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5GoldGlovesOF,75

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Everything posted by 5GoldGlovesOF,75

  1. Bogaerts and Vazquez are the only two fulltime position players left from the 2018 champs. Wonder what they're thinking this morning. Surely, it has nothing to do with contending or pretending in '21 -- at least not in Boston. More likely it's: Where will I be playing in the next year or two?
  2. Rafie and Cora just may have a symbiotic connection, as far as one affecting the other's longterm future in Boston. It will be hard for Devers to exceed '19 when he led the bigs with 90 XBHs; it's unreasonable to expect him to become Adrian Beltre, but at least his D could become more consistent.
  3. One STRIKE away, like three times. But it wasn't vs. the Yankees...
  4. Not a poll, just wondering: which Red Sox player will have the most impactful comeback in 2021? There are many candidates: JD, Beni, Rafie (on D, at least), ERod, even Sale, perhaps, or Cora, himself... But based on age and potential, I'd have to say Darwinzon Hernandez. ps. not counting new Sox, like Richards
  5. "And there's pandemonium on the field!" Ned Martin taught me as much vocabulary in those days as Stan Lee (but not alliteration). Both were more meaningful to kids in New England than any text books.
  6. That's only one sore-ce...
  7. 81 breaks even. Do you think Cora will tell reporters in ST, "We'll win more than we lose" -- like Dick Williams did in '67? We've already got a pair of infield stars like Rico and Boomer. Maybe if Verdugo pulls a Yaz... but who will be Lonnie: Pivetta? Richards? If one guy was ever due to harness his stuff for an entire season, it'd be Eovaldi. To talk pennant, our outfield just needs another 65 career WAR guy like Smith, and another on a Cooperstown pace (barring injury) like Tony C.
  8. We know the pen was burnt out early because starters couldn't even make it to 5th. But the blown saves, whenever they came, were a big part preventing '19 from being a 90-win season. As for '20, the bullpen was half the starting rotation, so roles will have to be redefined by AC, beginning next week... If the division and league aren't as strong, wouldn't a perceptive front office -- hot off the celebration of resetting -- seek to capitalize by recruiting needed talent that's been available all winter and debated here? Imagine Theo Epstein in his Boston days looking at the competition and saying, "No one else looks that good, so we don't have to fortify much"...
  9. '19's rotation was a disappointment, with down years from everyone but ERod -- mainly because of injuries, except to Porcello, who just declined. As unnerving as Sale's season was, he still averaged 13.3 Ks per 9. A big key to the record was the lack of a shutdown closer, like a Kimbrel or Papelbon in their primes. An automatic-type closer is vital to a mediocre team that needs to secure any win it can. The '21 Red Sox don't have one yet.
  10. Does anyone think this team as of now is better than the 2019 Red Sox that won 84? If so, please elaborate. I chose 78 wins, which is 6 games below .500... or only three wins away from .500. That's an improvement over last summer when they were 12 games under. The last time the Sox went 78-84, they finished last in 2015.
  11. Beat me to it. The core of those Impossible Dreamers was all in their low-to-mid 20s; Yaz was the old vet at 27. After Tony C got beaned, they added Hawk Harrelson, 25. Lonborg had two seasons before transforming into Cy Young at 25. The late-80s Sox had a promising crop, but no Lonborg. In '87, the outfield featured Greenwell, Burks and Benzinger. Jody Reed got called up, then was a starter the next year. Sam Horn socked 14 HRs in 46 games, then became a website. The next season Brady Anderson and Carlos Quintana debuted. No pitchers, though.
  12. I'm told that someday Bloom will; he's just waiting for the right year (or the green light from his bosses).
  13. If will be starting on the mound Opening Day, then in the next game, and the next game, and the next game... then, we'll get Martin Perez. But I think both these Red Sox and their fans would rather be dismissed as underdogs going in, compared to the AL favorites also stocked with uncertain pitching.
  14. Kike's playing second -- he's Cora's guy there. Verdugo's in center, the banana splits are down the lines. If Bloom signs the reliever from Japan, he might have a mil left to add Marisnick, for late innings or to replace slumpers until Duran is ready. That's all, folks.
  15. I'd be shocked if it's JBJ, especially with the number of years and dollars being discussed... unless, Bloom has a good offer for Duran -- the most likely prospect to deal (for a decent return) if the plan is to keep Bradley to improve the rotation's ERA.
  16. I wouldn't trade Bronson Arroyo for him. But I actually think OBP can be a bit overrated for certain guys; I want my sluggers swinging more at borderline pitches they can drive rather than being too selective and walking a lot. Not from the heels, though -- Ks are worthless. That's why I have hope for Casas, who reportedly chokes up to make contact (until some pitchers at the next level find some weakness). Bregman chokes up, too.
  17. b-WAR's scale calls a 2+ a "Starter"; at his best, Renfroe was a 2.3 and 2.7 in '18 and '19 (he was a zero -- or no better than a replacement player -- last year). b-WAR also calls 5+ "All-Star Quality"... He's got power, but so did Wily Mo Pena (one of his comps). But how are Sox fans underrating him?
  18. I'm still trying to figure out how Sox fans are underrating a guy like Renfroe. Even if we dismiss his .158 batting average from the Covid season, he's still a .228 career hitter.
  19. Some of us half-glass drinkers would see this as less mileage on the arm... though realists may choose to sit back and count how many guys who missed an entire year -- in the majors -- will just instantly transform back into the athletes they were when they were two years younger.
  20. He'd have to play "pitcher" or first base... because any T-ball fan knows that 99% of balls in play don't make it past the mound. But just make sure he doesn't run from the batter's box to third base.
  21. Maybe no one on this board is as skeptical about the Red Sox 2021 rotation as I am. Here's the rotation, as of now: #1 If, #2 If, #3 If, #4 If, #5 Martin Perez, #6 If. But then, here's the rotation of everybody's preseason AL favorites: #1 Cole, #2 If, #3 If, #4 If, #5 If, #6 If. They look a sure thing.
  22. Losing Fisk, Lynn and Burleson -- for what they got back in return -- was as depressing as two Mookie trades. Those Sox teams still had a lot of star power, but their rise back to respectability was due to the development of young pitching... finally: Hurst, Boyd, Ojeda, Tudor, Nipper and the youngest, Clemens. The latter ace made them an actual contender.
  23. Yes. Can't win if you don't get in. Wouldn't it be contradictory to one of the main themes of this board to refuse to try to qualify for the Crapshoot? Getting "bounced early" shouldn't count, either, since that would be in retrospect (and after all, just a product of the Crapshoot). Plus, the best-laid plans have a history of backfiring; otherwise, Vegas and bookies everywhere would have gone out of business long ago. Also, for those convinced Bloom's ingenuity will turn this current roster into a playoff team by next year or maybe even this October, I was a diehard rooter as a kid and adolescent from 1968-1985, watching and listening to the Red Sox... when they made the postseason once in 18 years. Don't forget the '04 champs were Wild Card sharks!
  24. But better than cheering for Jeter Downs?
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