Red Sox reliever Joely Rodriguez left today’s game with what the team described as right torso pain. The discomfort was visible, as The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham (Twitter link) described Rodriguez as “groaning in pain as he went to the clubhouse and was holding onto his side.” The somewhat vague wording of the club’s official announcement is perhaps a positive sign that Rodriguez didn’t suffer an immediate oblique strain, or it could simply indicate that a fuller battery of tests has yet to be run to determine the left-hander’s status.
At the very least, Rodriguez’s injury creates some doubt about his availability with Opening Day just 12 days away. Rodriguez signed a one-year deal worth $2MM in guaranteed money back in November, and the Sox also hold a $4.25MM club option on his services for the 2024 campaign. Rodriguez and Richard Bleier (also new to the Red Sox, via a January trade with the Marlins) were penciled in as the bullpen’s left-handed options, but if Rodriguez has to miss any time, minor league signings Ryan Sherriff or Matt Dermody could have a sudden path to the MLB roster, or the Sox could opt for in-house prospects Chris Murphy or Brandon Walter.
More from Boston’s camp…
- James Paxton threw 25 pitches off a mound today, and told MLB.com’s Ian Browne and other reporters that he felt “good. I wasn’t thinking about the hamstring at all.” A Grade 1 hamstring strain kept Paxton off the mound for 15 days, so the southpaw will have to start the season on the injured list to give himself more time to properly ramp up. The tentative plan for Paxton’s rehab is for one or two more mound sessions, two live batting-practice sessions, and then a return to spring game action.
- The Nationals got an unexpected breakout from Joey Meneses last season, as the 30-year-old made his MLB debut and proceeded to hit .324/.367/.563 with 13 homers over 240 plate appearances. While it seemed like Meneses came out of nowhere, he actually came to D.C. after two seasons in the Red Sox organization, and Meneses hit a combined .284/.333/.530 over 369 PA at the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2021. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes that while the Sox had interest in bringing Meneses back on another minor league deal, but since Triston Casas was going to be the priority at first base for Triple-A Worchester, Meneses might’ve seen a reduction in at-bats. “If we had seen this coming, he’d probably still be here,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said. “Sometimes guys just break through at different points in their career, different ages, different places. Happy to see him be able to do that and just be able to sustain it in the big leagues and the [World Baseball Classic].”
This front office doesn’t see anything coming
Not saying I disagree but it was a small sample size and he has been hitting .200 in spring training.
Calling out a team for not prioritizing giving ABs to a 29-year old who put up a 101 wRC+ in AAA over their #2 prospect isn’t as good of a critique as you think.
The guys been around since 2011. Red Sox grab him for 1 season and now he breaks out. Looks like lots of teams didnt see that ‘something’ considering he’s 29. Why is he strictly associated with the Red Sox?
Its as if the writer thinks the Red Sox fans WANT to hear bad news. What do they call that? Writing to fit a Confirmation Bias?
“Yeah, Ive never heard of the guy, didn’t mention him once last year when he was with the Red Sox, but yup its proof Bloom is bad”.
Thad Ward is going to stick with the Nationals. He was a rule 5 guy/huge prospect that the Red Sox didn’t keep. I know he was recovering from TJ but pitched well after returning last year. Keep waiting for this front office to see a few things coming that actually happen. I’m only a fan but I’m not blind.
Youre right Thad Ward looks nice, and might be a good player. Emphasis on might. Garret Whitlock was grabbed in that same Rule 5 draft. No one in there right mind would trade Garret Whitlock for Thad Ward.
So your right “but Im not blind” to the negative news. In fact, it looks like you remember that stuff quite well. But blind to everything else. Confirmation Bias like I said.
Also, “LanceCT” who’s 2nd account are you?
Nobody
WTF
Ward wasn’t a “huge prospect,” he was a 26 year old with 41 innings at AA and was typically ranked 12th-15th in the farm system. Him getting picked isn’t the most ideal situation but don’t act like he’s Pedro. It just seems like you want something to be mad about. If Ward sticks: “He’s a generational talent how could you not protect him !1!1!1!” If Ward gets returned: “We don’t want him anymore he’s terrible!1!1!1” Same goes for blaming Bloom about pitchers getting hurt.
No, there the Bloom regime isn’t perfect but when the most popular critiques from you lot are Ward, Meneses, and injuries, the front office seems pretty capable when you consider their recent ALCS run
Sounds like you’re the one with a second account
Lance, problems is, to have protected ward would’ve meant letting brasier walk. And we all know the ceiling on brasier, as a 35 year old, who is also out of club control (thankfully) soon is a better asset than Ward is. Or, at least, that’s the analysis in bloomworld.
Fletcher – most of the highest impact and.non-fungible contributions that fueled that ALCS run you’re so proud of were legacy players prior GMs drafted developed, traded for, or signed.
To give bloom credit for 2021 is like you changing the oil, filters, and floor mats in your car and saying, hey, you know what, you build a pretty decent automobile…
So Bloom wasn’t the reason that the 2021 team was great but it’s his fault that the 2022 sucked even though the only subtractions from the team’s top-12 WAR producers were Eduardo Rodriguez and Renfroe? Not to be a staunch Bloom defender but all I’m saying is that the current regime gets blamed for things out of their control by people like you who embarrass themselves repeatedly whenever they try to speak about the state of their team
I know that’s their thinking, hopefully they’re right, but wish I had more confidence in their ability to “see things coming “
Fletcher – I can blame a gm for failing to add to a roster, No?
I can blame a gm for subtracting from a roster, No?
Both are fair criticisms that impact why one group could overperform to the credit of a prior gm, but have poor finishes otherwise to the detriment of the current one.
2021 had some overperformers, but bloom didn’t get most of them. It had some talented guys playing to ability. Bloom also didn’t get most of them.
So, yes, it is fair criticism, if looked at objectively and you ask why things came up short.
In 2020 bloom subtracted from the mlb roster via trading away players, and neither signing equivalent starters to cover some key departures nor having those players return. The team did so poorly, but, trading to bolster a playoff push was out the window. Could it have been a playoff team otherwise? Maybe. Maybe not. We will never know.
In 2021 bloom went and got the utility guy he ignored in 2020, but failed to address a number of areas on the team. He did a straddle the line approach mid year, but notably continued to not address the bullpen. The team ultimately failed due to ignoring said bullpen, but, relied upon key offensive contributions from guys he neither acquired nor re-signed.
