The Red Sox have dropped seven of their past ten contests, knocking them four games under .500. At 62-66, they’re in last place in the American League East and seven games out of the AL’s final Wild Card spot. The Sox are very likely to miss the playoffs, and their -48 run differential betters only those of the Royals, Tigers and A’s in the American League.
That’s certainly not what the Sox anticipated heading into the season, and the struggles have predictably led to some speculation among the fanbase about the future of the organization’s leadership. Those questions apparently aren’t simmering within the Fenway Park offices, however. Boston’s CEO/president Sam Kennedy tells Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic the club has no plans to dismiss either chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom or manager Alex Cora this offseason.
“I am very comfortable saying Chaim and Alex will be back. And I am very comfortable saying there is a strong belief in the direction of the franchise from our ownership group,” Kennedy said. “That direction is continuing to build for the future, but also continuing to invest at the major-league level.”
Both Cora and Bloom remain under contract for at least another season. The Sox preemptively exercised their 2023-24 options on Cora’s services last November, keeping him in the fold for two years beyond this one. Bloom was hired to lead the front office over the 2019-20 offseason, making this his third season at the helm. Rosenthal now reports that contract was of no less than four years in length, so even barring an extension, the Red Sox can keep him around at least through the end of next season.
There wasn’t a whole lot of doubt that Boston would keep Cora atop the dugout steps. Originally hired in advance of the 2018 season, Cora led the Red Sox to a World Series title his first year at the helm. The club missed the playoffs in 2019, and Cora was dismissed that offseason when his role in the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal was made public. MLB suspended him for the entire 2020 campaign, but Boston promptly re-hired Cora once that ban was up. During the first season of his second stint, the club won 92 games and advanced to the ALCS. Even with this year’s losing record, the Sox have gone 346-268 under Cora’s stewardship.
The team’s results under Bloom have been more mixed. Boston went 24-36 and finished last in the AL East during the abbreviated 2020 schedule. As mentioned, they bounced back with a very successful season last year, but they’re now facing another possible last place finish. That’d be a second in Bloom’s three years leading the organization, and he wasn’t a part of the 2018 championship squad as Cora was.
As is the case with every baseball ops group, one can point to various hits and misses for Bloom’s front office. The club made some strong under-the-radar moves in the 2020-21 offseason that contributed to last year’s turnaround. The Sox signed Enrique Hernández to a two-year, $14MM deal and were rewarded with perhaps the best season of his career in 2021 before his production cratered this year. They plucked Garrett Whitlock from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft and immediately watched him develop into one of the game’s top late-inning weapons. At the preceding trade deadline, Boston landed Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold for relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree. Pivetta’s performance has been up-and-down, but getting a roughly league average controllable starter for a pair of middle relievers is a strong outcome for the Boston front office.
Bloom and his group have placed an emphasis on building the minor league pipeline. They’ve seemed to take some steps forward in that regard. Shortly before Bloom was hired in 2019, Baseball America placed the Red Sox 22nd in their organizational talent rankings. Earlier this month, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel slotted them 13th, with last year’s first-round pick Marcelo Mayer now regarded as one of the best prospects in the sport.
At the same time, there are plenty of recent moves that have drawn criticism. The decision to not re-sign Mookie Betts in 2020 likely falls at ownership’s feet more so than the front office’s, but none of the players involved in the return (Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong) have performed as well as the club would’ve hoped this season. Boston’s biggest free agent signee of the past three years, Trevor Story, has performed below his previous career level in the first year of a $140MM deal.
Dealing Hunter Renfroe for Jackie Bradley Jr. and prospects David Hamilton and Alex Binelas over the winter added some talent to the middle tier of the farm system, but it marked a notable step down in a right field position that has gone on to give the team problems. The club’s faith in Bobby Dalbec at first base looks to have been misguided, and their handling of the trade deadline (acquiring Tommy Pham and Eric Hosmer while dealing away Christian Vázquez) reportedly sparked some confusion from the clubhouse and others within the organization.
Regardless of how one feels about the moves the Red Sox have made of late, the more relevant question is how Bloom and his group plan to move forward. Aside from the Story deal, the team has been quite cautious from a long-term spending perspective. Assuming Xander Bogaerts opts out of his contract, Boston will only have around $60MM in guaranteed money on the books for next year. Rafael Devers headlines an arbitration class that is likely to push the in-house spending to the $85MM – $90MM range, but there’ll still be plenty of space for a club that exceeded the $230MM luxury tax threshold this season.
The front office has consistently maintained they’d like to work out a long-term deal to retain Boagerts and to hammer out an extension with Devers. There’s no indication they’ve made progress to date in either case. Whether or not Bogaerts is brought back, the club will face plenty of turnover in the starting rotation, bullpen and the outfield. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t seem there’s any thought of deliberately taking a step back in 2023, so there’ll need to be a fairly significant roster overhaul.
“Next year will be the 22nd season of the John Henry-Tom Werner-Mike Gordon Fenway Sports Group stewardship of this franchise,” Kennedy told Rosenthal of the ownership group. “Since we’ve been here, each and every year we have a goal of playing baseball in October. I do not see that changing. I see us continuing to invest across the entire organization, at the major-league level, throughout our baseball operations. This group is hungry for another World Series championship. … I know we’re in a tough spot right now. But we have a lot of flexibility going into this offseason. I’m really excited to see what we’re going to do with that flexibility and the resources we have.“
JFC what a circus, one or both need to go.
This team would be far worse off without Alex Cora. He doesn’t “need to go.”
Cora is doing the best he can with what he has. So far I’m not impressed with Bloom, regardless of his reputation that precedes him.
Not sure about Bloom. Just be cause he came from the Rays doesn’t make him worthy. He did however have a decent year last year. Then he loaded up on all the Old Rag Arm Pitchers over the winter. That was a head scratcher. Expecting that many to have a good year?? I would give him 1 more year.
Bloom has never won anything, n we never will if he continues to pay defunct players or reclaimation players.
Might well have been part of the plan. Short deals, Keep payroll low for the big load-up from 2024 and after.
No GM will tell you ‘we’re punting this season and probably next, so don’t buy season tickets until 2024,’ but that’s what this smells like.
padam – What exactly did Bloom accomplish in Tampa without Neander and Friedman, both of whom have won Executive of the Year. Bloom was surrounded by a great front office, just like Theo was in his early years with the Red Sox.
Fact is Bloom hasn’t won any awards, hasn’t accomplished anything while leading a front office. Five times he was rejected by teams that he interviewed with, before the Red Sox finally signed him.
But he’s young, handsome and heavily into analytics, so of course he’s over-hyped.
I have yet to form a strong opinion about him, but next year’s team will heavily decide his legacy in Boston.
Def not handsome u weirdo
Agreed. He can only do so much. So many holes on that roster, and it will get worse before it gets better, with Bogaerts leaving. Bloom has been a bust so far.
Gabriel – I find it quite humorous you feel sympathy towards a manager who has consistently had one of the highest payroll teams in MLB, loaded with All-Star talent.
If you had watched some of the games this year, you’d have seen the many losses that were directly attributed to Cora’s atrocious bullpen management and his insistence on having players playing out of position, quite often because of his insistence on over-resting key players.
I agree with you on Bloom though.
U make a lot of stuff up fever pitcher I’d like to see u manage that trash.
Cora is incredibly gutsy. He gambles. It worked in 2018, nearly worked in 2021. His moves don’t always pan out but he’s got a great feel for the game and generally knows how to win in the postseason. I wouldn’t want to part from him.
