April 22: The Sox have made it official today, announcing they selected Rivera, optioned Anderson and put Casas on the 60-day IL. Chris Cotillo of MassLive confirmed the Casas move prior to the official announcement.
April 21: The Red Sox are promoting left-hander Eduardo Rivera, as first reported by Javier Sabath. The Sox will option righty Jack Anderson to Triple-A Worcester, according to Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News. They’ll also need to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Triston Casas stands as a 60-day injured list candidate after suffering an intercostal strain on top of his work back from knee surgery.
Rivera makes the jump directly from Double-A Portland. The 22-year-old southpaw dominated over his first two starts of the season. He recorded 16 strikeouts against three walks over 10 innings of one-run ball. Rivera also missed bats for his native Puerto Rico during the World Baseball Classic. He fanned nine hitters over 6 2/3 frames in two WBC games. Rivera allowed three runs on two hits, four walks, and a hit batter.
Listed at 6’7″ and 237 pounds, Rivera cuts an imposing figure on the mound. The long limbs have also contributed to strike-throwing issues in his minor league career. Rivera was an 11th-round selection by the Athletics in 2021. He never advanced out of A-ball in their system and was released in May ’24.
The Red Sox took a flier on his size and a fastball that runs into the mid-90s. They’ve been rewarded for the pickup, as Rivera has pitched well since joining the Boston organization. He combined for a 2.48 ERA while striking out 29.7% of batters faced over 87 innings between High-A and Double-A last season. That came with a near-13% walk rate, but Rivera has been around the strike zone over his first couple appearances this year.
Rivera did not crack Baseball America’s Top 30 prospects. However, MLB Pipeline slotted him #26 in the system with praise for his fastball-slider combination. Rivera probably projects to a bullpen role but is stretched out enough to work multiple innings.
The Red Sox used seven relievers to get through Monday’s game. Their leverage arms got a rest today, as the duo of Anderson and Tyler Samaniego finished the 4-0 loss to the Yankees. Rivera will replace Anderson as a potential mop-up arm. They’re carrying a ninth reliever for the next couple days after placing Sonny Gray on the injured list but will need to drop back to an eight-man bullpen to call up a starter (most likely Payton Tolle) this weekend.
absolute unit
Moon Unit ? Big Unit ?
Unit Four + 2. It’s a 1960s reference.
Over / under on days up? I’ll say 3
He’s probably the one being sent down when Tolle gets called up Saturday. It’s already Wednesday here, so 3 seems right.
If Rivera pitches well, I could see Ryan Watson DFA’d.
That would be a dream come true but he seems to be the latest in a long line of crappy middle relievers Cora is infatuated with. So unfortunately I’m bracing myself with the expectation that his spot is safe (it should not be).
“latest in a long line of crappy middle relievers”
Im not sure why you say that. Red Sox bullpen had the 2nd best ERA in all of baseball last year.
fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&st…
Yes, bullpen as a whole has been quite good lately. I want to be clear that’s not my complaint. All I’m saying is that no matter what, there is usually a guy in the bullpen who Cora gives way too many chances in important spots even when it’s clear to everyone they are not going to do anything productive with them. Last year there wasn’t really such a guy, but more commonly there has been.
“Last year there wasnt (a crappy reliever)”
Right, and in the years before that, the Red Sox had far less talent because they were in a rebuild. Ultimately its the GM who puts the players on the team, and Cora is forced to use them.
What Im saying is: Ryan Watson was a Rule V experiment, which hasnt worked out. Since there is much better depth in Worcester, he’s going to be offered back to the Giants very soon, because of the players who can pitch better.
DW: I’ve thought Cora does that as a way of showing Breslow that he needs or wants better relievers.
You may be right, all in – if that’s the actual case then I retract anything negative I’ve said about it and actually respect the move.
DW: I thought Cora really did that to Bloom. He kept bringing in Brasier to get clobbered and leaving him for a long time. I had to sit through it at a game. I think Cora may put weaknesses on display.
DW: If you want the Red Sox to spend more, I think Cora is probably fighting all he can to make that happen. I think he is a really win-now guy. I doubt he cared if Devers was happy. I think he probably cares most about winning and everyone’s happiness comes second.
Pitching Factory, I get what you’re saying and I know it’s not Cora’s fault that at times he had very little to work with.
But even in some of those lean years, the bullpen has been arguably the strength of the team and had multiple guys who were either flat out good, or more worthy of an extended look to see if they could’ve turned into anything, and were held back by too many opportunities given to guys who were pretty obviously never going to amount to anything.
This year it’s Watson leading the bullpen in appearances and IP when other guys lower in the pecking order like Samaniego, Coulombe, and Anderson look a lot better. Watson should be getting sent back to SF soon, but he’s been brutal enough they should just stop bringing him into games to force the issue.
In 2024 it was wasting close to 75 IP on Chase Anderson, and Brad Keller while Bailey Horn and Luis Guerrero never got real looks despite pitching well in the minors, and only getting limited run. Yes I understand that’s also partially on the FO too for not letting them spend enough time on the roster.
2023 I give him a pass, they gave him nothing that year.
2022 it was over 100 IP wasted on Austin Davis, Tyler Danish, and Hansel Robles when Eduard Bazardo and Franklin German looked worthy of getting looks they never got and Sawamura looked like he could’ve capably handled more work than they were willing to give him.
2021 it was all the appearances wasted on Phillips Valdez and Matt Andriese instead of working in John Schreiber and Kutter Crawford, who both pitched well enough in the minors that year to make the case that they were ready.
2020 didn’t happen as far as I’m concerned, so he gets another pass for that.
2019 it was over 140 IP wasted on Hector Velazquez, Ryan Weber, and Andrew Cashner while they jerked Josh Taylor and Darwinzon Hernandez around. Bobby Poyner even looked like he was worthy of a shot and they only gave him 13 appearances to work through the adjustment from the minors.
I know plenty of guys I named never wound up amounting to anything either, but on teams that were mostly heading nowhere there was plenty of relief work that could and arguably should have gone to guys who looked deserving of a chance but didn’t get it. Bad teams should be trying to play the scratch offs that haven’t been scratched yet, not trying to scrounge together the losers. When you’re losing almost 90 games anyway you have a lot more to gain in seeing if any of the unknown quantities can stick. Some of that is the front office taking too long to give up on guys they picked off the scrap heap, but it’s also partly on Cora for not being willing enough to find some of them chances to get into action when they’ve been there because he doesn’t trust them, in my opinion.
