MLBTR has been hosting team-specific chats in conjunction with each entry of our Offseason In Review series. On Friday, we released the Red Sox entry in the series. Today, we held a Red Sox-focused chat. Click here to read the transcript.
MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com
scroll to top
Here’s the Red Sox situation in a nutshell and I said this much a couple days ago. What they need is Mashers in the Outfield and good starting pitchers. That’s it.
This off season there was not much to choose from in those two categories so they pieced together a team with potential to win, but didn’t spend a truckload of money. That keeps them below the repeater tax line and they can reload next winter.
Let’s hope there’s more of a free agent selection so the sox can spend, fill the holes, and make a run at it. A real run at it.
With this past winter you’re not going to sign 40-year-old starters or broken down starters for massive money. Same in the outfield. Aside from Aaron Judge, who was available that’s worth big dollars? The overall Red Sox plan makes total sense to me.
Pretty much agree. Add in the development of certain young talent and they will be fine going forward IF they find outfield power and starters. 2023 though could be anything from 2012 (without the managerial headaches) to 2013.
Gary = Yes. The outfield is a complete mess after starting with one of the best outfields in baseball.
Mashers needed? You mean like Mookie, Renfroe and Schwarber? Too true. Those choices to not keep the players are what many of us like to call mistakes!!
Boston has a few good long term prospects in the system but none are locks to be all-star level players:
Catcher – NOTHING
1B – Casas
2B – Yorke
SS – Mayer
3B – Unfortunately the 50 misplays per year by Devers isn’t changing
LF – Yoshida is an over priced bad fit.
CF – Duvall had a great week but his upcoming 1 for 50 streak will make week 1 a distant memory. A long term quality player is needed in Center as you mentioned.
RF – Verdugo didn’t live up to the hype.Friedman laid on Boston fans so he’s likely a candidate for moving on unless he’s willing to play for small bucks when his control years are over.
DH – Devers should be there to make the team most effective but clearly that’s not in the cards no matter how much sense it makes. JT is a few years younger than Brady so he’ll be lucky to be effective for 2 years. Not a long term solution. Devers is the proper long term solution.
The young hitters need to pick up the pace because the young pitchers seem to be developing sooner. So so seasons by Mayer and Yorke will throw a big wrench in the Red Sox plans. They need to have at least two all-star quality players graduate in the next two years. It would be great if more than 2 did.
Run production will be interesting to track considering the way Baltimore’s elite pitching was hit in the first series. I’m thinking Boston really needs to make hay while the sun is shining these first 10 games. They NEED 7 wins out of 10 to stay competitive through April.
KD – Did you know this is the 4th consecutive season under Cora the Sox have started with a losing record after 5 games.
Somebody needs to convince him that early season games count just as much as July and August games, if not more.
FPG – The first 10 games were basically “gimmies” against BAL, DET and PIT. The schedule escalates in difficulty after the first 10 games.
The offense has scored a lot of runs due to weak pitching staffs being faced yet some players are still performing badly against weak pitching staffs:
Kiki is 3 for 17. If Dalbec is hitting .176 fans would be all over his failure but for some reason, Kiki has gotten a pass for 3 years now.
Casas is 2 for 15 so he may not be ready yet. I want him to be the future so playing time is a good thing even if it’s ugly. I’m not sure at what point he proves no better than Dalbec because Dalbec didn’t get the at bats I thought were necessary for an evaluation and showing confidence in your player. Let’s hope Casas gets treated better.
Arroyo is 1 for 13. He is a journeyman 2B not a star yet people seem very high on him. To me he’s league average and an excellent utility player to fill in for starters.
Yoshida is 5 for 21. His .350 average in Japan should not translate well to the MLB. People sometimes think his big price is justification for playing him but the fact is he’s grossly overpaid like many of the Japanese players who have come to the MLB after Ohtani. People need to realize Ohtani is the Mike Trout of Japan except he can pitch too. All other foreign players should not be overpaid on the hope they are “like Ohtani”. Yoshida needs to hit .280 with an OBP of .350 to remain a starter. I’m not sure he’ll perform that well. I hope he does but his history in Japan and how players other than Ohtani have converted to MLB pitching suggest he’s probably a .250 to .275 hitter with a .330 OBP. That’s not an $18MM a year player. Benny will prove in 2023 that he’s the superior player and he costs $15MM. Benny is a better defender, a better base runner, has a better arm for outfield assists, a greater range on defense and more speed for stealing bases. All for $3MM a year less.
Duvall is streaky and I’m excited he started on a hot streak . He has the ability to carry a team for a dozen games or so. He is likely to follow the streak with a negative streak. It’s his thing!! Big streaks.
Tapia to me is the superior pick-up. I think he’s inconsistent too but he looks to have more skills. He will likely replace Duvall at some point when Duvall goes into an extended slump.
