The Red Sox announced Friday that added first baseman/outfielder Daniel Palka has been added to camp as a non-roster invitee (thus indicating he’s inked a minor league deal with the team). He’ll add some left-handed pop to their bench mix.
The 31-year-old Palka has spent parts of two seasons in the big leagues, smashing 27 home runs as a rookie with the 2018 White Sox while hitting .240/.294/.484 along the way. Palka’s 34.1% strikeout rate, however, was a major red flag, and he fanned at an even higher 37.6% clip in 2019 while hitting just .107/.194/.179 in 93 plate appearances before losing his spot on the roster. He struggled through a tough season in the KBO in 2020 before rebounding with the Triple-A clubs for the Nats and the Mets over the past two seasons.
Palka’s big league success is limited, but he’s a .261/.349/.486 hitter in parts of six Triple-A seasons and, as evidenced by his 27 homers in 449 plate appearances as a rookie, has plus raw power. He’s graded out as a sub-par defender in the outfield corners, and the Mets played him more at first base than in the outfield in Triple-A last year.
The Red Sox are set with Masataka Yoshida and Alex Verdugo in the outfield corners, Triston Casas at first base and Justin Turner at designated hitter. However, they’re thin on first basemen in the upper minors, unless Bobby Dalbec is optioned, so Palka will provide an option in that regard while also hoping to play his way into a bench role this spring.
Dude is just changing his Sox!
He has to be one of the worst defensive players ever to never make an error, right?
Doesn’t that just call into question defensive metrics? Range isn’t everything, especially considering pitcher tendencies and shifts.
wouldn’t that argue to the opposite? that things like fielding percentage are less important than range etc?
Yes.
Mostly, but not entirely. Range at SS & CF is more important than a small amount of errors. I’d rather have a SS than can get to 50 more grounders, even if he commits 2 more errors.
Joe – You don’t know how scoring works.
If JBJ runs halfway across the field at top speed to get to a fly ball, and just barely gets under it but drops it, that’s not gonna be ruled an error.
Same with infielders. Just because they get to a ball, it doesn’t mean it’s an error if they can’t complete the play.
But I understand, Fangraphs doesn’t contain that sort of information so how would you possibly know … all good.
@Fever Pitch The thing with errors is that they’re subjective to the scorer. Plays like the example you said I’ve seen get ruled as an error and not an error. I’ve learned that errors mean less depending on the positions the position. What I mean is that shortstops league wide last year had a .973 fielding percentage, and averaged about a dozen errors per 1000 innings. Third basemen were even worse with a .964 fielding %, and averaged about 11 errors per 1000 frames. You had Yandy Diaz with a higher fielding % than Arenado and Ke’Bryan Hayes. Ryan McMahon, who had double-digit DRS and OAA commit 17 errors. In essence, errors at third base and shortstop mean nothing. They all commit a ton of errors, and even the best commit like a dozen+ a year.
You are truly babbling now. FWIW, if a SS gets to a ball and throws it away, it will be an error.
But let’s just run this by on a macro basis. Let’s say that Bagwell hits 100 hard grounders up the middle. A bad SS gets to -0- of them, and Smith gets to all of them.
Would you rather have a fielder that allowed Bagwell to get on base 100 times, or the fielder that allowed Bagwell get on base 2 times?
And what does FG have to do with this? This is flat-out common sense.
100% spot-on correct. It would be insane to argue otherwise. To have a great SS that gets to 100 more chances than a bad SS, but commits 2 more errors, means that 98 less hitters got on base. Anyone arguing against this is just arguing for the sake of arguing.
If goods hands meant more than good range, I’d play CF for every team in the world since I don’t drop fly balls. Unfortunately, the inability to ever catch up to a fly ball was always an impediment.
JB – A SS doesn’t get to 50 more grounders in a single season because he has great range!!!
Last year Trea Turner had the fewest Total Chances at SS. According to your theory his range must be bad because we all know he can surely get to more balls than most SSs.
LAD pitchers struck out so many more players than most teams that the Total Chances at SS were depressed. It had nothing to do with the range of the shortstop that’s why modern metrics are so flawed. If the numbers were normalized for the way the pitching impacts plays to the shortstop area maybe the RANGE would be a lot less inaccurate.
Too bad baseball guys don’t think through the modern metrics and their calculations and too bad most of the public is too dumb to challenge their inaccuracies.
Mlb1225 – Great point. To clarify errors I go to Baseball Reference and count every time a play is recorded as single to 3B/SS/2B etc. Those plays need to be added to errors to determine “MISPLAYS”. Devers had 14 errors due to the bogus score keeping you mentioned. He had over 50 MISPLAYS.
When an organization wants to protect players they cheat for them. It’s both sad and pathetic but it’s true and has been for years. Devers has been a butcher since he was 17 based on the recorded numbers. If you consider the % of times his plays are recorded inaccurately he would have at least 50% more errors than he does. He’s sitting at a fielding percentage of .941 which is abysmal for a 6 season 3B and if you check his REAL errors you’ll find his adjusted fielding percentage to be .914!!!!
Defensive data offsets pitching data. The 50 misplays by Devers led to 50 more hits against Red Sox pitchers. That severely impacted their ERAs and WHIPs which are a big part of what gets pitchers paid. I have to believe they are unhappy with having him at 3B rather than DH.
