The Red Sox have had some discussions with the Marlins about infielder Joey Wendle, reports Chad Jennings of the Athletic. There’s no indication a deal is imminent or even likely, as he’s one of a number of names whom Boston has looked into as they search for middle infield help.
Wendle is headed into his second season in Miami. The Marlins acquired him from their in-state counterparts last offseason, sending minor league outfielder Kameron Misner to the Rays. That was one of a number of transactions Miami made in hopes of adding a jolt to their lineup, as they also brought in Jacob Stallings via trade and Avisaíl García and Jorge Soler through free agency.
None of those additions panned out as expected in year one. Wendle had his worst season in a few years, hitting .259/.297/.360 over 371 trips to the plate. He kept his strikeout rate in check, punching out in a career-low 13.5% of plate appearances. That higher-contact approach was the product of increased aggressiveness at the dish, and it tamped down his walk rate to a meager 4% clip. Wendle managed just three home runs, and he played in only 101 games around a trio of injured list stints thanks to issues with both hamstrings.
Wendle’s value is certainly at a low ebb, though there are reasons the Boston front office could view him as a solid bounceback target. He’d posted above-average offensive numbers in three of his four seasons with Tampa Bay, showing the ability to handle the AL East. Between 2018-21, the left-handed batter compiled a .274/.330/.414 mark in just under 1500 plate appearances. His power and walk rates were both a touch below average, but he demonstrated plus contact skills. He was particularly adept against right-handed pitching, putting together a .287/.337/.439 mark with the platoon advantage. During his first two seasons with the Rays, Wendle overlapped with Chaim Bloom. The current Red Sox chief baseball officer was a high-ranking member of the Tampa Bay front office at the time.
At his best, Wendle pairs that slightly above-average offense with quality defense around the infield. He’s primarily a second and third baseman, logging more than 1500 career innings at each spot. Public defensive metrics have loved the former All-Star’s work at the keystone, while he’s earned more solid but unspectacular marks at the hot corner. Wendle has never been an everyday player at shortstop, but he’s logged limited time there in each of the last five years. He topped out with 233 1/3 innings for Miami this past season, posting strong marks in that very limited sample.
Jennings suggests the Red Sox are eyeing Wendle as a potential option at shortstop after the departure of Xander Bogaerts. Turning to him there regularly would be a bold gambit, as he’s headed into his age-33 season and coming off a year in which he was nagged by leg injuries. Playing him more frequently at second base with an occasional game at shortstop would be more straightforward, yet Jennings suggests the front office is somewhat divided on how best to handle the middle infield.
Boston signed Trevor Story to a $140MM free agent deal last offseason. The longtime Rockie shortstop posted strong defensive numbers throughout his time in Colorado, but some evaluators raised questions about his arm late in that tenure. That wasn’t a concern in 2022, as Story moved to second base in deference to Boagerts. He posted strong numbers there, showcasing high-end range and hands. His arm remained subpar, though, with Statcast ranking him 155th out of 162 qualified infielders in maximum throw speed. Story averaged 76.1 MPH on his throws, around four MPH below average at second base and nearly 10 ticks below the league mark at shortstop.
That alone doesn’t mean Story can’t play shortstop. He’d had a below-average arm for the position in both 2020-21 and still rated highly there by measure of both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating (albeit with less enthusiastic reviews from Statcast). Bloom has previously suggested Story’s presently the favorite for the position, but Jennings writes that some in the front office would rather keep Story at second base and play Enrique Hernández at shortstop. That’d require finding someone to replace Hernández in center field, so bringing in another middle infielder would be the simpler solution.
Wendle figures to be attainable in trade, even if Jennings characterizes Miami’s current asking price as high. With over five years of MLB service, Wendle is in his final year of team control. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $5.4MM salary for his final arbitration season. That’s reasonable but not insignificant for a Miami club that is seemingly up against it from a payroll perspective. The Marlins are known to be looking for ways to upgrade their lineup and have yet to address it in any meaningful capacity. Moving Wendle’s salary while recouping some pre-arbitration or minor league talent could be appealing for general manager Kim Ng and her staff as they try to create some flexibility to kickstart their offseason.
It seems a trade is Boston’s preferred means for adding the up-the-middle talent they desire. Jennings suggests any interest on their part in the top remaining free agent shortstops like Elvis Andrus and José Iglesias is fairly modest. He reports they’ve given internal consideration to players like Cleveland’s Amed Rosario and St. Louis’ Paul DeJong at points this winter but no longer seem to be targeting those players. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported earlier this month that Boston had reached out to the Fish on shortstop Miguel Rojas; however, it seems unlikely Miami would move Rojas, a clubhouse leader and quality defensive shortstop, without being overwhelmed by the return.
maybe we can find a way to land one of their starters too
unloading devers would get that done.
This smacks of a little desperation, me thinks. Time to get something done…
Devers is already gone.
Bloom is just repeating the same exact nonsense he did with Bogaerts – so instead of getting something for him, they will let him play out his last season and eventually when he signs elsewhere fans will see Bloom’s offer was $100 million or more less than what he signs for elsewhere.
Are they lowering payroll in order to sell the team? I’ve seen that speculated.
I doubt Fenway Sports Group is going to sell the Red Sox. They seem to be buying a team from every league they can.
Once Bogy was gone I also knew Devers was to follow suit.
Have you ever had a terrible experience at a restaurant? If so, then you usually tell people about your experience. That one negative rating spreads faster than a good rating.
The point I am trying to address here, is what i call the “Bloom Factor”. Alot of FA’s/Players don’t want to play in Boston & it has shown this past offseason. FA’s & players are hearing & seeing how Bloom is treating his employees. He has no heart or dedication to make his workforce a welcoming place.
Put it this way, would you stay in an environment where your employer undervalues you??? doesn’t create good moral??? has a high turnover rate??? pieces a workforce together rather than creating a team???
I stood up for this guy up until this past season. I have seen enough.
Except you’re not eating at the restaurant. You’re watching others eat while on the outside.
I’d like to see citations on your claims…
Jock: I really don’t buy that. I doubt teams are going to avoid the Red Sox who spend over $200M per year on players. BTW, have you considered calling yourself Jacque Strap?
Cubs have signed Free Agents and they done the same things you described.
Is it desperation or a realistic comment based on the very recent past?
Do you not eat at ball games? Do fans not eat in the stands?
I don’t need citations when you can Google chaim bloom and see his words from current interviews.
Right now payroll sits in the middle of the league. No wonder the Ray’s gave the Sox permission to bring Bloom on – he was the weak link in their front office. The Sox situation is becoming more muddled by the day. My guess is if the Sox under perform again in ’23 they’ll cut bait on Bloom after the season.
Yup word is Commanders are next…
I wish you were right about cutting him…unfortunately I see ownership attach to him like the human centipede. I give him 2 more seasons in boston…before they cut him
curly – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Bloom sure does love acquiring declining players. This is yet another example, Wendle has drastically declined 3 straight years (not counting the joke of a 2020 season). In that time period he has gone from a .789 OPS to a .658 OPS.
But the price is right, and that’s all that matters to Bloom.
Doesn’t price have a lot to do with it for most teams?
Do we know what the limits are for Bloom?
If teams have a limit then of course they’ll restrict spending in some areas.The old way of thinking is not the same as the current way of thinking.
If it were all about spending then Bloom wouldn’t have been hired.
you mean TWO more last place finishse?
Vasquez wanted to come back. Not buying what you’re selling. Players want money and years.
I doubt teams are going to avoid the Red Sox who spend over $200M per year on players.
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Of course. It is complete nonsense. The Red Sox are a top-tier destination. A good city, usually in the playoffs, often times winning the WS, great park and crowd.
Boxscore9 hours ago
Right now payroll sits in the middle of the league.
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And when the off-season is over, we will likely be in the top 5-7. So do you have a point?
yewed7 hours ago
Doesn’t price have a lot to do with it for most teams?
Do we know what the limits are for Bloom?
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Of course. Everyone but the Mets and the Padres look for bargain signings.
And the limit for Bloom is likely to be $233M.. FWIW, this is an annual rite of winter for RS fans. Every year, since 2005, November 1st comes around and we hear:
Why hasn’t Theo signed anyone? Henry is cheap.
Why hasn’t Cherington signed anyone? Henry is cheap.
Why hasn’t DD signed anyone? Henry is cheap.
Why hasn’t Bloom signed anyone? Henry is cheap.
Agree and what’s even more frustrating is that after SF and NYM passed on Bloom, Boston made him Chief Baseball Officer when his more talented counterparts in the TB FO went from similar VP positions to GM roles with their new teams.
Likely is no guarantee.
suit – They are buying specific teams with the goal of making the biggest profits possible. Due to escalating salaries, they are considering selling Liverpool. Since the same is happening in MLB, and clearly John Henry wants no part of those escalating MLB salaries, it’s only logical to believe selling the franchise is a distinct possibility. That’s the main reason why many MLB team owners buy teams in the first place, to make a huge profit when selling.
Jock – Well said, I completely agree.
juanc – The mere fact that players are signing with the Red Sox only when it’s an overpay, that is a tell-tale sign.
Strap – It all depends on the profit margin. As long as revenue doesn’t tank, John Henry will continue the status quo.
And that centipede movie was quite gross. LOL
yewed – It’s not price that is important, it’s value … bang for the buck.
Unless you mean David Price?
lucky – Vaz wanted to come back because he knows Cora would play him a lot more than he should.
Teams are worth more if they are winning….not dumpster diving. Winning puts people in the stands and drives up the value of the team.
Meanwhile, in Friday news not yet picked up here, reportedly the Nats were awarded Jeter Downs today
Joe – You call someone else’s comments nonsense in the same paragraph that you write “usually in the playoffs”? Seriously?
FYI – They have missed the playoffs 8 times during the past 13 seasons.
If you’re gonna use “usual”, at least use it properly … the Sox usually miss the playoffs.