Wong is a catching version of Downs. He didn’t have the hype of Downs but anytime you shoot low in trading you get poor quality players. There were 5 catchers ahead of Wong on the LAD depth chart so he was an insignificant add from Friedman’s perspective and Bloom sold him as a catcher of the future. Best case, he’s a back-up of the future. Worst case he joins Downs as another Bloom DFA.
Verdugo is off to a fast start and that’s not terribly unusual. In the long haul, he’s a league average player. He’s not bad but he’s not a keeper when he’s not cheap. He’s not a guy to invest in after his control years. Let the other farm players graduate and replace him when his control is up.
McGuire is a good back-up catcher who is the starter. Boston needs to fix the catcher position for the long-term. Vazquez will be sorely missed.
Turner is a professional hitter. If he stays healthy, he’s very comparable to JD so it’s a step in a new direction but it won’t last long and it’s clearly not a step up. If he plays 120 games, he might be a draw when compared to JD if he can’t stay healthy, he’s a big step down from JD. He also prevents Devers from moving to DH where he needs to be.
Devers’ error on Rutschman’s fifth at bat when Adley got credit for 5 hits is exactly the problem with Devers. He makes an indisputable error yet the score keeper is being paid to look the other way and recorded it as a hit that counts against the pitcher. That’s a form of cheating so I’m guessing Cora is probably involved based on his lengthy history of cheating.
The good news is Jansen looks good.for his age and Martin looks solid. The starters have had a rough start but Houck looks promising. Sale should need 2 months to get back to his old self. Cross your fingers no injuries happen before he returns to normal. Kluber looks past his prime but could be an effective #5 SP. If TB couldn’t fix him, I don’t believe Boston can.
In 2018 Cora used one game per series to “give away” by playing the bench guys he related to. The starting line-up was so good that when Mookie, Benny, JD, Bogey or even Devers sat out during the “give away” game in a series they were allowed to hit late in the game and created a huge number of come from behind wins. That prevented folks from realizing how many games Cora was impacting by over resting his star players. In 2018 and 2019 I documented 12 games that he chose weak line-ups and gave away games during the 2018 season to show the team could have won 120 games that year because their hitters were that good during the 2018 season.
Now, with next to no all-star level players, Cora will be exposed for his bad choices during series he should win but plays the wrong starters. Can a .239 hitter really be the starter at SS? History shows Kiki is streaky and when he’s not hot he’s a sub .200 hitter for extended periods of time. That will help bury this team in 2023 even if guys like Sale and Houck are awesome.
April games count just as much as July and August games!! Spot on FPG!!
KD – Against Baltimore the offense was helped by the wind and poor defense by the Orioles. Not so much against the Pirates, although the Sox did score their run today on a bad scorer’s call (shoulda been an error).
Look at the OPS here:
Casas .627
Arroyo .485
Chang .000
Wong .250
And so far you’re right about Yoshida whose OPS is down to .629
If the Sox don’t come back and win today, this will be a demoralizing home sweep at the hands of one of the worst teams in MLB.
If the losing continues I would be very interested in seeing whether Cora is let go prior to the All-Star break. I’m guessing Bloom could use him as a scapegoat, but would Henry allow it?
BTW – So nice to see an old-fashioned gutsy performance by Keller. Despite it being freezing cold and only his 2nd start of the season, he went 7 innings allowing just the cheap run and he threw over 105 pitches.
And the McGuire “homerun” call was a joke! Everybody except the umpire knew it was way foul.
Youk said it was way foul.
McGuire acted like it was foul.
The crowd in the RF corner clearly had no reaction which meant foul.
And NESN refused to replay the flight of the ball, instead TWICE replaying McGuire’s watching the ball.
FPG – I think the Red Sox organization has cracked down on many tangential components of the organization. Score keeping is completely bogus, NESN’s ability to speak their mind like Eck did is gone, the press specifically Jen from The Athletic are so far up the teams hind quarters there isn’t a word she writes that can be trusted. Bloom has closed ranks to protect his job and it’s not working because the talent is simply so bad there is nothing they can do to fix the situation except fire him.
For all the Bloom apologists, I told you so from the day he missed non tendering JBJ in December of 2019. This guy wasn’t qualified for a big market team, he wasn’t the brains in TB (that guy is still there based on their moves since Bloom left), he talked a good talk when he came to Boston suggesting he was savvy at Cost/Benefit evaluations of players but then never came through with any justifications of his moves using the logic he preached when he was hired.
He’s basically a fraud. He sold ownership a bill of goods and they bought it because they wanted so badly to distance themselves from the Mookie racism issue. They also hired Cora to make sure he stayed silent about his involvement in the sign stealing in Boston that he shared with them. Their bad choices have crushed the organization but they saved face because they weren’t pulled into the spotlight with regards to the Mookie/Price racism discussion and they misdirected fans and the media by suggesting DD over spent when he didn’t based on the facts.
