The Red Sox announced that they have acquired infielder Luis Urías from the Brewers for minor league right-hander Bradley Blalock. Robert Murray of FanSided first had Urías going to the Red Sox while Adam McCalvy of MLB.com first reported on Blalock’s involvement.
Urías, 26, seemed to be establishing himself as a solid part of the Milwaukee roster in the previous two seasons. Over 2021 and 2022, he launched 39 home runs and hit a combined .244/.340/.426 for a wRC+ of 111. This year, however, has been an entirely different story.
He was placed on the injured list with a hamstring strain after the first game of the season and wasn’t able to return until June 5. In the next three-plus weeks, he hit just .145/.299/.236 for a wRC+ of 60. A .179 batting average on balls in play wasn’t doing him any favors, but his exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate were all down a few points. That cold spell was pronounced enough for the Brewers to send him to the minors, his first time being optioned since he was a Padre back in 2019. Things haven’t gone much better in Triple-A, as he’s hitting .233/.345/.379 at that level this year for a wRC+ of 84.
Right after acquiring Urías, the Sox assigned him to Triple-A, so he’ll serve as infield depth for the time being. Infield depth has been an ongoing concern in Boston this year ever since Trevor Story required elbow surgery in the offseason. He’s still yet to make his season debut, currently out on a rehab assignment. Enrique Hernández came in from the outfield to take over shortstop but that experiment didn’t work and he’s since been traded to the Dodgers.
For now, the club has a mixture of Yu Chang, Pablo Reyes, Christian Arroyo and Justin Turner up the middle. Urías will join Bobby Dalbec among the depth options that are on the 40-man roster but currently stashed at Triple-A. Urías has another option year beyond this one but could wind up non-tendered as he’ll be due a raise on this year’s $4.7MM salary.
In exchange for a player that had fallen out of their plans, the Brewers will get Blalock. The 22-year-old was a 32nd-round selection of the Red Sox in 2019. He was able to get some professional experience in 2019 and 2021, with the pandemic canceling the minor leagues in 2020. Then his 2022 was wiped out by Tommy John surgery, costing him another year of development.
Here in 2023, he’s been putting himself back on the prospect map. He’s made 11 starts, split between Single-A and High-A, posting a 2.19 ERA in 53 1/3 innings. He’s struck out 27.6% of opponents against a 6.2% walk rate. Back in June, FanGraphs ranked him the #17 prospect in Boston’s system. They note that the Sox were set to have a difficult decision to make, as Blalock will be Rule 5 eligible this winter and could be an attractive pick, despite not yet reaching Double-A.
Red Sox are buyers ?
If by buyer you mean acquiring an oft injured, regularly struggling, below average defender who was sent down and couldn’t win back a big league spot from any of the Brewers current infielders, then yes, I guess so.
Also true… while my point below about only 2.5 games back is valid… this also isn’t exactly a break the bank “Buy”
Jeff – I called it, token acquisition to “show the fans we are going for it”.
Business as usual.
I think they made it pretty clear they aren’t going for it obviously.
Syco – Look back, Bloom made it very clear he’d acquire players to help THIS year if the Sox played well in late July and stayed close in the playoff chase.
They did, he didn’t.
He lied, as usual.
Every time he lies his chin grows.
Fever: What Bloom quote(s) are you referring to? I don’t see any where he committed to acquiring players. I doubt he committed to anything without knowing what the cost would be. Bloom seems more committed to building the farm system and I doubt he is going to trade a lot of the future for the present.
Fever – Check out this embedded interview with Bloom. He’s not gonna publicly “commit” to acquiring players now, but he certainly said he’s looking to add and in other interviews he said he’d like to add depth to the starting rotation etc.
Please don’t try to say he’s not misleading us by expressing his desire to add, it was pure BS just like when he said he’d like to sign Xander. Actions speak louder than words, always. Deception and misleading is just like lying.
Interviewer: “Are you open to adding at the trade deadline?”
Bloom: “Yeah, absolutely, we’re just not gonna bet the house on them (rental players).. It’s about having a team out there that’s capable of winning a championship NOW and in the future”.
cbsnews.com/boston/news/red-sox-mlb-trade-deadline…
Fever: I think Bloom is saying he needs to balance the needs of now with the needs of the future. Theo Epstein used to say that too. I am guessing Bloom looked into adding players, but the cost in prospect capital was too high. I don’t think Bloom is willing to sacrifice much of the future for now as he has hardly traded anything from the farm system ever. I prefer building through the farm system. It is working well for the Orioles. The Yankees method of signing older players to long, expensive contracts is failing. That’s my opinion.
suit – Bloom was being disingenuous as usual.
He knew it was going to be a seller’s market with so many teams still “in” the playoff race and so few teams “out” of it.
He knew the asking prices were gonna be high.
He knew he wasn’t gonna meet the asking prices.
But he misled Red Sox Nation anyway.
That’s one of the reasons why he’s disliked so much.
Hey Fever, good season series between Seattle & Boston. 3-3 tie lol. It makes sense in a lot of ways. Good close games here in Sea, although I would say Boston hammered our rears back in Fenway, as they always do.
Sorry, but enough with the build the farm stuff. This is the Boston Red Sox, not the Pittsburgh Pirates. Yes, you need a farm system, but to constantly ignore chances to improve in season (or in the off season for that matter) to build the farm is not a big market mentality. We need to stop financing the Pittsburgh Penguins and a useless soccer team and start rebuilding the crown jewel of Fenway Sports Group at the MAJOR league level!
Knuckles: The Red Sox payroll is $221M right now. That is big market spending. It sounds like you want the Red Sox to do what the Yankees have done – sign older players to long, expensive deals. That wastes payroll and roster space as the Yankees are finding out while in last place. I think John Henry had enough of wasting money and brought in someone from the Rays who are more efficient with money. I like the idea of giving a guy from the Rays a much larger budget.
I know what they are spending, but going over the luxury tax is not going to break the Red Sox, how much do they rake in. They are in the hunt for a wildcard birth and the best they could do was Urias, C’mon that’s KC & Pitt., not Boston.
I don’t worry about it. The Red Sox turned a corner without Sale, Houck and Whitlock. All three are expected back by mid-August. That should give them a big lift.
Ignorant – Sox always struggle in Seattle, as long as I can remember. And I go back to the Bosio no-hitter and Greenwell driving in 9 runs in one game, both of which happened in Seattle.
I used to have a little transistor radio that I’d hide in my bed to listen to the games past 1AM when I was supposed to be asleep. LOL
Fever Pitch Guy
Bloom exchanged K.Hernandez for two pitchers, not then, that Chaim in general didn’t accomplish transactions.
If you hoped on Verlander, that would be to give Rafaela and Top-5 from a list plus to add 20 million to СВТ.
Other of pitchers, I don’t even examine:
Scherzer, Giolito, Flaherty, Lorenzen, Civale doesn’t move a needle for Red Sox they and close not at the level of Verlander.
Fever Pitch Guy
Bloom promised Hernandez that a command 2023 will be better:
1) Bullpen became better
2) Martinez, Bogaerts were successfully transferable in an attack on Yoshi, Turner, Duvall
3) the Starting rotation better 2022 even taking into count that was to play in 2.5 of pitchers more than month
Hernandez appeared one of worst players in a command.
all in the suit that you wear
I agree with you.
If we will look forward, then Yankees stuck with the contracts of Stanton (34) 2027, LeMahieu (35) 2027, Judge (31) 2032, Rodon (30) 2029, Cole (33) 2029, Hicks 2027.
