5GoldGlovesOF,75

This poster sucked. No matter how many free agents I suggested, or trades I proposed, the only guy Bloom eventually added from my lists was Tommy Pham. And I whiffed on that one; Pham's 28.5% K-rate with Boston was higher than Trevor Story's. I like Verdugo, because he has fun when succeeding, and shows visible anger when failing. It's easy for fans to root for a player who looks like he cares as much as those watching him. I also agree with those who said Verdugo's best as a complementary piece. Maybe on a better team he'll have better focus on making better decisions on the bases and where to throw the ball from the outfield... maybe that future club will be the Red Sox.

Barzini's dead. So is Philip Tattaglia. Moe Greene, Strachi - Cuneo. Today we settle all family business…

It pretty much sums up Verdugo -- he's always seems almost good. The preceding comment comes via a poster whose ex once called him almost good-looking.

"Devers could easily be MVP caliber for the next 10 years, or just a few years and fall off a cliff. But that's kind of the reality of every good player, what they do in their 30's defines their career. It can be the difference between Nomar or Jeter." Really good point. But one thing Jeter did in his 30s is play on the same team as Mariano Rivera. It's also luck (or skill on the part of management) to stay surrounded by good teammates. This is something the Angels have always struggled to with in the Mike Trout years. Recruiting Rendon, alone, would never be enough support -- and we're seeing, not even Ohtani can help them make the postseason. But they're trying; remember the draft a few years ago when they selected pitchers with every single pick in the first 12 rounds?

I'm glad you said Sox and didn't assign blame to one GM, CBO, analytics analyst or owner. Way too much time is spend arguing which way to point fingers, when we all know the woes are organizational failures by many overlapping employees and departments. So what if the Red Sox have the MLB's number 5 payroll -- they need to invest it better so they won't be number 5 in the AL East. Bogaerts, unfortunately, is one of those guys in his 30s who may soon be paid for his past. And yet, whatever he signs for will literally just be his current market value.

lamo is a Spanish word scramble for "bad."

Judge just had one of the greatest seasons of all time. But what's going to be the reaction if the Yankees don't win it all? Will Yankee fans gripe that the season was a failure... because they weren't the one team out of 30 to win the very last game of the year?

It's never a waste for fans to get to watch and root for star players on their favorite team. It wasn't a waste for LA to trade three inferior players for a generational talent -- even five years of Verdugo for 12 years of Betts -- because for those convinced Betts never would've signed in Boston, there are also those convinced the Dodgers made the deal with every intention of keeping him longterm (though nobody who isn't related to Mookie or employed by the clubs knows anything for certain). Except for posters who use this forum to get off by ripping other posters' opinions, few baseball fans care how many years of control their teams have on individual players. The only thing fans really have control of are their remotes, which they use to change the channel when what they're watching becomes irrelevant.

2024 MLB Player Hitting Stat Leaders | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM The official source for player hitting stats, MLB home run leaders, batting average, OPS and stat leaders (logo in the top left corner has been the official insignia of the Major Leagues since 1969; some say it was designed after the likeness of Harmon Killebrew -- or the dislikeness, if you're an opposing pitcher)

Not all postseason moments are the same, but all are different than the regular season -- otherwise, the big leagues wouldn't keep separate statistics for each. And that reason can't be just because of counting stats, because batting averages, OPS and ERA are based on percentages. In the playoffs, you're facing the best teams, hitters, pitchers, and fielders -- but if that's not always true in the Wild Card Era, then at least each postseason series confronts ballplayers with the do-or-die pressures of elimination, with the season on the line. If you combined career postseason and regular season stats, certain great players would definitely rise above other really good players who for some reason performed at lesser levels (injuries, sweaty palms, coin flip distractions -- who knows!).

Betts -- also a Hall of Famer on the bases, scoring runs, playing defense Verdugo -- kinda of kookie sometimes

He'll get value, but don't look for equal value.Maybe that's because, in this century, Devers is unequaled in... XBH in 700 at bats or less through age 25 1 Rafael Devers 333 2 Mookie Betts 320 3 Grady Sizemore 314 4 Prince Fielder 307 5 Hanley Ramírez 295

While we're at it, let's ask Joe Torre how he could have the nerve to bat ARod, the AL MVP, eighth in his batting order in the '06 postseason. What does a guy like Torre know -- he was only an MVP himself in the majors, and a Hall of Fame manager.

All I'll say on this is ask teammates of say, ARod or George Brett if they ever considered their postseason games as "random."

There are plenty of ways to argue for or against the concept of "clutch." People who crunch numbers can offer quantitative data to show that good players are usually good, while bad guys are pretty much lousy. People who play the game, at various levels for most of their lives, can offer qualitative data to swear that certain good players are better than other good players in the biggest moments. Here is the list of big leaguers with at least 194 postseason PA in the divisional era. Note there's only one Hall of Famer -- Big Papi -- but a lot of future or borderline HOFers. 1 Carlos Beltrán 1.021 2 Albert Pujols 1.007 3 Nelson Cruz .979 4 Lance Berkman .949 5 David Ortiz .947 6 Manny Ramírez .937 7 Barry Bonds .936 8 Hideki Matsui .933 9 David Freese .919 10 Fred McGriff .917 11 Steve Garvey .910 12 Jose Altuve .907 13 Kiké Hernández .900

I have an eight-track of Seger's Against the Wind. I think it was before he signed for over $300 million with Texas.

