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5/3-5/5 Red Sox vs. Angels Series Thread
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Post by redsox04071318champs on May 5, 2022 16:37:59 GMT -5
Another series. Another loss.
They keep losing in the same manner.
Hacking away and frittering the modest amount of baserunners they do have.
On the pitching side, yet another game where the starter is cruising, has a low pitch count, and then gets pulled in favor of a crappy bullpen - to be fair Houck normally would be a decent option, but the same principle applies.
They're so famn scared of th es 3rd time around the order thing, they're losing the gamble that the bullpen is the better option.
3 years ago Cora had his starters going 100 - 110 pitches. Now it's 60 something and out. It's not working. They need to stop this crap. Cora is getting bad advice from the analytics crew.
And of course not having a legit closer has been a killer.
Basically the 2022 Red Sox in a nutshell.
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Post by soxfaninnj on May 5, 2022 16:41:34 GMT -5
Team is broken right now. Question is does this become a "bridge" year or do they do some major surgery during the season? Hopefully Bloom is making some calls because this at the moment looks like the 2023 pick will be top 5. If it is a “bridge year” I wonder if we called Toronto and offered Eovaldi and JD if we can get the C Moreno
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Post by manfred on May 5, 2022 16:52:46 GMT -5
Do you get to use the term “bridge year” for multiple years? Should we call it the “bridge era”?
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Post by scottysmalls on May 5, 2022 16:58:27 GMT -5
Do you get to use the term “bridge year” for multiple years? Should we call it the “bridge era”? You're already projecting 2023 to be uncompetitive? That's a lot of pre-emptive pessimism. Either that or you're saying last year was not a competitive season which would be confusing when they were 2 games from the World Series.
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TearsIn04
Veteran
Everybody knows Nelson de la Rosa, but who is Karim Garcia?
Posts: 2,835
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Post by TearsIn04 on May 5, 2022 17:10:49 GMT -5
Team is broken right now. Question is does this become a "bridge" year or do they do some major surgery during the season? Hopefully Bloom is making some calls because this at the moment looks like the 2023 pick will be top 5. If it is a “bridge year” I wonder if we called Toronto and offered Eovaldi and JD if we can get the C Moreno That would be an ambitious ask but I don't think it's unrealistic, depending on how much money the Red Sox are willing to send in the deal. That kid is No. 7 on the MLB PL list and would fill our C needs for years.
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TearsIn04
Veteran
Everybody knows Nelson de la Rosa, but who is Karim Garcia?
Posts: 2,835
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Post by TearsIn04 on May 5, 2022 17:14:38 GMT -5
Do you get to use the term “bridge year” for multiple years? Should we call it the “bridge era”? My recollection is that the RS went to the ALCS last year. That means the so-called "bridge era" is now in its second month.
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Post by cheers on May 5, 2022 17:18:43 GMT -5
I believe Ohtani just pitched 3x through the order. Not to diminish young Mr. Ohtani, but the Sox lineup isn't really an order. More of a sheepish request.
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Post by soxinsf on May 5, 2022 17:21:41 GMT -5
Ironic bit of fun or not, no one is waving the white flag just yet. Just yet. But the inquiry into the failings and cures is underway because good teams are always looking at the way forward. It is too early for massive restructuring, but it would not be surprising if a few folks traded uniforms in the next couple of weeks. I think the issue with this though is that, historically, you very rarely see May trades. Maybe some teams are open to that, however it would be pretty shocking to see that trend change dramatically. The most likely early changes would be players at Worcester coming up and others going down or going away. And much of that depends on results. The worse it gets as time goes by and 20% of the season stretches to 25% and more, the greater the pressure becomes to do something. But relying on players at Worcester to be the change-makers has real limits. Yet that is where it will start, if it starts before June.
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Post by manfred on May 5, 2022 17:28:36 GMT -5
Do you get to use the term “bridge year” for multiple years? Should we call it the “bridge era”? My recollection is that the RS went to the ALCS last year. That means the so-called "bridge era" is now in its second month. I recall bridges being bandied ‘bout in 2020. If that bridge is reset by a 2nd place finish and we are now bridging again to a potential 2nd place finish next year, I stand corrected. That sounds much better.
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TearsIn04
Veteran
Everybody knows Nelson de la Rosa, but who is Karim Garcia?