YANKEES LUXURY TAX PAYROLL 2024:
$197 million without arbitrage players – Torres 4 Arb, L.Trivino 4 Arb, German 3 Arb, Holmes 3 Arb, Loaisiga 3 Arb, Higashioka 3 Arb, Cortes 2 Arb, Trevino 2 Arb, King 2Arb, J.Cordero 1 Arb, McKinney 1 Arb.
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RED SOX LUXURY TAX PAYROLL 2024;
$141 million without arbitrage players – Verdugo 3 Arb, Pivetta 3 Arb, Arroyo 3 Arb, L.Urias 3 Arb, McGuire 2 Arb, Y.Chang 2 Arb, Schreiber 1 Arb, Dalbec 1 Arb.
Jeff – I’m still amazed that last night, in the very first game Urias played in a Red Sox uniform, he dogged it on a grounder that allowed Schneider to reach first base safely.
That is NOT the kind of player that helps win games. What does that tell you when he’s dogging it in his very first game.
It looks like Blalock will not be protected in the Rule 5 draft, so they acquired some AAA depth for him.
You mean a team 2.5 games out of a playoff spot with a +44 run differential and 15-8 in July? Yeah they were supposed to be… this is okay but still a little surprised no depth SP
Consider the opposition when citing to a 15-8 run and +44 differential.
By far their easiest month of the year schedule-wise.
Are you listening Fred Lynn?
Ignorant – Red Sox believe their fanbase are buyers of what they are selling.
But we are not.
They traded in Kike for Urias. Meh.
It’s all about getting three (!) important pitchers back on the mound AND the right handed batting Story back in the lineup.
They’ll do ok this year, quit your griping.
whyhayzee – A griping mandate? Seems a bit unfair considering how long it’s been since we won a division and how far back we are even though the team is playing far beyond their abilities.
Griping is nothing more than a sign of life so for us old guys it means the ticker is still working.
Crash – Great post!
And I’d add, not all of us has a lawn. LOL
A good change of scenery candidate
Not really. His best friend is Willie Adames. They are buds
Willy adames likes to throw Gatorade showers and make his teammates laugh, he’ll be lost without Urias now.
He was sent down over a month ago, so it’s not like the trade is a sudden separation for the 2
Still, Brewers have a recent history oglf players who just don’t pan out offensively. This could rejuvenate some of his offense. His new best friend could be the wall. No guarantee, but a gamble. Probably not enough for the postseason
*low intensity woo*
Feels like eating melted ice cream….
Looks like your grandpa eating ice cream?
Nice little pick-up for them.
Whose spot on the roster does he take? I don’t see an upgrade unless there’s an injury move to follow.
He’s going to be in Worcester.
Thanks. I didn’t realize he had options.
Interesting move
Brewers get Verdugo lol
Not likely that’d be an improvement and brewers apparently are to cheap to make any real improvements.
It would be funny though
What would you have done?
I loved what they did
I wish I could thumbs down for inaccuracy.
Arroyo, Wang or Reyes must be injured or DFA’d.
HE DID SOMETHING!!!!!! CHAIM DID SOMETHING!!
Still won’t save his job once they miss the playoff this year and next.
Are really that stupid—- He is not losing his job… he is doing exactly what they hired him to do.
This team needs pitching but very soon they will have a group of players coming up together.
Cooper – They hired him to lose? To downgrade the farm system?
I find that hard to believe. I think they just assessed his skills like he assesses the skills of the players he acquires!!! POORLY.
How exactly is the farm system worse than when he got there?
They guy has yet to acquire any pitching prospects from trades or the draft he only drafts middle infielders go look back and look at all his trades 75%+ are infielders and none of them are more then utility players (!trades!)
A lot of people here are actually that stupid.
Bloom took the best players offered. Remember the original Mookie deal had the team receiving a possible closure but health concerns changed that. I have no problem with his decisions. My issues are above him.
Michael – The more important question is how is it better? Which acquisition by the current GM is veering towards being an all-star in a year or two or even five? Casas and Duran aren’t from this GM. The hope is Mayer and Yorke will be two more like Casas and Duran because they were much higher selections in the draft due to previous year’s failures.
We are nearing four years of failure. Instead of three division titles and a ring we have no division titles, one playoff run that exceeded everyone’s expectations and a farm system that has been re-stocked with league average players with little upside. Lots of hype though!! Yep the great Jeter Downs is a perfect example of the hype that never got realized.
Which team would be better – the current team or last year’s players with Duran and Casas performing as they have been in 2023? No replacement for Bogey, no replacement for Nate, JD and JT are a wash, Yoshida is $18 million that should have been spent on Mookie if he wasn’t contending for a MVP in LAD once again.
The GM experiment didn’t work. No workable new philosophy. No superior knowledge of players to acquire. None of the sales hype of the GM was true. He simply sat in a room with smart TB baseball people telling him what to do. He didn’t bring them with so TB passed Boston in talent and in the standings since the current GM was hired..
Crashburn….Again… he is doing exactly what Henry wanted him to do….. and I disagree with your assessment that the Farm system is “downgraded”….. it’s in the best position it has been in years…. but you keep believing all the whining from the talk show idiots and the moronic press.
Cooper – I have tracked the acquisitions in the minors and nobody stands out other than his pick up of Whitlock. That’s over 100 signs with 1 hit. That’s not a good track record. If I’m wrong detail the minor league acquisitions you think will be all-stars soon like Duran and Casas. I can’t find any but I’ll admit I’m wrong if you produce a list of viable future stars that were acquired not through the draft. The draft is the annual supply train for each team so the GM should get very little credit for successfully taking the best available player at the time of his pick. It should be expected..
I am not influenced by those that cheer or boo the GM. I look to see what the truth is. The truth is that the GM has not delivered an upgraded farm system as promised. I’m not even sure he provided his famous how to build a farm system manual to the Red Sox. It might be proprietary and owned by the Rays. I struggle to find evidence of any valuable contribution by the current GM.
I also don’t see any evidence that Henry is driving the bus not the GM. Henry has pretty much done the same thing he did for the previous GM, he’s provided highly competitive funding and this GM simply doesn’t know how to use it like the last several did.
If you take a close look at the farm system players, they are not better than the last decade they are comparable. The current rock stars from the minors who stand in line behind Bogey, Mookie, Benny and Devers are Casas and Duran and Houck. None come from the current GM because it’s only been 4 years and he picked many HS players. Mayer has the hype to be the next guy in line behind Duran and Casas but we don’t know that for sure. Heck, we didn’t know Casas and Duran for sure until this season.
Suggesting improvement in the farm system is optimism not fact. Nothing wrong with optimism but you don’t win championships with it. Real farm system graduates that contribute at the MLB level is what championships are created from. Mookie, Bogey, Benny etc throw in a couple of key free agents like JD and Sale and you have a contender not a pretender which is what we have in 2023.
This team needs a remake by a knowledgeable baseball person to fix the damage done by this GM. Defense and Pitching need to be a priority that has been over-looked by this GM. And don’t worry about Henry because he provides his wallet to whatever GM is in place at the time and he doesn’t take a Jerry Jones approach to micro managing the GMs.
Crashnburn
Heck, we didn’t know Casas and Duran for sure until this season.
___________________________________________________________
If don’t you watch after more minor leagues as you can know what Casas was last year?
On this web-site many sent of Casas in Triple ААА when he fought, but I said that give to the fellow to play and he will declare oneself in all beauty because potential is.
Also many wanted to change of Rafaela in this offseason on pitcher, but I talk, that he can be Mookie 2.0, potential is.
Our large problem it elite pitcher, that we can’t develop.