The Rays have missed the playoffs only 7 times during that same time span.
The Astros have missed the playoffs only 6 times during that same time span.
The Braves have missed the playoffs only 5 times during that same time span.
The Cardinals have missed the playoffs only 4 times during that same time span.
The Dodgers missed the playoffs only 3 times during that same time span.
The Yankees missed the playoffs only 3 times during that same time span.
Part 2 was worse….eww
Lol, no.
vince – Large longterm contracts are treated as debt. The less debt a potential buyer has to take on, the more attractive the purchase.
Less future payroll obligations also allows the buyer more flexibility in signing players he wants.
Jock – I’ll take your word for it. LOL
They are considering selling Liverpool for a multi billion dollar profit. Boy you guys are spoiled. How many championships have the won? Unbelievable the negativity and nonsense.
They have missed the playoffs 8 times during the past 13 seasons.
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Fair enough. 5 playoff appearances and 2 WSC. Is that not a selling point?
They also have 4 WS in 17 years. More than any other team
lucky – They (Bloom & O’Halloran) have won:
0 World Championships
0 League Championships
0 Division Championships
Thank you for asking.
fat – They (Bloom & O’Halloran) were not involved in any of those WS.
And FTR they weren’t involved in 1918, 1916, 1915, 1912 or 1903 either.
Fever – Long-term contracts are debt but that’s inconsequential compared to equity. The equity in the Red Sox is in the Billions. The debt assumed by the new owner can be cleared in less than a year if he/she chooses to do so. The intrinsic value of a storied franchise makes Boston a very appealing franchise to purchase. It’s expensive and can be a cash cow if a good GM comes in and turns around all the wrong Bloom has done.
A winning Red Sox franchise will grow in value as proven by the current owners. The purchase of a franchise is about the infrastructure, the assets, the intangibles, the goodwill and the depreciation. Turning a profit isn’t the issue, it’s the sustained growth in profits that will raise the value of the newly purchased franchise. Henry did it right then stumbled or got bored, sidetracked or simply mad that players would suggest he is racist. Who knows? Something in 2019 changed the direction of the ownership team’s legacy.
Selling would start a new clock ticking which could lead to great success in the future if the current issues are addressed properly. Or, maybe Henry and the ownership group simply say it’s time to devote more energy toward the Red Sox and they fire Bloom and try to get back to where they were with Dombrowski.
2019 will always be a mystery. Something happened that changed the course of the Red Sox organization in a very negative way. Too many suspicious events happened. The firing of a great GM who turned things around quickly and had sustained success. The hiring of an inexperienced GM preaching a completely new approach after the old one worked so well. The firing with an apology to a convicted cheater including a promise to rehire after an unceremonious firing of a great GM.for no reason. It makes no sense. Nothing has. As a fan, I simply want to know why the car drove off the cliff. The tires were fine, the road was dry and the people in the car were happy.
Pulled – Sox are worth $4B, but longterm contracts do drag down the potential selling price.
As for 2019, no mystery. Cora totally mismanaged a championship team and Henry was pissed that his team with the highest payroll in MLB didn’t even make the postseason. This isn’t conjecture, it’s fact. He had every right to be upset, but obviously he over-reacted by changing the approach to spending.
Every big name Free Agent Signing this winter has been a complete massive over pay.
Cooper – Every year there are record-setting contracts, this winter has been no different. The more owners make, the more they are willing to pay for premium talent.
It’s like the Covid housing market, you either pay an inflated price for a house or you rent.
They need to decide if they’re a contender or not. If not, deal Devers and act like a small market team for a year or two, swapping out major leaguers for prospects.
Devers to SF for Yaz and their #1 prospect SS/3B Luciano for example. It helps take the onus off losing Correa for SF, who can themselves try and sign Devers, and it gives Sox fans a Yaz to root for (which is a PR win) as well as a top prospect to dream on.
I doubt a rebuild would go over well with Boston fans but having one foot in both boats isn’t working either. It’s too late to make the big moves necessary to compete in the AL East IMO and I don’t see this as a playoff team as is.
At the time Yaz was purposely not drafted at the request of the family to let him forge his own path outside that large legacy shadow.
I’d think senior brass would at least continue to honor that agreement.
Ownership will tell fans they are going in as a contender however they are stuck on blooms 10 yr plan of no results.
Does the ‘no results’ include the trip to the ALCS last year?
You’re off a year bub, last years ALCS was Houston & Yankees!!!
Either way, in 3 seasons Sox have 2 last place finishes & heading that direction this coming season. So yeah “no results”
You’re off a year bub, last years ALCS was Houston & Yankees!!!
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Ouch! Mea Culpa.
Joe – Considering that trip to the ALCS was largely fueled by players Bloom had nothing to do with acquiring, it does NOT get included in Bloom’s “results”.
Joe – Inquiring minds want to know.
if you don’t consider 2021 to be “last year” ….
And you consider 2022 to be “last year” …
Then which year is “this year”? 2023?
And which year is “next year”? 2024?
Hint: This year ends 12/31/22
It’s a good question. I’m not sure I am entirely consistent with my references, but generally speaking, it is this year until the season is over. Then it becomes “last year”.
It’s probably an accounting convention more than anything else, but since the BB season is not a calendar year, the 12/31 date doesn’t mean much to me.
Joe – I’ve had fiscal years end 09/30 when I was working in healthcare, and I’ve had 4-5-4 calendars working in retail.
I still think you were right the first time. LOL
Merry Christmas!!!
Joe
Last year was a complete over reach on to the ACLS. It does happen, teams overachieved like in 2013 and then we got back to normal in 2014. Everyone got hot and then in the last two games the team went Morgue Cold. As a matter of fact, if Bloom had picked up a solid reliever at the trade deadline in 2021 the team would have had a better shot at the World Series instead of depending on Martin Perez to work out of the bullpen and that embarrassing game 5 he pitched in.
Unfortunately Bloom hangs on to these prospects like they are gold or plutonium. Did you see anything earth shattering about our rookies who were brought up this year ? Do you have any idea of the rebuild you are in store for? Who is going to pitch ? Sign these guys again ? Wacha Hill Eovaldi? Depend on Sale and Paxton? This is going to be a terrible year for this team.
Doesn’t this happen everytime the marlins go out and spend big in free agency? Think it was 2013 they doubled payroll and still finished below .500? Last year it was trades and free agency but still… that doesn’t win games in MLB
Sounds like another winner, Chaim…..
he’s schedules to get around $5.4m. Marlins could better use that elsewhere, I wonder if Dalbec or Duran have value here
nah Bloom will probably give them Bello or Mata for him cause they were both DD guys
He would be perfect for this team. I swear it’s starting to look whiter and whiter with nearly every move!
Color has nothing to do with it. Bloom is all about three things:
1) reclamation projects. He’s infatuated with being able to claim he got a bargain even if he spends 5x market rate just to find one
2) former rays players/targets. Anything formerly connected to him, or his old club, are worth more to him than they otherwise would be, regardless of objective or market value
3) prospects. Don’t even have to be GOOD prospects, or, well developed prospects with low downside. Prospects are worth more than winning.
Follow those three tenets and you understand bloom
If you change the first one to buying low on players, these are all things a guy from the Rays would do.
It’s not simply buying low though. Perfect example:
If he wanted to buy-low he would’ve kept benintendi. He sold low, at the absolute low point on that one. Instead he got a couple lottery tickets and broken down spare parts. Gave up a guy that that very year was a gold glover and has had above average production by wrc+, all based on the aberration little ST 2020 campaign?
I was just guessing about your first one since paying 5X market rate is not a bargain.
Exactly.
The reason it amounts to 5x the market rate is bloom brings in 10 guys at objectively cheap contracts, say 3m each. On the 10th guy he gets a 6m player for 3m. But the other 9 were busts.
So, he spent 30m to find a 6m player he pays 3m. Would’ve been 24m cheaper to sign a 6m player for 6m.
Thus the 5x the cost.
Beninteyalso had an OPS+ of 99 in 2019. Really 2018 and 2022 were his only really good seasons. The White Sox might regret that deal before it’s over.
But when bloom traded him he was only making 5, 7m a year in arb salaries.
So we had
2018 – plus player
2019 – league average
2020 – 50 game aberration season
2021 – GG and slightly above avg player
2022 – plus player
Regardless of the wisdom of the CWS contract he shouldn’t have been traded if an ops dept was value oriented, especially not with an eye toward using cordero as his replacement
I thought Bennie was kept one year too long. Good for him to get the deal he got but face it, he was not on the right path in Boston. He needed the scenery change. Again, Bloom is following the plan he sold ownership on and vice-versa. Ownership double-down on their plan after 2021. The biggest mistake the team made in my view was not resetting the threshold in 22.
Easy to read the team leaves when the results are printed on them. Do the Sox make the AL Championship in 21 with Bennie in the OF instead of Renfroe?
Dewey – in Dec 2020 sox signed renfroe. In Feb 2021 sox traded benintendi.
Why not keep both? There was room in the OF for both.
Better question is, if Benny had remained in BOS would they have made the WS? Won the WS?
At this point for this off season I have to wonder if the CBT is a concern. Would 2 years in a row make sense at this point? Did last season make sense?
Around 25-30m to go with holes to fill. If they get Evoladi back that takes up more than half. I’m assuming around 15m for him.
Better options at SS out there but probably at a little higher cost.
Benny was not the player the Sox wanted him to be, so they moved him.
They wanted more of a power hitter and he’ll never be that. His power numbers went down in KC but his avg. went up almost 50 points and his OBP went up. It all depends on how teams look at your value. If he had stayed in Boston with the same expectations he wouldn’t have gotten any “better”.
Verdugo is much the same but is not as good defensively.
Nope.
Yewed: I think the Red Sox have about $18M left to spend before they hit the first luxury tax threshold of $233M.
