The Red Sox and left-hander Josh Taylor are in agreement on a contract for 2023, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Taylor will earn a salary of $1.025MM in the upcoming campaign.
It’s been a rollercoaster for Taylor over the past few seasons. He made his MLB debut in 2019 and made 52 appearances with a solid 3.04 ERA. However, he went to the injured list multiple times in 2020 and was only able to get into eight games, posting a 9.82 ERA in those. He was able to get back on track in 2021 by getting into 61 games with a 3.40 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate, 11% walk rate and 43.4% ground ball rate.
He reached arbitration for the first time as a Super Two player and agreed to a salary of $1.025MM for 2022. Unfortunately, a low back strain kept him on the injured list for the entire season. Since the arbitration system is designed so that salaries effectively never go down, Taylor and club have agreed at the exact same price point for the upcoming campaign.
Taylor will look to get back to health and back on track in 2023, before going through the arbitration process two more times, slated to reach free agency after 2025. Despite the modest price point, he might be a key member of the club, as he and Joely Rodriguez are the only southpaws that currently seem likely to be in the Boston bullpen.
according to pattern he should have a good year
According to what ownership has done with team, a good year likely means first to the John after another loss.
Cant waste an article about nothing, gotta slam ownership/gm/coach. Any occasion will do. Pathetic.
Huntington, it’s one thing to lose. Fenway seats are the highest costing in the majors (a bit tapered by the stadium size). When they first bought the club, they did everything they could for the fans by working to improve the roster and rebuilding the park. Henry then bought The Globe, spend more time on social issues including getting the street name changed (Tom Yawkey grew up in a different era, saved the club from moving and was the most influential donator early on to the Jimmy Fund; his overall body if work should still be remembered) and now is working more on the Fenway international brand than the team, which continues to make money hand over fist between the team and NESN. Other posters after 18 asked if Sox fans would prefer the championships or consistency and most including me chose the former. We never expected however the current situation where the team was forced to spend on Devers. There is no doubt in many minds he was the next one out the door if it weren’t for the backlash that was created after Bogaerts signed with the Padres. I have no issues if they told us upfront they were going to rebuild. They however kept lying to their core fans.
1-I doubt ownership adds much value. I’d like to see Henry show in bad times as well as good, but as long as the budget remains at the cap or higher, it’s hard to ask for more.
2-My guess is that the Devers signing was always lined up. It’s just reading the financial tea leaves, but that’s the way I read the budget.
3-And it would be silly to be upfront with everyone. Never let anyone know what you’re thinking.
JoeBrady – Seems like you give Henry a bit too much credit. I agree he’s not wavered in providing adequate money to all his GMs but his dismissal of Dombrowski because of the racial issues surrounding Mookie and Price was poorly masked as a step in a new economic direction. He was forced to stick with the lie so he didn’t fire Bloom when he should have to ensure the other issues weren’t revisited but in doing so he’s destroyed a championship team. Whether he buys 1 team or 10 teams all you can ask for is money (which he’s provided) and a quality front office (which has been missing since Dombrowski was fired).
Enough water has flowed under the bridge since the racial incidents with Price and Mookie to relieve Bloom of his duty and hire a real Big Market GM with experience at winning and a reputation that will quickly reverse the curse of Bloom.
Selling the Red Sox would be a huge mistake because he can’t buy another sports team with the franchise stature of the Red Sox. It’s a cash cow and an outstanding investment that has allowed him to build a sports empire. Like you, I doubt he’ll sell but if selling means Bloom is gone sooner rather than later then I’m for it.
Joe and Pulled,
While the team spent overall the last two years, they had mainly existing contracts and their long term moves were a) precautionary or because they knew Boegarts was gone {Story; and I’m now convinced it was a failure to not get under the taxes in 22) and b) a nice looking hitter who has defensive ch challenges (might be a decent first move but doesn’t do much when you see the current team). The market changed big-time in 21 and they only recently reacted to it because they had to. Again, my view.
they had mainly existing contracts
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All annual spends are based mainly on existing contracts. Nobody adds $230M in new spending in one year. All that counts is bringing the spend up to $233M, whether it is existing contracts, new contracts, or trade deadline contracts.
Henry is doing exactly what he should be doing.
