5GoldGlovesOF,75

Ban Velcro. That will shorten every game by half an hour. And no mask mandates for catchers, except for undrafted youngsters (their teeth, their parents' dental bills).

Bah, he's only 5 foot, 10 inches. Franco has a good chance to be 28 in about eight years.

I'm not against adding Means to the roster, just not for swapping the Sox' top pitching prospect for a big leaguer with legitimate questions. Half a decade ago, I was angry when Dombrowski gave up the Sox' top pitching prospect for Drew Pomeranz, who had just become an All-Star for the first time at age 27. My only question about Anderson Espinoza back then was how many Cy Youngs the next Pedro would win. The answer is zero, which is the amount of MLB games Espinoza has pitched (so far). But he's still five years younger than Means... I'm still against the Espinoza trade in theory, but it's not like anyone is untouchable in a deal for a proven star player. I'd trade Bello in a package for more of a sure thing like Luis Castillo, who's never been injured and actually got better after the sticky ban.

Not me. Means' 2021: first half 2.28 ERA, second half 4.88 -- during the ban on sticky stuff and a shoulder injury. I need to see an entire year of adjustments and recovery first. Right now, I wouldn't even trade Bello for Means straight up.

Good call... on your part and Bloom's. At this point in his career, I view Vaz as overrated as a catcher, but underrated as a hitter (crappy stats, but has delivered in big spots -- many to the opposite-field -- since the '18 postseason). Plus, without a catcher, all Red Sox pitches will bounce to the backstop.

Is this the first expenditure of the Red Sox' offseason? If so, it is appropriate, because it all starts with AC.

The question remains: who will Bloom add? You know the front office has lists of players from every org on their watch list. Wasn't Arauz the first transaction of the Bloom Era? He may never be a fulltimer, but is still young enough to qualify for a pension someday. One of the cool things for baseball fans is watching a once low-level prospect emerge as a big league star (or even a meteor). Wonder what the ratio is of those vs. Top 20 draft picks who don't ever make it; a cup of coffee doesn't count -- guys would have to have had at least a pint of holiday stout...

I heard she's a good cook, who only uses the finest ingredients. But what if there's another one, who prepares the exact same recipes, only with substitute generic name brands?

This may be viewed as good news for baseball fans: as of January 15, Canada will no longer let unvaccinated pro athletes into its country. Canada has just done the US and MLB owners and players a big favor, because now there can be no political debate for anyone who either plays for or against the Toronto Blue Jays. The new CBA probably doesn't even to have worry about including any official language on the issue, because presumably every big leaguer will now have to automatically get vaccinated. Sure, many teams in the NL aren't scheduled to face Toronto in '22, but a lot of players change teams during a season, and it's unlikely anyone would want to risk losing a roster spot. Plus, the Jays are a World Series contender, so any NL club with likewise goals will want to be prepared accordingly. Of course, this is provided the MLB doesn't try to hose Toronto fans again, and force the Jays to play in Florida or New York for another season. Maybe this news will at least force a division rival like the Red Sox to take the proper steps to help prevent losing half its team again in the middle of another pennant race next summer...

I knew you'd like that. We need about six Duf-- wait, can't say his name.

I know I'll be disappointed when Fox doesn't do a biopic and live interview with one of our new players while the Yankees are batting in the next Sox-NY Sunday night game.

Last time I saw Duffy in person at Fenway, Mookie homered off him in his second, third and fourth time through the order. He singled the first time -- the only Red Sox' hit through the first three innings. JD also went yard in his second at bat.

The key Bloom quote for potential pitching acquisitions is when he said this week, “We’re not too focused on how famous they are..."

Except Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps -- wasn't that one celebrated on Seinfeld? And Mr. Phelps went to become a famous pilot on Airplane! (Shirley, you remember that...)

Just wondering, is Cano considered a bust for the M's because he got suspended? He had a couple of really good, top-8 MVP years, and the AL's sixth-highest WAR in his five Seattle seasons. What's the formula for equating WAR with salary; in other words, is an AAV of $24 million commensurate with 4.7 WAR per year? At the time his salary was near the top, but 4.7 WAR is never in the Top 10 for position players.