We can all debate on what Bloom or the team should or shouldn’t do but I don’t see any logical debate to your last statement. Saying you wanted to “compete” is not a logical reason at that point in the season.
Trading X or Devers can be debated but not getting under the CBT can not. It made no sense then and it makes less than that now.
That comment scared me. Last I saw few days ago on Spotrac they were at 206m. I just checked and they are currently at 201m.
I’m assuming that may be the Hosmer contract?
Am I missing something? It wouldn’t be the first time if I am.
Yewed: Last I checked Spotrac did not have Justin Turner’s counted in the luxury tax total. He was listed but not counted maybe because the Red Sox have not announced the signing yet. So, if they are at $201M now and we add $10M for Justin Turner, they have about $22M left to spend. If they keep a little buffer, they have about $20M to spend. Their total has been moving around. I saw it as $203M yesterday.
Fair enough. He’s listed and his luxury tax is listed but nothing else. Kind of strange. I had this conversation with somebody else a few days ago and there was a different conclusion but the numbers were different. I guess we’ll find out for sure soon enough.
I’m assuming the fluctuation has to do with perceived arb numbers. .
GASox – You are 100% correct, the Benny trade is turning into just one of many Bloom Blunders.
Teams cannot be serious contenders without at least a couple star players. As of right now, who on the Red Sox is likely to make the 2023 All-Star Team? Devers and ….. ? Maybe Sale if he stays healthy and returns to form, which are two big ifs. Even the Rays have had star players during their successful years.
dewey – Please stop listening to Joe as the Red Sox did NOT go over the threshold last year.
This year was the first time they went over since 2019.
The threshold was reset in 2020 and they didn’t exceed it in 2021.
I recently read an interesting piece, cant remember where. It talked briefly about the decision culture within Boston ops under bloom, said many times they’re excessively deliberate where bloom bounces even minor personnel moves around all over to get feedback from countless staff, whereas many other front offices have quicker decision making right at the top.
Net effect, Boston reacts to the market, often later than other teams, and seldom sets the market driving negotiations on a player.
I wonder if it’s not a blame sharing exercise to attempt to deflect and diminish as much as possible any blame landing on him, creating a paper trail scapegoat.
GASoxFan – Dewey is a Bloom guy. No explaining it. Like firing DD, it defies reason..
Benny had a 111 OPS+ and cost $8MM when Bloom traded him. Only a very bad GM would do that. Then to pile on Benny after the Red Sox tried to change his approach to hitting after he came out of a great college career and jumped successfully into the MLB game with next to no issues? Who does that? Only a Bloom apologist. Bloom is terrible and he’s got way too many people supporting him after the disaster he’s caused.
You really can’t be a true Red Sox fan and support Bloom after the damage he’s done to the team. Sure, ownership needs to be blamed for changing a successful 15 year run by firing Dombrowski but hiring Bloom without doing your due diligence and finding out he wasn’t part of the great choices in TB he was simply the guy taking credit for them, that’s inexcusable.
Benny is gone because he was a Dombrowski guy. Yes, he was a key aspect to the HUGE success Boston had under Dombrowski. Just like Mookie, Price, JD, Bogaerts and many others. Bloom has erased the chalkboard except for Sale and that will happen in a trade as soon as Sale proves he’s back.
Did Bloom solve any money issues? NO. He created them. Price’s money for 3 years was a burden that didn’t need to happen. Wise trading could have kept the payroll whole. The $40MM (actually slightly more than that) rolled off the books just like it would have for Dombrowski but Bloom got to use that money and wasted it. He spent $245.8MM for a 5th place team that was embarrassing to watch. Dombrowski did what he did in Boston in Philadelphia and fans are thrilled just like we would have been had he been kept. He would have insisted on keeping Mookie for $9MM more per year than we were already paying him. Price would have opted out in 2020 and the team would have been under the cap. Sale would still have been hurt but rather than buying tons of bad inexpensive players Dombrowski would have gotten impact players like he did when he got Kimbrel, Price, Sale, JD and Nate. Right now, Boston would still be a powerhouse in the AL East if ownership had allowed DD to do his job. But they wanted to divest their massive profits into other sports teams so Red Sox fans have paid a HUGE HUGE price for their bad choices.
To your last point about playing both Renfroe and Benintendi, OUTSTANDING!! Yes, Boston would have done better with both rather than the bad players they put in LF that year. Heck, send Kiki back to LAD and keep Benny and play him in CF. The team is still better off. Heck play JD in LF and Devers at DH and Benny in RF with Renfroe at 1B and the team is still better off.
Trading Benny for nothing like they traded Betts for nothing will be two of the biggest mistakes of Bloom’s tenure. Others include not signing Schwarber to DH and trading Devers for a real 3B. Not resigning Bogaerts, JD and Nate are all up there on the Bloom mistake list.
Yewed – great points. The payroll in 2020 would have been under the CBT thanks to COVID and Price’s opt out so losing Mookie was not an issue of money.
Bloom spent $30MM more than Dombrowski ever did in a single season for his 2022 players and rather than winning a division like Dombrowski did, Bloom finished last.
2023 should be a reset year since the team isn’t likely to win 81 games so why spend more than the cap? Big money was wasted on a foreign left fielder who is a higher average less power version of Benny except he can’t field, has no speed and costs $5MM more a year. We have a $10MM a year center fielder who has a lifetime average of .239 but during his two years in Boston he’s led off and hit .238!!! Our right fielder has nearly used up his controlled years while playing on sub standard Red Sox teams and still hasn’t proven to be the all-star Friedman hyped him to be. He’s a league average right fielder. The 3B can’t field and thinks he’s the best player in baseball and should be paid like it. The temp SS is solid if his arm is haalthy but knows his time is limited since the future Bloom star should be arriving in the next several years. The 2B is a retro-fitted 3B from SF who is league average at best and our 1Bs are both young inexperienced players hoping to break out at the major league level but haven’t so far except for a couple of half seasons by Dalbec. And that’s the good part of the team!!!
Boston is now weak at LF, CF, RF, 2B, 1B, C and one dimensional at 3B. They also are weak at DH unless Devers finally takes his rightful spot. The good news is the bullpen is beefed up for the next two years. The bad news is the offense will be so bad during the current contracts, there won’t be many games to save. The starting staff is coming off injuries and hasn’t proven themselves in years and is deep with inexperienced high potential pitchers who have yet to prove themselves.
So with all this garbage at all these positions I ask the same question you ask? Why did we go over the CAP in 2022 and will we go over in 2023 and still finish in 5th below .500? What sense does that make?
AITSTYW – It’s actually closer to $32MM left below the CAP. Jansen and Yoshida used $34MM to cut available money in half. Not exactly the star players one might hope for when you let go players like Bogey, JD, Eovaldi and even Vazquez. Lots of holes and not many solutions.
Does a team destined to win less than 81 games really need a big time closer for two years when it will take longer than that for their stars of the future to arrive?
The Dombrowski philosophy of 6 stars and the rest home grown and inexpensive players sure seems to produce a lot better results than 26 league average players costing over the cap.
All stories need to be taken with a grain of salt. It’s not unusual or even surprising for employees to question and not agree with new bosses.
I own a business and this is the norm. My challenge will be that if they’re questioning the procedure then maybe they’re not completely on board with the new vision. If they’re questioning it and not on board then it’s time for them to go. I’ve had to change things several times over the past few years and had to get rid of people that didn’t like the new direction.
It’s difficult to be successful in business if everybody isn’t on the same page.
Fever – You are correct AND with Mookie Boston would have been under the CAP in 2020 thanks to Price’s opt out. Yes, the reset would have been accomplished with Mookie on the roster. So would a draft pick have helped the team more than Verdugo, Downs and Wong? I think that’s a topic for debate.
One good pick has the potential to surpass a league average outfielder for several years while the team is bad, a journeyman catcher who had no upside potential of being a starter and a highly over-rated middle infielder who has been DFA’s already.
Boy that Mookie deal just keeps looking worse and worse as time passes proving that waiting until July to trade him would have been the superior decision in hind=sight and foresight to me.
Yes, in July the team would have been under the CAP and could have dealt Mookie or worked on keeping him since the tax issue was resolved. Also, in July LAD, SD and ATL would have bid more for an all-star who was leading the league in hitting if Mookie got off to the start he had in LAD. Yep, Bloom’s Blunder was the return for Mookie and the ownership’s blunder was firing DD and changing the upward direction of the franchise. A single bad season due to injuries and a bad manager should not have derailed the Red Sox franchise!!
I agree with a lot of what you said but it’s like comparing apples to oranges.
Dombrowski was hired for a different purpose than Bloom. DD is great when you’re team spends money. DD was in Detroit for 15 years, made the playoffs 5 times and didn’t win a ring. Boston spends more money so they did win a ring under his watch. Both teams were left a mess after he left.
We all complain about last season but never mention what happened.
In 2021 we made it to the ALCS with minimal injuries. Last season we were in the top 7 in injuries. Only 2 teams with more injuries made it to the playoffs with more injuries. Each made it in different ways. One with their minor league system and the other with that and payroll.
We can’t predict the offense. We lost X and JD but a full season of Story, Casas, Yoshida and Hernanadez can make that up. I don’t think offense will be the problem. Pitching is another subject. I may be wrong.
Until the Red Sox are able to draft and develop decent pitching this model will be an issue. The lack of development has been an issue long before Bloom.
My main issues are why go over the cap last season. If this is the model you knew would happen then why didn’t you trade X and Devers (and more) a couple years ago? Either suck it up and rebuild or don’t . This middle of the road stuff doesn’t cut it.
yeah cause Franchy Cordero ws so much better
U have no idea what u r gonna get out of casas yoshida and Hernandez story is a different story I do like his defense but the bat def needs to be better
That wouldn’t surprise me as Bloom talks like a politician – lots of verbiage without really saying anything. He makes Theo Epstein look transparent in comparison.
in Dec 2020 sox signed renfroe. In Feb 2021 sox traded benintendi.
