Teams are prohibited from contacting players or making any transactions until the lockout is lifted, but every front office still has a plan for areas to target once they’re allowed to again add to the roster. Last night, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom met with media (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe) to address the team’s priorities whenever activity resumes.
“We still would like to add more pitching,” Bloom said. “Short relievers, that’s something we have yet to address in meaningful fashion.” Bloom went on to add that the Sox would continue to be involved in the market for position players, pointing to a right-handed bat as a particular bonus in the wake of the trade that sent Hunter Renfroe to Milwaukee for Jackie Bradley Jr. and two prospects.
As Bloom suggested, Boston has yet to upgrade the late-innings mix, at least directly. The Sox’s signings of James Paxton, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill figure to have trickle-down effects on the bullpen. Wacha may be better suited as a multi-inning reliever than as a traditional starter. Even if all three pitchers assume rotation roles (Paxton is expected to miss the first few months of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery), their additions could afford the flexibility for Boston to use Garrett Whitlock and/or Tanner Houck in relief.
Whitlock spent the entire 2021 season as a reliever, eventually emerging as Boston’s top late-innings arm. The former Rule 5 draftee worked 73 1/3 innings of 1.96 ERA ball with plus strikeout, walk and ground-ball numbers. Boston has expressed openness to stretching him back out as a starting pitcher — as he’d been in the minor leagues — but their rotation additions could give them comfort in keeping Whitlock in the late-game role in which he thrived.
Houck, meanwhile, is coming off an excellent season working primarily as a starter. He pitched to a 3.68 ERA with elite strikeout and walk numbers (30% and 6.2%, respectively) across 13 rotation outings. That showing would seemingly earn him another look on the starting staff. That’s still a brief sample, though, and prior scouting reports have questioned whether the righty’s low arm angle and seldom-used third pitch might give him difficulty handling left-handed batters and/or working through a lineup multiple times.
The Red Sox would surely like to keep the rotation possibility open regarding both players, particularly Houck. And both pitchers were already options for a 2021 relief corps that was fine but unspectacular. Red Sox relievers ranked 13th this past season in ERA (3.99) and 14th in both strikeout/walk rate differential (14.8 percentage points) and SIERA (3.94). After a strong start, it became a particularly problematic unit after the All-Star Break. Not coincidentally, that came alongside a second half collapse from former closer Matt Barnes, who struggled so badly after an outstanding first few months that Boston originally left him off their postseason roster.
While the free agent market moved quickly in anticipation of the transaction freeze, there are still various options available. Kenley Jansen, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and old friends Joe Kelly and Collin McHugh each appeared on either MLBTR’s top 50 free agents or honorable mentions and remain unsigned. Craig Kimbrel is the highest-profile bullpen option available on the trade block, while David Bednar and Cole Sulser stand out among the affordable, under-the-radar options who look like speculative trade candidates.
Boston did make one depth addition in that regard. Speier reported yesterday (on Twitter) that the Sox were in agreement with Michael Feliz on a minor league deal that includes an invitation to big league Spring Training. It’s not clear whether that was made official before the freeze — Feliz’s transactions page at MLB.com hasn’t reflected the move — but it seems likely he’ll be in camp at some point.
Feliz appeared with four different clubs, Boston included, in 2021. He totaled just a 7.20 ERA across 20 cumulative innings, struggling with the home run ball. The 28-year-old has been an inconsistent relief arm over the past few seasons, offsetting big swing-and-miss stuff with elevated walk totals. Adding Feliz as non-roster depth won’t have much of an impact on the front office’s search for more stable bullpen help.
As for the desired right-handed batter, Bloom and his staff have the opportunity to explore multiple avenues. Acquiring Bradley could allow Boston to bump utilityman Enrique Hernández from center field — where he spent the bulk of his time in 2021 — to second base more frequently. In that case, a right-handed hitting outfielder to pair with the lefty-swinging Bradley, Alex Verdugo and Jarren Duran could fit. Alternatively, Hernández could assume that role on the grass while a more natural infielder steps in at the keystone.