All in, I’m with you that I do believe Cora really does want to win. The Bloom years in particular I think he got the shaft unfairly from the fanbase because they didn’t set him up to succeed. That’s why I stayed in his corner a lot longer than seemingly most other Sox fans. I like the guy, and I don’t think he’s a bad manager overall. I could live with the tinkering and sometimes questionable bullpen decisions (as I just wrote at length, understanding there have been times where the bigger issue was lack of good arms to work with) in the past because he otherwise seemed to push all the right buttons. I just don’t think his style is the right fit for the clubhouse anymore which is why his methods have begun to fall flat and that’s when it’s time for a different voice at the helm. I wouldn’t be surprised if he found success with another organization that’s got more buy-in to his approach with veteran leadership to help drive it. No hard feelings toward him from me, strictly business.
Cora has been the problem all along…. and continues to be the problem. He is sucking the life out of the key players on this team and will never develop the young kids the way they need to be developed.
It has been long past the time that a change has been needed, but sadly the issues will be blamed elsewhere. Next to go will be the hitting coach.
Cooper:
“sucking the life out . . .”
What, Is he a vampire? If Cora was fired today, he would have another MLB manager by next season. Do you see yourself as a better GM than several teams in MLB?
“never develop young kids”
Except, Rafaela, Narvaez, Abreu, Crochet and so many more.
Your hatred blinds you.
Well dude… this is the first year that Abreu is getting AB’s versus Lefties consistently, Navarez is far from developed, Rafaela is the closest thing to developed but Cora continues to bury him in the lineup at the bottom…. Crochet.. lmao he didn’t develop Crochet, the White Sox did. Was Cora Developing Crochet when he hung him out to dry last week versus the Twins not getting a reliever up in the pen until it was 10 freaking 0 in the second inning?
This team’s players are constantly looking over their shoulders wondering when they are going to play because he platoons the doggie doo out of most of them in favor of fringe Utility players. Mayer needs to play everyday versus lefties and righties, same with Duran, same with Anthony.
Cora can have a job with other teams… good for him. His act has run out in Boston and needs to go yesterday.
Well dude . . . “Developing” is your term. I would never say a major league managers job is to develop anyone. They manage players, its right there in the name. Developmental coaches in the minors develop players. But, Cora arrived in 2018, are you saying the Red Sox havent developed anyone since 2018? Please.
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The reason for all the platooning is due to the fact that the Red Sox are far too left-handed hitting. They need platoon partners. He didnt draft/trade/sign Mayer, Duran, Anthony, Abreu, Yoshida. He didnt select the players dealt to him, but he has to manage them.
And if you notice, Breslow isnt bringing in very many lefties at all. — Pure lefties are slowly being reduced in numbers because they have much more trouble hitting righties, than the reversal. But, I guarantee you have noticed it.
Here, educate yourself on how true lefties are becoming fewer and fewer.
mlbyomimono.medium.com/the-reason-left-handed-hitt…
Give Cora less lefties and you’ll find he platoons less.
Keep making excuses for the clown in the Dugout. The losing will continue… just like last night when with a 2-1 lead after Tolle gives 6 great innings, your Manager brings the back/lower part of the bullpen to preserve that lead instead of the top guys like Whitlock and Chappy who haven’t pitched in 3 days.
Oh, and by the way, Cora was recently interviewed where he stated he was quite involved in all the offseason trade decisions and signings…. you know the ones where they traded for the 3 Utility players from Milwaukee or signed useless IKF to a 6 mill per year contract (the same guy that the Pirates released in August last year). Ask yourself why they signed him… to platoon with Mayer because Cora won’t play him versus LHP…. just like he did with Abreu the past two years. You need to let the young guys play to develop.
I missed that, Cooper so thanks for sharing. If Cora had a hand in the roster construction then he should be held just as accountable for it as Breslow.
I’m not sure about firing Breslow yet so I’m curious what others think. Not that I think he’s great at the job, but remember we were stuck with him because no one else wanted the job. We need him to help rehab the desirability of working in the Boston Red Sox front office so somebody better will come take the job. Has he done a strong enough job of that yet? Maybe? But at best I think that answer is inconclusive. The farm system looks better than it did 3 years ago, so maybe somebody would want to come build around that. But if they don’t, I don’t really want to go back to Bloom or worse.
But somebody has to go for this debacle. I’m definitely at the point where I’m very comfortable with that person being Cora.
” Whitlock and Chappy who haven’t pitched in 3 days.”
They gave up zero runs after the 6th inning. You wanted Whitlock and Chapman brought in, during the 6th inning, how would that have helped?
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“Cora was recently interviewed where he stated he was quite involved in all the offseason trade decisions and signings”
Lol, thats what every manager in MLB would say. Think if he said the opposite. ‘I dont get involved in the trade/sigings’. It wouldve made huge negative news in Boston. Im still laughing. Quotes from baseball interviews are meaningless.
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“Signed 3 Utility players from Milwaukee”
In 2025, Durbin had 506 Plate Appearances, with a 2.8 War on the best regular season team in baseball. Are you intentionally saying dumb things?
LMAO fool…. CORA GOT EXACTLY WHAT HE DESERVED.
Sadly, you were too blind to see what was going on… but hey, keep making excuses for him.
Lol. Tell us again how bringing in Chapman and Whitlock in the 6th inning wouldve won the game last week against the Yankees. Or, that 506 Plate Appearances is considered a “utility player”.
SMH, this proves nothing. He won a WS and will win another somewhere else. You’ll just whine about other people now.
bass – He’s gonna be wearing #99, last worn by Dugie.
Only one other Sox player in the team’s history has worn #99.
Damn that’s one big boy.
Thighs – It’s interesting that the long limbs which caused lots of control issues are the same limbs that Breslow coveted only for extension.
Based on the average annual pitcher extension on the Red Sox roster since Breslow took over, the exponential growth model predicts that around the year 2348, all Red Sox pitchers will be able to place the ball into the catcher’s glove without ever having to release it.
hayzee – You might be too young to have experienced it, but I had a toy called Stretch Armstrong …. you just described his arms!
Dude, I’m closing in on 70, albeit at an easy conversation pace (that’s when I’m running).
hayzee – You used a Gen-X term though, “dude”.
That’s from Fast Times at Ridgemont High circa 1982.
Shouldn’t you be using 70’s terms to describe a guy, like “Cat”?
Anyway that’s totally groovy and far out that you’re running, it’s great exercise ;O)
Fever – however, Dude predates Gen X… it crossed over from stoner and surfers types into mainstream in the early 1970s.