I hope that Bello can be our home-bred ace from a next season.
What was the point here? With Arroyo, Reyes, Story, Chang, and occasionally Turner in the middle infield? A move of this nature ( MI depth) would’ve made infinitely more sense in February.
Doing nothing would of been better.
Is it considered buying if you add a guy with negative WAR?
Subtraction by addition.
Thank you
Brewer fans
If I could like this 10 times, I would. Can’t believe he made the opening day roster. Just cannot hit. Ok defensively, can play 2B, SS, and 3B but the dude can’t hit – especially with men on base.
I actually like this move for the Sox depending on what they gave up. Good defender and has pop when he’s right. We’ll see if they can get him back on track
Good defender? LOL
I like it too… I’d have preferred a backend SP but IF you had to pick 1 spot in the lineup (assuming Story is back and at SS in a week) that could use a boost it was 2B and yeah he’s been hurt lately but has serious pop and 2 years ago put it all together… a run like that for the rest of the season would be huge. Especially with how strong the lineup is already.
I would rather they have gotten a SS and placed Story back at second where a) he was amongst the best fielders last year and b) there would be less stress on his throwing arm.
I have no idea what the Sox intention is for Urias, but as far as who plays where, Urias can play 3B, SS or 2B. Don’t know which is his best or preferred spot, just that he has the ability to play those 3.
Exactly. Story is coming off a surgery on his throwing arm. His arm has never been a plus to begin with. He instantly became a ++ second baseman instead, and solved a gaping hole we have had since Dustin went down. Now we have to hope he has enough on those throws moving away in the hole from deep short without re-injury, and we still have a carousel of journeymen/platoon players at second. Why not solve one problem once and for all instead of purposely living with two?
This of course, puts them in contention
@talkingjake had reported the deal first, robert murray gave him credit for it.
I don’t understand this move. I would have preferred a sell off, but would have understood if Bloom went for it. Wouldn’t have liked it, but understood it.
BUT THIS? I mean, even those who support him have to be scratching their heads why mumbling, “huh?”
I officially do not get Bloom. Not at all.
What the actual eff???
He’s been hurt but in 2021 hit .249 with pop 20+ HR and solid OBP… he’s a decent depth INF/starting 2B to pair with Story.
ideally they were said to be looking for LH hitting 2B but this is better than I expected once 6PM hit with nothing.
He hasn’t been hurt for 2 months. He just got demoted and lost his job to a guy who wasn’t even a strong prospect and hasn’t done anything to earn another shot. He’s hitting .233 in AAA and is a defensive liability.
My guess is Bloom is relying on the return of Whitlock, Houck, Sale and Story to boost this team. When healthy these guys are all difference makers but that’s not something I’d rely on trying to make a playoff push. Questionable to say the least.
For a guy that said he would add if they stayed close, I don’t see how not adding to any of the clear and blatant needs is acceptable to anyone. This was clearly a sell off situation to try to salvage prospects out of this season, and even that wasn’t accomplished. We managed to do the most counter productive thing we could. Please don’t try to sell me that all 4 injured guys coming back are all going to be sharp, stay healthy, and play at their respective peaks right off the bat, if at all. Btw, look at the free agent lists for the next two years. It’s slim pickings and we all know the other GM’s are far more aggressive at adding starting talent that excel at their positions. You don’t build a winner around a core of middling guys all playing out of position. As this season closes we will have a DH at third and first, a third baseman at DH, a second baseman at short, platoon players starting every game at second, and an outfield could potentially be ok going forward if Duran progresses, and Verdugo can ever put a full season together at expectation levels. At this point I would settle for JD Drew numbers.
It’s real easy to understand.
1-Former top-20/30 prospect.
2-Excellent in 2021 and 2022.
A terrible 2023, but the fact that he did well in two consecutive years suggests that he was more than lucky for two years.
But he was designated. Teams can still select off the wire after the deadline. This could have been done 3 or days from now.
He was optioned, not designated.
I’m not sure what the point is. If the point is that we could’ve saved some salary (~ $1.6M) if he was DFAd, then I’d say that could be a factor. But we under the cap, there was probably -0- chance that Mil would DFA him, since they would eat 100% of his salary, and in the unlikely event that they did DFA him, at league minimum, there was a real good chance we wouldn’t get him.
@ Holden and Brady. Thanks for the addition info
We are whelmed…
Bloom seriously needs to go…
I second that motion and Send Cora with him
Don’t be surprised if 24 is not a go for it year either. However, kids will be given the opportunity to win jobs out of spring training.
We will have to improve from within, and by spending it on starters and relievers to contend going forward. We have too many needs and the 2023-2025 free agents don’t fill nearly any of the needs outside of pitching, and at a steep cost. Trading for outside talent/prospects to create upgrades anywhere or for the future was the way to go and Bloom failed there this deadline once again.
@ DBH, they aren’t making any moves with this guy. In my opinion they are just teasing the faithful with we are kind of competitive . They will keep on doing this . The ownership isn’t it to and Chaim is a yes man .
Could be. Like I said, I would have been a seller, but understood buying. But giving up a decent prospect for a DFA doesn’t make sense to me… especially at the deadline. And doing nothing else…I am completely befuddled
Well that doesn’t move the needle. No more than a bucket of balls. What hurts is possibly DFAing someone for this guy
2021….. 23 Hrs 75 RBI’s 2022 16 HR’s…. has been hurt, change of scenery could help….. Not having to watch Yu Chang strike out….. priceless
He’s been back from his injury for 2 months. Hit .145 in the bigs, was demoted to try to figure out his swing and has hit .233 in AAA for over a month. Maybe a change of scenery helps, but it’s got nothing to do with the injury anymore.
SD won that trade. Good grief
Eh. Its not like Grisham is tearing it up for the Padres, and if we kept both players we traded away thats also extremely meh. They “won” that trade but the whole thing wound up being a pile of crap for all involved.
Grish on his way to a 3rd Gold Glove. I can’t say he’s getting better with the bat (not yet?) but he does have some clutch homers to his credit. He’s not a scrub and has shown potential to turn a corner at the plate, backwards Ks notwithstanding.
Grisham has had just about a league avg bat (99 OPS+) while playing very good CF — as good CF are hard to come by right now. Zach Davies got a 154 ERA+ in 2020 with a 2.73 ERA going 7-4 while being a key component in the trade to CHC that landed Yu Darvish/Caratini.
Chaim Probly gave up Bello for Urias
I do like this and if he can replicate his 2021-2022 success he can be the stopgap 2B until Mayer pushes Story to 2B… but Blalock seems like a legit piece to give up for someone who had been costing the Brewers $4.6M to play in AAA… kind of feels like they should have been dumping him at all costs at this point. Though to be fair why you’d leave him in AAA while he’s hitting. 270/4HR/.395 in his last 20 games is also a little strange.
Kid is in Single A….. and only tops out in low 90’s….. starter for now but only way to bigs is as a low leverage lefty reliever…. and that is it….. so legit piece???
On top of that, he’s Rule 5 eligible this fall along with quite a few other minor league pitchers who would all merit 40-man consideration before he would. In all likelihood, Blalock wouldn’t have been pinched this fall in the Rule 5, but he just had a lot of pitchers ahead of him (Drohan, Perales, and Paez among the top three).
Drohan may be the real deal.
That’s my guess as well. One of the things I thought Theo was weak at was not moving the R5 guys prior to them becoming an R5.
Maddux threw low 90s. Should he be kicked out of the hall?