Renfroe was a decent right handed bat
F…k Bloom!! He will trade Bogart,Eovaldi,Sale and Martinez in 2022
Glad the Giants locked up 3 starting pitchers ahead of time, clarifies their overall needs after the lockout is over.
Still need one and depth.
Red Sox are lucky to have bloom. He’ll fix the payroll, add young controllable talent, especially on the pitching side.. That’s unbelievably valuable, while also have prospects on the positional player side. And with a payroll like the Red Sox have, in due time, they will be the type of winners that never have a bad year with the sustainability that Bloom is trying to build with the Red Sox. Have some patience Red Sox fans, a guy who builds a true organization doesn’t happen over night, and some sacrifices will have to be made. Enjoy the ride instead of criticizing..
Idk if I’d really call Collin McHugh an “old friend”
Hats off to Bloom for building up some pretty decent rotation depth.
And bullpen help. Hill and Wacha could easy be bullpen guys too
I hope this is sarcasm. Bloom’s rotation is as deep as a grave, which is where he’s throwing another season of prime talent control for a bunch of the sox starters.
oh, a right handed bat like the one you just traded?
Exactly. I think they’ll regret it… unless they sign Carlos Correa and move Xander to 2b.
No, they want someone better than Renfroe. They sold high on him, brought in a 4th outfielder, and now have a chance to sign an impact bat in either the OF or 2b. Renfroe was going to cost twice as much as he did last year. His value was being on a cheap deal. They maximized his talent and flipped him for fringe prospects. That’s the smart play when a guy has a career year for you. He is still an extremely streaky player that made quite a few defensive errors.
Flipped him for prospects and a defensive upgrade.
Almost anything would be a defensive upgrade from renfroe. Led in errors, and fielding % stunk like last weeks garbage.
So you mean they
1)sold renfroe who was supposed to make $7m or so..
2) to bring in a guy who can’t hit out of a bag and lives below mendoza, and makes 9.5m, increasing salary in 2022, and has an 8m buyout/12m salary for 23?
3) Just so they could get better defense back, after
4) having traded away the GG benintendi who hit above league avg, who they paid another team 3+m to take, and took back the useless cordero who was DFA’d to equalize salary all just to net a couple bottom level farm hands of unknown quality?
Wouldn’t it just make more sense to keep benintendi, not sell low on him, have the defense to start, not create OF holes, and not need to bail out of the mess? Benny hits better than JBJ. Is younger, costs less.. and they could’ve left renfroe there with his bat.
Off-season Plan
(Chaim is clearly open to exceeding CBT)
We should trade Dalbec, Verdugo, and Bryan Bello for Ketel. This would allow Ketel to play second while allowing Kike and Bradley to own one of the best defensive outfields.
Then we need to sign Suzuki for the last outfield spot. Have Duran at the ready if Suzuki or JBJ struggle.
Finally Schwarber must be brought back to continue at first base until Casas is ready.
I would also consider Jansen
Lineup
CF Kike
2B Ketel
SS X
3B Devers
DH JD
1B Schwarber
C Vazquez
RF Bradley
LF Suzuki/Duran
Thoughts?
That is way too much for two seasons of control over Marte.
can i offer you a nice and shiny former #1 overall pick, Justin Upton? He’s right handed
Thank you for the offer, but no…
so ungrateful of such a kind offer. smh, people these days…
@Cookmeister – Sure! The Angels will just need to take JBJ back in the trade and pay the remaining $16M due to David Price for 2022 and we’ll take Upton off your hands! We’ll even throw in Phillips Valdez as a sweetener. Deal?
If they are looking to spend big maybe Castellanos? If not, Soler? McCutchen?
I would be ok with Tepera or bringing Robles back but please stay away from Kelly and especially Jansen
Oooooh Cutch would be interesting
Castellanos is a dh. You cant have another jd martinez on the team
McCutchen sounds like a Bloom move.