Steely Dan even used it in a song title.
GaSox – No way!
Jeff Spicoli stealing credit for “dude” is bogus, man!
Fever – I’ll still take a slice of his pizza though.
Sell the team
You buying?
If the Padres are worth $3.9 billion, what are the Sox worth?
Thec – Way too many Yankee fans in Fenway to start the chant, but I would expect it to continue when the Sox return to Fenway on May Day.
We came into the season deep in starting pitching and were “expected” to have one of the best or the best rotation in MLB, and boy do I feel bamboozled, and this has become a trend in Boston.
IMO Instead of paying the best free agent the owners rather pay the media to hype up their moves which never seem to ever work out, especially our trade.
This Club is most definitely ran by in competent ppl, and the fact TB has 52 more wins than us in the last 6 yrs with 1/3 of our payroll makes this very clear.
Hon – Great post! Check this out, 57% (over 1K people) gave Breslow a “B” grade for the offseason and another 16% actually game him an “A”! LMAO!!!
mlbtraderumors.com/2026/03/offseason-in-review-bos…
Fever, it’s only a month in. Let’s discuss at the trade deadline. I liked most of the moves but would have signed Alonso who also had a slow start.
Dewey, is it even a month? I mean, let’s jump off the boat while we can still swim to the shore? Am I worried? Sure, but I’m also willing to see some more baseball before I can jump ship. I already can’t swim to the shore anyway.
Totally agree Why. Baseball is a marathon and yes the team dug themselves a hole but it’s still early.
dewey – To reiterate, I’m not grading the offseason yet …. I’m just saying those who did a month ago and gave Breslow a great grade look kinda silly now.
dewey – You heard what Pedro recently said about April though.
April’s kind of cute but doesn’t know how to dress for the weather?
Fever, I try not to grade prematurely. Look at the catching situation. Many here wanted Wong gone and most including me were high on Narvaez. Obviously, the season is young but look at the present situation.
dewey – I was always skeptical about Narvy’s hitting because catchers have a history of hitting well for a year or two, then crash badly. Would you believe Sandy Leon hit .310 in his first full season with the Red Sox!
Fever-I went with a C (C+) but was waiting to see how all of the new acquisitions did to make a final decision. Not impressed so far, but I am trying to hold out some hope. Seems like there is a new injury every day and we certainly have not gotten into a winning streak yet.
Uncle – Yeah I’m just having fun with the March grading, it’s not a reflection on anyone. There was always the possibility everything could have worked out.
On the bright side, Tolle is starting tomorrow and Bello is being moved out of the Yankee series. They really still haven’t had too many injuries, Slaten & Gray & Ovideo have the histories.
Roman would be a tough one if it’s an IL stint, but I don’t think it is. He’s been heating up the past 10 days, but if he takes time off then Duran and Yoshida get a chance to play (hopefully).
The money spent and talent shipped this off season have yielded poor results, but not unexpected. It may be surprising to some people here, but a group of us saw that some clear issues that needed to be addressed were not. That meant trouble.
A dominant #2 for any playoff run to push our rotation guys down a slot, and perhaps a solid #3. We got an acceptable #3 imho whether you think it was Ranger or Gray, but not the #2.
A top tier lefty reliever for high leverage spots. Nope.
We had to resign Bregman and add a plus power bat or we needed to acquire two middle of the order power bats. After already being down Devers power, we replaced Bregman’s bat with Contreras, and didn’t sign 1, let alone 2 power bats.
Gray was thought of as a #2 by management when at this point in his career he is more realistically a #3. Ranger, who they clearly saw as a #2/#3 for that money, throws 90mph and was not really the dominant #2 we were all hoping to acquire to slot behind Crochet if the Sox made the playoffs.
It all should have seemed troubling for management, but for some reason it didn’t register with them when they went into opening day with the weakest batting order in most of our lifetimes. This is a team that doesn’t hit for power, nor should we expect it to. It doesn’t hit for average to make up for the lack of power and doesn’t get on base enough either. It doesn’t hit in the clutch to make up for its other shortcomings and has way too much swing and miss up and down the lineup for a bunch of guys that no expects to ever be power hitters. Its only real strength was the perceived running game and defense. You can’t have running game if you are not getting on a bag. The defense? Well, it is what it is.
I told you guys that at the end of the year, only the Fenway park factor inflating stats would make this lineup look passable at the end. This staff was better on paper than last year, but not drastically enough to make up for that lineup. The bullpen didn’t look all that strong either through the middle innings to the 8th with a rotation that we couldn’t expect to pitch deep into games very often. We were ALWAYS going to need a good and deep pen, since they would be pitching at least 3 to 4 out of every 5 games.
It was another frustrating off season of seeing blatant needs ignored. I expected this team to be fringe for the playoffs if the rotation panned out, despite what I knew was a bad offense. The games are mostly dull. The lineup is lifeless. There aren’t any threats in it to look forward to seeing hit. Rallies tend to be a collection of HBP’s, perhaps a couple of hits or walks, but mostly the opposing teams making errors or pitchers melting down. We make great pitchers look unhittable, good pitchers look great, and bad pitchers look good. This isn’t the Red Sox running into hot pitchers every single game. This is us making every pitcher look like they are hot.
william – Great post! Yes not too many of us here had concerns about this team. The Red Sox did a great job ….. of selling the fanbase a bill of goods.
They did improve the defense without question. Between Durbin, IKF, Contreras and playing Mayer somewhat regularly, the infield is very solid (I’m not gonna trash Story, but we know he’s below average).
I always liked the Ranger signing even though it was an overpay. And I always hated the Gray acquisition due to his age, injury history and average results. So far my big mistake was believing Bello would continue to improve, but he’s still got lots of time.
But the offense …. way too many people had way too high expectations.
The only legit surprise is Roman, underperforming at the plate and struggling mightily in the field.
I expected some regression with Crochet, and I expect him to pitch better than he has been.
Once we saw how often Duran would DH or be on the bench, we kinda knew he would struggle at the plate.
I’m not writing off the season yet, but I don’t see how their biggest problems (offense, starting pitching & managing) can be fixed during the season. Henry is not gonna fire Cora or Breslow. There’s nobody in the minors who can help the offense (Arias isn’t ready), and other than Tolle into the rotation I don’t see how the starting pitching can improve much.
Its April. The weather is cold in fenway. Many of your starters had their ST ramp-up wrecked by that stupid WBC.
