5GoldGlovesOF,75

Stanton is hurt every year. Judge, too. The whole stereotype of height is freaking ridiculous in baseball, a sport unlike all the others... where guys of all shapes and sizes can thrive based on talent.

If the MLB turns back into home run derby, how long before a guy like Bauer demands that pine tar should be banned for batters, too? Imagine if hitters were forced to get a grip by scooping dirt out of the box like Old Man Yaz?

Wilson is a prospect to fill out a roster, platoon a little, and sit on the bench a lot. When Duran gets called up, it won't be as a pinch runner. A future full-time star, according to both the manager and chief baseball officer, Duran needs to keep playing every day -- getting his four ABs and shagging fly balls in game situations... until he's ready to do both in primetime.

Regarding high school shortstops: from what I read, House is more of a power guy, Lawlar pure speed who will grow into power (few humans grow into speed). The two lefty sticks are Watson and Mayer. Watson is 5'9", Mayer 6'3". Just looking at body types, you can see how scouts may prefer Lawlar and Mayer; one eval site gives them each overall ratings of 60, while the other two grade at 55... a literal pick-em.

Especially in Picksburg...

I sincerely hope "down" means up, in that his demands may be unaffordable for teams with the top three picks. I certainly hope "down" doesn't imply some kind of cost-consciousness in Boston.

Fair enough. I still like college guys like Hill, Fabian and Del Castillo as possible second-rounders. Interesting House listed at 3B, now SS. For some reason I'm skeptical about this year's first-round high school shortstops (prob due to the missing Covid year). Even/if, in over 50 years, there have really only been five Hall of Fame first round infielders: Yount, Molitor, Larkin, Jones, Jeter.

Ok, raise your hand if you still trust Bloom if he drafts a high school shortstop over one of the top two college pitchers next month. Wait, do the Sox still have time to watch them throw without using super glue on the ball?

There really aren't any #1 free agents coming up next winter -- Bloom won't be overpaying for an older guy like Scherzer, Verlander, Kershaw or Greinke. Gausman may be the best choice, and thus in high demand. Syndergard is an uncertain option, coming off TJ like Sale and Verlander. If the Sox do suddenly plan to spend big (like many here expect), is it more likely on position players to replace others traded for a younger, primetime controllable pitcher?

Boston can be pretty windy, too.

... who was never great until he joined Houston -- and man, have you seen how many feet those Astros' pitches break. That last comment was unintended, until I proofread; now it's punintended.

Someone promoted Franchy's defensive questions for years. Hopefully, Duran can learn how to use his speed to flag down deep drives like above-average centerfielders. I know some metrics like Kike in the outfield, but the eyeballs show he's good at coming in, but not so much at going back; that ball he and Hunter watched fall between them last night was disturbing.

Since this is the Realistic thread, I hope the last two weeks of watching the Astros bash finally shows some fans how overblown their "scandal" may have been overall. Houston's top batters from their pennant years are still stars, including Altuve, Bregman and Correa. Springer did fine last year. Yes, their current attack also features guys that weren't around -- Brantley, Alvarez, Tucker. But by now, it's looking like those who benefitted most by the trash cans were more marginal players like Reddick and Marwin... Fans need to let it go, especially in convicted Boston. New York fans know their guys aren't perfect either; they're just bitter because they never won it all in the "Paying Attention to Details Era".

Respectfully, I doubt many GMs don't consider organizational needs in the draft. I know a lot of people here and in front offices think it's logical to rank hundreds of players in a certain order, and then automatically pick whatever highest number is remaining when it's their turn... but not every human being has the same logic. They don't all go to the same school of analytics, and are not always under the same pressures, depending on city and owners. They're not all conservatives or gamblers or go by the same "unwritten" book. For all we know, some club's pre-draft rankings of the top 100 players may very well take into consideration franchise needs that involve a number of different factors beyond position, such as signability, MLB ETA, personality/potential fan appeal, home park projections, etc, etc. Bloom constantly advocates considering all angles, and as Sox fans already know, is exhaustive in his preparation before making decisions. He also thinks outside the box like no other, ie. making Nick Yorke a first-rounder in 2020. Maybe we should prepare to be surprised so we're not too surprised.