Dewey
“and I’m now convinced it was a failure to not get under the taxes in 22”
Youve brought this up MULTIPLE times, if you werent convinced those other times, what were you?
I have been most neutral on Bloom coming into this off-season. The team had a ton of money coming off the books and he should of been able to accomplish a lot to rebuild this team into a competitive team. That has not happened this off-season it has been a D effort at best and not anywhere near what was needed to compete. The Xander debacle is first and foremost Bloom completely misread the market for him gave him an insulting offer at the beginning of 2022 season unlike Betts this is entirely on Bloom. He has failed to put together a team that can compete with the other teams in AL East and this despite having a ton of money to work with. This has been a disaster of an off season.
Ownership can only be blamed so much I do blame ownership for the Mookie Betts debacle ai don’t give a rats ass what some SI writer says this was on ownership. The reality, though, is ownership continues to spend so it’s not like this team is turning into a small market team with low payrolls no at this point it’s on Bloom.
At this point I just pray that Bloom doesn’t try and compete this year by trading future assets for current big league talent that isn’t going be enough to compete. At this point just sign Iglesias to play short and call it an off-season. There is no reason to trade anyone at this point the Red Sox need a shortstop and that’s it to field a team. The outfield is set with Kike, Verdugo, and Yoshida with Refsnyder and Duran backing up. The pitching is fine for a team that’s not competing for the playoffs. Let’s call it what it is a lost season so let’s see how some of the young guys respond and make it a season of evaluation that’s really all we have now.
I believe this article is about Josh Taylor.
Go off though.
At some point Henry and Co will need to take a page out of the Major League style of ownership. Start removing soak tubs, etc except instead of trying to retard winning, it may encourage it.
Why? Well, everything bloom tries to do has apparently the opposite effect. Trade for prospect, get a bust. Sign a FA, they stink. Sneak a guy through rule 5, they get claimed.
I guess they weren’t Joshing
I really hope he is healthy this year, they really missed him last season (like it really mattered). He was quite a good lefty in 2021.. here’s wishing him good health.
Solid reliever here – not sure if super 2 guys get a lower pay than first time arb eligible guys (salary looks a bit lower than expected, given his performance)
I know it’s very unlikely, but I hope the Red Sox sign Trevor Bauer. He deserves a chance, and innocent until proven guilty, no criminal charges.
mikey – John Henry and the Red Sox are one of the wokest teams in MLB, no chance they sign Bauer.
You’re probably right.
Agreed Fever but I agree with the post. Rice in the NFL should have been given another shot as so many others have. That said, between his history, his missed time and allegations of juicing the ball, he’s a question mark and should accept a minimal prove it type deal with incentives.
dewey – I didn’t follow the case very closely, but from what I’ve heard he didn’t do anything she didn’t consent to mutliple times. And it’s not like he was in a position of authority over her.
This seems to be a classic example of Cancel Culture. Jerk or not, he doesn’t deserve to have his career ended this way.
Fever and Dewey – I believe Bauer can be a distraction while still being a valuable member of the team for one year. In the one year the price would need to be very low and extensions could be a possibility if he performs well. .
I can’t compare Rice and Bauer because Rice was caught on film doing it clearly without permission. Bauer had an ongoing relationship with the person doing similar acts and it’s very hard to tell whether the woman’s friend motivated her to flip the script and cash in on the situation or he simply went off the reservation from previous encounters. Frankly, he’s paid a huge unprecedented price for a non baseball activity that got judged in the court of public opinion negatively and got judged in a federal court differently.
In light of Cora, Beltran and Hinch’s ridiculously lenient punishment for the worst cheating scandal in baseball history, it’s hard to understand how a court can declare him not guilty and yet he’s punished more for a non baseball related incident than the greatest cheating scandal of all time.
Baseball uses public opinion to guide their decisions. That in itself is wrong. Rules are rules and should be enforced. Precedents are precedents and should have been followed. And the private lives of individuals can be reviewed by the owners of their teams and deemed inappropriate or appropriate without public opinion swaying the vote.
