5GoldGlovesOF,75

I agree there won't be much if any pitching available at the deadline. The Sox strategy may just be to trade as many arms on the MLB roster as possible for any prospects. I'd be shocked if Bloom can get any player with more potential than Arauz for, you name it: Workman, Barnes, Valdez, Perez, Eovaldi (contract), etc. Hoarding a handful of Arauz types is still more attractive than bullpen castoffs at this point. Quantity may eventually yield quality, whether a prospect develops into a regular or is someday used in a package for impact...

JBJ was probably gone after this season, good or bad. He's quoted as saying he's excited for free agency -- something like what every player plays for (I'm paraphrasing). No doubt the concept was discussed with his good buddy and ex-roommate Marcus; they're both from the south, and smart enough to seek warmer climes to extend careers as they age. Bradley is also another Red Sox player who never professed his unending love for Boston nor instructed his agent to structure a deal to ensure he stays here, like Bogaerts.

Anyone can hustle when a club is winning and teammates demand similar unified effort. But it's hard even for the stars to bring energy to a nightly lost cause. That's why there'll always be a spot in the lineup for a guy like Verdugo... who threatens to be great someday surrounded by the talent of a contender.

The Angels suck, too, this year -- 7-14; are they more entertaining than Boston? Some people like to argue vociferously that Mike Trout doesn't make a difference on a team without pitching, but wouldn't it be more fun to watch him every night than just about any other player? Would Mookie -- he of the high-risk, low-gravity frame (destined to break down any year now) -- make a difference if the Sox kept him? For those who believe in WAR -- and since Betts once again leads the MLB in WAR -- Boston would have about two more wins by now. At least those two games would have been more entertaining...

Sox docs checked his medicals and want a do-over on the Number 1 pick...

Two things we may never know the truth to: 1). if Betts wanted out of Boston, as suggested by Michael Holley; 2). who really signed Sale, since it was Henry who said at the time he didn't want to repeat the Lester mistake. I don't think anyone is in favor of keeping a system well-stocked with prospects and not be willing to deal some of them for pieces to win a World Series. Pitching is always a premium, but the majority of key arms in all of Boston's titles this century were acquired via trades or free agency; the entire starting rotations and ace closers in '18 and '04 were imports, as were most in '07 and '13... major homegrown hurlers included Papelbon in '07, Buccholz in '13, and Lester in both years -- and that's about it (guys like Barnes, Workman, Delcarmen and Dubront contributed). Spending is what won for the Red Sox, but less on free agent arms and more on scouting, drafting and signing draft picks and then flipping a lot of those prospects for pitchers others teams could no longer afford. MLB draft and salary rules have changed in the past decade, and now Bloom is here. Where the Sox seemed to hit on every acquisition a few years ago, so have the Yankees in the past year. No one should be surprised if roles reverse yet again in another two years.

Especially, from behind a mask. When he's gone in a month or so, the lasting memory of RR will literally be ephemeral, almost wraithlike. Cue the Dead Sox metaphors -- but don't call them the Walking Dead, since foes have done more damage swinging at our pitching staff; it's definitely more a combo of historically bad WHIP... the Whipping Dead? The Whipping Boys.

Good post. For those who blame the cliff on Dombrowski, would anyone trade 2018 so the next half decade would be good but not great? Think of 1988 through 1995, three division title teams that never once won 90 games... solid clubs but clearly not championship caliber. How long will it take Bloom to restock the farm and develop the right amount of above-average players who will help the Sox "sustain contention"? More importantly, how long will a current ownership accustomed to quick turnaround and banners be willing to wait before it inevitably starts throwing Betts' money at lesser free agents? Dombro came in, saw an immediate need for an ace, and signed Price. He then was able to use prospects to trade for the best closer available in Kimbrel, another All-Star starter in Pomeranz, and finally, the best pitcher in the AL at the time in Sale. In the title push, he added Eovaldi. Sure, there's always a cost for talent -- and the Sox may be better off right now if they still had Logan Allen, Michael Kopech and Jalen Beeks... but World Series contenders?

What I meant by constant turnover is an old pre-free agency philosophy that winning GMs with deep systems employed, grooming heir-apparents in the minors that weren't called up until they were ready to step in and thrive. Of course, teams had the luxury of the reserve clause, so they could keep stars as long as they were productive, and then replace them when age and salary got too high. To clarify, the "turnover" wasn't a complete teardown, just transitioning one or two new -- and younger -- players every year or so. It's all anti-Dombrowski, who just chose to sign or acquire as many established veterans as he could...