Posts: 2,835
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Post by TearsIn04 on May 5, 2022 17:49:27 GMT -5
My recollection is that the RS went to the ALCS last year. That means the so-called "bridge era" is now in its second month. I recall bridges being bandied ‘bout in 2020. If that bridge is reset by a 2nd place finish and we are now bridging again to a potential 2nd place finish next year, I stand corrected. That sounds much better. Honestly, are you upset about 2020? The crap performance in that huge asterisk year got us MM and Whitlock. I wouldn't change it. Also, note that the bigger the river, the bigger the bridge that's needed. At the end of 2019, this organization had a bloated payroll and no prospects in the top 100. By the end of this year, the RS will have incurred $181M (!!!!) in AAV for Dustin Pedroia, David Price and Chris Sale since 2020. One reason the farm system was as bad as it was is the previous head of BB Ops carelessly exceeded the LTT in 2018, costing the organization a first-round pick. An overblown scandal from that same year cost us a second round pick in 2020. CB deserves fair criticism and I have mine, but basic fairness also requires admitting that the house was on fire when he got here. It almost seems like you might be angry with him about something else.
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Post by manfred on May 5, 2022 17:55:00 GMT -5
I recall bridges being bandied ‘bout in 2020. If that bridge is reset by a 2nd place finish and we are now bridging again to a potential 2nd place finish next year, I stand corrected. That sounds much better. Honestly, are you upset about 2020? The crap performance in that huge asterisk year got us MM and Whitlock. I wouldn't change it. Also, note that the bigger the river, the bigger the bridge that's needed. At the end of 2019, this organization had a bloated payroll and no prospects in the top 100. By the end of this year, the RS will have incurred $181M (!!!!) in AAV for Dustin Pedroia, David Price and Chris Sale since 2020. One reason the farm system was as bad as it was is the previous head of BB Ops carelessly exceeded the LTT in 2018, costing the organization a first-round pick. An overblown scandal from that same year cost us a second round pick in 2020. CB deserves fair criticism and I have mine, but basic fairness also requires admitting that the house was on fire when he got here. It almost seems like you might be angry with him about something else. None of that is the point. You said it has been a few months. I said I’ve heard this before. You seem to be saying “yes, but that before was worth it.” The worth it was not the question. The question was the “before.” It was great to get Whitlock. Someday I hope he can get a win in a game he starts out perfectly for multiple innings. As for being “mad” — I don’t need a memory longer than 26 games. This season is awful, and it is not because of injuries or stars suddenly getting old. It is because a lot of guys are having bad years that are still within a predictable performance range. They botched rightfield. They botched 1b. They botched the bullpen. They’ve sat at catcher while CVaz gets worse and worse. That is plenty.
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Post by juanpena on May 5, 2022 17:58:20 GMT -5
I recall bridges being bandied ‘bout in 2020. If that bridge is reset by a 2nd place finish and we are now bridging again to a potential 2nd place finish next year, I stand corrected. That sounds much better. Honestly, are you upset about 2020? The crap performance in that huge asterisk year got us MM and Whitlock. I wouldn't change it. Also, note that the bigger the river, the bigger the bridge that's needed. At the end of 2019, this organization had a bloated payroll and no prospects in the top 100. By the end of this year, the RS will have incurred $181M (!!!!) in AAV for Dustin Pedroia, David Price and Chris Sale since 2020. One reason the farm system was as bad as it was is the p revious head of BB Ops carelessly exceeded the LTT in 2018, costing the organization a first-round pick. An overblown scandal from that same year cost us a second round pick in 2020. CB deserves fair criticism and I have mine, but basic fairness also requires admitting that the house was on fire when he got here. It almost seems like you might be angry with him about something else. He did it by making deals during the season for a postseason pitching star, the World Series MVP and their starting second baseman in the postseason. Not ideal to go over the threshold, but if you want to win the World Series going through the sheer iron that was the 2018 Yankees, Astros and Dodgers, they had to add pieces.
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TearsIn04
Veteran
Everybody knows Nelson de la Rosa, but who is Karim Garcia?