If he’s guilty based on the law, then the commissioner should be able to inflict punishment in the form of suspensions or banning but if there is no laws broken then the commissioner is sliding down a slippery slope to arbitrarily enforce something he abhors along with the public. Since he neglected to follow the precedent set regarding the sign stealing scandal and limited the offense to a slap on the wrist, he’s upped his role as commissioner to god of baseball.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely! That truly applies to Rob Manfred the political animal who blows in the direction of public opinion not the rules of baseball.. The Dodgers had the right to DFA Bauer at any time. The league could have fought the union about his contract being void if LAD DFA’d him when it happened. The commissioner stepping into the situation was complete abuse of his authority and a grandstanding action like Selig throwing the players under the bus with regard to steroids after he as an owner who knew about them and condoned them.
Hypocrisy at it’s best!!! Baseball has issues starting at the top!! Manfred’s performance grade is an F. He’s failed twice in his last two big decisions.
There obviously was something there. All smoke, no fire and Bauer and the union would have fought the suspension to at least get compensated. Now, perhaps his reinstatement was part of a confidential settlement with him getting paid for 23. We fans just don’t always get correct or full information. As to a one year deal, that’s what I mentioned above.
Couldn’t agree more fever… exhibit A Curt Schilling… a 2004 reunion without him is the Beatles without Paul or John ( your choice)
Mikey 64;
He “deserves” a chance?
A player “deserves” a high long-term contacts.
Sometimes businesses don’t want to be associated with a person for whatever reason – and that’s their right.
No one deserves anything in this world. Always has been that way. Always will be that way. Anyone with that attitude in the adult world (anywhere in the universe) is due for a shock.
Samuel:
Where’d you get “A player “deserves” a high long-term contacts.”?
I took it as deserves a chance in the majors, or are you saying it?
How many hundreds of players never get a chance? They could turn out to be decent, but we’ll never know. And how accurate are the talent evaluators?
In 5 of 7 seasons with over 150 innings, he’s had an ERA over 4. Kind of the definition of “ok”. And baggage? Loads. So … pass.
Again, the original post was he deserved another chance. He paid the dues the league imposed and should at least be invited to a spring training. If he’s not accepted in the clubhouse or can’t pitch, release him
Dewey… he’ll get his chance… but I can’t say I wouldn’t be surprised if nobody takes a fly on him(2023) public opinion is… not the same but good old Albert Belle … was given chances and teams still took shots on him..( again different circumstances) but also much different times…. Belle a jerk?? Probably ..head case no doubt .. actions speak louder than words NOWDAYS… no actually there the same…( as for MVP I loved Mo but Belle got robbed)
I wasn’t suggesting that the Sox sign Bauer to an expensive long term contract like many free agents get and have been getting,
There’s a difference between proven guilty and convicted as guilty on charges.
In life there are so many different evidentiary standards, you can have a suit based on preponderance of evidence – just more likely than not so 50.000000001% means guilty, to beyond a reasonable doubt which is much higher.
Depending how you evaluate it, Bauer is guilty. But, every day people wind up without charges even for as simply as broken chain of evidence even though they’re as guilty as sin. Technicality doesn’t make them innocent.
“difference between proven guilty and convicted as guilty on charges.” What?
Im not a Bauer supporter at all, and I know very little about the situation. But when I google his name, I get “Trevor Bauer’s Criminal Case Concludes With No Charges Filed Against Him”. I’m just baffled by the twisting of words.
Why did they decide not to pursue criminal charges on Trevor Bauer and why did the courts deny the restraining order that the woman filed against him?
The DA not pressing charges due to a lack of evidence isn’t a technicality
Fletch – Maybe this video had something to do with “lack of evidence”?
Tawana Brawley anyone?
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11217093/Trevor-Bauer…
Did the accusers go after him with a civil suit?
I mean if that wasn’t even the case I’d say any evidence is extremely weak or more to the point likely non existent and no one should be taking anyone’s word for this type of thing. These days though all it takes is an accusation to ruin someone.
There is really only one reason to sign Bauer and that is to keep the team from being a massive embarrassment in 2023. Do a low priced one year deal. The world forgave Cora for the most egregious cheating in baseball history. Bauer allowed his personal life to roll into the public purview so he deserves to be vilified BUT he’s better than our 5th best starter and should be very cheap so I say do it and try to save face in 2023.
