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Post by juanpena on Sept 1, 2022 21:23:49 GMT -5
His overall disengagement? What? Yeah this idea of “disengagement” from someone who only sees .01% of what he does is entirely absurd. The entire premise of the post is, honestly. There aren’t many Bloom “loyalists” here who think he’s some genius or has done an excellent job, we just think the people complaining are being ridiculous and failing to make an objective or nuanced assessment. Someone called Bloom "a magician" a few pages back.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 30, 2022 22:07:11 GMT -5
Can he please get enough reasonably good relievers before next season starts to finally get Brasier off the team? I've never quoted my own post before and don't intend to again, but he can't keep bringing this guy back. I know there is such a thing as a citizen's arrest. If Brasier pitches an inning on the Red Sox in 2023, I am going to do a citizen's firing of Chaim Bloom.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 29, 2022 21:53:46 GMT -5
How the heck did we get McGuire for Jake Diekman?
It's not like he's just had a hot month either. He's been a starting caliber catcher his whole career, sans 19 bad games in the covid season.
A lot of people here judged Benintendi for 14 bad games in the COVID season.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 28, 2022 20:34:03 GMT -5
There's evidence that Pivetta is better than his numbers, and maybe way better. His season: Dates GS wOBA xwOBA to 5/11 5 .452 .496 5/7 - 6/4 6 .242 .307 6/9 to 7/5 6 .352 .370 7/10 - 8/10 6 .512 .432 8/16 - 2 .219 .254
He seems to have very unprepared for a short ST. When he finally got it going, he then pitched like an ace for almost a month.
On June 4 his rotation mates were Eovaldi, Wacha, Whitlock and Hill.
On June 16th, Winckoski replaced Eovaldi. Two days later Crawford subbed for Whitlock as the 5th starter.
On the 27th Seabold became the 5th starter. On July 4 Crawford replaced Wacha, and two days later Bello replaced Hill.
Now, Pivetta started to fade before his rotation mates started to domino. That again suggests someone not in ideal shape.
. You'll note that his transformation from bad to awful coincides exactly withe the last domino falling.
If you were Nick Pivetta and you had a dead arm, of the sort that doesn't hurt but just just robs your stuff of its quality, would you mention this to anyone under these circumstances? No--as the last man standing, you're just going to gut it out.
Sale did return after his first awful start and Eovaldi just before his second ... and Sale broke his finger the day after it.
At some point I may look at pitch velo, etc. But he has shown the stuff of a much better pitcher than his season numbers indicate.
I think he's just very inconsistent. He's very good to have because he always takes the ball, but the performance is up and down. I don't think it's fatigue or who his rotation mates are. At times he looked really promising with the Phillies, too. He'd be a fabulous No. 5 starter, an very good no. 4 and an acceptable No. 3. That's good to have in 2023 and 2024, but I don't think he's better than that. And he was a great get by Bloom making the trade a big win whether or not Seabold ever contributes.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 25, 2022 17:17:36 GMT -5
Can't imagine Paxton won't exercise his player option. I think literally the only way he does is if he thinks he's finished. Maybe Bloom offers him that base for one year with a lot of incentives and Paxton tries to see if he can top it.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 25, 2022 17:10:42 GMT -5
Now that Paxton will definitely not pitch, they can't pick up his option, right? The 2023 rotation is looking ugly. Pivetta -- and all his inconsistency -- seems like the only sure thing. I like Bello's promise, and hope he shows in the next five weeks he's ready for prime time. Is Whitlock a starter? I think he can be, but can he handle the workload. And who knows about Sale? Good news, after the world series, they have this thing called the off-season, and you can sign players and make trades The snark was unneccesary. I never said or implied that they wouldn't do anything for the offseason. For the past nine months this site has had Paxton as one of the 2023 starters. A lot of people have posted optimistically here about his potential for next season. I asked a question if they could pick up his option with his latest injury and framed it with the number of question marks for next year. I know Bloom will make some transactions. His decision on Paxton got tougher, and what he decides will have domino effect on the moves he makes in the offseason.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 25, 2022 16:56:42 GMT -5
Now that Paxton will definitely not pitch, they can't pick up his option, right?
The 2023 rotation is looking ugly. Pivetta -- and all his inconsistency -- seems like the only sure thing. I like Bello's promise, and hope he shows in the next five weeks he's ready for prime time. Is Whitlock a starter? I think he can be, but can he handle the workload. And who knows about Sale?