Posts: 2,835
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Post by TearsIn04 on May 5, 2022 18:15:42 GMT -5
Honestly, are you upset about 2020? The crap performance in that huge asterisk year got us MM and Whitlock. I wouldn't change it. Also, note that the bigger the river, the bigger the bridge that's needed. At the end of 2019, this organization had a bloated payroll and no prospects in the top 100. By the end of this year, the RS will have incurred $181M (!!!!) in AAV for Dustin Pedroia, David Price and Chris Sale since 2020. One reason the farm system was as bad as it was is the previous head of BB Ops carelessly exceeded the LTT in 2018, costing the organization a first-round pick. An overblown scandal from that same year cost us a second round pick in 2020. CB deserves fair criticism and I have mine, but basic fairness also requires admitting that the house was on fire when he got here. It almost seems like you might be angry with him about something else. None of that is the point. You said it has been a few months. I said I’ve heard this before. You seem to be saying “yes, but that before was worth it.” The worth it was not the question. The question was the “before.” It was great to get Whitlock. Someday I hope he can get a win in a game he starts out perfectly for multiple innings. As for being “mad” — I don’t need a memory longer than 26 games. This season is awful, and it is not because of injuries or stars suddenly getting old. It is because a lot of guys are having bad years that are still within a predictable performance range. They botched rightfield. They botched 1b. They botched the bullpen. They’ve sat at catcher while CVaz gets worse and worse. That is plenty. I think most GMs would have given a cost-controlled kid with great power potential a shot at 1B, especially knowing that if he flunked they'd have Casas ready to step in. Would you have signed Rizzo instead? If you would have, that's fair. But I would disagree that going above the MFYs' $16 AAV payout to get Rizzo would have been a good idea. He was below 2 WAR last year. On C, I half agree. I've thought all along that they should have moved Vaz for a prospect at the deadline in 2020 when he was still, you know, a ML caliber player. As a C reaching 30, he has predictably declined since then. But moving him in 2020 wouldn't have solved the 2022 catching problems (unless they got a young C who was contributing by now in return for CV). What would you have done this past off-season to solve the 1B and C issues? Do you have a RF solution that could have been achieved since the end of the 2019 season for less than $30M in AAV? "Just pay my favorite players whatever amount it takes" isn't a realistic BB or business solution.
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Post by incandenza on May 5, 2022 18:36:40 GMT -5
I feel like if the Red Sox had signed Pham for a dumb little one year, $8 million contract, this could all be chalked up to bad luck and underperformance, and none of it really Bloom's fault. But they didn't sign Pham (or any Pham equivalents), and it's kind of baffling, and I really wish I understood what the thinking was there.
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Post by redsoxfan2 on May 5, 2022 18:40:52 GMT -5
Man, if Bloom's super-secret plan that everyone else seems to have been read into is to have this team becoming a perennial top competitor like the Dodgers or whomever by 2024, he's got a hell of a lot of work to do. If he's still here in 2024, that is. I want him here. The offense is under performing, but I think he's doing a pretty good job, which is weird to say when this team looks and feels like a awful team. Verdugo, Story, and Kiké are not his fault. He moved on from Renfroe and Schwarber and was correct in doing so. It's just unfortunate that the replacements were JBJ/Arroyo/Dalbec who make Mendoza look like Pete Rose. He's done exceedingly well with the rotation. He hired Cora back who I think we all like. He did good getting Robles, but the rest is a dumpster fire, well, Davis has been decent. Devers is hitting, but under performing his career numbers. It's really just JD and Xander.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on May 5, 2022 18:50:19 GMT -5
I feel like if the Red Sox had signed Pham for a dumb little one year, $8 million contract, this could all be chalked up to bad luck and underperformance, and none of it really Bloom's fault. But they didn't sign Pham (or any Pham equivalents), and it's kind of baffling, and I really wish I understood what the thinking was there. Got me. I didn't understand a lot of what Bloom did or didn't do. Trade Renfroe for prospects? Fine, but replace Renfroe. JBJ is not an adequate replacement but if you don't replace JBJ then get him a platoon mate and they didn't even do that. Didn't get a closer for the pen. It was obvious the pen needed to be reshaped. If Bloom didn't want to sign Jansen or trade for Kimbrel, then it was his job to identify a guy with the traits to grab high leverage closing innings. Instead it was run back with the same crew that blew a bunch of leads against TB and Houston in the playoffs but got away with it (until Game 4 ALCS anyways). I don't have an issue with him sticking with Dalbec and Vazquez. It's slim pickings for catchers. And with Casas on the horizon, other than a 1 year solution, I don't think there's that much he could have done. But his choice of Shaw as the backup LH 1b bat was dubious. I honestly think Bloom signed Story because he figured that signing him was cheaper than bringing back X or extending Devers. Perhaps it is, but now they're downgrading offensively and at age 30, with his shoulder injuries, it's fair to question how good Story would be returning to SS, as most SS are rangier under the age of 30. I guess Bloom figured he'd also take the benefit of replacing Renfroe in the lineup and having X and Story co-existing on the same team for a year with the probability that Story winds up at 3b with X and Devers likely gone and Yorke and Mayer up the middle. I'm not crazy about the Sox paying 33 year old Story 23 million to play 3b with his bat around average, but I guess he figured that was better than the alternative: pony up to pay X or pay top dollar for Devers. Still, not necessarily a win on the field, even if that money gets saved.