Then theres been Cora’s decisions on sitting position players and not letting them work through things while bouncing them around in the name of versatility, coupled with mishandling Crochet at the early start of season, with a shortage of ST buildup, riding him 107 pitches when its in the low 40s as if its mid July.
Things will, to.a degree, sort themselves out. This team is better than youre seeing right now.
GaSox – You were around for 2019, I’m sure you compare the unpreparedness this year to 2019. That’s why I’m not worrying about Ranger or Bello, both of whom pitched in the WBC (although not much).
Fever – to me 2019 was a different sort of unpreparedness. A mix of cockiness (we’re so good we dont need the full regimen) out of Cora coupled with the longer season a WS run brings thats harder on the body than having an extra month or so off.
This year was just plain lack of execution of ST, you had new guys join the club who werent getting playing time with their teammates for the regular season due to the dumb WBC. Then, youve got a lot of youth, meaning, growing pains, without a lot of strong veterans guiding them.
Think about it. Yoshida is old, but hasnt been in MLB long. Nor has any of the OF. The IF, Story and IKF arent exactly known for mentoring, and we’ll just leave Contreras out of that conversation.
Most teams have at least a couple more veteran guys who step up and help the kids but theres isnt much on the position player side for this group
GaSox – I always appreciate your perspective.
I agree, it’s an inexperienced team without a lot of leaders. And even if some older guys were playing every day for years, they wouldn’t be considered leaders (ie: Duran, Casas, Yoshida, Rafaela).
Also worth noting, Ref was considered a strong leader even though he didn’t play all the time … and they lost him too.
I think its the same temperature at Fenway park for the opposition as well. All teams had players in the WBC and some of the Sox players stood actually played the best. This team is bad and there is no help coming for the offense! The bright side is I will get more stuff done this year because these boys are hard to watch! Lots of people counted on big years from many of these kids and that may never happen. I do think their young pitching core has a bright future, but the offense is a disaster! There really are no excuses…they are what they are.
AK – Well said!
This is why many of us here wanted the kids up last year, at the start of the season rather than the middle. They really could have used a full MLB season to work out the inevitable learning curve. It also might have prevented them from giving out at least one bad contract.
There are definitely some bright sides, for instance it should be easier and cheaper to get good seats at Fenway. I’m holding out for affordable Green Monster seats this summer.
Byron Buxton was hitting a buck and a quarter to start the season with no pop. But he was allowed to play through the early struggles and now he is raking. The Boston Platoon Sox led by “Utility Man” Manager would rather play the IKF’s and Monteserios of the world instead of letting a lefty hitting player fight through a rough start.
Duran needs to play every day, Mayer needs to play every day.
Durbin needs to go to Worchester and stay there for 3 to 4 weeks… Bring Campbell up and play him every day.
IKF needs to be DFA’d just like he was with the Pirates last year… he is useless.
Coop – Unfortunately KC has only a .723 OPS and they have him focused only on OF, he hasn’t played in the infield at all this season. So he’s not really an option. Do they call up Arias and risk messing with his development?
I know some don’t like the idea of Rafaela at 2B, but moving him there and moving Mayer to 3B would solve so many issues:
1) Gets Durbin out of the lineup
2) Gets Yoshida into the lineup
3) Gets Duran into the lineup
BTW – Roman is not playing tonight either, because of the back problem.
Fever, we cant have it both ways….
If BOS sees Durbin as its 3B, youve got to let him play through the struggles, kind of the complaint about Duran in reverse.
Rafaela wasn’t that good as a 2B, thats not a long term fit for him, we always complain about young players getting jerked out of position and put back somewhere else, and, with Roman out, Duran and Yoshida could both be in the lineup already.
GaSox – If the team wasn’t struggling so badly, I’d agree to give Durbin another month or two. But if they don’t do everything they can to stop the bleeding, they will be sellers at the deadline.
I get that you want the kids to play and develop more than winning, but haven’t we had that for the past 4 years? Durbin is the 3rd-worst hitter in MLB right now and he has options, not the same situation as Duran who has no options and whose OPS is 121 points higher than Durbin’s and more importantly has proven to be a star the past couple years.
As for Rafaela, of course 2B would be temporary until there’s a trade or longterm injury. Even if Rafaela isn’t good at 2B, they can sacrifice some defense …. offense is desperately needed.
Let’s hope Roman isn’t out long.I’m beginning to wonder if his back issues is what convinced him to sign the team-friendly extension.
Fever you might be right on one part…Easier! I would not count on cheaper!
FPG, et al….
I’m not sure where to start. Lets begin like this, I think there are three things we can all agree about when the season started:
First, we were all ready for optimism, and the idea of a team built on contact hitting, run prevention and starting pitching sounded like a “real” plan. Rather than putting spin on the pivot of missing out on Bichette and losing Bregman. I’m not saying it, but its been written here a number of times, were we buying into the front office spin rather than fully believing in this?
Second, if Anthony, Rafaela, Narvaez, Abreu and Mayer all took (even) a small step forward (with higher expectations for Anthony) we would have the nucleus of a really strong team.
Third, whatever your thoughts on the Gray and Suarez acquisitions individually, the top four starters were all solid MLBers and would produce steady starts.
IMO opinion, here’s where things have gone wrong (to date) and have lessened my optimism for a really good season and downgraded my expectations for this year to fingers crossed for wild card.
Outfield rotation: having four OFers could possibly be a good problem to have. Having five (four of which are left handed) is a problem, a big problem. Breslow did nothing to address this. I understand Yoshida had no value pre-season. Does his moderately successful start make him more easily tradeable now? Maybe, but you’re still not getting anything back, and you’re still eating salary, maybe just slightly less. So, shouldve unloaded him then.
More Contact or Lack of Power? I dont think anyone thought there would be games where 4 (or 5) players in the starting lineup would be batting under .200. That said, you can not have a starting lineup where there is NO consistent power threat. No matter what the analytical spin is…..a power hitter changes the dynamic to the opponents pitching plan, case closed. Contreras has been better than expected so far, but is probably on pace for his normal low 20’s home run pace.
Bullpen construction: If you are building a roster on “pitching and run prevention” you must have a lockdown bullpen. This goes hand in hand with the modern thinking of “five and fly” starting pitching. So, while the Sox can have a solid 7, 8, 9 Breslow should have contemplated 5th and 6th, and imo this is where the gaping hole (and Cora’s bad judgement) hurt the team. That is fully on Breslow. One of the hardest and most important parts of the POBO/GM job for a contending team is making sure your bullpen can hold.
