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Red Sox Offseason In Review Chat
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The Guy Next Door
12:20
Opinion: Red Sox have top 10 hitting but bottom 10 pitching with questionable defense. Am I right? Any thoughts
?
Darragh McDonald
12:20
Yeah, I think the pitching and defense will be the weak points.
12:21
They're counting on a lot of guys to come back from injuries or succeed at new positions. They need a lot to go right this year.
Go sox
12:21
Are the Sox as bad as everyone says?
Darragh McDonald
12:22
I don't think it's that they're bad. It's that they have a lot of question marks. It's entirely possible that a lot of things go right and they end up pretty good, but the odds are low.
12:23
Yoshida is facing MLB pitching for the first time. Lack of experience at center field, shortstop, second, first, catcher. Verdugo has been kinda meh the last few years. Rotation needs Sale, Paxton, Whitlock, Houck to be healthy and good after recent injuries. Bello needs to take a step forward.
A few of those things will turn out okay but it's hard to expect all of them to.
Jacob L
12:24
Where do you think Red Sox will place in the AL East.
Darragh McDonald
12:24
I would guess fourth or fifth. They could get into the top three if a bunch of that stuff I just listed goes their way, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Liz
12:25
What is a realistic expectation for Triston Casas' season? I would love for him to be a ROTY contender, but that feels like that might be a 90th percentile outcome. Is he likely to always sit against left-handed starters like they did on Sunday?
Darragh McDonald
12:26
Casas has always hit for power and always drawn walks. I'd feel good about him going forward. He seems legit to me.
12:27
It will be a bit harder for him to maximize his value given his position. An excellent shortstop is just worth more than an excellent first baseman. But I wouldn't be shocked if he hits enough to get into the rookie of the year conversation.
Tim Naehring
12:28
Why didn't the Sox go more aggressive in the off-season
Darragh McDonald
12:30
I don't know that it's fair to say they weren't aggressive. They signed five different guys to eight-figure deals, which doesn't even include Duvall.
But it seems like they wanted to stay under the luxury tax and decided to spread the money they had to multiple guys as opposed to one big splash.
Guest
12:32
The team needs to bring in someone to (finally) rebuild their scouting and drafting roles as the Sox appear to be inept in finding talent unlike teams such as the Dodgers and Rays for example that keep “finding” talent.  I think Bloom’s days are numbered and rightfully so.
Darragh McDonald
12:33
One of the Boston reporters, I forget which one, had an article recently about how the club has expanded the stuff behind the scenes. Analytics and scouting and whatnot.
12:34
It's possible that ownership is happy with the way that stuff is going, even if it hasn't yielded a lot of results for the big league team yet.
We Exist
12:34
Red Sox fans who like Bloom do in fact exist
Darragh McDonald
12:34
It's now on the record.
Larry Luchino
12:35
Why did they rebuild with a star core in place?  Isn't that the hardest part to find?
Darragh McDonald
12:36
Yeah, I think it's very strange that they seemed so committed to breaking things up.
It's hard for me to see the Betts/Price trade as anything but a financial move.
RHG
12:37
I feel people think it's an easy task to take over a team that missed the playoffs with the highest payroll and worst farm system in all of baseball. It's almost impossible to add to the MLB club when you can't spend on FA and aren't getting talent from the farm. Plus no one wants anyone from your farm, so they won't even trade with you. If Bloom does get fired, I feel people will start appreciating the work he's done for the farm system once he's gone.
Darragh McDonald
12:38
Sure, it's possible that the club's work on finding and developing prospects is making good progress. Hard to tell right now though.
Derek Carson
12:38
Once healthy, what role do you see Adalberto Mondesi playing on the team?
Darragh McDonald
12:39
If he truly is healthy, he should have a decent enough floor with his speed and defense.
12:40
It'll be tough to expect much at the plate though. He has only one above-average season at the plate per wRC+, which was back in 2018.
He's only played about 100 games total over the past three years due to injuries and the shortened 2020 season. It will be difficult to just hit the ground running after all of that.
Andrew H
12:41
How early is too early to say that the Sox are postseason contenders? Is it now? But also, who is the Sox's X-factor for this season?
Darragh McDonald
12:41
I think it's fine to say they're postseason contenders. FanGraphs gives them a 35% chance right now, which feels fair.
12:42
I think the X-factor will be the rotation, broadly speaking. Between Sale, Paxton, Whitlock and Houck, if a couple of them get healthy and in a good groove, or if Bello takes a step forward, then things start to look much better.
Fenway Fanatic
12:43
Could the Red Sox go after Shohei Ohtani at the trade deadline or free agency next year. Ownership seems pretty desperate.
david
12:44
Afternoon Darragh,

Best case scenario who do you think the Boston Red Sox can add that would give them a second blue chip player. Juan Soto via free agency, Ohtani, trade for one of the Brewers starting pitchers, someone else, just pray that someone from the farm system comes up and can partner with Devers to drive the organization towards a championship in the next decade?
Fenway Fanatic
12:44
Do you think the Red Sox go for Shohei Ohtani after 2023 or even at the deadline?
Darragh McDonald
12:45
I wouldn't put the Sox at the top of the list of most likely Ohtani suitors.
12:46
They've already got over 100 million on the books for next year with just five players: Devers, Sale, Story, Yoshida and Jansen.
12:47
As for the deadline, I'm not expecting Ohtani to be available.
I think the PR for that is bad enough that the Angels would have to be way out of the race.
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