It all makes sense that baseball is associated with Gambling now after 100 years of trying to stay away from cheating. The sign stealing scandal was down played dramatically despite up to 90 games being impacted. The recording of data is being skewed dramatically now to make bad fielders like Devers look far better than he is.
Think about a guy who gets a break on over 34 misplayed balls in a single season and now is declared an improving fielder when he had one of his worst seasons yet. There is no integrity in baseball any more.
People should believe their eyes. Nobody would confuse Arenado and Devers. They know they are the two extremes in baseball. Yet every time this topic comes up there are a dozen Devers supporters ready to chime in about some short segment of his career and how he is improving. That usually holds true until his next error spree.
The true irony of the subject of Devers’ fielding is that he’s been in baseball with the Red Sox organization since he was 17 in 2014.
1 – He’s never had ONE year where he fielded at a league average level
2 = His fielding percentage on his first 1865 plays is .941 (lg avg is .961)
3 – His minor league feilding % is .937 (roughly the same as his MLB number)
4 – Saber guys – his Rtot by year is -5, -16, -9, -12, -21, -6
(This metric is runs above average. Negative numbers are bad!)
5 – His defensive runs saved in 6 seasons is -44
These are facts about his defense. How anyone can say he is adequate or he’s improving or he’s not killing the pitching staff is beyond me.
A player who cared about his team would asked to be moved to a position where he didn’t hurt the team so much. Devers to my knowledge has never suggested that to Cora or Bloom. His perception seems to be that he’s an adequate 3B defensively.
Think about the thousands of hours he’s practiced to improve and note there is no significant improvement since 2014. Most teams would have tossed in the towel years ago and helped out the pitching staff by putting a real 3B at the position. Until that happens, I don’t believe those in charge are actually trying to win. They are trying to keep one player happy. I’m sure that creates a great clubhouse dynamic especially among the pitchers.
JB – Your concepts are so naive. That’s not how baseball works.
You need to determine if a pitching staff is one that generates ground balls to the SS zone. There is a huge difference between the pitching staffs that cause that to happen all the time like the Cardinals and the Dodgers who have the lowest rate in baseball in 2022.
Your simpleton concepts astound me. You just don’t understand stats at all. You suggest things out of context and then slam people for disagreeing with your skewed perspective.
The range of the player is dependent on so many more things than how fast he can get to a baseball.
JB – Every play is binary. You either get the out or you don’t. If a fielder is fast that doesn’t guarantee he can catch, that doesn’t guarantee he can run good routes to the ball, that doesn’t guarantee he can throw out a base runner trying to advance and it doesn’t guarantee he can use the pitch information to get a jump on where the ball is hit.
Your whole discussion is inaccurate and naive. If you played like you suggest you were one of the guys that didn’t comprehend his job based on your comments. There are so many things that go into whether a fielder is successful on any given pitch. That’s why guys like Devers will never improve, he’ll always need the score keeper to give him mulligans.
mlb – I agree sometimes scorers botch calls, but for the most part they get it right by taking into consideration the difficulty in getting to the ball.
For instance if Devers makes a spectacular diving stab of a laser down the third base line behind the bag, and then gets up and throws the ball off target forcing the first baseman off the bag, Devers would NOT be charged with an error. Only if his throw gets by the first baseman and the runner advances to 2B does Devers get charged with an error in that situation. This is the sort of thing JB just doesn’t understand because he doesn’t actually watch the games in person or on television.
Joe – Of course I’d rather have the fielder that allows only 2 times, but that’s not relevant to the subject.
If JBJ drops a ball its an error
@PulledABloom I really appreciate your insights and you are convincing with your argumentation but if you could do it without tearing down other members it would be refreshing and welcome. Don’t mean to be a Policeman but I thought something should be said.
Ignorant – I only spare with people who insult me on a continuous basis. Maybe give JoeBrady and others this same lecture.
I’m here to talk baseball and apparently it’s open season on anyone who disagrees with specific people on the site. I watch GA get attacked all the time, same with Fever and many others who don’t support what the ownership, Bloom and Cora are doing. Please feel free to express your distaste for their comments as well.
I’m tired of a few individuals having the freedom to insult me and others while not talking about the topic being discussed. Counter punching is about all one can do to stop the bullying by these people
Please review all that I have written to people on this blog. It is the same people who go after me that I feel comfortable being aggressive with. If you get them to talk baseball and stop insulting, I’m sure you won’t see any insults from me on this site.
It gets old having two or three people insult you, make comments about your personal life and your age while you are trying to hold intelligent discussions with the quality contributors on this site.
Ignorant – Can I ask why you chose the word policemen? You biased the discussion because a policemen suggests right and wrong and not obeying the laws. The fact that you wrote it to me and not the others suggests yet another bias. Clearly, you support the abuse I put up with. That’s unfortunate and irresponsible of you to publicly write what you wrote.
Also the word argumentation while complimentary to those who know the word does also carry a negative connotation to those that don’t know the word since argue is the key component not discuss.
Once again, review the facts and see how many times “tearing down” happened in my discussions with knowledgeable contributors like Fever, GA, Pwndroia and the other long term Red Sox fans on the site. There are only a few exemptions who throw insults and get torn down for them. I believe Mr. Policeman that is called self defense.
Too bad you can’t appreciate the freedom of speech we all should enjoy and the freedom to not be bullied on a website like this. I consider your comment completely out of line and inappropriate since it wasn’t made to anyone else.