He may or may not have learned his lesson and he may not fit in with the Latin oriented manager and clubhouse but his talent is good enough to start on this AL East 5th place team that is going nowhere. So save money now and in the future by doing a cheap one year contract. Worst case, he flops and the lost money is nowhere near as close to the $10MM we are giving to a lifetime .241 hitter. The risk is minimal financially and from an integrity standpoint it can’t hurt since they hired Cora. So win-win.
Depending how you evaluate it, Bauer is guilty.
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Or not guilty. I’ve only done some casual reading on this, but there are a lot of possible conclusions. It is entirely possible to conclude that Bauer is a bum, and that he took advantage of this girl’s naivety to assault.
And it is entirely possible that this woman was into light S&M and it went too far.
And it is entirely possible that this was always a shakedown, and that she figured Bauer would give her $1M rather than be subject to the scrutiny of popular opinion which is not on the side “unusual” appetites. It’s only fairly recent that gay has become somewhat acceptable. How many times have we seen this? Darryl Strawberry, the St. John’s B-ball team, Duke LaCrosse, the dude in Detroit. And probably plenty of cases where the shakedown worked.
JoeBrady – I’m not a supporter of what Bauer did but I am a supporter of his right to behave as he chooses off the field knowing the consequences of his actions might affect his contract. Bauer had an on-going relationship and his abusive activity had been frequent. The question comes down to civil liberties. If a boxer can go into a fight (man or women) knowing they will be beaten severely with the expectation of being paid, why can’t Bauer engage in similar one-sided activity with a similar contract in place?
Society frowns on the activity that Bauer engaged in but they condone boxing and many forms of martial arts. Heck the name martial arts suggests that the activity is based in beauty not excessive physical annihilation yet it exists as an acceptable form of entertainment around the world.
The Dodgers had a contract with Bauer and if the public embarrassment of his actions deemed that he needed to be DFA’d then that should have been the action. The MLBPA could then fight the Dodgers over whether his contract is null and void.
Instead, Manfred over-stepped his authority and imposed a suspension based on an interpretation of the CBA regarding abuse. The abuse clause was designed to protect against a completely different scenario but for political self-promoting reasons Manfred chose to extend his authority beyond the defined limits of his job.
Bauer should have been DFA’d or suspended by the Dodgers not baseball since the action had nothing to do with actions during a game or related to a game. The entire dilemma should have rested on the shoulders of the LA Dodgers during the court trial. If he was found guilty, then the clauses in the CBA would have allowed the commissioner to impose his will on Bauer. If he was found not guilty (which is what happened), the decision as to what to do with Bauer would have stayed where it belonged with the LA Dodgers. It was their choice to want out or want to keep him knowing his off field activities were taboo. They had options for voiding his contract and fighting the MLBPA but Manfred made it easy on the Dodgers and banged his scepter declaring Bauer suspended.
To me Manfred saw an opportunity to build public approval and wrongfully took it. Friedman and the Dodgers organization should have been deciding what to do with Bauer during his trial and after.since he was found not guilty.
I mostly agree. Manfred, like many business leaders, will do anything to avoid bad publicity. If it is a he said/she said, they will almost always side with the “she said” side to avoid bad publicity, and then quietly settle with the “he said” side to make everything equitable.
“of what Bauer did”
In the US people are innocent until proven guilty so this ‘did’ idea is all in your mind.
Someone that “gets off” on beating their sexual partner black and blue, whether consensual or not, is sick. Not trying to kink-shame but that’s more than a bit extreme. I love my Sox but if Bauer was the the difference between another title or not, I’d still say pass. Just my take.
Scott – I understand your viewpoint. Can I assume you are against boxing, MMA and other martial arts? The reason I ask is these are global forms of approved physical abuse. Men and women train to beat the daylights out of their opponent for money. If you agree these activities are just as barbarian as what Bauer did then I’m good with that answer. If you can somehow distinguish between them I’d like to understand that rationalization.
I’m not a fan of what Bauer did nor boxing, MMA or martial arts because public displays of abuse seem unnecessary in an enlightened society. Sports that are physical can border on abusive but recently most sports have opted for new rules to lessen the abuse and enhance the beauty of the sport. That’s the fine line between boxing and football that makes one a sport and the other a public display of abuse.
