5GoldGlovesOF,75

Hey... "minus wins"? That could almost be political for losses (if that hadn't already been eradicated from recent platforms posing as history books). It probably wasn't your intention, but the term is at least diplomatic... and we're all ambassadors of a sort for the sport. Now I'm going to punch myself in the head.

It's arguable the "team" was the reason the team had a COVID outbreak... what's not is that Bloom and Cora should be looked upon favorably by history for keeping the '21 club afloat for those two weeks.

Posters still have to admit, though, that the Sox are just doing business differently now. Zero player contracts guaranteed for more than two years in the entire Bloom Era is a fact. The franchise bragged about resetting a few years ago, and some fans have been convinced renewed spending -- on star acquisitions -- is about to commence... ever since. Instead, success has been achieved by spending less money for less years on less sought-afters. The other difference between the current front office and the days of Theo-Ben-Dave -- and this could just be more mass media coverage on more various and available platforms than ever before -- but never in history have the Red Sox been so "interested" in so many players... only to see 99.9% of them sign elsewhere. It used to be that the Sox locked up the majority of guys they wanted... unless the Yankees sniped an eBay bid in the last seconds.

Whadaya mean: Two days ago we didn't even have Jackie on our radar, but there just aren't that many true centerfielders out there, and now we have two, and you can never have enough, blah-blahblah-blah-yadayada

Except Correa is a lot taller, which apparently means more to some evaluators than actual statistical accomplishments. Plus, the Red Sox care more about NESN, and hot dog and beer sales at Fenway for 2022... 2020 is over and done with (never even happened, to some).

For all we know, Casas could be Bloom's big chip to dangle in a deal for a young, controllable MLB starting pitcher. Maybe the JBJ trade has made Casas more touchable, now that the Sox have another legit power-hitting first base prospect in Alex Binelas (also a lefty stick, as is Marcelo Mayer... maybe Bloom is too forward-thinking; if so, Yorke and his righty bat could be a lineup fixture in Boston before all of them).

Could be that Bloom is anticipating Casas at first base, and/or Dalbec and Duran traded. This might be a good debate for prognosticators -- which lefty bat will see more starts for Boston in 2022: Duran or Casas? How about in just the second half of '22?

Yup, I remember one Colorado bar back in 1980. They had 25-cent Coors on tap, but all the guys in cowboy boots were drinking Bud.

Thanks, Hugh and Ghost. Maybe the new CBA -- whenever that is settled -- will provide the impetus for the next longterm Red Sox signing. But it may no longer make sense -- fiscally nor analytically -- to sign a player at the beginning of his prime at age 28, since that already seems too late; smart teams just don't want to risk getting stuck with the second half of albatross contracts. Depending on the (inevitable?) adjusted age/service time agreement between owners and the union, a young stud who comes up when he's 20 and stars for four or five years is a much better investment. A guy like Juan Soto, who made it at age 19 and has posted a .981 OPS for four seasons (and already three Top 10 MVP finishes) is the safest bet on the board. He just turned 23, but won't be eligible for free agency until 2025... by then, not even he may be worth what he wants. Trout's already 30 and missed last year with an injury; he's signed for $37 million per year through 2030... The next/first guys Bloom wants to lock up longterm just may be Mayer and Yorke -- if they're tearing through the minors in the next few years and continue to rake in the bigs. But that wait-and-see window is a small one in a big market, before a CBO's job is on the line and he's compelled to make a splash!

I expect it, and predicted when Betts was traded that the Sox would sign someone not as good for more money, sooner rather than later. But I'll still be surprised and at this point shocked if it ever happens when Bloom is in charge.

Correa vs. Devers for the next decade makes for a good debate. Both began in the MLB at age 20, but Correa is the better player right now because of defense. Through each of their age 24 seasons, Carlos (who is two years older) has been worth more than twice the WAR of Raffy. But going forward, who has more room to grow into potentially an all-timer? Career OPS rates so far for Correa .837 and Devers .847 are good, but not automatic Cooperstown predictors. For context, here are a couple other infielders through age 24: Miguel Cabrera had a .929 OPS, and when he reached his prime between ages 28-32, won four batting crowns with marks of .330 or higher, with an average OPS of .996; Albert Pujols didn't make the majors at age 20, but from age 21-24 he had an OPS of 1.037. In his prime years of age 28-32, he also had an OPS of .996. Extreme cases above, but are any infielders really worthy of a 10-year deal? Lindor's career OPS through age 24 was .837... and since then, it has gone down (great fielder, though). Tatis is already playing some outfield at age 22...

Most pitchers have more misses than hits, too... which is why the new CBA will include universal DHs. Most players have more mistresses than missus... but no contract, license or certificate will ever change that.