Why not keep both? There was room in the OF for both.
=================================
Not unless Renfroe, Benni, or Verdugo played CF. All three are corner outfielders.
“Please stop listening to Joe as the Red Sox did NOT go over the threshold last year.”
mlbtraderumors.com/2022/09/mets-dodgers-luxury-tax…
I think you having some reading comprehension trouble. I said that the RS spend to the cap, or over, every year.
I never said they go over the cap every year.
I wondered where KD17 had gone to.
He’s been back a couple of weeks. I’ll run him off again in due time.
GASox – I agree it’s a dysfunctional front office.
It’s perfectly fine, and actually a good idea, for Bloom to receive input from various ops sources.
However he himself should be making the final decisions, and in a timely manner. Look how quickly the Mets jumped on Correa.
Your post does lend credence to the widespread belief that Bloom is so absorbed in all these dumpster diving players that he doesn’t spend enough time properly analyzing higher level ML players. Clearly that was the case with Story.
Pulled – The Mookie trade was Feb 4, before Covid threatened to shorten the season and before Price was influenced to sit out..
I’m no Bloom suckup, but the Mookie trade was 100% about money. Look at the players that were signed prior to 2020, the largest total contract was $14M for Hernandez. It was a reset year that was planned before the 2019 season even ended.
Other than that, I totally agree with you and appreciate your posts.
yewed – I’m in a managerial position and I always welcome differing viewpoints, as long as they are well thought out and the employee supports their differing view.
I would never want a yes-man working for me.
Joe – I wouldn’t expect you to know this, but Red Sox fans know Benny was a CF’er throughout his only two years in the minors (132 of his 136 career Minor League games) and he played CF in 71 MLB games between 2016-2019.
When you have a teammate like JBJ in his prime, you don’t get to play CF.
During those 4 years all the Red Sox announcers often referred to the Sox as having “3 CF’ers in the OF” whenever Benny, JBJ and Mookie manned the outfield at the same time.
Again, only a fan who actually followed the Red Sox would know this.
Joe – During one of your many attempts to defend Bloom’s lack of spending, you did say they went over the threshold in 2021.
2021 Joe … ya know, the year they had the best record in the AL during the early months, but failed to add any high-contract pieces at the trade deadline because they didn’t want to go over the threshold (Schwarber’s full season contract was only $7M).
Joe – Much longer than that, I pointed him out months ago.
yewed – I completely agree. It makes even less sense considering how little they went over.
yewed – Both Fangraphs and Spotrac have identical $202M projections for 2023.
Which, BTW, ranks 14th in MLB.
Yes that’s right folks … the Boston Red Sox have dropped down to 14th in payroll … and that includes $26M for Sale which Bloom had nothing to do with.
suit – Turner’s $11M is included in the $202M projection.
Red Sox are $31M below the 2023 threshold.
Pulled – Great post!!!
As for Jansen, I think he and Martin and Rodriguez could all be flipped prior to the trade deadline if the Sox fall out of contention early.
Fever – You just made my point. If Bloom waits until the absolute best time to deal a lame duck all-star future Hall of Famer it’s at the trade deadline when folks are most desperate. He waits and COVID happens and there are no money issues. There really weren’t any money issues anyway since Boston made over $600MM in 2018 and 2019 and they were $20MM over the cap which would have cost $10MM and wasn’t high enough to cost draft picks.
Signing bad players for low money after dumping $27MM and $16MM was not about money. If you or I dumped two star players we would have gone out and got two more star players that the owners liked. $600MM in profits covers mistakes like driving a tank over a cricket to kill it!!
People need to stop rewriting the Mookie deal. It was a monumental mistake by ownership for wanting him gone, it was a monumental mistake by Bloom for not dealing from strength in July and it was all caused by owners firing DD because he wanted to find a way to sign Mookie after a bad year where Cora mishandled Spring Training and key players got hurt.
The team could have stayed together with some smart leadership but the fired Dombrowski and the brains of the organization were gone. They hired a climber seeking to build a name who promised Red Sox fan the world and after three years hasn’t come close to delivering.
When you state 2020 was a reset year that was planned before 2019, that’s just wrong. That is not factual, that’s your opinion. I don’t believe Dombrowski cared about the CAP because he didn’t cause it. I also believe he knew that short sighted owners saving a nickel while making millions wasn’t going to stop him from putting a team on the field for less than the cap and the owners needed to man-up and cover THEIR mistakes.
Any quality GM would have done the same thing. I know I would have. There was no reason for Dombrowski to pay for problems created before he arrived. He came to Boston to stay under the CAP with the team he paid to put on the field and win divisions and rings. He did just that. That’s why he’s such a great GM. He finds great players that fill out a roster in a way that leads to winning. Injuries happen but the core group he brought to Boston topped off an already outstanding initial group left behind by Papi.
Bloom screwed up badly on the Mookie deal based on timing and return value. I’m giving him a pass on whether he wanted Mookie gone when he took the job. We can pretend he had no idea he was being tasked with giving away his best player. Verdugo’s 5 years, Down’s six years and Wong’s six years don’t equal one year of Mookie or the chance to smooth things over and sign him long term that DD would have had if he hadn’t been fired so the owners could go in a new direction.
Each Bloom troll that brings up the other id is identifying themselves as a paid supporters of Bloom. You can have fifty guys do it as you cross cover all the different Boston sites. I really don’t care. It adds no value to the discussion.
Pulled – Teams will always be able to get more in return for a player if the player is dealt prior to the season instead of in the middle of the season. They have more games to play, which means a greater impact. The recipient team has a better chance of extending the acquired player. And if you wait until midseason you risk the player getting injured, just like Schwarber did which decreased his trade value.
And I said the 2020 reset was planned before the END of the 2019 season, not before the 2019 season. This is 100% fact supported by many reports.
Pulled – I agree, there are some here who will praise everything Bloom does or doesn’t do and that bias adds nothing to the discussion. It also takes away their credibility.
Everyone should give credit when it’s due, but also blame when it’s due.
It’s easier to find a needle in a haystack than trying to understand bloom.
Jock – It’s hard to understand anyone who doesn’t know what they are doing.
It’s like you wanna believe there is some logic to the person’s actions, but as it turns out … there’s not.
Bloom gloom
‘Whiter and whiter’
Red Sox should sign JBJ, Price and Carl Crawford to prove u wrong.
It’s never an unfair observation or criticism in baseball, especially Boston.
It’s not fair given the overall situation where Latinos are dominating whereas the black athlete is more likely to choose football or basketball.
It’s never an unfair observation or criticism in baseball
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Of course it is unfair. Latinos are taking jobs from blacks, but they are doing so on merit. If you want to make an argument that Latinos are being unfair to blacks, I’d love to hear it.
Only if they bring Eck back to the booth
Hey Cashman…..offer the Sawks IKF please and thank you!
Story somewhere kicking rocks in very expensive loafers.
Chaim needs to look for the Delorean more than a SS to undo that deal.
I think Wendle would look good on the champs
Kim NG—Buy high sell low champ!
I think a player to be named later (of no great consequence) would get DeJong (and maybe even some cash) from Stl.. He’s a very good fielding shortstop, but Boston would be taking a chance they can get a dead cat bounce out of his bat. Some work with one of the academy’s like Driveline could do it, and there’s little risk for a large market team.
I mean what’s left to say at this point? I predicted 70 wins already and I’m losing optimism that they win even that many
As a Rays fan I hope Mendle gets to play for a team with good attendance. He’s played for the As, Rays, and fish. Any given night those three teams combined have a lower attendance then the Sox.
Six Shooter;
And he was drafted by and played minor league ball with Cleveland.
LOL
The way the Sox are looking for 23, Fenway might feel emptier than each of those stadiums.
Dewey – Never happen. Sox fans will go…
“….if you build it…..”. Just like Field of Dreams.
Thank God they’re posturing to sell.
Henry and Co are allegedly buying the Vegas NBA team, selling Liverpool and potentially in on the Washington Commanders. Take the 4+Billion they get for the Sox, covers the Vegas team and flip the soccer money for the football team.
What is your source for this?
I’ve seen reports that Liverpool was in the exploratory stages regarding a sale, but, nothing concrete and no sign up in the window yet.
My guess is they want to scale back to North American sports and focus on one continent and get some saturation here under a common legal and regulatory scheme.
The NBA purchase would have problems. LeBron James owns a stake in the fenway group. He has about 100m in contracts to play for the Lakers in 24-25 seasons. That would be a conflict.
As for the rest, who knows, but that fractured ownership presents issues in expansions.
suit – It’s common knowledge Henry is a businessman first and foremost. He made his fortune buying and selling commodities, it’s in his blood. Because of escalating salaries in the Premier League and MLB, Henry’s profit margin is evaporating. MLB owners always get a huge ROI when they sell, it doesn’t make sense for Henry to explore selling Liverpool and not do the same with the Red Sox. He already has 4 championships, he doesn’t have a hunger for #5.
Fever: The Red Sox are one of the most profitable teams in MLB. I doubt their profit margin is evaporating. If the Red Sox were approaching zero profit, half of MLB would be losing money. I find it hard to believe that a sports group that buys a variety of teams would sell one of the most profitable teams in MLB. Anything is possible, but I doubt it without any credible sources.
Attendance was down around 600,000 this season and the Red Sox are no longer the hottest ticket in town. Personally I hope Henry does sell. The Red Sox deserve an owner laser focused on the Red Sox not a owner where the Sox are just another bauble in a collection of teams where robbing Peter to pay paul becomes the norm.
The Red Sox deserve an owner laser focused on the Red Sox
==================
Four WSC under Henry. None in the previous gazillion years.
You forgot 5 last place finishes in the last decade.