When they gave the keys to the organization to Bloom and ventured off to buy more sports clubs they abandoned the fan base and stayed clear of fines for knowing about the cheating in 2018. My question to ownership is “Was it worth it?” So nobody knows about your involvement in the cheating and you didn’t get exposed on a national level for racism but you destroyed your franchise. Was it worth it? It wasn’t to the fans.
I’ll take keeping all the home grown players and having owners that are globally hated for their racism and cheating than our current situation. Saving face at the cost of the franchise was an incredibly selfish thing to do but it’s your team so you can do it and many fans will forgive you. Not me but many will.
The organization was in the middle of a run and the rug got pulled out from under our feet as fans. There is no justification for the devastation Bloom did to the Red Sox. He should find a new industry based on his performance but that’s not how things work in baseball. If you are connected, you get another job somewhere else. That’s the only way a serial cheater like Cora gets asked back to manage. Hinch was guilty in Houston as was Beltran but Cora one-upped them and got caught twice and fortunately for him was only convicted once thanks to the politics of baseball and the powers that control the game.
Cora will always be a wart on the face of baseball for what he did in Houston and Boston. Manfred ignored the precedence that existed and swept the manure under the rug. Like Selig not telling America about the juiced baseball in 1995 so he could become the savior of baseball by eliminating steroids, I’m sure there are things going on with Manfred that will eventually come out that will put a false light on his success like Selig. Politics in baseball ruins the game.
When gambling is allowed into the game, score keepers no longer have to accurately record the activities of a game and cheaters are slapped on the hand for potentially changing the outcome of 90 games, there is something terribly wrong with the game. Personally, it’s about time someone with integrity got the commissioner job and did what’s best not just for the owners but the fans as well. Stop the gambling. Stop the cheating. Make the game be about performance not politics. Then it will be a game again even if you have to pay money to watch it.
Duvall just got named AL player of the week. Nice.
rsmith – Major accomplishment in a 3 game week!!! hahaha
Chances of a second player of the week might only come on all-star week when limited games are played!!
It’s great that he is far exceeding expectations even if it’s just for 3 games out of 162.
Should be player of the weekend
Except the free agent pool is pretty week next year but decent amount of starters.but sox never seem have winning bid when comes to free agents
David Price, John Lackey, Manny Ramirez plus several more. Not sure what your talking about.
I mean your most recent example reaches back to 2016. I don’t think they’re one Carlos Correa away from competing or anything but it’s really difficult to argue that the Red Sox have any real presence in Free Agency these last five years or so.
SalarycapMyth:
JD Martinez, Trevor Story, Matasaka Yoshida
I think they are definitely a pitching version of Carlos Correa away from contending. Lots of prospects enroute from the minors. They have 70+Million free to shop in 2024.
Red Sox have gone from Last to Champions, twice. So I dont know what your talking about.
Sure, but a couple of seasons were spent getting under the cap hell we were in. We did sign Story & Yoshida the past two seasons.
Let’s see how the first 40 games go and assess.
It’s looking like the fake ball is back. That stinks.
Winning at the beginning is important to the Red Sox for several reasons:
1) To young players, winning is contagious and addicting.
2) Red Sox have several players due back over the next few months (Garrett Whitlock, Bryan Bello, Trevor Story, James Paxton, Joely Rodriguez, Wyatt Mills, Adal Mondesi). Every win brings them closer to getting some key players back is important.
3) It quiets the naysayers. Players tend to play better without negativity.
When the juiced balls are used only for one player to chase a HR record, yes that was bad. When the whole league gets to use those balls, the result is a lot more of the #1 thing baseball viewers want to see, Homeruns. And after that, the fans want to see.. wait, still more Homeruns.. because pitching gems and low scoring games simply don’t engage casual fans the same. With ratings spiraling as they were, it was about time they made some changes.
With the great success of the new rules already, and potentially a juiced ball in the mix too, baseball is being saved right now.
Honestly, I’ve yet to talk to a single fan that at least grew up watching baseball in the 90s that doesn’t say the ’98 HR chase was their favorite baseball season to date. That exciting season had it all: Super steroid sluggers, corked bats, and juiced baseballs!
And serious question, what is the “real” baseball when recent historical analysis has revealed MLB has been using multiple variants each season for decades? I’ll say it again, the only thing that should matter is that they all get the same baseballs at any given time, and hopefully they’re of the juiced variety!
I’m curious to get a link to this analysis showing “multiple variants each season for decades.” I haven’t seen/heard/read about that.
Looks like somebody ‘didntforgetthealcohol’.
gbs42 = The juice in the baseball has the highest correlation with HRs since 1871. Size of ball parks, adding non white players, lowering the mound, steroids, cocaine, amphetamines and HGH have had next to no impact based on the numbers. The juice in the baseball defines the HRs hit per year. The latest numbers are:
2022 – Index was 1.063
2021 – 1.224
2020 – 1. 283
2019 – 1..395 *** highest in history by far.