As for Bloom, I have no clue. Still on the fence with him because I don’t know his direction.
Well, I guess the Dumpster Fire will continue. My hope is that John Henry sells the team to someone that will focus on Boston Baseball.
Boston fans have tuned on John Henry? I probably shouldn’t be shocked
Regardless of the championships, John Henry has not been good in my view for Sox baseball. Maybe it’s me but he’s more focused on the Fenway brand and his progressive views. I know I’m in the minority but there was no reason (to me) to get the street name “Yawkey Way” changed back to Jersey Street. There was then no public outcry. He created the drama and there would not be Red Sox baseball in Boston without Mr. Yawkey. There also likely wouldn’t be a Jimmy Fund/ children’s cancer center. it at least would not be as big today. He and the team were a big benefactor back in the day. The team also had a strict rule on retiring numbers in that until Ortiz, they had to be first enshrined in Cooperstown. I believe he changed the rule to avoid a Papi PED issue. How about retiring other numbers now like 23 and 24? Dwight Evans’ deserves it and 23? No one is more deserving in my view than Luis Tiant who along with Tony Olivia opened the door for cuban born players.
“regardless of the championships”
OK
‘ignoring the fact, that ownership accomplished more than any other owner in baseball, during the same time frame’. —Cant make this stuff up.
The team is not being run the same way today. Sometimes change is good but not herein. Not forgetting anything but this feels like an entirely new ownership since DS was axed.
U defend the Sox on every angle homer much u would probably make excuses for pete shcoureck if he came and pitched for us again
More like John Henry has turned on Boston fans as his priority has shifted from winning to increasing profits while virtue signaling.He has lost the competitive fire that led to the four championships.
RMWFTRB: I think John Henry may have had enough of GMs signing players to bad deals that waste a lot of money like the Sandoval, Rusney Castillo and Sale deals. So, he hired Bloom from the Rays who don’t seem to waste as much money.
Tampa still has never won a championship
“priority has shifted from winning to increasing profits” — How’s that work? Team payroll is at the highest it’s ever been (or close to it). expenses are up, and attendance is down. I think someone doesn’t understand how profits work.
Dewey: Tampa has been to the World Series and anything can happen in baseball, especially in the playoffs. So, I don’t think it matters.
It matters to fans. Tampa has so few
1 World Series appearance lol
Yes, he’s been a poor owner with poor baseball results.
They just won a couple years ago JFC fan base is delusional lol
He’s owned the franchise for 20 years and has four championships. What are you talking about?
People change and their priorities change with them. Do you really think an owner with 4 WS championships who owns several other franchises cares as much about winning as when he had no championships and no other franchises.
Samuel you lost your mind saying John Henry has been a poor owner. He has 4 championships in 20 years, and Boston has been if not the best it’s been one of the best franchises in baseball during this century. You probably pissed because John Henry doesn’t want to pay overvalued superstars and looks at the efficiency of his ball club. An example is that the Mets have spent a boat load of money on payroll and yet the Atlanta Braves are right there. John Henry would rather be the Atlanta Braves and not paying a Scherzer or DeGrom and find the aggregate production for cheaper. Dombrowski just handed out checks to stars, that’s not what Henry wants. He wants to pay home grown talent that came through the system. Boston’s farm was 22nd under Dombrowski and now it’s rated 13th, that shows Bloom knows what his assignment is. The assignment is remain competitive but rebuilding the farm is top priority and he is doing that. Baltimore is finally competitive because it has one of the best farms in baseball. Imagine having the best farm in baseball and you can spend 230+M on payroll to win a World Series. That’s John Henry’s goal….
kingbum: Good post. I think Samuel was being sarcastic when he said John Henry was a poor owner.
Gratuitous “cheap shot” @ future first ballot Hall of Famer Dombrowski?!
Dombrowski did what he was hired to do: win a World Series Championship fast (and pull out all the stops to do so).
Then, Red Sox Ownership and Media throw Dombrowski under the bus and force him out?!
Real classy move Red Sox.
And, they forced out Theo Epstein and Ben Cherrington also?!
And, Billy Beane said no thanks to Henry’s and the Red Sox’s offer?!
Did you know Henry owns the Boston Glove and the Red Sox/New England Sports Network?!
Henry can control the story in Red Sox land, but not outside of Boston./New England.
Ask yourself why the Red Sox burn up/blow out so many top baseball executives that were winners before the Red Sox and are Winners after they leave the Red Sox: Dave Dombrowski, Theo Epstein, Ben Cherrington.
Next up to walk the plank in Boston will be Chaim Bloom.
I predicted this long ago on these forums.
Maybe, look at the Red Sox Ownership’s “scorched earth” track records?!
Was Henry involved in the Jeffrey Lurie/ Marlins debacle.?!
Were Lurie, Henry and others involved in the deal that destroyed the Montreal Expos?!
Did Henry want to gut the Marlins, take all their talent to Boston and strip the franchise down to the studs until he was stopped by
Commissioner Bud Selig?!
What about Werner’s failed ownership of the San Diego Padres?!
There is, often times, much more to the story then your local Sports Media that is owned and controlled by your local team owner is telling you.
What has Cherington won so far but top 5 picks? Us Pirate fans aren’t too excited about what’s in the pipeline or how the team is managed.
Regarding DD. They didnt “force him out” They fired his ass, after he decimated the farm system, had terrible drafts and put the team in perpetual Over the Threshold penalty. DD’s draft picks should be helping out the team right now, what do we have to show for it? Dalbec and Houck. Give me a break.
“Dombrowski did what he was hired to do” Any time his name is brought up someone uses this excuse. Why isn’t Bloom afforded the same parameters. Yes DD was suppose to be aggressive to win, but not to destroy the team for the next 5 years. Pedigree got him the trust from ownership, scorched earth philosophy got him fired.
Dombrowski was blamed for the collapse of 2019 even though that was all Cora. But the Sale contract was his biggest screw-up.
DD did not decimate the farm. Maybe didn’t fill it with enuff fringe players but the ones he protected we are seeing now, like Bello n Casas soon.
In Boston and Miami, Dombrowski did what John Henry told him to do.
Dombrowski also worked for Henry in Miami so cut the crap about Dombrowski ruining farm systems.
Dombrowski also built great farm systems in Montreal and Miami.
In Montreal and Miami, Dombrowski drafted, signed and traded for great young players including future Hall of Famers.
GMs work and implement ownership’s business plan.
They do not work in a vacuum,
BOSTON has a business plan of winning the World Series,
and then INTENTIOALLY TANKING MULTIPLE TIMES for a few years to score top draft picks.
Rinse, repeat multiple times.
World Series Championship, then last place, then World Series Championship, then last place rinse, repeat multiple times,
It is an easily discernable pattern with the Red Sox OWNERSHIP..
Then Red Sox Ownership throws their GM under the bus and blames him to keep the Commissioner’s office off their backs.
It is obvious to any intelligent baseball fan what the Red Sox Ownership ias been doing during the Henry-Werner Era.
It is the same thing Henry does in his commodities trading business..
I am just surprised that other owners and the Commissioner’s office have not yet cracked down and disciplined the Red Sox Ownership group for their blatantly obvious tanking tactics,
The BS about Dombrowski is all a ruse to hide the Red Sox intentionally tanking to hoard top draft picks every few years.
