The Red Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed infielder/outfielder Romy Gonzalez off waivers from the White Sox. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Boston designated right-hander Zack Weiss for assignment. Chicago had designated Gonzalez for assignment last week in order to clear space for free agent signee John Brebbia.
In parts of three seasons with the White Sox, Gonzalez is a .222/.239/.361 hitter with five homers and seven steals in 239 plate appearances. Gonzalez’s approach at the plate has been a major issue, however. He’s walked in just 2.1% of his plate appearances against a jarring 36% strikeout rate. On pitches within the strike zone, Gonzalez’s 83.3% contact rate is just slightly under league average. However, his 50.2% contact rate on pitches off the plate is tied for 543 among the 593 hitters who’ve taken at least 200 plate appearances over the past three seasons. That lack of contact on pitches off the plate is exacerbated by the fact that only 39 hitters in that same group of 593 have chased off the plate more frequently than Gonzalez (41.5%).
Big league troubles notwithstanding, Gonzalez has been a reasonably productive hitter in the upper minors. He batted .267/.355/.502 in his lone season at the Double-A level and is a .251/.332/.451 hitter in parts of two Triple-A seasons. When he has made contact in the big leagues, it’s also typically been loud. Gonzalez has averaged 90.4 mph off the bat and put 45% of his batted balls in play at 95 mph or greater.
Defensively, Gonzalez is capable of playing all over the diamond but has spent the bulk of his time at shortstop (847 innings), at second base (616) and in left field (579). He has a pair of minor league option years remaining, too, making him a flexible bench option for the Red Sox for the foreseeable future, however long they choose to continue carrying him on the 40-man roster.
Boston claimed the 31-year-old Weiss off waivers from the Angels back in late August. He spent the remainder of the 2023 campaign in manager Alex Cora’s bullpen, pitching 8 2/3 innings and holding opponents to a pair of runs on three hits and four walks with eight punchouts. Weiss has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons dating back to his 2018 debut and carries a 4.61 earned run average with an impressive 28% strikeout rate but an ugly 12.7% walk rate in 27 1/3 MLB frames.
Those K/BB numbers are near-mirror images of the rates he’s posted in Triple-A (28.2% strikeout rate, 12.6% walk rate). Weiss averages 94.3 mph on his heater and generates tons of whiffs on his slider, which he threw at a 70% clip in his limited MLB action this past season. His overall 13.9% swinging-strike rate and 33% opponents’ chase rate in his three big league cups of coffee are both intriguing, but those traits are undercut by his lackluster command.
The Red Sox will have a week to trade Weiss, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him.
They are alive !
Garbage in, garbage out.
What a move! Fan base is excited now…
Red Sox are really in a sad state.
Should have kept JD, that sums all the situation up.
And Chris.
They can still get him
“Really sad state”..I’m not the guy that goes around calling teams that spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year “cheap”, but I do see why Red Sox fans are disappointed. The Red Sox haven’t been acting like themselves for a few years now, but baseball is about drafting & development(not signing every expensive free agent possible)and the Rsox haven’t done that especially well in the last few years.
I’m thinking they are trying to act more like the Rays. We know John Henry is impressed with the Rays as he hired Bloom. Over the last 3 years:
2023:
Rays: 99 wins, $130.3M CBT payroll
Bos: 78 wins, $223.8M
2022:
Rays: 86 wins, $118.7M
Bos: 78 wins, $235.8M
2021:
Rays: 100 wins, $88.6M
Bos: 92 wins, $211.6M
I’m guessing John Henry expects a lot of success if he significantly outspends the Rays – even more success than the Rays. However, they need to change their player development processes to be more like the Rays which it looks like Breslow is doing. Will it work? Not sure and it will take some time to find out as these changes won’t happen overnight.
All – It will take a decade to revamp a historically nepotism driven farm system infrastructure and we all know no GM will last that long so we’ll keep starting a new approach every four years while the MLB team flounders. Great plan by ownership.
I don’t believe wanting better coaching and managing in your farm system makes you “like” TB. TB has severe financial constraints and is a young organization. Boston is a good old boy network of coaches and managers and the guys that need to go from the minor league program have been there for decades. If Breslow can’t fire Cora and can’t move Devers I don’t see him making much impact on the long, long time managers and coaches in the minor leagues.
Face it, the organization is in total chaos. There is no leadership from ownership. There is no leadership from the new GM. There is a lowlife cheater as manager and now we have a few good coaches. That’s not the infrastructure of a team that is going to win.
The thought of not seeing another ring until 2104 is daunting and haunting but there is no foreseeable fix so we know this decade is shot. Without change at the top the next decade doesn’t look much better. We have owners not vested in making the team a winner and their hiring practices are abysmal. Step one is no longer to fire Cora. Step one is to replace the entire Human Resources department for failure to make a smart decision since they hired DD EIGHT years ago.
The Red Sox are far more like the Cubs than the Rays. The Cubs have treated Wrigley as a cash cow and not tried to win much since the 69 collapse. Now Boston is pushing the Fenway experience like the Wrigley experience and the team wallows in the muck with one all-star who earned 50% more than he’s worth and no future with a GM interested in reclamation projects only.
You are looking at scorched earth when you look at the Red Sox organization.
Huh? It doesn’t even work for the Ray’s. They’ve never won a single WSC. Their the A’s of the AL East.
I think John Henry has early onset dementia.
Boxscore: So, you are calling 99 win teams bad? I doubt Red Sox fans would be complaining if the Red Sox won 99 games 2 of the last 3 years.
KD: Yes, it may take a long time. Breslow apparently assured ownership he can field competitive teams while the overhaul is happening.
So you dig teams that never win anything. So what. Doesn’t mean the rest of us want to lose like you.
You didn’t answer my question. Is a 99 win team a good team or a bad team? The Rays won 99 games in 2023 while spending $93M less than the Red Sox and won 100 games in 2021 while spending $123M less than the Red Sox. Why would John Henry spend more than he has been when he sees this?
Are you a dullard?
YOU SAID John Henry is now modeling the Sox on the Ray’s. I reminded you and everyone else that somehow thinks that’s a good thing that they’ve never won a single WSC. Facts.
all – Some fans like bragging about making the playoffs and some fans like to brag about winning the world series. I’m in the second group and NYY and LAD fans are in the first group. There is no one right way to be but the accomplishment in TB is being competitive when you have no money. That should NEVER be the goal of a Big Market team because it screws the fans and builds massive profits for the owners who are already screwing the fans with ticket prices, food, merchandising and media access.