In 2022 the team fell short everywhere. Bloom subtracted without adding. He sent guys out via trade or free agency without replacing equal or higher talent levels. There were injuries, but, every team has them. He overreacted in his selling out the prior years defense for offense by now selling out offense for defense (ill informed JBJ debacle) and somehow hoping cordero would become renfroe 2.0 which…. failed miserably. The pen continued to be ignored and, somehow, managed that it got worse. Pitching saw a mixed bag that didn’t get it done.
2023 sees the geritol Allstars with another woeful backwards-looking series of spending decisions that ignore forward-looking needs for the upcoming season. Year end will tell us, but, all signs point to more war walking out the door in FA than walked in among position players, as war isn’t a great pitching stat. That said, durability and age are not on the side of the new arms joining the rotation and pen.
Got 3 words for you guys. ” Frank The Tank” Peace out. LOL
Ward wasn’t a “huge prospect,” he was a 26 year old with 41 innings at AA
===========================
There will always be players that are ranked #40-45 in a system that will succeed. Even now, Ward has 6 walks in 8.2 innings. The same lamenting his loss would be complaining if Bloom picked up someone like him.
They can’t help themselves.
GASoxFan13 hours ago
Lance, problems is, to have protected ward would’ve meant letting brasier walk.
=====================
I think Brasier was a lock for the roster, The alternatives were more likely to be Ort or Mills. I think the second-level decision would be based on who was more likely to help us in 2023.
I think its laughable to make any conclusions on March 19th. Especially a guy who has an injury history.
Is Cam Booser going to have a 0.55 Whip all season?
Ryan Sherriff (0.86)?
Winckowski (0.80)?
Joe- Agree. Letting Ward get chosen in Rule 5…..DFA Darwinzon Hernandez….at some point a team needs to move on from prospects that do not make a successful jump to the MLB. It is a 40-man roster, not 50-man.
Fletch – He has 179 games in LF and 289 games in RF, pretty sure Casas had nothing to do with preventing Meneses from playing either of those positions in Worcester.
But hey, nice try making excuses for Bloom.
Quick question: Would you want him patrolling RF at Fenway? If yes, I implore you not to look at this leaderboard
fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=of&stats=fld&#…
Fletch – Besides the fact he also played LF and 3B, as a general rule you hang onto a player more for their talent than the position they play. Because you can always showcase them and trade them if they perform well but aren’t a good fit on the ML roster.
You should probably spend your money on psychiatric help instead. Your comment is pure psychobabble and frankly you don’t know ball
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The belief that he had any worthwhile value when he was with Worcester is revisionism and you can’t really blame the FO for not creating ABs for him. At the end of the day, he’s a 30-year old with limited defensive value who outperformed his expected wOBA by 60 points in a 56 game sample. Great story and he’ll probably stick around for a few years but I doubt he sniffs a .900+ OPS again
Let’s try another one. ST, but, bears watching:
Thad Ward:
8G 1-0w/l. 4.15era 8.2ip 11k 1.27whip
Andrew Politi:
6G 0-1w/l 6.35era 5.2ip 7k. 1.24whip
Kaleb Ort:
6G 0-0w/l 9.95era 6.1ip 5k. 2.53whip
Ultimate of small sample sizes, and yet, returns this spring aren’t exactly out of line with 2022 results either.
Let’s be honest though, it’s a rumors site, and, rumors by their nature are…. speculative. So, let’s speculate. Of the 3, did bloom make the right choice?
I still maintain rule 5 blunders happened as much as I did when things were first going down, the sox didnt get necessary value for what they gave up either without commensurate comoensation in talent, both in the rule 5 and trades made under duress (post waivers).
Yes yes yes… I agree those aren’t the best of pitching stats, just what was easy to copy to jump off conversation. Feel free to introduce other measures from this spring, it’s all for debate purposes
Also, not that any of those stat lines would ever be truely comparable which is why sample size is preferred, as everyone wasnt facing the same hitters, under the same conditions, so on so forth. And since I am doubtful Ort will see the same MLB competition as Politi/ward are predicted to, his 2023 aaa stats won’t be a fair comp once ST ends.
Fletcher:
Before you tout bloom’s RF game plan for last year, or this season for that matter, take a peek at the RF data from 2022 when the OF link you provide is restricted to RF…
fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=rf&stats=fld&#…
You’re going to see a common theme in the name BOS appearing next to three quite terrible entries last season….
They managed to snag the 5th worst, 12th worst, and 17th worst RFers by your chosen filters. That’s quite an… umm.. accomplishment? And they’re rolling out there #12 in all baseball. Not 12th starter. 12th worst to log innings. In mlb. And he’s the 2023 starter. And it wasn’t a miniscule sample of one or two appearances by any means.
“Devers – 133 Pre-Bloom
Bogaerts – 129 Pre-Bloom”
Those two were drafted and developed in the Red Sox farm system, and took YEARS to get to where they were.
Are you faulting Bloom for not building a time machine and drafting his own players to play on the 2021 team.
Also, can you include stats of Chris Sale in 2020 and 2021. Thats 60 Million dollars of nothing.
To show the stupidity of just taking OPS+ and deciding whose team it is. Lets go back a couple more years:
2018 Red Sox:
Betts 186 (Not DD)
Martinez 173 (DD)
Bogaerts 135 (Not DD)
Benintendi 123 (Not DD)
Moreland 102 (DD)
Devers (Not DD)
Bradley (Not DD)
Thats the top 7 and DD is only responsibe for 2 out of 7. By your own logic Dombrowski didn’t win a WS in Boston.
DD inherited a powerhouse. Bloom inherited an over-budget, prospect-less mess.
Well said.
Thanks for a job well done DD. Don’t mean a thing unless you get that ring. And he did leave some kids that look good 2023 and beyond
But what’s the controversy? He left the RS a mess for 2020 and beyond.
“look good 2023 and beyond”
So you agree that he left a mess for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.
To win that WS, he left the team with no immediate prospects to help, over-the-cap and their biggest player un-signed. But, he did prioritize signing Sale.
No controversy, just the facts.
But hey, nice try making excuses for Bloom.
========================
LOL!
Trying to blame Bloom for Meneses?
First, the dude bounced around for 10 years, including Japan. Of the 40 or so GMs in BB, Bloom was the only to see any talent in him., at least before Rizzo.
Secondly, he might not ever be a player. He had a 39/13 K/W in AAA, with only 5 HRs in 146 ABs. He had 9 great games before starting to go sideways.
Pulled – Great post! Just one thing I disagree on, the pre-Bloom guys having exceptional years in 2021.
Yes Nate had an exceptional year largely due to good health
JD had a down year, OPS lower than his career and Red Sox OPS
Devers had a down year from his previous full/healthy 2019 season.
Xander had his worst year since 2017.
