The Red Sox announced Thursday that they have fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. The Sox also announced that general manager Brian O’Halloran has been offered a “new senior leadership position within the baseball operations department,” further signaling a major change in the organization’s structure. O’Halloran and assistant GMs Eddie Romero, Raquel Ferreira and Michael Groopman will oversee baseball operations for the time being, but the Sox added that a search for a new baseball operations leader will begin immediately.
“While parting ways is not taken lightly, today signals a new direction for our club,” principal owner John Henry said in a statement within the press release. “Our organization has significant expectations on the field and while Chaim’s efforts in revitalizing our baseball infrastructure have helped set the stage for the future, we will today begin a search for new leadership. Everyone who knows Chaim has a deep appreciation and respect for the kind of person he is. His time with us will always be marked by his professionalism, integrity, and an unwavering respect for our club and its legacy.”
Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy said in the aftermath of Bloom’s dismissal that the Red Sox plan to conduct a “broader search” that “could take awhile” and that there are no preconceived plans to hire a more experienced candidate or another younger, first-time baseball ops leader (both links via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe). Notably, Speier adds that Kennedy took the additional step of specifically calling out that he “can rule out [former Red Sox GM] Theo Epstein as a candidate.”
Originally hired to the post in October 2019, Bloom has overseen baseball operations for the Sox for the past four seasons. While Bloom’s Red Sox enjoyed a 92-win season in 2021 and took the Astros to six games in the ALCS that year, it’s been a largely disappointing four years for the Sox otherwise. Boston followed up that ALCS showing with a 78-84 record the following season and is currently at 73-72 with no viable path to a postseason berth.
Hired away from the division-rival Rays, where he’d paired with since-promoted president Erik Neander to oversee the baseball operations department, Bloom was long billed as a future general manager/president of baseball ops himself. His arrival in Boston followed the similarly timed firing of current Phillies president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski, who’d brought a World Series title to Boston in 2018 but endured a difficult 2019 season that ultimately cost him his job.
The hiring of Bloom, a young executive from a Rays organization widely viewed as one of the game’s model organizations, represented a departure from the experienced Dombrowski, who’s now led baseball ops for four different organizations and got his start in baseball ops way back in 1978. The Rays are admired throughout the industry for their nearly unrivaled player development expertise and the manner in which they’re able to maintain an elite farm system and competitive club while simultaneously operating under some of the sport’s most stringent payroll limitations from ownership.
The Red Sox have indeed built up their farm system under Bloom, but it’s come at the expense of results at the MLB level. Boston’s free-agent additions under Bloom have been a mixed bag, at best. The 2023 additions of Kenley Jansen, Justin Turner, Chris Martin and Adam Duvall have all been strong moves, as was last year’s low-cost pickup of Michael Wacha. However, the six-year deal for Trevor Story hasn’t panned out at all as hoped thus far. And while Masataka Yoshida has hit better than many anticipated when he signed a five-year, $90MM contract, he’s cooled after a strong start and turned in shaky defensive ratings that have muted his overall value. Meanwhile, free-agent deals for James Paxton, Corey Kluber, Martin Perez and Garrett Richards over the years haven’t helped the rotation as hoped.
Of course, the successful signings in and of themselves are a two-sided coin as well. The decision to buy low on Wacha proved savvy, but the Sox balked at bringing him back on a multi-year deal this winter and instead signed Kluber to a one-year pact that didn’t yield the intended results (7.04 ERA in 55 innings). The Sox also let Nathan Eovaldi depart rather than make him a multi-year offer, and while they received a compensatory pick after he signed in Texas, Eovaldi has been one of the American League’s best pitchers this season and would’ve found himself in the Cy Young conversation were it not for a recent six-week stay on the injured list.
Even that draft pick compensation the Sox received for the departures of Eovaldi and Xander Bogaerts were reduced due to some questionable front office dealings. The 2022 Red Sox tried to thread the needle between shedding salary and remaining competitive at that year’s trade deadline. While Boston traded Christian Vazquez and shed Jake Diekman’s salary, they also held onto Eovaldi, Wacha, J.D. Martinez and Rich Hill — all impending free agents — and acquired Tommy Pham. The result was a payroll that landed just a few million dollars north of the luxury tax threshold, thereby diminishing the comp picks for Bogaerts and Eovaldi. Teams that don’t pay the luxury tax receive comp picks after Competitive Balance Round B (typically around the 75th selection in the draft, give or take a few places). As a tax payor, the Sox instead received selections between the fourth and fifth round of the draft for that pair of veterans.
More recent dealings aside, Bloom will likely always be remembered — fairly or not — as the Red Sox’ baseball ops leader who oversaw the trade of Mookie Betts to Los Angeles. The trade of Betts was undoubtedly driven to some (likely significant) extent by ownership, and at the time of the swap Betts had steadfastly pledged to test the free-agent market. That didn’t prove to be the case, as Betts instead signed a 12-year, $365MM contract that stands as the largest amount of new money ever promised to a player at the time of his signing. (Mike Trout already had $66.5MM remaining on his contract when he signed a $360MM extension with the Angels.)
It’s arguable that Bloom deserves the benefit of the doubt, as any extension offers to Betts were always going to be ownership’s final call, and he had no impact or way of controlling whether Betts would ultimately put pen to paper with the Dodgers following a trade. Still, as the head of baseball operations, it’s incumbent to acquire the best return possible, and to this point the package the Sox received for a player who remains in perennial contention for MVP voting has simply hasn’t aligned with Betts’ value.
Alex Verdugo has stepped into the outfield in Betts’ place and developed into a solid regular. More than three years after the trade, Connor Wong has had a decent season as Boston’s primary catcher. Infield prospect Jeter Downs has since been designated for assignment and is no longer in the organization. Perhaps Wong can yet take his game to another level, but it’s been an underwhelming return for a player of Betts’ caliber — even if he had just one year of club control remaining at the time.
To Bloom’s credit, the Red Sox have that excellent 2021 season under his watch, and the farm system is currently in excellent shape. Baseball America graded it as the fifth-best system in baseball as of last month, although MLB.com was more bearish, pegging the Sox 16th. Prospects like Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, Kyle Teel and Ceddanne Rafaela (who debuted this month) all rank within the top 100 prospects in the game. While 24-year-old Brayan Bello, like Rafaela, was signed by the prior regime, his development into a quality big league starter has been largely overseen by Bloom’s staff. And while Betts, Bogaerts and other great players have walked out the door during Bloom’s tenure, he was also the baseball operations lead when the Sox inked Rafael Devers to a historic $313.5MM extension (although just as ownership surely played a substantial role in the Betts trade, that’s surely true of the Devers deal as well).
It’s worth noting that the Red Sox have seemingly been reluctant to push payroll to the same heights as in years past; Bloom’s Sox topped out at $206MM in Opening Day payroll (2022) and were closer to $180MM in 2021 and 2023. Conversely, the Sox were at $233MM and $236MM during the final two years of Dombrowski’s tenure. Relative to the rest of the league, Boston has been in the top half of spenders since Bloom’s hiring but never placing inside the top five — where they resided each season from 2004 to 2019.
Bloom’s experience in making value-oriented moves on the margins of the roster in Tampa Bay perhaps appealed to Sox ownership as they sought to curtail some of their previously aggressive spending levels, but it always felt odd to see a team with Boston’s financial might making head-scratching moves like extending Rob Refsnyder in May or swapping out Hunter Renfroe for Jackie Bradley Jr. in order to acquire some mid-range prospects from the Brewers.
As with any president or general manager, Bloom’s tenure will ultimately consist of notable wins and painful whiffs. In this instance, Sox ownership felt that the former had outweighed the latter by too great a margin, and they’ll now embark on a search for their fourth baseball operations leader since Theo Epstein’s departure prior to the 2012 season. Only the Angels have gone through that same number of GM changes in that same window.
Amazing
When you subtract the “L” after the losses, Bloom becomes Boom
When you subtract the M after the dismal pitching, it reads Bloo!
Stupid. Ownership forced his hand with payroll. It takes time to develop a farm. He went from near worst to fifth best and had the team positioned to trade from depth for starting pitching and to improve team defense.
When the hell did Sawx fans become content with perennial last place teams? You think it’s not possible to make the postseason while improving the farm system at the same time? Nutso.
Haha you actually think he was going to trade prospects for pitching?
Dewey: Agreed. It seems like Bloom did not have enough time to build a contender through the farm system as he seemed to be doing. I like that approach better than relying on expensive, older free agents.
Come on, dewey. You saying that, after dishing out all those mega-contracts for decades, John Henry just got a case of the cheaps? No, that was Bloom trying to turn the organization into a rinky-dink outfit so he could pocket some extra bread. I have no idea why they hired this failure to begin with. He never achieved a championship. Guy’s a failure.
That’s why your not a GM.
Yes. You build for depth due to injuries but the roster rules prevent you from hoarding. Thus, you either make trades, release good prospects or expose them to the Rule 5 draft.
If you’re not insane, you might be nuts. Do you really think Bloom wanted to trade Betts? He was hired to facilitate the trade knowing a deal was not going to happen.
Why are the Orioles in first place and set up for years? Because they built through the farm system. Why are the Yankees in last place and will need to ride out bad contracts for years? Because they built through free agency.
Didn’t the Orioles tank for a lot of top draft picks though? Luckily they hit on them and didn’t have a lot of injuries. The Yankees and Red Sox won’t ever intentionally tank like the Orioles.
@LouW,
Os success is not from high draft picks alone. FO has used a balanced approach to success. Trades, rule 5, FA signings, waiver wires, etc.
But the big one was an egoless Elias believing in personnel brought on by the Duquette regime. IE. Mullins, Hays, Santander, Bautista, Rodriguez, Mountcastle … and DL Hall is getting close.
@RemoveManager
Absolutely correct about building a farm system why building playoff teams at the same time!!!
Duquesne did it. Theo did it. Even DD did it to an extent.
Blooms job was to bring balance. Build a play off team without breaking the bank. His going over the threshold last year by trading for JBJ had to have been his beginning of the end. Then a horrible off season followed by a what the eff trade dead line this year did him in.
Sox need a PBO who can use the power of a big market team to our bid good players by a little while avoiding monster contracts for super stars. It can be done!!!
@Suit.. he did have time, he just never pulled the trade trigger at the deadlines. How many more prospects would we have if he had made trades instead of letting players walk for nothing in free agency?
Tang – Bloom had many weaknesses, identifying and maximizing pitching talent was one of his biggest ones. He was clueless, I think none of the top 20 Sox pitching prospects are pitchers. Good riddance to the worst Boston front office guy in my lifetime … and I’m old! Lol!
Suit – Four years is more than enough time, especially with the resources he had.
Another benefit of Bloom getting shitcanned is it will now help heal Red Sox Nation which had become divided because of Bloom. Now the Bloom suckups will hopefully rejoin Sox Nation and support this much needed change. I for one will welcome them back to the Red Sox family.
