5GoldGlovesOF,75

The '15 Sox had a lot of jokers. A last place team doesn't always have an ace for obvious reasons; there aren't many '72 Steve Carltons, who led the majors in WAR on the last-place Phillies. But is it even debatable that most legit contenders that advance in the postseason ride aces to glory? As to the question if a club can have more than one ace, what about the '02 Red Sox, who had two 20-game winners but didn't even make the playoffs? Pedro led the league in ERA, Ks, WHIP and FIP... and yet, Derek Lowe led all AL pitchers in WAR.

Regarding aces, assigning numbers to starters in a rotation isn't really useless. Your #1 starter is the guy you want to start Game One in a postseason series -- not only to set the tone, but to make your best pitcher available to throw as many games as possible (like Games 1, 4 and 7, if necessary). Of course, increasingly multiple rounds of modern playoffs make it harder to line up aces in subsequent series.

Based on recent reports, the Red Sox and the industry may place Bleis' value a lot higher on this list. How much trade value does someone literally have who is deemed "untouchable"?

Alex Speier's report on Red Sox teenagers playing in the FCL was encouraging: "perhaps the best group to come through Fort Myers since a 2014 team that featured Rafael Devers..." Top takes: CF Miguel Bleis is described as a five-tool player by everyone -- a coach, a scout and a farm director. One called him "a righthanded version of Devers"... but 18, and already with back issues. RHP Luis Peralta, 19, has "electric stuff", throws 99 mph, and has been dominant. "The myth has become a reality," said the scout, of the pitcher signed at 16 out of Venezuela. IF Johnfrank Salazar, 19, can hit, play D, and is looked up to as a leader. Speier also mentioned this summer's draftees, with highest praise for Marcelo Mayer comp Mikey Romero, outfielder Roman Anthony, and 9th-rounder Brooks Brannon -- a power hitter who may actually stick at catcher.

By the end of June -- when the Red Sox were successful -- plenty of us knew (and posted) that reinforcements were needed to survive the upcoming brutal July schedule. It was clear there was no way they could wait until the last minutes of the trade deadline this year. Unfortunately for both fans and the big league players, the moves and non-moves made by Bloom told all of us how the front office felt about the 2022 Red Sox going forward.

Buchholz tried it in 2015, making "He's the ACE" t-shirts for everyone in the rotation... which included Porcello, Masterson, Miley and Joe Kelly (then a starter). The joke was that none of them was the ace. Fans weren't laughing when they came in last place. That winter, Dombrowski gave more money to Price than all five of them combined. Some of us still aren't laughing about that one, either.

Your point is valid, no denying it. Here's mine (which I didn't invent, since I wasn't around when baseball was created): batter squares around in the box, slides top hand to the barrel, and holds the bat over the plate, parallel to the Earth. No matter how fast a pitcher throws, he still has to throw strikes. And sometimes -- often, for our pathetic Red Sox -- all hitters have to do is put it in play...

My desire isn't so much to blame, but for things to change -- not just the CBO or manager or even the roster -- but an entire organizational approach. What I'm talking about is batters making contact. I know analytics shuns bunting, especially sacrifices, but other teams have gone old school since the creation of the ghost runner. Want to win in the 10th? Execute freaking fundamentals. And it's not even worth looking up team sacrifice totals... how about recruiting or better yet, training, batters to hit grounders to second base. Move the runner. Touch the ball. When your team can hit the '04 Red Sox, it's not so smart to give away free outs. But if your club is half-filled with minor league whiffers -- or even the 2019 Sox, who had eight guys with 100 or more Ks -- then you need to adjust to certain situations. There's a reason the '22 Red Sox are so horrendous in extra innings -- in the standings and just to watch -- and it's not all because of the bullpen.

Trade for Steven Kwan to play outfield and Luis Arraez to play first -- two guys who actually have more walks than strikeouts. In last night's loss, the Red Sox were 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position. Was that three hits -- or three times they actually made contact with the baseball?!@#$%^&&*()_+

What are you talking about -- he just made the club for '23! Crawford is only following directions from the PFP chapter of the Red Sox handbook: on swinging bunts, make sure the baserunner is five feet from first, and then heave the ball into New Hampshire.

When a team stinks, it's one thing for some fans to patiently watch young guys develop and show hope for the future. But expecting us to hang around waiting for broken-down veterans to somehow make comebacks -- and be good again -- is like bald men (like me) wishing for our hair to grow back. Earlier today there were some posts about trading prospects for young, top-of-the-rotation starters. Sounds good, but remember: in early days of the Henry ownership, the Red Sox targeted pitchers with two specific accomplishments -- 1). they proved they could beat the Yankees (who were always great, and not just hot for half a season), and 2) they not only won World Series rings, but were WS MVPS... kudos to Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett.