Vazquez’s OPS was below his career OPS
Sale hardly pitched
ERod had a bad season returning from nearly a 2-year absence
But despite all that, those guys CARRIED the Sox to the 2021 ALCS.
Fuol – On what do you base that comment about him leaving “a mess”, other than the Sale extension which was a huge mistake.
5 players Bloom inherited made the AS Game in 2021
Devers was still under control for several years
Xander was a bargain for 3 more years
Nate had a solid 3 years left and more than earned his contract
And you know most of the top prospects now were left for Bloom
So what did Dombrowski do wrong, other than the Sale extension?
Are you confusing me with another? Where did I say DD did wrong. He did great. Love DD
DD did what he had to do to win a ring. I outlined the mess he left Bloom in detail. The nature of the cyclic nature of baseball in this era with the new CBT rules that punish any team’s future trying to buy a ring
72M in dead money
What some rated as the worst farm in baseball
Young min salary kids that produced a net of 5 or so WAR his first three years
I know some wanna hate Bloom. And I don’t consider myself a Bloom supporter. I hope I will be. But it’s just a reality the mess he was handed with the understanding that it was gonna be some time before the RS reverted to all in ring worthy teams.
DD won a WS = Great!
Now “what did Dombrowski do wrong”:
1) Carried the payroll over the threshold for 3 consecutive years, even though when he arrived, he received a team under the threshold. Which incurred major penalties for 4 years on drafting/international signings. It also, forces the next guy to make some tough decisions (Betts).
2) Traded away 31 prospects, while not receiving any noteworthy prospects in return, which caused a 4 year blight of any inside talent from reaching the majors. (DD inherited a Top 5 farm system and left behind a 30th placed farm system. -Per Baseball America)
3) Didnt sign Mookie Betts and instead signed Chris Sale. Even though there were several indicators, before the signing, showed Sale would need surgery
Look at Houston.
A “great” GM wins WS, without gutting the farm system and maxing out payroll to the point of exhausting every avenue of replenishment.
I agree. Yes. I might disagree on DD’s great job winning a ring with the RS. get your Houston comp. So maybe he was the second best. Really tough to do what’s necessary to win and not leave a mess in this era.
Big FF fan. Some get loaded decks and fail. He played his cards with aplomb.
GASoxFan: “Let’s be honest though”
Yes. Let’s be honest. You have admitted you hate Bloom. Not dislike, not unhappy with, but hate. So, be honest and admit that you are motivated by hate and you go out of your way to say negative things.
You were almost there Suit.
I do hate bloom as a gm. I’ve hashed that out plenty of times. When he makes an OK move (in my opinion) I say that’s my opinion. When he makes a bad allocation I call it. When something turns out better than I expected, like renfroe, I say it, except with that example he then made a bad trade to ship him out after.
I don’t go out of my way to say anything. There’s even some moves and updates where I don’t say much because there’s nothing I feel the need to add.
Rsmith, not only are prospects fuelling the current ‘rankings’ guys DD drafted and signed internationally, and thus, hard to say he didn’t leave behind, there are also young players on the mlb club that came from pre-bloom gms as well.
Do tell, of these 31 prospects you say DD traded away, who amounted to anything much of value, and, where you you be playing them on the Boston club?
Aside from the sale trade, DD dumped prospects of no value, and, he pushed prospects to the MLB level on an accelerated timeline where they contributed and acted as young controllable players bloom inherited, and, mismanaged/squandered.
You’ve also got a number of guys bloom dumped, let go in rule 5, traded, so on so forth that haven’t amounted to much in returns… he’s relying on having had last place finishes to grab bottom level of conpetition highly suspect prospects that haven’t done anything yet. And, are far from ready at this point.
Guys like duran, Chavis, dalbec, houck were ranked guys… so what? Groome and song had pedigree and upside too. Regardless of where they came from, even DD inherited a mix of theo/cherington guys on the team and in the farm.
Rsmith..
Tell us who DD ‘gutted’ and what they amounted to.
Separate out the Chris sale guys, so you can explain how you think what those prospects were worth was more than Chris sale, on his contract that was team friendly from CWS, with the remaining control.
I don’t see how someone can hate someone and also be fair to them.
I don’t see how anyone can be an objective baseball fan and support a guy who made the moves bloom has with what he did to the WS winning, most games in franchise history winning, dominant roster he inherited and not only didn’t go for it, but, squandered the valuable assets with very little to show for it in return with blunder after blunder after blunder.
You can hate someone for what they did and still give a candid opinion on their performance that you arrived at fairly.
I don’t see hate giving way to fairness.
Who is the talented core from 2018/2019 that they got rid of besides Benintendi, Betts and Bogaerts which have been discussed ad nauseum? Don’t tell me Chavis, Sam Travis, Brock Holt, ERod or Price. None of them were sure things. Out of these five, only Price had 2 somewhat good years after he left. Not a big deal. ERod is a bonehead who is lucky to get through 5 innings. I was happy to see him go.
The prospects Dombrowski traded had value whether or not they “amounted to something”. They had value because Dombrowski traded them for valuable pieces of a World Series champion.
Dombrowski did not replace the value he traded from the farm system hence the Red Sox farm system rankings plummeted. I am happy Dombrowski did this and I would do it again to win a World Series. In fairness to Dombrowski, he was fired and not given time to restock the farm system. Bloom has been working on that.
“not only are prospects fuelling the current ‘rankings’ guys”
They should be, they’ve had several more years to develop, than prospects Bloom drafted. But, where have they been for 3 years?
When DD was arriving, he had a young and cheap core (Betts, Bogaerts, Devers, Benintendi, ERodiguez, Vazquez). Also a young Moncada to trade for an ace. Thats a group you can build a championship around. Bloom walked into two player Jack and Squat, and they were both overrated.
I’d love to be able to add these players to the core of the team right now:
Yoan Moncada 13.4 WAR
Manuel Margo 11.6
Travis Shaw 5.5
Michael Kopech 3.7
Maurico Dubon 1.9
Jalen Beeks 1.4
Steph Nogaseki 0.0
DD traded away 31 players, including these 7, what do we have left over that he traded for? Chris Sale.
But what’s the controversy? He left the RS a mess for 2020 and beyond.
=============================
That’s a slamdunk, but the haters will never admit it. DD had a good run and won the WS. But the 2019 team was a disaster. That’s what happens as your own developed talent gets expensive, and the FAs you sign start to get old.
That’ll happen to every team, but the Bloom haters cannot admit it.
Fuol – You claimed Dombrowski left a mess, that’s the same thing as saying he did wrong. Now you’re trying to backtrack?
You just don’t take the time to read posts. Or your reading comprehension is skewed to fit your narrative.
