5GoldGlovesOF,75

From the Boston Analytics Dept: No pitcher in the history of the 10-year-old Red Sox fan in my living room has elicited more first-inning screams of frustration.

Comps with ERod have probably upped what Matz will now get (pending physicals). I keep saying this: when it comes to the Red Sox, it's more about the years. And even if Bloom signs Matz, there is no way Boston is done assembling the '22 rotation... though the trade route will then be most likely.

Nope, unless you're Bloom and are looking for addition by subtraction on your payroll. Seven-year career ERAs: ERod 4.74, Matz 4.24 (facing NL pitchers the first six years). ERod, 28, signed for $77 million... Matz, 30, made $5.5 in '21 and won one more game. Matz is older but has thrown less innings; will a GM now give him five for $75? Maybe not... but would Matz sign for three for $45? If we agree that's fair market value, could he possibly be the first player in the Bloom Era signed for as many as three years?

Our last images of ERod will be him pointing to his wrist saying his time is worth as much as Correa's, and Alex Cora disagreeing: "No! No! NOOO!"

One pundit already said not paying ERod is a bad sign, meaning Bloom won't be offering any pitcher $80 million. Maybe not, but the Red Sox' rotation now needs at least two bonafide starters. Hoping Sale will be better than this year and that Eovaldi won't be a year older and that a converted reliever won't go Daniel Bard circa 2012 may be beyond optimistic. The Seabolds and Winckowskis will get their shots, but true contenders need at least seven legit starters.

Yup, and staying healthy is the main problem with any arms, but especially those with a lot of mileage on them. The amazing thing about the Rays is not only do they seemingly bring in a new guy we never heard of throwing 96 in every Red Sox game, but that Tampa always has at least 10 pitchers on the IL while doing it. Assuming just a few of those will suitably recover is what allows them to keep the wheel dealing.

Dave is still trying to build a bullpen in Philly. He keeps seeking established relievers, instead of following the Rays' blueprint of stockpiling unproven but live arms. Dombro's problem might be that there are few almost automatics like Kimbrel, who finished over 150 games in his three Boston years.

Not to Chaim Bloom for the next half decade.

Tomase, October 2021 ALDS: "Rays in three."

... the Navy.

Gotta believe it was the years -- and Bloom wouldn't go five. But does anyone think Gausman or Stroman or Rodon will take $15.4 per? ERod was the Sox' leading winner in his past two seasons in Boston.

57: ERod's uniform number. 5 at $77 mil... $15.4 AAV?

The blip was Rudolph's nose in the fog, but then Christmas morning came and they unwrapped new reindeer games.

If the Sox were to deal with the on-the-verge-of-teardown Reds, one outfielder they should consider is Jesse Winker. While not an upgrade defensively, Winker has a career OPS of .888 -- higher than anyone in Boston's lineup. His lefty bat could replace Schwarber's (if he isn't resigned). Winker's #1 most Similar Batter on bb-ref is Vlad Guerrero Jr...

With the expanded playoffs in 2020, the Dodgers had to win a record 13 postseason games to earn their rings.

I don't live in California, but can only assume fans there were glad when the Dodgers signed the NL Cy Young last winter, and then made the blockbuster of all deadline deals in July. Most pundits predicted LA to repeat as world champs even before these moves, but imagine the outlook when they were still celebrating a year ago if someone said, "And next year, you're going to add Trevor Bauer, Max Scherzer and Trea Turner!" And the Dodgers didn't even make it back to the World Series.

Doesn't every franchise have an entire department dedicated to doing this? As for a totally biased answer based on my own observations, maybe Bloom spends more time doing due diligence (or at least using the phrase) than Dombrowski did in Boston... at least, in consummating deals; Dombro seemed to land some targets before a lot of other GMs, while Bloom has shown more patience, while others are acting hasty... in retrospect. I don't think the Steve Pearce contract was solely a reward for his '18 postseason. In the regular season, he was really good at his job, too: as a platoon specialist, Pearce hit .337 with a 1.052 OPS vs. lefthanded starting pitchers. He also cranked three homers in one game vs. the Yankees at the beginning of August.