I also recognize that my opinion reflects my values and is not and should not be a standard for others. To each his own. My values only work for me.
I again mostly agree with the direction here.
What may sound “sick” to Scottcarrier might be a playful indulgence to others. I grew up in a time where Cleon Jones had to publicly apologize for being caught with a white woman in a van. And it is only real recently that someone could come out as gay in the sports world. And I’d bet most of them are still in the closet.
And that is primarily because certain elements of society disapprove of certain conduct at certain times. This might boil down to the simple conservative/libertarian castle concept of consenting adults should be able to do whatever they want within the confines of their own house.
I’ll grudgingly accept there might be limits to the castle doctrine, but I don’t really care what you do in your own basement.
damaged goods
The theory that John Henry is stripping down the team to sell is sort of interesting…..
The Nationals dumped all their large contracts other than Corbin. Some people think that helps them sell the franchise for more money (they do have deferred payments to players no longer in their employ).
On the other hand the Angels are for sale, and with an already top 10 payroll they did spend a bit on FA’s and extensions this past offseason.
It appears the Red Sox are doing a classic rebuild – take the payroll down as much as possible (they were #7 in MLB in 2022); keep some veterans on the team but only give out large contracts to players that will be kept long-term; develop players in the farm system to be added to the players on the roster the FO is committed to; then have enough room in the payroll to sign multiple upper level FA’s in a 2-3 year period to push the team into contention for years.
Been hearing this rumor since before Henry bought Liverpool. So going on 12 years. Look on the bright side, odds are you’ll be right someday.
I’m sorry, did you just say Henry is stripping down the team? He just signed Devers for $300M+, and is headed to the payroll cap, per usual.
Joe,
Do you really think he would have spent on Devers as he did if he thought he didn’t have to? This is in my view one time, non-violent public opinion/reaction boxed him into a corner.
If he was selling the team, as the thread theme claims. He would absolutely not lock up 300M of other people money in Devers, regardless of “public opinion/reaction”.
Dewey = Totally agree. Owners could be worrying about the value of the team and keeping Devers prevents it from falling more and Bloom needed to do something to keep his job to Spring Training.
The damage of the last 3 years has slowed the growth in value of the Red Sox. Henry must know that and whether he keeps the team or sells it, the current talent level and the way the media are treating Boston made it imperative for the Red Sox to reverse the trend and sign him far above market value. It’s a huge waste of money because Alvarez signed for far less a year ago and could have been a great comp but the Red Sox are worth more as an entity with Devers signed long-term.
You mean like when Loria signed stanton to a heavily backloaded 325,000,000 contract right before selling the marlins wow that is the dumbest comment of the new year
What a DDDDDD Bag
He’s done about the identical thing 20 years in a row. He spends to the limit, and if the RS are contenders, he exceeds the limit. There is absolutely no change here, and I seriously doubt he is selling the RS if he is buying the Penguins and an NFL team.
Yeah, he signed Devers after he was booed leaving the field at the hockey game played at Fenway.
No, he said the theory was interesting….
What he said is that what the Red Sox are doing is a classic rebuild (instead).
He also said “It appears the Red Sox are doing a classic rebuild – take the payroll down as much as possible”.
Again, they are spending to the limit. They added Devers and Yoshida long-term, and 5-6 other contracts short term.
What they are doing this year is almost identical to what they do every year.
JoeBrady – I agree with you completely. Fans often get the difference between money and skill confused when discussing a rebuild.
In 2018 the team was safely under the cap with active players but owed over $40MM in dead contracts (players no longer providing value). In 2019, DD pushed spending to the limit with his Sale signing and Pearce signing. The team still carried $40MM of dead contracts so the total exceeded the CAP but that was not on DD yet many blamed him.. He was maintaining a championship team by spending to the CAP.
In 2020 Bloom appeared to be starting a rebuild with his Mookie deal but he looked at the dead contracts differently than DD since he was a rookie GM. He counted them as part of his spending even if they weren’t and reduced talent significantly and payroll to a lesser degree. 2020 was the only season thanks to COVID that Boston ended up well below the CAP because Price opted out saving $16MM (which would have been $32MM without the Mookie deal bring the 2020 payroll under the CAP).