My take is he did what was required in this era to win a ring. The mess is an inevitable by product of his particular expertise. And a necessary evil required by the new CBT RULES that started in or around 2003. He’s a gunslinger. And no slouch at identifying talent. Others seemed to disagree and fault him for the mess he left. But I’m not one of them. Perhaps you’re confusing me with another?
Let’s use a movie we all know to help you understand.
“I have a particular set of skills.”
DD fit with the 2016 team
Bloom’s particular skills were a better fit for the 2020 team. At least, that was the RS thinking. One could disagree and opine that what DD did with the Marlins indicated he could switch gears
Blame. No blame. The bigger picture is he left a mess. I think you’re starting to understand this at least. That’s a start.
Too many of the Bloom haters can only see thru one lens. Inevitably, and I mean 100% of the time. they equate saying that 2019 was a mess with saying DD did a bad job.
This is just the cycle of BB. When you devote a lot of money to guys like JD, Price, Eovaldi, Sale, etc., it’ll look really good in the beginning, and generally a lot worse as they age out. This happens approximately 100% of the time, unless one wants to ignore the aging process.
Lance: Isn’t it a bit early to lament the loss of Joey Meneses?
Boy, that Christian Arroyo looks pretty good in spring right now. Just waiting for him to defy expectations as long as he stays healthy.
Agreed. Aside from his outfield defense, I’ve liked everything I’ve seen from Arroyo since he got to the Sox. The health thing, yeah… has been the problem. Here’s hoping that luck changes and he locks down the 2B spot for a good while.
Peddy – Are you related to him? I’ve noticed over the years that you have been a big fan and looking at the numbers, I never understand why so I figure it must be a personal connection to him. I liked him as a prospect in SF until he proved he wasn’t able to hit MLB pitching. Bloom grabbed him and in TB he proved it again that he was an excellent minor league hitter but not at the MLB level. Then he didn’t play in 2020 and in 2021 he hit .262 similar to his TB numbers in 20 games during the 2018 season. In six years he’s played the equivalent of a season and a half of games. Either 4 MLB teams have missed on seeing his talent or maybe it’s just not there.
I have nothing against him and I took him in a fantasy draft as a prospect a half dozen years ago but to me he’s a nice utility infielder but nothing more. I’d take him before Kiki but then again I’d take a local HS player before Kiki. haha
I hope he stays healthy and turns into the player you see him to be but I think it’s a long shot.
“he proved he wasn’t able to hit MLB pitching.”
535 PA over 3 years in Boston has resulted in a 102 OPS+, which is above average. Considering he’s a utility infielder, that is very good.
I guess you have to understand hitting more than just ‘batting average’. BA doesnt take into account power and OBP, which Arroyo is good at. Or maybe youre just finding stats (BA) that work for your pre-determined opinion.
He clearly can hit MLB pitching, staying healthy is his vulnerable area.
Honestly, he’s not worth arguing anymore, so I just take it with a grain of salt.
The fact that he thinks I’m related to Arroyo is asinine and holds no logic whatsoever.
And even when something good happens, he refuses to savor the moment and makes the situation against the Sox’s favor.
Rodríguez’s injury isn’t as concerning as the fact that he’s supposed to be part of the opening day roster…
He’s awful. But he fits Cora’s criteria.
milt – Wonder whatever happened to Row Blaze?
I don’t believe he has signed with any team yet.
His FIP is pretty good over the years but everyone is looking at ERA.
More Red Sox notes. Just what we were all waiting on.
The last “Red Sox Notes” was on February 1.
Worcester,* you monster! (love u)
Bloom may have made a lot of mistakes in the past year or so, but at least he still has his precious Kaleb Ort.
He sounds like instructions from The Day The Earth Stood Still. Ort, Kaleb better Niekro. Which is basically telling him to learn the knuckle ball.
whyhayzee – Funniest comment you’ve ever made!!! hahahahaha Guess that shows my age!
That one was over my head.
and Ryan Brasier
I exercise year-round – swimming, long-distance bicycle riding, hour-long stretching 3 times a week, stomach and back exercises along with weights. Regulars I work out with at a club are in there more often than I am (men and women). They work in various professions. I’m an old guy.
These ballplayers are in their 20’s and 30’s. It’s their profession. For them a $1m salary for a year is cheap.
For the life of me I don’t understand how so many of these guys show up for Spring Training and get injured. They know what muscle groups they need to use. One would think they’d hire a qualified personal trainer at the beginning of the year to prep them for when their workload will ramp up in ST. I believe most MLB organizations will let them use their parks workout facilities in the offseason, and even provide certified trainers to guide their routines. I know Scott Boras has facilities that all his players under contract can use at no cost, along with trainers and even sports psychology counseling. Heck, Bob Dylan used to work out for months with boxing sparring partners to prepare for tours – and he got Tom Petty to do the same.
This is really embarrassing.
Do you realize the they aren’t actively trying to get hurt? Like injuries are just random. You can be doing something you’ve done every day for months and something could go wrong, it’s just random. Just because you haven’t gotten hurt doing all the stuff you say you do… which I can’t say I believe… doesn’t mean doing those things makes you immune to injury, sure it make you less likely to get hurt, but you could easily tear your acl running tomorrow
I tore my meniscus during a ten mile hike on the AT the day after I finished running 100 miles in two weeks. Stupid. When you’re 6’2” and 195 pounds you don’t run back to back 50 mile weeks. You injure yourself by overtraining as much as anything. Also, lack of rest. These guys are just overzealous to compete. Too much too soon. A man’s got to know his limitations. And get off my lawn!
Redsoxx_62;
I’m not buying the random.
“I tore my meniscus during a ten mile hike on the AT the day after I finished running 100 miles in two weeks. Stupid.”
Of course. whyhayzee is a tourist. That’s why a professional baseball player should slowly start training in late-December / early-January with a qualified trainer after resting up from the previous season,.
When I first retired I exercised at a local college and audited some classes as well. We may joke about PhysEd majors, but I met well over a dozen people that knew so much about physiology – from anatomy to strain on different muscle groups to nutrition and how each person has to be monitored and directed on an individual course as every human body is unique. The fact is that there have been breakthroughs in monitoring equipment and individual programs for decades now. One graduate student told me a few years ago that the field was “exciting” to work in and that advances were coming so rapidly that is was a full-time job to keep up with them.
Sure, it’s stupid to overexert – that’s my point. Professional athletes have access to numerous physical trainers no matter where they live that should be working with them year-round – preferably keeping the ML teams staff abreast of what they’re doing.