5 highest juiced baseballs by year
2019 – 1.395
2020 – 1.283
2017 – 1.256
2021 – 1.224
2000 – 1.172
Is it any surprise young players are hitting home runs at an exceptional pace? This is the fourth time in history we’ve seen a plateau jump for the juice in the baseballs.
1 – 1920s Live ball era
2 – 1950s Post WWII baseball
3 – 1990s Selig 1995 juiced ball
4 – 2015 I call it the Launch Angle baseball
Many delusional trainers hoping to make money and build a business out of a fake concept started accounting for the rise in HRs from launch angle versus the factual reason, a more juiced baseball.
Baseball fans will pretty much believe any crap thrown out by the media.
Steroids existed for 20 plus years in baseball without a growth in home runs then Selig gets nervous about the 94 strike and brings in the balls accidentally discovered in 1987. (FYI the balls were removed in 1988). If someone can explain how 20 years of steroids never saw a growth in home runs then a new baseball gets introduced into the game and suddenly it’s the steroids creating the HRs? Seriously. You don’t have to be a genius to see the lie sold by Selig.
FYI… For 140 years the average rise and fall in HRs from year to year has formed a pattern that holds true for each decade including the 1990s and the other decades where the juice in the ball jumped. If steroids actually did impact HRs a change would have been seen by an ever increasing number of HRs by year in the 70s, 80s, 90s and the early part of the 2000s before Steroids were officially banned in 2004. That never happened over the 30 plus years steroids were commonly used in baseball.
Selig did a number on the public and the writers keep selling the horse manure to the public. Look at the numbers, they don’t lie. Steroids impact was insignificant compared to the juice in the baseball,
Go to baseball reference and look up the stat HRS/GM/YEAR. Plot it from 1871 to present and observe the four plateaus, the constant up and down pattern from year to year across all decades and then intelligently explain why steroids impacted HRs in the 1990s but not the 1980s, 1970s or the early 2000s. It can’t be done. The data is conclusive and fans should realize how unfair it was for Selig to throw a generation of players under the bus on a lie (or diversion). His baseball explains nearly 100% of the variation in HRs from year to year in the 1990s just like the other 13 decades.
Has there been any investigation into the guy on Baltimore who intentionally dropped that ball on Saturday? Cost them the game.
Just because a lot of players make it look easy, doesn’t mean routine pop outs are always easy… It is quite common for the baseball to get lost during twilight in those big stadium lights in Fenway, been watching many Sox great defenders make the same occasional error year after year. If that happened in the 4th inning in what was just the 2nd game of the season, no one would remember it. As it is, it’ll still be soon be replaced by crazier moments in the coming weeks, that’s all a part of the romance of baseball
So give the dude a break, he’ll certainly be the only one to remember that blooper in time and the embarassment of that moment will likely always haunt him.
I don’t know how you can think that was an honest mistake. And then the next guy hits a home run. Someone got paid off there’s not a doubt in my mind. He did not lose it in the lights or twilight how could you insinuate something like that? Play cost me a little over $20 so I’m the one who will remember it not him.
If I was rigging a game, the last thing I’d do is wait until the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs. And I certainly wouldn’t start out the game with spotting the wrong team to a 7-1 lead.
Losing money makes people see strange things
You lost $20 dollars and you say the game was rigged? If you lost $50 you’d probably be calling the FBI…
@Stupendous
So let me get this straight, they put in a defensive replacement and because you lost $20, he intentionally dropped the ball and now there should be an investigation? C’mon how dense are you?
StupendousYappi:
This is the stupidest comment so far…. dude made an error…. period…… it does happen to even major league players.
How can I get Chaim to join my fantasy league? We need a new owner that doesn’t know anything about identifying baseball talent.
It’s not too late to start a fantasy BB league with some of the posters in here. Let’s see who can walk the talk.
Anyone interested?
Joe – It’s walk the walk.
Some people can talk the talk, but not walk the walk.
With the day off on both wed and fri, bringing Brazier and Ort in to pitch on Thursday should get Cora investigated.
Brazier should give the team an uplifting sense of hope that clings to the human breast.
Ort is rather crummy.
To my surprise, Ort pitched a scoreless 9th inning yesterday.
suit – Can’t say the same for Brasier today.
Even with a 12-run 9th inning lead, he gives up 2 earned runs on 2 hits, a walk and a HBP.
With him being that bad in the lowest-leverage situations possible, I don’t want him anywhere near a mound with a game on the line.
Fever: Agreed. I don’t think he will be.
With the day off on both wed and fri, bringing Brazier and Ort in to pitch on Thursday
=======================
We were down 5-2 and 8-2 when Brasier & Ort were brought in. That’s probably not the point where you bring in your key relievers to save the game.