Winning 99 game 10 years in a row is not better than 2 rings and four missed playoffs in those same 10 years. I live in the Dallas area and the Yankees and Dodgers are just like the Cowboys. Perennial bridesmaids.
I want the most frequent duck boat rides as possible. Sure it’s a lot like Ricky Bobby thinking but it’s true for me. I want to win not just participate in the post season.
For all you post season apologists ready to say the chances of winning are better if you make the playoffs, that’s a statistical comment that doesn’t apply to baseball. The dodgers have gone to the playoffs how many times and not won since 1988? Throw out the partial season win. Now tell me if a Red Sox team plays in the playoffs half as many time but wins four rings how can you say being in the playoffs raises your chances of winning the ring. That’s only true if the two teams and organizations are identical. Teams that are always bridesmaids tend to be always bridesmaids. Teams that win a high percentage of the time when they make the playoffs are more likely to win than the bridesmaids.
Examples – Ring winners include Boston, SF, HOU and STL. Bridesmaids include NYY, LAD and TB. The first group has 11 rings from 2001 to 2023 excluding the shortened season of 2020. That’s 50% of the rings in 22 years by four teams that win but don’t always make the playoffs. The three teams that constantly brag about their greatness for making the playoffs, having the best farm system and having the greatest drafts have ONE ring during the 22 years that they have dominated in all aspects of the media hyped insignificant factors of making the playoffs, having the highest rated farm system and having the greatest drafts!!!
Mathematically, making the playoffs should theoretically improve your chances of winning but the reality of the situation is that baseball doesn’t work that way. Teams are built for the regular season and others are built for the post season. Put the post season team in the playoffs and they tend to win more. That’s why LAD, NYY and TB don’t win.
All – I think he lied if he said that to them. He’s also not overhauling the team he’s overhauling the infrastructure of the farm system. If he fires Cora or moves Devers then he’s working on the MLB team but for now, he’s not fixing anything he’s replacing pitching coaches with guys not in the current good old boy ranks of the Red Sox. It will take time to see if there is an impact.
I sure wish ownership had the insight to beat Texas to hiring Boche and all that comes with Boche. That would have fixed the Red Sox much quicker if a real GM had been hired.
“YOU SAID John Henry is now modeling the Sox on the Ray’s.”
____________________________
No. I never said that. I said “I’m guessing John Henry expects a lot of success if he significantly outspends the Rays – even more success than the Rays.”
…and you still have not answered my question: Is a 99 win team a good team or a bad team?
I actually like this move by the Red Sox concerning their entire systems pitching. They are historically the worst franchise in MLB history at scouting, drafting, developing, and reclamations of pitching talent.
It would be stunning ineptitude by management to not notice how dismal the franchise is concerning pitching over so many decades. They had to redo their entire franchise program from scouting all the way up to developing, and molding MLB players.
We all know the Red Sox are not competing this year, and possibly as many as two more years. If the money saved trying to be a 4th place team instead of a last place team goes into increasing our regional, and internation scouting we should be able to reasonably see an improvement in just a few years of pitching within the system. It would also be nice to see top pitching prospects have the help they need finally to make leaps in improvement rather than languish into obscurity without a solid support team working with them.
I would much rather take the 2019 Red Sox team that lost and run them out there again, than any “winning” team TB has ever fielded.
Junkwax – OUTSTANDING!!! Me too. The 2019 team was loaded with talent until Bloom destroyed it. He could have been an undercover agent for TB or NY performing espionage on the the clueless Red Sox.owners!!
Junkwax: Is a 99 win team a good team or a bad team? Please tell John Henry why he should spend more than the $200+M he has been spending every year while the Rays spend much less and do much better. Nothing is guaranteed in the postseason. Even a 3-0 series lead can be lost.
maybe because that 93M and 123M payroll doesn’t translate to Championships. The plan is to win Championships not win a 100 games. The Rays are great at winning overall in a 162 game season, but these cheap teams cant win in a 5 or 7 game series (traditionally, I know there are outliers).
All – Seriously? After all the explanations you still don’t get it.
John Henry can’t relate to TB ownership. To suggest he would even think like them is absurd. Nobody chooses to behave like a poor person if they are rich. Some may live a frugal but comfortable life but that’s not TB. They are dirt poor and they are a young organization that has lived on the streets their whole life. They learned how to be efficient to survive. Boston doesn’t need to do that and to suggest Henry thinks like that is absurd. Henry sees himself as royalty not a pauper. He’s trying to take over new territories around the world of sports. The last thing he wants is to be considered cheap.
They use the cash cow Red Sox to fund other entities to put under their corporate umbrella. That’s unfair to Red Sox Nation. Reinvesting in your own ball club is what’s best for the fan base but it stifles expansion..
It appears the big event in the Boston organization was the decision in 2019 after four rings to divert all the profits from the Red Sox to other areas of the company and to focus on those areas while the Red Sox struggle to stay afloat. Bloom was such a poor captain of the ship he all but sunk it. Now the question remains, will Breslow revitalize the ship or let it float stagnant in the water while he builds his reputation for reclamation projects like Giolito and O’Neill.
The profits are enormous but they aren’t being funneled into the Red Sox so they are either going into new areas of the company or are being stock piled or paid out to the owners. Fans have a right to be unhappy over the new direction. It’s going to get uglier before it gets better. I guess giving away Mookie showed them a bunch of media BS can keep the fans from revolting because there should have been a much bigger punch back by fans to the trading of the generational face of the franchise. Now the owners feel secure in screwing over the fan base without much push back.
Lose the cockamamie crap about being like TB. That’s not even close to the truth. Henry is closer to following in Julius Caesar’s foot steps as a world conqueror of sports franchises than behaving like the wimpy owners in TB who choose not to fund their team properly and have no shot at a ring.
KD: I think you misunderstand what I am saying. I think John Henry wants to be more like the Rays, but not exactly like them. If he outspends them by 50%, which he has been, the Red Sox should be much better than the Rays. The Rays win more through player development than through spending.
ALL – No offense but is a car that can hit 250 MPH a good car or a bad car? Out of context, 99 is a bad team compared to the one that wins 110 and a good team compared to Boston.