@PulledABloom Got it, I was unaware this was an ongoing thing. Obviously inserting myself without realizing there was a backstory to the animosity was foolish. It was more of an instant reaction more than anything, but no I wasn’t taking sides. And yeah, “policeman” was a stupid word for me to use…I thought about that soon after but it was too late to change. Sorry bad night for me all around, I didn’t need to say anything at all.
ignorant – Let’s say a poster:
1) Doesn’t care and appears happy whenever the Red Sox lose important games
2) Doesn’t care and appears happy when the Red Sox finish in last place
3) Doesn’t care and appears happy when the Red Sox foolishly let their star players leave
4) Doesn’t care and appears happy when the Red Sox foolishly trade their homegrown stars
5) Praises bad acquisitions by the Red Sox after the acquisition has already proven to be bad
6) Bashes real Red Sox fans for being unhappy or angry about any of the above
7) Constantly says “we” when referring to the Red Sox, in order to give the impression he is a member of the team or a fan of the team
8) Calls himself a Red Sox fan at every opportunity
9) Has admitted living in NYC and owning Yankee Stadium season tickets
10) Constantly repeats false information even when he’s already been proven wrong with sources
11) Has often bashed all Red Sox fans as being “the worst” but continues to post under every Red Sox article here.
What would you call that person?
I thought the subject was range versus errors. This is what I posted:
“Range at SS & CF is more important than a small amount of errors. I’d rather have a SS than can get to 50 more grounders, even if he commits 2 more errors.”
You can agree or disagree, but that is precisely what I wrote.
But good defenders get more chances. Take Albert Almora last year compared to Yadiel Hernandez. Almora played 523 innings in the outfield and had a total of 142 chances. Yadiel Hernandez playd 599 innings, and only had 137 chances. Joc Pederson played nearly 800 innings, and had 141 chances. Good defenders make more plays. Palka had less than 100 chances in over 500 innings in 2018.
Contrary to your opinion, the stats show great a defender he is as batters choose to hit the ball the other way…
dewey – I appreciate your effort in trying to explain to them, but they will never understand how flawed many stats are because of factors that aren’t taken into consideration. You brought up a great example of that.
I think that’s why outs above average is generally considered the best tool to use for defense. OAA takes almost everything you can think of into account.
Fever, a good statistician is like a good PR person. They can spin things and make chicken salad out of chicken s$@t0
Whoa there! Not a good statistician at all, sounds more like bad politician.
Palka had less than 100 chances in over 500 innings in 2018.
============================
Some part might be due to small sample size and perhaps rotations might be lefty or righty oriented, or have more GB/FB splits, but this is essentially the core of the analysis.
Betts chances per 9 innings in RF = 2.28
Palka chances per 9 innings in RF = 1.59
But Betts makes 3.54 errors per 162, while Palka makes 0.00. I’ll wait for the other side to explain what they think is better; preventing 111.78 hits or making 3.54 more errors.
Some of Betts errors are throws that hit the runner or get away. Also with Betts many runners don’t even try to go 1st to 3rd or score because they don’t want to be the highlight out of the day.
Another factor is when the team lets a gold glover take all the easy pop ups/flys which increases his range rating and improves his fielding %.
Youk discussed his gold G. last yr. stating that his team mates let him take all the easy popups once it was clear he was in the running.
Another example is Beni & Gordan winning Gold in LF at KC. The OF is huge which gives them many more easy flys to pad the stats. That’s why I believe my eyes when it comes to D.
That’s what I’ve been saying all along. Your eyes will tell you more than a bunch of ridiculous metrics that mean nothing.
mlb1225 – There are lots of factors that go into total chances. Pitchers are one of the most key factors. The Dodgers had the fewest total chances at SS in 2022 and Trea Turrner is their shortstop. They struck out a lot more players than other pitching staffs so less ball hit to shortstop.
You need to consider many factors in why total chances vary across teams. The Cardinal and the Dodgers were extreme opposites in 2022. It was more critical to have a SS that covered a lot of ground, anticipated where the ball was going to be hit and accurately threw to get the runner for STL over LAD. That may help explain why they didn’t pursue Turner with the vigor most people expected. Who knows?
mlb – I agree OAA is one of the better stats, but overall you have the same issues with it as you do with the official scorer. Two people can each see the same plays differently, it’s not black or white. That’s why I really don’t trust any defensive stats, they are nowhere near perfect.
dewey – So true! When a career .600 OPS hitter is called “excellent” because of his BABIP or Exit Velo, it just makes me cringe.
mlb – I agree 100% with that. All I’m saying is that if a good defender gets to a ball because of his excellent range, and then drops the ball or pulls the 1B off the bag, it’s not an error.
Fever:
1) Lets say a fan gets angry even though 4 years ago they won a WS.
2) Lets say a fan gets angry because he thinks the former GM was wonderful, even though he left a huge void in talent for the next guy.
4) Lets say a fan gets angry because he doesnt understand the rebuild process after said void is left behind.
5) Lets say a fan gets angry while the rebuild process is ongoing because he has no patience.
6) Lets say a fan gets angry, because he sees the talent coming, but doesn’t want to admit this was the intention all along, and the team is on course to build a powerhouse.
7) Lets say a fan gets angry, because thats all he knows how to do.
His outfield defense was horrible in 2018 for the White Sox. Three errors that were rule “hits” in the span of a week killed the pitchers ERA and resulted in the team losing.