Red Sox statement announcing Blooms hiring;
Chaim’s rise from intern with the Rays in 2005 to Senior Vice President, Baseball Operations speaks to his leadership, intelligence and work ethic,” Red Sox chairman Tom Werner added in Monday’s statement.
“He possesses the essential qualities to establish a sustainable baseball operation throughout the organization with an emphasis on long-term success at the major league level.”
Translation: The Red Sox are counting on Bloom to establish a more sustainable model of success than his predecessor.””
2 last place finishes in his first 3 years is a failure using their own standard. Full stop period.
Boxscore2 hours ago
You forgot 5 last place finishes in the last decade.
============================
I didn’t forget; I just didn’t care.
One of the things I learned from my poker playing days is that the best players never dwelled on their losses, only on their success.
That said, I cannot imagine a single person not willing to trade off 5 weak years for 4 world championships.
I live in what have you done for me lately.
So, what has boston done since 2018, and. Is the trend improving, or, worsening?
It’s like NYY fans harping about all the success they had…. before 2001. In the last 20 years they aren’t even in the top 5
GASoxFan2 hours ago
I live in what have you done for me lately.
============================
Worrying about short-term results leads to short-term thinking. Not my thing.
suit – The Red Sox were 6th in Operating Income ($69M) last year when they made it to the ALCS.
I’m guessing this year’s pathetic performance and low attendance will drop them down to middle of the pack.
They simply cannot maintain revenue streams if the product they put on the field is not competitive. And right now they are looking like a last place team.
Boxscore – Great post, you nailed it!
So, joe… if looking at a 5 year window expecting improvement in 5 years is too short term thinking, what do you think is a sufficient time to expect in professional sports?
86 years to a championship?
Joe – You really need to stop living in the past. It’s almost 2023 and the Sox have finished last 2 out of the past 3 seasons, have missed the playoffs 3 out of the past 4 seasons, and haven’t won any type of championship since 2018.
People change Joe, and so do their priorities. John Henry is not the owner he once was, and Larry Lucchino is no longer with the team.
GASox – Joe is the guy lounging on the deck of the Titanic as it’s slowly sinking, and saying “So far so good” while he sips on his chardonnay.
Fever Pitch – spot on.
Anyone who wants to claim Henry and Co are “as good as they every were” needs to explain to us why they haven’t sat down at an intro presser, had a visible presence in support of the product on the field, etc since 2020.
You know, since the Mookie trade.
These guys are like an.absentee landlord that hasn’t visited the property in 3 years. Have they seen how downhill its getting? Or are they pretending ignorance is bliss, heads in the sand. What isn’t seen doesn’t need to be fixed.
Only other explanation – embarrassment. When you don’t want to stand behind your product, or be associated with it, it’s time to rethink the business model.
GASox – Excellent point! I have been saying this for over a year now, John Henry is no longer visible like he used to be. He didn’t even participate in the Remy ceremony, or even show up for the traditional end of year press conference. And he’s gone on record as saying he doesn’t care what the fans think. He’s really beginning to be disliked as much as he is by the Liverpool fans, most of whom can’t stand him.
Fever – and you know how that lane progresses. He doesn’t need to care what fans think, but, the longer you go down that road the more and more your bottom line suffers.
I’m still as loyal to the sox as I ever was, but, I don’t spend on them anymore. As in not at all. In the early oughts i moved out of new england. But I still made a point to go to Boston games. I probably started going more than I had in the previous 2 decades or so. Back in 2007? I had box seats to ALCS 7. Went up from New Orleans.
In ’08 I caught my first monster seats, for the futures doubleheader. And went to some regular season games. I was up to about 16 games a year at that point.
Lots of memories over the next dozen years, jumping around the ballpark to take in games from different sections. Sat in a RF box to watch ells steal home against the yanks. Special ceremonies. Lots of wins, a few losses. Even got mom into going to Yankees games when I’d fly up into VT and drive her down for the day. Team store purchases? Lots. Cold days in the park and wind picks up? Buy another Hoodia or jacket, support the team and the players they invested in. Sure, money is worth less than memories. Whatever.
Whelp, these days I spend zero. No mlb streaming. No masked internet to connect to a nesn pkg I pay to have put on a relatives cable to get the login rights. No jerseys. No local spending. We were in MA all Sept this year except a few days in RI or CT. Know how many days I went to fenway?
Zero.
To use the parlance, until Henry ‘gets his head out of the pissah’, I’m done wasting money on that circus. Eventually, one at a time, he pisses off people who would drop $10k or $15k a piece going to games.
The last game we went to I just flew up for one day against the Yankees. Monster seats. Left Savannah Airport in the morning, caught the game, flew home. That was a couple years ago I guess now. All-in it was probably a $3k bill to the sox, I know the seats alone were face value over $1k each. Dinner at the club, more drinks, snacks in the seats, couple shirts, couple hats.
But, you alienate 1000 folks into refusing to make that trip? That’s $3million off Henry’s bottom line. And I bet more than that have been equally pissed off as I am.
At some point, you either start to care what fans think, or, you have the revenues of the rays, marlins, and Pirates.
GASox – Man I am so glad I came back and saw your post, as I never subscribe to the reply notification thing. We have a very similar background. I moved out of New England too, although much later. And I also have invested a huge amount of time and money following the team over the decades. I can always tell which ones are emotionally invested like myself, because they get it … they see when there’s something wrong with the franchise, and that’s why they aren’t happy.
I totally understand not going to Fenway in September, attending meaningless games at a premium price (tickets, tolls, parking, concessions, etc) is quite depressing. It will be a long time, if ever, that I see another era of big personalities like Pedro, Ortiz, Manny, Damon, Papelbon, Varitek, Schilling, etc.
The one big difference between you and I, over the decades I’ve attended several hundred road games. How come you’ve never driven to Atlanta or Tampa to see them? At least FSG wouldn’t be getting your money that way. And I have the MLB.tv package for free through T-Mobile, so no need for me to subscribe to NESN.
BTW – I was at that same 2007 Game 7, box seats along the 3B line. It was a great night, but I was disappointed the on-field celebration was so tame. That’s because the team was spoken to after the craziness that ensued when they clinched the division title weeks earlier. I was at that game also, Pap put on an amazing show.
Fever, we probably passed and never knew it. We would’ve been not far from eachother in ’07. I was also on the 3B side, past the dugout but front row of the second box from the field.
After New Orleans I spent a bit more than a decade in Atlanta. Had season tickets to the braves, left side outfield, first row. First turner, then SunTrust. Moved away just after renaming to truist. Used to own several properties about 15 minutes from the new field, got to watch them build it. So I did catch a bunch of atl/bos games.
I was a braves fan except when the sox came to town. Then I’d break out a retro Yaz jersey. I adopted the braves to support the local team, and, to watch the non-dh game and how differently it was played with all the chess match bench moves. The ATL outfield is every bit as good as fenway RF grandstands when it comes to taunting and rowdyness. Sometimes better. It was amusing though, you’d get some good ol boys taunting us thinking from the sox jerseys we were from out of town, until other season holders in the section who were used to seeing us there gave them crap back. Lots of confused looks about that one.
But, back in ’21 we had sold the last farm outside Atlanta as well and shifted to the coastal area full-time. Gave up control of the seats to one of the deans at Emory law school and a couple lawyers, but, I’m sure they’d let me buy back in if I asked. Again though, what bloom has been doing…. not terribly interested in spending a bunch of money to watch what he’s putting together.
And to be honest, the new place has occupied most of the time with building and renovating works. Been doing it all without hiring out work. Let me tell you – if you wife ever picks out 24×24″ italian marble slabs that are 1.5″ thick… and says, tile the master suite in this….
1) don’t do it.
2) make sure they’re 24×24″ and not 23.5×23.5″
3) still don’t do it.
What a PITA that was. At least I over-ordered, but, the partial refund for off-sizing still didnt make it worth it.
GASox – I agree, we probably did. And you probably saw me on TV behind home plate or the Sox dugout for many games, or interviewed, or being asked questions at the annual Town Hall.
I have never been to a game in Atlanta, but hope to attend the 2-game series in May.
As for flooring, when my wife wanted new tile floors in the bathrooms … I bought the peel and stick flooring and did it myself.
When she wanted new wood floors for the living room … I bought laminate and installed it myself.
It’s all about compromise …. and not raising the bar. LOL
Fever –
The new ballpark is a LOT safer than the old one. Less pan handlers, but, still not none. Because of the corner they built in to keep an ‘atlanta’ mailing address, I wouldn’t recommend too much exploring outside the actual battery itself. It’s a fringe corner, a sliver of transitioning are la that spikes upwards towards what they call east Cobb. If you want to do restaurants outside the braves development, do yourself a favor and drive the 15 or 20 minutes (non gametime) travel into East cobb. Much much safer and higher quality, that where I owned the houses.
Even the overhyped ‘Buckhead’ is overrated and the APD has a policy publicly announced of not responding to ‘property crimes’ which you can imagine how that impacts things.
Although, if you do go, there are some hidden gems outside east Cobb proper that are a good time.
Nearer the battery area:
* Basic Italian food or pizza – ‘frankie’s’ on canton rd in Marietta.
* Southern comfort food – ‘Johnboy’s’ also on canton rd in Marietts.
Further out:
* chinese/Asian food: Pyng Ho, Clairmont rd Decatur. Scorpion bowl and ginger chicken recommended.
* sushi/lunch specials: XenGo, shallowford rd, East cobb
* korean/some specials: mango’s sushi and grill, hickory Grove rd, I think Kennesaw or nearby.
* steaks: Ruth’s Chris in Kennesaw if you want to be pricey but good.
* other meats and steaks:fogo de chao in sandy springs, brazillian steakhouse. Don’t mess with the other location, sandy springs is the one you want. Another reservations recommended, they book up, sometimes have coupons. If using one show when seating, or, they can be very chaim bloomish.