In 2021, the team spent close to the CAP as you have pointed out but the talent level diminished based on the way Bloom spent the money. The frugal but far greater number of contracts created an illusion of cheapness but in fact the spending grew.. The same is true for 2022. Talent went down, payroll went up and performance went down. Swapping talented expensive player for more inexpensive not talent players resembled the Tampa Bay approach but the payroll didn’t hover at $80MM it hovered at $230MM because Bloom bought so many more cheap players. The end result was a horrible season that appeared to be a rebuild but it wasn’t. It was a retooling by Bloom. The spending went up and the average salary went down but greater depth existed. The depth wasn’t quality depth but it was clearly greater depth both at the MLB level and minor league level.
This off season Bloom cut $20MM by losing Bogey, $22MM by losing JD, $17MM by losing Nate, $7MM by losing Wacha, $5MM by losing Hill for a total of $71MM in reductions. While that may sound frugal on Blooms part he also lost nearly every all-star on the team. Sale and Devers are the remaining potential all-stars along with Story if he bounces back in 2024.
Was this frugal? No because to counteract what appeared to be a move based in cheapness he also sign Devers to $20MM more per year, Yoshida for $18MM per year, Jansen for $16MM per year, Kike for $3MM more per year after hitting .238 in 227 games his first two years in Boston!! Martin and J Rodriguez were another $6MM spent in 2023. The additional money spent that off sets the $71MM saved on all-stars being released amounts to $57MM so the net drop off in money so far is only $14MM from a payroll that exceeded the cap in 2022. The talent level, however, has plummeted. Would you rather have Bogey, JD, Eovaldi, Wacha and Hill or Jansen, Yoshida, Martin and J Rodriguez? Huge impact to talent!!
The reason the payroll isn’t over the cap right now is because Bloom had to pay lots of dead contracts in 2022 similar to what DD inherited but solely the responsibility of Bloom. Dead contracts in 2022 cost Boston MORE than they did in 2019 and 2020. The team exceeded the CAP due to almost $50MM of dead contracts. Examples include JBJ, Vazquez, Diekman, Plawecki, Robles, Pham, Sawamura, Davis, Shaw, Valdez, Arauz, Familia, Y Sanchez, Bracho, Feliz and of course his first huge mistake Price. Bloom has been far too willing to create dead contracts and he’s been fortunate that the owners haven’t held it against him.
JoeBrady, just as you pointed out, the willingness of ownership to spend the CAP or more has never wavered. The big difference is the misuse of funds by Bloom compared to his predecessor. More money less talent doesn’t make for a winning team. That’s why a new GM is severely needed. The Catch 22 is that ownership has to fire and rehire to improve the quality of spending that they do in the future.. The renewal of Bloom’s contract sent a very scary message to the fan base. Either they are oblivious to the mishandling of the budget or they simply don’t care. Either way, the firing doesn’t seem immanent as it should be. That’s not good news for Red Sox Nation. We need to reverse the curse named Bloom.
The Red Sox are turning over the roster while still trying to be competitive.
Gone from the last WS title:
Xander Bogart
Mookie Betts
Andrew Benintendi
Jackie Bradley
Christian Vazquez
JD Martinez
Mitch Moreland
Eduardo Rodriguez
Craig Kimbrel
Nathan Eovaldi
..which are all still playing, just with other teams.
The Red Sox are building a farm system, home grown core, and adding long term free agents who will be still in their prime when the next core arrives.
The Red Sox strategy has frustrated many fans because there was not much of a core in the farm system when Bloom arrived.
Casas, Bello, Mayer, Blies, Rafaela, Walter, …… are starting to arrive in Boston, but the the big ticket players (other than Devers) will be signed when the core is closer.
Samuel said the Red Sox are “taking the payroll down as much as possible” during the rebuild, which as it turns out is just below the CBT, but he is no less correct in a fashion. That is as low as possible considering their fan base. None-the-less, it is a “rebuild”. The Red Sox turned over their roster nearly 80% (rotation and position player regulars) between 04-07-13-18, and this current situation is no different.
Remaining roster from 2018.
Devers
Sale
Barnes
Brasier
Joe, you are correct, but so is Samuel if you look at what he is saying (which I tend to do in a much more long winded fashion)..lol at myself
JC#1 – Can’t buy into what you said. The demolition of the 2018 roster is correct and when you consider nearly all those that are gone were in their prime or coming into their prime except JD, it’s a travesty.