Lineups: blame equally split here between Breslow and Cora. Anthony is 100% not a lead-off hitter, and Duran is definitely not a 3rd hole hitter….how to solve this mystery? I have a solution, but it seems to escape the actual braintrust.
Finally, my favorite reason for pessimism, Breslow is simply not good at his job. Why were the Brewers so quick to shed Durbin? Selling high, off a small career sample. No plan for Mayer. Five outfielders. Missing bullpen parts. Lack of power. Player development, etc, etc
I know that the SP will rebound. But, scoring the 26th most runs to date, right there amongst the other “contact and run prevention” teams means this may be who they are offensively. Which leads me to say, “yikes”!
Coop,
agreed!
’nuff said
“But if they don’t do everything they can to stop the bleeding, they will be sellers at the deadline.”
Does it look good? No. But, the Red Sox are only 3 games out of the WC race. That means before now and October they need to outplay several teams by just 3 wins.They can easily make up the ground.
Hitting the panic button in April is ridiculous. Get a grip. Nothing is going to happen until at least mid-May, as far as replacing any major starters (Durbin) and playing players out of position (Rafaela).
Sad – Agreed. Everyone knows throughout the years I ALWAYS maintain optimism in the offseason, which I think most fans of every team do that time of year. I like to give the benefit of the doubt, I like to think there’s always a path to the postseason. I don’t do predictions, I just do possibilities.
I think we all knew the defense would be much better, even with the early season errors.
I thought the rotation would be solid, but starting the season unprepared is a trademark for Cora. The only strong start I can remember is when Bailey was brought in and the team really was prepared to start that season.
Honestly the bullpen is the least of the issues. In the past I’ve noticed glaring mistakes, not so much this year. Having Whit & Chap at the back makes the BP far less of a concern.
BTW – Bernardino, despite pitching in Colorado, has a 0.87 ERA and 1.161 WHIP ;o)
And yes, the Sox offense will improve some but not a lot. There’s nobody on the IL that will return and save the day. Casas is not walking through that door. Romy is not walking through that door. Mike Easler is not walking through that door.
And if Johnny Damon walks through that door, it’s only because he’s had a few and took a wrong turn somewhere.
A couple of quick points. The WBC, if anything, tends to ramp up the quality of preparation for those that play in it. They tend to start their routine earlier than normal and get more reps per game against better quality players for a duration nonparticipant do not get.
Cold weather is one of the weakest excuses in baseball. You can either play in it or not. I cannot believe that year after year teams that happen to be good nearly every start to the season builds their rosters based on assembling players that can hit and pitch in cold weather. If that were true, then the Red Sox for years have gone out of their way ignoring their roster is going to be garbage for over 2 months of every season ON PURPOSE. I played nearly every school baseball season pitching and hitting in near freezing weather for over a decade. You suck it up. You don’t let it be an excuse, because you can’t when you’re watching other opponents and team mates not have a problem with it AT ALL.
I agree that the Red Sox approach to making sure people don’t play where they are most comfortable, so they improve and having no consistency is an issue. Players hate that crap. It is a monumental waste of time and energy practicing to do something you are hardly going to do often. Better to prepare for one thing and direct that energy at improving it. If you can’t improve with that kind of focused energy, it simply isn’t ever going to happen. Being mediocre at a bunch of things isn’t a professional approach towards building anything that can potentially be elite.
2019 was textbook idiocy. Baseball is about reps. Pucket needed 80+ spring training at bats to feel comfortable which is why he was always playing in spring training, and he was better than every single player on our team.
Some people need less, others more. The keys are to find out how many reps, at bats, pitches, ground balls, fly balls, and outings each individual needs to be ready game one. Having a manager put a completely arbitrary number out there for a team that includes all its players is one of the dumbest ideas in the history of dumb ideas.
I am aware teams worry about wear and tear and injuries, but injuries in baseball are either going to happen or not at any point DUE TO THE FACT THERE IS ALWAYS WEAR AND TEAR, and freak crap that will happen. As for wearing down, that is up to the player and team strength training to prepare during the off season. When a player is hurt that is bad luck. When a player wears down, that is under preparedness. You learn that as you go and adjust to avoid it as you learn.
Deadline? I would be on the phone right now trying to acquire whatever I can towards building a competitive lineup for now and the future and move whatever it will take to get that done.
I wasn’t kidding this whole off season when I thought this roster would be lucky to make the playoffs if it ALL PANNED OUT. It isn’t. This season is already done for winning the division, and that isn’t because we have only 9 wins. That happened in the off season. It is a few loses away from ending entirely before May is half done.
william – Great post, I totally agree!
Something to consider, where do the Sox AA & AAA teams play? Portland Maine, where it’s wicked cold early in the season, and Woosta where it’s not as bad but still darn cold. So I don’t think it’s a matter of players not knowing how to adjust to cold weather.
And if a player truly can’t play well in the cold, why would you want them on your team knowing full well the postseason games can get very, very cold.
Also, today’s players have so many benefits in cold weather that players didn’t have in the past. Watch the games and you’ll see the little pouches around the waists of players, they are hand warmers. They also have heaters in the dugouts, and they can completely cover themselves in thermals as Jazz did during the first two Yankee games.
So yeah, I’m not buying the cold weather excuse. Both teams are playing in it, if one team can’t handle the weather as well as the other then that’s on the team’s management for acquiring warm-weather-only players to play in a cold weather environment. Jazz is a perfect example of this.
As for the players constantly being moved around, I totally agree but it seems like Cora has cut back on that so far. We have seen Contreras, Story, Durbin, Rafaela, Mayer, Abreu, Wong and Narvaez play the exact same positions every game. The only moving around has been Duran between LF and CF, and that’s been minimal because Cora keeps playing Rafaela nearly every day.
william – Great post! Yes the best way to not wear down is to build up endurance and stamina, obviously excessive rest doesn’t accomplish that. But instead of pushing his players to build up endurance and stamina, Cora does the opposite. This is a big factor in why his SP’s don’t last long.
And Cora’s cookie-cutter one-size-fits-all approach that you’ve described is just dumb tunnel vision with Cora. Like you said, every player is different so every player should be treated differently in many ways.
We used to drag wired steel trash cans into the dugout and burn whatever was around the field in it. If the umpire or anyone said anything our coach would threaten to forfeit and sue them for child abuse to scare the piss out of them. Our jackets would literally turn from dark blue to pale white from the frost, and we all played like it was middle of summer with our teeth chattering, because we were getting to finally compete playing baseball for real after not being able to for months.
william – Too many teams still in it, no team will trade good MLB players in April or even May.