It's true, the pressure is off -- so much so that rival fans and media have regressed from elitist to hapless, still clinging to tired Big Lies like whose HR was the difference in '78, and that an error lost the '86 World Series, and who the attacker was in the '03 takedown...etc, etc.

After the past year of fortifying the farm, making the playoffs and upsetting the Yanks and Rays, few can say Bloom is on the wrong track. However, what -- to you -- will confirm Bloom has achieved his goal of building "sustained contenders"? As we saw again this year, qualifying for the Wild Card game definitely makes contending for a title possible, if not always probable. But what defines sustainment? A). Will a minimum of five straight Wild Card years do it? . How about just five straight 90ish-win seasons, maybe with a missed postseason or two, staving off elimination until the last week? C). Or is even the Houston model acceptable: five ALCS in a row with one ring mixed in? D). Sorry, but last-last-World Series champs-and last isn't an option. I'm not spoiled, since I've experienced B. most of my life rooting for the Red Sox. Dick O'Connell turned things around from '67-77, with a few pennants and second places; his Sox weren't always contenders, but had winning records for a decade. Lou Gorman traded Bagwell but built a sustained contender for a spell, with three division champs in five years, from '86-90 (Haywood Sullivan's back office lost homegrown stars in the early disastrous days of free agency, but at least drafted Clemens). Dan Duquette teams made the playoffs three times in five years and helped build the eventual curse-breakers, signing Ramirez and Damon, trading for Martinez, etc. The most recent GMs are already well-documented...

Ryu's an old pro; he got the intrinsic reward of contributing to a team victory! I heard the union, led by Boras, is trying to ban attitudes like that in the new CBA.

Why does anyone care about wins anymore? They shouldn't even keep score, and just give ribbons to all players. And make parents tie their shoes. Unless they're velcro. Families like that stick together. And stick up for each other. Unless they're stuck up.

Like Ceddanne Rafaela, I'm also 5'8 and can reach the top shelf (but my drug of choice comes in pint cans). Even though I have played baseball or softball for over 50 years now, I've learned from this forum that my body type is bound to break down and prevent me from playing into my 70s. Ironically, there are several over-70 guys playing in my wood bat hardball league, many shorter than me (it's an age thing, curvature of the bell curve; Mookie will be 5'2 by the time he's makes our team). None of us are prospects, but some are prospectors... most have good prospects.

Is it fair to say almost all GMs inherit rosters that include both promising prospects and payroll burdens from past regimes? Bloom's goal of building sustained contenders has to be the ideal for GMs and CBOs, but how many years does that entail -- and do they all have to be consecutive? Dombrowski-led teams did finish in first place three years in a row, which had never been done before in Boston, so that could be considered sustained success right there. The clubs that won world titles a hundred years earlier when Babe Ruth was pitching certainly sustained success. So did the Epstein-led Sox that won two rings and made it to four ALCS Game Sevens in seven seasons. Yes, Dombro inherited an organization rich with young talent, and had access to a big budget. But he also closed deals that assured success, by assembling championship pitching -- adding Sale, Price, Eovaldi and Kimbrel, among others. It's arguable that those moves were his most important in sustaining contention... and that a front office that acquires similar stability to the staff will key the next Bosox title run.

Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston's Minor League Player of the Year, age 21... has speed and some pop: in 102 games at Salem, had 23 SBs, 3 CS, 20 doubles, 9 triples, 10 homers... and plays everywhere: started 51 games in CF, 9 LF, 1 RF, 17 3B, 15 SS, 6 2B. Ian Browne reports "a laser for an arm", with nine assists from OF. Rafaela is 5'8", but if he grows an inch per year by the time he makes the majors, even tall posters may like his future.

I'm not even accountable to myself.