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Post by juanpena on Aug 24, 2022 21:12:51 GMT -5
Can he please get enough reasonably good relievers before next season starts to finally get Brasier off the team?
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Post by juanpena on Aug 24, 2022 17:42:19 GMT -5
JBJ had a 646 OPS at 2020 trade deadline Thanks for the correction. I zoned out on that season so badly I was fooled by the final numbers.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 24, 2022 17:11:20 GMT -5
I am more critical of Bloom than a lot of people on here, but I think the only way he was going to get "a haul" of prospects or an elite guy was trading Eovaldi and Martinez to the same team in early June when both were going great. Obviously there was no way the Sox were going to do that after getting back into contention.
I don't know if Xander would have waived his no-trade, but even if he had, I see a reason for not trading him: He still has a contract for three years that he has to opt out of. We're all 99.9 percent sure he will, but Xander could have claimed afterwards he was willing to stay.
One of the decisions that still puzzles me, though, is why Bloom didn't trade Bradley in 2020 when he was playing great. The Sox were going nowhere, JBJ was a free agent-to be and Bloom was trading off assets like Moreland and Pillar. With expanded playoffs, Bloom should have had a lot of suitors and should have been able to do better than he had with Moreland.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 23, 2022 22:11:14 GMT -5
We get it. You like Bloom. A lot. But in defending him, there's no need for character assassination against Andrew Benintendi. Launch angle and home runs had become king by then. Some guys made it work by getting stronger and changing their launch angle. If it had worked for Benintendi, the Sox would have been in great shape people would have praised him for all the hard work he put in. It seems like he was trying to get better, not be greedy or selfish. Cora loves Benintendi and made a point in telling the media that before Beni returned to Fenway as as Yankee. Character assassination? This is what happened. Alex Cora said exactly that during an interview. bosoxinjection.com/2021/03/24/red-sox-andrew-benintendis-bulking/I'm not saying it was a right or wrong decision when it was made, or that Benintendi was being selfish. I am saying it made him a worse player. It was the money part that got me. Cora say the team didn't tell him NOT to do it, just that they didn't tell him TO do it. I don't think he was defying the team to fatten his bank account. I'm an old guy -- and maybe this season is making me too cranky -- but what Benintendi tried reminds me of Kirby Puckett. Puckett had four home runs in his first 1,325 plate appearances. He bulked up, changed his swing, hit 31 homers the next year and retained his athleticism enough to make Spider-Man catches on center-field walls. It was worth a shot for Benintendi to try it.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 23, 2022 21:47:16 GMT -5
I think Beni being a train wreck is overstated. For a year and a half he was about average. His 2020 season was what, 39 ABs before he got hurt? I dont put any stick in that. I was fine with trading him. You'd think that out of 5 players they get back for him, one could be average, but nope. Two are replacement level and the other 3 likely never sniff the majors. Good idea, but lackluster talent judgment. When we traded him he was 11 for his last 96 and looked absolutely useless at the plate. He had bulked up in the offseason to try to hit dingers and make more money, not to acquiesce to organizational wishes, and had ruined his swing in the process. We get it. You like Bloom. A lot. But in defending him, there's no need for character assassination against Andrew Benintendi. Launch angle and home runs had become king by then. Some guys made it work by getting stronger and changing their launch angle. If it had worked for Benintendi, the Sox would have been in great shape people would have praised him for all the hard work he put in. It seems like he was trying to get better, not be greedy or selfish. Cora loves Benintendi and made a point in telling the media that before Beni returned to Fenway as as Yankee.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 19, 2022 15:24:59 GMT -5
The bWARs are lower. They have Richards at .3 and Hill at .1 and Paxton (obviously) at 0. I’d rather have had an OF. Or nothing. Or take on salary in a trade that gives actual value. Or use it to extend someone. Or a John Henry beach house. Except Wacha, whose bWAR is 2.8! Man, you can't just keep ignoring the guy who blows up your whole argument. And I said - right there in the text you quoted - that WAR is not a great measure, but they've gotten 160 IP of 3.50ish ERA from Hill and Wacha combined for about $8 million salary to date.
But okay, all these signings were literally worthless and they should have gone into the season with a rotation of Eovaldi, Pivetta, Whitlock, Houck, and Seabold, with like Brian Keller for depth.