Cooper it’s like you have never watched Blalock pitch. First of all he’s a right and he sits around 95 and tops out at 97 his fastball is considered a plus pitch. His curveball is at least average and breaks a ton. He also has a serviceable slider. This is a good get for the Brewers he has looked good this year albeit he’s old for High A. I don’t understand this trade at all. The only thing that makes sense here is that Bloom didn’t plan on protecting him from the rule 5 but still Urias has been real bad this year and Blalock has a good arm.
Well, it’s something…
No plan.
Not picking up pitching is tantamount to not being concerned about making the playoffs. It will be interesting to see if the team mails it in again much like last year. Their plan is to get guys back from the IL. I’m going to say my prayers.
I know that Blalock in only in A ball, but he’s putting up decent results and is a starter. and still not yet even 23. IDK, this trade makes no sense to me. They could have traded next to nothing and gotten the DFA’s wong instead.
This is a real headscratcher for sure. And apparently they’re keeping Duvall and everyone else? Weird.
I was hoping the RS would trade for Wong a few years back. But he’s been pretty bad this year, and at age ~33, he might not get any better.
Sox were linked to kolten Wong. At this point urias is a better player.
Big move, Chaim!
What
What is the point of this trade? They already have a bunch/glut of below average middle infielders in Arroyo, Chang and Reyes.
Hm. A middle infielder who’s not good enough for regular playing time. Good thing they don’t already have 5 of those
You think Luis swings at everything now?
Wait until he sees that wall.
Like polishing a turd or lipstick on a pig. I realize it isn’t Bloom’s decision but ownership is not taking the team in a direction that seems good.
Stan – Player acquisitions are presented by the GM and approved by owners. They are all culpable.
Was it the dramatic fall off in wins since the GM arrived or the lack of timely acquisitions or the focus on bad defense that suggests they are going in the wrong direction? I completely agree.
I hear that Chaim Bloom shops at the clearance rack in the dollar store. John Henry reminds him to bring back change!
Bloom is a disgrace and a joke . Now he’s trying to sell to the fans that all the injured players coming back are all the help the Sox need .
Actually, who were they going to get that are better than Story, Sale, Houck & Whitlock. The real move was to Keep Paxton, Duvall, & Dupgie and not give up assets that can be used for 2024.
A dozen teams gave up significant prospects and none of them have won anything yet. So everyone who thinks the Sox did the wrong thing — I ask you who will win the WS this yr due to which move.??
Remember Jose Uribe, Cody Ross & Steve Pierce delivered while many big names have failed to be the difference.
The wrong thing the sox did was not selling.
The answer doesn’t have to be who is better than those players you listed. The answer was to address a situation where we have only three starters atm, and a bullpen that is struggling to hold on because we only have three starters. The pen is overused, and thin. Look at those names. The idea was to add one quality atm to the rotation. Allow Sale to slide in knowing he cannot be asked to push it, or go deep. That would have produced the 5 starters. It also would have pushed Whitlock and Houck to the pen. The result would be two major additions to the pen, and the jettison of the two worst arms in the pen. Adding that one quality starter would have added a tremendous upgrade overall. If you just account for the injured guys coming back, you have the same rotation that struggled at the beginning, but now they are all coming off injuries. You still will have the same overwork out of the pen, except those bulk innings will still be done by subpar pitching in the middle innings. That was the impact of whether we got the one good starter or not. With Story back the idea wouldn’t have been to trade for someone better than Story. The idea was to trade for someone better than Arroyo. How daunting does that sound now?
Ya had to trade either Duvall or Duggie and Duggie would of gotten you a better return. It’s time to call up Rafaela who has an OPS above .900 in Worcester. The Sox could of gotten 2 pitching prospects or a reliever prospect and a OF prospect.
He has a 27/3 K/W. He’s not close to being ready for MLB pitching.
JMI1950 – The Astros by adding Verlander. If not, then Texas by adding Scherzer. Either would have looked great in the Red Sox rotation for the short term and could have provided the boost to not just shoot for the third wildcard spot but rather the 1st wildcard spot.
Adding Sale, Story, Houck and Whitlock should give the team a boost during the rough schedule in August and September but will it be enough? Why not reduce the $300 million of profits by a couple of dozen million and try to win the whole thing? The Red Sox wouldn’t have gone broke adding either pitcher.
I love this teams steady stream of disingenuous propaganda. We all knew this team wasn’t going to win much of anything this year, but they sure tried to sell that this team was a contender. This is the perfect synopsis for the season at trade deadline. They tried to sell the base that if the team made a fairly good run to be close they would be buyers. They expressed their desire to add, they told us they understood the teams needs, and then purposely waited for all the chips to fall away so they could claim the asking prices were too high for what was left or the impact players were gobbled up. Something nearly all of the other contenders had zero issue with. They never intended to add, unless a team was stupid enough to hand over talent in a completely lopsided trade. They didn’t subtract, because they knew that would fly in the face of everything they were trying to sell the fans and on. If they weren’t going to try, they should have jettisoned the players with some value going free agent. Just a total loss across the board in every way. Bloom just sucks, but management is burning down the bridge. There is zero credibility left. No starter, no quality middle infielder. Not even a reliever?
William – Superb post!
And Bloom already made his big acquisition of a reliever, Llovera who has a career 5.93 ERA and 1.747 WHIP. Good enough to already put him on the mound in the 11th inning of a tie game, and retire nobody. If that didn’t show winning is not a priority this year, nothing will.
Exactly. Another trade deadline has come and gone and Bloom did nothing to improve the team, either in the short term or long term. Making moves — either adding talent for winning now, or subtracting talent to win in the future — takes nerve, which Bloom lacks.
Ever since chaim doom has come along the transactions the redsox have made goes too show they do not care about this franchise no more ever since the 2018 win they no longer have interest in making this team good .. and that’s when it’s time too sell the team .. plz if their is a baseball god plz make the redsox sell them too someone who cares about winning !!!! Thank you bostonsports85
A plus for MIL. Seemed he didn’t have a future there. A starter prospect! Reliever floor! You kidding me!
I get Bloom’s plan, build through the farm. They aren’t in the business of trading prospects for rentals anymore. This fan base is having a hard time grasping that. Their formula is to load the minors with as many prospects as possible and hope they come through. Ya trade most guys before they get too expensive for more prospects. This means it’s a several year transition and they had zero intentions of blowing up a rebuilding farm system to go for it.
Well Kingburn they did trade a prospect for Urias. I don’t understand the trade at all it’s another right handed infielder it was a dumb trade. Blalock has a big arm mid 90’s fastball and hammer curve and a developing slider. This trade just makes no sense.
Emmanuel Valdez should be playing 2nd base right now for the Sox. Verdugo would of gotten prospects back and Ceddanne Rafaela should be called up. Both have OPS over .900 in triple A. Let’s see what the prospects got they have earned an opportunity ya ask me. This trade was stupid, maybe it was to build MLB or near MLB depth.
Valdez is on the injured list Rafaela has played well but barring an injury I think he needs more seasoning at AAA. Rafaela swings at everything he has like 2% walk rate and I think big league pitchers will exploit him. There was just no need to add Urias it makes no sense and they give up a potential arm for nothing it just baffles me.
Striking out is growing pains, remember when Duran first came up a couple years ago. He was the definition of free swinger. My point is pick a direction, let the kids play or trade them for vets if you are in contention. This halfway bs is for the birds.
I agree. He will get carved up by any quality pitcher once they scout him out. There is near zero discipline at the plate. It’s at the level of being a red flag going forward unless they completely rework him, and that could be just as detrimental with a guy that has spent his entire life swinging at everything thrown between the dugouts.
remember when Duran first came up a couple years ago. He was the definition of free swinger.
