5GoldGlovesOF,75

I don't recall any being "trashed" unless "here" was this forum, where a few posters disliked Beni for some reason. I wasn't a forum member when Ellsbury left, but I was personally happy because I knew Bradley was a better centerfielder for his arm alone. Boggs and Clemens were admired for their skills but had quirks (chicken, affairs, losing every big game to Dave Stewart). Tiant was always beloved in Boston, from his first full year in '72 to his last game when threw a shutout on the final Sunday of '78 to clinch a tie after Game 162.

No pitcher at any age is guaranteed not to get injured. Looking at their recent histories and current training programs is all we got... I consider Toronto as the model of a club that never stops upgrading its pitching. Berrios flops in his prime late-20s (so far), but in recent years the Jays keep adding starters in their 30s with value: Ryu, Ray, Matz, Gausman, Stripling, etc. A few Sox fans might argue that Bloom keeps counting on over-30 starters, too... but that he's just unlucky because they always get hurt. Other fans may counter that's also a good example of the adage You make your own luck...

I thought it was a bad contract at the time because they didn't offer it to Bogaerts as well. And I do believe at the time it had a negative effect on Xander and his friends in the clubhouse. Bogey is at least as valuable and around the same age as Story. But my opinion is just as a fan, not from a seat in the front office.

Arizona's Merrill Kelly leads the NL in games started with 31. That stat alone should make him a Red Sox target. Kelly is 33 and under contract for three more years at a modest $8M AAV. His third comp on bb-ref is Pablo Lopez. What kind of trade would it take to bring Kelly to Boston? BBTV gives him an affordable 12.9 value. Feel free to expand the deal and add the following to the package: 4.8 WAR rightfielder Daulton Varsho (26 HRs, 13 SBs, 1.9 dWAR), Madison Bumgarner (owed $40M), and Ketel Marte, 28, who hit 32 homers when he was 25 (with a livelier ball?)? Is this a good buy-low winter for Marte? Is any winter time to add a guy signed through 2028 and owed around $86M? BTV lists Kelly at 12.9, but Varsho is 78. Bumgarner is -32.2, Marte is -34.7...

... not charged? Further box score review reveals this line (under the pitching stats) - Inherited runners scored: Kelly, Z 3-2.

It's really just anti-pinstripes: anti-Boggs, anti-Clemens definitely when they were Yankees. Tiant, Ellsbury, Benintendi, even Youk looked dumb for about a week there...

Grimm.

They said it was for slicing his non-pitching hand chopping peppers -- did you forget? He had to be sent all the way back to Double A this summer to re-learn how to cut peppers.

I eye I, captain.

Pitching plans in this coming offseason could make or break Bloom and will certainly determine any chance of the Red Sox being "way better in 2023." To count on any pitcher fully healing from surgery is folly. It's ok to hope for timely recoveries and returns to pre-op levels for guys like Sale, Paxton, Houck and Whitlock, but history shows nothing is guaranteed, even for "successful" surgeries. Contingencies for quality and durable arms in the rotation and bullpen are imperative. Investing big money on veterans and/or pitchers in their primes is always risky, but that's the nature of the sport, and every team that is committed to winning has no choice if they are sincere about contending.

He's also a frozen TV dinner kind of guy, and those peas never thaw out... even in the microwave.

Well, they already failed scientifically and geographically, and withdrew philosophically. They even flunked gym class. But Kike swears Chaim told him they're going to hire new tutors this winter so they can prepare to retake the entrance exam into the AL East next spring.

There it goes: K number 162!

Don't lean on me, man.

I intentionally didn't use the C word, because in the ghost runner age, all that's needed is for the first batter to make freaking contact. A hit isn't necessary to move the runner to third... and then there are many ways to score him with what is often the winning run. Bunting, slashing, just choking up and putting the ball in play -- actually are repeatable skills... with reps of practice, of course.

Could be an organizational issue, not just totally the fault of only the GM and manager. Like every MLB club, Bloom has an entire department analyzing data to determine -- or at least trend -- personnel decisions; Cora also has a coaching staff of specialists. Boston's weakest links of 2022 included a bad bullpen, shoddy defense (mainly from players playing out of position), and anemic offense with runners in scoring position. If roles were reversed -- and Cora assembled the same roster, and Bloom the line-up cards -- would the same posters be calling for a change in skippers? My main gripe with Cora was in extra innings -- but only if all decisions were his, which is dubious. The Red Sox proved over and over they were miserably inept at moving runners over and driving them in. How many Ks does a ghost runner have to witness in horror before someone takes mercy on his soles (of his spikes) and mixes in a bunt? But for all the fans know, Cora may just be complying with the modern company philosophy: refusing to give up an out. But when your team leads the league in extra inning losses, maybe it's time to try something else... Another half dozen wins in extras for the Sox could've kept them in the hunt -- like Cleveland; behind Boston in virtually every team batting category, but 12-4 in extras, and winning the Central (I know, I know: the Guards also have an actual big league bullpen).

New thread title needed. Quick options: Dire Bloom. Liar Bloom. Buyer Bloom? Retire Bloom.

Better get used to that idea. There's no way Bloom is finally getting salary relief for a DH-only guy and then committing to another one. Already covered internally: DH, catcher, 1B (it's 50-50 they even carry Hosmer on next year's roster, and only because he's free; he's not even a good hitter anymore). The Sox will be serious about improving next year if they add a legitimate run-producing outfielder, three starting pitchers, and three relievers -- including at least one or two established bullpen arms (not just guys they're going to convert). If there is any talk from management about counting on guys returning from injury -- and that includes Sale, Whitlock, Houck, or the next Paxton -- then they're building and burning bridges again.

If Kyle is overpaid, imagine JD -- does he really only have 12 homers and 55 ribbies? For the entire season? I was going to say $20 million is the going rate for a 40 HR DH-type... but then realized that Dombro is the only guy who established that, by paying JD and now, Schwarber.

It's going to be tough for NY without the Twins in the postseason.

Old guys like me have seen plenty of Red Sox teams full of longball hitters who failed to drive in more runs than their own crappy pitchers gave up. But all those clubs were more fun to watch than top-5 offenses that hardly ever make contact with runners in scoring position.

But if we put this team in the dumpster now, we'll be diving into ourselves all winter...

Aren't the Badlands in SD?

Another ghostly loss for the AL's losingest extra-inning team. All these 10th-inning Ls are easy to pin on blah relievers -- and maybe they're too casual, as well as causal, since they don't get charged with giving up an earned run when the ghost scores. But do the Red Sox have a club rule when they bat with a ghost on second that their first hitter is always required to strikeout? Forget about getting a hit -- that's too much to ask of a top-5 offense in late innings -- but it is uncanny how Boston never advances its free baserunner to third so he can't even score on a fly ball or grounder or wild pitch or error or balk. Here's a new organizational philosophy for future sustained contenders: first batter up in the 10th -- touch the ball!

Can't imagine why Price is retiring. With next year's pitch clock, he can still hold his arms straight up over his head on every single pitch, eye clouds suspiciously, blow smoke rings, and just count five Mississippis, instead of 10. Before coming to a set. And then. Slowly. Slinging. His cesta. ... pelota in the dirt.