Yeah I was the same as you this past offseason, I was optimistic because I saw a perfect-scenario path. I still think they can win a WC because 1) Seeing some signs of life with Duran, Abreu, Tolle etc and 2) Most of the league has also struggled
Would you offer Arias for Murakami?
William- this is very eloquently said.
I like to say baseball is a craft, and the comfort of learning one position leads to success. You hardly ever hear the adjectives smooth or silky when describing position players anymore because most guys are too busy butchering three positions.
Double play combos?!?! Forget it
William- I agree. There is a slim margin for error over 162 in a pitchibg/run prevention type season. So, if youre off to a terrible start it doesnt get easier.
Moreover, you can never have a week or two where your offense just bludgeons bad opponents to take the pressure and the edge off.
That’s why you need a slugger in the middle, someone who can carry a team for a short period to allow everyone else to catch their breath and ride his back
That scenario is a no go, not because of anything to do with Arias. Murakami is now untouchable. The White Sox have zero incentive to trade him for anything other than a haul. You would be looking at Arias, major league player ++ right now, so no.
I was thinking about the 1/3rd of the league that realistically knows they have no shot at the playoffs, or no shot of competing in it but may have a player that fits our needs while getting players back that improve them where they need it also.
william – It still blows my mind that 10D’s $75M contract is the biggest the ChiSox have ever given. You really think they will give 9 figures to Murakami?
BTW – Contreras is looking about what I expected from him. Solid glove, good but not great bat. He’ll pop 20 but I expect his OPS to be under .800 and if things continue to go bad he could become an issue in the clubhouse with his personality.
The White Sox are notorious. They would barely cough up money for guys like Baines years back and scrapped their world series team for money reasons.
I do not think they will resign Murakami, but that is different than trading him now. Right now, he has a great contract for them, and there is no urgency for them to trade him for anything less that highway robbery. That isn’t going to happen right now. Teams will want to be sure this isn’t an aberration with Murakami once pitchers figure out his holes, and not many teams that are very good will want to stomach the demands that getting him would take until the trade deadline when they can really see where they stand and what they may still need.
The Red Sox can make trades right now, because we know we are hot garbage offensively, and even if everyone gets hot the rest of the year, we will simply be a punchless team that still needs to string a bunch of hits together and walks to score, let alone rally.
Contreras will be a fine hitter, just not a power hitter in the conventional sense. 20+ should be a lock with an ok AVG. I didn’t feel he was a 1 to 1 replacement for Bregman offensively, but I did think it was a reasonable comp for some people to think he would be an acceptable alternative IF we also got the all-star caliber power hitter to go with him. We didn’t.
William: Are you really mourning the loss of Bregman (.668 OPS) and Devers (.577 OPS) and their HUGE contracts?
Suit – the answer is yes. Once the season starts discussing money is no longer a viable argument.
I was not a fan of signing Bregman originally. Nor, was I a fan of putting all of our free agent eggs in his basket, but who in the Red Sox lineup does an opposing Pitcher, Coach or Manager look to ad say “we need to figure out what to do with him”? Even with how fine Contreras is hitting right now, no one is afraid of him. And, Anthony as lead-off effectively takes that label away from him 25% of the time.
You can look at Devers and say all kinds of things about his play in S. F. Ask Gerrit Cole, Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman who they worry about in the Sox lineup since they left.
As fans, is it our duty to worry about John Henry’s wallet or beating the Yankees? Thats Breslow’s job.
But, since we’re good fans lets care about money for a minute.
Is what you are expecting from Contreras’ $18M, IKF’s $6M and Durbin better than what you could be getting from say K. Campbell being on the team, Nate Lowe and Eugenio Suarez and another reliever?
No. I never had much good to say about Devers as a complete player. He was an excellent clutch hitter that COULD hit exceptional pitching. That is rare in this game. His complete lack of defense was always troubling and was better suited to play first or DH. His contract was a reflexive panic after the blowback from Mookie and Bogaerts. Not once did I ever think that contract was wise when you think the alternative was simply giving Mookie that money. I had ZERO problem trading Devers for a comparable return in prospects, or equal return at a position of need. None of which happened because they were more interested in shedding themselves of the problem.
Bregman is a different matter that I have posted on several dozen times. The Sox without Devers were short a legit power bat. The Sox without Devers and Bregman would need a bat to replace Bergmans bat and power (some would say Contrerras represented that), a comparable glove to Bregman to make the loss of Devers have any meaning and they would still need a power bat. Bregman wasn’t looking for the same contract of 40 million a year, he was looking for more year at less with no trade. That was either comfortable or not for the Sox, and they chose not. So, you needed to do what I wrote above to replace him.
They got a bat for first instead of 3rd to replace his production. Fine, except it created another new problem with Casas. Are you going to take at bats from Contrerras to make him a platoon player with that contract, or take at bats from your already ridiculous outfield log jam placing Casas at DH? That is a no win that could have been solved in the off season.
The third base replacement is a better glove then Devers was, and behind Bregman, although most are. What you do lose out on is power. Especially if you didn’t get the other power bat you always needed in the first place. You guaranteed taking at bats from the only power hitter on the roster, and decreased power at the same time at a new position and still lacked the new power bat.
So yeah, the Bregman contract the cubs dished out in hindsight seems reasonable to a Sox fan, and the lack of return for Devers, failing to fill needs, the further erosion of power, and the inability to add power seems unreasonable to a Sox fan. Especially when you are talking about freeing up that Devers contract, and Bregman contract if that is your point.
Hon3st: “IMO Instead of paying the best free agent the owners rather pay the media to hype up their moves”
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Which free agents would you have signed?
Personally I would’ve signed Bichette instead of trading for Durbin. I know he hasn’t gotten off to a great start with the Mets himself, but that’s irrelevant. We don’t know what the butterfly effect would be had he signed here instead of there. The AL East is a lot more familiar and comfortable to him than the NL, and he’s always hit well at Fenway. He’s also always been a slow starter, if you look at his career splits April tends to be his worst month. Think it’s safe to say he’d still be an obvious upgrade over Durbin.
I also would’ve called Schwarber with an aggressive offer on the first day of free agency. I know he may not have wanted to leave Philly given how quickly he re-signed there, but he had a positive experience in Boston too so I believe that the Sox could’ve been one of the few teams he would’ve considered outside Philly if the money was right. His 150 OPS+ and 8 bombs would sure be nice to have right now – not that those numbers would be the same either, but we don’t have anyone who can rake like that even at their best, is my point.