One last thing – Spring Training to to get in game shape for the season. It’s why ST statistics mean nothing. If a player is over exerting himself and does damage…..why? It’s not like when they break camp a guy won’t sniff the ML roster till August if he’s not on the 26 man. Depth Charts change literally every day in todays MLB. Teams go through well over 30 pitchers and 22-24 position players each year that play for them.
I understand getting injured during the season in the heat of battle. I don’t understand all the injuries I’m reading about coming in ST.
It was my impression that obliques typically happen if you’re not in game shape. Or let’s say they’re more likely to happen. It seemed like the White Sox last season had about 3 oblique strains per week. It must say something about conditioning, and just not taking the game seriously enough. Something I have gleaned just lately, is noticing the difference between guys who have immense natural athletic ability and make baseball look “easy”…and it is probably a very easy game for them to play for awhile. These sort of guys play baseball because it’s easy money for them, not necessarily out of any love for the sport. These are the sort of guys who get oblique strains starting around age 29…& then go downhill fast. Then there are the true believers, who love the sport, have a passion for it, and thus are serious about maintaining their training throughout the year and are extremely dedicated. After watching for awhile, you can sorta see who falls into which camp.
I’m almost nine months out from double hip replacement and I’ve been walking twenty miles a week all this year so far and started a running program. I signed up to run a 5K in May. I’ve already hiked a trail 15K. Hopefully I don’t strain an oblique or pull a hamstring or hurt myself celebrating.
Samuel, some context to my torn meniscus: I was asked to run a marathon by my niece’s husband, which I gladly accepted. We ran some training runs together. Nice bonding. The most important month of my training was coincidentally the wettest month on record. That meant long runs were tougher and the trails where I prefer to run were a bit more slippery. I decided to ramp up my weekly mileage instead of the usual 20 milers and the crucial mistake was having my high mileage weeks back to back. Thirty years of running marathons and yet I screwed up and got injured. So I ran the marathon with a torn meniscus, it took me over 5 hours. I’ve run 20 marathons under 4 hours, so it sucked. Haven’t done one since and now I’ve had double hip replacement. Sometimes we just push our bodies too far.
I agree with you about all these injuries. But I will tell you that there is a lot of knowledge in the baseball world about fitness. But it is biased by the male ego and stresses certain activities over others as a result. I swear that running made me able to play baseball against college kids past the age of 40. And I had a teammate who was 60! He was written up in SI and ESPN as kind of a legend. He worked really hard at staying in shape. We talked a lot about it. I think fitness for sports starts with running. Flexibility, balance, strength and the ability to replicate proper form are the hallmarks of an athlete. Proper rest and a good diet and avoiding over training keep you on the field of play.
Samuel, keep working at it, it keeps us young.
I’m going to bookmark this thread. With this country in such awful medical shape, it’s important to note that these wounds are often self-inflicted. Even with people in poor physical condition, it isn’t that difficult to ramp up to 20 miles a week.
Hey hey hey. The hips came from arthritis that was accelerated by chronic Lyme. And I don’t show the bullseye when I get a tic bite. So it was in my system without me realizing. I’ve had it before and I was so sick that it was pretty easily discovered. So now you’re going to tell me that running 68,000+ miles ruined my hips?
Dang it all.
It’s weird seeing an all MLB lineup face an all MLB lineup. I know they want to spread the talent and all, but one would be confused as to which lineup belongs to the US without knowing the rosters. Lol
All 24 players used so far have all been from MLB. I mean, maybe half the guys who aren’t 100% American play for another team, but this is just so overdone!
Boston could always simply carry one lefty reliever to start the season. They have righties who are effective against lefties (e.g. Martin, Schreiber). I’d actually figure that it’s unlikely they opt for another lefty. They already have to find two 40 man roster spots for Alfaro and Tapia; that’s going to be hard enough, they are not going to try to find a third to carry an NRI depth LHRP for a couple weeks. The Rodriguez injury is really good news for Wyatt Mills and Josh Wincowski. There’s suddenly room for both as relievers.
While you don’t want your primary LHRP out for two months, the silver lining of it being an oblique injury would be that it makes the 40 man juggling for Alfaro and Tapia a hell of a lot easier. But I think you’d rather have the primary LHRP back sooner than June, and figure out the 40 man problem somewhere else.
The unsaid part of the argument for not adding a 2nd LHRP: neither of Walter or Murphy are ready, and both should be starting. Those are the only LH options already on the 40 man. If it’s August and you’re in a dogfight for a wild card spot and these guys have 80 AAA innings under their belts, then yeah, you go ahead and convert one into a reliever.
I agree. Add the best RP available, and don’t worry about splits. It’s at the point where the LOOGY concept is pretty much buried.
I haven’t much in Mills. SSS and all, but he doesn’t look like someone I’d like facing lefties. But Winc definitely looks like he should be on the roster.
I think that’s at least the second article criticizing the Sox FO for not recognizing a near-30 journeyman MiLBer was going to be a future star.
I can only guess at the angle, but, to give the benefit of the doubt, if the calling-card for bloom is supposed to be identifying untapped potential and building prospect strength, then when a guy puts up a certain (impressive) slash line in AA/AAA, then duplicates that production for another team the following year after you let the guy walk, that implies what is wrong with you that you didn’t give the guy a shot in mlb, especially when it was a position you shuffled at enough you traded a promising pitcher for Eric frigging hosmer to give mlb at bats to.
And don’t give me the lack of aaa experience line, plenty of players make a aa to mlb jump these days, and, the counter move was Eric frigging hosmer.
If you buy blooms after the fact excuse, that they wanted to focus on casas, and they predetermined they weren’t bringing the guy back in milb the next year anyways, again, you have even less reason to try Eric frigging hosmer instead of the prospect and keeping a finally healthy looking pitcher.
Remember Chris Gittens? Happy for Meneses; this profile usually has a Chris Gittens career arc.
GASox – Great post, and let’s not forget the $1.75M Luxury Tax Salary hit the Sox are taking THIS YEAR for Eric Frigging Hosmer.
Fever – Did we go over the CAP and finish 5th in the division with a losing record? hahaha Where exactly do you put that on your resume if you are Bloom? hahaha
let’s not forget the $1.75M Luxury Tax Salary hit the Sox are taking THIS YEAR for Eric Frigging Hosmer.
==============================
I checked with Cots, and they seem to think that he is on the Cubs, and at minimum wage. You should write to them and give them your opinion.
Joe – I’ve already gone over this with one of your handles.
The $1.75M is from Spotrac, I provided the link already.
Now for just one minute, instead of being snarky with your “on the Cubs” comment, use that brain God gave you and think this through:
Hosmer was TRADED from the Padres to the Red Sox last year.
