5GoldGlovesOF,75

What has always bothered me as a fan or as a player is the obvious variable when taking out a starter who is "on" that night, especially with a relatively low pitch count: there is no guarantee the reliever will also be good... or the next reliever... or the next reliever... And don't blame Cora for maxing out Sale in 2017 -- except maybe in the playoffs, when Cora's Astros crushed Sale.

It's not the relievers' fault they inherited that stat. Whoops, they just allowed it to score.

The Sox are protecting their assets, keeping old pitchers from breaking down before they can flip them for prospects this summer.

... except they can't blow a save if the offense doesn't score a single run in support.

This makes sense, because Jackie can play next to Franchy and make all the plays he misses, plus cover all the other ground up to the Monster.

I'm not allowed to sit in the conference room when the front office plans ahead, but somehow I doubt Cora is the mastermind of limiting Whitlock's starts, and methodically "stretching him out" so that by next year the Sox could have an ace who can go six, even seven innings. Managers don't plan for the next season, not when this one could be their last.

That's BS, he's only dealing the cards Bloom dealt him... or didn't, as in not acquiring a closer. Here are Cora's direct quotes about it from last night -- and look, you don't even have to read between the lines: "we would love somebody to step up and be consistent to throw strikes, go through three batters and turn the page. That’d be great so we could actually set up the sixth, the seventh, the eighth." The only Cora didn't say is what is obvious: the front office chose to enter the season with an incomplete roster.

WTL (Whit the Lock).

The Red Sox celebrated the reset, and Bloom has consistently said he's into farming. But no one in the org has ever publicly stated "the plan was to replace Beni with Renfroe..." They don't even play the same position. If it was all part of some master outfield plan, maybe Kike was signed to replace Beni, and Renfroe to replace JBJ. But that was never stated, either.

I agree a hundred percent, and felt this way ever since it was mentioned as the reason for the trade. It never made sense for the amount the Big Market Sox saved, and I never believed the popular narrative here that it was because Renfroe was on their radar. Bloom was already letting Bradley walk, and needed outfielders, period. Remember, Kike's main position, according to Cora, was second base.

Merloni said last night that Cano would be a Red Sox within the week. Lou didn't sound like he approved, only that he knew...

I think the relevant baseball question for the Red Sox team is what compelled the first-place Yankees to make their entire roster eligible to play the Blue Jays in Toronto?

If he goes lamp, he won't be rigid enough to hold a torch.

Bloser by committee. Now that is a total team effort. How imperfectly human of them. This pen is mightier than the sword that Cora falls on whenever he looks out there.

The Yankees are the greatest team in the history of this year.

Centerfield, when they trade Kike in about a month. His mentor will be Jackie Bradley, who the Sox will convince to tutor Duran, in exchange for waiting an entire season to acquire a big league right-handed hitting outfielder.

Every season is long, but this one feels just wrong. If you're really sincere about competing for titles, do you try to improve your chances by putting Franchy Cordero at first base and signing castoff Jailyn Davis? And forget about hoping for Sale and Paxton to return and be saviors; there's no way any smart organization will push to rush injured guys back if the team is only battling for fourth place. The Red Sox may soon have no choice but to clean house... because as much as the impending free agents may want to make salary drives, it's hard not to go through the motions on an also-ran. But watch how rejuvenated a few will get after being traded to a contender for a stretch drive.

Lots of guys had bad 2022 Aprils offensively. My point was that Story also looks uncomfortable in his first month as a second baseman. If the team had a winning record, his swings and misses, and double clutches, would certainly be less noticeable. But I'm more confident that he'll get used to the position -- if that's really where the Sox signed him to play -- than that Bradley or Dalbec will hit hot streaks or Barnes will pitch lights-out under pressure or Vazquez will remember how many outs there are while running the bases.

Obviously, when a team's in the cellar, a lot of weaknesses are magnified. But I can't remember the last time a Gold Glove quality shortstop and elite athlete looked so awkward in a transition to play second base. Admittedly, I wasn't paying close attention to the reviews of Semien and Baez when they each shifted to second last year. But they both seemed to thrive there... at least the moves didn't affect their offense.

It's definitely part of the problem, as is the non-existent offense. It's May, so it's no longer early. A good line in today's Globe said the Sox went into the season with a roster that looked about 85% complete... and still waiting. Obviously, it's not how much is being spent, but on what it's being spent on.

Not only will the blasts find some gaps, but the liners off pitchers' legs will bounce into no-man's land, and one-stitch bleeders will stay fair, and clutch pop-ups will fall in... ... the key to a turnaround may be how many of these benefit Red Sox hitters, instead of opponents.

So for an entire day on a thread about Trevor Story, one poster focused on the offense of Jackie Bradley, who my eyes tell me has been great as usual at his speciality: defense. Meanwhile, Story has been shaky transitioning to the position the Sox supposedly signed him to play for the next six years, and has the highest K-rate among regulars (along with Dalbec).

... or contract, as hitters constantly adjust to the pitchers' "book" that circulates around the league quickly. The worrisome part of Story's slow start is that he isn't just swinging and missing at one pitch in one spot -- like JD and his kryptonite low-and-away slider. Story is whiffing on virtually every breaking pitch: outside, inside, down in the zone. I don't have data, but it seems like a weakness in every game. It's interesting to compare other star hitters that left Colorado recently. Arenado batted .293 with an .890 OPS in 8 years as a Rockie, and is .268, .841 as a Cardinal. DJ LeMahieu hit .299, .760 in 7 years for the Rox, then improved in 4 years in NY: .308, .833, and hit more homers (to the short porch in Yankee Stadium). Going further back, Matt Holliday hit .319, .936 in 6 seasons for Colorado, but was still good after: .287, .859 in 8 more years. Larry Walker was a star in Montreal, but a Hall of Famer in Coors with ridiculous numbers. Story averaged .271, .857 in 6 years as a Rockie. The difference Red Sox fans need to be aware of is that DJ, Holliday and Walker were all batting champions in Colorado. Story was an NL strikeout champion, and has averaged 188 Ks per 162 games in his career... Other Red Sox career Ks per 162: Verdugo 92, Kike 105, Vaz 108, Bogey 127, Devers 149, JBJ 154, JD 163, Dalbec 200.

Matt Strahm is ok, and already a fan favorite in our house, because he's a baseball card guy, with his own youtube where he opens up valuable packs of rare autographed treasures!

I wasn't fair on Franchy before. I'm all for giving him a third chance in Boston. But I'd really hope his D has improved, because fielding is the minimum a bench-warmer should be able to do at the top level.