Service time clocks are definitely on the table that nobody is sitting at right now. If the Sox have an inkling that's changing and trade Dalbec before Opening Day, there's a good chance it's because they deem Casas ready. If they trade Dalbec and pick up a placeholder (or better yet, sign Schwarber), and then pull a Kris Bryant-delayed call-up on Casas, it means the union got some other huge concessions. If they sign Kris Bryant instead to play first base, it means they traded Dalbec and Casas, and swapped Bloom for Dombrowski.

His initials are TC -- and they don't stand for Tom Caron (but Tom might stand for him during ovations).

Good post. As a kid, I always thought the Reserve Clause was good for fandom -- and it certainly was for baseball fans in places like Baltimore, Cincy, Pittsburgh and Oakland; we knew it was selfish, but we loved rooting for our favorite players. But Free Agency is also good for fans of clubs who can afford to spend to improve... As far as being traded and/or signed to play in another part of the country, employees get job transfers all the time from companies. Of course, most can refuse to move, but they'd also have to find employment elsewhere. And those at the top of their industries usually have their pick of where they want to relocate.

The left/right swings off the bench are still important because there are so many pitching changes. Tampa had the best record in the AL and platooned everybody except Wander Franco -- and not because he's a star; he's also a switch-hitter. But any resemblance to organizational approaches and blueprints for success are purely coincidental.

Or effigies...

Ah, but both the owners and players -- through assumptions that fans will always come back (until we die off) -- prey upon our nostalgia for the game... and the uniforms; though for some reason, I can't imagine both Rays fans showing future enthusiasm for seeing their heroes in Montreal Expos' duds half the time.

Renfroe was a good get a year ago, but his offense -- home runs and strikeouts -- is hardly irreplaceable nowadays. Including his negative dWAR in '21, his overall WAR was 2.3 -- better than 0 WAR in '20, close to his 2.4 in '18 and '19; his career average is 2.2. Bradley, in comparison, has a career average of 2.8 WAR; with six straight years of at least 2 WAR before his negative NL season. BB-ref considers 2+ WAR the benchmark for MLB starters, with 5+ "All-Star Quality". Fangraphs rates a 2-3 WAR player as a "Solid Starter", 3-4 a "Good Player", and 4-5 an "All-Star". No matter which site you prefer, JBJ was 5+ in his AS year in 2016. He may never approach that again, but chances are he could be worth 2 wins again... given the opportunity. If not, there should be plenty of other options available. In 2021, 35 MLB batters had as many HRs as Renfroe's 31, and 125 guys had WAR scores of 2.3 or higher...

Come on, get optimistic -- this isn't football, where every bet is placed on what teams did the week before. Jackie's an old pro. He's already been partying with his old/new assistant GM and some former Red Sox teammates just this week!

Not only do owners risk still having to pay players who get injured or have operations and thus miss significant playing time, but imagine having to pay guys to stay home because their personal choices risk the health and subsequent team contributions of other teammates, coaches and managers?

Alex Binelas might have instantly become one of the top power-hitting prospects in the Red Sox org. He cranked nine home runs in 29 A ball games last summer, after being drafted in the third round from Louisville, where he outhomered teammate and #1 overall draft pick Henry Davis, 33-21.

Here's the billion-dollar answer to both the leftfielder and righty bat question -- warning: this only happens if owners agree to eliminate the competitive-balance tax altogether from the new CBA... ... the Red Sox' new leftfielder will be Xander Bogaerts, who will be extended, along with Raffy Devers, to reflect salaries commensurate with the new shortstop, Carlos Correa. (sorry, the posts about launching Bauer into outer space were so exciting that I punched myself in the head in the throws of passion)

For some reason, I immediately like these two prospects better than the pair Bloom got the last time he traded a Red Sox rightfielder. Each looks like he has the promise of having an elite skill -- Hamilton's speed, Bineals' power -- and they're both just beginning pro careers, with room to grow. Not that I had anything against Downs... except his first name and the fact that two other organizations traded him before he made Double A; I'm suspicious that two clubs would give up on a guy rated so highly. Good points were made here by posters surmising that this deal may have been made so another could happen. Bloom just spoke about using his resources, and stockpiling prospects certainly gives him capital he'd rather use instead of spending more cash (beyond the cost of taking on someone else's salary dump). I just don't think he'll trade Yorke as a minor leaguer, because that guy could turn out to be the plum of Bloom's resume. Casas is more likely, partly because he was a Dombro draft pick.

I'm on record as saying that Renfroe's inadvertent hacky sack play changed October for the Red Sox... at least in the ALDS. It wasn't as vital as Benintendi's catch in '18, because the Sox didn't win the World Series this year... but if we're honest, Renfroe's goofy leg might be the reason Boston got to play another week in the postseason.