Kluber out of Whitesox division may give them a jolt of aggressive moves first should be Price and Benny .Just a guess.
I like your ambition, SGhost... Vaughn does seem like a Bloom kinda guy; I just looked him up on b-ref and his listed position is first baseman and relief pitcher.
He was drafted last year. Dalbec was also a pitcher in college, but teams will make players like Vaughn and Dalbec settle in on one position or another. Vaughn did not pitch in the minors last year, so I think that issue is settled with him for now.
Some do change if it isn’t working out, like Trey Ball and Matt Bush did...
Last edited by notin; 12-15-2019 at 02:24 PM.
McKay is looking like the exception, and even he might settle in to one role or the other.
Rick Ankiel is a nice recall. Babe Ruth was obviously the most successful change, but history seems to have largely forgotten about Lefty O’Doul, who was a pretty weak pitcher who reinvented himself as a Hall of Fame caliber outfielder...
Bloom needs to pull his thumb out of his ass and start building a lock-down bullpen. Regardless of what the Yankees have done this off-season, the Red Sox are still deep and talented. The strategy should be the same as it was in 2018... have the pitching come out of the gate strong and carry the team until the weather and the offense heats up. If the pitching gets us off to a good start, the 2020 team will roll. Price, Sale and Eovaldi had plenty of down time in 2019 to heal up and start the season healthy. Together with ERod, they are a formidable starting staff. The decision last Spring Training that had the pitchers behind the league when the season started dug a fatally big hole for the team. Bloom needs to get some dominant BP arms and fill in a few other details. I am not seeing any evident strategy at play by Bloom. It's to get moving.
Good one on maybe the only Lefty known for his southpaw swing. There was also a bat-left, throws-right guy -- Bob Lemon -- who did it in reverse and became a Hall of Fame pitcher. Sox fans might recall he eventually managed the '78 Yankees after Billy Martin was fired for the 89th time (that was the year Boston tied NY for the division in Game 162, after trailing by 3 1/2 games in mid-Sept... only to fall one-run short in a supplementary round).
Bloom has CLEARLY been given a directive to cut payroll. If he wasn't given that directive, then why the heck do you sign Perez and Peraza when other more effective players were there at a higher price. In doing so, none of the big names are coming to Boston. My bet is you see Workman closing games again with Barnes and Hembree ahead of him. DHern will probably be a starter in ST, but transition to the pen thereafter. Bloom is known for picking diamonds off the clearance rack. You'll probably see a guy like Rondon or Strop find their way to Boston on a 1 yr deal.
Hal sucks