If Bloom makes an impact trade, one guy to go off the list will be Downs. He's blocked at his position by the team leader, so unless the Sox are worried about X's opt-out, they are showcasing Downs at Triple A shortstop. Otherwise, if he were really the second baseman of the future -- which could be next season (many experts predicted this summer) -- then why wouldn't he be getting steady reps at second now to help his muscles' memories? If all the Sox need is longterm back-up depth at shortstop they could play Arauz or someone else there every day in Wooster.

Does your post title mean you're mocking an order like this? I like the Rocker selection, but don't think Bloom will pass on Mayer if he's available... especially since some believe he'll sign under slot (which is prob why Pitt takes him): https://rumbunter.com/2021/06/09/pittsburgh-pirates-marcelo-mayer-likely-go-first-overall/

Casas is leaping across levels in single bounds... (often, they're extra bases). I can easily see the Sox bringing him up in September for taste of an MLB stretch run. He could be the starting first baseman in '22.

I always had NY as the favorites to land Lindor since they let Didi walk (I even suspected that's why they didn't resign Didi). Turns out it was the wrong NY... If the AL's heavy favorites don't win the pennant, is there any chance they won't sign one of Story/Seager/Correa/Baez next winter???

It's well-documented that the Houston analytics dept. developed the system -- before the Astros hired Cora. There are employees with quotes attributed to names admitting and even bragging about their schemes. It's all out there, but Cora was made the scapegoat, and there are many people -- including Red Sox fans -- who choose to cling to this narrative... for whatever their personal reasons.

Almost all the free agents that I wanted the Sox to sign are disappointments for their new clubs. The only guys having decent years are Semien and Marisnick. Brad Hand hasn't been a disaster for Washington... but we all have to like Hiro Sawamura at about a tenth of the cost. If I was GM, I'd be wearing a gorilla suit and stowing away on a ship to a desert island by now.

I think the trend is to "try" to build a lockdown pen, but not many ever make it through an entire season without burn-out from overuse or just inconsistencies that come from nightly expectations clashing with flawed humanity. Remember the recent Yankees' Greatest Bullpen of All-Time that led them to the World Series zero times?

Re. this year's playoffs, the most current thing I could on find on mlb.com is from a month ago: "The league and the players' union did not reach a new agreement regarding expanded playoffs for this year. In the absence of such a pact, the playoffs will once again feature five-team fields in both the AL and NL and begin with win-or-go-home Wild Card Games in both leagues." What you need to know about MLB in 2021 WWW.MLB.COM The 2020 Major League Baseball season, upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, was delayed by nearly four months. The typical 162-game scheduled ultimately was shortened to 60 games, and teams played in empty ballparks due to health and safety protocols. So as Opening Day 2021 approached, fans had many questions, such

But ask honest Yankee fans how much better off they'd be right now with just his daily defense in the middle.

And yet they were HEAVY favorites to win the whole AL! They replaced three-fourths of their rotation with reclamation projects and somehow experts thought they were better??? The ghost of George is haunting them. Old Yankees fans not in denial know the Boss would've signed Bauer, traded for Snell, and never let the crosstown Mets nab Lindor -- who the Yanks needed more than anyone since they blew it letting Didi go (glad to hear ARod address this huge mistake).

I was never a pitcher, and as a hitter I never even liked pitchers. But as a Red Sox fan growing up in the 60s, 70s and 80s, I cheered for many Hall of Fame type hitters -- but never a winner. It wasn't like Boston didn't have any star pitchers, just never enough. New York, on the other hand, always had plenty of pitching, especially under George Steinbrenner once free agency began. The Yankees had pretty good hitting -- a lot of .290 guys -- but constantly stockpiled quality arms, even after they won it all. They were almost always a little better. Then the cycle repeated itself in the 90s. We all know how the Sox finally reversed the curses this century: see 2004 ALCS Gm 7... or 2018 ALDS Gm 3...