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And it took 3 years to get him straightened out. Rafaela looks nowhere near ready. This is why minor leagues exist-to teach kids how to play.
King – Bloom is on Year 4.
How many years are you willing to give him? Each of his prior two predecessors had 4 years before being let go.
And WS rings
Fever – Great point. And those predecessors had success not failure at winning.
King – Which acquisition by this GM is a future star that significantly improves the farm system like you suggest? Sure Mayer and Yorke were high picks thanks to failure but what trade or FA acquisition has improved the stock in the farm system? That’s propaganda from the GM not fact. The best farm system players weren’t rated all that high but are doing extremely well (Casas and Duran). They preceded the current GM so that shows the farm system was just fine when he arrived and has not gotten better other than the 4th pick in the draft due to the 2020 tanking.
Crash – Always remember the Inherited Six:
Crawford
Houck
Bello
Casas
Duran
Rafaela
The people who claimed Dombrowski left a barren farm system have been proven to be ridiculously wrong.
Fever – Nobody ever knows for sure when someone will “get it” and turn from being a good minor league player to an excellent MLB player but Boston has been very fortunate in the last decade to see it happen with Bogey, Mookie, Benny and Devers. Now they see Casas, Duran and Bello doing it with Houck and Crawford on the cusp.
All those mentioned came from the inappropriately labeled bad farm system that didn’t have good ratings.
I think in a few years the “well” might dry up a bit when the current GM’s picks don’t keep up the success rate of the previous GMs. That will be the irrefutable proof that the current GM did not improve the farm system as so many have claimed.
Also, trading guys like Espinoza, Moncada and Kopech landed key parts to winning teams. The current GM has no such success. He simply DFA’s the misses and then goes out and gets some more. With all the holes, maybe trading a farm player he picked could bring back an MLB need and allow that farm player a chance to actually help the MLB team.
Remember, the only two ways a farm player helps his club is by graduating and contributing or being traded for someone who helps the club. The current GM doesn’t understand half that equation. He prefers to hoard and purge…
Fever Pitch Guy
Betts, Bogey, JBJ, Vazquez, Swihart, Holt, Benny, Devers, Shaw, Pedey, Ortiz, Henley were inherited Dombrowski from a predecessor, Dave got a carte blanche from Henry and he could spend money as the drunk seaman.
When Bloom, came he got a task to go down below than threshold in third times and to build a farm and on possibility to fight for a play-off.
I don’t understand the fans of Red Sox that require from Chaim, that prospects appeared instantly from air.
Many forget that 2020 a year was skipped in more minor leagues and the signed players didn’t play.
As prospects, that were signed of Bloom in the period of 2020 – 2022 can appear in Major League in 2 Y’s, if for their development it is needed no less 3 Y’s , for pitchers yet more…
@bogie – The success of a GM is determined by how he takes what he gets and moves forward with it. Dombrowski saw a need for better pitching so he signed Price, Sale and Eovaldi. He saw a need for a bat to replace big Papi so he got JD Martinez.
These astute observations and the subsequent actions led to 3 straight Division titles and a Ring. The fourth year was ruined by a huge Cora mistake in Spring Training and many injuries. Overall, the old GM’s time in Boston provided fans with high quality teams and his one off year was to be expected since injuries are part of baseball. They still finished over .500 and were competitive considering their top 2 SPs were hurt.
The current GM inherited a championship team that had a key injury to it’s #1 SP. That’s a much better place to start than his predecessor yet his results pale in comparison because he started dismantling the championship team within 3 months of arriving.
Time has hurt the Red Sox organization since the new GM arrived. As each month passed the talent level dwindled due to poor decisions by the current GM and the acquired replacements have not equaled the original players. Also, the farm system while not highly ranked was filled with unrecognized talent to those outside the Boston organization. Duran, Casas, Houck were all under-rated which confirms my suspicion that rating systems are worthless.
Lets base success on actual activities. Many of the prospects acquired prior to the current GM have blossomed into good MLB players who might become great MLB players like Bogey, Devers and Benny. Nobody from the new GM has traveled that path except a RULE 5 pick-up named Whitlock. The HS players drafted by the current GM have not moved through the minors to the majors yet and frankly a good GM shouldn’t be evaluated by how well he drafts only, it should be about his ability to stock the farm system outside the draft with players that quickly prove to be MLB players. Since Bloom left TB they added Arozarena and Boston added Jeter Downs. That’s how far apart the skill level is between the remaining TB people and the TB front office joke Boston hired.
I’ve asked this before …. Name the great acquisitions from this GM that have star potential in the next few years. Not the draft picks because whoever the GM was for those drafts would have had the same opportunity to pick the players picked. I want the improvement in the farm system from adding players with upside in the near future that will benefit the MLB club like Duran, Casas, Houck and others have from the previous GM.
There are none is the answer which is why the farm system talent has actually fallen off despite the silly ratings people giving them higher marks for picking 4th in the 2021 draft.
To summarize. The MLB team is weaker now and the farm system is weaker now. That should send up a flag in year four that the GM must go.
Crashnburn
Dombrowski became GM of Red Sox in August, 2015, you saw prospects in 2019 from Dave, I them didn’t see.
Except FA and trading players, I saw not a single prospect from Dombrowski that forced one’s way through in Major League.
For 4 seasons not a single prospect began to play in MLB, as you can require the same from Bloom, I don’t understand, except as trading and to buy free agents, blue chips won’t be ready while – it’s York ETA 2024 AA, Jordan ETA 2025 AA, Bleis ETA 2026 A IL-60, Mayer ETA 2024 AA, Rodriguez-Cruz ETA 2026 A, Drohan ETA 2024 AAA, Anthony ETA 2026 A+.
I think that at some instant in a next season we will see York, maybe Mayer later in 2024, Drohan can be ready to the next season, very quickly Anthony makes progress and he can be ready to 2025 with such rates.
Crashnburn
great MLB players like Bogey, Devers and Benny.
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Benny is a great player, LOL.
Did you look his game last 2 seasons, where there grandeur?
He grew into a middle player for 15 million.
I take Dugie in any day of week instead of Benny.
Crashnburn
The success of a GM is determined by how he takes what he gets and moves forward with it. Dombrowski saw a need for better pitching so he signed Price, Sale and Eovaldi. He saw a need for a bat to replace big Papi so he got JD Martinez.
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SP of Red Sox in 2019 ate $84.3 million – Sale $13 m AAV, Eovaldi $17 m AAV, Price $31 m AAV, Porcello $19 m AAV, Rodriguez $4.3 m AAV 1 Arb.
Position players and anchors occupied other pay-sheet that made – $139 million.
Tax Threshold 2019 – $206 mil.
RED SOX LUXURY TAX PAYROLL 2019 :
$238 million
Dombrowski had a plan after 2018, that he remained without closer and bullpen was garbage in 2019.
Price and Sale had histories of injury already, but Dave not to taked care for their securing.
Why? Because already there was not money on other of pitchers and Dombrowski exceeded a threshold on 32 million in 2019, therefore a command remained without closer and reliable number eight. Kimbrel and Kelly went away from ends and replacements by him wasn’t.
Betts entered into the second arbitration, Bogey in the third, Bradley in the third, Holt in the third.
Also on a farm there was not of adequate pitchers for securing of Sale, Price and Eovaldi in 2019.
Why?
When you use 40 % of command budget on SP in the future it you will strike on a bum.
Look at Metz, Yankees, Padres that decided to spend as the drunk seamen where they are in this season with exaggerated.
For me to you question, as to the zealous fan of Red Sox.