“Cut the crap”and say the same things about Bloom is only taking orders, then. And a GM’s responsibilities are THE FARM SYSTEM. Unless you are a gun-for-hire GM who doesn’t care about farm systems.
“threw under the bus” Thats what DD did to the Red Sox future.
If DD is SOOOO GOOD why is he looking for a job every 4 years?
Dombrowski is among the best in baseball.
Dombrowski is a winner who wins everywhere he has worked in MLB.
You are completely missing the points made.
If ownership does not care about its farm system for a few years and wants to win the World Series and pull out the stops to do that, then it gives its directive to the GM who implements the Owners’ business plan.
If the owner then pivots to intentionally tank and dump players requiring huge, long term contracts, then rebuild the farm, then the GM follows the owners’ business plans, again.
The Red Sox history under Henry-Warner is win now, then tank and stock up on high draft picks and do not pay their own players approaching free agency at market value.
The Red Sox have intentionally tanked multiple times during the Henry-Werner era.
And, they have scapegoated their GMs for their own business plans instead of taking the heat from the fans themselves.
It is a known fact to anyone with any baseball knowledge,
@SportsFan0000 Sounds right. They didn’t want to pay Betts (I wouldn’t have, either, fwiw) 12/$375m, everyone in baseball knew it, and Bloom did the best he could under the circumstances.
The Dodgers got the first two years of that deal for $46m, total, leaving them currently owing Betts 10/$329m. You couldn’t give Betts away at this point for nothing but the money owed to him. That’s how much equity there is in a FA’s first couple of years.
Do the Dodgers consider it worth it? Maybe they do, but that’s an extremely expensive 4 wins in 2021 and something like 6 wins in 2022, when you’re still on the hook for $329m for the entirety of Betts’ thirties. Probably only Willie Mays is worth that.
As for the guys they traded to get Betts’ 60 game season in 2020, they got about 4 wins, a decent regular, and another decade of two cost-controlled minor leaguers on whom the jury is still out, while wisely dumping $48m of David Price’s deal and his very modest 1.4 WAR.
That’s not bad at all. What did people expect, really? That Boston would get a shining star for a single, very expensive year of Mookie Betts and escaping David Price?
Betts at 10/329 could be given away. You aren’t going to get anything and there’s only 2-3 teams that would realistically take it but he’s currently hitting 47% above league a average.
I know what you’re saying and he’s obv going nowhere.
From Boston’s perspective the deal is a flop because the team was surprisingly good in 2021 and could afford Betts.
FF to 2022 and you have Verdugo only plus a pretty fat Trevor story contact. & Jeter Downs is a utility infield prospect ATP.
Not a terrible trade in theory. Just didn’t work out how they’d hope. Downs looked like a rising everyday SS and Versugo was a solid starting OF at the time.
The commissioner condones tanking.
What did Dave Dombrowski do in Detroit? He overpaid Miggy and Verlander while trading off the farm to keep the Tigers afloat. What is Dombrowski currently doing in Philly? He signed an overvalued Kyle Schwarber and again is more interested in Free Agency than the minor league system. John Henry wants to knock down Boston’s payroll while fielding a great team and John Henry is convinced it can be done which is why he brought in Bloom. Bloom has helped build a farm system from the ground up. Essentially John Henry wants to build the Red Sox using the small market team model while having access to big market money if the team is a title contender. Last time Dombrowski did that was 20 years ago with the Marlins. Dombrowski prefers to build through free agency and that is not what John Henry wants.
Why pay luxury tax for a last place team? With so many holes to fill on this club, they’re going to have to spread the payroll for a number of players next season. Cutting payroll won’t make them fall any further in the standings. We’ll get a front row seat as to what Chaim Bloom can do.
kingbum
Wrong on most points!
Dombrowski did exactly what deceased former owner Mike Illitch ordered him to do” win now and pull out all the stops to do so”..
Dombrowski is the one who acquired a young Scherzer in a trade with Arizona and made him a star.
At one point, Dombrowski’s assembled Detroit Tigers starting rotation included:
Verlander, Scherzer (became a star in Detroit after Dombrowski traded for him), Price (in his prime traded to Detroit).Anibal Sanchez ( traded to Detroit where he had his best years) ,
a young Rick Porcello (in his prime) and a young Robbie Ray!!!!!
Former Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch treated his veteran players “like family”.
(a great owner for the fans, but he often blindsided the Front Office with crazy contracts that he approved without checking with Dombrowski in advance)…
Mike Illich knowingly overpaid for veteran players and gave them more money and more years than Dombrowksi was inclined to give them.
They Miggy deal was all Owner Mike Illitch’s doing.
Ditto with Fielder. Dombrowski did not even make on bid on Fielder. Illitch called him and told Dombrowski that he was signing Fielder( a Boras client). And, Ilitch’s long extension to a fading/declining Victor Martinez who Illitch treated like one of his own sons.
Veteran ballplayers loved to play for Mike Illitch and the Detroit Tigers since Illitch would over pay and give them more years than any other team since he wanted to “win now” Mike Illitch openly admitted this practice to the media. Scott Boras was delighted also and often bypassed Dombrowski and called Mike Illitch’s personal cell phone number to cut deals behind Dombrowski’s back. Illitch openly admitted he gave Scott Boras his private cell phone number so Boras could call him @ home after hours. But, it affected the budget that Illitch gave Dombrowski since even if Illitch busted Dombrowski’s budget, he would not increase the budget for the bullpen and other needs.
Verlander is a first balloit Hall of Famer who is still producing @ Cy Young levels in his mid to late 30’s.
You will have to go re read the posts from Philly posters about Dombrowski.
Dombrowski has only been in Philly going on his 2nd year.
He took charge of an underperforming team and dysfunctional Front Office.
Dombrowski took a Phillies team that was struggling to play 500 ball with Bryce Harper the league MVP and revamped it.
Since Dombrowski made some strategic moves without busting the budget and without giving away the Phillies farm system, the Phillies have been playing @ 16 games over 500 with their best player, Harper, on the IL for 2 months.
Dombrowski did not sell what little top prospects Philly had on their farm.
Dombrowski made the Phillies top 3 pitching prospects untouchable.
Dombrowski took a Phillies bullpen that lead the league in blown saves when he was hired (30th ranked bullpen) and rebuilt it substantially without giving away any of his top prospects. Phillies bullpen now ranks in the top 10 in a few short years under Dombrowski.
Phillies Defense is vastly improved under Dombrowski.
Dombrowski traded 1 top catching prospect (O’hoppe) to the Angels and received a young top rated CF with gold glove D, speed and a nice developing bat. Dombrowski hired a new manager to change course, stop relying primarily on veterans and to p[ay the great young Phillies players including young SS Stott. Bryce Harper even commented on the change. The Phillies team has been playing like a difference between night and day with all the changes implemented by Dave Dombrowski.
Dombrowski signed 2 sluggers in the offseason that has given the Phillies one of the most explosive lineups in the league.
When Harper is healthy enough to play RF, then Schwarber/Castallanos alternate @ DH and one OF slot.
Dombrowski also added much needed INF/OF bench depth and rotation depth.
And, the Phillies are still under the luxury tax!
Dombrowski has been a magician in Philly compared to how badly the last Front Office messed up the team and farm.
He is rebuilding the Phillies farm and front office from top to bottom.
Absent a complete collapse, the Phillies are in the playoffs for the 1st season in over 10 years and Dave Dombrowski’s reputation as one of MLB’s top executives is again, proven by the results!!!
Henry-Werner are just looking for someone to blame for their scorched earth management tactics.