And how did you rate the move to bring in Jansen down one in the 9th? And how did you rate bringing in Ort up 4 in the 9th?
You’re looking at situations in game 1 when it was decidedly UNCLEAR how to proceed, but overlook the two situations where Cora gambled and won the gambles.
Whether or not this team is any good over the long haul the one thing they have shown so far is the ability to battle back, which was something they could not do at all last season.
The chat says Story is the long term shortstop. No chance with Mayer coming up.
This chat was pretty bad not only for the stupid questions and constant whining by so called Sox fans, The fool answering the questions really did a poor job and provided little insight.
Coop – I think DMC did okay. He had some good points, like the prospect Bloom traded for Park.
But yeah he had some bad points, like defending Brasier’s 2022 season by mentioning his FIP and SIERA.
And he totally missed the reason why the Sox couldn’t go after big name ML talent. If a QO was attached, Boston would have lost two valuable draft picks.
Mayer is still likely 2 years away. Story will be the SS once he’s healthy until Mayer is ready and then he’ll move back to 2B.
I was thinking sometime late next year Mayer would be up but that’s fair to say 2 years away.
I also wouldn’t be too surprised if the Sox had Story play second when he comes back
Joe – I agree with your first thought, I think Mayer comes up second half of 2024. That’s what they did with Devers, brought him up in July at Age 20. Of course Mayer would have to continue to progress this year and next year for that to happen.
And I also agree on Story, shortstop is not a position you want a guy coming off an arm injury to rush into.
GAsoxfan: interesting that you agree. I expect Mayer to progress and his timeline to stay on track.
Agreed, it amazes me how people keep on assisting he will be up this year.
Nobody has been saying Mayer will be up this year that I have seen.
@All in
I was referring to the fans not the experts.
lamar – I don’t know anybody who thinks Mayer will be up this year.
suit – I agree, nobody has been saying that … not any fans nor any MLB commentators.
To use Volpe as a guideline: Volpe was drafted 2 years earlier than Mayer, and debuted this spring. That projects Mayer to appear in early 2025.
Volpe missed 2020 in the minors because of covid you should know that
Happy birthday to Koji!!! Arguably the best one year relief pitcher season in Redsox history ( tough to top it) and was our 3 rd choice for 13… still hope for my pal Brais in 23… (bartender keep them coming and make them doubles from now on!!!)
olmtiant – Yes, Koji was the man!!! One of my all-time favorite Red Sox players, he was as dominating that season as I’ve ever seen anyone be. And his personality was awesome, the excitement he showed …. I will never forget the pleasure he provided.
While I am in a complaining mood…. enough with the flashing lights on Home Runs at night….
The worst thing I’ve ever seen the RS do. It makes my screen look like it is failing.
Joe – I agree yet again! It just doesn’t play well on TV, and even for the fans in the park it’s kinda lame because the light towers are so far apart.
I’ve been to other venues where they do similar, but the lights are continuous all the way around.
FPG doesnt like something the Red Sox are doing. No way!
And get rid of those inflated weights in the dugout. It looks like minor league thing.
The light’s are annoying but I don’t mind the dumbbells. hahaha
The starting pitchers with the exception of Houck have been awful. The hitter have overcome deficits where the starting pitchers have put them in a hole early. The hitter cannot continue to save this team on an everyday basis. The starting pitching faltering is on Bloom. He did not pick up good starters and depended on Sale and God only knows when Paxton is going to pitch again.
Isnt pitching always behind hitting at the start of the season? After all the Temperature during the game last night, hovered around 40 degrees.
“The hitter cannot continue to save this team . . ” So the hitters cant continue hitting well, but the pitching will continue to pitch poorly. Huh?
“starting pitching faltering is on Bloom” Except the 145 million sunk into Sale, right? After all, that money wasnt spent by him and Bloom’s directive is to stay at or below the Threshold.
—————
My point: It is way too early to be making general statements about the entire SP staff. Give it some time, and maybe take a valium.
You actually believe that Kluber Sale and Crawford and whenever Paxton pitches are going to get better? Instead of taking Valium maybe you should stop drinking the Bloom Kool Aide. Baltimore and Pittsburgh are not exactly the premier teams in MLB. The starting pitching staff will be the downfall of this team. You’re depending on Sale who has not pitched consistently since the beginning of 2018 and Paxton who is going on not pitching in almost 3 years. Kluber cannot get his fastball above 88MPH. Crawford was hot and cold last year. The only starter who looked good so far is Houlk.