Your profile name is certainly fitting. Henry fired Dombrowski and hired Bloom for that exact reason – they went cheap. He got exactly what he was looking for. Bloom is a great GM, but not the right fir for Boston. The fault is Henry’s for hiring Bloom in the first place. He wanted a Rays payroll with Dodgers results. Can’t have it both ways.
Insane – You are anything but, great post!!
Dewey – Bloom stated he traded Mookie to free up payroll for signing other homegrown players. He LIED!!! Henry gave him a budget, but he did NOT tell Bloom how to allocate the total amount budgeted.
Henry did NOT tell Bloom to trade Mookie.
DBH: I don’t know the inside info, but I think we can see now that Bloom did not have a sell off this past trade deadline because he had to win or lose his job. I think Bloom couldn’t have a sell off because that would be unacceptable in Boston. I think Bloom refused to trade prospects because he wanted to build a contender from the farm system. If he kept trading prospects at the deadline, that would never happen. So, Bloom basically did nothing at trade deadlines.
Fever, not sure how old you are but do you remember Buddy Laroux (ignore spelling). Ex-traiber tried to steal the team from Mrs. Yawkey. Also Lou Gorman wasn’t good either
Fever, what did you expect him to say then? Let’s see who they bring in next now that they will spend and have prospects.
Dewey—Do you remember when Haywood Sullivan and Buddy LeRoux were battling for control of the team? Now THAT was bad!
The cubs kinda just did it. Maybe.
The orioles are set for years because they drafted high for years. Care to guess why they drafted high for years?
I think the problem was this:
Nobody expected to see how blooms draft picks would bloom or bust (pun intended) for years to come. That’s how it always is with GMs.
BUT.
Let’s dissect things a bit. Bloom inherited some payroll. True. But so did DD or are you forgetting money owed to the likes of Panda and Hanley etc. Also consider the percentage of CBT threshold that payroll represented.
Bloom still spent and SPENT BIG. He wasn’t running out 80m or 100m payrolls.
Next, look at the trade deadline moves, the players with control that Bloom would ride the contracts out on and get nothing for. Remember Bloom barely blowing the CBT last year and dropping two, yes, TWO, comp picks effectively effectively almost two rounds worth of selections in a deep draft. That hurts too.
He spent too much money on churn and burn moves lookingnfor the bargains. He also really blew the deal with handling Bogey. He never ought to have hit FA, and, never would’ve been bid up to the SD contract. $100-120m could’ve gotten you 4-5 years, instead of the disaster at SS this year.
We could keep going, but, Henry didn’t want a 5 year rebuild of a cellar dweller tanking in last place while running $200m+ payrolls. He was getting sub $200m perennial contenders.
It’s the same story we’ve rehashed a thousand times over the last couple seasons.
Now, let’s look to the future and hope for better. BTW: The post draft farm rankings per mlb.com – redsox at 16th place.
What are the reasons you aren’t a GM?
Fever: I’m not sure 4 years is enough to hire your own people, implement new ways of doing things and then see results. Maybe. I think Bloom was acting like a guy from the Rays which he is. Is 4 years enough to get an organization moving in a different direction? Looks like Henry couldn’t take the heat from whining fans and media. Let’s see if this is a good move. It is possible they get someone better than Bloom.
Why were the Orioles cellar dwellers for years before the recent spurt? Because they built thru the farm system, and had to split their revenue with the Nationals, limiting the payroll.
@GASox
I’m pretty sure you could take Bogey off the Padres hands very affordably. He’s still a weak SS, and his bat slumped.
No need to guess. The Orioles are set for years because they tanked. The Cubs won a World Series after tanking. Tanking works. Nothing wrong with a few down years to rebuild the farm. The Red Sox could have tanked and rebuilt the farm system quicker, but no, the whining can base and media won’t stand for that.
@suit, agree on the prospects. I was referring to players who are not controlled beyond this year.
Letting Betts go for next too nothing , letting Xander go for Nothing not picking up a bunch of prospects for players at the trade deadline when they were in last place and over the luxury tax , and many more things is the reason he’s not here the trade deadline this year deff sealed his fate!!! And I’m glad ty for the better farm system but no ty for the last place finishes and trash starting rotation and bullpen
The Red Sox and Yankees are finally entering the winter of their cycle. They will both suck for about twelve years. Devers will be the Wade Boggs type for the Sox. Judge will be the Mattingly. They’ll be the only names we’ll remember in thirty years when we talk about what happened.
Fever: Where are you getting this detailed Henry/Bloom/Mookie info from?
DBH: I was saying I don’t think Bloom could dump players at the deadline as that would be a sell off which would be as unacceptable as finishing in last place.
Dewey – Bloom sucked.
His farm system is far from HIS farm system since all he did was subtract from it. The part of the farm system he ACTUALLY impacted got worse not better because the best players (DD’s guys) graduated. The fact that he did have the privilege of doing the annual draft was his only positive and that came with his office not his success. Take away the draft picks given to the BOSTON RED SOX annually not earned by Bloom and his NET impact on the farm system was negative!!!.
Once a Bloom apologist always a Bloom apologist.
Put the scumbag in your rear view mirror and look forward to Boston’s greatly improved future due to his DEPARTURE!!!!.
All – Another Bloom apologist. He could have been there for 25 years and the team would still be .500. He was the worst GM in Boston’s prestigious history. Stop trying to rewrite the past and look forward to an instantly improved future.
It was intentionally “tanking”. It was just low talent and thus less wins.
You no longer are guaranteed the #1 pick for being the worst team. Now there is a lottery. Tanking is no longer as good of a strategy.
Big market teams buy FA so they can build their farm system slowly to provide that 1 in 5 top 100 prospect that becomes a MLB average player and 1 in 20 that becomes a star player.
Dewey – Yep I’m old enough to remember Buddy. He was the Celtics trainer too, and owned Suffolk Downs. I don’t include him because he was an owner, but yeah he was bad.
Not this year mate. Pitchers are like gold and way overpriced in trade.
Troll: You just can’t drill threw the wood with some of these guys . Chaim was in over his head plain and simple.
Mookie did not want to stay in Boston. Everyone seems to know that but Red Sox fans.
KD: Bloom barely traded anyone from the farm system. So, saying he subtracted from it is way off. You also want to disregard his draft picks which is the main input to a farm system.
When you subtract the B from Chris Getz, you get Jerry LOOMing over at Chaim
When you subtract the L it reads Boo!
Web: You are correct that having the worst record no longer guarantees you the top pick in the draft, but you will probably get a top 5 pick because the worse your record is, the the more balls you get in the lottery. So, I think tanking still pays, just not quite as much as it used to. The Pirates pulled out the top pick last year.
Suit – I posted the link here in the past, the Bloom quote was from shortly after the trade. Just so you are clear, Henry obviously wouldn’t have allowed the trade if he didn’t want him traded. But if Bloom had come up with an alternate plan that would allow Mookie to be re-signed, Henry would have been good with it. I’m in no way absolving Henry of any blame, he should have insisted on keeping Mookie just like he insisted on bringing back Cora.
Dumpster – I like how they bumped this article to the top again …. makes it seem like Bloom was fired again, which is great! Haha!
dewey – You are 100% correct. Some people here seem to think it’s all about hoarding so that the farm system is the strongest in baseball, but that defeats the entire purpose of having a farm system.
And Cora bashed Bloom yesterday in a Boston Globe article by Hayden Bird. He made it very clear he wasn’t happy with the acquisitions by Bloom or Bloom’s reluctance to win now. His exact words: “Hopefully we can improve the roster with some acquisitions and go for it next year”.
deweybelongsinthehall
Fans are so crazy if they think Bloom made the Betts trade and Devers extension without Henry’s approval.
He made deals with Story and Yoshi, but he couldn’t do mega deals like this (Betts, Devers) on his own.
LouWhitakerHOF
You can’t tank with a payroll like the Red Sox – it’s crazy.
DBH1969
I think that Bloom’s problem was that when he received such carte blanche this offseason, he didn’t know how to properly allocate finances.
Perhaps he was limited in his actions regarding SP on long-term deals (5+ Y’s).
But he had the ability to sign 2 #3 SP for 2-3 years.
John Henry just got a case of the cheaps?
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Yes. The numbers are the numbers. Our spending is way down since 2019, and other big market teams payrolls are way up.
all in the suit that you wear
Devil!
But we got Valdez and Abreu in 2 months of Vazquez. This is a very good deal, even if it’s just Abreu.
The fault is Henry’s for hiring Bloom in the first place.
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I agree. If the mantra was to “win today”, it is entirely possible a guy like DD could do a better job. If the mantra was “sustainability”, then that requires more time.
That’s not to say that Bloom didn’t make mistakes, but if you want a GM that will help build the farm, that’s Bloom. But you can’t jump off the horse before the end of the race.
Incorrect. Their 2+ bWAR players:
Henderson 2nd round
Bradish Trade
Rutchsman Overall #1
Santader Rule 5 claim
Bautista Waiver claim
Mullins 13th round
Cano Trade
So only one of their top contributors was a result of them losing.
Bloom inherited some payroll.
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He inherited the highest payroll in baseball. Calling it “some” is inaccurate.
Besides Adley can you name an Orioles player that has made a huge impact on this team that was drafted early during their rebuild? Keep talking like you have a clue it looks hilarious on you.
Not a Bloom defender but he didn’t let Mookie go for nothing. Remember that LA had to take David Price & 50% of his remaining money in that deal as well. That allowed Boston to get below the CBT cap but unfortunately lessened the prospect return.
If Bloom had accepted the first deal (Verdugo & Graterol) the deal might look a little better, but replacing Graterol with Wong & Downs made the return worse. At least Wong proved to be a capable catcher this season with some athleticism. I agree that the return was not great but they did get Major League players out of it and shed an additional $16M per year with the Price deal.
dewey – Of course Bloom didn’t want to trade Mookie, but he wasn’t intelligent enough to figure out an alternative way of keeping him. As Dave O’Brien said on air, the trade will forever be indefensible and will forever be a stain on the franchise.
Remember, Mookie was arb eligible for the 2020 season. Had they given him an extension that began in 2021, they could have still reset their LT payroll in 2020 with or without Covid.
And then with Mookie’s incredible versatility, they could have traded Xander and put Mookie at 2B. Or they could have traded Devers and gotten a boatload of talent for him. The fanbase would have been more accepting of trading one of Devers or Xander, if Mookie was extended.
Suit – Really, really surprised you brought up the Yankees.
This is the first year they’ve missed the playoffs since 2016, and only the 5th time since 1995.
The Yankees haven’t had a losing record since 1992.
The Yankees haven’t finished in last place since 1990.
Criticizing the Yankees for their free agent spending is really, really silly.
DBH – You are 100% correct, but yesterday there was one point that was hammered home over and over again by every member of the Red Sox organization that made public statements …. the primary objective was always to make the postseason – not stockpile prospects.