This was a tear down so suggesting it was a rebuild is wrong for two reasons. A perfectly fine building that won awards two years earlier usually doesn’t get demolished especially by a firm in their first year of business. The construction company made an enormous mistake that Red Sox Nation has been paying for during the last three years. The second reason this is not a tear down is that massive savings are associated with a tear down. That’s also not the case. Bloom has spent far more than Dombrowski in 2021 and 2022 and looks to in 2023 despite this being the retool year as planned by Dombrowski.
There should have been next to nothing on the books going into 2023 allowing the GM to use nearly the entire payroll to tweak the championship team he had. Unfortunately when DD got fired the championship team was blown up. The four remnants you listed are all wastes of money except Sale. Sale is paid a fair price for his skills if only Cora could just let him pitch like Farrell did and Ventura when he was in Chicago. Devers is being paid 8 to 12MM more than his value. Barnes should have been traded or DFA’d and Brasier is like Kike. He’s not only over paid but Cora uses him completely wrong and it costs the Red Sox lots of wins.
This is NOT A REBUILD. This is pure destruction for no reason and will demand a rebuild when the right GM gets put in place. Nobody in their right mind destroys a championship team in their prime so they can sputter along for 5 to 8 years trying to rebuild something better. That’s pure insanity.
Your assumption about the fan base forcing Bloom to spend more than he wants to is absurd. The man has destroyed the championship team and you think he cares about what the fans think? That’s the farthest thing from the truth. Ask Bogey, Benny and Betts.
Your info on the farm system is also inaccurate. The farm system had lots of talent when Bloom arrived and the only reason the ranking has improved is Bloom tanked 2020 and Boston used the 4th pick to raise their ranking by 150 points from 21 to 9. Nothing Bloom can take credit for in a positive way. Also, the players in the minors like Houck, Casas and others have improved the score for the farm system as well. Bloom did NOTHING to make that happen. He did add Downs then DFA’d him. In fact, many of the great Bloom adds are now DFA’d. Doesn’t that hurt the farm system rating? Get your facts straight!!
There is NO TRUTH in most of your spin doctored points about Bloom. Nice try but knowledgeable fans are chanting BS and the BS alarms on their watches are ringing out loudly after reading your propaganda about a plan and a rebuild. Picture a blind person playing pin the tail on the donkey. That’s a far more accurate assessment of Bloom’s time in Boston.
Spotrac has them at $204 million right now, $87 million less than the Yankees, you know their competition.
Hopefully this guy rebounds, it’s what we need.
Closed comments on other posts here reminds me of MLB no longer having comments on their articles. Oh well, there’s always Reditt, I guess.
I like Josh Taylor. He’s good. His WAR per innings pitched is better than that Bauer fellow.
Huntington – You keep reacting to negative comments as if we are insulting you. Why is it you can’t understand how angry fans are related to Bloom, ownership and the events that have occurred since Dombrowski got fired? It’s human nature to vent when we see injustice, poor performance and poor management. Fans care deeply about the Red Sox and want a bright future.
I don’t complain for the sake of complaining I complain when I see a mistake, I complain when I see prejudice in the decision making of the Red Sox organization, I complain when problems (like 3B defense) are ignored for years. I also compliment when a player performs well, when Bloom does something correct or Ownership acts rationally and for the good of the organization from a fan perspective.
It’s a waste of energy to ask devoted fans to sit quiet when mistakes are being made. We like to vent because we are passionate about the ball club. The Red Sox turned a corner when Dombrowski arrived. The team consistently won the division. That had never happened. Ownership ended that success without explaining why. It’s a half decade later and we have observed that they wanted to take some of their success and divert the funds to other sports teams. That robs the fans of the great situation we had. It’s only natural that fans are upset that the owners they loved for bringing 4 rings to Boston in 15 years have turned their backs on them and focused their will to succeed elsewhere.
You have the right to say whatever you want but recognize there is no “hate” going on here. It’s outspoken disdain for mistakes, nepotism, racism, illogical use of money, changes in winning philosophy, equal treatment of players, choices in hiring and bias against the previous GM’s players. These things have changed the direction of the club, have eliminated the consistent success they were having and have darken the future success of the franchise.