Crawford? Do you think he’s in the rotation in 3 weeks? Come on. Seriously? I thought you knew the Red Sox. Whitlock will bounce him after 2 more starts, and Bello is right behind him.. Youre worrying about NOTHING here. Here’s the injury update, you clearly dont know the list or the depth that the Red Sox have.
cbssports.com/mlb/teams/BOS/boston-red-sox/injurie…
Sale? He will either pitch much better, or go on the DL. He’s a big wildcard and a TERRIBLE signing. Seriously who inks an injured pitcher to a $145M extension, with 2 opt outs written in, while the GM still has another year to see if he’s healthy? Only a guy about to get fired.
Kluber? His fastball averaged was 88.9 MPH in 2022, with a 1.21 Whip, and 4.34 ERA. I expect the same. What do you expect for 10M a year?
You actually think Bello is a solid starter ? Whitlock is good if Bloom stops moving him from the rotation to the bullpen. No matter which way you look at it, this is not a good starting pitching staff. On your reasoning so what if you threw away 11 million on Kluber. I would rather have Wacha back. Who is your ace of this staff, Kluber? Sale ? Paxton? Pivetta? Bello when he comes back?
KD the reason Boston took a chance on Wacha was because of how he finished the season after changing his pitch mix.
Wacha pitched much better when he mostly scrapped his cutter. That cutter was maybe the least effective pitch in baseball through most of 21. When he stopped throwing that cutter a third of the time and relied more on his four seam and excellent changeup he pitched well to end the season.
It’s true that Bloom took a chance on Wacha and it worked out but there was a reason Wacha finished the year strong after scrapping that terrible cutter.
Bruin1012 – Great post. That’s exactly what happened. My only confusion is why he didn’t keep him. Any ideas?
Wacha captured lightning in a bottle last year. Anyone with a tiny bit of baseball knowlege, can see that. None of his peripherals supported the ERA. His ERA right now is 6.00 in 2023, it will come down but nowhere near what he did last year. Any idea Bruin1012, why anyone would think retaining him would have been good sense, Especially since he cost 26M for the Padres and probably more for Red Sox to resign.
AL343 days ago
You actually believe that Kluber Sale and Crawford and whenever Paxton pitches are going to get better?
============================
In the latest one-game sample size, Sale & Kluber combined for a 3.60 ERA and a 9/4 K/W.
It’s actually comical how people overreact after 4 games. It takes 60 games to begin to evaluate a team. Let’s see the starters make 10 starts and see where they after that. Rsmith you are correct Crawford, in all likelihood, won’t even be in the rotation once Whitlock is ready with Bello coming shortly after that. Those two are going to greatly determine the effectiveness along with Sale of the starting rotation. I’m not counting on Paxton at all until he proves he can pitch. Your also right about Kluber he has to be fine with his control/command to pitch well. He will get hit hard at times this year unless he loses his command completely suddenly then with that stuff he will be out of the Red Sox rotation once again let’s see 10 starts then evaluate what’s happening.
Agree 100%
Going to be a long year with this starting staff no matter which way you look at it. I agree with you on Sale, he was not Bloom’s fault. Paxton is as is Kluber.
I believe Kluber will be okay/solid as the year continues… something like 12-9 with 3.60 ERA…. I also think Sale will be better, with time as dude has not pitched basically in 3 years… but he will not be the dominant Sale of years past. Crawford should be utilized like they did last year… use an opener for 1st two innings and then bring him in fou 4 to 5 inning.. Maybe match him up with Paxton when he comes back.
Coop – After a rough beginning, Kluber pitched well today. Despite what some of the writers here say, it’s actually the offense that is the bigger concern. They got shut down yet again today, the only run scoring because of another gift dropped ball in LF.
I think a starting rotation of Sale/Kluber/Pivetta/Whitlock/Houck will be just fine along with a solid back end of the pen (Martin, Schreiber, Jansen, Bello, Paxton?)
FPG – Amen. The off season destroyed the offense but not the pitching.
The bad farm system that Bloom inherited hahahaha what a joke!!
Has produced Houck, Bello and has Mata on the way. I guess it wasn’t so bad after all.
Bloom can take credit for Whitlock and Pivetta who are key to the success of the pitching in 2023. This is the strength of the team since two key additions of Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin.
If the 2018 offense was still intact the team might win the division but without the all-stars, the offense looks like a AAA team.
There is Devers and maybe JT if he stays healthy and maybe Casas if he can figure out MLB pitching but after that it’s all league average guys being paid more than they are worth.
Jansen can only have saves if the team is ahead. That’s why a great OFer instead of Yoshida and in addition to Yoshida would have been wiser money spent for the future. A great 3B so Devers could go to DH would have been wiser money than Jansen despite how great he is. The problem of closer is only significant if your team has a chance of winning.
A 78 win team lost 3 of it’s 4 best hitters and replaced them with a guy from Japan that cost too much and might be comparable to the 4th best hitter if he has a career year. That’s a huge step down that can’t be off set by getting Sale back and having Houck, Whitlock and Pivetta in the rotation with Kluber. They will stay in games but will struggle to get the lead against good teams with good pitchers.