Come on, folks. I am on neither the 100 percent pro-Bloom or 100 percent anti-Bloom side, but usually the discussion is better on this board. I would bet you know that most people criticizing the Wacha, Hill and Paxton moves absolutely did NOT want the rotation you listed above, but wanted one with a big, splashy signing such as Kevin Gausman and Carlos Rodon. You can absolutely argue that Bloom's method is better without creating a ridiculous strawman like this. And it's also not right if someone on the other side says you should never take a shot on an injured or rehabbing pitcher.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 7, 2022 19:49:56 GMT -5
Cost controlled potential starting pitchers ready or near ready: Pivetta Houck Whitlock Winckowski Crawford Seabold Bello Ward Murphy Darwinzon (I said potential) I doubt if finding another starter is a high priority this offseason. Agreed, unless the price is right. I'm hoping we don't invest in C either and roll with Wong and McGuire; their bats should be weak, but passable, and their defense should be solid and boost the rotation. That'd open up a ton of money to put into the roster. Extend Devers, retain X (if the years and $ aren't crazy), bring in a top OF FA like Nimmo for RF, and bring back Hernandez (likely at a discount) for CF. Any extra cash can go towards pitching. I expect Sale, Paxton, and Whitlock to be impact starters next year. We should be able to find at least two decent back end starters out of Crawford, Winckowski, Bello, and Seabold, with the odd men out going to a long relief / spot start role out of the bullpen pending injuries or underperformance to any rotation guys. Guys like Walter and Mata could be up by the end of the year too if the depth is needed, so we're still not screwed if injuries set in. Internal options like Bazardo and German should be able to help the bullpen too. That would be nice, but it's WILDLY optimistic at best and probably unrealistic. In the past three seasons, the three have combined to throw 109 innings as starters, plus nine innings from Sale in the postseason. Paxton has never thrown more than 160 innings in a season and has hardly pitched since 2019. Whitlock got hurt once they tried to make him a starter. I think trying to make him a starter is the right thing, and I hope he can handle it, but nobody knows yet. Sale's most recent injury was obviously bad luck that could have happened to anyone, but he's hardly the picture of health.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 4, 2022 14:20:06 GMT -5
If someone finds no value in the farm system and thinks a high-budget team like the Red Sox should be able to get by solely on FA acquisitions, they won't like The Red Sox' approach. Is there a human being on earth who actually believes this? Dave Dombrowski is someone who supposedly "traded the farm system," yet he refused to trade Devers and Bryan Mata. Hell, Dombrowski was a big fan of Sam Travis and gave him a fairly long look in 2019.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 2, 2022 16:20:04 GMT -5
Groome had like zero value. He's eating up space on the 40, has one option left and was a below average AA pitcher with below average for AA stuff. Honest question. Both players acquired turn 23 within five weeks and both are in Class A, with one having decent stats and the other struggling horribly. Do you think Ferguson and/or Rosier have any value?
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Post by juanpena on Aug 2, 2022 13:52:00 GMT -5
Is it just me or do they arrivals of Pham and Hosmer seem like great moves if it was February? February 2017, maybe.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 2, 2022 13:40:19 GMT -5
There needs be a prospect to this. Meh even if it’s just a free Eric Hosmer it’s still better than what we’ve been rolling out. At least against righties. But he plays the same spot as the positional prospect the team has who's ready, or close, to the majors.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 1, 2022 17:04:05 GMT -5
People are so caught up in the preseason rankings, but this is a solid return for Oakland. Waldichuk and Medina have been big risers (fangraphs has them 36 and 60th now). A potential mid rotation guy and leverage reliever, plus Sears who could end up a useful reliever too. Yes, Montas is a very good player, but that could be a lot of future value. It’s not some fleecing like people are labeling it. If anything, it just further highlights how dumb Seattle is. Medina pumps cheddar So did Jorge Guzman, but if you can't control it, it's not much good.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 1, 2022 15:10:02 GMT -5
It's all about how he looks physically. he was on the IL and his velocity has been down. It's more about the number on the radar gun tonight than the numbers in the boxscore. If teams think they're getting a full-strength Eovaldi, they'll be interested.