Wins during the regular season as I just explained in great detail don’t win championships. They just win regular season games which don’t necessarily lead to rings.
99 wins and no ring is not a good team. 99 wins and a ring is an excellent team. Can I state that any clearer? As I pointed out already, you have a LAD or NYY fan perspective because you think 99 and no ring is good. To me, it’s comparable to 28 other teams for that specific year. All but the team that won the ring. They were good or possibly excellent depending on their dominance in the post season. Texas was excellent in 2023.
William – Agreed. Revamping a good old boy system for the last 100 years won’t be easy. So many bad managers and coaches with such close ties to the organization can not be overcome by a guy who can’t fire Cora or move Devers. Boston needs a real leader in the GM spot, not a placeholder.
All – Your logic that 50% more money should make for a better team normally would be sound but in baseball teams are measured by all-stars not money. Talent defines winners versus losers.
Despite how much more money Boston spent than TB, TB had TWO elected starter on offense and 1 reserve hitter and 1 pitcher on the roster. So 4 all-stars compared to BOSTON’S lone all-star Jansen. Boston didn’t make the playoffs because they were short on talent. TB had 3 more all-stars than BOS so they made the playoffs but didn’t win it all..
FYI – Texas (WS CHAMPS) had four elected starters on offense, 1 reserve hitter and 1 pitcher on the team That is 6 all-stars. They won the ring. The NYY had two all-stars in Cole and Judge.
It’s always about talent not money. That’s why I constantly complain about Bloom giving up 5 all-stars from the 2018 team and not bringing back any except Jansen who would need the team to be more talented to be effective.
99 wins vs 6 all-stars. Not knowing anything else, I’ll take the team with 6 all-stars.
@roob, the state of Massachusetts is on the phone claiming they are a happy state, despite the Red Sox…
Duvall please and Ryu fkkkk
redsox for life – Which outfielder do you want to sit so Duvall can hit .220 on a team that wins 75 games? Ryu at least adds a needed lefty for the rotation but he’s hardly a SP1 or SP2 like we need.
Anything that isn’t a marked improvement over existing talent or solves a gaping hole on the roster is a colossal waste of time and money at this point. The roster is a dumpster fire, and several years of ignoring the obvious problems has made the roster need too many fixes to deal with without making huge gambles.
Worrying about getting middling talent for a chance at 4th place should not be the aim for the fans, or the team. Again, if the talent isn’t either a huge upgrade over existing starting players or fill a hole at a minimum of above league average there should be no interest. There are only 2 players left available that check those boxes in Snell and Montgomery and we aren’t getting either. Even if we signed Montgomery we were 3 starters short heading into the season. We added Gio on a useless contract (if he tanks we have him two years, if he is any good, he leaves), and jettisoned Sale. That still leaves us 3 starters short. Signing Montgomery would leave us with two bullpen arms forced into starting AGAIN, and we would replace them with two mediocre pitchers in the pen. So AGAIN, a weak rotation, and weaker bullpen.
We are going to lose and lose a lot. If that is the case let the prospects play, let them get their reps and develop. We will either find low wage starters for the future or tank their trade value, but at least we will have an answer as to what we have.
It’s has to be emotionally difficult to be designated for assignment this close to spring training.
Agreed. I think Weiss gets a other shot somewhere in 24. He’s got good stuff and strikes out a lot of guys.
Watch the White Sox pick him up.
Of course. They are the last stop on the way out for many players right now as long as they are cheap. If any show anything positive and they can move them for more “potential” talent, you can bet LaRussa will advise Getz to “consider” the move..
Cease, Mocada, Eloy and Grifol will all be gone by next year….
Not good but not as bad as Las Vegas getting the A’s and Fischer .and a yet-to-be-built stadium at one of the busiest corners on the Strip…..Oh the comedy……
Worst off-season since they got rid of Mookie Betts.
My friend coached Zack, and he’s a good friend of his family. Really good guy. I hope he finds a spot.
If he gets released, I wouldn’t mind the Angels bringing him back on a MiLB deal. I liked the little that I saw of him, just needs to improve command and could become a serviceable middle-innings reliever.
I’m biased. If he pitches for the Angels, My friend will likely use his passes to take me to a game.
Although I’m not in town very often.
FULL THROTTLE BABY!!!!!!!
They walked back that statement 3 weeks ago. Try to keep up.
Three last places finishes in last 4 years. Try to keep up Gary.
I’m aware of the three last place finishes. That’s 1-4 years ago. Not 3 weeks ago LOL
And what have I missed? Are you saying three last place finishes is news? Whatever.., I’m just as disappointed as you are, maybe more so.
Weiss was a DFA candidate for a potential FA signing that we all know they won’t make but small moves like this further emphasize that nothing will happen. We got what we got.
Why Romy Gonzalez? I guess for minor league fodder?
AAA Slash Line: .251 / .323 / .451
18% reduction in production: 0.206 / 0.265 / 0.370
Actual MLB slash line: .222 / .240 / .361
They probably need someone to fill out the AAA roster. If someone better comes along, they can DFA him.
All – I love the common sense approach to your comments but you should check the AAA roster before you make the logical statement because it’s not true. The add will have a corresponding subtract and yes the DFA will probably happen down the road so why do this move before signing a SP1?
This is exactly what Bloom did.
KD: They need to fill out the AAA roster just as much as the MLB roster. I think they sign extra minor league players in case someone gets hurt in spring training. I don’t think this is anything to be concerned about. This doesn’t affect their ability to sign a SP.
Suddenly I hear Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny when he is going through the photos at the end.
‘You did it honey. The case cracker.’
They are focusing on fielding depth when they need ANY pitching badly. There is almost no pitching in the minor league pipeline that is close. They won’t sign any of the big free agents or even a guy like Clevingerr, who would come cheap in the grand scheme. They won’t trade from the plethora of position prospects. They won’t even troll the bargain bin of guys who will at least pitch and throw up a 4.5 to 5 ERA.
I can’t wait when they start saying in June, we are surprised how short we are on pitching.
A blind squirrel, on the other side of the universe, facing the other way could see this team needs pitching additions.
Goose – Great movie reference. You put me right at the table in the diner with your comment. Nice job and everything you said is true.
Why no SP1? Speaking of obvious, why no firing of Cora, why no moving Devers to DH, why no lefty late inning relievers?