Ah
Worcester has their first baseman (especially if Dalbec gets traded).
World serie baby
Has to be the greatest one season wonder ever. Not sure if a player has had a productive season as his 2018, only to receive fewer than 100abs the next year and dissappear. Most guys hang on for coffee on bad teams till father time shows up wearing his monarchs
Palkamania was fun while it lasted. He had a very exciting rookie year, but started the following season with an 0 for 32. It was tough to see because the dude was obviously there to play, tried to stay positive, but was obviously in his own head.
On a personal note, even at the height of his success and through depths of that struggle, he was always a player my son could count on to stop, chat it up, and autograph for him.
Best of luck Danny!
The 27 home run wonder
You can almost spell Dalbec from the letters in his name.
Except for the missing “C”….and “B”.
There’s a name I haven’t heard in awhile. Wonder if he has anything left in the tank?
The LH Patrick Wisdom who can’t field. LOL
Let’s hope we don’t need to find out. Things will have REALLY gone off the rails if he gets a spot with the mlb club.
I keep hearing Wisdom signed to play in Japan.
Not yet. Cubs haven’t cut him yet. If they even go that way.
Worth a shot
OLDGUY–another great find by Bloom. this guy is amazing
monster bat
Let’s do the palka
Lawrence well
Let’s do the palka
Lawrence welk
Myron Floren.
I can’t believe he has only played 2 seasons
People seem to like the long ball though.He will get a chance to hit.Maybe rotate w
“Organizational depth”.
Pinheaded Mets commenters were calling for him to be called up last season when they were facing a power outage. I don’t think that Eppler and Buck even considered wasting a 40 man roster position on him. Hope he likes Worcester. The new park is nice and there are some really good restaurants there.
Atty – Yes, he will love Worcester’s Polar Park vortex. He will hit lots of HRs that will not translate to Fenway Park (just ask Jarren Duran).
Some people are disgusting. True, passionate fans will vent but the following link is hard to put into words:
bleacherreport.com/articles/10066709-red-soxs-chai…
I’ve been hard on Bloom but recognize he was selling a long term plan which ownership was already looking to buy. America:. in 2023, we as a country should be better than this!
agreed. no place for antisemitism or death threats.
Those people are flat-out losers. But every team has “fans” like that.
Joe – Wow, I think you’re finally getting it! First time I’ve seen you admit that every team has a percentage of scummy fans, not just the Sox.
Unfortunately for obvious reasons the reporting leaves out the details. And, also unfortunately, sometimes reporting can spin things to sound worse than they are -NOT THAT IM SAYING THAT IS THE CASE HERE.
Now, *IF* some fan said, ‘I could knock off bloom for not re-signing bogey’ or some variant, that’s not the same as them leaving a detailed post about ‘I know where you live on babylon st, I’ve seen your wife in her red car, I’m going to chop you all into stew meat then feed you to your kids blah blah blah.’ But both could be called a ‘threat’
Likewise, what some people call a slur nowadays didn’t used to be one, and, some things that were slurs people didn’t used to be so sensitive about. In the hyper-sensitive hyper-partisan world of today, well, if some 80 year old guy mutters the word polack at me, I’m not offended even though it’s also a slur. Heck, I’m not offended if a 20 year old says it. In some regards the level of sensitivity is on overload. There are plenty of words for Jewish people that certain democratic members of congress from the upper Midwest use all the time, and, could be called slurs.
So, for me, I say if it was bad, sure, it crossed the line. And if it’s just hypersensitivity or trying to drum up sympathy? Knock it off on the reporting side without giving better specifics as to the magnitude of what we’re dealing with.
I’m just curious, there WERE fans that hated cherington back in the day, I remember he would get called sharington for some of his trades where he gave too much for too little. Does anyone recall if he received such vitriol? Been too long ago for me to remember any instances. Pretty sure Theo and DD were fine, but, I don’t imagine anyone threatening DD would end well.
Did you really just try to rationalize death threats and antisemitic slurs by saying the media wasn’t reporting it accurately, applying qualifiers to slurs and then trying to avoid responsibility by adding some all caps disclaimer?
I get that you don;’t like Bloom or his moves but trying to rationalize these things is inexcusable.
Acell – Read it over again, especially the all caps portion, before characterizing the post.
This isn’t a commentary on bloom. It’s a commentary on we don’t know what was said, so, how can we make an informed reaction. Someone gave us THEIR conclusion and expect us to blindly judge based on it.
If they said hate crime charges were involved, or, some charges by the police dept based on credible death threats? That I accept. But no, I don’t blindly take anyone’s characterizations of any event, about anything, or anyone, without making my own analysis of the RAW FACTS unless I know the standards under which they made their analysis… such as you would get under criminal statutes
I did read what you wrote all caps part included and I stand by my comment. writing a disclaimer in all caps at the beginning doesn’t suddenly excuse your trying to rationalize death threats or antisemitic remarks regardless of whether or not a person is old or young or if times have changed etc. or if upper midwestern congress people use them etc.
I’ve been called slurs before too. Just because they didn’t offend me doesn’t excuse the terrible behavior of using them and just because Bloom didn’t want to discuss them further in the article isn’t an excuse to minimize or dismiss them.
Again I get that you don’t like Bloom. Criticize his moves but don’t try to rationalize this garbage
OK, so, tell me what was said that was a slur. Then tell me what was said that was a threat.
The story didn’t.
