5GoldGlovesOF,75

I'm going with 6-7 pitchers -- and not all back-end starters or cup-of-coffee openers (though there will be another couple more Pivettas/Seabolds with options and actual potential). We'd better hope.

After '04, I made future predictions for the curse-breakers. One was not that Dave Roberts would be a losing World Series manager to the historically best Red Sox team, or a winning World Series manager with the former best Red Sox player in half a century. I didn't have Kapler as a future manager, either. But I thought for sure Varitek would be the first skipper from the group. I also saw Schilling as a politician (oops), ... and Millar as a talkshow host.

So... about 10 Keepers, and the rest Jeepers-Creepers.

I was thinking: Imagine Yankee fans reading this discussion on how Red Sox pitcher ERAs fit into the 7 column or the 6 column... then I thought: Imagine Red Sox fans reading this. Baby-Bloomers need us some serious signings, trades, Rule 5s, Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes! Turn and face the strange... Ehhh-SAP.

Since the 2020 Red Sox team ERA was 5.58, I won't even count anyone average in the 5s. But here are The Lucky Sevens > 7.00 ERA (minimum 6 games or 10% of season)... in ass-ending order: Covey 7.07, Springs 7.08, Kickham 7.71, Godley 8.16, Walden 9.45, Taylor 9.82, Leyer 21.21 (but in only 4.2 IP... so special recognition must also go out to Hall 18.69 and Hart 15.55). Now I never want to type a post like this again.

Would that turn every juicer back into a free agent? Not that the team losing a key guy to suspension doesn't have to radically alter their roster and plans going forward... But I believe in a free and fair election to the Hall of Fame, as long as voters count every legal PED: multi-vitamins, coffee, 5-hour Energy, protein bars (maybe), shots of Jack Daniels, oatmeal stout, Mounds bars (for pitchers), Lindor chocolate (for shortstops)...

No, I thought you were alerting me to be sarcastic. But I'm just being my anti-emoji self.

The Red Sox would have to trade a lot of good prospects for a Hall of Famer like Betts -- and take back Price... but since we don't have a lot of good prospects, we'd have to get other teams involved. And then chip in some serious money, which is against current philosophy.

Judging by this review, we'd better protect Bazardo... if only to prevent Cashie and the Rays from nabbing him.

In a heartbeat. Snell at the top of the rotation -- in his prime -- instantly brings credibility back to the idea of contending again.

Just goes to show you that guys should never leave the Yankees. As soon as they do, they get into all kinds of trouble with baseball laws. Imagine Cano suddenly doing all that juice as a Met and Mariner, trying to recapture the purity of his youth in New York. At least we can appreciate Beltran, who left his evil ways in Houston and fled back into the angelic embrace of pinstripes.

Rob Bradford likes your idea of the Rays packaging Snell with Kiermaier to the Sox, but doesn't guess who/what it'd take the other way. Knowing the Rays, it would probably be more like Downs, Wong and Darwinzon Hernandez (fits the profile of another big, fast, cheap arm)... at least. But Boston would have a new ace and Bloom would have an ace up his sleeve; if Cora ever refused to yank Snell from a five-inning shutout, the insubordination may be grounds for a Venable or Fuld replacement skipper.

MLB.com predicts the Sox sign Kolten Wong for second, Blake Treinen for closer and James Paxton, as a one-year starting pitcher. The first two address holes, but another unreliable, injury-prone pitcher doesn't approach solving the biggest problem... nor would three Paxtons, to me. They also have Bauer going to the Yanks, Springer and Realmuto to the Mets, and JBJ to the Jays.

You go back, Ben, do it again...

Some pundits have speculated Epstein may transition into a career of a different type of public servant. If he runs in '24, do we still get to type about him -- at least as a Red Sox Hall of Famer?

Finally, some soxtalk by talksox -- though it's still the same four or five guys... Ok, ok, even though the numbers line up on the trade simulator, the Sox probably aren't going to make any big trades, especially since Bloom's only real chips are players he may want to rebuild around. But that doesn't mean other teams, especially mid-markets, won't be doing tear-downs of their business plans after doing basically zero business in a Covid summer. The Guardians will trade Lindor, the Cubs will trade Baez, and the Astros will probably trade Correa, because their clubs know those guys are goners. None of them will get a Verdugo, but they'll all get a Graterol or a Downs. I don't want to trade Bogaerts, but I have doubts he'll be part of the next true Red Sox contender because of his opt out and the number of years it may take Bloom's model for building Boston back up. Sox Nation better be content with watching a young team develop in the next three or five years, unless you're one of those holding out hope for a handful of Cherington Lotto tix all hitting at once like in '13. Realistically, the Sox won't make a radical reversal unless there are radical changes. Expecting the addition of a mid-rotation starting pitcher is far from radical... though it may be a better bet than, say, expecting Sale to ever be Sale again.