Or we could go the other route. Why Giolito when you need a SP1? Why O’Neill when you are 5 deep in young outfielders trying to prove themselves at the MLB level? Why pay ATL $17MM to have Sale pitch for them and save only $8.6MM in 2024 costs? Grissom? Why get Grissom for $17MM when guys like Mayer and Yorke could be up in a year or two?
The blind squirrel is Breslow who is actually Bloom wearing a Mission Impossible mask of Breslow!!!
Fire up the duck boats, they found the missing piece!
So original.
Sorry I don’t much appreciate my favorite team’s owners pissing all over me and trying to tell me it’s raining.
This moves pushes them over the top now they can compete for a world series thanks John Henry finally making move.
Romy changes his Sox. Details at 11.
We collecting subpar minor league platoon depth still? I thought that failed experiment was done with. At least we jettisoned another pitcher. If there is anything the Red Sox are never in need of is pitching. Just kidding. This is just another who gives a crap move that impacts nearly nothing even at the minor league level.
WTH??
We need pitching not another “utility guy” that can’t hit to save his life!!
There is NO throttle…just coasting.
This is all part of the plan. We are trying to tank for Corbin Carroll Jr.
The joke continues.
Full Choke
In other news from the World of Sports, the Fenway Sports Group is part of a consortium of billionaire sports owners who will pony up as much as 3 billion dollars to assist in the merger of the PGA Tour, LIV and DP World Tour.
The Red Sox are officially back-burner to FSN, apparently. Probably behind EPL Liverpool,as well. I can’t imagine FSG isn’t going to be investing in Women’s Soccer, shortly.
The Red Sox have several last place finishes going…………
Yes makes perfect sense to anyone who thinks it’s difficult to walk and chew gum at the same time. FSG looking into making an investment in the PGA does effect how the Sox are run, nor any other sporting venture the overall corporate ownership controls.
Should have said “doesn’t effect”.
Affect
No you were right the first time Kenny. Freudian slip lol
No I really wasn’t. FSG’s investment in the PGA venture is $1.5 Billion of the $3 Billion. The $30 Million or so the Sox will likely be shy of the CBT limit this year is only 2% of that total. There’s simply no way FSG looking to diversify into the PGA has any bearing on what moves the Sox are or aren’t making this winter.
KingKen – Actually it depends on how the books are set-up. The profits of the subsidiary should not be transferred to another group unless they are moved to the corporate level and then redistributed. If the conglomerate chooses to move profits from pocket 1 to product development elsewhere in the corporation they can do it.
Boston is a cash cow and it’s funding the expansion of the organization. Maybe things have gotten so big that guys like Henry and the other Red Sox guys are not terribly influential any more.
Something happened in 2019 that changed the direction of the Red Sox and it seems likely it started elsewhere in the corporation.
No what happened with the Sox in 2019 is they tied up a lot of salary in players like Sale and Eovaldi who didn’t pay off the investment very well. That added to the money they tied up with JD Martinez that also wound up being an overpay set them up for some lean years when they got precious little from the multi-millions committed. That more than anything else has contributed to the reluctance to hand out large contracts questionably.
KingKen – That’s about as far from the truth as one can get!!!
WOW!!!
You really have no idea what happened!!!
The reason Boston exceeded the CAP in 2018 was the $41MM of dead contracts from Cherington. DD stayed under the cap while recruiting his team. OWNERSHIP made close to 1/3 of a billion dollars that year even after paying $13.4MM in Luxury Tax. It was a penny in a pocket full of $1000 bills.
There will NEVER be a year when the Red Sox are in jeopardy of losing money, they simply make less profits than usual on bad years!!! So spending up to the CAP and carrying NO RETAINED PAYROLL should be their annual target. It maximizes their chances of winning without paying a premium but like the Yankees and Dodgers they could afford to pay a premium to win if they chose to without “losing’ money in any given year. They are the third most successful team in baseball with regard to profits!!!
Large contracts are meaningless when you make that much money. They liked when players took a home town discount because they thought it showed loyalty. That’s was complete BS because they were actually cheap, frugal or any other word to describe a rich guy not acting like a rich guy.
There has NEVER been a financial issue with the Red Sox. The money had NOTHING to do with why DD won three division titles and a ring in four years and Cherington and Bloom both finished last 3 out of 4 years. It’s all about who you sign. DD never spent too much on a player, he spent what he had to so he could beat out the competition and he did it for quality players. Players that made the all-star game because they were so good.
The ownership and the funding of the team has been completely distorted by comments like the ones you make because you have no idea what is going on.
Boston has the funding to spend $300MM on their team and still bring home more than $200MM in profits. Yes, like I explained, only the Yankees and Dodgers make more money for ALL aspects of the team not just baseball operations.
So wake up and get on the same page with the fans that follow the game and realize there is NO FUNDING issue. The lack of new talent isn’t because the owners got cheap. The lack of all-star level talent is on the GMs that have been hired since DD. Yes, the owners are to blame for hiring them and firing DD BUT to suggest there is no money support for this team is wrong. There is NO DOCUMENTATION of that. Since nobody has made public the proposals by Bloom or Breslow to the board that funds acquisitions there is no way of knowing if Boston had put together a bid for Soto, Yamamoto, Ohtani, Snell or anyone other than Giolito, O’Neill, Grissom/Sale and the minor acquisitions that Breslow has made. Since the board approved the over payment for Giolito, O’Neill and Grissom it appears to me they don’t say no. They simply don’t get many requests. If that’s the case it’s all on Bloom and Breslow why we have no all-star quality acquisitions in the last four and half years.
KingKen – You are completely wrong about the resources that the Red Sox have when it comes to spending. Think of a room filled with gold. It touches the ceiling and each year they add huge amounts to the gold in the room whether they spend $180MM, $237MM or $300MM on their payroll.
My concern as a fan is that the overlords of the company are redirecting that gold to new ventures. Re-investing in your cash cow baseball team may seem counter productive since the earnings will be there either way but the fans really, really like when the huge profits go back to the roster in the form of new all-stars on the team so the team can win. Bloom eliminated the all-stars and now we need Breslow to add them back using the room of gold.
FYI – If the room of gold can’t be accessed by Breslow based on his bosses decree then somebody needs to explain what percentage of that gold is heading out of the room so the shell company can buy new things other than all-stars for their baseball team. Fans deserve to know whether that is happening or not.