They have chased away Theo Epstein, Dave Dombrowski and Ben Cherrington. (The Pirates will be like the rising Orioles in a few years with all the trades and high draft picks).
Scapegoating is a regular Wall Street tactic of Vulture capitalists….
Henry is a Wall St. guy who makes bets on present and future values and that his how he made his money.
He is running the Red Sox the same way:
WIN, TANK FOR A FEW YEARS, WIN, TANK FOR A FEW YEARS, WIN TANK FOR A FEW YEARS….
Tanking allows Henry and Werner to not sign his free agents to long term deals and then loan up on high draft picks etc…
Tanking allows Henry and Werner to put the team profits into their pockets and not the Red Sox by signing their free agents.
The Red Sox should stop crying, stop living in the past, stop trying to blame Dombrowski for implementing the business plan Henry-Werner ordered him to implement,
Dombrowski wins everywhere he goes and all the crying by a few Red Sox fans won’t matter in the final analysis.
Dombrowski is not “looking for a job every 4 years:.
Dombrowski was with the Marlins for 9 years.
D0mbrowski was POB in Detroit for 10-11 years. and gave the Tigers their most successful run in their modern era.
Dombrowski started his career with 8 years with the White Sox.
Boston was an outlier because of Ownership, not Dombrowski who is not really a job hopper.
So ,your math is off.
Boston has a proven “scorched earth” ownership group that
blows up and burns out Front Office Executives:
Epstein, Dombrowski, Cherrington etc…
The Red Sox would not be in last place if they had signed a few free agent starters and if they had signed their own free agent position players and others too.
They will get some good drafts and good players.
It is pretty easy to draft well when you are picking in the top 5 for a few years..
@sports i agree with most of your points, i feel that dd is a great gm, heck my cards played his tigers in the ws, and the running joke was det sweeps in 3 and the play the 4th game to make it official. i’ll be honest in 06 as a die hard cards fan i’d always give people 2 answers on who would win the ws. as a homer i said det in 6, but as a homer i said we would sweep. enough of the past, i’ve said this before dd does the best he can with the restrictions ownership places on him. in mlt, mia, and det, he built ws contenders under what ownership wanted to spend. det and bo’s are outliers, det with an owner on deaths door wanted a chip at whatever cost and it backfired, same in bos here is a blank check win us a ws, ff to 19 (bleep) payroll is high, dd keep winning with no help at all, then later we blame you. he goes to philly and the first question in his pc was can you make the phil’s a ws contender next year. he simply said no there are to many holes to fill in one offseason it’s going to take 2+ years to right the ship. ff to now last year phil’s came 1 series’s away from winning the div but atl beat them out. this year after stumbling out of the gate and a manger change the phil’s are looking like a legit threat.
Henry’s out to lunch rmeneee when he didn’t even know he signed Carl Crawford get outta here with that Henry has no eye for talent he just signs the checks
Easy to draft well. And how many top draft picks end up being anything??
You confused them all without the sarcasm font lol.
what do you consider good baseball results? the entitlement is stunning.
Fenway Sports Ventures also has its hooks in Liverpool FC, RFK Racing, and soon the Pittsburgh Penguins. Have you seen how strong Liverpool have been early in the current season?
Henry has been a great owner for the Red Sox. Four championships for a team that went almost 90 years without one. Anyone who thinks Henry has poor results doesn’t know baseball (Samuel)
Unfortunately, Henry mixes his political agenda with the team. While there is no place in MLB for racists, again I point to there had been no public issues regarding Yawkey and nothing brought out to get the street name changed was “new news”. Everything relied was known when the City understood their overall indebtedness to Tom Yawkey and originally changed the name. Sometimes, the “me too” movement is used to advance an overall agenda.
Dewey – you’re batting .400 in my book. Another strong point.
Thank you
Soccer socks
Only to those whose mindset is “Murica, F#@k Yeah!”
We don’t give a crap about Liverpool…. We care that our baseball team is horrible…..
Liverpool are one of the “big 6” clubs in England and the better-known brand around the world. You’d be surprised at how large their following is beyond Merseyside.
@ChuckyNJ: sweet “Merseyside” shout out.
Nobby, you are correct. JH has spent money on his new shiny toy the PP. He should keep his focus on the the real money maker ie, the Bosox or sell them.
Nobby, you are correct. JH has spent money on his new shiny toy the PP.
Circus? Dumpster fire? My goodness people, they’re having an off year, 4 games under .500, get a grip.
bloom and cora retooled at the deadline, realizing that they didnt luck out as they did last year. i expect them to continue to make strides and develop, but in a tough al east they may not have the horses right now to really compete long term. so, while the jury is still out on whether or not they are successful, there have absolutely been way too many overreactions to their season.
He should celebrate with a leg tattoo
Boston needs pitching. They had a solid lineup this season but pitching has continued to let them down. Plenty of money this off-season to resign Bogaerts and add some much needed pitching depth. Wouldn’t hurt to add an outfield bat as well.
Signing Bogaerts (30yo on Oct 1st) would lead to the exact lunacy they are trying to avoid. He is already in decline, and will require a 5 or 6 year contract.
Year—–Slugging—–OWAR
2019——-.555————7.0
2020——-.502———–5.4
2021——-.493————5.4
2022——-.448———–4.3
That would be a bad contract.
Bogaerts has been playing through a shoulder injury sustained in a collision with Verdugo in May. Bogaerts required seven stitches for a separate injury and missed one game.
Bogaerts is a guy I want in this clubhouse, with 13 years in the organization and a lot of prospects breaking in in the next five years. I don’t think Bogaerts DHing in his age 36 season at 20+ million is a problem.
If you’re trying to establish an organizational culture, it’s a pretty good idea to identify the rare player who embodies what you want your young players to look up to and learn from, and keep him around.
He’s been very good defensively this year and the idea that his bat is in decline already is frankly ludicrous.
The problem is Bogaerts is not the future DH. That spot belongs to Devers, which is why Story was signed and Bogaerts is going to walk. Devers will be extended he is if not a top 5 bat he’s a top 10 bat and young. Story really was not signed to play 2B and Bogaerts representation knows that.
They are not signing any of their top free agents to long term deals.
They are tanking and are drafting their replacements.
Bloom is doing exactly what he was hired to do. Cora is not great at his job. I would rather them suck for a few years, get better draft picks and sign the home grown talent.
Like Mookie?
Please get over Mookie who said the right things but never wanted to stay in Boston.
Building for the future and investing at the major league level is not a plan – that’s the common process of MLB teams. The Sox seem more and more like the Angels each day – confused.
Every front office is smart until they aren’t.
When an organization restructures its FO is often dumb and lost until it isn’t.
Might I add – Dave Dombrowski – that brought a WS title to Boston – may be thought to be a disaster by Red Sox fans, and questioned by Phillies fans in 2021, but Phillies fans are amazed at how much that veteran FO guy has learned the past year…..probably due to their comments on Internet chatrooms.
Could be a moot point if they win a WS this year but I don’t love the Phillies long term positioning.
Lots of heavy contracts. 2 guys who should be playing DH on long term deals. Dwindling control on Nola and not a ton in the upper minors to replenish.
Jbigz44;
I see.
So he took over a team that was losing, had few young prospects along with 2 starting pitchers, and one of the worst bullpens and defenses in MLB. The Phillies bullpen is now in the top 10 of MLB (in spite of injuries). Those that don’t follow the team don’t understand that the defense has improved marketably in 2022. Only one quality young prospect has been traded (for a quality young CF), and quite a few of their young prospects have grown and been major contributors to the teams record this year.