When making comps, it is interesting to look at salaries. For instance, consider Marte and Canha, compared to Kike Hernandez. Marte, age 33, will make over $20 million for each of the next three years. Marte's 162-game averages: 98 runs scored, 18 HRs, .290 batting average, .798 OPS. Canha, age 33, will make $11.5 mil for the next two years. Canha's 162: 86 runs, 21 HRs, .248 BA, .773 OPS. Kike, age 30, will make $10 mil next year. Kike's 162: 68 runs, 17 HRs, .240 BA, .732 OPS, good OF and IF defense. Get what you pay for? In the postseason, Marte: 9 G, .167, .536. Canha 9 G, .138, .454. Kike: 69 G, .269, .900.

I'll reply to you, since you posted an idea about actually going forward, instead of trying to justify mistakes Bloom is universally panned here and elsewhere (all season long, in the case of Renfroe -- who I don't even like because of his shaky D and all-or-nothing swing): The Sox definitely need a starting outfielder who can both catch the ball and hit the ball. Besides the mound, the outfield is the most obvious spot on the field where they need an upgrade right now; though other moves may soon dictate priorities. Nimmo is certainly an option, and the Mets just spent big on outfielders Marte and Canha last winter. No offense, but equating a combo of players added and/or lost at various positions is futile to me. They're all part of the same budget, and I can't begin to guess if the money saved on Price, for example, in 2020 went to another pitcher, several scrap heap arms, part of Kevin Pillar's contract or a combination of season ticket promotional brochures and office stationary.

Nope. Story only hit about half as many home runs (16 to '21 Renfroe's 31), but if you want to blame that on games missed via injury, then there's bats missed via K: Trevor whiffed in 30.8% of his ABs; '21 Hunter fanned 22.7%. And nothing against citing production from combinations of positions, but then no one replaced the middle-order presence of '21's second-half difference-maker, Kyle Schwarber. If Bloom can be excused for not anticipating power regression from the Sox' remaining All-Stars, plus Kike (injury?), and Dalbec (sophomore jinx), then he can't be for letting go of Renfroe and Schwarbs... who have 72 HRs combined (that's more than the greatest Yankee in the history of this year!).

This is where I'm at, except I'll go Moon and call it significantly improve the pitching staff. And to keep it in generalizations, the Red Sox' biggest needs are then: 1. Pitcher 2. Pitcher 3. Pitcher 4. Hitter (to replace Renfroe's bat in '22, which they never did) 5. Hitter (to replace JD's bat) and if Bogaerts leaves... 6. Fielder (to replace his SS glove) #1-3 are the bare minimum for improvement; either, three durable starters or two starters and a legitimate closer.

The Sox once had Frankie Rodriguez and Trey Ball, who both wanted to pitch and hit. I don't know what those guys were thinking. Imagine a big leaguer starting on the mound one day, and then DHing or even playing a position on the other days... Maybe Bloom means they'll activate old timers to wear a uni, down a beer, and climb out of the stands to throw one inning like the Bananas did with Bill Lee. Koji, come on down. Foulkie, you're next. Paps? Zoom for you!

This is why Bloom needs, at least, to make a better investment in bullpen depth... whether it's spending on free agents, trading prospects for relievers or more likely -- converting promising young arms into relief roles. I might be wrong, but the latter may be what Chaim meant when he mentioned to Pete A. "contributions from unexpected places and contributions from within." Imagine having half a dozen Frank Germans on the Wooster bus, dropping in and out of Fenway, depending on the weekly bullpen burnout of modern starters not going 5 frames. And isn't having a revolving door of no-name arms that throw in the high-90s a trademark of at least one sustained contender in the AL East (actually the AL far southEast)...

I'm not Moon, but have a follow-up question: let's assume 30-year old Judge and 26-year old Devers each get 10-year megacontracts this winter; which one will produce a higher WAR for the next decade? Before you answer, consider which one will miss the most games with injuries...

Reading between some lines from Pete Abraham's "conversation with Chaim Bloom..." Bloom: “Not every problem is solved by writing a check or making a trade. A lot of it comes from within." Poster: talksox is fully prepared to pine for free agents, concoct deals on Baseball Trade Values, and see none of those proposals actually occur. But if Seabold and Winckowski make the 2023 starting rotation... Bloom: "Because of having the flexibility that we have financially, we may be able to use that in certain ways to help our bullpen." Poster: Can one of those "certain ways" please involve spending on good relievers once or twice? Comment on another forum said Cora and Bloom both want a dollar, but Cora wants it in quarters, while Bloom wants 100 pennies. No one complained about nickels and dimes. Bloom (when asked if the offseason hinges on Bogaerts and Devers): “Certainly the perception will be that. Emotionally we’re going to feel that for sure." Poster: Bye-bye Bogey. Too many people discussing X this week are using derivatives of the word emotion -- as in sad emotions. Not one is saying get ready to celebrate. Bloom: "I can’t say what will happen with Raffy right now. But every player has a right to make choices." Poster: And every fan has the right to choose not to buy tickets.

This winter, Chaim Bloom should have interest in any big league pitcher not wearing a shirt that says Red Sox. Hopefully, not many of those will be guys cut by previous clubs, recovering from injuries that caused them to miss the past season or two, or with multiple arm tattoos but zero needle holes from vaccines.