Why didn’t Dombrowski sign contracts with Bogey, Betts after 2016 and pulled time to the second and third arbitration in fact it was clear that it is talented fellows and they very well will blend in a command ?
Bloom’s discipline sets the tone, again. Trading for anyone other than Cease would have been pointless and selling the farm for a wild card push with Cease would have been short sighted. Just make a play for him in the off season after reseting the farm labels of “in/out” of the clubs long term plans. This teams system doesn’t efficiently develop pitching talent, but it is proving to be effective at developing positional players. At some point Bloom will need to consolidate from the systems strength of positional talent and acquire pitching. Before he can do that, he needs to understand where his MLB lineup stands and which of his positional prospects he see’s filling the holes. That effort will be best informed after a complete season, not in the middle of a developmental season, while hunting the last wildcard spot. With the age of the current core, and looking at the rest of the AL, the title window likely starts in 2 years (yes, I hear the boo’s).
Duran and Casas have graduated too “in”. Dever’s and Yoshida are “in”. Story and Wong are “in-ish”. That’s 6 players of the regular line-up for the next 2 years, and likely 4 player’s for the next 4. The pipeline is now a top 7 pipeline (Fangraphs recently updated BOS to #3). With that in mind, and for the next 2-3 years, the front office has to balance talent acquisition/roster flexibility, plus, player development/sustainability. Yoshida is likely slotted for the DH role once Turner is gone (this year or next). If Verdugo is TBD on “in/out” status Bloom likely needs 2 competitive controllable corner OF’s that can contribute to a championship contender in 2025. One of those could be Duval if he’s retained on a 2 year deal this offseason, or a different free agent on a 2-3 year deal. The other corner OF is ideally a prospect or Verdugo. That could be decided this offseason after having a full reference year of Ceddanne/Abreu/Bleis and of Gold Glove, but avg hitter, Verdugo. Dare I add Bobby Dalbec as a candidate too? The odd one(s) out should be traded for pitching. That brings the team to 8 of 9 regulars filled for the next 2 years (thru 2025). Like Mayer, and if possible, hold onto Anthony as once the window starts, the title contention should target a run through 2027+.
That brings the mind to the unfilled 2nd base for 2024 and 2025. A realistic team goal for 2024 is competing for the East, and in 2025 to contend. So how is 2B filled from 2024 thru 2027? Is that Yorke? Is it an acquisition? Does Story move to 2B in 2025? If Story moves, who is the SS for that 2025 contender? Is Mayer ready in 2025? Does one of the non-Mayer SS prospects move over to 2B for 2025 onward?
These are not questions that a front office should rush to answer in the middle of a season for a team 2.5 GB of the last Wild Card spot, while all of the other Wild Card competitors just added more talent (Angels, Blue Jay’s, Rays or Orioles, Houston or Texas). Answer those questions in the offseason. Make a play for Cease then, when things are not at “gun to your head” prices. Bloom needs to figure out contending pitching and it’s, no doubt, going to have to be signed or traded for. If contending in 2 years is the true goal, potentially only 2-3 rotation pieces are on this team – Bello and maybe Crawford/Whitlock (Houck’s a pen long man or traded?). None of those 3 strike me a true #1’s though. Best case they are #2, #3, #3+/4. If the other 2 SP’s are traded for in the future, its coming from the same prospect pool that is ear marked for the bolstering 2-4 regulars within the next 4 years. One of those two SP’s would also need to be a legit #1. Again, those types of trades are best made after figuring out which prospects you want to keep for your own teams contention sustainability. That is especially true since there isn’t an ace coming from the minors in the next 2 years. You don’t build a perennial contender in the middle of a season. Thats when the finishing touches to contenders are applied (see Houston, Texas, Tampa), and potentially the Red Sox at the 2025 deadline.
This offseason seems pivotal to what I assume to be Bloom’s plan. This year he’s graduated a slew of veteran mentored young talent, has made a smart Yoshida signing that lines up with Story’s contract, retained Dever’s, has a lot of bullpen talent+prospects, and will have a top 5 farm system flush with positional talent ready for consolidation. He has also avoided ruining the chemistry of the current core by not dissolving their over performing team. Theres a chance Duval and Paxton resign in the offseason.
I like the offseason opportunity ahead of Bloom, but if he doesn’t start to wheel and deal to some extent this winter I will start to question what his plan for contending is.
Mo – He’s been here 4 years and you don’t see a plan? Join the rest of us!!
You articulated a plan far better than anything this GM can put together. He ripped up his predecessors plan that was set for 2016-2022 by eliminating Benny, JBJ, Mookie, Bogey, Pedroia (thank Manny for that one not this GM), Moreland/Dalbec/Casas and JD at DH. That plan had teeth.
The current plan was keep the bad fielding 3B for way more than his value for over a decade and hope the other spots in the infield can be filled with a rookie at 1B and below league average depth up the middle. His outfield plan at least included players slotted for the longer term in Yoshida, Verdugo and Duran/Duvall.
Let’s face it….. There is no plan and never has been. Some guys like to wing it and call it a plan but it’s very obvious the plan is nothing more than total chaos. That’s how you start a season without more than 1 all-star, without MLB skill at all positions and a starting rotation with two SPs known for their injuries. Poor planning. That’s the last 4 years in a nutshell.
He probably blew up the previous core a year early and didn’t get full value for Betts but since that deal he has stayed true to what his actions signaled he’d do. Build a younger team with longevity. He doesn’t waver from it, but non the less that makes me think he has/had a plan and its just not as aggressive as fans wanted.
The fan base also doesn’t want a flash pan contender. Bloom should of signed Bogie for $200m in the spring of 2022 but it’s good he didn’t sign him to the Padres deal. The Story injury really screwed this season, but Wild Card was the ceiling anyway. That’s a 5-7 WAR player gone after the off season is essentially wrapped up. Factor in Story’s WAR and the team is in a WC spot. But 2023 was always about a growth year. Vets to guide youth on how to be a pro so you know what you have in the youth. That’s been accomplished.
The past 4 yrs are going to come to a head this offseason. Its lining up perfectly for that and frankly it has to. If Bloom doesn’t show differently Nov-Jan and bolster the rotation with a #1 and another #3 type that’s when I’ll doubt whether he has a vision…and when I’ll join your dark cult of chaos.
Mo – A younger team with longevity? The old team was a great balance of guys in their prime, a few youngsters heading into their prime and a couple of older players like JD. That team did not need to get younger. He did not achieve the goal you are suggesting!! His predecessor gave him all the new young guys.
You had a championship team and he dismantled it. That was his plan if he actually had one and he executed it well but without forethought of how to replace the superior pieces he removed.
For you to suggest that the fan base doesn’t want the rationalized “flash pan contender” is just you trying to do what the GM does, sell a bill of goods that is not true..
The fan base wants a contender. They are educated so they know that some years you have injuries and some years you don’t. You ask for the best possible team to take the field and let the chips fall where they may with regard to injuries. It doesn’t matter who is GM the injuries come regardless. Whether it’s Sale due to playing for a bad manager or Story being purchased as damaged goods, they happen and will continue to happen throughout time..
The money isn’t ‘your” money so talking like it is removes the accuracy of your statements. There is and always will be enough money since the Red Sox make over $300 million a year.
The rationalization of Story and his WAR is trite. Lets replace Story with Mookie, Benny, JD, Bogie, Vazquez and Moreland from when the team was good. Their WAR makes your Story story irrelevant. The huge step down in talent isn’t easily rationalized away. It’s real and it’s cost Boston division championships and most importantly it’s led to the sustained losing that has occurred, the exact opposite of what the GM professed and you are pretending that is happening. You can’t have sustained winning until you win!!