One of the OF’s that should be a DH leads the NL in HR’s and has more clutch hits than Phillies fans that actually watch the games can count; the other had a bad stretch but has been a major contributor on offense as well. Both have improved on D working with the coaches (yes, veterans do get better or worse in areas during the season), and I know they’ve made some misplays but can’t recall an epidemic of the team losing games because of them. All their defenders have improved as well. Furthermore, the manager routinely inserts quality defensive players from the bench (gee…..how did the Phillies wind up quality quality defensive OF’s under Dombrowski?) late in games that the Phillies are ahead in. And of course his best move was not firing the previous manager (anyone can do that) but replacing him with a sensational manager.
The point is that Dave Dombrowski has turned that major league team – and the entire organization – into a quality, professional operation in less than 2 years from the mess that the amateurs running it for years had taken it down to. He did it by working with what he had to work with. Sorry he hasn’t met your high standards. I’m sure your perfect Fantasy League team will win again this year, primarily due to your remarkable ability to see into the future.
Dave Dombrowski is a 1st ballot MLB Executive Hall of Famer:
Expos: He built a World Series contender on a shoe string budget
that was torpedoed because of the MLB strike(had best record in baseball at the time).
Built an expansion notoriously penny pinching Marlins team into a World Series Champion in record time. After the Champions parade, Ownership ordered a complete tear down. Trades Dombrowski made built a new, young core that Won the Marlins 2nd World Series Championship after he left for Detroit.
Built a floundering 2nd Division Detroit Tigers team into their longest run of contention in the modern era that included multiple Division Titles
and 2 American League Championship teams.
Built a World Series Championship team in Boston in a few short years.
Now, he has taken a Phillies team that, a few years ago, was struggling to play 500 baseball and made them into a playoffs caliber team that is now 16 games over 500 and on the rise.
The Phillies will be a very dangerous team in the playoffs since they are 16 games over 500 and their best player, Bryce Harper, has been on the IL for 2 months.
Ask the Detroit Tigers if they would hire Dave Dombrowski back?!
They would hire Dombrowski back in a New York minute!
Phillies have a great mix of young and veteran players with more on the way .Their 3 best young farm system pitchers could be in Philly by the All Star break next year. Stott is a keeper. SS Stott is breaking out and impressive.
1B Hoskins is very good.
Bohn has looked better @ 3B
“Mountain man” Brandon Marsh is a huge upgrade in CF and will just keep getting better etc..
When Harper is healthy and can play defense next year, then you will see a rotational DH with Schwarber and Castellanos sharing those ABs and playing less defense..
Remarkably snarky.
I simply said I do not like where are they are long term and do not see a LT competitor with that ball club.
As far as starters go—under his watch Suarez has been developed. The others were already there and pitching the same. Aside from Gibson who was an already developed starter.
Painter was a great draft pick from DD and is easily their best prospect. Beyond that—it’s a weak system. Teams aren’t built long term in FA. You know and agree with that. He was dealt a tough hand & doubled down on right now. Maybe the only call given what he was given.
& I doubt you would’ve taken issue had I said that same statement about the New York Mets.
Any team that does not possess either a young major league core or a strong minor league pipeline & has a ton of LT commitments on their payroll—is not a team that typically hangs around as a contender for very long.
The Phils will lose a ton of relievers to FA that will need to be replaced. They’ll need either a 2B or a SS. Gibson and Eflin are FA at seasons end as well. They’ll need at least 1 more starter. & Nola & Hoskins only have 1 year of control left before getting a payday.
That doesn’t scream wide open window to me. The Braves look like the team with the long window in that division.
Fans like you always scream “the sky is falling”, “the sky is falling”.
GMs and Pres of Baseball Ops like Alex Anthopoulos and Dave Dombrowski ignore he constant critics and just make the right moves to win every YEAR.
Add the Cardinals, Astros, Dodgers, Yankees to that mix
with the Mets getting aboard the winning train with New Ownership.
I support this move. That should tell you all you need to know.
I greatly respect the New York Yankees and what they’ve done historically. I greatly respect that they crush the regular season a lot more often, and I mean A LOT more, then the Boston Red Sox do. Definitely have good conversations with Yankees fans and always applaud the Yankees.
But your comment kind of is a stab so I’ll say this in response.., what would a Yankee fan know about championships this century?
So anything you “support” as sort of a suggestion the Red Sox are making a bad move, holds no water.
Why the negative comments about Cora? He led them to a World Series win in his first year. They were in the AL championship series last year; and but for a terible call against Evoldi in game 4, they might have been in the Series last year. Not bad for his 4 years. This year he tried to manage what the ownership and Bloom gave him after some horrible trades, free agent pitching pick ups, and failure to sign Schwarber. Who do you people think would have taken this team deep into the playoffs?
“Why the negative comments about Cora?”
I’d guess because his *only successful MLB year* as a manager is also the same year in which he was caught cheating. Otherwise, he has performed poorly, by most objective standards.
That’s rich for a fan of the New York Beltrans to say
Well, that wasn’t intended to be a misguided indictment of Cora or the BoSox, but rather an observation about his overall tenure in direct response to the question above.
One could easily make the same observation of the Yankees if they won the championship during the Girardi sign-stealing years (pre-‘17).
Well said, Clip. Hope summer finds you well, sir.
Thanks 30 Parks, you as well, my friend.
Clipper: MLB’s investigation of the 2018 Red Sox went on for months and uncovered no evidence of cheating. None. They admitted this in their report when they said they have a “factual dispute”, “largely have no direct evidence” and “no written record, recording or other contemporaneous evidence of the underlying events”. The conclusion of cheating “on at least some occasions” was clearly based on speculation as MLB’s investigation failed to document a single instance of cheating. This was very unfair to the Red Sox and Red Sox fans and why I keep pointing it out. People should read the report which is still available on MLB.com.
Suit: I appreciate that, thank you. It’s not only good advice, but certainly relevant to the cheating discussion.
I just want to clarify the premise for my point though to avoid overlap in the discussion… I was referring to the initial facts of the case, which were the cheating assertions. Again, my comment wasn’t intended as an indictment, but his history (the year prior) with the Astros, coupled with the allegations, are enough to taint his managerial capability, particularly since he’s only been successful that one year. I do understand MLB didn’t recover evidence of cheating in writing or recording, but it doesn’t exonerate him either.
Regardless, my point wasn’t to revisit whether he cheated or whether the existing information, absent additional contemporaneous corroborating evidence, was enough to condemn him.
I do believe that it is precisely why many folks on here are citing Cora as a poor manager *despite* that one championship season – too many unanswered questions remain. That’s not to mention that MLB as a whole doesn’t engender trust among its fans either, so the level of trust in that outcome will also be a debatable topic for many.
Cora and those Sox players are the only ones who truly know exactly what the extent of the cheating was in ‘18. I’m not here to throw more stones. I appreciate you, Suit, and I hope you’re doing well, man.
Clip, good to see you on here again.
You too, sir. I hope all is going well with you, my friend. God bless.
I appreciate you too, Clipper. I noticed you were away for a while and am glad you are back. I think we are on the same page for the most part. I don’t think it’s fair to label a team cheaters without evidence. I think MLB should have concluded there was no evidence supporting guilt or innocence regarding cheating in 2018, although I don’t know how they could prove their innocence. I may be in the minority, but I doubt managers make a lot of decisions on their own anymore with huge coaching staffs and analytics departments.