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TearsIn04
Veteran
Everybody knows Nelson de la Rosa, but who is Karim Garcia?
Posts: 2,835
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Post by TearsIn04 on May 5, 2022 18:51:48 GMT -5
Honestly, are you upset about 2020? The crap performance in that huge asterisk year got us MM and Whitlock. I wouldn't change it. Also, note that the bigger the river, the bigger the bridge that's needed. At the end of 2019, this organization had a bloated payroll and no prospects in the top 100. By the end of this year, the RS will have incurred $181M (!!!!) in AAV for Dustin Pedroia, David Price and Chris Sale since 2020. One reason the farm system was as bad as it was is the p revious head of BB Ops carelessly exceeded the LTT in 2018, costing the organization a first-round pick. An overblown scandal from that same year cost us a second round pick in 2020. CB deserves fair criticism and I have mine, but basic fairness also requires admitting that the house was on fire when he got here. It almost seems like you might be angry with him about something else. He did it by making deals during the season for a postseason pitching star, the World Series MVP and their starting second baseman in the postseason. Not ideal to go over the threshold, but if you want to win the World Series going through the sheer iron that was the 2018 Yankees, Astros and Dodgers, they had to add pieces. Nobody is disagreeing with the moves. Every one worked out. That was brilliant. The point is that in at least some of those moves, the sending team agreed to eat some of the player's remaining 2018 salary. It was clear that D-Dom was trying to calibrate to stay below the LTT. But he forgot to carry the one or something in his calculations and accidentally went over by a bit. He almost certainly could have acquired the same players and stayed below the LTT by sweetening the modest prospect package he was sending. I'm sure he could have found another Ty Buttery to send out in return for the other team eating a bit more salary, enabling him to stay below the LTT. I've always thought that that mistake and the Sale contract led to him getting canned. There aren't too many jobs in which you can make a mistake that careless and with such big consequences for your company and still stay employed.
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Post by Guidas on May 5, 2022 19:02:02 GMT -5
Do you get to use the term “bridge year” for multiple years? Should we call it the “bridge era”? My recollection is that the RS went to the ALCS last year. That means the so-called "bridge era" is now in its second month. Or 2021 was an outlier.
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Post by notstarboard on May 5, 2022 19:03:13 GMT -5
I feel like if the Red Sox had signed Pham for a dumb little one year, $8 million contract, this could all be chalked up to bad luck and underperformance, and none of it really Bloom's fault. But they didn't sign Pham (or any Pham equivalents), and it's kind of baffling, and I really wish I understood what the thinking was there. On the one hand I agree about the RF hole, but on the other hand the current .5 WAR difference between JBJ and Pham is not the reason this team is 10-16. My take is that Bloom is to blame for not picking up another OF, but beyond that I'm seeing mostly underperformance, bad luck, and injuries. Sale and Taylor being on the roster would make the pitching feel a ton deeper right now. That'd probably mean Pivetta or Whitlock in the pen and two guys in the Sawamura/Barnes/Crawford group DFA'd / sent down. I don't blame Bloom for the handful of pen guys who started the year with no velo and and much worse performance than most of last year. The bullpen is a crapshoot pretty much no matter how much you pay, so I am fine with the strategy of keeping it cheap, looking for value, and investing elsewhere. Meanwhile his pitching acquisitions look great - Hill and Wacha have both been well worth the cash and the rotation is humming along. Strahm looks great too. Diekman has been fine, albeit scary to have in a late inning role. I have not been a fan of Cora's managing this year. Yes, SP can struggle the third time through the order, but it's backfired horribly this year for two reasons: 1) when pitch count isn't a factor the third-time-through-order factor is mitigated and 2) overworking your bullpen means you're more likely to get iffy performance the second the starter leaves. Also, someone, be it Cora, the hitting coach, or a veteran player, needs to get this team to be more selective at the plate. Cora was on some interview saying that he didn't want to mess with people's approaches, but I'm sorry, their approaches are making them fail. Your job is to get the most out of your players. If you can't coach them without worrying about killing their mojo at the plate (or what little they had left), what are you getting paid for?