The first three series are BAL (a decent team), PIT (a bottom 5 team) and DET (another bottom 5 team). I pointed out they should go 7-3 against these first three opponents and 6 games into the the 10 game stretch they already lost 4 games and still have 4 more games that they need to sweep.
FPG = This team’s strength is exactly as you say – IN THEIR PITCHING.
Their weakness is hitting and defense and you can throw speed into the mix as well. Bloom devastated the hitting this off season..
Who’s gone first? Cora, or Bloom?
spitball = Great question!!!
My theory on why we have the two unqualified people suggests Bloom will go first because I still believe Cora has an ace up his sleeve in that he could go to the commissioner and tell him that he is sorry (like he’s done so many times in the past) but he just remembered that he did share the entire cheating program of 2018 with the owners and they knew exactly what he was doing to gain an advantage for the team.
Bloom, on the other hand, was more of a patsy. He was hired to eliminate the owner’s Mookie scandal related to racism so he fell on his sword 3 months after being hired in hopes of being recognized as a quality GM for the future. It has not worked out well becaise he never implemented the excellent concepts he preached so his only real value to an ownership group is being a patsy or a guy who writes books about how to build a farm system. Either way, he seems more likely to go because if he tries to make a move on Cora, there is a chance ownership will intervene and justify it like they did when they hired him that they are simply showing their diversity and Bloom had issues with it. Whether it’s true or not is never the issue with this organization so Bloom becomes a patsy once again.
Bloom is my guess.
Cora the cheater
spit – I think there’s pressure to at least contend for a WC spot. Firing the manager midseason, as Philly did last year, sometimes lights a fire under the players.
Firing the GM midseason doesn’t.
So I say Cora would go before Bloom.
FPG – I finally finished my detailed expectations for the season making predictions on each series based on Good-Average-Bad teams at home-away and here are the month by month predictions and total
MAR/APR – 29 games 14 wins
MAY – 27 games 11 wins
JUN – 29 games 13 wins
JUL – 23 games 11 wins
AUG – 26 games 12 wins
SEP/OCT – 28 games 13 wins
For the year 162 games and 74 wins.
I feel that is generous considering they won 78 in 2022 and lost so much hitting but they gained enough pitching to help lessen the impact of the hitting.
So far in April after 6 games they are 2 games behind the 74 win pace.
The prediction had them going 2-1 vs BAL and they did.
The prediction had them going 2-1 vs PIT and they went 0-3.
The prediction has them going 2-1 vs DET so hopefully the can achieve 2 or more wins.
The rest of the month is tough after DET.. They have 10 against GOOD team and 10 against AVERAGE teams. The format of the predictions are series based.
3 game series vs a good team is 1-2 both at home or on the road
3 game series vs an average team is 2-1 at home and 1=2 on the road
3 game series vs a bad team is 2-1 both at home and on the road
2 game series vs a good team is 1-1 at home and 0-2 on the road
2 game series vs an average team is 1-1 both at home and on the road
2 game series vs a bad team is 2-0 at home and 1-1 on the road
4 game series vs a good team is 1-3 on the road or at home
4 game series vs an average team is 2-2 on the road or at home
4 game series vs a bad team is 3-1 at home and 2-2 on the road.
Using that technique we should see a 74 win team in 2023.
I’m guessing that will be last in the AL East and a top 10 draft pick
What do you think? Are you higher, lower or close to the same?
KD – Fantastic job!
Me personally, I try to refrain from all predictions because there are too many variables with health being the biggest.
If the team stays healthy, I expect a better record than last year … especially with the more balanced schedule now. If the team doesn’t stay healthy, I would lean toward your prediction.
I know it’s early, but have you seen what Xander is doing?
9 for 22 with 3 doubles, 3 homers, 7 RBI and an OPS of 1.395
Why can’t we get good players like that?
FPG – I don’t consider this a prediction like you made or like JB does all the time. I consider it more of a formula for setting expectations.
It’s a fun exercise and a way to track performance vs the estimate. In 2021 they were 10 games over the prediction by July 1 which was a real shocker. Last year, they were behind the prediction throughout the season.
I watched today’s game and Sale is going to need close to 10 more starts before he is sharp like he was in 2018 and before. He has no feel for location but his stuff looks good. I think McGuire did a bad job framing the low pitches. Several were in the box but a bad framing led to a ball call by the ump.
The offense is two guys right now. Devers and Duvall. I expect Devers to have a minor slump or two during the season but he looks excellent right now. When he does go into a slump this team will struggle to score more than they will if anyone else goes in a slump. Duvall is very streaky so we can pretend this hot spell will last all season but he’s always been an equally cold and hot hitter. Be prepared for the cold and thrive on the hot!!
I argued that Bogey is still a premiere SS and will be for several years but the Bloom supporters all tried to write him off. The guy could be the NL starting shortstop in the all-star game if it weren’t for Trea Turner.