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Post by juanpena on Aug 1, 2022 13:27:18 GMT -5
Not sure surplus value is the right way to look at a rental hitter, I would guess it’s more strictly about the marginal utility of a ~125 WRC hitter over whoever else they have. I doubt teams that are pushing their chips in are looking at a half-season of JDM in pure dollars/WAR terms, unless maybe it’s Tampa Bay. YMMV Yeah, I think you're right; a lot of what the acquiring team is paying for is playoff performance, which doesn't even factor into WAR. I guess i was just trying to make the point that JDM is not that valuable; he's like an .800 OPS DH - the return is not going to be that exciting. For a team trading for J.D., it all about playoff performance. Did the Sox know they were getting for the World Series MVP when they got Steve Pearce? No, but they needed a right-handed bat to replace Hanley Ramirez, and he was a really good one to get. J.D. Martinez may not have a ton of value in the long term, but he could be a difference-maker in the 2022 postseason. In 128 ABs in the postseason he's got a .987 OPS. Is it predictive? No. But it shows if he's right he can star in the biggest stage, and the Sox have to try to stress that to teams. His low homer total is at least a little flukey, as 32 doubles show he's still got some pop. And if opposing scouts know Martinez like Sox fans do, they know he can get really hot, and the swings he took yesterday show that's coming.
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Post by juanpena on Jul 31, 2022 20:30:08 GMT -5
Marrero for Taylor worked. One that DD made that didn't pan out was Blake Swihart for Marcus Wilson. It was not Dombrowski's style and it was hard to pull out under a go-for-it mandate that brought playoff appearances in each of his full three seasons.
I will now drop Dombrowski talk. :-)
With Bloom, I think his two most puzzling decisions have involved Jackie Bradley Jr. I hope Binelas and/or Hamilton make the Renfroe trade worthwhile someday. But I can't understand why, with a 16-team playoff field and JBJ having an outstanding season less than two years removed from being ALCS MVP, Bloom didn't trade him in 2020.
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Post by juanpena on Jul 31, 2022 18:18:58 GMT -5
I don’t want to belabor it, but they had Casas, Bello, Mata, Crawford, Rafaela… much of the talent that is closest to helping is coming from his “topping off” the farm. Casas is the only player you can really point to who has been seen as a good prospect since he was drafted. In literally any farm system there will be guys who end up hitting the higher ends of their projections. That doesn't mean the Sox had a good farm when DD left. It was atrocious. Even if we had magic 2022 goggles on and could see that guys like Rafaela and Bello would take steps forward and become really promising prospects, that would do nothing to help the rotting 2019 team because all of those guys were years from the majors. The talents from 2015 graduated and DD never sowed the seeds for the next wave in order to prioritize the ML roster. If the pipeline of talent dries up and the major league roster is not producing enough to win, you have to tear it down. If you keep the pipeline flowing, you don't need to rebuild. Dombrowski did the former. By all means, argue the merits of booming and busting versus not. The Sox farm was indesputably great when DD took over and terrible when he left, though. You said "drafted" but I'm assuming since you mentioned international players, I'm guessing you're including them too. Mata was already a good prospect in 2018, good enough to be ranked ahead of Houck and Casas in the 2018 midseason rankings here. According to this site, he is a player other teams sought and Dombrowski refused to trade. If you say, he's just one guy, remember that the White Sox specifically asked for Devers in the Sale trade and he refused. And if any of Bello, Crawford, Murphy or Ward become good big-leaguers, that will be luck? But if someone like Wyatt Olds makes it, will that be luck too?
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Post by juanpena on Jul 31, 2022 10:44:19 GMT -5
The Farm System
The team has done from a bottom-10 to a top-10 system in just a couple years, and ranks even higher in terms of depth (per fangraphs, they have the third-most ranked prospects in the game). To judge Bloom by his own stated objectives, this is an unadulterated win.
Obviously people rank systems differently. Jim Callis, well-respected and obviously a friend of this site, called the system middle of the pack on the podcast a couple of weeks ago. In fact, the podcast with Callis was pretty damn depressing. He was lukewarm at best on the draft and said Nick Yorke doesn't look like the same player this year -- and he was factoring in his injuries.
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Post by juanpena on Jul 30, 2022 18:48:03 GMT -5
People here talk a lot about deals Dombrowski saddled the team with. You know who DOESN'T have a long term deal? A guy who can be released any time? Ryan Brasier, that's who.
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