How do we know it happened? How do we know something is what someone claimed?
You can rationalize why it might have been ok to use a slur or make a death threat and minimize that it happened all you want but your dislike of someone wouldn’t make it ok to do so and you are still irresponsible for doing it as well.
You still have articulated neither what the ‘threat’ was, nor what the ‘slur’ was. I take it you have no evidence.
As I said, it has nothing to do with the person, or a like or dislike of them.
For national/world news, i don’t just watch NBC, or just fox, or whatever. I read them all, plus when available international sources like BBC, the guardian, al Jazeera, et al.
The truth is always somewhere in between.
If what happened was a legitimate threat, it’s not ok. But, just because there’s a detail-free claim in this social climate that someone somewhere wants you to believe it happened? I don’t take that on its face.
John Henry said in writing he wasn’t heckled at the bruins game at fenway. Do we believe that? He said all 30 teams are doing everything they can to win every season. Do we believe that?
Just because someone publishes it, doesn’t make it true.
you can attempt to try to muddle the point by creating a fake gotcha moment to justify your point as to whether it happened or not but simply because you demand more proof of something doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen or that it wasn’t bad.. Even if I or the author provided you with the actual wording of the threat or more information it wouldn’t justify your position on the matter. further just because someone didn’t want to go into details doesn’t mean it didn’t happen either. Healthy skepticism is fine but you’re taking it to an extreme to try to justify something terrible. IF anything the current “media climate” should make one want to take these types of things more seriously not less seriously.
If it’s not about your dislike of Bloom then I accept that. What I can’t accept is your general position or the various reasons you have used to support your opinion including comparing a quote from John Henry to this situation as if it justifies anything you’ve written.
Just like your offense to what it would mean IF it did happen doesnt mean that it did.
Again. Proof.
My only use of Henry’s comments are to show articles are written, where someone says their opinion on something, and, just because it’s written, doesn’t prove anything.
Again attempt at a “gotcha moment” to try and deflect
Again whether or not there is enough proof for you doesn’t justify the points you are or have been making.
Lastly, someone stating their opinion on something like what Henry said isn’t applicable in this case. The author wasn’t reporting Bloom’s opinion on whether or not it happened or whether or not in his opinon there were death threats and slurs. He reported that they happened. You can chose to believe or not believe that if you want to but your rationalizations don’t hold up.
GASox – AcelBrady is of the belief it’s not a lie if you believe it. LOL
no FPG you’re the one who believes that a lie is not a lie if you believe it. That’s why you keep lying about some silly Schilling and thanksgiving argument that never happened and you have yet to produce the “several people” who seem to think that Joe and I are the same person.
Stop embarrassing yourself at this point and just drop both of those things.
Joe – Here you go, you’ve been exposed. It was easy to find because I brought up the Theo/Schilling Thanksgiving Dinner on … you guessed it, Thanksgiving.
Now man-up and apologize so we can move on, I’m a Christian so after you do I’ll forgive you for mocking me about the dinner and then lying that the conversation never happened.
mlbtraderumors.com/2022/11/red-sox-narciso-crook-a…
You do realize that it was mudy chicken who said that the thanksgiving dinner didn’t happen not Joe Brady right? So you basically wasted all that time trying to disprove a lie that was a lie to only prove you were wrong to begin with and that I didn’t participate in the conversation (the lie part) nor did Joe deny that thanksgiving dinner didn’t happen…
This getting very sad even by the incredibly low standards you have set for yourself.
So I suppose the explanation for this is that Mudy Chicken is another alt then?
not for nothing but this has to be one of the most embarrassing and hilarious self owns I’ve seen on this board. the entire premises of your argument was that I participated in this conversation and that Joe said thanksgiving dinner with theo and curt didn’t happen neither of which were true and you just provided the evidence for that. You even ripped the person who claimed it didn’t happen (Mudychicken) a new one at the time and couldn’t even get that strait.
It’s time for you to pull a KD 17 take a break for 6 months and come back with a new screen name.
“I doubt Thanksgiving had anything to do with the Schilling trade, any more than lunch at Eileen’s landed me the job.”
=========================
I commented that I doubt a Thanksgiving dinner had anything to do with Schilling signing, not whether or not there was a Thanksgiving dinner.
But it is a fair point that I did comment on it.
We all need to ignore Fever, Pulleda & GA. Like KD they don’t care about being correct. As Trolls they want the whole site to be discussing their ugly posts.
GASox – Are you talking Duquette, or Dombrowski?
Fever, I’d suppose either would be a fair point. I was initially thinking of dombrowski
26 homers and 79 RBIs with less than 400 AB’s ain’t exactly nothing. Even at triple-A. I like it. Nice back up plan if the young dudes struggle badly
about as good a back-up plan as Franchy Cordero was
Palka will once again be as good or better than he was in 2018. All he needs is one more chance.
I don’t even know what to say or think with Chaim Bloom anymore. The guy is always looking for a bargain in the dumpster. Yeah you could pick up a player or two that way but not a clump of the roster like Bloom does. I really do not have too much confidence in this team with the way Bloom put the roster together. Nor do I have too much confidence in Bloom. Our pitching staff should have a stamp on it, “Fragile Glass Handle With Care”. The rest of the roster is thrown together with bailing wire and duct tape.
