule at the time and knew what was coming.
  14. Only if they modify it with a seatbelt to keep him from falling... for when he gets mad and rips the monitor off the handle bars.
  15. Is biking safer in the countryside? Or do city bikers have to weave to avoid timber rattlesnakes, chupacabras and natural selection deniers?
  16. But is it really cheating (on a spouse, girlfriend, significant, etc) being with a business woman, whose very business is to be with a business man who can afford her, technically speaking...
  17. Once all those guys are history, I got your consistency right here... in the cellar. I was going to say finished basement, but Bloom's was unfinished this season. Remember he told us he was going to install a woodstove, and drilled the hole for the stovepipe, but it never came. Sam Kennedy had to ducktape it, but is still telling us they have every intention of staying warm this winter. (I still got two months of '22 to go, right Bellhorn?)
  18. I agree with every point in this post. The extreme and blatant part is really what bothered opponents. It has always been my opinion that the MLB didn't discipline any players because they were only doing what many, many others on every team have always been trying to do since organized baseball began. Manfred had to suspend a few in management to save face in the public eye, gestures for the sake of fans and media who never played the game much past the Little League level. No ballplayers have ever been suspended for stealing bases, either.
  19. You can't keep Sale's seat warm or he could burn a glute and miss another entire season.
  20. They won, so the league made an example of only them, and not the many other clubs trying similar schemes (including the flagship franchise occupying the same city as the MLB offices). The Astros also admitted to having an entire front office department dedicated to their system before they hired their new bench coach to apply it.
  21. Just with fans who don't even realize there are only five players left from that infamous club. They're the same fans who also don't understand that what the Phillies discerned vs. McCullers is part of the same culture of baseball since it was invented. Paying attention to details.
  22. Be wary of an old guy out of the loop for very long. When he tries to come back, it may feel like someone vying for a comeback...
  23. Here is my thought when I first read Hill's idea to stay home with his family and work out on his own in preparation for a '23 second-half: Good luck, Rich, nice knowing ya. Red Sox fans have had enough of waiting for pitchers to join the club midseason... and hearing management insist, He'll be better than a trade deadline addition! Plus, if Hill does get his way, wouldn't he want to join a contender with a last shot a ring? He's not turning 30-something soon.
  24. Sure is: movement, location, deceptive delivery, etc. The Astros R & D departments might not employ all geniuses, but you can't say they're all lucky, either.
  25. Astros complete shutdown of Philly after a five-homer barrage the night before was painful to watch for both Yankees and Red Sox fans. Javier and Co. combined for a second no-hitter this year, while the Houston staff repeated what it did in the '21 ALCS, when it silenced Boston's grand slammers for good. The worst news for the Sox is that the best offseason acquisition is already gone: Oz Ocampo has been signed by the Marlins... Ocampo was the Astros' exec responsible for international signings of pitchers Javier, Framber Valdez, Garcia, and Urquidy, among others. I would say Bloom blew it by missing out on Ocampo, except it probably didn't "make sense" for the budget...
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