Hosmer had $36.78M remaining on the final three years of his contract covering 2023-2025.
The Padres sent the Red Sox $34.58M to cover the remaining 3 years, with the Red Sox on the hook for the annual minimum salary of each of the remaining 3 years ($720K, $740K, $760K).
Are you still with me so far or did I lose you?
Now here is the really, really important part:
The Red Sox DID NOT TRADE Hosmer and his contract to the Cubs.
The Red Sox RELEASED Hosmer.
Which means they STILL have to pay the remaining $2.22M on his contract.
The Cubs are NOT paying ANY portion of his original contract with the Padres.
The Cubs signed him to a BRAND NEW free agent contract.
Now I’ve gone a long distance here explaining to you why the Cubs have NOTHING to do with the contract Bloom inherited when he TRADED for Hosmer.
Be my guest to contact Spotrac and tell them they have the wrong amount for 2023, which I have already repeatedly stated could be the case.
But without question, the Red Sox had to pay $2.22M for Hosmer to NOT play with them from 2023-2025.
Your Sporttrac spit out the stat is correct
You’re critical thinking is off
Hosmer was signed for the minimum. That contract offsets what the RS owe him this year. For real money and CBT purposes
RS are on the hook. For the next two years. So long as another team does not give him a MLB contract for those years.
RS could be out two years of min salary. I’d say in reality? RS will wind up owing Hosmer zilch.
Now, for min salary? I wonder why they didn’t keep him. He may just have a good year this year.
“I wonder why they didn’t keep him”
Roster crunch, Red Sox have too much young talent. And backup 1B depth is thick.
Casas
Dalbec
Turner
Arroyo.
They are building for the future, Hosmer doesnt really fit.
Hosmer was signed for the minimum. That contract offsets what the RS owe him this year. For real money and CBT purposes
===========================
I’m not sure why this is so difficult for some people.to understand.
No matter what his salary, if a player is released and picked up by another team, the other team picks up the minimum wage. This is really straight forward, and happens every year.
Agree
Fuol – Please provide a link that proves the Cubs contract offsets any portion of the $2.22M the Red Sox still owe Hosmer for 2023-2025.
If you can, I will happily agree that Spotrac is wrong.
Joe – So what you’re saying is the Cubs and NOT the Red Sox need to pay the $720K for 2023, correct?
The Cubs contract is for one year only. So what you’re saying is if the Cubs don’t re-sign him after this year, the Red Sox could conceivably NOT pay his 2023 minimum salary … but they would still have to pay his 2024 and 2025 minimum salaries if nobody signs him for 2024 or 2025 … is that really what you are saying? Yes or no.
Sporttrac isn’t wrong.
This is baseball 101. If a team releases a player and eats their salary? They are entitled to an offset if another team signs him to a contract. Otherwise, Hosmer would get paid in excess of his original contract. It’s a basic tenet of contract mitigation laws
If you want a link that satisfies? Go to Fangraphs RS payroll this year.
You will find the total owed to Hosmer as a liability. @13M+ Then.. on the credit side? You will see an offset from the Padres PLUS the $720, 000 offset from the Cubs. Add them together and you will find that the RS owe exactly 0 to Hosmer for 2023
As Joe Pesci says re voir dire of Marisa Tomei?
Once you see this, you’ll be more than satisfied.
Lets face it Groome wasnt going to make the team with the 40-man roster crunch. So he was traded for 3 players. Red Sox got Hosmer and 2 minor league burners. The 2 players combined for over 100 SBs in 2022. They had to eat some of Hosmer’s contract and wouldve lost Groome anyways. So in the end it was a plus for the minor league depth. Rozier looked great in the game yesterday (Sunday).
Ive been noticing Bloom makes a lot of trades that add speed, and I mean blazing speed: Hamilton, Rosier, Ferguson. Lets see if it pays off in a few years.
I’m guessing they might have opted to protect Groome. But, he was the only player amongst the last cuts with good trade value. I do like the 6’6 big frame pitchers. Particularly southpaws. Wish him well. I’m a fan
The new rules place some added value on these burners. I’m also fairly certain most GM’s were fully aware that these new rules would likely be in place for 2023 and beyond. Win some. Lose some. It was the smart play at the time. Regardless of the results.
So what you’re saying is the Cubs and NOT the Red Sox need to pay the $720K for 2023, correct?
==============================
Yes (as per your request).
Past that, Fuolovit is correct. There is some chance that Hosmer is awful, gets cut, and we’d have to pick up his minimum wage in 2024 & 2025. But your $1.75M had to be wrong. This is like when KD insisted that we paid 100% of Robles full-season salary, even though we only had him for two months, and even though MN was sending us $500k. But since the facts didn’t fit his argument, he ignored the facts.
FWIW, all these sites make mistakes on salaries, including Cots & Spotrac. I’m not sure which is better or worse, but don’t simply take the numbers because they agree with you.
One of the funniest movies ever.
I think that thinking was part of the Mondesi trade. Mondesi averages 60/12 SB/CS (per 162 games) for his career. With the new rules, he could be a 75/15 easily.
Lol. Agree.
I sense Bloom doesnt like pitchers with issues (health, military). Ward, Groome and Song all had these.
Dont get me wrong, if the farm system wasnt as strong as it is, he wouldve kept all of them. But, when he was putting together the roster, I feel like he used it as a tie-breaker. Groome stands a good chance to be on the IR this season, while Chris Murphy doesnt.
Maybe Groome will be a better pitcher than Chris Murphy, but before I concede that, I’d have to see it play out for a couple of years.
Fuol – I’ll give you props for the Cousin Vinny reference, but you’re all over the place.
You said Spotrac is right in stating the $1.75M LTS hit for 2023, but then you say the Red Sox owe him nothing … which BTW is the opposite of what your BFF JoeBrady is saying.
I went to FG already, not seeing what you claim. And you didn’t provide a link, which says it all.
Hey I gave you a chance …
Joe – I already stated what you stated in your last paragraph, Spotrac could be wrong. And so could Cots.
Because they agreed with me? I don’t work for Spotrac, I didn’t come up with a dollar amount by myself. So it’s not “them agreeing with me”.
It’s me seeing their numbers and repeating them, period.
Sporttrac was correct on the ledger. RS incurred a 3 year liability when they got Hosmer. You on the other hand don’t seem to understand that liability was reduced first by what San Diego assumed over the three years and next by what the Cubs assumed.
Sometimes things are so simple and obvious a discussion is not necessary. If there’s a baseball contract for dummies with a link is out there? Go find it. As is the case here regarding what happens when a player is released with money owned and another team signs him to a ML contract.
