In an early look ahead to this year’s trade deadline, Joel Sherman of the New York Post identifies the 12-20 Red Sox as potential sellers. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom rebukes any notion that the team is preparing to punt on the season however, telling Sherman “We are not thinking that way [selling] at all […] The hole we are in is real, but it doesn’t reflect the talent on this club. We know it will take a lot to climb out, but we believe this group can do it.”
Accordingly, Sherman acknowledges how much baseball is left to be played this season and opposes a total teardown for a club that just last year made the playoffs. He does also cite Boston’s frequent record fluctuation this past decade (the team has finished first and last in the AL East four times apiece), however, as reason to brace for a disappointing final win tally. With a number of teams already ahead of them in the Wild Card hunt, to say nothing of their incredibly tough division, the Red Sox figure to have a harder time than most presumptive contenders in reaching the playoffs this year. Thanks to a handful of impending All-Star free agents and a wide open payroll next offseason though, there’s perhaps no team more qualified to reload at the trade deadline before trying for better results in 2023.
Some more news out of Boston…
- Pitching prospect Noah Song was selected by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2019 draft but has since seen his baseball career be put on hold due to Navy commitments. As Alex Speier of The Boston Globe details, however, Song has now completed flight school and applied for a service waiver that may allow him to resume his professional baseball career. At the time of his draft selection scouts viewed the right-hander as a first-round talent with mid-rotation upside, albeit one with obvious signing roadblocks, so his return could be quite the boon for a farm system on the rise. It remains to be seen how a multi-year layoff from baseball might impact Song’s athletic abilities or if additional naval obligations will keep his service waiver from being approved, but the Sox for their part seem prepared and supportive of either outcome.
- In an interview with Christopher Smith of MassLive, former Boston hitting coach Tim Hyers discussed his rationale for leaving the franchise this offseason to take an identical role with the Rangers. Familial considerations, challenge-seeking, and a desire to let current Red Sox hitting coach Peter Fatse rise to the occasion all informed his ultimate departure. Hyers of course has been one of the sport’s more productive hitting coaches in terms of results, as high-octane offense was the calling card of Red Sox teams dating back to his first year under manager Alex Cora in 2018. Hyers’ coaching presence, and lack thereof, seems to be felt by his old and new club so far this season, as the Rangers have improved relatively as a run-scoring unit while the Red Sox currently find themselves as a bottom-three team in MLB in that regard. If there’s one silver lining here in the early-going for Sox fans, it’s that Hyers was approached by the Yankees after leaving his post with Boston but politely rebuffed the club.
Song might just be the most underrated prospect in baseball right now. if he can get back his stuff from before flight school, he’s gonna dominate.
Hyperbole is your strong suit, DarkSide
what is at all absurd about that statement?
“…most underrated prospect right now. If he can get his stuff back…”
yeah. dude’s been largely forgot about by most in the baseball world over the past few years.
I think it is easier said than done to take such a long break from playing baseball the amount he did in college and high school, go to the military, and then return. If he manages to get the waiver this year he will be 24 years old and likely have to pitch in a complex league or Low A ball.
Lets be generous and say that he has no injuries and takes 4-5 years to develop under these circumstances. He might be a rookie almost turning 30.
That is because he isn’t very good. Bad players get forgotten about.
@Black Ace – There is no more low A ball in baseball. It’s either A ball, or A+ ball now. I could see him start at A ball, move quickly to A+ ball and perhaps even sneak in a AA appearance or two if his stuff has not diminished. He absolutely dominated Low A ball after he was drafted.
I really hope the Navy accepts his waiver and Song can resume his baseball career. While he has only pitched in low A so far, he was absolutely dominant there and looked like he’d move quickly through the minors. Hopefully he was able to keep up his throwing program while serving in the Navy and he won’t need 4-6 months to get his arm in shape to start pitching in games again.
If he comes back, I figure he’ll start either in A ball or high A and if things go well, he’ll get a taste of AA ball in his first full season back. Adding Song to their list of impressive minor league arms (Bello, Seabold, Mata, Walter, Gonzalez, Groome and Murphy) would be an unexpected boon to the organization. The Red Sox future looks very bright, both in the field and on the mound and adding Song to that equation makes it even better. The 2024 Red Sox will be loaded with young, highly rated rookies and second year players. I really look forward to the next major iteration of the Red Sox. There’s a lot to be excited about!
Are you Chaim Bloom?
LOL
Why that’s just silly. It’s obviously Mrs. Bloom.
While it’s too early to completely write the Red Sox off, they’ll have to go 78-52 the rest of the way just to reach 90 wins. That’ll be a tough feat to pull off unless they make some big moves
They’re 4.5 out of the Wild Card in May. The Jays are supposed to be in the playoffs this year and they are struggle to stay competitive in the wild card race.
Right, but I’d say there’s far less concern about the Blue Jays than the Red Sox. The Blue Jays could win 15 of their next 20 games and nobody would be surprised. I can’t say the same for the Red Sox.