No owner of a major market team would ever tell their top operations guy “It’s okay if we finish last 3 out of 4 years as long as the farm system improves”.
Corr – Bloom was neither great nor a GM, and his spending is proof that Henry wasn’t looking for a Rays payroll. He just wanted to get the payroll under control and not lead MLB in payroll, preferably without exceeding the LT.
It’s laughable to use them as an example for anything. They took far too long, decades, to get where they are. Try again.
suit – I have no idea what part of the country you’re from, but I can say with certainty that New England Red Sox fans are not mass-ochists.
When they are handed last place finishes, they are not gonna bend over and say “Thank you Bloom, may I have another”.
One of the reasons Boston teams have had an incredible amount of success over the years is because their fans don’t accept losing. New York fans are the same way.
And BTW – how many years do you think is necessary to tank? They absolutely did tank in 2020. That’s how they got Mayer, ain’t it?
And you say tanking works? I think fans of teams like the Pirates and Rockies (both tanking since 2019) and Royals (tanking since 2018) would beg to differ. Prospects fail far more often than not.
Ej – Red Sox had lots of stars when Boggs was there …. ever heard of Roger Clemens?
Both Red Sox and Yankees can spend their way back to success, as long as they spend wisely. Eating contracts has never been an issue for them, I expect that to happen with Story once Yorke and/or Mayer arrive.
suit – If that were true, then Bloom should have acquired help. Especially pitching.
web – Great point, the new anti-tanking rules are EXACTLY what was needed in MLB.
@Bogie. Agreed. Bloom, I think, would make a good small to mid market PBO. He is just out of his depth at the big market level. He’s not a bad guy, just had a very bad case of Deer-in-the-Headlights syndrome.
@bogie again. That deal was very good. Bloom did okay to well with trades (the Renfroe trade aside).. He just sucked with free agents.
Like a bazillion comments….who would have guessed that….
Fever: If you would have said that the first time, I wouldn’t have asked for more info. So, we agree the organization is responsible for trading Mookie, not just Bloom.
Bogie – The Vazquez trade was possibly Bloom’s best move. I supported it since the beginning.
A’s picked sixth…
I don’t think the Nationals can pick higher than ten, because they don’t receive revenue sharing and picked 2nd this year. These new draft rules are convoluted. Tanking, works, like you said, it’s just not as easy as it once was.
Suit – Absolutely. It’s common for ownership to get involved with superstar players. Henry shares the blame on Mookie.
The Orioles have the best farm system in baseball. They are are set up to compete for years to come. This is largely the result of drafting near the top of every round of every draft for many years…and you get that draft position from losing.
Fever: You think the Rodon, LeMahieu, Rizzo and Hicks deals are good? They are are horrible deals. Stanton is a horrible deal they traded for.I think the Judge deal will be turn bad too.
Fever: You think Cashman is good GM? You think the Yankees are going in a good direction? I think you are smarter than that. Rodon and Rizzo are two terrible deals just this past year.
Fever: The big market Cubs just tanked their way to a World Series championship in 2016. I am not a fan of extended tanks, but a few down years to build up the farm system is OK with me.
Fever: Tanking should get you a good window of contention if you can draft well. I am not a huge fan of tanking, but a few down years to restock the farm is OK with me. I think the Pirates will be good soon. The Rockies are horribly run and the Royals might be too. I think long, expensive deals for top free agent deals fail more often than not. So, I would rather build from the farm system because it is a lot less damaging when prospects fail which they do more often than not.
Fever: Not sure what you are replying to.
Joseph – What on Earth are you talking about?
Bloom never had a position higher than VP of Baseball Ops before coming to the Red Sox. He had zero experience running Baseball Ops before coming to the Red Sox.
Not only did he replace a guy who had a ton of experience rebuilding farm systems, the guy had a proven track record of doing a HOF caliber job rebuilding farm systems for the Tigers, Marlins and Expos.
Joe you really need to read up on Dombrowski’s background, because clearly you don’t realize his accomplishments.
Dotty – Wouldn’t it have made more sense to keep Mookie and package Price with Xander or Devers? Of the three players, Mookie was the far better defender and somebody who could play multiple positions.
sn33
Besides Adley can you name an Orioles player
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Some of the posters are the most casual of fans. The majority of their success is that they drafted and traded well.
If Bloom had accepted the first deal (Verdugo & Graterol) the deal might look a little better
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It would not have been better. This was said at the time, but if Graterol was a starter, he’d have been the preferred choice. But as a primarily 7th/8th inning RP, he will not have the value of a roughly league-average catcher.
7 teams in the lottery I think, so you are guaranteed a top 7 pick.
Right now, the Mets are outside that lottery.
Suit – This is one rare year of the Yankees not making the postseason, I was talking about in terms of longterm approach to contending.
To answer your question, DJL was a bad extension based on a really good 50-game joke of a season. Hicks was another bad deal,
Rodon? Definitely an overpay and high risk coming off just one healthy season.
Rizzo you can’t fault Cashman on, who would have predicted he’d suffer a concussion that would ruin his season?
And I’ll be totally honest in saying I thought Stanton was a great deal at the time. He was coming off a historic MVP season and didn’t show any signs of fading, the Yanks gave up virtually nothing for him, and the salary they are paying is quite reasonable for the guy’s track record.
As for Cashman, he’s had some good years … I mean look at how little he gave up combined to acquire guys like Urshela, DJL, Carpenter, Cortes, Voit etc …all of those guys produced big time for at least a while. Acquiring all of them were brilliant moves, and Cashman is superb at putting together bullpens. But he has definitely had a rough time of late. You know my thoughts on Judge, I was screaming to give him the extension before last season and we all know how that worked out.
Bottom line, I wouldn’t want Cashman to take over the Sox.
Web: I found this article about how the draft lottery works:
mlb.com/news/how-the-mlb-draft-lottery-works
All the teams that did not make the playoffs get balls in the lottery. The worse your record, the more balls you get. They draw numbers (balls) for the top six picks and the rest are put in order by record. So, any team that misses the playoffs could end up with the top pick.
No they couldn’t have reset the LT in 2020 if they kept Betts. His arb deal that year was for $27M. That alone, even ignoring the added $15M from Price, would have put them over. The only way they got under the LT in 2020 was because of the trade.
Fever Pitch Guy –
And then with Mookie’s incredible versatility, they could have traded Xander and put Mookie at 2B.
______________________________________________________________
You are missing the point that Bloom couldn’t trade Bogey since he had a complete trade ban.
Suit, thanks for the article. Appreciate it.
Manny – Every September 14th going forward will forever be known as Septeenth as it will commemorate the anniversary of Red Sox Nation getting emancipated from the worst Red Sox executive in franchise history. It will be a New England holiday like Patriots Day.
Bloombros… did we just lose???
Fletcher – YEP. It was a sweep just like so many series this year!!! A clean sweep by a street sweeper who took the trash out of town.
This shows the difference between East Coast and West Coast Baseball.
Being a Giant fan, I’ve seen the ups and downs under Farhan Zaidi. If he were running the Sox he would’ve been fired too; but in SF, they’re ready to give him an extension.
At the end of the day, fans shouldn’t confuse effort with results. It’s about the wins and the hardware. Mic drop
Both teams have the hardware. I thought he’d get to at least see the fruit of his drafting (next year).
He didn’t draft any of the guys that are helping now. He traded for abreu and Valdez, which was a good move, but that’s it.
When one types “mic drop” on a web page does that mean they have smashed their phone or keyboard?
Dave mic drop – It’s about performance some times but not always. Some times it simply can’t be explained. For instance –
GM in four years is 104 games over .500 with three unprecedented division championships and a world series ring and he gets fired.
GM discards all the two way all-stars from a world championship team in 4 years and provides a .500 record with nothing to show for his time except early draft picks and he lasts as long as the HOF GM who got fired.
Some things you simply can’t explain.
Sometime you can’t believe actions by people. I for one think the Bloom Apologists are clueless baseball fans who should buy some swamp land in Florida from me. You can’t be more gullible to think that 4 years was not long enough when a guy came into town in 2016 and took a team that had Papi for one last year and no pitching and they beat the Yankees and all other comers in the AL East to win the division 3 years in a row and it took less than a year to make that happen. NOT ENOUGH TIME….hahahaha what a joke..
You are either stupid or in love with Bloom to even suggest he did a good job. He sucked worse than any GM in the history of the Red Sox.
Bloom will live in infamy when historians write about the 4 wasted years he spent in Boston.
Can’t believe they’re gonna conduct a huge long search for the best candidate when they could have just hired Chris Getz away from the White Sox last month.
Has the Stearns hiring been announced by the Mets or Stearns? Maybe Henry is making a run at Stearns.
When the results aren’t there someone has to go and Henry wasn’t gonna fire himself…. Welcome to the Red Sox Mr. Williams! Is Rick coming with you?
Chaim Bloom, always trying to be the smartest guy in the room. Attempting to think outside the box, instead of making the obvious decisions for the Sox. In a tenure full of regrets, he will always be known as the guy who traded Mookie Betts.
YES!!!!!!!!!!
Wait… NOOOOO!
Darn it. FEverPitchGuy has September in the pool. I chose day 1 of off-season.
Meh… still…
YYYEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!
Doesn’t Henry like to do these firings before season end to get ahead of hiring?
Ya LD, he does. I also bet against Dimon a few months back. Having a bad year in the gambling department lol.
LordDgg: Henry probably saw what the Mets did in hiring David Stearns and said, “I better get my ass in gear before all the good ones are gone!”
@LD99. It could be that once the Red Sox found out that Kenny Williams was available, they decided to speed up the process. Go get Kenny before someone beats you to the punch.
I said same thing 15 minutes ago.
Kenny would have to change his Sox.
Not saying that Boston should hire Rick Hahn but I’d be curious to see if he’d do a better job being away from Kenny and Jerry.
DBH – No worries, I’m gonna share this victory with all my fellow Sox fans who have been saying for YEARS that Bloom has been an absolute failure that needed to go.
You, KD. GASox, Dog, Dotty, Dewey, Milt, Al and the many others who have known all along today was inevitable… this victory is for you!
CONGRATS Red Sox Nation!!!
One down, one to go.
@ FPG, I still say lasts another year
Fever – remember how I said Henry wouldn’t get any of my money while Bloom was in charge?
Would you believe that last night at 9pm we loaded up my 496ci big block yukon xl and left coastal GA for Massachusetts, plans included hitting the Big E, visiting Narragansett Bay, trying to see a pair of specialists at UMass Worcester and Dana Farber…
I got to the hotel, checked in, went to dinner, sat down in the room and… saw this GEM!
So. Maybe I ought to take the wife to Fenway while we’re here to celebrate a Chaim-free house!
Awwww. The Big E. Haven’t done that in a decade! Dude, I am sooooo jealous!
DBH – I really think & hope Kennedy was bluffing when he said they “expect” Cora back.