In your zeal to be right. After admonishing another poster with that are you following me so far stuff? You make a ninny of yourself.
I’m not your secretary. My advice is to read up on this basic tenet that even the most casual of baseball fans comprehend.
fangraphs.com/roster-resource/payroll/red-sox
Let me at least help you out with Fangraphs. Perhaps you are unable to use search words to find the corrrect site. If you wanna practice it? Try Fangraphs Red Sox payroll
Look for the red numbers. They indicate amounts the RS subtract from their 2023 payroll
It takes big shoulder to confess one was clueless. Particular when you attempt to denigrate another for what you can’t seem to grasp.
Acel Brady – Didn’t take you long to come up with another handle.
No matter how many you use, I will not stoop to your level.
The only handle applicable here is you can’t handle the truth. I have no idea who this Brady poster is.
And I agree. You won’t stoop to the level of educating yourself.
fangraphs.com/roster-resource/payroll/red-sox
============================
Thanks for the link. I usually go with Cots, but I like the layout of FG better.
“Fuol” – You just happen to show up immediately after “Acel” disappears, and you immediately start insulting me – that’s not something a “new” poster does.
I’ve said it enough times, Spotrac and Cots etc can be wrong at times. I’m not gonna get into an argument about which one is right and which one isn’t. It’s called taking the high road, try it sometime.
GA – I don’t think it’s fair after 3 years of it not happening to suggest that Bloom’s calling card is untapped potential. It’s dumpster diving. There’s a difference between the prospector that knows where the gold is and the one that randomly looks under every rock. Bloom is the later.
Bloom has tossed more gens than he’s found. We have Duvall not Renfroe or Schwarber or even better BENNY or even better than that MOOKIE.
I’m excited that Sale has looked normal. That alone will keep them from the first pick in the 2024 draft. Paxton is still a question mark to me and I would not be shocked if he totaled less than 40 Innings for the year. Pivetta is a good number 5 SP. The opening day starter is an injury waiting to happen. Kluber unlike Sale has actually seen his stuff drop off dramatically so he’s no better than a Wacha. He’s a guy you can hope for the best knowing he has no big future just more mediocrity.on the horizon. I want to see Houck, Whitlock and Bello throw 150 innings or more so there is a future building during this wasted season.
Pulled, I agree that bloom is not particularly adept at the untapped potential calling card and farm building. He relies on volume (takes no skill) and likely has a similar hit/miss ratio as any gm out there if not worse (this prediction based on what it feels like, I haven’t crunched numbers)
But, that’s why I said to give the benefit of the doubt since the bloom apologists all claim that’s why he’s here, and, that he is good at it per ‘farm rankings’that are both dubious in their predictive quality and rely in some large part on prior gm’s acquisitions in multiple manners (ranging from prior signers and draftees to mlb quality chips to let go/trade and get more pieces)
GA – Have you ever worked a job where you failed miserably from the day you showed up and the company let you stay 3 full years despite the terrible results?
Bloom’s a lucky man. Most bosses would have canned him a long time ago.
No Pulled, I’ve never held a union position.
GASox – That’s one of your best right there!
bloom is supposed to be identifying untapped potential and building prospect strength
=============================
Actually, you’re right. Bloom was one of only two GMs that actually saw any talent in Meneses.
Bloom?
Inherited 72M in dead money.
Inherited young, inexpensive talent that produced a net of@5 WAR his first three seasons, including the negative WAR kids. Devers was about it. And he was paid 14M for the 2 seasons following the shortened season
Compare DD. He inherited young, inexpensive talent that produced 70 WAR his first 3 seasons
Bloom inherited what some rated the worst farm system in MLB
DD? The opposite.
Love DD. He was handed a loaded deck and knew what to do with it. But by any standard, he left a mess for his successor for the present, bereft of young right now talent and a ton of dead money and a depleted ready now farm that he used up to win a ring
RS sandwiched 3 last place finishes in and around their last two rings.
Based on the last 20 years and the advent of new CBT rules with parity development bite? The ten Big Market teams can expect to win a WS every TWENTY years.
RS have bested that by looking to future years at the cost of the present year when the infrastructure is shaky and payroll is out of whack. No fake runs.
If the cost of winning a ring or two every ten years is some last place finishes? I’m in. Better than the Y’s close but no cigar every year.
Jury out on Bloom. So far? So good by me.
Fuol-
You need to check again, and define your parameters of dead money, what counts as young talent, what counts as inexpensive talent, etc.
I stopped reading when your leadoff statement was to claim bloom was saddled by ‘dead money’ unlike when Dave Dombrowski walked in the door, and, yet, DD in 2016 faced in excess of 1 in 4 payroll dollars was dead money to just three players – Sandoval, HanRam, and Craig. And if you want to compare total payroll (which Henry DOES care about) and not only CBT figures, youve got to go further underwater with Castillo getting a further another 1 in 14 remaining dollars.) And it only got worse from there when his second year saw pedroia go down from the Machado slide costing yet more…
So, tell us how you count dead money, what counts as a young player, what counts as inexpensive, are you pegging that to FA ideas of war and that someone who is cheaper than the acclaimed FA war is thus affordable, so on so forth.
Because I didn’t even have to go further to notice it was a bloomer-esque evaluation, full of subjective qualifiers and light on how the parameters were defined. Although, I suspect, this thread will drop off the easy to access page and disappear before we get a shot at discussion over known parameters
GASox – Great post!
And the audacity of someone pointing at Dombrowski and screaming “dead money” when just last year Bloom gave $140M to an injured and long-declining infielder.
Not to mention the millions dumped on JBJ and a bunch of awful pitchers.
Rsmith makes no sense with his hyperbole…
In addition to refusing to state which ‘3 consecutive seasons DD was over the penalty’, now he says DD had 4 years of drafts and trades that weren’t bearing fruit when he left.
Einstein rsmith need to realize DD was hired August of 2015. DD’s first draft was 2016. His first international signing period was… the winter 2016 window. The trade deadline had passed when he joined the club, making his first trading offseason…. winter, 2016…
Unfortunately for all Red Sox Nation, DD was let go AUGUST 2019. so let’s not let facts get in the way of Rsmith.
But, so, 2016 draft was in spring of… 2016. Winter of 2016? Same.
So. 2016-2017 – 1 year. 2017-2018 – 2 years. 2018-2019 – 3 years, but, OOPS. DD fired August 2019.
Someone needs to learn about calendars and to count.
Or, do we start the clock on Bloom in 2019 because that’s when he was hired, and, claim there has now been 5 years of failure where blooms drafts and international signings have failed to bear fruit? Doesn’t make sense to count like that to me, but, let’s wait for an answer.