The current team that Bloom has put together is a travesty.
C – A weak Wong who is at best a back-up
1B – Casas one of the previous GM’s top picks
2B – Story = an overpaid SS with a bad arm so he’ll play 2B
SS – NOTHING for the foreseeable future until Mayer arrives as a #4 pick
3B – A way over paid Devers who can’t field
LF – His one claim to fame so far, Yoshida a high OBP guy who can’t field
CF – Duran another of the previous GMs farm players
RF – Verdugo a league average outfielder who has big first halves and fades
DH – JT – A senior citizen who still can hit but clearly not a long term guy nor part of the professed youth movement.
That’s the result of four years!! Gone – Mookie, Benny, JBJ, Moreland, Pedroia and his back-ups of Duran/Holt, Bogey and Vazquez. If you consider the age of this group that is gone you will see the only senior citizen is JD but he’s several years younger than JT.
Your assessment doesn’t match the facts. No plan except tearing down what could have been a dynasty. No youth movement, just the normal progression of time for the minor league players that existed prior to his arrival that is considered contributions by the previous GM.
Four years of trying to fix something that was never broken but is now!!!
That’s the GM’s legacy.
Your explaining your perspective of the facts but it’s that, YOUR perspective and opinion. We have different eyes and time horizons for the game, and that’s fine.
Your whole argument is based on a core that is gone, and has been gone for 4 yrs. They aren’t coming back. They weren’t going to be a dynasty.
Step out of the echo chamber and turn to face the future of the team. There is a whole league full of unknown possibilities ahead, there is only a known outcome when looking backwards. Have vision and don’t be frightened of the unknown possibilities ahead, there’s less misery and more solutions in that.
Mo Vaughns Jockstrap
If Bloom doesn’t show differently Nov-Jan and bolster the rotation with a #1 and another #3 type that’s when I’ll doubt whether he has a vision…and when I’ll join your dark cult of chaos.
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There would be Yamamoto in an ideal.
Starting rotation 2024:
Yamamoto, Bello, Sale, Paxton, Crawford/ Pivetta, Houck is a very sexual.
Mo – They won three division titles in a row. That’s a short term dynasty.
They could have been a contender through 2022 according the plan set forth by the sorely missed GM. Instead, they have been a joke since the day the gave away Mookie.
Your last paragraph I guess was your idea of distracting people from seeing the raw facts and judging the current GM harshly as should be.
The team’s future needs to be molded once again by a knowledgeable GM not a wanna be. When that happens, the world turns and Red Sox Nation can once again hold their head up high. Until that happens, this team is going nowhere and all the controlled years of players acquired are being wasted.
Yamamoto would be an interesting play. Japan career (including relief stats): 841 IP, 0.94 WHIP, 1K per inning, Avg 3.9 Batters face/IP.
He’ll be 25 and probably will command $20M/yr, maybe 6/$120M. Yamamoto is still probably a #2 in his first year or two of that contract.
Shop Sale, Pivetta, and Houck. I doubt Bloom would get much for Sale if he doesn’t pay a big chunk of the salary and at that point might as well keep him. Maybe the Reds would take Houck or Pivetta for India (although he’s a below avg fielder). Make a run at Cease and try to work Houck into that prospect package (Houck, Ceddanne, Yorke for Cease?)
2024
Yamamoto (R), Cease (R), Bello (R), Sale (L), Whitlock/Crawford (R)…
1. Duran – CF (L)
2. Story – SS (R)
3. Yoshida – DH (L)
4. Devers – 3B (L)
5. Duval – LF (R)
6. Casas – 1B (L)
7. Verdugo – RF (L)
8. Free Agent/Trade – 2B (?)
9. Wong – C (R)
Bench: Refsynder (R), Arroyo (R), McGuire (L), Dalbec (R)
Bullpen: Jansen (R), Martin (R), Schreiber (R), Bernardino (L), Winckowski (R), Murphy (L), Free Agent (L)
Probably nothing more than optimistic hopium on my part as thats a lot of assumptions in trade value. That said, I think that is a team that could win the East if 2B is filled with a legitimate everyday player.
Go look at the 2019 roster in its entirety and tell me you think that team would have been able to compete with the 2020 Dodgers, 2021 Braves. There was nothing tradable out of the farm going into 2020 which is why Dombrowski was fired. He can draft, he knows talent, but he isn’t a farm DEVELOPER and he had played all his chips. That 2019 team would be 1st or 2nd round exits at best in 2020/21/22 and you’d have no farm or youth to draw on.
This 2023 team is not as far away from a title as you’re acting. It is a borderline contending line up without everyday players at SS & 2B. One of those spots is filled with Story. Two legitimate top end SP’s and an everyday 2B or SS and this team would be in the thick of things. Bloom has the money and the prospects that can make that realistically happen this offseason. He likely would still have a top 15 farm system after making it happen as well. This team is being built for the East in 2024, and WS contention in 2025.
Crashnburn
C – A weak Wong who is at best a back-up
1B – Casas one of the previous GM’s top picks
2B – Story = an overpaid SS with a bad arm so he’ll play 2B
SS – NOTHING for the foreseeable future until Mayer arrives as a #4 pick
3B – A way over paid Devers who can’t field
LF – His one claim to fame so far, Yoshida a high OBP guy who can’t field
CF – Duran another of the previous GMs farm players
RF – Verdugo a league average outfielder who has big first halves and fades
DH – JT – A senior citizen who still can hit but clearly not a long term guy nor part of the professed youth movement.
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C – Wong +5Drs, +1.5 dWAR – pretender on a Gold Glove, wRC+ 90
1B – Casas wRC+ 126
2B – Arroyo, Valdez, Reyes – revolved window wRC +75
SS – Chang +4 OAA,
3B – Devers wRC +122
LF – Yoshi, Duran wRC +130
CF – Duran +1 OAA, Duvall wRC +119
RF – Verdugo +1OAA, +11Drs, candidate on a Gold Glove , wRC +110
DH – Turner wRC+ 126
Mo Vaughns Jockstrap
Yamamoto would be an interesting play. Japan career (including relief stats): 841 IP, 0.94 WHIP, 1K per inning, Avg 3.9 Batters face/IP.
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That’s my target. A nice combination of talent and youth.
I don’t know enough about Japanese BB, but I am hoping that, if Yoshida wins the ROY award, maybe Boston will look like a nicer destination.
Indeed, same thought of Yoshida potentially being the first Japanese domino.
Yamamoto has very unique mechanics this season. Super low slide step to the plate forces him to use core and back leg. Front hip leads but it’s so subtle since he’s lessened his knee lift. Gets his throwing arm in position slightly late and takes a long glove path towards the plate that also keeps is glove arm lower then most power pitchers do when going to the plate. Seems to make up for that inefficiency by using a slight glove flair as his throwing shoulder starts to comes forward and then by also keeping his glove elbow compact to his ribs as he releases. He doesn’t “post” his back leg as much but I interpret it as being tied to his lower front leg. He has to does the drop and drive with his back leg to spring power to his core as his shoulder loads into position. As he comes forward his glove flair seems like his timing release for core/shoulder. I’ve seen videos of his stretching and he could be a gymnast with his flexibility so I’m not calling him lazy, but, his delivery is the laziest 100mph I’ve seen. He just has pure stuff and a live arm. Violent upper body/shoulder movement but he couldn’t throw that hard without his core since his lower half stays so small. I wonder about his shoulder with how he uses his lower half but can’t question his effectiveness.
He’s essentially uber dominating AAA hitters.