I am wondering if he gets bonuses if he saves money here and there. He has to be concerned with this roster he built as well. If this team flounders like I think it is going to do, he is going to endure the wrath of the baseball writers and fans in Boston this year. Another last place finish will spell his doom.
They’re depth players. If not on the roster, they will be cut or sent to the minors. We know the team messed up by not getting under the threshold last year and will do so in 23.
I don’t think this is a move trying to get a usable mlb player unless something goes horribly incredibly wrong.
It’s not expected to be anything other than a warm body in the lower levels of the organization so it can safely field a team without messing up anyone’s development.
Or the Sox get incredibly lucky and somehow Palka figures out the strike zone and becomes a viable major league player for a couple of years. Not very likely, but baseball can be strange sometimes. Either way it’s nothing more than a depth move, they type of which every other team makes all the time.
GA – I sure wish we could have a comprehensive list of all these types of adds by Bloom so we can see who the corresponding drop is. I’m sure starting from Bloom’s day 1 dumpster dive players have been added to minor league rosters and forced other players off the roster. I’m also sure MANY, MANY of the new adds have pushed off OLD ADDS by Bloom. That’s the revolving door approach to building the farm system. There is no building because the talent level never goes up but Bloom fans call it that even though it’s a lie.
What I want to see is where have all the cuts gone? Are they on other teams or out of baseball? If on other teams, are they doing better than his adds?
I think we need a forensic accountant to show the NET impact of Bloom’s dumpster diving and then show a cost for that diving. He needs to be accountable for ALL his bad choices.
Yankees have signed more Minor Leaguers this off-season than the Red Sox. How is that different?
I think the White Sox must have signed more minor leaguers than any team. The sad thing is, several of them will probably be on the major league roster.
The Yankees have a far better team than we do. They have pitching and hitting. We have far too many mediocre players and other teams retreads. Going to be a very long year my friend. All the good players have signed with other teams long ago. What is left now is the “Scraps” of the league. Bloom is feeling the heat because he knows this team is not very good and the top three pitchers are coming off injuries either recent or in their past.
Al – I agree. We are closer to the Pirates than the Yankees.
To suggest this team is good is illogical based on the roster.
Elite Players – Devers and Sale if healthy and Jansen if healthy
all-stars not listed above – Story (hurt and won’t play), Turner has the upside but league average is more likely
league average players – Verdugo, Duvall, hopefully Casas, Mondesi (with the potential to be above league average), Kluber, Pivetta, Houck with a decent upside, Whitlock with a decent upside, ,
Below league average – Kiki who batted 3rd today hahahaha, McGuire and the rest of the roster.
Unknowns – Yoshida, Sale, Paxton
Big unknowns. Lots of below league average, a few league average with upside and one old man who might do well as the DH.
That’s not a good roster and with Cora setting the line-up, the team run production will be minimized. With Cora handling the pitching choices, the pitching will be minimized.
Rooting for your favorite team despite them being the least talented in most of baseball is cool. Think rather than hoping that something good will happen is delusional. Bad teams don’t win Pennants, Rings or even Divisions these days. 65 to 75 wins and 5th place if all goes well.
“Yankees have a far better team . . .”
Then why do they need so many minor leaguers? Its a thing EVERY team is doing, but only Red Sox fans get angry about it. And I mean ONLY! No other team, better record, worse record, longer WS drought, no other team’s fans are freaking out.
Its a minor league signing, find a way to deal with it.
rsmith – The Yankees have acquired big named talent these past three years and Boston hasn’t. That’s why. You are right that lots of teams do minor league contracts but in Boston that’s all Bloom does so fans are angry. Remember this off season has seen big named talent leave and none was acquired. The Yankees have the second highest payroll, they signed their star player Judge while Boston let Bogey, JD, Nate and Vazquez leave and there is no money left to get a star player.
That’s all Boston fans have had to deal with for three years, minor league deals involving questionable talent. The team is 4 games over .500 during that time period after being 104 over .500 during DD’s reign.
It’s the monotony of not getting star players to replace star players released that causes the fan dissatisfaction you are seeing. If you are a Yankee fan, I”m sure you appreciate Judge being retained, Rizzo being retained, Cole being paid big bucks to lead your pitching staff and guys like Peraza and Cabrera getting a chance to play too as farm system graduates.
Things are good in NY right now. Yes, you still carry Stanton’s bloated contract but your owners are trying to put you into contention for the Division Title, the Playoffs and a Ring. Our GM sold ownership on a new way to approach building a roster that hasn’t worked.
I guarantee if you saw everyone that is an all-star not get renewed you’d be angry at your ownership and Cashman just like Red Sox fans are. Nobody likes the season being over before it starts and that’s the case in Boston in 2023..
Rsmith – People are complaining constantly because the problem has grown to epic proportions. The fans have a right to complain when a AAA team is wearing their uniforms.
I just saw your comments for Fever. Since there was no way to reply I’m putting it down here!! As a Yankee fan, it’s the oddest trolling I’ve seen. Insulting Red Sox Nation? Why? Your team is at an advantage right now compared to when DD was GM. Enjoy it and stop taking cheap shots at a great group of fans who suffered 86 years to see a winner and then had the rug pulled out from underneath them by Bloom.
Point by Point response:
1 – Winning a ring then dismantling the team with a new guy is plenty to complain about
2 – It’s absurd to suggest that DD left a huge whole in the talent. The team Bloom got had all-stars Sale, Price, Mookie, Bogey, Devers, Benny, Kimbrel and Eovaldi. Devers and Sale are left now. Bloom had tons of talent and pissed it away.