Watching Kiki start at SS is disgusting. Nepotism rears it’s ugly head. I wish Mondesi would get healthy and play there so they would have better offense and defense at the position. Why is Kiki swinging for the fences instead of trying make contact and getting on base? My guess is his huge EGO. He’s just like Cora in that he has a big ego and no talent to back it up with. Sad and pathetic.
Why can’t we get good players like that? hahahaha
In a word – Bloom
The better question is why can’t we keep players like that?
Same answer – Bloom.
My question for you is “Does Brasier have pictures of Cora in a compromising position?” Sale goes 5 innings and throws 74 pitches. Six would have made more sense to me because he seemed to be gaining momentum as the game progressed. He struck out the sides in the 5th didn’t he?
Then Schreiber in the sixth?
the 9th is for Kenley,
the 8th is for Martin
the 7th is for Schreiber
Using Brasier in the 7th? Is Brasier going to be the new Robles? Going in when nobody in their right mind would use them at that point in the game? Cora is so bad at his job. He’s going to turn potential wins into losses with Brasier just like he did with Robles. He’s been a manager long enough that he should have learned a few lessons but apparently he’s not capable of learning from experience!!
I’m really glad they are giving Houck his shot at SP. I like him there. I also like Bello and to a slightly lesser degree I like Whitlock as a starter. If the team can use Sale, Kluber, Houck, Pivetta and Bello they could put Whitlock back into his old stress inning job so we never see Brasier again. Whitlock, Schreiber, Martin and Jansen is as good as the Yankees and most teams with excellent bullpens.
KD – Great post as usual!
So what do you think of Casas? If they truly want to compete, they can’t go all year with a non-hitting first baseman like they did last year. How long do they keep him there if he continues to hit so poorly? Until the end of May?
FPG – Tough call. I don’t like the way he looks so I think the sooner he goes to AAA and works on his swing the better. Dalbec is more of a threat than Casas right now so if you want Casas to be the long-term guy send him down to work on his swing issues and recognition of pitches.
If Dalbec gets hot the team won’t suffer using him until Casas returns and if he doesn’t he’s no worse than Kiki or Casas right now. The team needs a cheap long-term solution at 1B so lets not turn Casas into a Dalbec clone by bringing him up too early. Let him dominate AAA pitching.
KD – Excellent analysis as always. I wouldn’t mind continuing to put Turner there at first base, but not if he continues going 0-f0r-5 like he did today when his teammates put up 14 runs.
If Casas flames out, I think moving Devers to first base could happen sooner than anticipated.
Tapia with a monster shot, great to see!
FPG – Devers doesn’t work at 1B for me. Not tall, no hands for scooping and his footwork at 3B is bad!!! Can you image him trying to find the base in a hurry to receive a throw? He’s a weeble as a 3B, he’ll be tipping over on nearly every play at 1B!! For those unfamiliar with weeble, think of a guy wearing shoes that are rounded on the bottom so they constantly tip over and bounce back up. Devers playing 3B!!!hahahaha
If Devers moves to a different position to me if it’s not DH then LF is the only acceptable position. The fewest balls are hit there. In Fenway, the damage of being bad is minimized and there are not a lot of ways to get hurt in LF. In RF and CF you have the short fences, in LF you stand 10 feet in front of the wall so you shouldn’t run into it. Maybe the side was but not the outfield wall. Devers might get hit in the back of the head by a line drive off the wall but other than that, it’s the safest place other than DH that he can play.
They need Mondesi to get back and be healthy and they need Dalbec to play and have a spell like Duvall is having. His hot streak has put Kiki’s to shame. I wonder if fans will simply think of his current streak when his name is mentioned like Kiki. It’s hard to play bad for 50 of 52 weeks in Boston yet all people remember is your hot 2 weeks. I hope that happens for Duvall. I like the guy but he is what he is. HOT and COLD. May he stay hot to the all-star break!!
KD – Great post! I was watching Wacha this evening against the Braves, what a brilliant performance. He pitched 6 shutout innings allowing just 2 hits, 1 walk, and he had 10 strikeouts!! Why can’t we get pitchers like that?
Fever Pitch Guy3 days ago
KD – Fantastic job!
KD – Fantastic job!
KD – Great post as usual!
KD – Excellent analysis as always.
KD – Great post!
Are you mocking KD when you start every post like that?
Joe – Absolutely not, I don’t mock anyone. I give him credit for the time and effort and facts he brings to the table. And I’ve also complimented many others such as GASox, Pulled, etc … and I’ve even been complimenting you!
Come on now, please stay focused on baseball. You’ve been doing so much better recently, please don’t start again with posts about other posters.
What are your thoughts on Bobby potentially playing middle infield? Personally I think it’s a bad idea, especially for a guy that big. They should just bite the bullet and find a roster spot for Iggy.