If they hire a seasoned veteran to lead baseball ops, he HAS to want his own manager … right?
Hopefully there’s a secret agreement for Cora to resign.
GASox – That’s awesome! And I love the Big E, such a great place.
Waiting in line for 30 minutes to get the Maine Baked Potato? So worth it!
I’ve seen some big name performers there, Billy Idol and David Hasselhoff and the Dallas Cowboys Chearleaders and perhaps my favorite was Crystal Bernard. I was in the front row and she eyed me throughout the show.
Yeah you can get really cheap tickets to Fenway now, why not go Green Monster? Do it!!
Fever – tonight hitting floor seats for John fogerty. Cheap, fun, done.
Going to hit BTO the same way a few days from now too.
Last year got to see Skynard at one of the last shows before they stopped touring after the unfortunate passing
@FPG… 2 things that may lead to him returning… 1- Bloom did not hire him. He was forced on him by FSG. Bloom is canned, they safe face by giving Cora another go-around hoping he does better. 2 – Cora has a, “2023 was Blooms fault, not mine” chit.
Wow! I didn’t think John Henry had the balls to do this. It was time…
Linda lets him borrow them a couple of times a month. This must have been one of his visitation days.
Rofl! Reply of the day so far!
Visitation. Hahahah!
He fired cherington and Dombrowski and they won World Series. Why not Bloom?
I liked the idea of hiring a guy from the Rays and doubling his budget, but I think it takes more than 4 years to implement such a change. Hopefully, John Henry has someone good in mind for Bloom’s replacement.
Suit – Bloom was at best the 3rd most talented Rays front office guy behind Friedman and Neander. It’s silly to give Bloom credit for Tampa’s success.
Fever: I don’t know how you could measure that or know the inner workings of the Rays. Bloom should have had a very good idea of what made the Rays successful in my opinion.
Suit, curious on your take on this, and I mean it sincerely:
Why couldn’t Bloom work on the farm via draft, and trading expiring deals (the latter of which he largely didn’t do), while simultaneously spending on known FAs instead of the shotgun approach of bargain hunting that led to so many DFAs and wasted payroll each year?
I mean, didn’t the guy have quite a few high profile self-inflicted mistakes there really was no excuse for?
GA: Hope you are well. I think Bloom improved the farm system through the draft. I think he just had a great draft. I can only guess what Bloom was thinking, but I think he was basically acting like a guy from the Rays. So, I think he was building through the farm system and avoiding bad free agent deals (keeping financial flexibility so good prospects could eventually be retained). So, I think he was sticking to short-term deals which cost more. I don’t think Bloom could have any sell offs at the trade deadline. The whiny fan base and media would have a hissy fit. I also think Bloom may have built some flaws into teams so they would eventually collapse and they get a better draft pick and more international money. I always said if we could see the flaws, he could see them too, but I could be wrong. I think you said something recently about stealth tanking. I liked Bloom for the most part. I didn’t like the Story signing. I was was fine with some down years to build up the farm. I don’t think you can be in win-now mode every year. I think you need to rebuild sometimes.
Suit . How many championships have the Rays one ? Bloom was in over his head and
Bdog: How many championships have the Yankees and Dodgers won in the last decade? The answer is none unless you count the short season championship by the Dodgers in 2020 which I don’t. I look at the AL East standings and I see the Orioles and Rays at the top who build their teams mainly through the farm system. I think that is the best approach. Bad free agent signings can tie up payroll and roster spots for years. Bloom was building through the farm system and avoiding bad free agent signings. His prospects were just starting to come up to the Red Sox and he is fired.
Blooms draftees have not come up yet. The good ones are still in AA. Casas, Duran, Rafaela are all Doms.
suit – I agree about Henry having someone good in mind, unfortunately he hasn’t reached out to me yet.
suit – It’s well documented, Bloom was the #3 guy in title and accomplishment.
Why do you think the Rays kept Neander instead of Bloom?
I’m guessing/hoping you at least agree that Friedman was the best of the three and the most influential while in Tampa.
Fever: I don’t know much about what went on in Tampa, but Bloom should have had a good idea of how and why they are successful in my opinion. They were working together, right?
Yes sir Suit, best as can be. Not as much reveling in Blooms bad fortune as I am feeling a lot more hopeful for the future of the team. Its a shot of optimism at a time I could really use it for unrelated reasons, so, I’ll take that.
Suit: what part of question did I mention the Yankees or Dodgers? You even go further to mention the Orioles . I am pulling for Baltimore Again when was the last time they were good? Let the post season play out and then you can tell everyone who to modo a team after .
Suit : Not sure if you remember a team called the Montreal Expos? ( lol)They had some of the best young homegrown talent in baseball for years. Unfortunately they never had money to keep any of them or money to add pieces to push them over the top. They never won anything either. So my suggestion to you is go pop on your DVD and watch your favorite flick (money ball ,) and wish Chaim was back ,
Bdog: I don’t think we are communicating well here. I think very highly of what the Orioles have built.
Now spit-can Cora and start cleaning house. Get rid of Llovera, Kluber, Sale, Reese to begin with. Go sign or trade for two solid starting pitchers and someone to replace Turner and hire a manager who knows what a batting order is.
Insane – Coaching staff needs to go as well, starting with Febles.
Biggest W of the season
Love the name
Turns out the Bloom cult were wrong. Ownership agreed with us.
Yay?
F^*ckin A!
Downfall of the analytics guys coming? Gabe and Farhan seem on the hotseat if they don’t make these expanded playoffs
Precisely! It’s never been easier to make the post season than it is now. I don’t know that the Red Sox or Giants were necessarily expected to make the playoffs, but both seemed to take a half assed approach to assembling their rosters last winter. Good to see BOS levying consequences for being non-committal.
I don’t see how making a run at judge down to the wire and then failing the physical on a guy who again failed a physical and took a much smaller contract is half assed.
We agree to disagree. Zaidi seemed to put forth an effort to land top free agents, but at the end of the day he came away with Conforto, Haniger, and 4/5 of a rotation that (predictably) produced mixed results. All the credit in the world to Kapler who has gotten the most out of that motley bunch one could ever expect.
If management thought that Correa contract was a good move they should be fired.
What gave you the impression they took a half assed approach to assembling the roster ? The no stone unturned pitch they made to Judge ? The diligence they showed in getting Correa on board and then vetoing it ? The 6 free agents they did sign ?
I got the impression they worked their ass off.
Effort is meaningless if the results are mediocre. There is no hardware handed out to organizations who gave it the old college try.
Ha ha. Nice approach. I hope you don’t coach kids.
You categorised the effort as half assed. Simply not true.
But you can’t argue with the results. Doesn’t matter how much effort was expended. How would you categorize the move made by Zaidi at the deadline?
A non event. Cost no talent. Almost inconsequential. The only people who think it’s something are fans pissed they didn’t pull off a major trade. The price of consequential deals was obviously deemed to be too high for the size of the need. Ok. Frustrating, but it’s very possible the price was in fact too high.
No you can’t argue with the results. But not considering the effort in evaluating the situation is just a dick move imo. Screams of self entitlement. “You didn’t get me what I want and that’s all that matters.”
Everyone in a MLB front office is an analytics guy (except for maybe whatever is going on in Colorado, KC and the south side of Chicago).
And the anti-antalytics movement has worked out great in Colorado and KC and for the Chisox.
@hemlock
being extrem in either direction, tbh you need a blend of the “old school way” and incorporate analytics. mlb isn’t simed on pc’s and there are some things about players that can’t be put into a stat sheet but might be that missing factor that gets you over the top.
> that missing factor that gets
> you over the top.
Like what? An example or two, please.
1) sound fundamentals
2) smarts
3) hunger to win
4) culture fit
Astros, I replied once and lost my reply right before I sent it. I’m doing this again through voice to text so who knows what it’s going to come out as.
1) Players that are better through measurable analytics are going to be fundamentally sound players. if you don’t turn a double play, that can be measured. If you fail to move a runner up when hitting, you can measure that too. if a ball is hit to you in the outfield but you get a bad jump and don’t get to it that can be measured too.
2) Smarts or intelligence is a byproduct of a successful player. There are no stupid successful players. players who have been successful for longer are most likely very smart baseball players because they have learned to adapt to the game and the changes made to them during their careers.
3) hunger to win is very similar to constantly improving your game. Again, if you’re successful for a long period of time, you have a hunger or drive to win, and have learned how to continually improve or make changes.
4) The minute you start losing, the culture is going to suck. Nobody wants to lose. I think that the clubhouse culture is something the media loves because it sells copy for them. Everybody wants to hear the latest drama in the clubhouse. when you win, the culture is almost always great. What could be wrong? But when you lose, the culture is going to quickly break apart, and players are going to be upset with each other. The true personalities will come out once you start losing.
of the four items you listed, Astros, the fourth one about culture is important. Each team will have periods where they lose games that they need to recover from and get over. If the losing persists good players can erode quickly into bad ones. So I agree with that one. But the other three can be measured by some form of analytics.
some thing along the lines of you trade for player x and player x has a certain attitude or fire that sparks your team. or how a good d minded catcher that knows a pitching staff, and a guy is struggling on the mound he can slow the game down go talk to him. those things that you can’t really put in a stat sheet
Good examples. I agree. Soft skills.
It’s not an anti-analytics movement. It’s called baseball experience rather than hypothetical thinking. If everyone was anti-analytics then KC and Colorado would still be bad.
That’s how analytic supporters spin things for the general public. No facts just estimates.
The pro analytics movement has the Yankees and Red Sox fighting go last place in the AL East. Also, the Mets breaking spending records and missing the playoffs. Ditto the Padres.
Too much emphasis on analytics has sunk many teams.
Also, analytics has lead to many teams abandon stolen bases, as a key part of their strategies to win and lead to too many radical defensive shifts and many more things that were not good for baseball.
The better model is old school scouting and evaluation of players and teams and use analytics as one of many factors in making decisions
See Dombrowski and the Phillies.
Even among the analytic crews, there are better and worse analysts.
Joe – Yes and the sun will come up tomorrow Tim McCarver.
But not everyone thinks all rosters must consist of platoon dependant players and that you only need 2 starting pitchers. And that you shouldn’t try to improve upon the obvious weaknesses in said roster at the deadline when you are in a playoff race. Farhan and Gabe gotta go.
Of course, that’s exactly what they think.
How about we don’t confuse what they actually think, with what your permanently butt hurt mind makes up.
Theo must have decided he’s ready to come back.
They are not getting Theo back unless they give him an ownership share.
Last year was a mess with him hanging into players then trading Velasquez and adding Tommy Pham. He went over the luxury tax and did not get full compensation in the earlier rounds for the loss of Eovaldi, Boggarts, And JD. The comment this year about the Red Sox being underdogs was very unprofessional as well. Saying something that stupid and not picking up help I think sealed the deal along with Story who is a complete damaged goods bust. Going into this season and depending on Chris Sale, Paxton, and Kluber who stole money this year was another bad move. Letting Eovaldi and Wacha go was another mistake. Trading Velasquez to the Astros who we were playing that night was another low unprofessional move as well.