* Fish – ignore legal sea foods in Atl, it sux. Small place called The Red Snapper on i think cheshire bridge rd. Probably an atlanta address, should be only one of them. Been there decades as the area nearby transitioned. Linen tablecloths and napkins with nice atmosphere now near a tattoo parlor. Reservations recommended, they book up way ahead.
* BBQ – Fox Brothers BBQ in Atlanta.
Really further out: seven gables in conyers, down I20 just east of the city. Limited days of operation. Chateaubriand is pretty good, it’s an oldie but goodie from before the area transitioning. If it’s still open a.nice quiet atmosphere with high end dishes. Another reservations recommended type.
I find knowing some places to try really improve the experience. If you have time, the Aquarian is well worth the trip. They also host adults only extended hours (sometimes sleepover) events with alcohol and hors d’oeuvres, sometimes more appetizers or bigger. But during a regular day eat before going down.
Also, I don’t think I’ve written it yet. Been off and on doing a surprise Wigilia celebration for the folks with all the bells and whistles – hay under the tablecloth, 12 courses, whole ten yards after hearing their meager plans. More cooking and work that I was really up for, but, worth it.
So, a very Merry Christmas, to you, and all others here, even those I disagree with from time to time but still enjoy hearing from.
Na Zdrowie!
GASox – Fantastic advice, thank you! I’ve copied and pasted your post into an email sent to myself.
You provided much more detailed info than what I had been given, which was simply “Don’t go south of the stadium”. LOL
I do get a little nervous when I visit a baseball city for the first time.
GASox – Merry Christmas to you as well!
I have an in-law who is Polish, but never heard of Wigilia before, I always enjoy learning.
GASox and Fever – Fun read. Happy holidays.
Solid player but we need right handed bats.
Alright I wouldn’t mind Joey Wendle to play second as a Sox fan (if it is a reasonable prospect price). Bloom hasn’t shown much of a penchant for making good trades but we’ll see. Could be a solid landing spot for Dalbec or Duran as a side piece in a deal.
Really u r ok with Joey wendle smh
He ain’t no Xander Bogaerts, not even close.
I think Christian Arroyo would be a better starting option than this guy.
He is hurt a lot
Pwndroia – Wendle is for when Arroyo is hurt…
Hi JC#1;
Wendle can play 2B, SS, and 3B. In a pinch LF and 1B.
Throw the depth chart out. The Sox will have a number of position players that will get 400-450 PA’s in 2023. Like most MLB teams do now.
Injuries happen. Some players need to be sat down against certain pitchers. All teams go through over 30 pitchers a year on their 26 man roster; and at least 22 position players. Just the way MLB is played today.
Kinda sad but true if u had to choose like which guy will suck less
Hmmm… one team has done little this offseason, while the other has done almost nothing. I’m guessing this is a trade discussion that brings all the sound and fury, but will signify nothing.
You’re only half right.
Marlins have mostly stood pat. Sox have taken leaps backwards.
I don’t care where you look on the diamond, with the exception of the bullpen which is debatable ONLY because it was so bad before, the sox stepped backwards and replaced pieces either with giant question marks due to age or lack of track record, or, moved in a clearly inferior replacement.
So, standing pat is always better than moving backwards
Finding a CF option is much, much harder than finding a SS in this current market. Internally the optiond are Duran and Ceddane Rafaela and neither is a proven commodity. The Sox would be better bringing in Elvis Andrus or Jose Iglesias rather than weakening the OF by moving Hernandez to SS
Totally agree. Much better options currently at SS than there are for outfielders in general much less CF. Especially at Fenway.
Sox outfield is already a defensive mess. Yoshida’s biggest negative seems to be his defense. Hernandez is solid in CF but Verdugo in RF is a mess.
He could get by in LF but putting him in RF in that park is not going to be pretty.
If the RS bring in a CF, it would have to be via trade. I’d like to kick the tires on Alex Thomas.
After the Varsho trade it’s unlikely the D’backs trade Thomas and if they did the asking price is probably more than what the Sox have to offer.
I could see Bloom trying to get Ramon Laureano if the A’s are looking to sell low of maybe Mike Yastrzemski from the Giants
My guess is Andrus or Iglesias. Sox are not in a position to be trading away from their unreliable farm system anyways.
Now that the Mets are spending again, apparently it’s the Red Sox time to be the “Big Market Team that acts like a small market team.”
Just my humble opinion but I have zero doubt that the Red Sox will not be in the running for a ring this year. That being said, what would make the difference at this point would be major trades for really good players to fill the rotation with quality, and perhaps as many as 2 bats. How many prospects does that take to get the players we would need to contend? The point of having a roster for a couple years with so many flaws was to retain that talent, or we could have easily made trades to fill those needs in the pen, rotation, and outfield. We did not because that was the point of allowing the team to have those blatant flaws.
I think the better route this year is to figure out a way to retain Devers, and just let the prospects have at it to fill those slots. Let them get time since we are losing anyway. Bring them up and start to evaluate what we actually have rather than have speculative prospects. If anyone thinks we have a playoff team as is or thinks the haul in prospects is worth the long shot of getting in the playoffs that is fine. It would be hard for the GM to justify it though. I think we have an 80ish-win team if it stays healthy. I personally don’t mind having a 70ish-win team with prospects at this point. We will get to see how they do, know that it wasn’t going to be much better with what is available, and be able to see what we have in the minors, reset some payroll, and perhaps target what we need next year to reload for a run.
William – My opinion is 2023 is already gone so Boston fans need to focus on the future without Bloom. Ownership may sell the team and whether they sell the team or not there is still a CAP of $233MM that should be used for quality players.
If Bloom is gone then the only thing holding back Boston from being great again is finding a guy like DD who knows great players worth their high cost and any contracts Bloom makes before he is fired. The Yoshida contract costs Boston $18MM for 5 years but a team like Seattle might be interested in trading for him based on their history with Japanese players. Story is a solid player for $23.3MM and may have to play SS for his entire contract if Mayer is a bust.
By 2025 Boston only has Sale, Story, Yoshida and Whitlock.on the books as veteran players. They have many controllable players who will keep getting raises but for the most part the available money under the cap will be close to $170MM. Jansen and Martin will be gone. So the team will have a clean slate like they had going into 2023 before Bloom wasted money on Yoshida, Jansen and Martin rather than signing Nate, Bogey and JD.
Devers needs to be traded after Bloom leaves because Bloom is so incredibly bad at trading. It is really critical that the team be sold and the new owners replace Bloom the day they buy the team so Devers can be signed for a reasonable number like what Yordan Alvarez got or be traded for quality players. I have no faith in Bloom bringing back quality players after he dumped Mookie for next to nothing, traded Benny for nothing, traded Chavis for nothing. He’s proven many times he’s not good at trading so Devers needs to be traded after the sale of the team this winter.
Every day Bloom stays in his current position the Red Sox chance of being great is pushed farther into the future. Thanks to the 2023 off season mistakes, Boston won’t have a chance for being competitive until at least 2025. For every year Bloom has been here, the future success of the team has been pushed back two years.
I said in January 2020 that the Mookie deal would render Boston non=competitive for 5 years. At this point, I may have been a bit too optimistic. it’s going into year four and we are no less than 3 years away from having a competitive team and we need new ownership to make that happen faster.
I said in January 2020 that the Mookie deal would render Boston non=competitive for 5 years.
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And one year later, they proved you wrong. Good call.
JoeBrady – One year later? in 2020 because 1 year later that was the only season that had played. Seems like they couldn’t have proven me wrong or right since 5 years hadn’t passed yet.
So when someone says a team will be non-competitive for 5 years you can check mark each year along the way or wait 5 years and say yes or no. That’s how this works. If you want to take a snapshot on a day they win and say they are competitive, then you simply don’t get the concept. You think 2021 was competitive. Don’t confuse limited success with competitive. They had no shot at winning a ring in any year since 2018 except 2019 but injuries and Cora destroyed that year and now the competitiveness is gone. Yes, it’s gone. 4 games over .500 in 3 seasons isn’t competitive.
Cherry picking a short enough segment and claiming my statement is wrong is immature. Grow up and face facts. Bloom destroyed the Red Sox and it will take years to fix them if they get a good GM after Bloom.
Lets see if you post a championship ring ceremony before the 5 years are up. Heck, you won’t even get a division winner t-shirt during the 5 years but you might get a #1 pick in the rule 4 draft!!
Please someone remind Bloom that he needs starting pitching not infielders. I don’t have any idea of the outfield defense. The weakness with Yoshida is his defense and Verdugo is not exactly the best defensively either.
William;
I think you’re on point to a degree.
The reality is that with Devers and Bogaerts the team finished in last place in the AL East. Of course Bogaerts is gone while Devers very probably wants $400m to sign. That’s just silly for a team that doesn’t have the pitching or the young core players to contend in 2023 or (realistically) 2024. They can get a couple of decent young players for Devers and should go ahead and do it before he suffers an injury and no one will trade for him.
The Red Sox future is primarily coming up to the higher minor league levels. Some are up now. The coaching staff needs to make those players better; and if they can’t the FO needs to either get better players to work with or better coaches. In MLB today teams need to develop their own…..particularly pitchers…unless you have an owner like the Mets and Padres and to some degree the Phillies.
You are correct. To sustain winning an organization needs primarily players with multiple years of control on their ML roster. All MLB FO’s know that.
Samuel – As much grief that is given to Dombrowski he understood how to be a great GM. He built a timeline for success. His contracts aligned with the years he brought in players and ended in 2022 for the most part. That is the continuity you are talking about. He planned for a highly competitive team during the 2017 to 2022 time frame and set 2023 as his transition year to determine the good that still existed on the team and to identify what was the new needs for 2023 and beyond. His plan was working with 3 Division Titles and a Ring then got sidetracked with injuries in 2019 and some bad decisions by Cora after winning it all in 2018. That one year should not have been anything more than a speed bump but instead it turned out to be the owners opportunity to spin their steering wheel to the right and take the team over the guard rail and off the cliff into the rocks below. The Red Sox might have had another ring or two if not for ownership’s change in direction. Dombrowski refused to lower payroll to accommodate prior mistakes by the owners because he wanted to provide a team that sustained it’s greatness. 104 games over .500 in less than four years was his proof of success. Now that car is sitting at the bottom of the mountain severely damaged without much hope of returning to the road in the next several years.