Somewhere there's a clip of my favorite ever: rookie Lynn robbing Graig Nettles of extra bases at Shea Stadium in July of '75 (Yankee Stadium was being renovated). When lefty power-hitters go oppo, the ball curves towards the line; Lynn full-out sprints to left-center, dives towards the fence, snags, flips over, rolls and slides away from the plate, keeping his glove-hand curled off the ground, as Rice, backing up the play, hurdles his body. Lynn gets to his knees and pumps his arm in the air to show the umps the ball. It was the bottom of the 9th and preserved a 1-0 Sox win. Yanks were AL preseason favorites, but that play basically took the wind out NY for the season. Sox went to World Series, and lost in seven by one run... without Rice, who missed the entire postseason with a broken hand from a HBP.

My favorite player of the Seventies was Lynn, the Sox' best all-around centerfielder of my lifetime. But for just pure defense, JBJ wins out. Kike had a great year, but he wasn't great the first month while learning how to go back on balls, at least in Fenway. Bradley was a finished product in the field his first game. Fans and media remember the spectacular catches and throws, but what I recall is that no one made more plays look easy, because Jackie got a better jump on long blasts than anyone. Kiermaier and Pillar were superdupermen, but I'll bet some of those web gems don't even make the highlights if JBJ grabs them without leaving Earth. Can anyone even remember many all-out, scrambling sprints by Bradley Jr.? But any time we saw Jogging Jackie, we knew he knew he had it -- even on flies way over his head.

When I first read this bold-faced (the type, not mine), I thought it was a quiz; I actually thought it was about Schwarber, with a pending announcement he'd just signed elsewhere... then I thought it was from the Mookie trade... Seriously, it could be a stock press release from any GM or club about any guy they're walking away from.

This whole discussion began when one poster mused that Downs could get called up next July if he was hitting .370 for the WooSox and the BooSox needed a second baseman. Sometimes, minor leaguers figure something out and move fast. That's how Duran made the majors -- he started launching balls at a launching pad and couldn't be ignored... (even if some fans do ignore him, after one blah month in Boston... but he only played two minor league seasons before last year). If you want to go younger, Mookie Betts hit zero home runs with a .658 OPS in the minors at age 19. He wasn't on anybody's list as a top prospect. The next year he busted out with a .966 OPS, and by age 21 was in The Show.

We may just have to settle for having interest in the Red Sox having interest in every free agent or guy on the trade block until the CBA is settled. In the meantime, be prepared for bored reporters to show continued interest in any team leaking rumors to try to keep fans interested.

What -- no Jack Lopez? He was an unsung hero of Covid week! Seriously, about a possible Downs call-up, we shouldn't expect the Sox to rule out promoting players of any age if they deem them good enough to contribute. Of course, few farms ever produce youngsters as good as Soto or Franco at age 20, but even before Bloom, the Sox didn't blink when they brought up Bogaerts and Devers at age 20. There's nothing more cost efficient than homegrown reinforcements. Or homedeveloped acquired prospects...

Latest reports include the Red Sox among teams "interested" in Chris Taylor, the all-purpose All-Star in his 30s who rejected LA's QO. The article admits Taylor would presumably cost much more than Kike's 2 years for $14 million contract. Even if Taylor would agree to an ERod-like three for $45 (forget about five) -- does anyone think he's the guy the Sox pick to pay large... in terms of three times as much as they gave the versatile Hernandez? Personally, I'd bank on Schwarber's production over Taylor's for the next four or five years, but could Taylor play second base full-time? He was a negative DWAR this season, struck out 28.7% of his at bats, and led the NL in Ks a few years ago. He's not as good as Baez, but may agree to play for a lesser AAV...

You mean, like signing anyone for more than two years? This is Bloom's third offseason in Boston; some posters are furiously typing, "ownership mandates, hands tied, overbudget, taxes, penalties, books closed, lost draft picks, Mookie's height... and the ever clairvoyant I know he'll change because this isn't Tampa" -- but is it at least possible this is just who he is... and why he was hired in the third place? Bloom has been right almost from the beginning. He basically admitted the team would suck in 2020 and that they'd be better in 2021. He has never wavered from his longterm goal of building a sustained contender, and fans have no reason to doubt this pursuit. But he is doing it his way.

When half the team caught Covid -- in already their worst month of the season -- few of us (and none of me) thought the Sox ever would get as far as they did. If you don't think Cora was the difference, consider what would've happened if instead Joe Kerrigan or Bobby Valentine were in charge at the time; uniforms would be balled up and thrown into a bonfire, and they'd probably forfeit all of September.

Bogaerts may not be a Hall of Famer, but here's the list of AL shortstops who have won four or more Silver Sluggers in 40+ years of the award: Ripken, ARod, Jeter, Bogie. Career OPS: ARoid .930, Jetes .817, X-Man .812, Cal .788 (all but Captain Intangibles also spent time at 3B).