I’d also expect Toronto to be aggressive at the trade deadline as they’re in clear win now mode. The Red Sox on the other hand likely won’t be willing to move their top prospects unless they think they can win it all this year. The early results this season say that’s a long shot.
But the pattern they go through finished first then last place. They basically when it all then sell off assets to re tooled and gets back to winning, sell off and retooled again. Usually because of luxury tax restrictions and also young players getting paid more after arbitration.
In today’s MLB hitting and pitching coaches matter tremendously……
Hyers leaving the Sox may well have caused a problem with most of the hitters. Kevin Long has definitely helped Phillies hitters this year.
On the pitching side Cleveland lost 2 younger coaches to the Yankees and Padres – both teams overall pitching has improved. Meanwhile, Carl Willis has always been “respected” as a pitching coach, but his results over the years have been from below average to mediocre. With the above 2 coaches no longer able to work with Cleveland pitchers, their pitching has regressed to what it was before Mickey Callaway came in and revolutionized it. Other than young McKenzie, the other 4 starters are doing poorly. Then we can move over to the DBacks where their starting 4 have ERA’s of: Kelly – 1.71; Davies – 3.57; Bumgarner – 1.78 and Gallen – 0.95 after Brent Strom left the Astros and went to work to turn around the DBacks pitching. It’s a lot easier to skinny down former starters into relying on 2-3 pitches to pitch in relief than working with starters that need to use 3-5 pitches. The good pitching coaches get results with their starters.
Back to hitting coaches, the Yankees also changed theirs, and that’s helped them. There are other pitching and hitting examples, but teams such as the Astros and Giants that have great coaching systems seem to get the most out of players each year.
A lot of the Yankees moves happened in 2018/19 but no one paid attention. They changed their entire minor league philosophy and brought in people like Sam Briend.
Song will be 25 in a few weeks & he practically has no pro ball experience.. He’ll be in his late 20’s by the time he MIGHT be ready for the MLB.. Time is definitely not on his side.. It’s ALL uphill for him at this point in his career.. If he would’ve started right away he’d probably be in triple A by now or even the Bigs.. I really wish him the best in making a go at it FINALLY…
If he was a position player, I’d be more concerned about his age. Still plenty of time to make an impact on the MLB level.
That aside, I hope he makes the correct lifetime choice. He’s guaranteed to have a fine career as a Naval flight officer. If he walks away and his MLB career isn’t fulfilled, he’ll have lost two potential careers.
@ratedrdude – Song is (or was) an elite talent. Prior to leaving for the Navy, he was being fast tracked to the majors. His pitches were so advanced for his level that they thought he could make it to the big leagues in less than 3 years.
If he has kept up his throwing program while serving in the Navy, I don’t see why he couldn’t still do the same. He’ll pitch in A/A+ ball in year one, AA & AAA in year 2 and then have a real shot at the big league club in year 3. If his stuff is still polished, there’s a chance he could be a September call up at the end of Year 2. That’s how good his stuff was in Sox camp.
So he could make it to the majors by age 28 if everything works out for him. Sure, that is still pretty old but given his Naval commitments, it would be very impressive if he could do that. At the very least, he becomes a valuable trade chip for the Sox as they look to build their next contending team. Lots of changes coming to this club over the next 24 months and the most changes will be on mound with the collection of talent they have in AA and AAA right now.
If I were a Sox fan I’d be super pissed off at this point. They pay all that money to Story whose splits were there for all to see then they nickel and dime Bogaerts and Devers thinking Story will fill in for one of them. They filled their team with average at best players last year who massively over performed only to watch them crash back down to reality this season. That team is not a small market team they can afford to spend some money but choose not to. Their pitching staff is a joke I’m not sure why they thought Pivetta was a long term option he’s a back end starter at best and Sale gets hurt looking at the mound at this point. The baseball world knows Eovaldi is already a bit too long in the tooth and injury prone to pay him long term and they may be damaging any goodwill they had with the all star SS. A SS who by the way mashes. Then we have guys like Correa and Seager who get paid stupid money while a guy like Bogaerts that is clearly a superior hitter to both of them is blowing in the wind because his team has decided to tighten up the wallet. Except of course for the horrible out of nowhere contract they gave Story. I don’t wanna hear about defense either as neither Correa or Seager are any better than Xander. The Red Sox are getting what they deserve and I hope they finish in last again. That’s what you get when you hire these smarter than everyone else in the room GMs that think they can build a winner with some pocket lint and a few pennies.
Boras will probably ask 8/$240M to 10/$340M for Bogaerts who on the wrong side of 30. I won’t blame the Red Sox for not paying that. Lots of time to go before Devers is a free agent. I still say Bloom did not intend to compete this year. You don’t take on JBJ’s contract, which is one of the worst in baseball in my opinion, if you intend to compete. I think he put together a team with a chance to compete, but would most likely collapse, allowing him to build up the farm. I think he is building for a window of competition down the road.
Xander won’t turn 30 until October.
Yes and he will be over 30 when his next contract begins.