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Post by Guidas on May 5, 2022 19:05:13 GMT -5
I feel like if the Red Sox had signed Pham for a dumb little one year, $8 million contract, this could all be chalked up to bad luck and underperformance, and none of it really Bloom's fault. But they didn't sign Pham (or any Pham equivalents), and it's kind of baffling, and I really wish I understood what the thinking was there. Got me. I didn't understand a lot of what Bloom did or didn't do. Trade Renfroe for prospects? Fine, but replace Renfroe. JBJ is not an adequate replacement but if you don't replace JBJ then get him a platoon mate and they didn't even do that. Didn't get a closer for the pen. It was obvious the pen needed to be reshaped. If Bloom didn't want to sign Jansen or trade for Kimbrel, then it was his job to identify a guy with the traits to grab high leverage closing innings. Instead it was run back with the same crew that blew a bunch of leads against TB and Houston in the playoffs but got away with it (until Game 4 ALCS anyways). I don't have an issue with him sticking with Dalbec and Vazquez. It's slim pickings for catchers. And with Casas on the horizon, other than a 1 year solution, I don't think there's that much he could have done. But his choice of Shaw as the backup LH 1b bat was dubious. I honestly think Bloom signed Story because he figured that signing him was cheaper than bringing back X or extending Devers. Perhaps it is, but now they're downgrading offensively and at age 30, with his shoulder injuries, it's fair to question how good Story would be returning to SS, as most SS are rangier under the age of 30. I guess Bloom figured he'd also take the benefit of replacing Renfroe in the lineup and having X and Story co-existing on the same team for a year with the probability that Story winds up at 3b with X and Devers likely gone and Yorke and Mayer up the middle. I'm not crazy about the Sox paying 33 year old Story 23 million to play 3b with his bat around average, but I guess he figured that was better than the alternative: pony up to pay X or pay top dollar for Devers. Still, not necessarily a win on the field, even if that money gets saved. Mayer is probably 3 years away, at best. If he makes it at all. As Hot as Yorke’s been he’s prob got 2 years in the minors left, too, after this year. If he makes it. We love projection, but these guys are still in the low minors.
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TearsIn04
Veteran
Everybody knows Nelson de la Rosa, but who is Karim Garcia?
Posts: 2,835
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Post by TearsIn04 on May 5, 2022 19:13:04 GMT -5
I feel like if the Red Sox had signed Pham for a dumb little one year, $8 million contract, this could all be chalked up to bad luck and underperformance, and none of it really Bloom's fault. But they didn't sign Pham (or any Pham equivalents), and it's kind of baffling, and I really wish I understood what the thinking was there. I would have been on board with bringing in a platoon partner for JBJ. In fact, I would have preferred that they take on Wil Myers money from SD and get a prospect too. I'd love to know whether the media reports on that possibility have been accurate the past couple of years. But Tommy Pham? Eh, he was 1.4 WAR last year. Yes, he'd be better than nothing, but nobody here would have been excited about him coming to town.
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Post by manfred on May 5, 2022 19:26:37 GMT -5
None of that is the point. You said it has been a few months. I said I’ve heard this before. You seem to be saying “yes, but that before was worth it.” The worth it was not the question. The question was the “before.” It was great to get Whitlock. Someday I hope he can get a win in a game he starts out perfectly for multiple innings. As for being “mad” — I don’t need a memory longer than 26 games. This season is awful, and it is not because of injuries or stars suddenly getting old. It is because a lot of guys are having bad years that are still within a predictable performance range. They botched rightfield. They botched 1b. They botched the bullpen. They’ve sat at catcher while CVaz gets worse and worse. That is plenty. I think most GMs would have given a cost-controlled kid with great power potential a shot at 1B, especially knowing that if he flunked they'd have Casas ready to step in. Would you have signed Rizzo instead? If you would have, that's fair. But I would disagree that going above the MFYs' $16 AAV payout to get Rizzo would have been a good idea. He was below 2 WAR last year. On C, I half agree. I've thought all along that they should have moved Vaz for a prospect at the deadline in 2020 when he was still, you know, a ML caliber player. As a C reaching 30, he has predictably declined since then. But moving him in 2020 wouldn't have solved the 2022 catching problems (unless they got a young C who was contributing by now in return for CV). What would you have done this past off-season to solve the 1B and C issues? Do you have a RF solution that could have been achieved since the end of the 2019 season for less than $30M in AAV? "Just pay my favorite players whatever amount it takes" isn't a realistic BB or business solution. I would not have traded Renfroe, which, at least, would save me money. I would not have signed Paxton, which would save me a lot more money on a guy who — if he comes back — will likely be back too late. And I wouldn’t have signed Story, because a) I don’t think he is that good; and b) I don’t think it is a great idea to bring in your best player and leader’s replacement before you’ve technically shown him the door. I would have gone hard at Freeman. And I’d likely have sought a trade or two with my many minor leaguers for another bat… maybe in the OF, maybe at 2b. As for the bullpen, I would not have entered the season not knowing who my closer was. Period. Never. Again, that might require a trade. If you have room (and I’d have saved to this point), maybe another Ottavino style trade. But to paraphrase Dr. Johnson, a feller don’t need to know how to put together a roster to say when a roster ain’t well put together.