Not what I'm saying -- when I said it's improbable a team would give up anything decent right now, I was actually agreeing with you that a club like the Reds would refuse to swap their No. 3 starter for Bogaerts (even though both were stars last year). Unless it's two also-rans blowing it up and tossing shrapnel at each other, it's just highly unlikely any new viable prospects will be here by the end of the month.

Thread title is a misnomer, please change to Starting NO tation. This sprint season is good case study in what happens to a handful of big leaguers when they are forced to play with many minor leaguers against legitimate MLB teams. Even the Sox' former stars -- those talented regulars with World Series rings -- have struggled to compete and focus during such a lost cause. I'd bet many of them, like many fans, can't wait for 2020 to just end. The only guys who show spark are newcomers trying to prove themselves and earn jobs and respect: Verdugo, Arauz, Perez, Pillar. It backs the theory of always striving for some constant roster turnover, even on a proven winner.

Since the outcomes are no longer in doubt, will the Red Sox ever lead in a game this weekend?

Two reasons to keep watching: Verdugo beat out a DP grounder by hustling. Then Devers knocked some sense into himself -- banging his bat against his own helmet, then ripping an RBI-single.

Right now, the way the Red Sox are playing, there actually may not be a single player on the MLB roster that anyone will be willing to give up anything decent for. I'm serious; Bloom may actually have to think about dealing the Sox' top prospects -- Downs and/or Casas -- to get a minor league pitcher with the ceiling of a staff's #3 or #4 starter... that's MLB starter.

Since NY won't bat in the 9th, Boston pitchers only have one more inning to give up two more runs to reach our quota of at least 8 runs against per game. But I'm confident in this Sox team. I know they can do it. ... they didn't let me down.

Manfred recently said it's ok, but though it's begrudgingly accepted, it's really not ok in the "unwritten" book -- if a pitcher or catcher notices a baserunner peeking and sending signs to batters, they often answer by drilling either the batter or the runner in his next at bat. If the perp plays infield, he may get spiked, or kneed or elbowed in a takeout slide later on. No one forgets.

I totally respect your stance. But it has to be hard being a fan of a sport where base stealers try to get a better chance of stealing a base by stealing the signs of pitchers and catchers, who try to steal the signs of coaches to base stealers, to get a better chance of stealing an out.

99: When Red Sox Win, Kids Eat Free!

It would be better to watch. I know we've had this convo before... as a fan I want fun in my pastimes; of course, winning it all is the most fun, but I watched about half of those "86 years" without a title, and most of them were highly entertaining because the Red Sox always had -- and always made sure they had -- great players to watch. Losing Lynn and Fisk were inexcusable mistakes... Tiant and Pedro were past their primes... Nomar had to go... I thought Lester needed a change of scenery, too. As for Mookie... the Dodgers may not even win a single World Series in his dozen year contract (they haven't won in over 30 years). But because of him, I bet it will be more fun being a Dodger fan in the next decade than being a Red Sox fan.

Matching Cole with goose eggs through one full (albeit Cole 8 pitches, Brewer 89 pitches)...

They don't even use the c-word, since "stealing" has always been an actual legal term and concept in the sport. Pitchers and catchers and defenders have secret signs to deceive batters and baserunners... who have secret signs of their own... as coaches and managers on both sides spend bad portions of every game sending signs while trying to intercept opposition signs (and they all know the absurdity of sudden MLB decrees that they're only allowed to "steal" in certain ways). Nobody is really sorry for doing what they've always done as ballplayers since at least high school -- except PR departments that suddenly have to answer to mass media that never played the sport at an advanced level that panders to "shocked" portions of fandom that never played the game at advanced levels.

Cubs are having or soon to have "we can't sign them all" issues, too. But they haven't stopped spending. They're stuck with a bad longterm pitcher signing (Kimbrel) but they didn't let that force them to trade their best player. And they remain in contention...

Even if current and ex-players continue to forgive him for being a scapegoat?

But they paid Big Papi (who granted sometimes took what turned out to be team-friendly contracts). The Red Sox won three titles in the Ortiz era, but in all his other years that they didn't, the fans still had fun watching a great player perform, many times leading Boston into contention. Some franchises may not win a ring for 86 years, but it is the star players providing sustained hope that make this entertainment product worthy of our time and investment.

If only the Red Sox had a player so good that he could hit three home runs in a game six times by the time he was 27 years old...