Your observation about what Boston needs is spot on. Dombrowski was giving them exactly what you are suggesting and now he’s doing it for Philadelphia and the Red Sox are hapless with Bloom.
Bloom got the same big bucks and more that DD got and now DD is getting it elsewhere and once again providing a great team for his local fans while Bloom continues to fail miserably.
Change is needed sooner rather than later. Someone with a plan like you suggested is needed immediately to fix what Bloom has broken..
PulledaBloom;
I’ve been on here saying that with all the complaining about Mr. Dombrowski, he was the best FO person to bring the Sox back from the bad contracts.
Here’s something you need to consider as you – like most Red Sox fans on here – only talk about money and the players it buys…..
1, The Sox had the 6th MLB highest payroll in 2022. They finished in last place in the AL East..
2. Bogaerts wanted at least another $10m for 2023, and while Devers is under contact for 2023, he’ll want at least another $15m in 2024…..with his salary escalating from there.
3. Salaries are increasing to such a degree for the top players, that very few teams can afford to field a quality veteran player at each position; and quality pitchers salaries are skyrocketing even more. Starters now go around 175 innings a year and back-end bullpen guys go 60-75 innings a year. A team pitches 1,400 innings a year. Assuming the Red Sox buy a pitching staff as they really don’t have more than 2 or 3 quality pitchers today (and pitching is the name of the game) – that alone will eat up most of the money going to the luxury tax.
What I’m getting at is that teams have to be able to develop not only some players that are under their 6 years of control and are affordable, but they have to have at least half of their players under that control before they pay the high veteran salaries…..and even then they’re in luxury tax territory.
Everyone saw Mr. Dombrowski spending for FA’s. But as he said early last offseason – money was all he had to work with. He needed to keep the Phillies young players that could be productive because of payroll limitations, so he had little to trade that would bring back multiple affordable players. I’ve watch a lot of Phillies game the past 2 years. When DD switched mangers to Rob Thomson during the season in 2022, the players started working extensively with the coaches. The 2 areas of weakness – the defense and bullpen radically improved…some of that was done with players sent to AAA for a few weeks to make adjustments.
Red Sox fans posting on here think MLB is rotisserie league. Just pay more money and the players will come. It’s not like that. Players have options as FA’s and even those under contract may have limitations as to where they can be traded to. Boston has a terrible reputation with players as a place to play, as they see that as soon as a guy has a bad stretch or bad year the fans are all over him, demanding he be gone. As the saying goes – “Your money is only so green”.
The Red Sox have to develop some of their own players. Whether it’s players they drafted that come through their farm system, or players they acquired in trade, waiver wire, etc. and coach them up. Again, this is especially true of pitchers. That’s what DD did with the Phillies in 2022.
If Mr. Bloom’s not the guy to head the organization up, that’s fine. But bringing in another FO head is not going to change what must be done. And it takes years to build an organizational infrastructure – the Orioles have, but you people discount that. Watch what happens there the next 2 years.
Red Sox posters on here have decided that Mr. Bloom’s time is limited (they wrote that last year as well). Now they’ve decided that Mr. Henry will sell the franchise. That’s nice, but there are no indications at this time that either of those possibilities have any traction whatsoever.
PulledaBloom;
One other thing…..
I believe you’re totally right about Mr. Bloom’s trades.
The early one’s I give him a pass on, as strong organizations make better trades because the scouting department, analysts, and coaches are on the same page as to what they’re looking for and how they can coach up the players they’ll be receiving. That organizational coordination takes time for people to learn to work together. But the later trades haven’t worked out very well either.
As I’ve written previously, Mr. Bloom was brought in with the idea that he could set up a structure to develop pitchers – particularly starting pitchers. That doesn’t happen in a year or two. Most teams want to develop pitchers. Few do.
I believe that if a number of the players on the pitching staff don’t show major improvement in 2023 then Mr. Henry should cut his losses and move on.
The Red Sox have to develop some of their own players.
And that’s exactly why Bloom is here. My philosophy is that you have 16 primary players (9+5+1) and 11 bench/BP players. You need to develop two regulars + one bench/BP player, EVERY YEAR.
Since Theo left, this is out US draft results
2012-Nothing
2013-Nothing
2014-Kopech (3.7 bWAR)
2015-Benni 15.7
2016-Espinal 4.9 (but I’m not sure RS get credit for development)
2017-Houck 4.5
2018-Casas
2019-Nothing
In 8 years, we’ve drafted and developed one regular, one bench player, and maybe 3 players that might still develop. It is not possible to spend enough to overcome the draft deficit.
Joe;
Keep in mind that the Orioles have drafted very few pitchers. The top 2 – DL Hall and Grayson Rodriguez – will be finally be seeing some major action in 2023. Their bullpen was very good in 2022; to a point where they traded their All-Star closer and replaced him with their top set-up guy….who wound up pitching better than the All-Star closer. Their starting staff primarily came from DFA and waiver wire signings as well, and did decently….most showing improvement in 2022.
A few of their position players were picked up off the scrap heap as well, but most of those were drafted.
Point being that the Red Sox have not been very good about finding projects and developing them at the major league level. Everyone complains about Mr. Bloom coming from the Rays and making the Red Sox the Rays. If he did that there would be no problem. The Rays find scrap heap bargains as well as undervalued players in trade and immediately bring them along to be productive players at the ML level. Since the Red Sox have so much more of a payroll budget one would think they could do some of that as well as bring along players currently on the roster. Something is not going right with the manager and coaching staff as well as information they’re getting from the analytical people.
If bloom were attempting to prioritize developing pitching, let’s give that an if, why wasn’t song on the RL not costing roster space and keeping him out of the rule5?
Why was ward left off, but brasier kept on?
And, to a lesser extent, why was politi let go unprotected when he had pretty good AAA numbers last year and hadn’t even seen a tryout at mlb yet?
If it’s a priority, and pitching is so expensive (I agree with the latter) those three moves are pretty inexcusable.
Joe, i dont have the time to dive into the draft results right now, but there are a couple AAAA or ‘jury is out’ names id add to your list. Only reason i say include them is because you mention developing a bench player a year
I also dont think its fair to limit to us draft only and exclude international signing.
But that said, that math doesn’t quite add up either. If you want each ball club to develop 3 players a year out of US draft results alone? Or even including intl, it still doesn’t add up.
For each team to add 3 new players to the 26 man spots per season (or more), you need to remember that means calling for 90 rookies a year league wide.
There are only 780 26 man spots league wide. That means you want players to only have an average career length of just over 8 years in total? Even accounting for RP volatility, most guys don’t hit FA, play 2 years, and retire. So there simply aren’t the roster spots to bring up 3 rookies a year, league wide.
Typical development, without tanking, and unless you trade to bring in a close to mlb ready core, is you get a quality player maybe every 2 year, sometimes 3. From all sources including international signings. Then maybe once a year you get a fringe AAAA/bench type, and a relief arm or two of middling quality, some of whom only last a couple months.
Since the Red Sox have so much more of a payroll budget one would think they could do some of that as well
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There is a couple of issues with this
When the O’s picked up Mateo, I said it was a great move. He would either fulfill some of prospect potential, and they win, or he could continue to suck, and they still win via a better draft choice. Big market teams don’t have the same freedom to play these types of gambles.
And the RS have had some success picking up guys like Arroyo, Schreiber & Whitlock.
Samuel – I agree coaching/managing impacts success as does culture. When you hire a once convicted cheater and twice accused cheater as manager you create a very specific environment in the clubhouse. Shortcuts were a way of life for Cora in his playing days and his managing days. That transitions to the team and that’s a great reason not to hire him even if you need a bilingual manager.
The money used to buy players should take into account many things:
1 – Chemistry
2 – Team player (Sale) vs self focused player (Devers)
3 – Flexibility (number of positions covered when injuries happen)
4 – Physical Skills
5 – Mental skills (baseball acumen)
6 – Energy and positive attitude
Dombrowski has been successful finding guys with the right combination of these attributes and more. I only care about money in that I want to see greater value than cost in each player signed. Bloom preached that in the interview process then never implemented it. Nepotism has always been a big part of his time in Boston. He allowed Cora to convince him of an imaginary value of Kiki compared to his high cost for a journeyman below league average player who hit .241 for nearly a decade. He liked Arroyo many years ago so he brought him to Boston when far more cost effective 2Bs were available. He could have had Semien two years ago for less than Story got last year.
Henry hasn’t changed any of his money support of the team that I can see. I have heard the rumors about him wanting to sell the team and if that happens it might speed up the dismissal of Bloom so I root for it. The recovery can’t happen until Bloom is gone. All we can hope for is that he doesn’t make things much worse before he is fired.
Boston for years has had a very bad organization because it’s far too political. Devers being declared the future of the Red Sox at 16 because the front office wanted to build a pipeline to the Dominican Republic Academy is a prime example. Then a highly respected AA manager tells the MLB club that Devers’ defense was getting better when his fielding percentage was below .940 in the minors at AA and all other levels. This shows a lack of integrity in the farm system.
I simply don’t see the key people in the organization being the diehard Red Sox people that they should be. Don’t promote a player to the front office based on their country of origin, his family, his religion or the language he speaks, Promote him because they can hit, field, run and/or pitch. That’s all!!
Turn the farm system into a merit system not a political system and maybe this team could have sustained success. Right now, to me, the whole organization lacks integrity. It starts with Cora, moves to Bloom in that he duped Boston into thinking he was the brains in TB and it ends with the owners not being up front about not focusing on the Red Sox after they had 15 great years of focus.