3 – Skipped in your original post
4 – The only person not understanding is you. No void left as documented clearly above. The comprehension level of disgruntled fans is far greater than your weak excuse for why Bloom failed miserably.
5 – Patience on a rebuild? The tear down just concluded. There is no rebuild that has started yet. It took Bloom 3 years to dismantle the championship team. Why should any set of fans accustomed to winning have to put up with the ineptitude that Bloom has shown?
6 – Talent coming? Seriously? Mayer is the only player in the farm system that is ranked in the top 50 and acquired by Bloom. He did it by failing miserably in 2020 after dumping the talent you said he didn’t have. Your whole premise is a fabrication. Bloom got a fully loaded team and destroyed it. There is no great team on the horizon. You don’t build great teams with minor league contracts for marginal players.
7 – Boston fans aren’t angry because that’s all they know. You just insulted all of Red Sox Nation!!! They are angry for Bloom incompetence. They are angry because they’ve watched a car wreck in slow motion for 3 years. They are angry because the tear down took 3 years and there are no signs of a rebuild, just more of the same mediocrity until Bloom is fired.
Your post was pure propaganda. Red Sox Nation is right where they should be based on the poor performance by Bloom. They are angry and at the gates ready to storm the castle if change doesn’t happen. Bloom and Cora need to go and the slate needs to be cleaned for a REAL GM to come in and build a roster that can win, with an honest and experienced manager and coaches that know how to maximize the value of the players by showing them how to reach their potential.
No “star players” were involved in this transaction. It’s a minor league deal. So any point you think you have, has nothing to do with my point.
“epic proportions”
4 World Series in 20 years. Do you know how you sound? Do you know what “epic” means?
Uh oh, looks like you hit a nerve
Rsmith – I do know what epic proportions means – “large and impressive’ according to the dictionary.
Now lets put it in the context I said it. “People are complaining constantly because the problem has grown to epic proportions.” Hmmmm large and impressive. Yep. The problems in Boston are both!! The team won 40% of their games the first year Bloom appeared and now things are worse!!
EPIC COLLAPSE CAUSED BY BLOOM!!! That could be a summary of his years in Boston. He dismantled the 2018 World Champs and some people care that he did that to their beloved team.
It was 4 World Series in 15 years not 20 and going from a RING to 40% win rate is epic. The talent level that created the rings is gone now and there is no plan to replace it under Bloom. That’s an EPIC FAILURE BY BLOOM!!!
You have a short memory. You specifically wrote “.Yankees have signed more Minor Leaguers this off-season than the Red Sox. How is that different?
I read that statement and answered with the Red Sox didn’t acquire quality players along with all those Minor Leaguers but the Yankees did.
This was pretty straight forward. Question asked and answered. If your point was something other than what you wrote it’s pretty hard to respond to it!!!
So yes I know how I sound. Yes I know what epic means and by providing the definition you now know too. No stars were in this insignificant transaction just like most of Bloom’s transactions. I think that’s the point.
The Yankees and Red Sox only have minor league transactions in common. Otherwise, the Yankees have dominated the Red Sox the last three years in adding quality all-star level players. Bloom has ONLY DEPLETED the team of star players. Again, simple concept. Simple answer. Shouldn’t have caused confusion or anger.
Wrong
Yeah you could pick up a player or two that way but not a clump of the roster like Bloom does.
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As we’ve gone over, the RS pick up about as many depth signings as anyone else.
And the only ones on the expected 2023 roster that started as depth moves are Arroyo and Schreiber. Everyone else is a regular major league player.
Seriously what ever happened to Lars Anderson?
He became Neo from the Matrix.
Mike – I thought Lars joined some metalic band thing.
Whatever happened to Bob Hamelin? Heck, we can do this all weekend
Wow… remember getting a publication called “ diehard” and he was on the cover!!! To answer your question…. He’s with Carlos Quintana/ Scott cooper and my favorite Izzy alcantra…and no Phil plantier as he actually had some pop. (Our answer to Kevin Maas) sort of… Milt this could go on for weeks not weekend!!!
There have always been such players. Ted Cox comes to mind back when I was in college.
His OBP is high in AAA. Worth a shot.
Peddy – I agree. They aren’t getting him to be an every day player. He might provide value for a game or a week or maybe more if something catastrophic happens. Bloom could have done worse and often has! I like your OBP evaluation.
His walk rate in the MLB is 60 (.060 to go with his BA to make OBP) and in the minors it’s closer to 90. The MLB one is good the minors is excellent.
That’s pretty typical based on the upgrade in pitching in the majors. But he’s a Dalbec type guy. One bad pitch and he can make you pay. Otherwise, he’s likely to strike out or walk.
Like everyone else Bloom acquires you have to ask where does this guy fit in?.
As is the case most of the time, he doesn’t. He’s an old Chevy part sitting on a shelf in the minor leagues just in case an old Chevy breaks down and comes into the shop.
Bloom has a massive inventory of non-star players who are spare parts. Will they win you a ring? Absolutely not. Could they have a key moment sometime during the season? Yes, if a whole set of circumstances allow for them to shine in the moment.
Are they players we should be excited about? Absolutely not. Do they come at a cost? Yes, it’s minimal unless the player dropped due to acquiring them turns out to be far more valuable than Bloom thought.