Theo has said he would never go back to Boston and I believe him.
John Henry just announced that Red Sox are not hiring Theo.
There is bad blood between the two sides that money cannot fix.
Theo has enough money from his big contract with the Cubs.
Fan – Theo had an inflated ego and acted like a jerk, that’s why Henry refused his demands and let him go.
I’m back! Is that a Batlight? Or a flashlight in your pocket?
Maybe back to MLB, but never back to the Red Sox.
Theo has publicly,. strongly, stated this.
And, John Henry and the team have stated for the fans that
Theo is never coming back to Boston.
I think, I would have given him another year
A lot of guys hurt and some unexpected things
hey were half decent this year, but alas the MLB is the NFL like Glanville said many moons again…… Not For Long
A lot of guys hurt because he signed injury prone guys
Trevor Story was a fluke and now he is back and back to his normal play
If this is Story’s normal then the Red Sox are in deep trouble.
On the cheap side too
Lefty – What an open minded thinker you are. A fifth root canal when you didn’t have to go beyond four!!!
How about considering the monumental drop in talent on the roster?
Could that have anything to do with their poor performance?
Or their manager whose two greatest skills are cheating and being bilingual?
Could that have anything to do with their poor performance?
Or the pre-season roster not being deep enough with quality pitchers despite spending over $200MM after dumping the DD all-stars in the off season?
Could that have anything to do with their poor performance?
Yeah, blaming the GM seems so inappropriate!!! hahaha.
What hurts worse losing quality players to injury or bad players to injury?
Let’s count the quality players – Devers, JT, Jansen. Done.
I don’t remember them missing much time. So we should give a pass to the GM for injuries for guys like Kiki hitting under .200 a major portion of the time, or Story who was acquired while injured or Duvall who is a streak player who appeared to cause a big drop-off when he got hurt while hot but came back cold which usually happened after the hot but since there was an injury in between his loss was tragic rather than simply a delay until he got cold.
This year had nothing to do with injuries. It’s all about the final demolition of the 2018 World Championship roster. If I found out a Yankee fan paid for Bloom to be here it would be believable because of all the destruction he caused. He was a gift to Yankee Nation. He destroyed half a decade of Boston baseball.
NO EXCUSES FOR BLOOM. HE WAS TERRIBLE ALL FOUR YEARS. He peaked in 2020 at incompetence but 2023 gave 2020 a run for it’s money.
Yankee fans were hoping they’d seen this headline for Cashman after reading comments here.
I do recall plenty of unhappy Sox fans talking smack about CB. Was Betts his decision or the owners?
I’m pretty sure he would signed Betts if he could have.
How could they not sign Betts but they could sign Devers? Doesn’t make sense. Betts took huge amounts of deferred money in his deal with LA anyways.
Betts didn’t want to stay in Boston, first. Second the Red Sox were in a really bad spot with the luxury tax.
Betts didn’t like Boston and specifically mentioned their handling of Jon Lester as a reason why he wouldn’t have stayed. If I remember correctly, Betts either turned down or said he would turn down an offer that was very similar to what LA offered.
It makes sense Henry didn’t want too. He was enamored with the Rays way of doing buisness. So he hired Bloom let Betts go. Then 2 years later staring a fan revolt in the face he payed the Devers…. Can you imagine had they traded the Devers the same way…… it’s simple
Pass that around.
I heard that, money-wise, the Sox were willing to pay Betts the equivalent to what L.A. gave Betts. Maybe not the length. But you’re right and it’s too bad so many fans are blind to the fact Betts hated Boston and, after leaving, called Southie “racist” with nothing to back it up.
Rumor is Betts turned down 300+ million from Boston, denied it for a couple years and then kind of sort of admitted to it.
I like Betts as a player but I hate his PR pandering. I think it’s great Betts gave away some food after a World Series game in Boston but his camp disgustingly exploited it. I also hate how, three years after the fact, he claimed he loved Boston simply as a PR pandering attempt at the Red Sox fan base.
I.M.: Are you Black? If you’re not, you need to sit down instead of challenging what a Black person (Betts) said about their lived experience with racism.
Are you calling Mookie a liar?
He was interviewed in his first return to Fenway and publicly stated he never wanted to leave
IM
What is your evidence that there is NOT some level of racism in Boston especially at the ballpark compared especially say to Los Angeles.
Sounds like you have no evidence. If the salary does not fit, you must acquit.
GA: In July 2019, Mookie said he was definitely going to free agency. I think he is revising history now.
“Just because you go to free agency doesn’t mean you don’t want to be somewhere. It’s just a part of the business.”
masslive.com/redsox/2019/07/mookie-betts-boston-re…
I think he only changed his mind about free agency after Covid hit when he was in LA and there were no fans in the stands and people were wondering about future cash flow. I think he caved and took LA’s offer.
drascoo36 – Your facts are wrong. Mookie’s representation suggested a 12 year $420MM contract. That’s $35MM a year which was a fair market price for the 2nd best player in baseball at the time.
The luxury tax issues went away in 2020 and it wasn’t because they got rid of Mookie it was because Price opted out and saved $32MM when they were $28MM over the cap.
LAD’s offer was even more than what Mookie’s representation suggested and that was in the middle of the COVID year!!! Yep, whether it was ownership, Bloom or both that allowed Mookie to leave, they should burn for it. The impact to Red Sox fans has been off the charts bad.. Losing teams after building a champion with Dombrowski.
You have your stories confused. Mookie had issues with diversity in the organization and John Lester was NOT the cause of that issue. Home town discounts impacted Lester and Mookie said no to home town discounts which makes perfect sense. Remember, this organization treated Mookie like crap. He had to prove his value to step out of the shadows of players like Blake Swihart who the front office loved. Mookie had plenty of reasons to go but DD was going to his best to keep him so they fired him. That’s how much ownership hated Mookie for standing up to them on diversity issues.
The home town discount issue isn’t nearly as embarrassing as the public fallout that would have happened if the sports writers would have focused on the diversity issue Mookie was fighting.
I.M. – Mookie hated the ownership for diversity issues not the city. If he hated the city so much why did he and his wife have so many charities helping the people of the city? Your info is wrong.
Going to free agency doesn’t equal I want to leave. IMO it meant OK boston, I want to see what MLB values me at before I sell myself short.
I believe that as well because mookie would not even take a deal to buy out just pre-arb ahead of time, despite DD trying. Only in the final season did he technically do that, but, he always wanted a one year deal even though he knew he’d be in town several more at the earliest point.
He always wanted to see the pulse of his actual market value at every step. FFree agency is how you learn that as a post-arb player.
You may be right, of course. Then so may I. Or the truth may be in the middle.
Mookie got them under the cap. Price also would’ve gotten them under the cap. But after mookie left, moving price wasn’t necessary. Spending added post mookie/price raised the figure again but was not yet on the books when the deal happened, it was additional spending using the newfound price money.
Trading mookie got under cbt. Trading price was aboutnfreeing up spending money to go shopping.
GASox – True about spending, but Bloom didn’t start spending until last year. I think Kike’s $14M contract was Bloom’s biggest until the Story disaster.
GA: I’m not sure where we are diverging about Mookie. I think he made it clear he was going to free agency, so the Red Sox traded him. Then he decided to sign with LA instead of going to free agency.
There is a long history of racism by some Boston sports fans experienced by both the “home” Boston players and by visiting African American players.
Google it.
Plenty of articles relating to both the Red Sox and the Celtics including Sam, Kennedy having to publicly apologize for racist taunts to opposing players at Red Sox games at Fenway.
marca.com/en/basketball/nba/boston-celtics/2023/03…
theguardian.com/sport/2017/may/03/adam-jones-racis…
Jays fans will like to see Atkins also have a similar headline
On the upside now the NYYs can sign chaim bloom without needing to give up compensation!
Hmm
Roddy Piper W
Well, at least Boston is willing to cut ties with a failed project. Yanks are still stuck in the 1990s and early 2000s thinking they’ll keep winning championships by buying overvalued players.
Overvalued *injury-prone players 🙂 🙂 🙂
Wowzers
“His time with us will always be marked by his professionalism, integrity, and an unwavering respect for our club and its legacy.”
Nah, I think it’ll be remembered for the Betts trade you forced on him instead.
Being known as the guy who traded the best player you’ve developed since Ted Williams must suck.
Traded away the best player they’ve developed since Ted Williams? But Bloom RE-SIGNED Refsnyder *buh-dum-TISS*
EDIT: Goodness gracious, I’m mixing up my MLBTR jokes. Refsynder has developed by the Yankees, not the Red Sox. Please carry on; I’ll show myself out.
Leave Refsnyder alone bro.
It was on Bloom to get the return from a Betts trade though
Hard to get a decent return for a player who made it clear he was more than willing to leave if he (and Boras) didn’t get exactly what he wanted though, no?
Nationals got a better return on Soto than the Red Sox did on Betts. Maybe Bloom’s hands were tied, but nonetheless with tied hands he was failing to get the job done. Would be funny if he took a position under Stearns
Soto had years of control left
BostonAZ – Mookie’s value was never in question due to him wanting to leave. It was an opportunity for some lucky team to steal a legend. Bloom’s deal for Mookie has the Indians who sold Manhattan feeling like they were good at bargaining!!!
Bloom did two things that are unforgiveable:
1 – He agreed to move Mookie rather than sign him
2 – He didn’t even try to maximize the return, he took the first low ball offer.
Now it’s 4 years later, LAD has a future HOFer playing for fair market value and Boston got 5 or 6 years of average ball players costing average money and some fools declare Boston won!!! Idiots. Worst deal in 100 years.
AJ Preller and the Padres did a huge “overpay” for Soto.
Soto can only play one position at a time,
And, Soto cannot pitch.
The Padres are a worse team with Soto
because they gave up too much present and future top rated young talent and depth.
Padres are going backwards with Soto and minus many of their top young emerging star players with that terrible trade.
AJ Preller drafted and built one of the best farm systems in baseball and then destroyed it in 2-3 years of bad trades. with zero championships to show for it.
The main return for Betts was $48M which was half the money owed to David Price. When a team takes on that much money, the player return is lower.
All – Yes your fundamental thinking about Price’s contract was a deterrent but just like LAD, Boston has deep pockets so this wasn’t a financial decision. When a team’s profit is $300MM or more mistakes like Price’s aren’t a big deal. Key factors that must be considered financially:
1 – Mookie wanted an $8MM raise in his extension
2 – The entire financial plan put together by DD was for 2016 to 2022
3 – 2023 was to be the retool year
4 – If Boston stayed at $328MM in 2020 it would have been a $10MM tax cost but COVID happened and Price opted out and dropped payroll by $32MM. So the tax would have either been $10MM if you didn’t know COVID was going to happen or it would have been $0MM with 20/20 hindsight.