Mo Vaughns Jockstrap
I think that Bloom must follow after Yamamoto in this offseason.
Young pitcher, played together with Yoshi.
Masa can agitate to sign a contract with Red Sox.
SP:
Yamamoto, Bello, Paxton, Sale, Crawford, Pivetta, Houck, Drohan
Bullpen:
Jansen, Martin, Whitlock, Schreiber, Winckowski, Murphy, Bernardino,Walter, Kelly.
To clean bullpen from unnecessary trash:
Ort, Jacques, Garza, Bleier, Rodriguez.
To accomplish a transaction with good second baseman and this command can fight for a play-off without tension.
Red Sox 2024:
1. Duran LF
2. Story SS
3. Yoshi DH/LF
4. Devers 3B
5. Casas 1B
6. 2B -? Rhb
7. Verdugo RF
8. Wong C
9. Rafaela CF
Bench: Refsnyder OF, Dalbec INF, McGuire C, Chang SS
Joe – You really need to get over the ageist viewpoints.
Senga has been an absolute steal at $15M a year, but you didn’t want him because he’s 30 and Bloom chose to spend basically the same amount combined on Kluber, Brasier, Rodriguez etc.
30 is not old for a pitcher.
So would that make him a rule 5 pick this year for Milwaukee during Rule 5 draft if not protected?
I think that’s a yes. Some had suggested a promotion for Blalock to see if he has upside potential.
Can’t believe some Red Sox fans are buying into Bloom. Seems to be hyper allergic to pitchers.
Our ERA+ is #8 out of 30 teams.
Joe – Despite scoring lots of runs the biggest problem is defense or the lack of. Does Boston need top of the rotation pitching, yes. Does the team have incredibly bad defense that makes the pitching look far worse than it is? Yes.
How do you fix the defense when the best offensive players can’t field? That’s the thing to ponder this off season. Should a line up have as many good hitting and bad fielding player in it? If not, then, do you trade some of the bad fielders and get better combinations of hitting and fielding?
Problem – Nobody would take Devers contract. Yoshida is too valuable to the run scoring to move. JT has maybe a year or two left in the tank so his value is lower than his performance. The hole at SS needs to be plugged until Mayer arrives with a guy who can hit and field not just hit, especially with Devers remaining at 3B. Story needs to have a strong enough arm to turn double plays or he too will be a defensive liability.
The ERA+ is outstanding because the young pitchers and Paxton have done better than expected. I still believe a top of the rotation guy would make the match-ups better. TBD, SALE, PAXTON, BELLO and HOUCK/PIVETTA/WHITLOCK is a rotation with quality pitchers and depth.
There were so many SPs available to fill that spot yet nothing was done. Verlander, Scherzer and Cease all would have done well in that spot. The Mets SPs would have been leaders that would have tipped the tables in Boston’s favor for the next few years if they stayed healthy. As we stand now, the only team with less talent in our division is NY and my guess is there will be a big shake-up in NY this off season if they finish 5th.
So, Joe, I agree the pitching isn’t a problem but “it’s happening” is right that the GM is not good at adding quality pitching. We still need one top of the rotatoin guy for the future to be something more than 4th or 5th place in the division.
Crashnburn
There were so many SPs available to fill that spot yet nothing was done. Verlander, Scherzer and Cease all would have done well in that spot
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If did Bloom go after Verlander, you would to give of Rafaela (№2) that tears triple ААА and will be ready to the opening day 2024 and Walter (№8) AAA/MLB plus to add 20 million to СВТ and cross the first threshold barrier?
Does the team have incredibly bad defense that makes the pitching look far worse than it is? Yes.
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So, It_Happening said that Bloom was allergic to pitching.
I told him we were #8 in ERA+.
Then you bacK me up by saying our pitchers are even better than that because they are penalized by our Defense.
I appreciate your support, but you could’ve just posted “Joe is right”.
Your pitching isn’t good enough. Despite your ERA.
It’s happening – I might rephrase that – Your pitching has been excellent as shown by your ERA BUT a top of the rotation pitcher is needed to compete in short series with good teams.
I don’t want to take away from the accomplishments of the pitching staff. They have stepped up in ways I never expected but that doesn’t make them good enough to compete in a short series with a good team.
Here are short series match-ups that I am talking about:
SPs in a short series for Games 1 – 3
TB – McClanahan, Glasnow, Civale or Eflin
TOR – Gausman, Bassitt, Berrios (comparable to Boston)
NY – Cole, Rodon, Cortez or Schmidt (comparable to Boston)
BAL – Bradish, Flaherty, Kremer (comparable to Boston)
BOS – Paxton, Sale, Bello (Add Scherzer, Verlander or Cease then #1 in the AL East)
HOU – Verlander, F Valdez, Brown or Javier (Better than Boston)
TEX – Scherzer, Eovaldi, Montgomery or J Gray (Better than Boston)
LAA – Ohtani, GIolito, Detmers (comparable to Boston)
SEA – Castillo, Gilbert, Kirby (Better than Boston)
NL = if you advance to the World Series
ATL – Striker, Fried, Morton (Better than Boston)
PHI – Nola, Wheeler, T Walker (Better than Boston)
MIL- Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta/Miley (Better than Boston)
LAD – Kershaw, Urias, Gonsolin (Better than Boston)
While Paxton and Sale have great upside potential and Bello has pitched well the team could have used a top of the rotation starter so if Sale or Paxton or both get hurt they still have an excellent top 3.
Even a great ERA doesn’t mean you have the right pitching for the post season. Boston needed help from the GM to have a shot at the playoffs and going deep into the playoffs with some luck but they didn’t get it.
Your pitching isn’t good enough. Despite your ERA.
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As long as you agree with me about the ERA, my job here is done.
Nope. Don’t agree.
Sale and health haven’t mixed for a while.
Boston is playing from behind. As good as their lineup can be, and no matter what the numbers say I think they have a lot of punch in their order, they needed to land a TOR arm to shut a team down for a few games.
This series this weekend against the Jays is critical, in my opinion, for them to steal 2 or sweep. Bo Bichette is out. Jays lineup is thin without him. A Red Sox team with a top starter, Paxton 2, Bello 3 and perhaps a healthy Sale riding 4, Bosox would be dangerous.
But as it stands, especially with Sale, Red Sox pitching isn’t good enough.
Not unreasonable.. I was hoping for an SP as well, though I was looking for a cheaper solution, like Montgomery or Matz.
But I also would not have over-invested. Even Scherzer wouldn’t guarantee the RS a playoff slot if, for example, TO or the NYY, or maybe even Seattle or LAA play .600 the rest of the way.
And even if we sneak in as WC#3, there are again no guarantees. The road to the WS is too big a stretch to have given up maybe a Rafaela type prospect.
Your ace performed in a must-win tonight.
The pathway from the 6-seed is Minnesota who has no business in the postseason. Had Bloom cared enough to land a top pitcher, Boston beats Minnesota. Then the fun would begin.
Way to go Chaim !!! Urias .155 batting average should help carry this team to the playoffs. I was wrong and thought you would pick up help for this team this year. You did not and the prices you charge up there are not worth a last place finish in this division again. Your off seasons are uneventful and I think your lack of action at the trade deadline is going to cost you your job. This is not Tampa Bay where they do not draw flies. This is high market Boston. I’m sure the players are not thrilled by your lack of action at the trade deadline!
I was at the Brewers ballpark a month ago…it is in perfect shape!! Can’t imagine could even come close to saying that about Oaklands (though I think they should get a new stadium just like Milwaukee got 20 yrs ago and “new” team if nec. just like happened for Browns).