I think whatever the Sox may have been doing in 18 was rife throughout the league. I think that’s why it fizzled out the way it did. Rules were toughened up afterwards (which is why I think the way I do).
Actual cheating (or allowable cheating) has been a blight on the game the last decade or so.
Cora is a bad manager who got lucky. Bloom has the tools to put together an amazing team and he’s put together some head scratchers.
I am shocked theyr’e both being retained. At the very least I’d think that they’d let Cora go. A lot of teams- and companies, for that matter- that are struggling and lost tend to let a manager/executive go who’s the face of the team.
The Red Sox’s love affair with Cora is truly bizarre.
It’s amazing that the Red Sox don’t win the WS each year, isn’t it?
It’s no wonder Red Sox fans think they need a new owner, baseball ops guy, and all their star players overpaid with long-term – salary setting contracts because, you know….the Red Sox can afford it!
Ahhh – to perpetually be 13 years-old.
Ohhh – To perpetually be a troll of payroll teams when things don’t work out accordingly.
The Red Sox aren’t having a terrible-blame-everything on the manager-type season though. Not even close. Why would they possibly fire Cora? Teams cut ties with the manager when they’re terrible not because they happen to be somewhat disappointing.
Because it appears to be an intentionally tanking to draft young players to replace their departing free agents. The Red Sox do it every few years.
Look it up.
They had a rough run after Chicken-gate but to say it’s intentional is a bit much.
It is an easily analyzed patter of doing business that they have sustained over more than a decade,
So being at 500 is a tank job? A tank job is what the Washington Nationals are doing. Boston might be in last in the AL East but they have the best record of any divisional last place team in baseball. Being in last is the symptom of the strength within the division. Boston has no problem beating those outside the division this year. The unbalanced schedule did not do the team any favors either. Yanks, Rays, Blue Jays, and Orioles are top 5 in the AL in talent. That’s right only Houston can compete with the AL East whole division the rest of the league will lose and with the unbalanced schedule they beat on each other.
The longer this process plays out, the more the Story signing seems like an outlier. I wonder if ownership gets involved more than they let on.
@don i’ve been thinking the same thing for a while, everyone seems to blame dd for the state of the rs with some of his trades and contracts, but i think a lot of that was on ownership to win another ws at all costs. dd did just that and when that check came and ownership saw the cost dd was the scapegoat. imo dd is a great gm he has built winners with every team and in different ways. tbh i wonder how much of bloom’s lack of any sustained success is because ownership steps in and forces moves to grab headlines, but this is all conjecture on my part.
DD trades were fine. Sale extension terrible. Let’s give a guy who lost velocity a bunch of money.
But if DD didn’t extend Sale, there would have been cries of “You gave up the future Rogers Hornsby, a.k.a. Yoan Moncada for a couple of years of Sale?
@miltpappas…
1. He did give up Moncada for 3 years of Sale. That is how long he was controlled for after the trade. The extension was a separate, unrelated deal.
2. Hindsight being 20/20 they would have been better off letting Sale walk after 2019.
brodie-bruce:
Wait.
Are you saying that a Red Sox Baseball Ops guy did what that person paying his salary wanted him to do? And after it worked short term he was made a scapegoat for the longer term results? Wow! That’s a pretty crazy spin. I’m gonna call Ben Cherington and Terry Francona and we can all yuk it up on that theory.
It has to be said. Before the 2021 season EVERYONE was saying the Red Sox were going to fight Baltimore for last. Dombrowski emptied the farm system. The team had ZERO pitching in the system. They did pay lip service and said they were going to ‘compete’ but it was an obvious rebuild and they even said they wanted to get back to the 2007 model. That championship team was mostly home grown.
Then last year they pull of a miracle and have a good season, make the playoffs and go deep. The rotation had ONE starting pitcher with an ERA under 4.50, that was Eovaldi.
This off season they didn’t add anything except Bogaert’s replacement in Story. They needed a closer and didn’t even make an offer to Jansen. He was out there after the lockout and for reasonable dollars. We now know they didn’t even make an offer to Schwarber.
Their goal has ALWAYS has been 2004. Clear bad/under performing contracts and older players. Martinez, Eovaldi and Price contracts are off the books. They have a ton coming off the books.
The only move for the long term that makes ZERO sense is Devers. They should be signing him long term due to his age and he isn’t even close to his prime.
Finally, a reasonable post.
Disagree with only one thing – Devers. He’s under control for another year, there’s no reason they need to jump with a long-term offer at this point. I know that it’s upsetting to him. But while his improvement on D is impressive, I look at his physical conditioning and wonder about giving this guy an 8 – 10 year contract at record setting amounts.
I’m witcha
What improvement? isn’t he again leading third basemen in errors?
Sooner than later Devers will be pigeoned to the DH. It’s rather when that’s the hold-up.
As for the front office not doing right; ultimately, it is the players that have made bum up on this season. The regression of many of their core players, new and old, lowered the ceiling, even with somewhat improved starting pitching, achievable this season, even despite stretches of elite performance.
I suspect that Kennedy brushes off the down year because their plan hasn’t bellied up. They still are amidst the foundational renovations, where any quit would leave the franchise in a lurch, so Bloom stays for good or bad. Cora sticks because he’s holding the big league roster together, weathering better than a greenhorn could at the helm, just look at 2020 with Roenicke. He’s got enough goodwill despite how low he’s been, likely the generosity of ’18 fresh in the hearts, to keep the media from becoming rabid dogs by willing enough victories out of his overpaid veterans the team likely wants to move away from when terms end. When those guys are up, and the front office finds a legitimate skipper, only until then, Cora will be sent packing, most likely still in our good graces.
The front office will have finished its foundational transformation. The farm will be nearly at hand and the team will have pocket money to boot. Whether Bloom sticks is entirely on what Henry and Kennedy’s goals were when they hired him. I’d like to suspect it was a set and forget-it type, where the new manager would be responsible and that supervision wasn’t necessary.
If you let a star player reach the final year of his deal he smells that free agency money and will test those waters. 25M AAV now will be cheaper than 35M AAV or more in free agency…..
What a dark and ominous message from the once lofty Red Sox
““I am very comfortable saying Chaim and Alex will be back. And I am very comfortable saying ….”
Who talks like that?!
I’ll tell you who. Somebody who is not very comfortable talking about either Bloom or Cora (especially Bloom). How do you go into a season without a first baseman, right fielder, bullpen, complete starting staff? This whole thing was held together with bailing wire and Flex Tape from the get go. The linchpin of the off season will be Bogaerts. As Bogaerts goes, so will Devers. If the Sox go into next year without Bogaerts, then Devers will walk also and this team will be the new Baltimore Orioles for the next five years (the Orioles are trending upwards if you haven’t noticed).
Who talks like that? Sam Kennedy thats who. Every time he opens his mouth, some forced drivel escapes. He’s the executive that’s sent out each time to mouth something without really saying anything. But then again once Larry Lucchino was sent to Siberia, there had to a replacement.
It is time for the Red Sox to do a full rebuild. Must completely restock the farm system. This rebuild should have started at the trade deadline. Trade away everybody for whatever you can get! Already behind with this. Any further delay and you become the Cubs and Orioles who held their stars and got nothing useful in return. That will get you an Orioles-style forever rebuild.
