I don't think it's over..... the team isn't bad but it has some obvious deficiencies that will be difficult to make up. One of which (the bullpen) may be fixed when (as discussed countless times here) Sale and/or Paxton get here. There's a lot of assumptions. I don't blame Bloom for this. I don't. There's not one GM out there that doesn't assume a bunch of things about their players they've assembled. The "on paper" argument is what every team is when starting the season 0-0. Sale going down was possibly predictable... but how do you prepare for that in a way that would be any better than what Wacha has done without spending $25million or dealing away prospects to build a long term sustainable team.
How do you plan for a garbage bullpen? Relievers are so insanely unpredictable..... yesterday's middling reliever can turn into a dominant force and then back into a pumpkin the following season.... and the opposite. Given what we saw out of Dalbec in '21 I can totally understand being optimistic for at least a league average (if not better) 1B production.
The players are not being consistent- and I can't be swayed by the argument that a streaky .800 OPS hitter is as valuable to a team's overall performance as a consistent .800 OPS hitter. And that is the team right now- clearly exhibited by the Pythag. They're streaky and it shows up in the record.
All that said..... I think the talent is there and they're still basically where we needed them to be- they're just a few games out of a playoff spot and a team even with crazy flaws can go deep. Bench players can turn into legends. Middling relievers can turn into Mariano Rivera for a two week stretch. Jackie Bradley Jr. can turn into Mike Trout over a series.
Just get there- fix what you're able to without over-leveraging the long term plan. I still trust in Bloom.
How do you plan for a garbage bullpen? Relievers are so insanely unpredictable..... yesterday's middling reliever can turn into a dominant force and then back into a pumpkin the following season.... and the opposite. Given what we saw out of Dalbec in '21 I can totally understand being optimistic for at least a league average (if not better) 1B production.
The players are not being consistent- and I can't be swayed by the argument that a streaky .800 OPS hitter is as valuable to a team's overall performance as a consistent .800 OPS hitter. And that is the team right now- clearly exhibited by the Pythag. They're streaky and it shows up in the record.
All that said..... I think the talent is there and they're still basically where we needed them to be- they're just a few games out of a playoff spot and a team even with crazy flaws can go deep. Bench players can turn into legends. Middling relievers can turn into Mariano Rivera for a two week stretch. Jackie Bradley Jr. can turn into Mike Trout over a series.
Just get there- fix what you're able to without over-leveraging the long term plan. I still trust in Bloom.