Is it fair to say a lot of us are indirectly frustrated with Henry for hiring Bloom in the first place, specifically to trade the best player developed by Boston in our lifetimes (whether Mookie wanted to stay or leave). And some of us are not convinced Henry will ever resume spending again like his old days, when the Sox were desperate to finally beat the Yankees (forum word police: spare us the payroll ranking that still includes dead money pre-Bloom). Just because ownership once spent big -- or even reset before reopening the coffers -- doesn't guarantee it will happen again. Those earlier lulls didn't include dealing or not re-signing their top homegrown players... Some fans may not loathe Bloom as much as what he represents: Henry's dream GM, the type he's coveted since Billy Beane changed his mind a decade ago... (for evidence, re-read or re-watch Moneyball; the John Henry scene really is what this is all about).

That's how I read your first post -- like signing Story for half of what Bogaerts will cost (someone).

I appreciate the idea of trading prospects for a top of the rotation ace, but I'm can't package the Red Sox' best four position players: Mayer, Yorke, Rafaela and Bleis (who is worth at least as much as Yorke and Rafaela, not half as much like on BTV)... I'm not counting Casas, because in my opinion he's already the starting first baseman for '23. That's a Soto-type package, and Alcantara isn't on the same Hall of Fame track; not yet, anyway. There aren't any young pitchers with 22 WAR in five years through age 23, like Soto. The only one under-30 is Aaron Nola, and he's already 29. The closest to a younger guy in his prime is Shane Bieber: 14.1 WAR through age 27. For someone like him, I can part with either Mayer or Bleis... but not both.

I agree with Bell and Moon that Bloom will be back. I also agree with Red that most Red Sox fans who don't sing "so good" don't want him back. But Bloom is doing what he was hired for, or he'd already be gone (remember, when Henry got sick of losing, he didn't even wait until for the final month of another last-place season before hiring Dombrowski in '15). If the Sox suck again in '23, the first axe will fall on Cora -- no matter how tepid Bloom's additions are in the offseason. The new manager, billed as a guy to turn things around, will really be brought on board to oversee the rebuild and spout company cliches. But if there's no winning record by mid-season 2024, both Bloom and all his men will probably be fired, dumped or DFAed. Devers is the key, one way or the other. If the Sox do decide to pay him, the pressure is on Bloom to build around that investment with talent and win asap. If Dever is dealt in a blockbuster, the return will have to yield one or two players who will develop into stars -- not just big leaguers -- in a year or two... or else.

Hill says he only wants to pitch in the second half in 2023, spending the first half with his family and working out so he can eventually help a contender at age 43. In more ways than one, that should count as a disqualifying offer for the Red Sox...

Report from Portland, 8/24/22: The Sea Dogs got crushed by the Yard Goats, but shortstop Christian Koss shined in defeat. Batting clean-up, Koss had three hits and drove in two runs, but impressed most in the last inning, with a head-first hustle double on a liner over second. Note to all Renfroe trade haters -- hopefully, by now, after the Sox cut Bradley, you understand that JBJ was only included in the deal so Bloom could receive two actual prospects from the Brewers. Last night I saw them in person. David Hamilton, the Sea Dogs' starting second baseman, led off, singled, walked and scored twice, and stole two more bags - second and third easily; he now has 56 stolen bases in 100 games this year. Alex Binelas, the Sea Dogs' starting third baseman, launched the most awe-inspiring home run (we've seen live in five pro ballparks this summer): a rising rocket to right-center that left the premises in a heartbeat, a reported 420 feet missile... to anyone who's ever been to Portland, 20 more feet to the left and the ball would've killed the big dumb blue bug that sits atop the roof of Hadlock Field. I'm not saying either of these guys are locks to make the majors, but each has one bonafide skill that can help a big league club... Unfortunately, Boston doesn't appear to have anyone in Double A that is can't-miss like Rockies' outfielder Zac Veen or even shortstop Julio Carreras, who both just got promoted from A ball, had three hits each and flew around the bases. Veen is tall, skinny, and loving life as a pro at age 20 -- every time he took another extra base (twice on line doubles, once on a steal), he jumped up, whooped and smiled at his coach and the crowd. Before the game, Veen posed with fans for pics and even thanked the kids that asked him for autographs. He was the first high schooler picked in the 2020 draft, 9th overall... which should give some hope to Sox fans already looking ahead to the '23 draft.