5 – After Cherington created RETAINED PAYROLL numbers over $40MM from 2018 to 2021 why would a new GM add $16MM to that total? Price needed to get healthy and pitch in 2020 or 2021 then be traded at the deadline if he could stay healthy until then. The amount eaten would have been minimized.
6 – The February giveaway of Mookie could have been a July trade that would have could have brought some outstanding pitching from LAD, SD or ATL who were all in the hunt for the #1 spot in the NL.
There is no rationalization that can justify Mookie being in LA now.
Boston won the Betts trade
You forgot the LOL
No LOL’s here. 5 years of Alex Verdugo + dumping David Price >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> a comp pick after the fourth round.
Stole Verdugo, Wong and Downs from the Dodgers and stuck them with Betts, Price and a pile of cash. Win!
It’s a win if you spend the money correctly. The RS received 5.4 bWAR from Verdugo & Wong this year, while LA got 8.1 from Betts. Unfortunately, the $30M we saved was spent on Story & Kluber.
@JoeBrady Only what Betts did in 2020 counts towards the trade.
Lucky for Boston’s end of it, all Mookie Betts did in 2020 is finish second in the NL MVP race and win the World Series.
Boston wasn’t winning anything in 2020 even with Betts lmfao
Health crisis made it a mega win for Boston. LA took on all that salary and lost all that prospect capital for 2 months of Betts. Got a championship so worth it. Whatever Betts did in LA for 2 months didn’t matter to Boston.
thelegendaryharambe – Why would only one year count in the trade?
If you trade me a great leased car for a bunch of junk in your garage and I take it then buy the car with my insider position in the purchase the benefits to both sides are clear.
You got a buncn of junk (Red Sox)
I got a great car for years to come (LAD)
Suggesting the bunch of junk is the better half of the deal is silly.
Without the deal I wouldn’t have had the advantage in getting the car I wanted to drive for years to come. You must count the “advantage” in this case as the BEST part of the deal.. LAD won hands down, no contest.
thelegendaryharambe
@JoeBrady Only what Betts did in 2020 counts towards the trade.
===========================
I was referencing had we extended Betts.
But past that, the RS are way ahead on value. We’ll get something like 25 WAR from Verdugo & Wong.
Trollfree
You got a buncn of junk (Red Sox)
==============================
I’ll bet that the RS get more WAR from both Verdugo & Wong than the LAD got from their one control year of Betts.
@Trollfree Trading for a player doesn’t give you any advantage in signing him. Betts wanted out of Boston so they got the best deal they could while they could.
The first word of your username suits you!
@JoeBrady Trade looks a lot better once you realize that Betts was going to leave anyway.
That’s the crux of the conversation. The pandemic makes it difficult to compare contracts, but Betts took less from the Dodgers than what the RS reportedly offered him. MLB values the LA contract as $306.6M/12 while the RS offered him $300M/10.
Maybe he took a look at our .519 team, with a maxed-out payroll, and no farm, and decided to look for greener pastures.
Surely, you’re not implying the Dodgers lost the trade.
They got Jeter and Kelly Downs. Not too shabba
You funny.
Preller is next
Yet another Dodger fan calling for Preller’s head… must mean he’s doing something right!
lol considering that since preller was hired there have been a total of 2 seasons over .500 and the farm system has been decimated with one of the highest payrolls in baseball I gotta wonder what you think he is doing right.
Padres started spending in 2020. 2 of the 4 years when they were not in the bottom 5 in spending, they were in the playoffs including knocking out the Dodgers last season on their way to the NLCS last season.
Preller has done a good job when given the resources to sign top players.
Dodgers have still outspent the Padres by,
.
.
.
wait for it,
.
.
.
$1.059 BILLION since McCourt sold to Guggenheim
There are 5 teams in MLB that have not spent that much TOTAL over that same time period.
I don’t care. Keep flushing your farm system and over pay free agents for a losing record. He did the same thing in 2015. Enjoy baseball purgatory!
Padres farm system is already top 10. It will be top 5 by the time the 2024 rankings come out after they sign one of the top 2 international free agents in January.
Padres knocked the Dodgers out of the playoffs last season on their way to the NLCS and I guess Dodger fans are still smarting a bit from that whooping when it counted.
Padres actually spending must scare the living daylights out of the Dodgers after they outspent every team in baseball for more than a decade.
Just because a few Fisher fans like to taint Preller does not meaning he is getting it right.
They paid mega bucks for Bogaerts when they could have signed or traded for a better hitting first baseman at a fraction of the years and cost.
That is giving a pass on Trea for Myers and Hosmer, and so yeah, time for Preller to go.
Who could they have signed that was better than Cronenworth? What 1B available in FA was out there that had been better than Cronenworth?
Who could they have signed that has done better than Cronenworth has done this season at 1B?
No one you say?
Exactly.
Of the shortstops that were FA last offseason, which one has done better than Bogaerts this season.
None you say?
Exactly.
So, what exactly did he miss on?
Nothing you say?
Exactly.
Websoulsurfer
This is a fun game!
Bogaerts cost $280 million
Jeimer Candalario had comparable offense for $5 million
With Jeimer, you play Kim at SS, Crony at 2B, and Jeimer at 1B. Rather than Bogey at SS, Kim at 2B at Crony at 1B.
Game and match to Manny. 🙂
Kim wasn’t better than Bogaerts in 2021-2022. Bogaerts was significantly better.
Candelario was league average in 2021-2022. a 2.2 WAR average. In 2022 he was simply awful putting up a 0.6 WAR and 81 OPS+ in 124 games. His career averages were a 1.1 WAR and 98 OPS+ through 2022.
By contrast, Cronenworth averaged a 118 OPS+ and 3.5 WAR to that point in his career.
ALL of Bogaerts, Kim, and Cronenworth were better than Candelario was in 2021 and 2022. Significantly better. So why in the world based on past performance would the Padres have added him instead of just playing Cronenworth at 1B?
The Padres were trying to add BETTER players and Bogaerts was better than Kim overall.
Cronenworth was significantly better than any 1B on the market at the time including Candelario who WASN’T on the FA market.
HUGE loss for Manny, but thanks for at least TRYING to play even if you are not very good at the game.
Websoulsurfer is Pads Fans, outinleftfield and Baseballislife!
Websoulsurfer
The goal is not to assemble a team of the players who had the best statistics in prior years, but rather to acquire players who will do well in upcoming years. Like the Dodgers taking Justin Turner who was only ok with the Mets or Chris Taylor who was horrible with the Mariners and then getting huge value out of them.
The goal is to avoid spending 280 million on Bogaerts who is a fine hitting shortstop but would only be an average hitting first baseman, when the position open was first base and they shifted two players out of position to accommodate Bogaerts.
So you made some factually accurate statements but nonetheless failed to refute my points. The Padres could have signed Jeimer Candalario and had $275 million left over. Played Jeimer at 1B, Crony at 2B, and Kim at SS. That was the right move. Your comments as to the prior year stats amount to “How could they have known?” but clearly fail to refute my “What could they have done better?”
Instant replay gives the WIN back to Manny. 🙂
You act like Preller or any other GM has a freaking crystal ball. Hint. They don’t. All they have to go on is past performance and you would have to be a total and complete moron to think that Kim’s past performance was better than Bogaerts.
Even the best prediction models had Bogaerts far outperforming Kim in 2023. They also had Cromenworth outperforming any 1B that was on the FA market.
You STILL have not answered the question of what 1B they could have signed that was better than Cronenworth. You blew the answer you did give totally.
The Padres would not have signed Candelario because the Padres had a BETTER player lined up to play 1B already. No need for a league average player when you have an All Star on the roster already.
The goal is NOT to save money, it’s to win championships and you do that by adding BETTER players. NONE of your suggestions were better. What they did was sign and play the BETTER players.
You keep trying to make arguments with the luxury of hindsight and that is why you are wrong.
So please, comment about things you understand. Baseball clearly is not one of them.
Preller is a disaster!
1st, signed and traded for a bunch of over paid, declining free agents earlier in his Padres tenure that turned into a bust.
2nd. Drafted and built one of the best farm systems in MLB
3rd Signed overprice, overrated, declining free agents like Hosmer
4th Spent 3 years trading and dismantling one of the best farm systems in MLB to receive a truckload of declining, overprice, over rated veterans who never performed to prior levels.
(Soto is finally hitting, but a huge over pay and sell out of Padres future.)
5)Peller squandered the building blocks of a long term contender, but the rest of MLB loves trading with Preller and stealing the best young Padres farm system talent.
6)Soto deal will go down as one of the worst deals in Padres history, (. Soto can only play one position at a time, cannot pitch and will be leaving San Diego in free agency).
7) Clevenger and other deals with Guardians were. lopsided/ one sided deals won by Guardians.
8)Ty France to Seattle for garbage returns.
9) Deas with Rays were bad.
10) Preller routinely gets “:hosed” in trade deals.
11) And, what is with Preller’s obsession with signing and trading for washed up ex Texas Rangers players?!
12) Padres won’t win anything until they fire AJ Preller
and build a better Front Office.
Preller is not all bad, but his biggest issue is that he virtually never makes a trade that doesn’t add to his payroll. That’s how he gets to ~$300M. The Soto trade not only costs $23M for Soto, but also required them to sign Bogaerts.
This is all speculative “what ifs”, but if they kept Abrams, he could play SS (or more likely the outfield) and traded just part of that package for someone like Freeman or Olsen, and still had spending money for a Turner or Duvall for DH.
The Dodgers took a “step back” by letting some of their free agents walk and breaking in some of their farm system players and with injuries to their pitching staff.
Many experts picked the Padres to, finally, over take the Dodgers and win the NL West this year.
But, they over estimated the bad, roster killing moves made by AJ Preller.
From a playoffs team, to a team fighting to stay out of last place.
Good job AJ Preller!!!!
You should be proud of Preller’s job!
He took a team with a loaded farm system and destroyed it in a few short years.
Ownership extended Preller and keeps authorizing the awful player contracts. I am sure they are enjoying the attention and game attendance. Doesn’t seem like he is on the hot seat or even warm seat.
Yeah I agree with that.
Preller should be fired.
But I don’t expect it to happen.
He isn’t. His job is secure for now and he is under contract through 2026
Managers and executives get fired while under contract all the time.
Kind of surprising as a Cubs fan because it looked like he put together a good young team with a future. I was impressed by them when they played the Cubs. Thought he deserved a bit of a longer leash. Welcome to the world of must have instant results or else.
I was thinking the same.
Big Market team. Win or go home. It is the Red Sox Nation’s first commandment
They got rid of better gms than him.
And somehow Brian Cashman still has a job oof!
Technically never missed the playoffs, although he’s about to.
2008
Yeah you’re right. He missed them twice. My bad. Still impressive.
And he’s never had a losing season, although that may end too.
When did Yankees change their standard ?