Overall, another day another dumpster dive. So what else is new?
From what I read yesterday Bloom is under fire from the media and supposedly he says he is getting death threats. I don’t know what to believe with that. I do not agree with anyone who does that.
He has really made some bad bad deals. The Mookie Betts trade was awful even though he got rid of David Price’s contract. Price was a talent but an absolute “head case”. All Price needed to do was pitch well and keep his mouth shut with the stupid things that came out of it, like him holding all the cards in 2018. The Benintendi trade was awful as well. I don’t know if anyone from that trade is still on the team. Story was damaged goods and is another disastrous trade. He is going to miss most of the year if not all of it. This is why Bloom signed Devers long term to distract from the fallout of the Story mess. The fans as well as myself were mad at the Bogaerts mess. He did not trade him at the deadline and said he would be their priority. They could have signed him long term during the season and during their exclusive rights window and Bloom did not. The fans hate him for this blatant lie.
I dont even have an answer for what he did at the trade deadline. He trades Velasquez to a team the Red Sox were playing that night? That was awful in itself and insulting to Velasquez and the Red Sox. Yet Velasquez wanted to come back and Bloom never spoke to him but decides to go with McGuire and Wong.
He picks up Tommy Pham and Eric Hosmer. Were they sellers at the trade deadline or buyers ? I don’t know. He let Schwarber go and when he wanted to stay at the end of 2021. Then he makes another questionable trade with Renfro for Jackie Bradley Jr. and that horrid contract.
He reminds me of a trader Jack Mceon of the Padres back in the 1980s. There is no ryme, reason, or pattern to what Bloom does. He picks up minor league players and hoe many of these players are really going to make it.
He is feeling the heat and he knows this team he put together is not very good. He has finished in last place 2 of the last three years and nothing on this current team portrays any likelihood of a good competitive team. He rode Andrew Friedman’s “Shirttails in Tampa Bay. Friedman was the talent who went on to the Dodgers not Chaim Bloom. Another bad year and he will be done in Boston. The fans and the media will not tolerate it. John Henry is starting to endure the wrath of the fans and media as well. However, he is the owner and not going anywhere. Chaim Bloom’s head is in the noose right now with the hangman
PulledaBloom17 hours ago
You need to determine if a pitching staff is one that generates ground balls to the SS zone.
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Of course. I mentioned that in one of my other posts (L/R, GB/FB), so I am glad you are reading and learning from me.
The difference in strikeouts between LAD and the average team is 0.56/9, making roughly a half-chance per game divided by roughly 7 players. That amount is immaterial when compared to overall range.
Just for fun, would you rather have Betts playing RF than Palka, even though Palka has a better fielding percentage?
PulledaBloom16 hours ago
I’m also sure MANY, MANY of the new adds have pushed off OLD ADDS by Bloom. That’s the revolving door approach to building the farm system.
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And every team does that. Do you think Bloom actually invented the concept of picking up minor league depth?
Acel – You know Bloom does it a LOT more than the other big market teams, I proved that with specific month-by-month transaction counts.
But as usual you keep pushing a false narrative even after you’ve been proven wrong.
I proved that with specific month-by-month transaction counts.
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I remember that sad little incident. You included the international amateur signings to make your point. You thought that the RS had added 31 depth pieces all on the same day.
You know Bloom does it a LOT more than the other big market teams
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FWIW, I believe that the NYY signed 19 minor league depth pieces this off-season, and the RS signed 12. Toronto 12., LAD 20 Feel free to check Baseball Reference.
But as usual you keep pushing a false narrative even after you’ve been proven wrong.
FPG: brining up one of your most humiliating mistakes isn’t a recipe for success for you.
You’ve proven nothing wrong except for yourself at the point. Take the L and move on.
We all need to ignore the Trolls. They do not care about right or wrong. All they want to do is dominate the narrative.
Machado just signed a long term contract so the top of the San Diego line-up reads Fernando Tatis, Juan Soto, Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts. (As opposed to Yoshida, Devers, Hernandez and Turner).
For all you guys that thought Bogey was on the decline, seeing SD’ bat him 4th on a powerful team like the Padre suggests the front office in San Diego doesn’t agree with you. For all you fantasy guys, Bogaerts will put up numbers that should beat out guys like Bichette, Witt, Lindor, Seager, Cruz, Swanson, Anderson, Franco, Adames, Correa, Pena, Baez and of course the highly over-rated Enrique Hernandez.
Other than Trea Turner, I’m not sure there is a short stop in Fantasy Baseball I’d take before Bogey. Also, it will be fun to see JD back with his old hitting instructor and in the middle of the Dodger line-up. Yet another star who probably just needed to get away from Cora and Bloom to rejuvenate his career. In addition, Vazquez as the primary catcher in Minnesota should far exceed anything McGuire does in Boston. He should get as much or more starts in Minnesota than he did in Boston while Boston will struggle with two journeyman catchers in 2023.
Like Mookie, I believe the guys released by Bloom have gone to a better place. I wish that wasn’t the case but until Bloom and Cora are gone, most other places are better places.
There is absolutely no reason this article should have this many comments…
I agree. It is caused by the trolls airing their pet peeves in response to each comment. The legit posters feel the need to defend themselves and it spirals into personal attacks by the trolls. When everyone ignored KD 17 he left or changed his handle.
We all need to ignore GA, Pulleda, & Fever. Then a reasonable discussion will be restored.