That’s a fine game plan if you’re with the Rockies or the Twins. The Red Sox are supposed to be a high-end franchise, like the Yankees and Dodgers. They have a ton of money. Bloom is handling this team like they’re the Orioles. They don’t need to “rebuild”. Sign quality free agents and stay competitive. Bloom doesn’t even have a background of real success. Yes, he did “okay” with Tampa, but how many championships did they win? Dombrowski was a far better guy to have than this clown.
I guess it comes down to whether or not you believe Chaim Bloom put this team together thinking it would compete. Bloom must realize that JBJ, Wacha, Hill and Paxton are not leading the Sox to the World Series because it’s pretty obvious. The Rays have been winning the AL East while spending less than $100M on player payroll. So, I think John Henry was smart to hire a guy from the Rays. The Sox should be just as good or better than the Rays and be able to retain their talent instead of trade it away before free agency. I think Bloom wants a loaded farm system before he goes all in to compete.
Bloom wasn’t the reason the Rays are always winning.
deej: Chaim Bloom was Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Rays. He had a lot to do with making the Rays what they are today.
Yankees have been in 1 World Series in the last 18 years…..so they have money…..they must not know how to use it. Lol
The Dodgers have won 1 World Series in the last 30+ years, and that was the fake 60 games season year. Lol
I will take 4 World Series WINS in the last 18 years….yes, the Red Sox
I’m a huge Red Sox fan and I’m very excited about what Bloom is building for the future. For the first time in 20+ years, the Red Sox have a farm system packed with talent. It’s not just 3-4 high end prospects like they had when they traded for Sale. Their talent runs deep through the minors, where prospects ranked in 20’s right now have a legitimate shot of making it to the majors in 2-3 years. They have at least 4 pitchers in the minors right now who will become starters or back end bullpen options within the next 24 months. Then they have their entire IF of the future in Casas, Yorke, Mayer and Binelas/Downs. We’ll see Casas sometime this season and Yorke sometime next season. I not super high on Downs but if he continues his power stroke and excellent defense then he too could make it to the majors sooner than later. I hate the fact that Xander may leave at the end of the season but they need to make room for the kids somehow. Devers is the one guy they have to re-sign. Then they can use their farm system surplus to add a veteran catcher and outfielder. While they might not compete for a title until 2025, they are finally building this team the right way for long term success, rather than the yo-yo seasons of 1st place, last place, 1st place, etc.
Yankee homer Joel Sherman writes a ‘Red Sox suck’ piece in mid May for the New York post. Okay, got it.
I mean, I’ve seen a lot of “Red Sox suck” articles recently.
Yes, it’s asinine to write that in May so it’s a roster deconstruction exercise for Sherman. We’ve all seen the past incredible runs the RS can make and turn it up in a short playoffs series.
They do suck though. You just don’t want to hear about it.
deej21 hours ago
They do suck though. You just don’t want to hear about it.
===================================
It’s largely the same team that was 2 games away from the WS last year.
Subtract Renfroe, 6 weeks of Schwarber, and ERod.
Add Story, JBJ, Hill, and Wacha
“I mean, I’ve seen a lot of “Red Sox suck” articles recently.””
Thats it exactly the point. Det, Wash, ChiC, Cin, all have worse records. Doubt you’ll find as many articles about them sucking, even if your combined them all (not counting hometown rags, Im sure all the teams are being trashed locally).
Like Mookie Betts and Blake Swihart. They both were in the minors together playing for the Red Sox. During their minor league careers, which one you think appeared on these pages more often?
A simple explanation for this is that the Red Sox had high expectations this year while the other four teams you mentioned did not
Nailed it, Ronk. Pretty simple.
The kid will be fine….Red Sox fans should remember Ted Williams lost many years not to just World War 2 but also was a pilot in the Korean War. You gotta stay in shape while in the military and I’m sure he’s been throwing baseballs this whole time.
yeah, Chris Rowley threw while he was deployed in Eastern Europe. I’d bet Song has done similar.
“If there’s one silver lining here in the early-going for Sox fans, it’s that Hyers was approached by the Yankees after leaving his post with Boston but politely rebuffed the club.”
Wait . . . who’s hitting better this year, the Rangers or the Yankees?
The Yankees seem pretty happy with Dillon Lawson.
Wait . . . who’s hitting better this year, the Rangers or the Yankees?
=====================================
It’s the kind of thing that people write when they aren’t thinking, and don’t bother to review what they wrote. The Yankees went from 10th in scoring to 2nd. There are always reasons why, but whomever their hitting coach is, might be their MVP.
What a joke. Didn’t think this was 1940s
I have never really understood why a military branch would grant an exception to allow someone to play professional sports. You enlist you serve.
All true, but from a marketing perspective, military athletes can help recruit the best and brightest to our military schools as well as the ROTC.
Can MLB Trade Rumors or any decent reporting outlet please get us a status on Noah Song? He applied for this AF release as reported 3 months ago…is there anything? Thanks…