@RSox – Cutch on a 1 year deal actually makes quite a bit of sense for Boston. They could sign him for reasonable money and not block any rookies from joining the team later in the season. They should also look to re-sign Hansel Robles. I know he’s been inconsistent at best career to date, but he really seemed to thrive in Boston and love it here. When he was on, he was virtually unhittable.
Bloom missed out on Melancon this offseason if you ask me. Arizona signed him for short money and all the guy does is exceed his projections year after year. He would have been great Matt Barnes insurance as a closer too. I’m guessing they didn’t sign him because his success relies on a strong infield defense and the Red Sox were the worst defensive IF in all of baseball last season. Bloom has a plan to improve the IF defense but that won’t kick in until 2023 (hint: the left side of the IF will be completely different then). One more year of treading water and signing mid level FA’s and then Boston is prepared to kick it into Championship Chasing Mode. If they somehow make it back to the playoffs in 2022, it’s all gravy.
I have no idea why Chaim thinks he needs another RH bat. After all, they did just sign ROB REFSNYDER!
Trade for Marcell Ozuna. 🙂
Braves take back JBJ and Barnes plus throw in a prospect like Pache. Who says no?
@Rking Whoever would get Ozuna I’d hope.
Doesn’t hurt to ask though. No Braves fan wants to see that guy on our team next year. All AA has to do is convince Bloom how out of the box thinking it would be.
Yeah I just saw there’s video now of him strangling his wife. SMH
Do you think they’d actually let him suit up next year?
Unfortunately there are 50 million plus reasons why that is likely to happen
Unfortunately Boston is even more PC-bull oriented and safe-space insistent than Atlanta.
Your chances are poor.
Call Houston, they don’t care as evidenced by past signings and actions.
Tommy Pham?
Negative on Pham. St Louie gave him to Tampa for 10c on the dollar. he wasn’t exactly the best of clubhouse guys for the Rays, then the Rays managed to ship him off to the Pad’s, he right away gets into a bar brawl, getting cut up in the process.. Something about that guy want no part of in Boston..
2 teams shipped him off, even tho he was more than just a useful player. He’s not a “happy” guy and things seem to go wrong around him.. Let him stay in SD, at least not in Boston.
Chaim looks like Rami Malek
Best comment on this thread so far lol
there’s worse people to look like
I’m amazed at the grief Bloom is getting. The Red Sox based in part on what Bloom brought in over the past couple of years made it to the AL championship. If not for a horrible missed call on what should have been strike three and the final out of the ninth inning of game four, who knows how that series would have gone? I scratch my head on Renfroe for Bradley and two unknowns, but am willing to see what happens.
Fan bases tend to overreact to everything. It’s the nature of the beast. Have a quick, negative take instead of looking at the bigger picture. To them, “critical thinking” means being critical of everything.
The key to the Renfro deal is the minor leaguer who was at A ball Carolina Mudcats. Alex Binelas is one of my former players and the best young hitter I have coached. He was not once but 2x preseason college player of the year at Louisville. Due to a slow start after Covid/injury as sophomore at Louisville. Scouts downgraded him from top 10 overall pick and ended up going to hometown Brewers in third round. After starting 1 for 30 his Jr year, he still managed 19 HR and 67 rbis and in shortened A ball found his stroke hitting 314 with 9 HR. This kid as a LH batter with big time power perfectly fits Fenway. Brewers were sleeping on him as definitely can be consistent 300 hitter with 40 HR 100+RBI annually at major league level. Total heist for the Red Sox!
Agreed. I live in Louisville and the kid rakes. He was projected as a 1st rd pick but fell to round three after a slow start. He put up solid numbers in A ball, as well. Chaim got a superior defensive CF’er and bought two prospects. one of those prospects being very, very good.
Coach JG Are you by any chance the former coach that Alex mentioned on the Section 10 podcast?
Never saw it. Do you have a link
I also have video of an bat from Alex hitting it to the second level as a 13 yr old! Will also tell you he played on same team as Jared Kelenic and Tyler Herro ! Alex was and is the best of the 3!