@ Very### Totally agree. It should have really ramped up in earnest @ the trade deadline. Bloom has hit some dinggers and swung at sliders in the dirt. This off season will be the tale of the tape. He wont be hamstrung by the CBT, at least to the extent of 2022. Between free agents, promotions and the rule 5 draft, there is an opportunity to field a better team next year. Problem is, even if improved, can they vault ahead of any AL East team? It might make more sense to punt on 23, and shoot for24 when they can add good veterans and bring up the cream of the crop from the farm. At least as a fan, I’d be more at ease knowing down the line they will ramp up strong, and get a reset on the tax.
Not sure how things work over there in Boston, but usually it’s the owner, not the President that has control over whether to retain or fire. So my guess is, get enough brass to fire the President, and dump those 2 guys. And your problem will be solved. He’s responsible effectively for this team, and half of it hasn’t even been Major League production players, playing for the red sox. I say move on, cut your losses. The red sox failed to trade Devers, who will be a free agent, he doesn’t want to stay as he said, he’s not really interested in a deal, so what they are doing, playing long ball, doubt it’s gonna work, especially if they’re rebuilding. So that’s their way of valuing their players, forcing a rebuild. Doubt he’ll be down with that.
The public show of support is usually the kiss of death in the front office/coaching world
Both may want to update their resume’s
I agree with that. This has all the feel of “You guys have 1 year to make this thing right”.
Or at least get us pointing in the right direction
Rsox;
Hummm….
So the President of an MLB franchise that’s been in the position for 7 years gives an interview to Ken Rosenthal to be published in The Athletic. Might he consider that what he says could possibly be picked up by most media outlets covering MLB? So when he’s asked about the immediate future of the franchises 2 most visible employees he’s out of sync with the position of the owner(s)?
A delusional person like me figures that if an MLB organization is trying to quell the dialog of “we need to fire the baseball ops head and manager” before the off season begins, what better place to go to get the word out? Than again, what would 2 babe-in-the-woods yokels like Henry and Kennedy know about dealing with the media? Heck, they could hold a press conference to say they’re retaining the baseball ops guy and manger and then have a couple of dozen members of the nationally known venomous Boston sports media ask them pointed questions for 2 hours; whose answers will be taken out of context and disseminated on more platforms than one can count.
Heck, that would be more fun than being dropped in a cage with a few lions that haven’t had a thing to eat in 3 days.
Henry knows how to deal with the media. Buy the Boston Globe to avoid criticism and send Sam Kennedy out to take the heat.
The Red Sox intentionally tank every few years after they win a World Series to reload their farm system,
Red Sox have an internal policy not to sign long term, crazy free agent contracts with players in their 30’s.
They reload the team with trades and high draft picks when they intentionally tank every few years.
Sam Kennedy is told to fire these guys and throw them under the bus.
Rinse, repeat.
Ownership makes the yearly business plans, not the hired gun GMs.
Bloom is trash. It’s pretty clear at this point that Bloom wasn’t brains behind Tampa’s system.
From your post it’s pretty clear at this point that you don’t have a clue about Tampa’s system.
He was one brain of many, not all the brains.
Blum is trash? Give me a break. Your team is having an off year, no reason to sink into idiotic hyperbole.
Wasn’t Bloom like a talent scout for Tampa Bay. He wasn’t a GM for them
No….
He like used to get the coffee for the talent scouts.
Bloom can only follow the Red Sox business plan as given to
him by Henry, Werner, Sam Kennedy etc…
When it blows up, then the GM is the public scapegoat, not Sam Kennedy, not Henry or Werner.
It helps that you also own the Boston Globe and the New England Sports Network so you can control the narrative and have Red Sox fans believe anything
you tell your media properties to say to the public.
A system like Tampa’s takes many, many years to build up.
The Red Sox cannot just push a button and presto they have the Rays system in place.
Sam Kennedy is a liar.
Not saying that.
He is a General in Henry’s Army.
He implements Henry’s and Werner’s business plan
The Red Sox are a case study in over reliance on analytics.
“We have a good team BUT we hired this sabremetric guru from Tampa Bay SO we can trade all of our good players and he’ll crunch the numbers and we’ll win with a random cast of no-name plug ins. Easy.”
The faith in Chaim Bloom appears to be the root of the issue, because Fenway is doing the exact opposite with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gave us a bunch of money to sign all of our star players for life.
Mookie’s money is now Malkin’s money.
The Red Sox need to get younger! The Yankees have a lot of young talent coming up! The Blue Jays are young and hungry as well as the Baltimore! We have to get younger and deeper if you want compete in the near future! I would rather be mediocre for a couple of seasons and have a bright future vs being an old overpaid veteran team! Bogey is not worth more than 25 million a year moving forward! I would build around Deavers, who is worth a 300 million plus contract! In order to have the money for top FA you must also have top cheap young talent to compete! In just a couple more years the Betts contract will look horrible! Bloom has an eye for very young talent and will continue to build! Be patient we will be back on top sooner rather than later!
Finally, someone who understands that long term the Mookie Betts contract is totally insane from a management standpoint. From the player’s standpoint, it’s laugh all the way to the bank.
YEP…. Mike Trout’s long term contract is a joke as well…. dude can’t play 100 games a season….
Any team that signs a player for more than 8 years is NUTS. Pitchers should never get more than 5 years period or else you are paying for 1 year of TJ Surgery and another 1/2 to a full year of recovery having to baby the pitcher. See Sale, Strauburg, Degrom, etc…. next one will be Cole and his 9 year deal… just wait.
Bloom is doing what he was hired to do… cut payroll drastically and rebuild the minors. IMO it was a mistake to just not come out and declare a rebuild year. Bloom tried to straddle the fence. He did worse than fall off the fence, he fell straight down spearing his junk.
If nothing else comes from this season, I hope it is that Bloom learns to commit to one direction and have the stones to tell Henry it’s either rebuild or go all in on contending.
As for Cora, I don’t like cheaters, so I don’t like him. He has made some silly calls at times, but lets be honest. The players like him and follow him. Until he loses the players he remains manager. FO doesn’t want a repeat or reminder of the Bobby V debacle.
Just my view, flame-away light is lit
Bloom was hired to rebuild the farm, not resign Boston’s free agents, tank for a few years and draft high to replace departing free agents etc…
Red Sox have been doing this plan for years.
Get the the World Series. Tank for a few years to get high draft picks to replenish the team roster with young playes.
Rinse, repeat multiple times,
@DBH
You seem confused. Bloom is the employee. Henry is the owner. Bloom does not tell Henry what to do. At best, he provides input on how to do what Henry tells him.
For the people that want Bloom and Cora gone, I am glad they are not running the team.
Bloom HAD to move Betts. They were already at the tax threshold and facing penalties. They did their best and offered a $300 mil contract. The return seemed a little light but so was their leverage.
Bloom has been up against the tax line every year at the helm and has managed to build a competitive team despite a ton of injuries and having no farm system to deal from until now. No one excepted them to make the ALCS but through under the radar moves like Hernandez and Renfroe they remained competitive. This year has been a gong show of injuries. And yes, there was over belief in Dalbec but he hit the ground running as a rookie and really showed promised as a young, controllable starting 1B so you can see how they arrived to their confidence.
These next two years for me are when his tenure finally starts now that he’s removed himself from the Dombrowski hole and can shape the team how he wants. He has good/decent young arms coming up through the system that could potentially contribute soon to the mid/bottom level of the rotation (Mata, Murphy, Seabold, Walter), plus Casas raking at AAA with Hosmer as potential trade bait that is basically all on SD’s payroll. I haven’t given up on Duran either who is still developing himself and could be a decent starter or at least a 4th OF with speed and decent pop.