10/4. very well said.
You should add a TLDR to a post like this
soxfan1 – Sorry nobody taught you that books not tweets are a more significant part of life. Do you realize how ignorant your comment is?
Open your mind youngster. Paragraphs aren’t a bad thing nor are discussions about sports that are longer than 10 words!!
The bad thing is believing that anyone will care enough to read the ramblings of some nobody in today’s day and age. Twitter is popular for a reason, sorry you don’t like the way things have become. Not surprised considering you blame Bloom for practically everything.
A few years ago both D Hernandez and J Taylor looked to be great set-up men for the closer of the future which was uncertain at that time. It was disappointing to see D Hernandez released and exciting to see that Taylor’s 2022 didn’t elicit an over reaction by Bloom. I look forward to him having a good year on a very bad team. He is a piece I believe we should plan on for the future.
I keep wanting to see a projected team of the future for Boston. There are far too many unknowns right now. The winning is years away but to ensure future winning a solid plan should be in place. By position who are the players of the future? Here is what we have from my perspective. Feel free to toss in suggestions for the many gaps that exist today.
C – Vacant
1B – Casas most likely with Dalbec a long shot
2B – Yorke but he’s 2 years away or more
SS – Mayer but he’s 2 years away as well
3B – Vacant (some can say Devers but that’s not in the team’s best interest)
LF – Yoshida (until he proves he can’t field or proves he can’t hit MLB pitching)
CF – Vacant
RF – Vacant (Verdugo is league average and not worth signing after control ends)
DH – Devers (Yoshida if he turns out to be a huge liability in the field) Story has no position
SPs – Houck, Whitlock, Sale (ends 2025), Pivetta, Bello, Crawford, Seabold, Winckowski
RPs – Jansen (2 yrs), Taylor, Martin (2 yr)
During this time when we are trying to transition from bad to good again, long term players in the outfield would really be helpful to solidify the roster going forward. Bryan Reynolds and others who are above league average players need to be contracted or traded for. The once great Betts, JBJ, Benintendi outfield is a disaster thanks to Bloom and must be completely rebuilt. The potential minor league players could end up being homegrown long term stars but they are years away.
Story was hired to be a placeholder for Mayer and becomes obsolete when he arrives unless Devers is finally slotted where he belongs at DH then Story with his arm repaired and his historical hitting and base running skills he could be the 3B of the future.
I spend many hours looking for candidates for the current vacancies and I’m sure many other diehard fans do the same. Please jump in with suggestions for players to fill the vacancies.or if you disagree with my slotting of the future Red Sox stars.
Erase Seabold.
That’s assuming Yorke pans out, he’s no guaranteed thing. Everyone SP after Bello will not be on this team by this future.
soxfan1 – Yorke and Mayer are both question marks because they haven’t performed like superstars in the minors but Boston needs both of them to be great to have a brighter future.
The SPs are all question marks because Cora is the manager. Nobody could have guessed Sale and Price could have dropped so dramatically after playing so well for Farrell but they did. Cora hasn’t been good for any pitcher during his tenure. I was shocked when Martin Perez had a great year away from Boston in 2022. Given Cora’s track record it makes perfect sense. Nate in Texas could be yet another surprise in 2023. No pitcher thrives under Cora, they thrive after Cora. Wacha may be the lone exception. We’ll see.
Post here to talk about the former dodger #27’s future in the MLB.
liberty – Bauer’s future is hard to predict. Society has been pushed so hard to the left that Bauer may never get a chance despite his skills. He needs to prove to people he can still pitch and that’s his best chance to get an offer to play again. He should do as Harper did many years ago and join an independent league and play there to show teams what he still has. Then it will be up to the spin doctors of the world to either find a way to reduce the public negativity or convince an owner his notoriety will keep their team in the limelight. Time will tell.
pulled – Can you imagine if during an argument a player had choked a woman and then fired 8 shots from within his garage to intimidate her? Would any team still want that player?
No need to imagine, that’s what happened 7 years ago. And the Yankees then acquired the player.
Different political climate today, but still a good reference. Wil Cordero wouldn’t be because that’s going back to the 90’s.