Not buying into the room of gold. J. Henry’s other investments tanked during the pandemic. He’s asset rich but cash poor. He needs to sell the Sox. Now!
AWESOME!!!! Great if we could also draft 4 shortstops in the upcoming draft that would be great. “SSs make the best pitchers”
This made me laugh. Yeah, i don’t understand the fetish either.
Another Chaim Breslow dumpster dive. Hey, where’s Justin Turner?
There’s no room for Justin Turner in the lineup. Where would you play him? I think he left 3 days ago for Toronto by the way.
Oh I know, I just find it funny how they add this guy. Justin Turner wasn’t coming back either way.
Still not trying.
-Ken Rosenthal
He can fill in for Story…..
Another block buster pickup!!
Smells just like Bloom
When you’re picking up scraps from the White Sox, you know it’s going to be a tough year
Is this what it feels like to root for a poverty franchise? Full throttle, indeed.
I genuinely believe that 2018 core had a few rings to win. What a disgraceful few years – pitiful.
If all that the Sox ownership wanted to do was continue the pattern under Chaim of accumulating prospects and suspects, largely eschewing significant free agents, and not appearing to care how competitive the major league club was, then why fire Chaim and endure the humiliation of having ten top candidates decline to interview for the vacancy only to settle on someone who appears to be, at best, the 11th best choice to replace him? They could have done nothing and achieved the same level of puzzling mediocrity.
30 Parks : completely agree with you on this. Remember Bloom & ownership said they didn’t want to put the fans in a long rebuild situation. Where are all the Bloom / ownership loyalists now ?
B dog – THANK YOU!!! Where are all the people that disagreed with me since the Mookie deal? The ones that preached a brighter future!!!
This is exactly the future I saw in Feb of 2020. Guess what I see a similar future for February 2028 and 2032. You start a downward trend with no all-star level talent and you don’t hire people like DD to fix it you end up with what we have now.
Realism is the word of the day. All the pretending fans have done for the last four years has led to where we are today. Fans need to be angry and take action against the ownership, against Breslow and definitely against the serial cheater Cora. You can’t clean up a mess if you don’t recognize it as a mess.
Aardsmato — I believe they changed GM’s to push more things into the future. Bloom was supposed to waste 3 years and they extended him to four until the fans were so irate they needed to take an action, any action, to slow down the hoards of unhappy fans that will be attacking ownership for their incompetence. Mission accomplished.
We still have Breslow apologists so it worked. The complaints have slowed and the same old “give him a chance’ chants are coming from the ignorant who can’t see he’s no different than Bloom.
Every minute Breslow is GM is a minute wasted that pushes the recovery of the Red Sox farther into the future just like Bloom. The original 5 year drought I predicted when Mookie and Price were given away has now become a 10 year drought because the problem isn’t being fixed, it’s being avoided by Breslow.
Time to fire Breslow. I hope someone is rifling through a stack of resumes right now so a new GM can be found as soon as possible. That or a commercial real estate guy is assessing the franchise for sale. Either one works for me. At least it would be a step forward. It might be in the wrong direction but at this point even the wrong direction is better than standing still and watching the parade go by.
Troll: I was saying the same thing about Bloom . I just wasn’t on this site back then. I got in countless debates last year on JT over JD. Where are all those folks that were saying JT was a major upgrade? The Benny trade .Stealing Eckerseley’s word here (YUCK) .
B dog – We aren’t alone in our thinking. The numbers are bigger than are suggested on this site. It’s taken four years to get people to see what I’ve been telling them since DD got fired.
Thanks for giving me the heads up!!! Welcome aboard. At some point fan pressure will make a difference and ownership will need to sell or fix things. They have the money what can’t be explained is why they lost their motivation to be the best.
Troll: totally agree . I jumped on this site last year and immediately started arguing with many Bloom supporters. I am great full for the 4 championships this group brought to us but I really think ownership lost their fire .
Tollfree, I’m right here. Haven’t gone anywhere. See my post above to B Dog 351.
Gary – I know you get it. I’ve waited four long years to see people wake up and see the team as I see them. They are in a state of total chaos while ownership focuses elsewhere trying to expand their universe.
B Dog, I’m right here. I thought that the Red Sox were going to reset and let a 29-year-old MVP who wanted big money and a big long contract go ahead and walk. Fine they don’t want to sign him I’m okay with it.., trade him away.
But I also did think in a year or two after that, HIS MONEY would be replaced with younger or better or starting pitching or something.
When the available starting pitching and big bats were duds I thought for sure the NEXT off season the Red Sox would be back to being the big spending red sox.
Hasn’t happened in 2024.
So it’s not Bloom. It’s not Breslow. It’s what most of these guys have been saying, it’s the ownership dictating the salaries.
Nothing we can do about that except beg them to sell the team or boycott them as a lot of guy suggest.
But it’s not Bloom or Breslow. Sad State of Affairs.., the ownership has called it a career. They are sailing off into the sunset with other interests outside of our beloved red sox. Oh well it was fun while it lasted.
Gary : I straight up Agree with you that ownership isn’t spending. Are you really defending Bloom? Look at his moves , Benny for Franchy ( Franchise) . Story , Yoshida contracts . Not trading JD ,Nate , Bogey in 2022 . Just let them walk away. Ownership lost the fire and desire. Bloom made so serious bone head moves . The only good trade was when he got Pivetta
This just makes you scratch your head and ask why…
Dumpster diving has become a pastime for Boston GMs. Great!!
The most frustrating part for me is that Bloom tore down a great championship team and left an over paid DH playing 3B, a cheating manager and a bunch of talented home grown players acquired by DD the guy everyone blames for ruining the minors. It’s those youngsters that provide the only hope for the future and as Breslow slowly picks up reclamation projects the youngsters get sent down to AAA where they won’t learn how to hit MLB pitching or face MLB batters if they are pitchers. That’s a clear step backwards. The team doesn’t have the talent to win so why not develop the recently promoted youngsters into future all-stars?
Breslow, like Bloom, is simply wasting time and pushing winning farther into the future. We need him to do his job and develop the team for the future not force the potential stars back down to AAA. Look around at the teams that have turned the corner from sucking. Teams like BAL who had a good core group that is now getting better. Houston nearly 10 years ago. Arizona. There are lots of examples and none of them had a GM picking up reclamation projects to sit the young guys.