The biggest thing is that they now have financial flexibility moving forward so that they won’t have to roll the dice on Dalbec, JBJ, Duran, and the bullpen. They can go out and get replacements and/or call up guys that they’ve developed. They finally have options whereas previously they’ve had to be very creative and roll the dice more on other players.
I’m actually excited for what is in store this winter. I honestly hope is not $30mil for Devers and Bogaerts. I think I would rather Turner at SS at that rate who is better defensively. Would love Devers as the new Papi and then they can get a sound 3B but I doubt he would be willing to sign DH money or even want to move to DH full time.
If the roster looks like this next year I wouldn’t be mad:
Sale
Eovaldi
Pivetta
Wacha (under the radar signing)
FA lefty/Paxton (accepting his player option of $4mil)
Houck/Bello/Mata/Seabold/Walter/Murphy competition for depth/injury replacement
C – Vazquez resigned with Reese as backup
1B – Hosmer/Casas
2B – Story
3B – FA signing/trade
SS – Bogey/Turner
LF – Pham/Duran
CF – FA/trade
RF – Verdugo
DH – Devers
Depth: Dalbec, Duran, Kiké
RP: Whitlock, Houck, two lefties, one additional piece
That team is deeper and stronger defensively. Plus they have a farm system now to make a trade if they want to get creative with how to improve the roster.
Oh, boy, Sale, Eovaldi, and Pivetta. Sale from 2019-2022 has won 11 games; Eovaldi in 11 seasons has has a highs of 14/11/9 wins; Pivetta in 6 seasons has highs of 9 wins (twice).; Paxton when trying to return from Tommy John surgery tore a lat muscle and is out again after throwing two pitches, And because of differences between MLB and milb rules, none of their pitching prospects have adapted well to their call-ups.
This prediction is not going to happen, no offense.
John Henry has won 4 Championships in 20 years which is great. I just find that when they win they take as me a step back and ride on what is on the club instead of picking up that player that will put them over the top again.
As far as this year, I do not think that it is Cora’s fault. I think he has done a decent job for the talent that Bloom has given him. Bloom needs to be fired and they need to pick up a GM who is somewhere in the middle and not afraid to deal prospects. I was surprised they committed to keeping Bloom for next year this early. Many times prospects do not work out. I do not think that Jeter Downs and Connor Wong have worked out. Verdugo is okay but not great or worthy of a Mookie Betts return.
How Bloom thought that he was going to get anything out of Chris Sale when they guy has not been the same pitcher since 2017. Our starting pitchers do not go deep into games and that really strains a mediocre bullpen which we currently have.
This team has tons of holes to fill next year including starting pitching, first baseman, a centerfielder, sign Boggarts who he alienated with a cheap contract extension offer, replacement for JD Martinez, to rebuild the bullpen, pick up a closer. This team is a mess and I cannot wait for the season to end. How do you fall lower than Baltimore? Does anyone think that Dumpster Diving Bloom can actually fix all this? I don’t!
Bloom has, by my reckoning, about $125 million to work with. The first time he has luxury tax flexibility. He no longer has to, in your terms, “dumpster dive.” This off season is the test of his mettle. Your diatribe is premature.
This is start of rebuild! Give Bloom sometime! Everyone in our division is young and talented! We must build the farm! We cannot compete throwing bad money at FA’s who are past their primes every year! Bloom needs at least three more years! Then we will know!
The Redsox need to figure what changed from the “ 2018 Cora “ to the “2022 Cora”.
Sorry to hear this news. Bloom is a mess, or at least it appears so. Perhaps his role is to do exactly what we see. Gut the team, reduce attendance, make Boston even more unattractive for super talents.
Dump them both and re-sign Bogaerts and Devers. Add a lot of pitching. Problems mostly solved. The Sox have unlimited money. If the owners won’t spend it, they can f*** off too.
This offseason told me all I needed to know about Bloom. Trading Renfroe, signing Story instead of extending Bogaerts, not locking up Raffy, and not spending almost any money to build an ACTUAL pitching staff. Bloom sucks, and so does being a Red Sox fan right now.
wonderful news!
If I was a Yankee fan I’d be saying the same thing. But do you really want to win without the rivalry. For most Sox fans, it isn’t a real championship without beating the Yankees.
Things were a bit messy when Bloom took over. I say he needs more time.
If Devers cannot be re-signed to a long term deal this off season I think they should trade him, blow it up and actually re-build, but the fanbase wouldn’t tolerate that/
Didn’t they say this about Dombrowski before they axed him? Anything can still happen but I bet they’re both back.
So Brasier comes in does a HBP and then gives up a Grand Slam. DFA him, now, please.
I want to see Bogaerts finish his career in Fenway, and I think he’ll be a productive player into his forties. I’d offer a complicated contract which could be a full ten years, $235m. Front loaded and with several opportunities for the team to bail out, or Bogaerts to move on.
Begin with 3-years for $100m and a player option for years 4-5 at $25m/per year. That gives Bogaerts the $150m guarantee over five years that he deserves as a franchise player.
If he picks up the option, it comes with a team option for three more years, $22m, $20m, $18m bringing Bogaerts through age 38, with $210mm over 8 years.
Then, top it off with player options for years 9-10 at $15 and $10m. He can have a few years as a well-payed veteran, on the bench, as a goodwill gesture. Worst case scenario would be a Pedroia legacy, where he’s making halfhearted gestures at returning from the DL but everyone knows it’s a golden parachute. I think Bogaerts might have a little more integrity and retire rather than take money when he knows he can’t play, but if he takes it it’s because he’s earned it and I won’t resent him for it. (I don’t resent Pedroia either; he earned his money). But I think Bogaerts is more likely to still be productive right to the end.
They’re not going to offer him that kind of $. Nor will it be long term. He wants 30+ mil for multiple years. At this point, the Sox are at least a couple years away. Why would he want to stay?
I meant to post this under the column about player options.
I think Chaim is doing a good job with the rebuild. It will take time, some of his deals secured good prospects at various levels while attempting to net gain or maintain the MLB team. He will need to use the financial might at some point for the mound & Devers. Sign Arroyo for 5 or 6 years for 10 to 12 million…watch it pay off in spades with at least 450+ABs either starting of playing 5 to 7 games a week reating all 4 infield spots & both Corner OF spots! 550+ABs is better and so will Christian be!
I don’t think Alex Cora is as good an in game manager as many think he is. The 2018 Redsox where arguably one of the best teams ever. Houston before that…well we know what happened there.
AC does many things well but IMO he fails to recognise when to make pitching moves & whom to go to of his available options often. One of the reasons here is that he does a poor job in establishing roles for his players, who comes in when its the 7th, 8th or 9th, who mops up way ahead, who should come in with a high leverage situation, also in the lineup & batting orders…who knew where they would be slotted or called upon this year from Alex? Not many players…extremely difficult for players & team cohesion to take place when any manager does this non role defining tendency. Players & their teammates hate this & while some amount of time is needed to establish these roles (aka spring training) & certainly changes with the removal or assignment in a role based on performance happen…they still need to be clearly done so the players know. I still have not seen Alex produce the current Redsox most optimized alinement for both offense & defense success this year even 1 game…not once. A poor in game manager but good in other areas. I hope he learns & improves or this transition will go nowhere.