I know Henry Davis went first overall and is a hell of a catcher but Alex has a Hall of Fame Bat period. He will be the one that pans out.
Coach JG. Thats really neat. I dont think the brewers are sleeping on him though. They drafted him for a reason. The problem is they’re window is now. Their rotation and bullpen are at their peak
Yes brewers need immediate help but AJ as I call Alex being included in this trade will turn into one of the worst in brewers history similar to cubs trading Lou Brock to Cardinals. No long term future player like him who is homegrown Milwaukee and would take hometown discounts likely to stay and wanted to bring title to Milwaukee should have been in this trade. Huge mistake but humongous gain for Alex and Boston who develop every day players. Rich got richer imo .
@Coach JG – Pretty cool you coached this kid (at what level I don’t know) but there is a huge difference between success in college vs. success in MLB. I do hope Binelas pans out and fulfills the expectations you set for him in your posts but right now, he is currently blocked by 4+ players (Devers, Dalbec, Casas, Blaze Jordan & Bogaerts if he moves off of SS). Is he athletic enough to transition to the outfield, or is he a corner IF / DH only? That will determine if he has a future with Boston or if he’ll be moved again in a future trade. But thanks for pumping us up over his potential. It was obvious they liked him but I didn’t realize he was projected as a first rounder as late as 2020. That’s pretty cool and makes me feel much better about this deal.
Is he athletic enough to transition to the outfield, or is he a corner IF / DH only?
===================================
One of my readings suggested a move to the outfield. They weren’t high on him as a 3B, but might be athletic enough to be a corner outfielder. As an infielder, his value to us is obviously limited, but we are short in OF prospects.
Alex was a shortstop for me as I coached him in travel ball. I knew he would outgrow the position. I would say as a defender I would move him to a corner position feeling LF would be prime. His bat will find him a position as I said he is a ++ hitter. Imo the best hitter in the last draft and can definitely hit for average, power, and hit premium pitching. He can hit lefties and righties. He really has no weakness at the plate with a great eye. Comes from great family as dad played professional basketball overseas. He is a top of the order hitter period. Arm is above avg not great but is a winner! He is does nothing but work on his game. Doesn’t drink or drugs and is all about winning. You got a great one and a steal!
Can play OF and did for me. LF is where he needs to go.
Long way from Single A to the Major Leagues my friend. The path is littered with players who were not talented enough. Let me know when he makes it to Triple AAA and then we will see. Give me an established player anytime as opposed to a “Prospect”.
Don’t you remember when we traded Renteria to Atlanta in 2006 for Can’t miss prospect power hitting 3rd baseman Andy Marte who never made it in the major leagues. Another can’t miss “Prospect”.
Agreed but telling you this kid is special. Trust me
I hope you are right.
@AL 34 – Andy Marte…there’s a blast from the past. Great reference!
Why not just leave Whitlock in the bullpen and use Houck as a starter? I’m not going to claim I’m an expert at pitching development, but it seems that everytime a Rule 5 pick (pitcher) does really well, the team moves them to the rotation because they were a starter in the minor leagues and it doesn’t work out well. Houck has pitched well primarly as a starter. Whitlock had a great year as a reliever.
The reason is because starting pitching is far more valuable. But I think there is a chance that Whitlock ends up in the bullpen one more year before they move him. Based on the moves so far, unless the Sox sign or trade for an impact reliever, they made need him in the 8th or 9th.
Daniel Bard
they’ll only be seeking minor league help
They should trade JBJ and 2 recently acquired prospects for Hunter Renfroe. Seems like a good fit for them.
Bloom wants “short relievers” I always find tall pitchers better.
Chaim Bloom or Sawx fans who thought he was an idiot for signing Keekay Hernandez to a 2-yr/$14 contract? Hmmm. I think I’ll side with Bloom on this one.
Cey Hey – $7M for a .250 hitter. That’s your idea of a good deal? It’s easy to remember his hot streak but you must look at the total of his contribution and that was very mediocre just like his career. $7M for Kiki is better than for Wacha but they gave up a guy with more potential making $6M in Benny. Bloom’s batting average is still way below the Mendoza line and I’m willing to give the fair deal for Kiki to his win column!!!.