Bloom has made some decent moves and some indecent ones. But it's not like he's signed Luis Tiant or Big Papi after they were cut by other teams... yet. If you think of it, most GMs are remembered by the big name players they acquire or deal, and whether those transactions lead to winning or losing (few are credited for or blamed for who they draft). Lou Gorman traded Jeff Bagwell. Duquette traded for Varitek, Lowe, Pedro, and signed Manny. Epstein signed Papi, Foulke, Drew, DiceK, Crawford and Lackey, traded for Schilling, traded away Nomar. Someone swapped Hanley for Beckett and Lowell. Cherington dealt Gonzo, then dumped him, along with Crawford and Beckett, then signed a bunch of good guys and one great one, Koji... then inked Panda, Rusney, and Hanley to play LF. Dombrowski signed JD and Price, traded for Kimbrel, Sale, Eovaldi, Pearce. Bloom traded Mookie, signed Story... so far. Maybe Whitlock develops into an All-Star something. Maybe Bloom locks up Wacha, who becomes this century's El Tiante.

Your conjecture is plausible, but to many fans the Arroyo failure in RF was just another loose brick in the crumbling wall. Miked up on ESPN the other night, he even said trying to learn how to play right field in big league games was harder than he thought. Gone are the days when most ballplayers reach the Show only after mastering certain skills at a top level. When Fred Lynn won AL MVP as the Rookie of the Year in 1975, he credited his fundamentals to USC, where he virtually majored in professional baseball under legendary Coach Rod Dedeaux.

Hey, Chris, instead of throwing six or seven innings once a week, can you give us just three... maybe four... but every other day? You'll still make $32 mil per, and we'll even furnish the bullpen with weekly supplies of yellow city jerseys and machetes for you to loosen up with, plus a tricycle and boxes of old ipads and flip phones to ride over. Someone on eBay already donated an old El Guapo arm sleeve to slip over your torso to keep your ribs intact...

I've been on board with the idea of Sale closing -- and becoming a force like Eck or Smoltz -- since he forced Machado to take a (his own) knee. It just made sense to allow a guy who was already breaking down at the end of every season to continue to dominate in a Mariano amount of frames, instead of pedal-to-the-mettle Sale totals. This, of course, was all before he became the Red Sox' notorious Panda Rusney Crawdad of the mound...

The most common line I read from fans and reporters is that "he makes too much money to close." I guess a business plan combining budget and analytics would want to justify the team's biggest pitching investment by covering the most possible innings (and ideally outs) -- and thus, keeping him in the rotation. For the same reason, we should expect they'd want to convert young Whitlock back to starting. But all of us experts know -- or have at least discussed -- the merits of locking down winnable games in the closing innings. Is there really a fine line between securing wins, and the subsequent profits of having a winning record? Did it pay off for the A's when Eckersly morphed into the first lights-out, 9th-inning only HOF finisher??? Maybe Oakland's attendance in the 90s is a bad example as a gauge, but the move certainly paid off in the standings...

But the fact that balls aren't leaving the yard has been one of the many contributing factors for Boston's mediocrity. Maybe the HR slumpage is just an outlier, happening for everyone the same season, and all these guys will add another 10 feet next year to overcome this contagious warning track power. At the beginning of the season, we suspected diminishing distances on MLB rumored dead balls, but it hasn't affected clubs like the Yankees. Lately, they're all-or-nothing offense has exposed the greatest team in the history of the first half of this year, and bodes badly; in this century, only one AL team below the league average in team hits has won the World Series -- the '05 White Sox.

The utter lack of longball and mound durability were huge deficits in '22. The '21 Sox had six 20-plus homer hitters (Bogey, JD, Kike, Dalbec, Renfroe and Raffy) and only Devers has repeated -- and even his production is down from last year. Losing all that power, along with the boost of Schwarber, the NL's HR leader, crushed run production. Eovaldi has only made 18 starts -- and that's tied for second with Hill behind Pivetta's team-high 25. For perspective, Houston has five starters with more than 18 starts, while Cleveland and New York have four guys with at least 21. Last year's Sox had five pitchers make 22 or more starts, three with at least 30. There may be a month to go, but we all know the only lock to take a regular turn will still be Pivetta... all of which has led to bullpen burnout -- and revealed faulty planning from management and the front office for insufficient depth.

Observations from Worcester last night: Casas is a hitter. He doesn't swing out of his shoes, but has a controlled line drive approach. He pulled a line single, then lined another over the shortstop off Cade Cavalli, a Washington starter also on the doorstep of the Show. Wong looks about ready to make a big league roster as a back-up. He drilled a long gapper off the fence and made two great throws to pick off baserunners. Valdez pulls his head and tries to go yard on every swing; he never cut down his swing behind in the count and Ked three times. He did pull one foul that completely left the ballpark and looked destined for an apartment building across the street. On D at second base, though, he looked way better than initial reports: totally competent, accurate arm, turned a quick DP. Fitzgerald is a fan favorite and a good guy. He signed one ball through the net for my son, and then after an inning, tossed the ball from the last out to him. The initial throw didn't make it over the high net, but Fitzy took the time to grab the rebound and again target my son standing in the aisle. Franchy is Franchy, still carrying himself like a major leaguer, still hesitant in the outfield and taking half swings on pitches that fool him. So they call him up again...