I'm all for that, but you rarely find "young" in free agency.Originally Posted by kenmeister
I'd be fine, if we spent the money for Betts on quality arms, and I trust Bloom to know who those are. No more Price & Eovaldi blunders.
I'm all for that, but you rarely find "young" in free agency.
I'd be fine, if we spent the money for Betts on quality arms, and I trust Bloom to know who those are. No more Price & Eovaldi blunders.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
There can be no "crank." All the best FAs are gone. We've already lost more than we've gained, so far this winter, and the starting point was a team that missed the playoffs and has numerous health issues that don't appear to be imrpoving.
I'm not sure we'll end up with penalties, and we shouldn't plan on it, but even if we do get some- all the more reason to get some young talent any way possible.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
Gobble dee goop.
We sucked last year after losing Kimbrel, Kelly, Pom, Nunez and more.
We just lost Porcello, Moreland, Pearce and more.
We gained Perez and Peraza.
Call it whatever you want, but there are great odds against us having even a decent season, let alone a strong one.
Clinging to a faint hope will only make 2021 and beyond worse. Time to cut our loses and look beyond 2020.
I'm trying to be optimistic by hoping 2021 might bring high hopes (maybe 2022), but if we shoot high for 2020, I'm thinking 2023 might end up being our best hope.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
We have:
- no manager
- GM under $ restraints
- health question marks on 3 of our SP's
- little depth at 2b & of
- on paper not much of a BP
- Betts insistent on going to FA after the 2020 season
2020 is a dead man walking. Red Sox MUST reset the LT this season. if they wait another year it will be worse for us. much, much worse.
other names i have posted under: none
On top of all this, all the good AL teams, except the Astros improved over the winter (on paper).
I get how being a fan means believing in your team, but how about believing in 2021 and beyond? This all our eggs into a sketchy 2020 season seems absurd, to me.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
February starts a week from Saturday and what you see is what you got. The Red Sox didn't make any major moves, hung on to all their good players, and this is what they're going with.
But I choose not to judge them based on one mediocre year, even if it is the most recent season, to convince myself things are going to get worse rather than better. My optimism is based instead on the larger sample size of the past half decade of accomplishments from Boston's professional stars, along with the potential to improve of those not yet in their primes...
Which prediction a year ago would have seemed more unreasonable: that a team that finished first three years in a row would limp into third place in 2019?... or... that a team that finished first three years in a row, then limped into third, would bounce back to contention in 2020?
Who knows what the Red Sox roster will look like in '21 (I just can't see how anyone can think the Sox are going to be able to replace their top players from the best club in franchise history and actually improve). I'm focused on 2020.
Fans can believe or disbelieve, be optimistic or pessimistic. It doesn't matter. We can't do anything. Thinking that any of our opinions or outlooks matter is what I don't get.
Championships since purchase by John Henry group: Red Sox 4 Yankees 1
The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 postseason games against the Yankees.
That's your choice, but I'm not going to pretend it won't affect 2021 and beyond, if we keep everyone for the long odds of 2020.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
I'm fine with people clinging to 2020 hopes, but I take issue with anyone who thinks keeping everyone doesn't affect 2021 and beyond.
I'm not saying our opinions matter to the team and how well or poorly they do, but the win here and now philosophy is what got us into this scrape, and it seems like some are finding it hard to let go of that mentality. To me, doing that as the GM will severely impact our longer term hopes.
Doing that as a fan comes natural to many and has no affect on the team's present or future.... nor does hoping we start the rebuild now.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
MLBTR reports...
Red Sox Trade Travis Lakins To Cubs, Outright Bobby Poyner
By Steve Adams | January 21, 2020 at 2:35pm CDT
The Red Sox traded right-hander Travis Lakins to the Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later or cash, both teams announced Tuesday afternoon. The Sox added that left-hander Bobby Poyner went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Pawtucket. Both teams now have full 40-man rosters.
Lakins, 25, was designated for assignment last week. Although he’d consistently ranked in the No. 15-25 range of a thin Boston farm system, the Ohio State product has yet to put together a particularly strong showing in the Majors or in the upper minors. Lakins made his big league debut this past season, yielding a 3.86 ERA with a lackluster 18-to-10 K/BB ratio in 23 2/3 innings for Boston. His work in Triple-A has been rather similar, as he’s compiled a 3.82 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and slightly below-average grounder rates in parts of two seasons there.
Scouting reports on Lakins praise his curveball as a potential above-average offering, and he did average 93.8 mph on his heater in his brief MLB work. Clearly, the new Chaim Bloom-led front office isn’t enthralled with the right-hander, but the Cubs and their ongoing quest to stockpile ’pen depth without actually adding to the payroll in a meaningful way saw enough upside to take a flier.
Poyner, meanwhile, limped to a 6.94 ERA in just 11 2/3 innings last year. He posted solid numbers for the BoSox in his debut campaign (2018) and has averaged nearly 10 punchouts per nine innings pitched over the life of his minor league career. Having gone unclaimed, Poyner will remain in the organization without requiring a 40-man roster spot, so the Sox could take another look at him down the line in 2020.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
Here are the players added to the 40 man roster by Bloom:
(Red = 9 acquired by Bloom)
Josh Osich
Bobby Dalbec
CJ Chatham
Marcus Wilson
Yoan Aybar
Kyle Hart
Jonathan Arauz
Jose Peraza
Martin Perez
Chris Mazza
Kevin Plawecki
Austin Brice
Jeffery Springs
Matt Hall
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
Eight pitchers, mostly relievers! Bloom is obviously preparing for the new three-batter minimum rule... get ready for a couple three-man rotations: starters, and then openers/middlers/and twiddlers.
Last year, I believe we went the whole year with 13 pitchers. I don't recall that ever happening before. (Can anybody check that?)
With the 26th man added this year, I'm thinking it might be a stretch to think we go with 14 pitchers for any extended period of time.
Here is our pitching depth chart as I see it, assuming everyone is healthy:
Rotation (5): Sale, ERod, Price, Eovaldi, Perez
Long Relievers (2): D Hernandez & Velazquez
Relievers (6): Workman, Barnes, Taylor, Walden, Hembree, Brasier
Others on 40 man roster (10):
Brice, Weber, Hart, Shawaryn, Brewer, Osich, Mazza, Springs, M Hall, D Reyes
Others NOT on 40 man roster who may conribute in 2020 (9):
B Johnson, B Poyner, T Houck, D McGrath, B Mata, T Ward, J Diaz, D Feltman, E Bazardo
Am I forgetting someone?
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
Of the 9 players Bloom acquired, 6 are pitchers. Plawecki, Peraza & Auraz are non pitchers. Perez is a SP'er- the other 5 RP'ers.
Of the 5 in-system additions, 2 are pitchers: Hart is projected as a SP'er in AAA and Aybar is projected to start in single A, so we won't be seeing him in 2020.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
Say the Sox start strong and play about 10 games over .500 through July, enough to stay in contention for a playoff berth. Which would you prefer: Bloom "buying" at the deadline, maybe for one more starter or back end reliever, or promoting from within?
It may depend on whether a team is just trying to qualify for the postseason or making an actual run at a ring... Strength of competition also has to be considered; is someone running away with the division? A final factor for this Red Sox squad is the chance it may be the last hurrah for the current core...
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