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Post by kjkramer on May 5, 2022 19:35:08 GMT -5
Yeah. I hope so. I am only 52 and not as old as some of you but in my time...... Most dominate hitter - Bonds Most Dominate pitcher- Randy Best overall player - Ohtani There might have been better pitchers (Pedro, Clemens, Maddux, etc) and better hitters (Gwynn, Boggs, Pucket, Ichiro, etc) but those were the most dominate to me. For the record.... I think Bonds could still 20+ homeruns today. Bonds* would* be* the* most* dominant* hitter*. But if you're looking for someone who did it clean in that time period, I'd go Big Hurt. By adjusted ERA, prime Pedro is the GOAT. But RJ, of course, had a longer period of greatness. Neither one would win five games with the Hitless Wonders that the 2022 RS have become. Many many guys since the late 60's have used PED's. Guys on the team with Aaron in the early 70's have admitted they used steroids. There is zero difinitive proff that AAron never used steroids. The guys from the 70's definitely used them... many. Any player after mid to late 60's is suspect. Frank Thomas was 6'5" and 275#. I doubt he was clean.
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Post by kjkramer on May 5, 2022 19:36:48 GMT -5
At least the Yankees can not win tonight :-)
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Post by redsox04071318champs on May 5, 2022 19:43:42 GMT -5
Got me. I didn't understand a lot of what Bloom did or didn't do. Trade Renfroe for prospects? Fine, but replace Renfroe. JBJ is not an adequate replacement but if you don't replace JBJ then get him a platoon mate and they didn't even do that. Didn't get a closer for the pen. It was obvious the pen needed to be reshaped. If Bloom didn't want to sign Jansen or trade for Kimbrel, then it was his job to identify a guy with the traits to grab high leverage closing innings. Instead it was run back with the same crew that blew a bunch of leads against TB and Houston in the playoffs but got away with it (until Game 4 ALCS anyways). I don't have an issue with him sticking with Dalbec and Vazquez. It's slim pickings for catchers. And with Casas on the horizon, other than a 1 year solution, I don't think there's that much he could have done. But his choice of Shaw as the backup LH 1b bat was dubious. I honestly think Bloom signed Story because he figured that signing him was cheaper than bringing back X or extending Devers. Perhaps it is, but now they're downgrading offensively and at age 30, with his shoulder injuries, it's fair to question how good Story would be returning to SS, as most SS are rangier under the age of 30. I guess Bloom figured he'd also take the benefit of replacing Renfroe in the lineup and having X and Story co-existing on the same team for a year with the probability that Story winds up at 3b with X and Devers likely gone and Yorke and Mayer up the middle. I'm not crazy about the Sox paying 33 year old Story 23 million to play 3b with his bat around average, but I guess he figured that was better than the alternative: pony up to pay X or pay top dollar for Devers. Still, not necessarily a win on the field, even if that money gets saved. Mayer is probably 3 years away, at best. If he makes it at all. As Hot as Yorke’s been he’s prob got 2 years in the minors left, too, after this year. If he makes it. We love projection, but these guys are still in the low minors. When I mentioned Story az a future 3b, I meant the last 2 or 3 years of his contract. By 2025 or 2026 I would think that Yorke and Mayer are the 2b/as combo. If they're not the Sox are gonna be in trouble. This is a first round pick with an advanced hit tool and a SS who was considered the top pick of the entire draft. If they don't pan out, I'd hate to see the Sox future. My main point was if they do pan out then Story winds up ultimately at 3b, as we can both guess that X and Devers are both long gone by then and the Sox are on the hook for 23 million for Story...and how many good fielding SS so you see these days? I'm guessing Bloom saw Story as their 2b this year, SS the next 2 or 3 seasons and a 3b the remainder of his contract. And if he's considered slightly above average offensively what is he a few years from now? Hell, even now? Don't think w3ll love the Story signing. I think the reasons I laid out, plus the savings from X to Story, us what prompted Bloom to make his big money move.
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