Fire the HR department. Then hire a new group who can identify talent like the old group did with DD. Take that knowledge and go get another GM that is willing to walk in and set the rules not obey any rules the owners want to impose on him. Remind the owners they make more money when they win. What a disaster!!!
Troll, what I’d add to your thoughts here is that if you look back the Boston front office has had a thing for dumpster diving long before the here and now. I remember back in the Theo Epstein days when I was in high school, heading into the 2009 season our headline acquisitions were John Smoltz, Brad Penny, Nick Green, and Rocco Baldelli. That got them nowhere, so they overcorrected over the next two offseasons and instead of allowing guys like Reddick and Lowrie to emerge and grow into roles they went out and splurged on guys like Scutaro and Carl Crawford who cost big bucks and added zero value. So then that dug them a hole where they had to throw away more talent by giving away Adrian Gonzalez, who had cost them Anthony Rizzo to acquire, and a still-useful if diminished Josh Beckett, just to get relief from the Crawford contract.
This is where the root of the ongoing problem takes hold. 2013 they had no intention of putting together a World Series team. They did bring in some legitimate big league talent to plug some holes and at least provide a watchable team, which is fine by me, but nobody went into that season thinking that team was actually going anywhere. For all intents and purposes the acquisitions who formed the bedrock of that team were dumpster dives and reclamation projects, but who knew Cherington’s cast of misfit toys would gel together perfectly and go on a magical unexpected wire to wire AL East domination capped with a World Series run? It worked so beautifully that I think organizationally, they are convinced they can construct a winner this way by turning other teams’ crap into diamonds and that’s part of why they keep ping-ponging back and forth between periods of going cheap and spending like drunken sailors at a casino.
It’s exacerbated because when they revert from one phase to the other they have thrown away tons of guys who went on to become quality big leaguers elsewhere because they refused to let anyone develop, then overcorrect for the lack of homegrown talent by throwing out massive ill-advised contracts, and then after a couple years have to throw away even more young talent to escape from those bad contracts. And here we are again, where we are talking about wasting at-bats on guys like O’Neill and Refsnyder at the expense of guys like Abreu who is 24 and has nothing left to prove at AAA, or Rafaela – while maybe his approach at the plate could use a bit more seasoning, his glove is ready now and he held enough of his own in his cup of coffee last year he at least deserves a shot to see if he can make the jump. If the pattern holds, instead they’ll half-arse it and give him too few at bats to learn anything and O’Neill too few at bats to make any kind of impact or build trade value, let O’Neill leave for nothing as a free agent, give up on Rafaela, and massively overpay for somebody like Brandon Lowe’s decline years while Rafaela goes on to have a nice career somewhere else.
But at the heart of it all you are correct. In most cases (Betts, Bogaerts, and Lester being the most notable exceptions that I’m most sore about) the availability of money to spend has not been the problem, the problem has been how they’re spending it. The only good GM we’ve had after Theo left has been Dombrowski, huge mistake firing him.
Dirty 04 . Great points . if memory serves me I thought Marco Scutura was on the cheap side he kind of broke out a little bit in Boston? I could be wrong. The Lester trade was dumb but at least they got something back in return. Look at JD , Nate , Bogey. Bloom let them walk with nothing in return. The 04 championship had a lot to do with the original DD Dan Duquette . He brought in Pedro, Manny and the trade for Teck and D Lowe . A lot of people forget about that and think it was all Theo
Scutaro definitely wasn’t a huge contract financially and did have a nice couple seasons for us, so it’s not that he was a particularly problematic player but was still an example of how they’ve been misallocating resources for awhile across multiple GMs/PBO’s.
Scutaro was one guy in a long line of guys who filled the revolving door of shortstops between Nomar and Bogaerts, and was supposed to stabilize the position for a few years serving as a bridge in 2010 to the hot prospect of the time, who was Jose Iglesias.
Enter Jed Lowrie – he had some injury woes that made him miss most of ’09 and half of 2010, but came on really strong in the second half of 2010 and was making league minimum. He had some memorable hot streaks when he was in the lineup, and granted part of the reason he didn’t play as much was because of injuries, but there is no reason he shouldn’t have been plan A to hold down short until Iglesias or eventually Bogaerts were ready. Plus in 2011 both Lowrie and Scutaro got hurt around the same time which forced them to call up Iglesias anyway and to have to trade for Mike Aviles when he proved to not be ready yet. Scutaro’s numbers were fine, but in the end all he really did was block Lowrie from a chance to blossom into an everyday player while failing to even be Jed Lowrie insurance since they had to go get Aviles. And his $5.5 million salary could have gotten them all of the pitching help the 2011 Red Sox needed that would’ve helped avoid their collapse. Take Brad Zeigler for example, one of the best relievers on the trade market that July, his salary for the year was $1.25 million. Also could’ve gotten a jump on acquiring our old friend Koji Uehara who also moved at that deadline and was making just $3 million.
We can sit and try to cherry pick names all night but I think I’ve gotten my point across which is that with better resource management, that 2011 team specifically over invested in some areas that caused them to forego the development of their own in-house talent, lack the financial flexibility and prospect depth to make trades to address the team’s actual fatal flaw (pitching), and in the end didn’t even move the needle a little bit in terms of helping the Red Sox win games. Giving up on Lowrie that winter for one disastrous season of Mark Melancon while Lowrie finally turned into a decent and dependable regular in Houston and Oakland was the cherry on top, albeit one that the arrival in Bogaerts made easy to forget about.
I can appreciate that they were smart enough to realize Lester was not going to take their lowball deal and went out to try and get *something* for him before his free agency. My bone to pick with them over the Lester situation is that it came to that at all. For all he’d done for the Boston Red Sox, and given the fact that playing in Boston is not for everyone, there is no reason they shouldn’t be willing to pay what it costs to retain homegrown talent when they’ve proven they can handle the pressure and enjoy playing there. If they made serious offers to Lester and Bogaerts at the beginning, neither ever would have left. And agree Bloom’s approach was unfathomably dumb. Duquette was great as well as you point out. ’04 was largely built on the back of his front office and their efforts, but ’07 was pretty much all Epstein’s work and most of the ’13 team’s core were his guys.. 2018 was mostly credit to Theo and Dombrowski with a couple of Cherington acquisitions playing a part.