What about all the young talent DD was “saddled” with? A cheap Bogaerts, Betts, Vazquez, Benintendi, Devers, etc, goes a long way in off-setting Ramirez and Sandavol.
I wish DD wouldve saddled Bloom with that type of young talent. They were all still there but much much more expensive. 4 years running and we’re still waiting for a major impact prospect from the DD drafts/trades. Maybe it will be 2023 and Casas, or maybe he’s another Jarren Duran.
The haters, only want to look at one tiny bit of information, while ignoring the bigger picture, because it doesnt work for them. Their argument is paper thin.
Pax should be in the bullpen. He’d be a dominant set up guy and that would limit his innings too. Kinda like how Andrew Miller found his stride when he became a full time set up man.
But I think Pax can still start. Miller was never a good starter. Pomeranz is maybe a comparison. I get what you’re saying and agree but I think Pax still has value as a starter. We will see it how goes, you might be right.
Dead money is pretty simple
Salaries that were paid to players that did not play inning one
In Bloom’s first year? 72 million dollars was paid to players that did not play inning one. Not deferred salaries. Salaries due players in 2020 that were on the RS roster or leftover money due to players on another team
That’s pretty simple. I will leave it to you to look
It up. I know. It takes a little time as opposed to
finding some narrative to fit your “Wells Report” condemning Bloom.
BTW. Craig’s money was also excluded for CBT purposes. And HanRam had an excellent year his first year for DD. Do your homework.
And for a poster that quit reading after the second sentence, your ability to comment on the remainder of the comment is commendable
It’d be nice if the management fielded a 500M payroll every year. Wouldn’t bother me one iota
Take a look at the roster in DD’s first year and count the star players and core making min salaries. The 30M salaries need to be offset by several productive min salary types. To have a ring worthy team.
Again. Do your homework. Take a look at the min salary players that DD had in his first year. Compare
Take a look at how the pundits rated the RS farm in DD’s first year. Compare to Bloom.
By any objective standard. Bloom was handed a challenge. DD? A loaded deck
How is Bloom doing? They hired him for his eye for young talent. Still some time for the young kids he’s traded for, drafted or picked up to shine. Clock is ticking. They all don’t have to be HR’s. And some can be flops. So long as they produce some productive min salary players every year going forward to fill the roster spots.
Jury out on Bloom.
Addendum. The shortened season allowed the RS management to pay only the prorated salaries of the dead money. A blessing for John Henry. Doesn’t change the big picture dilemma for the GM.
I think the same can be said of managers as far as who they inherit and who they develop. It takes awhile to evaluate and the evaluation continues after they’re gone. I still believe in the Bloom Cora tandem. Not quite Epstein Francona level, but I think they can succeed.
Well said. Agree.
Whyhayzee – NO WORSE TANDEM IN BASEBALL. GOING FROM CHAMPS TO CHUMPS IN THREE YEARS IS ALL THE EVIDENCE YOU NEED!!!
Fuol – You’ve sunk to a new low by blaming ERod’s missed 2020 season DUE TO COVID on Dombrowski.
Do you even take the time to read posts? I have not assigned blame to anyone. I just sited reality. I’m a big DD fan. Love the guy. As my post indicates
Did Bloom not have 72 in dead money his first year?
Did he not have what some rated as the worst farm in baseball?
Did he not have a stable of min salary players he inherited that produced anemic WAR totals his first 3 years?
You seem a bit emotional here in your zeal to hate Bloom. Have a drink. Relax. Stick to facts.
Fuo – Dead Money? DD inherited over $40MM in dead money and it rolled through his four years with the club and carried over to Bloom for 2 years.
Bloom did the bonehead pay down on Price and created $16MM more dead money. DD left no dead money for Bloom. Bloom has created lots of dead money since he arrived. Go to Spotrac and count up all the money paid to players dropped by Bloom.
The farm system was 21st when Bloom showed up and it only improved after he tanked 2020 and got 150 points for Mayer and jumped to 9th. That’s not building the farm system through smart trades, that’s building the farm system by failure. I guess he watched what Houston did years ago and thought he would try it. Too bad his picks haven’t produced guys like Altuve or Bregman.
Bloom didn’t inherit a bad team. They won a championship then Cora screwed them in March and April and injuries killed their chances for a FOURTH Division Title and then he was fired for wanting to keep Mookie. If you consider that being a bad GM what the hell is Bloom? Less than an apprentice? I’m convinced the hot dog vendor would have been a better choice for GM and I sure hope I don’t insult any hot dog vendors with that comment!!!
WAR is a bogus number. It’s contrived and can’t be agreed upon across companies producing the number so find a REAL stat to try to berate the world championship roster Bloom inherited.
What irritates the daylights out of real fans are dumb comments like yours that don’t include facts and spew BS all over the website. I hope you are getting paid to make up the lies you just wrote.
It’s emotional to all real fans because Bloom destroyed and dismantled an organization I’ve supported for over half a century.
FACTS are not what you write. LIES and BS describes what you wrote. The data has been presented a thousand times proving everything you said to be false. Go collect your paycheck from Bloom and shut the hell up.
Let Chain play his What-if game with Meneses. Scouting is an inexact science. What he should do is look back in the reports filed from his minor league managers and scouts and see who was getting it tight and who was getting it wrong and why. Then learn from the mistakes made.
What “mistakes”. Meneses was signed for a one-year contract. He played 7 years in Atlanta, but no one seems to think they missed anything. Meneses had a .767 OPS in Triple A at age 29, Wow! Franchy Cordero had .931 OPS at age 26, how long should be have held onto him?
Also, its been 1 season, and 222 ABs. Let me repeat that, he’s only had 222 ABs at the major league level. He could easily turn out to be a flash in the pan.
ELV – Exactly. Well put. Rsmith stopped taking comments because he’s only here to aggravate readers. hahaha
You hit on one more thing Bloom promised and didn’t deliver on. He was supposed to analyze the minor league system and improve it. The numbers have gone down despite Mayer being added. The development of players has slowed. And a lot of the same old people are making the same wrong calls when it comes to personnel. The farm system seems even more political than it was when Bloom arrived. Nearly a decade ago the farm system thought Swihart was better than Mookie!! So did the rating services since they rely heavily on the input from the team’s farm system managers. It’s no better today. The same guys who raved about how great Jeter Downs when he showed up in the minors got to see him DFA’d. Those that raved about him should have been fired as you have pointed out.
Great comment!!
Pulled – After the Mookie trade, Bloom said the benefit of the trade was freeing up money to extend other homegrown stars.
Obviously, he lied because he didn’t even make an honest effort in keeping Xander.