DW: The Red Sox would have needed to match or beat the 5 year/$150M deal 33 year old Schwarber got. Not sure I would do that, but it may be coming to that as good hitters and good power hitters are pretty hard to find these days. It will be interesting to see if playing 3B for a whole season has an effect on Bichette’s offense. I’m on the fence about signing free agents to huge contracts. They are usually good for the short-term, but not for the long-term.
You’re right, it would’ve taken a lot to get Schwarber. It’s a price I’d be willing to pay, personally. The decision to not go get a big bat put way too much pressure on Anthony and Mayer to deliver which is not fair to either of them even if Roman looked up to the task. Can’t wait to see him break through this funk he’s been in.
Dirty – I cant help but think a chunk of the funk comes from losing *some* of the strong veteran presence in the club house.
I havent seen Story mentor like JDM or Bregman did. So the younger guys are kinda slogging through it on their own.
I did like hearing about Duran talking to Weissert, but, it wasn’t really the same sort of thing. That was an incidental conversation as opposed to a concentrated effort
I agree! I think Bregman was their guy they looked to for that stuff, and he was not adequately replaced.
Suit
You cant worry about 6, 7 or 8 years down the road when you have a team that is ready to win for 1, 2 and 3 years. Star players are stars for a reason. Tell me the last team to win the World Series with Caleb Durbin, Monasterio and IKF as potentially three of their starting eight? Or, all of the past Tampa Rays championships?
The money generated by playoff runs and WS championships would surely satisfy the profit hungry Board of FSG.
AND, once those contracts become albatrosses you eat a portion and promote from within to supplement.
The secret sauce of the “pipeline of sustained winning”, or whatever nonsense they call it, is not that you can’t continue to produce quality farmhands because you spend money. The real formula is you need to do both. However, the cheap owners and their mouthpieces leave that part out.
Yes, what the Dodgers do is unsustainable, but did that stop them from producing Andy Pages, Emmett Sheehan, Daulton Rushing???
The simple fact of the matter is you dont win World Series without star caliber players, and as John Henry says, “baseball players are expensive”.
DW
we’re currently paying Gray, Contreras and IKF approximately $55 million this year. I think i might rather have Schwarber and money still to spend.
Its not Breslow’s fault entirely. Being a follower of the prevailing analytical wisdom means your system must be adhered to above all else, with no deviation.
The idea that Schwarber will be old and fat(ter) one day means “there’s no way we can sign that guy”. Meanwhile you lose out on another 150 hr’s.
I dont think its a Breslow problem. Its a Henry problem. Ownership clearly has to greenlight big deals.
I think henry has a value in his mind thats a mix of position and player production level, and, he sets a ceiling.
And he wont budget on it. Remember “players are expensive” and “fans cant expect to play for a WS every year”…
The problem is, that hard cap leaves them just short of elite free agents, and, then they pivot and spend on the lower tier.
Aggregate they spend plenty. The problem is the refusal to spend over Henry’s hard cap on one particular guy. They miss out on elite.
Id rather they didnt sign Suarez, went through this year with their deeper in-house options, then threw 45-60m a year depending on length at skubal
Aitstyw, trolls never think that deeply about a situation.
Allow him a few innings then they send him back down. He’s here to suck up a few innings nothing more
Bobby – The way the Red Sox use these reliever moves throughout the season, it’s like Cora has a 10-man bullpen. All the more reason why I laugh when Cora cries about not having any available relievers because of one short SP outing.
I really wish MLB would implement a rule requiring called up players to remain on the team for a minimum of 2 weeks.
It would require the CBA to be ammended.
Bobby – It could be implemented with the new CBA in 2027.
I don’t think the union would have an issue with it. Sure it would be fewer promotions (and demotions), but the fringe guys already on the team would accrue more service time so it would be a wash.
Unrelated but does anyone know if celeb durbin has any options? I don’t know how much more I can stand watching him
Alex – He has two options remaining. Problem is, there’s nobody good to replace him with …. unless Mayer moves to 3B and Rafaela moves to 2B, but that would make too much sense.
And Durbin has been good defensively, so IKF would be redundant.
Fever I appreciate the defensive upgrade and I see sogard is struggling in the minors too so that’s probably not happening. I’m tempted move back to Portland at this point so I can get some happiness out of baseball again for a change (except for the Mets 12 game losing streak, that does provide a good amount of)
Alex – I understand. I had a lot of happiness when the Portland team was actually Bristol/New Britain, lots of great memories.
I have childhood memories of the Maine guides (Phillies) as a kid. I lived in Portland when they started in the mid 90s and wend to tons of games. I met several players and got a foul ball but my highlight was razzing Dwight Gooden during a rehab start
Fever, it’s a very long time ago but I have great memories when the Yankees AA squad was in West Haven. During that time, one of the managers was Bobby Cox if I recall right. He was friends with my uncle and got us tickets to an amazing soccer game at the Yale Bowl between Italy and Brazil. I will never forget the true fans who were passionate in every possible way.
dewey – Were you a soccer fan back then? My favorite player was Roberto Baggio.
What I miss the most about to going to a minor league games years back was buying a ticket, drinking a few beers, eating a hot dog with a bag of peanuts for a little over the price of the ticket, parking, and bag of peanuts now.
He has two options left.
If he were optioned Mayer moves to 3B and who plays 2B? IKF? I’d rather see Durbin every day if those are the options
How about “selecting” someone who can actually hit home runs? 13 in 23 games is embarrassing as anything.
Carmen – There’s nobody in the minors who is ready, too soon for Arias.
Fever – They certainly had opportunities over the off-season, although I would have stayed away from Suarez and Alonso. Everyone had this fantasy that Anthony and Meyer, not to mention Abreu, would be cranking 30 HR a year. They simply aren’t power hitters.
Carmen – Yeah Mayer is not a power hitter, but Abreu should be good for 25 HR if he stays healthy and plays often. After all, he did have 22 last year in just 115 games.
Roman could have hit 20 as a medium-power hitter, but he’s got some issues going on which I think/hope will get straightened out. As a leadoff guy I think he’s focusing more on OBP than hitting HR.
Batting Anthony weight off seems like a mistake despite last season. I would move Duran Duran back the weight off with Anthony third. It might be a great move for both. The problem with that is the way Yoshida is hitting. I believe he needs to play every day and I might bat him ninth as weird as that sounds.
dewey – Right now Roman isn’t batting anywhere, his back flared up again …. day to day for now.
That probably wont help with the bullpen.