I enjoy reading your comments. Very thought provoking.
“I simply don’t see the key people in the organization being the diehard Red Sox people that they should be.”
How can they be?
You know, Mr. Henry’s first experience as an MLB owner was with the Yankees as one of many minority owners. It’s there that he impressed the Commissioner enough to be given the reins to the Red Sox – the pit stop in Miami was all a set up until the sale from the trust fund.
Mr. Henty seems to have learned from George Steinbrenner. No matter who’s running the franchise – President, Baseball Ops, etc, – the owner runs the franchise. The others can take the heat and be replaced when the owner wants to change direction…..which has nothing to do with what they did. The political crap which happened with Theo, Tito, and Cherrington where non-Baseball Ops people were making major decisions while they were to carry them out, was crazy to me. And the funny thing was that those non-baseball people were fighting with one another to get Henry’s ear. It was bureaucrats arguing with bureaucrats. All political. The owner allowed and encouraged it. Cost the Red Sox the best manager of this generation….also won them 4 WS’s this century.
Dan Shaughnessy had an article in the Globe the other day saying don’t blame the Baseball Ops guy, look to the owner. Dan has been around a long time. It’s not the first…..or second…or third…or……he’s written an article like that since Mr. Henry became Red Sox owner.
Joe – Weak historical effort on the draft years. Did deeper next time. Lets fix what you said wrong.
First – Each team has a 26 man roster. Of those 26 players, some portion needs to be designated for Big Money to have all-stars on the team. Dombrowski chose 6 players as his foundation. Bloom has stripped Boston of 5 of the six foundational players (all but Sale) and has added back Story.
Your theories on development are truly JUST YOUR THEORIES!! There is no right number of players to develop each year. It can’t be defined that simply and your NOTHING in 2012 is ironically incorrect. Boston did not sign a kid named Alex Bregman out of HS in 2012 but they drafted him. All those years of suffering with Devers at 3B could have been avoided!!!!.
Lets look at this as if we are baseball people not someone without a clue how things work. The 9 hitting positions in the line-up need to be a balance of expensive stars, home grown future stars and complimentary free agents that fill the holes in the roster. If Mayer arrives in 2023 or 2025 it’s not a success or failure depending on the year, it’s a success or failure depending on whether he rises to an all-star level or an OPS+ at or above 130. (my arbitrary choice not a fact).
Right now, LF,CF and RF are all filled by league average or below players. For the team to be successful in the future that needs to change. Betts was elite, Benny was slightly above league average and JBJ was slightly below league average but extraordinary on defense. That was a far superior situation which led to great success. Boston must FIX Bloom’s outfield in the future.
Right now the infield has a great hitting poor fielding 3B, an all-star level 2B who is going to attempt to return to SS after an arm injury, a below league average 2B, 2 below league average 1Bs and a below league average Catcher. 3B hasn’t changed since Bloom arrived but is far worse than it should be thanks to not moving Devers to DH. SS has moved backward from Bogaerts to Story and until Yorke arrives and proves himself 2B is a wasteland of below league average players, and until Casas or Dalbec take a huge step up 1B is also a below league average position. Moreland was a league average 1B with a gold glove and Pedroia was an all-star who got significantly injured which created a void in the 2018 line-up that was filled by league average players so Boston could win without Yorke being an all-star but the good news is that he has that upside potential compared to Arroyo. Likewise, Casas and Dalbec have great potential upside. Far more than Moreland offered but until they jump to league average, Boston will be hurting at 1B. As much as Vazquez goes, he didn’t get the respect from Bloom, that he deserved. He had one off year out of four and was a slightly above league average catcher. Boston has none now and has nobody in the farm system that likely will arrive by 2025.
So Joe, even if players did start coming out of the farm system at the rate you suggested this team won’t recover from Bloom’s actions for years.
Lets work on your math. 16 primary players AKA Starting Players do fill out the day to day roster and that leaves 6 players for the bullpen and 4 bench players who are hitters. The service time is 6 years so if you add
two regulars per year in 6 years that’s 12 regulars that are dirt cheap for 1 to 6 years. These 12 regulars would displace all but 4 of the primary players on day 1. If any team could do that they would be a juggernaut. Why? Because without spending much money at all they would have 12 of their 16 key players. Your expectations are WAY, WAY too high.
Also, these players can not overlap by position. They can’t be promoted inconsistently because an average of 2 a year could be 4 one year and none the next. You have over simplified the concept..
Last point. Here are the facts about the success of the draft classes by each of the last four GMs starting in 2010.
Epstein Draft
2010 – Workman (RD2), Hunter Renfroe (RD21)
Cherington Drafts
2011 – Barnes (RD1), Swihart (RD1), JBJ (RD1S), Betts (RD5), Shaw(RD9)
2012 – Alex Bregman (RD29)
2013 – Dubon
2014 – Chavis (RD1), Kopech (RD1), Travis (RD2),Beeks (RD12)
2015 – Benintendi (RD1), Lakins (RD6)
Dombrowski Drafts
2016 – Dalbec (RD4), Espinal (RD10)
2017 – Houck (RD1), Kutter Crawford (RD16)
2018 – Casas (RD1), Durran (RD7)
2019 – Song (RD4) (Military Deferment player)
Bloom Drafts
2020 – Yorke (RD1), B. Jordan (RD2) (TWO HS players)
2021 – Mayer (RD1), HS player with 4th pick in draft
So what’s missing from your list? Signees from other countries like Devers.
So in the 2010s Boston home grown players that are no longer here mostly because of Bloom were:
C – Swihart – Highly rated by faulty ranking system was a bust
1B – Dalbec and Casas – the jury is out on them
2B – Pedroia now Yorke – Pedroia’s serious injury hurt the franchise severely
SS – Bogaerts
3B – Devers
LF – Benintendi
CF – JBJ
RF – Betts
Funny how your cherry picked list only includes Benintendi and Casas.
Bloom destroyed a team built on home grown players. It will take years to cultivate similar results from the minors and during that time the great Free Agents gathered by Dombrowski have also been shed by Bloom.
That leaves a real mess, the 2023 Boston Red Sox. Thank you Bloom. May life treat you as well as you have treated the Boston Red Sox roster!!
Always liked Wendle. Not overjoyed but they could have gone for way worse. I would despise Miguel Rojas on this team.
Why is that? He would immediately become their second best infielder
We don’t need just all defense guys. Jackie Bradley was enough.
I’m OK with 2 all-defense guys on the roster as bench pieces and as long as they have plus-plus speed as pinch runner options.
When someone gets hurt, or, if you’ve got a lead to protect and want to pull devers-the-butcher out off 3B to prevent errors, that’s fine. I suspect yoshi will be worse than Devers, and, worse than JDM was in the field as well. 2 guys you need to lift late in a game.
However, before trading for Wendle, I’d have looked to sign Iglesias for cash only.
Wow now I know why the Red Sox didn’t want Bogarts back when they have their eye on Joey Wendle. This should lock them into a last place finish. Im excited thanks John Henry for desroying the Red Sox fan base
I’m frustrated that names like Joey Wendle come up in December when a league average utility player like Wendle should be the last thing you add after you have your hitters set. This team doesn’t need yet another league average cheap player who adds depth.
They need above league average starters in LF, CF, RF, 2B (Story at SS), 1B and C. They could also use a 3B so Devers could be DH. Wendle solves none of those issues so who cares if he gets signed or not.
We all simply need to sit on our hands until Bloom is fired or the team is sold and Bloom is fired. Until then, this is a minor league team playing in a major league park. We’ll all root for all the players but setting expectations as high as a .500 season seems completely irresponsible. Bloom has tanked the team while trying to turn them into a sustainable winning franchise. He needs to go.
I completely agree. This guy is another high upside low salary guy who is nothing special. This is a guy you pick up in late January as a backup player. This is where Chaim Bloom is when he should be interested in the top players available instead of in the weeds with Wendle.Bloom who is addicted to his BAHGAINS and Such a DEAL has turned this organization into the Boston Paupers. It is a complete joke and high market team has been turned into the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals. The prices Henry is charging to watch this second rate team Chaim Bloom has created are indicative of watching a minor league team at high market prices. I don’t know how Henry does not see the incompetence of Chaim Bloom ruining his franchise.
The Red Sox would be better off with Mr. Wendal than Joey Wendle at this point. Mr. Wendal would give them at least 3 years 5 months and 2 days in the life of.
Take 5 Minutes: look back @ Tampa when they signed their first $100 M contract; it was a 3 B. They just signed their 2 nd $100 M + contract. They won’t pay players unless they are Young and Productive.
Why pay Boggie and Devers $300 M now, it’s too late, when you can get a Wendle, Turner Iglesias or Andrus for under $10 M???
I like players that are hungry and want to show what they’ve got left in the tank. If they are going nowhere by July 4 th and Sale is pitching well–see ya–If Sale wins 20 what good is it if you don’t make the playoffs?
They signed Whitlock last season. They should do the same with Houck to semi-long contracts. We wouldn’t be in the Devers predicament if Devers was offered $100 M 3 years ago for a 5 to 8 deal.
Have a plan and stick to it. Have a good eye for talent.
I question players with hamstring issues and arm issues that haven’t had TJS.
Chaim likes Wendle because he has bought into the Rays Playbook. I’ll watch the Sox as I have since I went to my first Sox game circa 1950. I walked up the stairs between home and 1 B and remember the LF wall and the green grass-I have been hooked ever since. There have been many great players and there will continue to be many more. They may not be named Mookie, Xander. and Raffy but there will be others.
There has been a lot of trade / signing activity in the last few days.. should someone call in a wellness check on C. Bloom ? Bad time of the year for someone to pass .
ugh why
Merry Christmas to all my fellow Red Sox Family. We might not agree on everything but all our opinions are valued !