2016?
My homie VonPurpleHayes,
2016, 2014, 2013, 2008. Soon to be 2023 with a payroll north of $200 million 🙂
Yeah. I mixed the “not losing season” with playoff appearances thing. Still, as a fan, I’d signup for it. Winning it all is hard. Having a chance almost every year is pretty exciting.
Interesting.. I honestly thought he was making cost-cutting moves to please Henry, but apparently, he was just in over his head.
It’s hard to say if both those things weren’t true at the same time. Regardless of what an owner orders a GM to do, the GM will always take the fall for the end results if it turns out poorly. Flip side of it, Bloom has made some really questionable FA moves.
Over his head. Oh but it sure feels nice
It’s hard to say. The RS cut their spending by 11% while TO, the NYY, NYM, Philly, LAD, and SD increased their spending by 92%, 26%, 103%, 34%, 23%, and 97%.
I was going to mention this in the first off-season thread, but Henry has not kept up. I’d be glad to pay some type of attention to the cap, but if everyone else is increasing their spending by anywhere from 23% to 103%, you have to increase your spending.
Even TO has increased their spending by almost 100% since 2019. If you want to duck under once every 3-4 years, okay, but we need to act like a big market team.
Joe: The teams that did not increase spending and built through the farm system (Orioles & Rays) are at the top of the division. I like that approach better.
You can do both. Sign the good young players early. Draft well and sign free agents strategically.
Bloom was drafting well and signing free agents strategically. However, if there wasn’t a deal that was good for the Red Sox, he wouldn’t make one and put the future in jeopardy. Avoiding bad signings and bad trades is just as important as making good signings and good trades. Apparently, the Boston fanbase, Boston media and John Henry are too impatient to take a long-term approach of building mainly through the farm system.
Suit : signing F/A strategically. I finally see it . I don’t know how it took so long . Just look at the DH situation in Boston . We have at least 4 guys that should be the DH JT, Yoshida, Devers, Duvall. Plus we have Bobby Dalbec waiting in the farm. Amazing maybe if he got another year he could have collected second baseman. Then moved on to pitching.
Joe – we don’t know what ownership would approve Bloom to spend for 2023, only what bloom found takers for contracts at valuewise for 2023…. right?
we don’t know what ownership would approve Bloom to spend for 2023
===============================
The assumption is that ownership approves the budget, and that Bloom spends the budget.
It might not be obvious, but the spending by other big teams is a serious problem for us. Just four years ago, we were #1 in payroll. Now we are #12. I always defended Henry because Henry always spent to the cap. But now the market is going up. Guys like DD and Preller, despite their mistakes, did one 100% needed thing-they convinced the owner that it was better to overspend and make the playoffs than to underspend and play .500.
And as a follow-up to that, what happens if Henry spends $222M again? We need maybe Yamamoto & Monty, and maybe a guy like Lee. SD, the NYM, Philly, TX, TO, LA, and maybe a couple of other teams will are going over-market on these guys.
Sticking to the cap when 11 teams are outspending you will not work.
Icon: Agreed. I don’t see anyone taking better care of John Henry’s money than a guy from the Rays such as Bloom.
Great news!
Minasian could be available soon
Time to fire all the nerds in baseball or at least keep them in the basement not the front office! Here’s hoping Farhan is next!
Those nerds have won quite a few rings recently.
NERDS!!!!!!
And then Ogre became one himself-
Amen
Other than story I think he’s made some good moves
They stole Jeter and Kelly Downs for Mookie something
I FEEL LIKE A BLIND MAN THAT CAN SUDDENLY SEE AGAIN!
Why are you SHOUTING?
He was also a mute?
Dude. Best response ever!!
HE CAN SEE! HE CAN SEE!
Blue Baron – so old boomers like you can hear him
I can hear him just fine without shouting.
I’m just playin Baron:)
LOL
This makes no sense. The owners wanted a guy who would trim payroll and build up the farm. That is exactly what Chaim did. They axed him just as we were starting to see real results on the farm. They hired Dave to wheel and deal and bring them another title and they fired him almost as he delivered said title. Pick a direction and stick with it. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Sox are always in flux between first and last place finishes they are always changing leadership midstream
That’s exactly what they are doing, picking a direction, then getting the right guy to go in that direction. Bloom was good at what he was asked to do. Now they go out and get the right guy to take them over the top. 4 championships in 20 years don’t happen by accident. This is the most successful organization of the millennium. Last place finishes mean nothing. Championships are the only measure of success worth tracking. Failures are failures regardless of place.
That’s an interesting take and one that is probably right. It’s obvious there’s no loyalty with ownership. Makes me wonder if going into this gig that these GM’s maybe have an inkling that they’re being used for a specific task and once ownership feels that task is completed, they kick them to the curb and bring in a guy they feel can bring them a championship. I suppose that is the business of baseball, they do it with the players as well.
Henry seems very impulsive. Directionally, 2019 was pretty bad, but DD deserved at least one more year. Theo should never have been let go. Through the end of August, we had the #2 record in BB. One bad month in 8 years, and Henry got rid of a 1st ballot HOF GM?
Bob: Agreed. Maybe John Henry thinks the farm system is now built up, but it is not top 10. Bloom did succeed in taking the farm system from bottom-of-the-pack to middle-of-the-pack.
Great roundup of his GM tenure
I think sometimes managers are also hired with specific goals in mind, such as developing young players. Some have specific skills and are only effective in the right situations.
His last statement was..But just when we’re tied with the Yanks ? Why ?
Chaim seems like a better #2 guy than a CBO or POBO.
Hard to say if the Sox are better now than they were before he arrived. Farm might’ve improved, but they’re in last place. Again.
Bloom set the next guy up pretty well. Only one bad contract on the books for a few years. Luckily didnt match the ridiculous contract for Bogaerts. They have some prospects and a bunch of payroll capacity. Not a bad gig.
I thought bloom was middle of the road as a GM. But that doesn’t really cut it in Boston.
Not paying Bogey was probably the best move he made.
Extending Bogaerts before free agency for way less and not paying Trevor Story would’ve been the correct move.
Yeah bcos of Bloom SS defense and offense is at the bottom of the rankings this season.
Whatever on Boegarts, he isn’t that good and he’s going to get worse
icon – There are 38 Shortstops in the history of baseball that have more all-star appearances. That refutes the idea that Bogey “isn’t that good”. Apparently, all those voters and all those writers are wrong and you are right!!
Bogaerts is 30 this year and moved to the NL West from the ALEast and had to uproot his family across country to prepare for his first season in SD. Based on the following numbers he has performed well in his transition year.
Bogey played in 130 of 147 games so far and has hit .272/341/423/764.
He left a MASSIVE hole at SS that wasn’t filled by Bloom. His pay averages roughly $25MM per year and his numbers make him a bargain in 2023.
We have Story for $23.3 MM per year which is roughly $2.1MM less than Bogey and during his first TWO years he’s played in 124 games making him an unreliable replacement for Bogaerts not to mention his TWO YEAR batting stats of .226/.285/.405/.690 all significantly less despite the small $2.1 difference in pay!!
BOGEY is THAT GOOD!!! The numbers confirm it and the fall off in the numbers will happen long after Devers’ numbers fall off even though he’s older!! He stays in shape.
Sorry Toll Free…. you are wrong…… Bogey will never replicate his past performance. His trajectory is exactly what he is producing with this years #’s. His numbers were always be inflated because he played 81 games at Fenway, just like Story’s were inflated for playing 81 games in Colorado’s thin air. You don’t pay players for what they did in the past, but what they will do for the life of the contract you offer.. This is where the Padres are missing the boat big time with so many examples…. Xander being one of them..
Extending Bogaerts before free agency for way less and not paying Trevor Story would’ve been the correct move.
========================
I’d have offered Bogaerts $189M/7.
But in retrospect, that would’ve been a bad move.
There are 38 Shortstops in the history of baseball that have more all-star appearances.
===============================
When you sign a guy, all that matters is how well he does going forward. I love X, but this was a bad contract. I expect him to improve next year, but he only has two top-tier years left in all likelihood.
Father Time is still undefeated.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan noted on a radio appearance Thursday that many teams in baseball view Bogaerts’ 11-year, $280 million deal with the Padres as underwater already. I’ll do one better: within minutes of news of Bogaerts’ agreement going public, a Red Sox-connected person texted that it was “the worst contract in baseball.” Kudos to Bloom for not letting emotion take over on that one.
Trading Betts was better because at least that way he got something for him. Well… besides Justin Riemer.
Devers. Yoshida. Story. Sale.
All bad contracts.
He didn’t sign Sale.
Devers, probably came from up above his head. Yoshida was one I missed though. He’s a fine player but certainly overpaid.
Everyone Bloom signed is a bad contract, and every player he didn’t sign was a mistake.
We all know this.
Bloom did not sign Sale. That was Dombrowski. Devers and Yoshida contracts are good so far.
Well. They’re not terrible players but they’re both overpaid if the best they give you is similar to the 2023 performance.
Sale obviously wasn’t on him. You also only have 1 more year of him. If he’s healthy—he’s also not a bad mid rotation arm. That’s a gigantic question mark though.
For a team that spends what the Sox do—they aren’t crippled with tons of bad money. They have the ability to maneuver in the future.
Yoshida is really bad so far. Meh offense and incredibly bad defense for $23 million AAV.
Devers is barely break even on his $17 million now and it’s going to get worse when he goes to $31 million next season and it will be horrible as he ages and has to move to 1B or DH.
Your takes are really bad so far. Tell us again how your wife doesn’t like Casas.
Yoshida’s AAV is $18M.
all – Neither contract is good because you must count defense in your evaluation. Also, Devers played for $17MM this year so he’s closer to being worth it than he will be for the next 10 years when he’s taking down $31MM.
No. Its not. His posting fee was just over $15 million so the Sox cost for him was $23 million per season
How do you get $23M per seaon? It is a 5 year deal. He signed a 5 year/$90M deal. If we add $15M to that we have 5 years/$105M which is $21M per season. He may be a bit overpaid, but not a lot in my opinion.
No Sale among those names
(It’s a pun)
It’s not even the Betts trade really. He’s been asleep at the wheel for the past 3 trade deadlines and had teams flatline in August and September as a result. Kinda bummed the Mets beat the Sox to Stearns, but I really hope they hire someone competent (Theo please). Bloom did a good job at drafting it looks like but the major league roster decisions leave a lot to be desired.
tbh the mets could of waited till march and stern was going to the mets, only way i see stern forgoing his dream job, is if henry paid him stupid money so high that he would be insane not to take it
We have way too many DH types and defense has taken a major hit under Bloom and he had this habit of only drafting infielders. Sox need pitching! Hello?!!!!
Bloom was not trading prospects at the deadline in order to rebuild the farm system which looked like his top priority to me.