“It’s easy to remember his hot streak”…….Actually no it isn’t. You mean the one where he carried the team in July or carried the team through the playoffs? That’s such a weird take since having epic hot streaks when it matters is an MVP characteristic not a bug.
The Renfroe deal is exactly the type of sensible move that Bloom makes. You take a guy who probably just had his career year and trade him while he’s a commodity for two prospects, one of whom (Binelas) seems like a diamond in the rough. Bloom’s scouts seem to know what they’re doing. Nobody thought twice about Garrett Whitlock before they snagged him from the Yanks, and look how that turned out.
The Bradley part of the deal is just the Brewers (a small market team) offsetting salary / probably also a way for the Sox to up the prospect capital they’ll get in return. It also plugs the bench outfield role they’ve opened up in the short term by trading Renfroe. I loved watching Renfroe—he’s a fun player—but he’s also notoriously streaky and more of a flashy defender than he is a solid one. It’s not the most satisfying trade in the world, but then, trades for prospects never are.
I don’t know, my knee-jerk reaction was “what the hell is this?”, too, but Bloom is ever the pragmatist. He’s not going to break the bank to make his team competitive a) before he’s stabilized the farm system again and b) while the division title is more elusive than it will be in coming years because at least three other teams (Yanks, Rays, Jays) are really good. Makes perfect sense to me. You strike when the window’s there; the Sox’s window is far from closed, but it isn’t exactly wide open, either. And there’s still a lot of offseason left. I think it’s all going to be just fine.
You’re that terrified of the Yanks and Jays? The Jays just lost a Cy young winner plus Marcus Semien. They are basically the “Yankees lite” in terms of over hyped.
The Rays cannot keep pulling pitching out of thin air, they just can’t.
Then you look at Franchy – Strike one, Garrett Richards the $10M starter – Strike two, Marwin Gonzalez (aka DFA) – Strike three, Matt Andriese – Strike four – you see the pattern. Hope it works out for us and Bloomie
thecroc – perfect name for what you are spewing!!!
Bloom’s an idiot and no influencer is going to come in here and try to spin the crap he just pulled as if it was a good move.
Renfroe, Verdugo, Benny are all slightly above league average fielders. As long as they are cheap they can off set the expensive players on the team. Unfortunately, Bloom comes from a place where there are no expensive player elsewhere on the team just players that arrive in TB and flourish until they deserve to be paid.
This is Boston and the TB formula has earned no rings. Being a 90 win team that never wins is not better than a team that wins rings, has a drop off year due to injuries then comes back and wins another ring. The TB formula gives absolutely no satisfaction to the fan base with respect to Duck Boat Parades. What it gives the fan base is a way to rationalize not winning because the team is competitive every year. Yes, it’s like a participation trophy and we all know how much more popular those are in this day and age. I prefer rings for my ball club. This isn’t horseshoes so close does not count, it’s a wasted season. Teams play to win. If they don’t then fans lose interest or change teams and the game suffers.
Some of the MYTHS in your writings:
1 – The farm system is ranked higher but Bloom’s contribution to that came from failure. His deals haven’t strengthened the farm system If it had those players would be playing in the bigs like Houck, Duran, Dalbec, Chavis and the half dozen other graduates that all came from the farm system you inaccurately summarized as bad.
2 – The Yankees, Toronto and Tampa Bay being good is not a new phenomena. When Baltimore becomes good that will be. DD walked in the door made a couple of deals and won 3 straight division titles. He started with less than Bloom and didn’t get rid of the best player on the team and made the franchise an even bigger success. Bloom has run down a once magnificent franchise. Even a lucky season wasn’t enough to win his first Division Title after two years of far below average results. He couldn’t even win during a year when the Yankees were down!!! Why? Because he’s from an organization that has not won ANYTHING in it’s history.
