To this point, we have not seen a willingness from Chaim to give up a package of prospects for a starting pitcher. The rumors of the offer for Snell were something we haven’t seen before from Bloom. The hardest part of running baseball ops is getting rid of the minor leaguers that you don’t see a future in and turn them into major league talent. Let’s hope we see a Beckett level move this summer.
I haven’t seen anything at all on the Snell rumors until your post. What was the supposed rumored package???
Those particular players being off the team was not a result of what we're discussing here. They weren't very good and there was no longer a place for them here.
It was a rumor that was out there, but who knows if it was real because now I can’t find it. There were so many rumors about what didn’t happen with the Sox that it is hard to know what was real and what was fiction.
I don’t think Cora will be back next year, but that is based on nothing. When Cora took over in 2018, he had a stacked team than dominated the league and won the WS. Since his return in 2021, it has been a rollercoaster ride where management has not invested in the team at the deadline two straight years. Cora could get another job with a franchise that is in a different phase of their development.
The Sox were heavily in on Senga as well. Can't find the quote but I believe he also didn't want to pitch here.
If it was a rumor at all, I'd expect it would have surfaced in one of the deadline threads here. The only mentions of Snell I could find in a quick search was a poster naming Snell in a wishlist kind of way, and then there was discussion spun off that post. I don't believe Snell was ever a consideration.
To this point, the Sox haven't been a position where it made sense to do so. The prospects were not there, and the teams' playoff chances weren't high enough. The tide is turning however, and I do think we will see a move for a starter this offseason (though my money is on it being Yoshi Yamamoto, a free agent).
In the home games prior to this weekend's disaster, the team has been drawing 36K+ in attendance, and they were 1.5 games out of the wild card at the trade deadline, and had the best record in the league in July. How in the world was selling the right option?
Would selling have sent a worse message to the organization than what we've seen on the field since the deadline? Would they be losing by 20 to the Jays instead?
If he sold, at least we would know he has some conviction behind the supposed plan he has. If he truly is playing for 2024 or 2025, then selling off pieces at the deadline would make some sense. The indecision he has had at the deadline 2 years in a row is mind-blowing to me. Even in 2021 when he got Schwarber, he traded for an injured player who couldn't play for about 2 weeks then shoehorned him into a position he never played before.
What indecision? They feel they have players coming back that could get them in to the playoffs this year. They did not feel giving up value this year would improve the odds this year without hindering they chances going forward.
Agree.
Wrong about Kluber. See below (ERA+ of 85)
The indecision in picking a lane. If he thought this team was worth investing in, then go out and get players that could help them make the playoffs. If he didn’t believe they could make playoffs, sell off pieces that could get some decent prospects back in return.
People talk of Bloom as if building a good farm system means just hoarding as many guys as you can. Anyone can do that in a big market, especially if the major league team struggles and you pick high in the draft. Really, if the sole focus is system building you can accomplish that with relative ease, I still don't understand why people talk about it as this massive achievement. Now putting together a consistent pipeline of talent that continuously feeds the big league club while identifying which guys are overvalued and can be better employed in trades for veteran talent, now that's hard as hell. And since Bloom hasn't done that, I don't see why he should get kudos for farm system rankings. Those only matter as much as they materialize into wins for the Boston Red Sox. I'll agree it's too soon to judge him on that, so it's ridiculous to say he's failed at that part of his job but he sure as hell hasn't succeeded either, and many people seem to believe he has.
The idea that Cora and his staff have to spend time teaching basic fundamentals to supposed major league level players is pretty offensive.
Yeah, I remember seeing something about Snell. Pretty much the generic and gratuitous "Red Sox are reportedly in talks/in on/asking about Blake Snell.".
Bring back Bobby V!! It worked out great the last time we had a manger treat the team like little leaguers.
Amazingly, that team was only 2 games off this teams pace through 110 games (they were 55-55).
I mean like 2/3 of this forum said "hold" maybe only selling off excess pieces which is what Bloom did. Like...I can get the frustration but most of us didn't want to pick a lane, so I don't know if we can really get on the Sox for doing the same
The next month won't be fascinating for Verdugo's fate. But the off-season very well may be.
I get questioning Story (though at the moment I'm cautiously giving him the benefit of the doubt). But pitchers need time.
He hit another HR today. Sale also looked great, but I agree that pitchers need more time. I’m just sick of these bullpen games.
Agreed.
Teams have hitting coaches, pitching coaches, base running coaches and positional coaches at THE MAJOR LEAGUE LEVEL. It's the coach's job to help players identify and fix flaws in all aspects of their game. There is no reason to expect that a major league staff couldn't or shouldn't be consistently reinforcing defensive positioning/coverage, cut off plays, run down play, pick off plays, smart base running, etc...In other words, the fundamentals of the game. It doesn't have to be every aspect every day, but perhaps on a rotating basis, maybe 10 minutes a day. Create a team philosophy, an approach towards becoming a fundamentally sound team. Positional players work on their swing daily, pitchers have a throwing routine, yet working to improve the rest of the skills at the major league level should be considered offensive?
Out of curiosity I checked, Fenway was 96-97 percent full for all three games of this series.
Fair, I guess August is probably the wrong time for this data since they could draw a 95% capacity fair weather crowd while 20 games under .500.
Not hubris at all. I can add a 3.57 FIP in '22 to "cherry picks" if you'd like. And nowhere did I say they could "only sign one year deals". You think a more "prudent use of resources" would have been making a Rodon-type splash?
Perhaps you missed the part during today's broadcast when they discussed that the Blue Jays practiced baserunning during the pre-games? Seems to me that if a team has a glaring flaw it's up to the manager and coaches to address it. The Jays had no qualms about it.
I would have loved to have seen that. What did they practice: rundowns, pickoff plays, hitting fungoes to left, center and right and deciding whether to try to score or not? I hope Cora noted the the whole thing. No qualms indeed, if I made the millions these guys make, I'd practice running into the Green Monster. It's only made of tin, right?
Per the announcers it was scoring from second base. I'm not sure why you're being snarky, I'm simply stating a fact.
it was also mentioned on the radio broadcast that the rays’ infield practice is more intense than most - hard hit balls that cause the players to move.