All – Not trading prospects at the deadline is not a rebuilding activity. It’s a status quo activity that protects “futures” who won’t develop into stars as often as you think. Boston has 3 guys that are home grown stars since THEO was the GM…. Betts, Bogey and Devers. That’s it. So protecting the farm system is like hiding your lotto tickets because they might hit. It’s bad baseball.
Smart GMs filter the losers in the farm system that are over rated and trade them to naive guys like Bloom.
KD: You may be right that Bloom held too tightly to prospects. However, I think it is easier said than done that you can win now and rebuild a farm system. I think you need to lean more one way or the other.
Stearns was never going to the Red Sox.
Word is out.
Experienced Presidents of Baseball ops will not work for John Henry and Sam Kennedy.
Doesn’t surprise me.
@sportsfan0000
with enough money you can get the best baseball executive in the history to be a “yes man” because at the end of the day they know they will have a job tomorrow.
Wow, seems pretty unexpected, but then again I don’t follow the Red Sox super closely. Congratulations to all of the Sox fans here and elsewhere who hated this guy.
Red Sox are gonna celebrate by drinking beer and eating fried chicken in the clubhouse while playing video games
That Mookie Betts move is still unforgivable.
Yeah because losing him for a comp pick after the fourth round would have been so much better.
Mookie wasn’t signing with Boston. Nothing that Bloom or Henry could do would change that.
That Trevor Story contract might be worse than the Mookie trade.
Might, be, guess one has to wait to find out.
They only fired Bloom??
Come on, we know Cora is teflon with that ownership group.
That’s because those old pasty men are secretly boning Cora.
Ok Creepshow.
AllAboutBaseball – I read your comment and obviously interpreted differently from others. I thought you were questioning why they didn’t tar and feather him or dress up as a clown and make him do a dozen kids parties.
Everyone else probably got it right but it did make me laugh going in the other direction..
It’s about time! Mr. Farm System dismantled a championship calibre team. Complete disgrace. Where’s all the prospect obsessed Bloom defenders now?
Where are all the Bloom defenders now? In the fetal position crying!
I was expecting at least 30 Bloom puns with these MLBTR Boomer comment sections.
OK, I’ll have at it…the BLOOM is off the Sox!
LOL! Thank you!
Bloom bloom: out go the lights!
ChangedName – Can’t fault a guy for trying.
The Red Sox have lost their Bloomers!!
The Red Sox ownership has looked like Blooming idiots for four years!!
A lack of experience is the CORA of the problem with that Blooming idiot GM they just fired!!
Ownership went Bloom to Bloom looking for a GM and found NONE!!
The WhiteSox would of waited 10 more years
Then you have the Yankees who let Cashman hang around like a bad fart courtesy of Taco Bell
KEEP THE HEADS ROLLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CORA, CORA, CORA ,CORA, CORA, CORA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NEXT, NEXT, NEXT, NEXT, NEXT, NEXT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IM NOT INTO VOODOO
BUT THAT SOUNDS LIKE VOODOO.
This is F… awesome
I think Joun Henry figured he could strike good twice thinking Bloom would be a second Theo Epstein but those kinds of clubs are kizmit and guys like Theo move on for reasons.
As a Yankees fan I’d be fine with us moving on from Cashman. I’m convinced he keeps his job year after year because of his last name. Money and Yankees are synonymous. He’s the Cash Man…
Cashman still has a job because Hal’s not George. Hal’s a pu$$y and won’t know what to do without Cashman. Someone’s gotta go and it’ll probably be Boone.
Cora needs to be next.
Honestly its really not Cora’s fault. So many injuries and some confusing moves made by the front office.
He won’t be because he’s calling the shots
Cora does need to be next, but they may as well let him finish out the string so the new GM can install the people he wants.
I’m guessing Bloom’s replacement will decide on Cora.
I hear that Billy Beane is currently on his way to check out a piece of paper at Fenway.
Just say no to Bradley Pitt. Unless he brings Gwynneth or Angie. Not the stupid Friends chic or fat Jonah tho
Hal, hey Hal, you see as the owner you are allowed to fire your baseball operations people!
Cashman has a job for life unless the Yankees manage to go 0-162.
Then I hope the Yankees finish 1-161, so that Cashman can stay until he is as old as the guy in Washington.
Mike Rizzo?
Wow, didn’t even let him finish the season lol. Too much analytics plus he lost bogartes, I know he’s having a down season but still he seemed like a red Sox for life kinda guy
I pictured Bogartes as Xander’s Mexican half-brother… they look identical except for the broom-stache on the lesser known sibling!
WOW!!!!!
…..as dozens of MLBTR commenters rejoice
Boston didn’t even let the season end. Hopefully they hire someone less analytically-driven, a blend of traditional and analytical skills is what you want.
The roar of approval from Sox fans heard round the world.
TRUST me, they could’ve signed betts. They gave 100M+ to Story and 300M+ to the Boston Butcher. They just played dumb and broke, as they always do.
Fat drunk and stupid v dumb and broke. Compare / contrast
Well, one is nutritional/psychological and one is financial.
Great choice. Underrated GM.
just as theo reaped the benefits of duquette’s work, the next GM will have a lot to work with
You rang ma’am?
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Trolled by the smartest fan base in baseball
the reason bloom sucked is cuz he thought he was running the white sox not the red sox lol
You don’t wanna see anyone really lose their job but this guy KNEW our Sox had MAJOR starting pitching issues at the big league level and did next to nothing to fix it. He got scrap heap junk like Junk Ball-G Garrett Richards and Martin (I only pitch 4 good games a year) Perez, Paxton coming off Tommy John surgery and Called it good.
Need we mention the lackluster trade deadlines for the last 3 years. In 2021, we needed a starter and a 1st baseman, we got Schwarber (an outfielder/DH) and that’s about it. Last year, I don’t remember getting anyone worth mentioning, this year was utility infielder Luis Urias.
Dude, spent so much time being singularly focused on the mi it’s and luxury tax and let the major league club rot. The only Reason Devers is still here is bc of the heat from the fanbase not to let him walk like they did Bogey, JD, Eovaldi and countless others.
Traded Mookie for trash, traded Hunter Renfroe off a CAREER YEAR for Jackie Bradley who hasn’t hit since 2018 and even then the dude lives around the Mendoza line. Like come on.
Bye Chaim. We won’t miss you
Doubt he will miss you either bro TBH.
I believe Bloom’s contract was ending this year. Cora has another year left, will be interesting to see if Henry wants to pay him to go away or squeeze another year from him.
New Pres for Boston should require 5 year deal, 11-12 million guaranteed. Ben Sastonovich will be top target. I have this from a sound source: Me.
Never thought I’d see them cut him loose so soon. I woulda thought that next year was his make or break but nope. Thanks for your service Chaim.
Thelegendaryhrambe = Boston didn’t need to win in 2020 to come out ahead. They simply needed to retain Mookie OR trade him at the deadline to get value in the trade. Verdugo, Wong and late great Jeter Downs were and still are slugs. They are easily replaced parts that weren’t discounted to create value. They cost what they produced with regard to Verdugo and possibly Wong but Downs cost more than he was worth. The trade deadline deal would have garnered far more talent. All that mattered was that SOMEBODY coming to Boston had future performances greater than his future pay and that didn’t happen. It’s four years later and Mookie with a significantly higher pay structure is still out performing his cost.
It’s a no brainer who won the deal. Added value goes to LAD.
Stupid move. He’ll almost certainly get another GM job this off-season. Think Angels, Athletics, Royals, Padres.
“Another GM job this off’season”..Yeah. With his Ivy League connections, analytics “knowledge” and general lack of success, I’m really sure he’ll be in great demand.
Lol I guarantee you he’ll get offers to be GM or President of OP unless there’s something in his contract that says he has to sit at home for a year or two.
So does Chaim go the AA route and latch on with the Dodgers for a while before moving on to continued success with a forward thinking franchise?
Or does Seidler recognize this opportunity to axe AJ & immediately get an actual adult in there to clean up the dysfunction in his current clown show?
Chaim Bloom creates a mess, not the other way around.
If they give this Job to Cora or Romero Jr this will be a joke.
Well while I hate for anyone to lose their job. Bloom made an enemy with me when the money saved on Betts was not given to …. You guessed it… my man Brasier… you think he’s sick now… what till Brais rubs his face in it getting last out of game 7 vs Astros ( strike out of enos cabell) we’ll time for my medicine… oh look green jello today….
All I wanted was a Pepsi. And she wouldn’t give it to me!
Mmm juicy fruit….
The joke here is he did the job he was hired to do. The the candyass John Henry is firing him after he ran the team as he was allowed too. He John Henry didn’t want to spend money. I’m happy they fired him but you can’t tell me that If Bloom were given the freedom he would not have spent money come on……
There is always a scapegoat be it the GM or the Manager, never the Owner
That’s true this one is so obvious though.
Do you know how much money John Henry spent in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 combined JUST on player salary?
Old salaries of failed players he sent away and on players making money on the team for past success but not capable of being driving forces to win now. Yes I’m aware but they needed to do as other teams did add talent
Bring Theo back!!
Hire Brad Pitt ! And his schlebby friend Jonah fats
Theo will never go back to the Red Sox to work for John Henry and Sam Kennedy.
Dream on!
The guy should have been fired mid season but they decided to fire him 2 weeks before the end of the season. Interesting.
I think Kenny Williams is still available.
And Tim Anderson!!!
Dear Peter Seidler, you seeing this bro?
The Yankees should hire him to run player development. He can get rid of all the Dillon Lawson clones ruining the farm system.
What can anyone who is building a team do in just 4 years? It takes at least 7-10 years to develop a team from start to finish. He got only 4 drafts (of guys 18-22 years old) who each need 2-3 years minors and then 2 more for MLB experience before they can expect to be notably impactful, not accounting for injuries or busts. Absurd of John Henry to think he was a magician. You can’t expect anyone to take over a pile of garbage team, restock the farm and have a competitive team with homegrown talent on the field in only 4 years. People have become incredibly impatient in a game that requires nothing but patience.
Head explodes. Ahhhh!
Well said. It takes more than 4 years to build a farm system.
IT’S ABOUT TIME!!
WE’RE GOING STREAKING!!
To be fair he did not do bad job this year. Duvall, Yoshida, Turner, Martin were great additions overall.
They had a 3 man rotation for the entire month of July and his solution was 2B Urias at the deadline.
See ya!
He could be the Reds GM with logic like that.
Has anyone seen them in the same room?
Amd how was SS, the durability of the SP he chose to go with, amd the value vs cost on yoahida/Devers so far in 2023?
Dude you are weird.
Ho Ho- hee hee- strange things are happening
Not really.
It seems Christmas has come early to Red Sox Nation
David Price diminished the return on the Betts trade, no matter how much cash also went along with the deal.
Not a smart move. Bloom has quietly done a very nice job with what was actually a bit of an empty talent pool when he arrived (by Sox standards, anyway). He should be snapped up quickly.
Chaim? Chaim Bloom?