3 – The off season should have lots of time left with the current lockout. There might not be games in 2020 so he’ll have plenty of time to make deals. Oops did you forget to mention that because of his change in the make-up of the payroll Boston doesn’t have any money to do anything this off season?.
Yes, DD had a top heavy and bottom heavy roster with 6 big contracts and lots and lots of sub $5M players. That’s how a good GM builds a roster. Studs to be the foundation then inexpensive filler players to compliment the studs. Bloom changed that by eliminating studs and adding lots of middle money players who aren’t very good but aren’t completely expensive. They do, however, cost more than $5M so now the roster is slightly less top heavy and much more middle heavy thus leaving him in the same boat as before, no money and dwindling star players.. Down from 6 big contracts to 4 Bloom has replaced those two studs with lots of middle of the road guys who don’t carry a team. That’s why the talent level is down. It’s the difference of having star studded team versus an anonymous team using the same amount of money. Think of Russia under communism and the US under capitalism. One team is a bunch of equals making similar amounts of money and the other has a segment of the team outplaying and out earning the others and carrying the team to victory. Historically, which technique would you guess has been more successful? Yep star studded American way of doing things!! Bloom should coach a Russian team! Wait even Russia figured out their system didn’t work so they made it more like the US!! Sorry Bloom history shows your philosophy doesn’t work.
So as an influencer you must be really busy this time of year. I look forward to all your spinning of facts on this website.
Chavis is gone.
Also was terrible.
Dalbec is a fringe platoon 1B.
He fixed Pivetta and nabbed Whitlock.
Bloom’s guy won’t be up for awhile because he’s been the GM for 2 years. The RS did not have 6 studs. It’s hilarious that you’ve counted David Price as one of your 6. He can’t even crack the Dodgers rotation any longer.
This is a useless exercise bc you’ve decided that Bloom stinks and nothing will ever change your thought process.
The Atlanta Braves just won a WS w/o Ronald Acuna and Mike Soroka. There’s no secret sauce for winning a WS championship. They didn’t have the best team in baseball but they did have the best team in baseball at the right time. You build a sustainably competitive one and then October comes around and you hope you get hot at the right time.
@JOHNNYBets… Agree with all that except Bobby D if he gets reps he’ll park more bombs than Devers eventually in the next 2 years…maybe at 3b too in my opinion, if he’s not traded the only guy with more power will be Casas when he fills out…he’ll be a superstar 1b!
Can y’all take Ozuna from us please???
LOL at people saying 2021 was a career year for Renfroe. He’s been hitting bombs at a pretty decent rate since he hit the big leagues. His slugging, OPS and OPS+ from 2018 is basically identical to 2021.
If he ever quits swinging at junk then you’ll see a career year.
Nick Castellanos would be a perfect fit…
Has anyone commented on Michael Feliz? Guy looks underrated with an FIP at 4.14, still young and a SO/9 consistently over 10. Going off stats alone, but that’s my two cents.
Its been about 24 hours. Im still in shock. But I trust in Bloom. I think we are only one third of the way through the dominos. Suzuki interests me very much.
This still puts us on the Suzuki path. And Duran and/or Downs for an RP.
I was gonna say Anthony Rizzo but he’s a lefty. Right field would benefit him at Febway. And what better way to finish off his career(possibly) with the team that drafted him.
The Sox don’t need a first baseman. Dalbec can hold down the position until Casas is ready (hopefully by May or June). If Casas doesn’t work out, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Boston move Devers off 3rd and over to 1B. They could do the same with Bogaerts too. If the Sox spend any more money on offensive players this offseason, it has to be either for 2nd base or the outfield. I’d love to see them sign Suzuki as their farm system’s major weakness is lack of major league ready OFs, excluding Duran.
Bilbo you do realize that Right Field in Fenway is one of the toughest places to hit a home run so know Right field won’t benefit Rizzo. Having the short porch in left may benefit him if he can go the other way.
I’m assuming you were talking to me. I’m not sure who Bilbo is though. Rizzo is mostly a pull hitter. He doesn’t necessarily hit it to pesky’s pole. Somewhere like he hit in the WC game.