Lots of bounce-back candidates; without looking up stats, a few of them seemed once really good for about a half year. Maybe Bloom stays away from Bauer and Springer and instead swings some blockbusters. Here are two that may make sense for the teams listed: Red Sox trade Bogaerts, Duran, Groome, Braiser and Chatham to the Reds for Luis Castillo, Lucas Sims and Joey Votto (trade sim says 44.60 to 45.00). Why might Cincy do it? To dump Votto's contract, plus they need a good shortstop and a hitter -- their offense is historically bad, no matter how good their rotation. Why might Boston do it? Castillo is really good and under control for four years. An All-Star starter is more important than a good outfield prospect, especially since they have another future centerfielder in Jimenez. Then the Sox would trade Dalbec and Potts to Houston for Correa (trade sim says 23.6 to 22.6). Why would the Astros do it? They are going to lose Correa, and may move Bregman to short -- thus, the new third base alternatives. Why would Boston do it? To replace X, who may opt out anyway, with Correa, who may sign because of Cora. Longterm, the Sox look better with Castillo and Correa than Groome and Bogie...

Great, imagine all the openers: instead of just manual openers, we can now afford an electric can opener, and a wall-mounted bottle opener... we can even get a remote that opens the garage door from the street -- without even getting out of the caaaahhh!

According to Cora, one path to improvement for the Sox is "to catch up with the speed of the game". He mentioned areas like defense and baserunning, and an overall lack of depth on the roster in '19 and '20. Checking one aspect of speed -- stolen bases -- reveals a stark contrast in offensive strategy from '18 to '19. The champs were third in the MLB with 125 steals, and then only 17th the next year with 68 (they were 11th in the short season). What may be most telling is that every key baserunner had his number of swipes basically cut in half; here are '18/'19 SB totals: Betts 30/16, Beni 21/10, JBJ 17/8, Bogie 8/4. It almost seems "restgate" extended beyond the pitching staff. But stealing bases was certainly contagious in '18, as guys like Nunez, Holt, and Kinsler nabbed 7 each, while Swihart and even JD stole 6 apiece. Whereas nine Red Sox stole 6 or more in '18, only four players had as many as 6 in '19. In '20 the SB leader was Bogie with 8, then JBJ 5, followed by Verdugo and Vazquez 4 each. We won't replace Mookie, and it's not just about getting younger (can't steal first). But hopefully a hustling mindset can be reinstilled, if not reinstalled.

Nooooo! Not Ara-oooz! He'll be Correa's back-up when Carlos' back acts up...

I'd do it. I have to say I'm skeptical about a "top prospect" who hasn't played past Double A and has already been in three MLB organizations. He's obviously touchable. Seriously, the only guys in the Sox' Top Ten list (per Globe) I wouldn't trade yet are Casas, who from reports might be a hitter and not just an all-or-nothing slugger, Mata, because, well, we need one future/almost-now starter, and Yorke, who should get three or four pro years of development so we can find out if Bloom and Co. really discovered that rare gem in a rockpile.

I like Ozuna, but he'll just make a suspect defense worse -- because he or JD will have to play outfield on a regular basis. A guilty pleasure won't help a beleaguered pitching staff that can never afford to give away extra outs. A big name SP trade means we will give away a big name regular; who? Bloom couldn't possibly move top prospects, could he? As far as Correa -- if anyone can maximize his potential in a change of scenery, starting at his primetime age of 27, isn't it Alex Cora? And I say this assuming Bogie will still be here (unless he's the guy key in the big pitcher trade). Remember, on Cora's club in the World Baseball Classic, Correa played third in deference to Lindor at short.

Ok, but since we both agree Boston needs to make a splash -- and there are very few big names available this year besides Bauer, which most doubt will happen here -- then how would you rank '22's Big Five free agent shortstops as future Red Sox? I have 1. Correa and 2. Lindor, because of Cora, and then 3. Story, 4. Baez, 5. Seager.

Back to Jimenez: has anyone actually seen him play in person? Speier lists him at 220 pounds, while Tomase lists him at 160 pounds. Both say he has elite speed. So is he Pablo or Pedey? At age 20, a kid is usually still growing... In Kirby Puckett's rookie year he hit zero home runs in 538 at bats at age 24. Two years later he hit 31 bombs. He played, however, in that era... though he was more of a hitter than slugger, averaging 19 HRs but 209 hits in 12 seasons.

From sheer memory -- and the eye-test -- Alex Gonzalez was the best, but then I'd choose Orlando Cabrera. No OC, not even ahead of Mike Aviles? I guess not by stats, but he was money throughout the '04 postseason. Drew was maybe the steadiest, but OC always seemed like he made the big play when it mattered most.