Dirtywater and B dog – Great stuff!!!
The trick to winning consistently has always been about gathering all-star talent and keeping it as long as possible. In 2007 Boston won and in 2008 they lost to TB 3-4 one game short of the world series. After that talent erosion started and talent recovery didn’t happen until 2013 the UNEXPECTED ring that should not have been so unexpected.
Here are the players who endured from 2007 to 2013. These guys were the foundation that allowed fixes to significantly improve their record from year to year.
C – Variteck to 2009, V Martinez 2010 then Salty
1B – Youk to 2010, AGON 2011/2012 Napoli in 2013
2B – Pedroia all 7 years
SS – Lugo to 2008, Green a yr Scutaro 2 yrs then S Drew
3B – Lowell to 2009, Beltre 1 yr, Youk 1 yr then Middlebrooks
LF – Manny to 2008 Bay 1 yr Nova 1 yr Crawford 1 yr Nova and then Gomes in 2013
CF – Crisp to 2008 Ellsbury all but 2010 when hurt
RF – JD Drew to 2011 C Ross 1 yr Victorino 2013
DH – Ortiz all 7 years
SP – Lester 2008 to 2013
SP – DiceK – 2007 to 2010
SP – Beckett – 2007 to 2012
SP – Wakefield – 2007 to 2011
SP – Schilling – 2007 only
SP – Tavares – 2007 only
SP – Buckholz – 2008 to 2013
SP – Penny 2009 only
SP – Lackey 2009 to 2013 (2012 out with TJ surgery)
SP – A Miller 2011 and 2012
SP – Dubront 2012 and 2013
SP – Dempster 2013 only
RP – Papelbon 2007 to 2011, Acevedes 2012, Uehara 2013
Why did 2013 surprise people?
1 – Napoli outperformed AGON at 1B
2 – S Drew was the best SS since Lugo
3 – Gomes was better than Nava
4 – Victorino improved on JD Drew
Four key moves that added chemistry and better play while the core guys were still doing their thing: Salty, Peddy, Middlebrooks, Ellsbury and Big Papi.
The real key to winning was the big step up in pitching:
1 – Lackey returned from TJ surgery
2 – Dempster was a big step up from Miller
3 – Uehara was surprisingly good as the closer.
See when the team is filled with all-stars tweaking the non all-stars can bring significantly better results. That’s why Bloom got handed a gold mine. He had all-stars up and down the line-up. All he needed to do was tweak not remove those players. With Sale hurt and Price struggling he need more depth at pitching. Aaron Nola was a FA in 2020 when DD could have brought him to Boston for under $25MM a year but instead Bloom dumped two all-star quality players and the talent erosion was starting.
So lets review what Boston had before they shocked the world in 2013 by winning.
C – Salty not an all-star but an accomplished catcher
2B – Pedroia a ROY, MVP and 3 time all-star
CF – Ellsbury an all-star in 2011
DH – Ortiz a nine time all-star and top 4 in MVP votes 4 times
SP – John Lester 2 time all-star
SP – John Lackey 1 time all-star and 10 10 win seasons
SP – Ryan Dempster 1 time all-star with 65 wins in 5 seasons
SP – Clay Buckholz 1 time all-star who gets to 2 times in 2013
SP – Jake Peavey all-star in 2012
So Napoli, S Drew, Gomes Victorino and Uehara changed at 69-93 team into a World Championship team.
Breslow is at a huge disadvantage because Bloom did SO SO much damage. The quality players left:
DH – Devers playing 3B very badly
CL – Jansen struggling to get save opportunities
BUT if you plug in the high upside players from DD and Breslow’s expensive 2B you get
1B – Casas
2B – Grissom
LF – Abreu / Anthony
CF – Duran
RF – Rafaela
SP – Bello
SP – Houck
SP – Crawford
It’s not a bad starting place if they let the youngsters develop. Fill the SP1, SP2 and 3B holes and this team has a shot at the playoffs. Stay stagnant and 75 wins is an aggressive guess.
Totally agree with that assessment. You can make “trim the hedges” type of moves that prove to really matter in the end when you’ve got the foundation for a winning roster already built out. It means F-all when you shipped the core of the team away and are trying to win games with nobodies like Christian Arroyo, Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong, etc. all in major roles. I also think you’re right that, if they stop screwing around with all the fringe-decent type players hoping to catch lightning in a bottle and just let the kids loose to see what they can do, there is a group of them that is at least interesting and so far in their limited experiences Casas, Grissom, and Abreu all look like promising guys who will be productive big leaguers. The farm is deep with compelling position players, so it’s not totally insane to think this could be one of the strongest lineups in the American League within a few years. That’s why their refusal to invest in any outside pitching of any significance when there is no help due to come from the farm any time soon continues to baffle me.
My guess is that Breslow was familiar with Gonzalez from their Windy City connection. Evidently he saw something he liked beyond the numbers and the fact that Gonzalez will come super cheap. It could also mean that a trade might be brewing involving one/some of our middle infielders/outfielders.
We’ll see.
JDK – Glad you have that much faith in Breslow. When you write about what might be on the verge of happening is it strictly hope or do you believe the apathy that Breslow has shown is somehow strategic? See, if it looks like apathy, and smells like apathy, I tend to think it’s apathy.
Trollfree – always enjoy your takes. Who would you hire in lieu of Cora?
baseballteam – Years ago when Cora arrived I liked Girardi because he won with really crap Yankee teams. I guess maybe his age was an issue in Philly because the team has tons of talent but didn’t win until he was gone.
I wanted Bochy but nobody listened except Chris Young!! Great move especially since he had the pitching connections we needed. Recently, I was hoping as Bloom got fired that Cora would be fired too and Ausmus could be the new Manager but the Yankees beat us to yet another deal. Around Thanksgiving the Yankees made him bench coach and the heir apparent to Boone who really, really sucks.
I think we should give Bob Melvin a shot at the job. Of the out of work qualified managers, I think he’s proven the most during his career and he did it with an under funded team which appears to be Breslow’s direction. If Breslow won’t sign all-star quality players nobody is more qualified to deal with it than Melvin.
Ron Gardenhire.
Wow! This move could mean a World Series for Boston.