My point is Billy unless as a lefty pull hitter right field in Fenway is one of the toughest parks to hit a home run in so it’s doubtful that a pull hitter like Rizzo would benefit from playing in Fenway. On the other end of the spectrum right field in Yankee stadium is one of the easiest parks to hit a home run in and that would be a good place for him to continue to play and enjoy a short porch.
Lots of smart people here talking on both sides of the discussion. I feel like everyone is missing the real factor to everything Bloom is doing. I believe they feel they have a potential superstar in Mayer and everything they do going forward will be to add more talent within his timeline. The team they have now is not complete enough to spend their way to being legit. They are not deep enough with the cheap controllable talent. They’re essentially wasting Devers window because the farm wasn’t ready to augment talent without ridiculous spending.
Devers is 24, a lot of window left if they want to sign him. This is the Bogaerts/Devers window and they already have a ring in it. The next big window is Casas and Mayer joining one or both of them. If Bogaerts stays on his very reasonable deal and they extend Devers early to save a little, then add Casas and Mayer, they have what could be a great homegrown core 4. With money about to come off for Price, JD, JBJ, Eovaldi, Wacha, Hill, Paxton, they should be in a fine spot to add around it.
Yes Devers is young and they could definitely extend him within Mayer’s window. I’m just pointing out that the ideal situation that I feel most general managers are striving for are having your elite players being young and at low cost and then supplementing that with a combination of elite young and cheap talent and also expensive free agent signings. It all starts with that one elite young player. Blue jays are an example of that with Vladdy, Bichette and Manoah. They’ve got a serious window opened up where spending big makes a lot of sense. Until Boston has that you will continue to see signings like the Paxton, Hill etc
Time to take the kid gloves off Durran as he is a Top 10 OF prospect for the entire league, but also the oldest by far at 25 yo. He needs to start whether its CF or LF. Verdugo CF/LF/RF. Enrique needs to play CF and Arroyo needs to be at 2B. But I am guessing they give JBJ the CF job. Great here comes 0.163 – .225. and oh and some great D from the one-time GG.
Hope Bloom is looking to flip some of the accumulated prospects for pitching.
May I suggest Hunter Renfroe?
May I suggest Hunter Renfroe?
Rafael Devers will not be our 3b by 2024. (Possibly sooner) but not in 2024 or beyond. Great player but the defense can’t stay like that at the hot corner. Much like Bogey can’t stay at SS with his defense. Can’t have it that bad. 1 of 2 maybe but not 2 & preferably neither field that poorly. At the end of the day right now you have Casas coming for 1b. I predict he sticks there and produces (Ortiz like numbers if he stays healthy) that leaves Bobby D. & Blaze Jordan gunning for 3rd base by 2024. I believe the smart move in 2022 is to try to design a 6 or 7 yr high AAV Correa would accept starting in 2022 & move Bogey to 2b & use Arroyo as a Utility & Possibly even trade Xander by the end of 2022. Having Correa gets the right handed bat Bloome wants, completely sure up the left side…& the hole gets plugged at 3b by 2024. The odd man out be it one of Bobby D., Jordan or Devers could DH which will be a more viable career path now that the NL is adopting it in the next CBA. I am ok with Raffy being a DH but he’s got no 1b with Casas coming to dominate that spot, so DH or trade him for studs like Betts was. With Mayer coming in a SS, Yorke at 2b…this will be a core dynasty soon! Bloome has everything he needs to make this team perennial contenders.
baseballguru – I think you should dig into some of the modern metrics that don’t bode well for Bogey. I think they are skewed by Devers’ bad baseball acumen. If you look at fielding percentage as the binary outcome of any play it shows a players ability to be successful in his defensive job of fielding and throwing out a hitter on a batted ball. Yes, people have chosen to add other things like range but those numbers are normalized to the point of being insignificant as an after the fact evaluator of defensive play.