Full Throttle Golf & Soccer. Redsox Nation Boycott Begins! Big mistake…you’ll see revenue is going to disappear from New England
FULL THROTTLE
I don’t think it’s apathy on Breslow’s part. I feel that it’s part looking to make a good first impression on Henry etc.,and also really believing in the current/future roster’s potential. I’m sure he feels certain that Bailey is going to help all our pitchers up their game to a new level, and that lineup newcomers like O’Neil and Grissom are really going to make a difference in our everyday lineup, while at the same time, turning into more economical options than their predecessors were. When you add that up. plus believing that minor leaguers like Gonzalez, Fitts, Teel and Mayer etc. will soon (1-2 years) be contributing on the major league level, I can see where Breslow’s going with this, and I actually feel very optimistic about our future. However, after saying all that, I really think Breslow needs to sign someone like a Clevinger to a ML deal, and one or two veteran pitchers like Hill, Cueto etc. to at least minor league contracts in order to keep Pivetta, Houck and Whitlock in the bullpen. That, plus re-upping Duvall as a DH/outfielder, shouldn’t break the bank any, while also providing some well needed insurance in case things don’t work out as planned. And we all know things seldom work out the way we hoped they would.
JDK – Lets be clear the clowns you mentioned (Gonzalez, Fitts, Teel and Mayer) ARE NOT the future of the Red Sox. Teel might end up being the one guy who is above league average but it’s not likely he’ll be an all-star. Mayer hasn’t performed to his draft position and historically that means he’s a bust. He might some day make the majors because of where he was drafted but he’ll disappoint for a few years and then be gone.;
The young players of the future have already proven themselves. Look at Duran, Bello, Rafaela, Houck, Abreu, Crawford and Whitlock. Those guys are the players that have all-star potential and Breslow is bringing failed players like O’Neill and Giolito so the actual future stars are delayed in their growth. He’s clueless.
Reclamation projects rather than filling needs is not what we need from the GM after the devastation Bloom did. We need a guy to fix the holes and let the young guys develop so the team could be ring worthy in a year or two. Breslow’s approach won’t produce a winner before he is unceremoniously fired like Bloom for not producing a winner. Let’s hope as fans that Breslow is less destructive than Bloom. If he starts trading away the best young players so the crap guys Bloom picked can be the future, then stick a fork in the Red Sox until 2030.
BOYCOTT TRUCK DAY REDSOX NATION! Monday 2/5/24 NOBODY GOES! THIS OFFSEASON IS BS!
Mitt Romy
In honor of Breslow’s off-season production, the Red Sox ownership will make a generous donation of $14.50 to the Jimmy Fund, and solemnly raise a white-flag on opening day.
$14.50 over three years, with an opt out the 2nd year. And because the Sox are woke, they’ll put up a pink flag.
In 2021 in 400 minor league at bats this guy had 24 home runs and 24 steals in 400 at bats. He’s 27, doesn’t cost you anything and plays a lot of positions. What is there to complain about? Other teams are throwing $10 million contracts at mediocre players. It doesn’t mean the Red Sox should. Sox should continue to develop home grown talent, uncover value in players other teams may not be valuing properly and then fill in with the occasional free agent signing. It is a winning formula that has worked in the past and will again in the future.
ramon – If the move happened after we acquired what we need it wouldn’t be a blimp on the radar. The fact that it happened before Breslow has gone out and fixed the holes in the team makes it annoying, wasteful and insignificant. It’s not about the player, it’s about what’s not happening. Nothing is getting fixed and putting gum in one of the holes in the bottom of the ship when you need to rebuild the entire bottom of the boat is a problem
Fans are fixated on Breslow doing things that will improve the team in 2024. We need all-star quality players. The piddly crap can happen after the big fixes.
Until the big fixes happen, all transactions will be crapped on as insignificant and non=productive. All-Stars, we need multiple all-stars to improve the talent on the team. Upgrading a crap player to a slightly better crap player won’t change the wins in 2024. Last place is embarrassing considering the resources available.
So if you are a fan of the guy or even a relative, don’t take offense by fans not wanting to hear about an insignificant deal right now. It’s the current state of Red Sox Nation that is driving the need for all-star level adds.
Full throttle and loving it!
Whens truck day? I have some rotten eggs to throw at it. Anyone game?
Full Throttle!
BOYCOTT TRUCK DAY Monday 2/5/24 & ST Games, Opening Day, Reg Season Games, all merchandise and streaming service until they hear and see Redsox Nation and acknowledge who WE ARE!
I couldn’t agree more, try to make this greedy bum hurt in the wallet!
BOYCOTT EVERYTHING Redsox…until they get the message RSN is sending about their lack of spending in FA for ACES! Unacceptable in New England
Adams is a terrible writer. There should never be a comma before “too.” It’s not the 60s anymore.
OMG, Henry really does care!
FYI…. BURNES just went to BAL for guys not as good as we could have sent them. Another opportunity for improvement thrown away by a very inexperienced and worthless GM.
BLOOM II strikes again. It’s infuriating to see deals that would have helped us being executed by our competition. Tanking is such an ugly way to approach a season.
My frustration is peaking now. I was really hoping Bloom being gone was going to be a good thing.
FIRE BRESLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FYI – BAL gave up DL Hall a pitcher ranked 93 on the BA top 100 and a SS named Joey Ortiz. It’s not like he was going to push Jackson for the SS spot. They also gave them the 34 pick in the 2024 draft (Supplemental pick).
So to have Burnes and the inside track on signing him long term they gave up next to nothing. Heck, we have that in our minors!!!
DL Hall had a good 2023 after many bad years in the minors. Can he continue it or will the hitters adjust and he’ll walk too many to stay in the majors? The SS was going nowhere and is not good and the 34 draft pick is in a weaker draft class than 2023.
I think Breslow could have beaten that without hurting the development of the farm system. Yorke is better than the SS they got. Trading Crawford, Yorke and B Jordan would have been more than what BAL gave up. To get Burnes, it would have been worth it unless Breslow couldn’t handle getting him extended. Since Bloom sucked at deals there is a good chance Breslow will too based on his first 3 big deals. Too much for Giolito, too much for O’Neill and way too much for Grissom.
Wow this sucks. It truly is like we still have Bloom except he already threw out the all-stars. Maybe Breslow can find a way to dump Devers contract so we can get payroll down to $100MM and finish last for a decade but always remembering the hope that the new pitching coaches will turn this thing around ANY DAY NOW.