Example = Bogaerts has a fielding percentage that is .978 for his career at SS. The league average for that time period at SS is .973. Bogaerts is above league average. Devers on the other hand has a fielding percentage of .935 with league average being .959. He’s a butcher but he’s actually more than a butcher.
Think of all the times Devers tries for a routine ball hit to Bogaerts and cuts in front of him then boots the ball and there is no error because of the difficulty of the play even though it would have been routine for Bogaerts OR he catches the ball trying to be a hero and throws badly off balance and the scorekeeper gives the batter a hit despite it being a routine play for Bogaerts. Devers dodges literally dozens of errors on balls he misplays and because Bogaerts doesn’t get a shot at fielding those balls his range is significantly reduced while Devers range is significantly increased despite not getting an out.
That’s why the modern metrics don’t accurately portray what really happens. On those balls allowed to get to Bogaerts, he’s an above league average fielder. How does he compare to the best shortstops in the business?
Carlos Correa – .981
Francisco Lindor – .980
Trevor Story – .979
Xander Bogaerts – .978 YES OF THE TOP SSs he is 4th!!
Trea Turner – .973
Corey Seager – .969
Javy Baez = .968
Tim Anderson = .962
Bo Bichette – .959
Fernando Tatis – .951
So I say trade Devers to Cleveland for Jose Ramirez and watch how Bogaerts modern metrics climb without Devers. Bogey should stay at SS until he opts out or Mayer displaces him.
Guru: Here’s the breakdown for you for his argument if you don’t feel like reading it. . “Modern metrics are bad because they don’t support my argument. The player I don’t like is the reason why the player I do like isn’t as good as I think other people should believe when player I dislike isn’t part of the conversation. Shoehorn in an overly personal take disparaging the player I dislike and the executive I think is terrible. Add made up scenario and exclamation points to drive my point home.”
I say hold steady with Bloom, he has done well getting salary issues lowered and that alone forced drastic moves. He was left this mess by DD, who sold the kitchen sink for “18”… if he would have had more flexibility at the trading deadline, last seasons team would have made the series. So I’m no fan of the Renfro trade, but I’m giving Bloom my patience and vote of confidence
Bloom, who are you going to sign Robles and the other clown you got from Minnesota at the trade deadline. Believe me he will sign cheap lower end of the spectrum guys. I hope I am wrong but I have my doubts.
Bloom, who are you going to sign Robles and the other clown you got from Minnesota at the trade deadline ? Believe me he will sign cheap lower end of the spectrum guys. I hope I am wrong but I have my doubts.
AL3413 hours ago
Bloom, who are you going to sign Robles
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He stole Robles last year. He won’t be as cheap this year, after his great performance with the RS.
Renfroe had a great season, exceeded expectations and made Bloom look like a genius at only $3M for the 2021 season. But he swung and missed a lot. 130K’s in 140 games. AND he was arbitration eligible. JBJ may or may not be a prize in return, and you have to be encouraged by Bloom’s eye for young talent and the two prospects he selected, but what it really does is open the door for the AAA outfielders that will have an opportunity to contribute in 2022. Duran and possibly Jimenez will have an opportunity to play, and JBJ can still play D. I’m willing to bet he hits over .200 this year, but will be part of a rotation that clearly puts a premium on defensive runs saved. The Sox will be just fine in 2022!
“Man, we sure could use a RH bat!” (Trades cheaper .270, 31 HR for a lefty bat that was literally the worst in baseball out of anyone with 200+ AB’s) Soooo glad I’m not a Red Sox fan!! Some may remember that the Orioles used to be a “big spender” back in the 90’s, but Angelos decided to go a different route. Henry seems to be reaching the same conclusion. In fact, it could even be the reason he hired Bloom?!
Soooo glad I’m not a Red Sox fan!!
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Yeah, being the team of the century is a heavy burden to bear.
Renfroe hit .259 last season is a career .237 hitter with a sub 30o OBP who happened to be one of worst hitter in baseball in the two seasons prior to last year so you’ll pardon me for not losing too much sleep that they traded the guy who at age 29 wildly overachieved.