Favorite stat from last night. After Stanton’s massive HR, the DH position for the Yankees in that game alone tied the amount of HR the Red Sox have gotten from their DH for the entire season. They have 1 HR from that spot. Crazy.
So they should take vitamins, too?
The lineup construction is problematic in general. I get wanting to alternate between L/R hitters but Roman needs off of leadoff, Contreras should probably hit 2nd and Story needs to be in the middle of the lineup and Durbin at the bottom
Rsox – Until Duran heats up, they don’t have a true leadoff hitter. Rafaela leading off is not ideal tonight, but I get it …. he’s swinging the bat better than Duran. Hopefully Roman isn’t out too long.
Duran may start hitting if he’s put back at leadoff where he can be a table setter instead of being in the middle of the order where he has to be a run producer
This guy will be the closer after they trade Chapman during their sell-off.
I keep waiting for the “Red Sox Fire Alex Cora” headline.
Maybe tomorrow… I’ll check back.
You’ll be waiting a long time. I still think he has some dirt on things from 2018 he holds over Henry…
The only upside in this disaster of a season is that it may finally break Cora’s “untouchable” status. We can only hope.
Dirty – Nope, Breslow is gonna be the fall guy next year …. just like Bloom was.
There is definitely some blame for the performance on Cora, but the bulk of it is on this piss poor roster construction yet again by Breslow. He tried to outsmart everyone yet again and ends up (again) with egg on his face.
Absolutely. It’s a three stooges thing with Henry, Breslow, and Cora, really.
Henry is too cheap to make the necessary expenditures it takes to be a championship contender.
Breslow to his credit has proven to be pretty adept at developing pitching, but the gains made there have been offset by total ineptitude when it comes to negotiating in trades or with free agents.
Cora I used to think of as having the right demeanor to help young guys get settled in at the big league level because he doesn’t outwardly ride the wave, emotionally speaking. Being a calm and steady voice should be helpful. While that may be a plus for some guys, it’s also become pretty clear that his constant tinkering with positions and platoons and the batting order is doing more harm than good. The lack of consistency and lack of trust to not let guys play through their struggles isn’t helping them learn how to be better ball players.
DW: I don’t think Henry is cheap. I think he has had enough of wasting money on failed free agent contracts and is trying to spend in a smarter way. He is probably looking at the standings now and saying, “Here we go again. Tampa Bay spends way less money than us and still wins more games.”
It’s kind of a function of both, but I think it’s rooted in cheapness. They get cheap and play hardball with all the wrong players, then overcorrect and go spend extremely stupidly (which to be fair is to placate us fans), which goes horribly and then causes him to revert to cheapness.
The insane, insulting lowball extension offer they made to Lester drove him out of town. Their inability to replace him for cheap forced them to turn around and overpay David Price a year later. If he had just offered Lester a fair deal we would’ve had a better pitcher who actually loved playing in Boston, and for less money.
The same insulting, stupid lowball offer to Bogaerts caused them to pivot to wasting $140 M on Story. They knew they were never going to make a serious effort to keep Bogey even though if they offered him the same contract in the Spring of ’22 that they gave Story, he would’ve signed it on the spot. Would’ve been money much better spent and locked up a beloved homegrown player for the duration of his career.
They were unwilling to give Kyle Schwarber $80 million after the immense impact he made for us in ’21, and had to compensate for it a year later by giving Yoshida $90 million.
On and on and on. Can’t wait to see what brilliantly stupid move they cook up to atone for the Bregman/Devers debacle.
All- I think it comes down to do you want to try to win a World Series or do you just want to be competitive. Comparing yourself to Tampa Bay would mean you could care less about making the playoffs. There was a time when the Red Sox were all in even if they needed to spend too much money on some players that you probably shouldn’t. If they won the World Series they accepted the bad contract.
So far the money that was spent and the trades that were made this offseason clearly have not been effective. We will see if any of the players work out. Contreras has been the most impactful, but he can only do so much. Things could definitely turn around, but I am afraid it will be too late.
I know Bregman was overpaid and is not exactly tearing it up, but I do think his leadership in the clubhouse might have helped motivate and inspire some of the players who are off to a slow start. The Cubs are looking much better than we are at this point.
DW: I guess it boils down to what you believe. Cherington low balled Lester. Henry brought in Dombrowski who signed Price and then Sale and Eovaldi to big deals. You can focus on the low balls or focus on the big deals and make a case for being cheap or not being cheap. I also think Boras was taking Bogaerts to free agency to see what was avaliable.
Uncle: I don’t think John Henry ever wanted to be exactly like Tampa Bay. I think he wanted to be like them, but significantly outspend them. I liked the idea of getting a guy from Tampa Bay (Bloom) and giving him the Red Sox budget. In theory, that really should have created a monster of a team. Imagine giving the Rays another $100M to spend every year on players. Henry either picked the wrong guy from the Rays or got frustrated with Bloom’s process taking too long (which started with rebuilding the farm system as the Rays rely on a strong farm system).
Uncle: Also, I think things have changed significantly since the Yankees and Red Sox used to lead MLB in spending. Many other teams now spend a lot more money such as the Dodgers, Mets, Phillies and Cubs.
Right, All In.. These examples spanned 3 GMs/POBOs. Henry being unwilling to go all-in financially is the common thread I see there linking them. Cherington and Bloom were essentially there to be the fall guys for tearing down the wildly expensive – but also wildly successful – rosters that Theo and Dombrowski left them respectively. Cherington lucked into success in 2013 but nobody expected that team to reach the heights it did. Bloom also did to a lesser extent in ’21. And instead of building off of either of those teams it fell apart and crashed back to earth. Breslow is not very good at the job but it’s also hard to blame him for it because he was like the 7th guy they interviewed after nobody else wanted the job at that point. It’s at the point where many around the league know what’s up. Henry has gained himself a reputation for being unserious about doing what it takes to win and people who want to win don’t want to work for an owner like that.
What’s especially shameful about it is that it wasn’t always this way. Earlier on in his tenure Henry was legitimately one of the best owners in baseball. Now he just wants to rest on his laurels and be a business guy, and as a fan I am just never going to be okay with that. Run the Red Sox the way they are meant to be run and the money will be there. The route he’s chosen instead just makes me sick.
DW: I was angry when they did not outbid the Yankees for Teixeira in 2008 and thought they were cheap. So, I have been there, but I don’t think I can know from afar what is really going on. I don’t get the feeling they are out to be cheap these days. I think they tried a different approach with Bloom. Maybe they prefer to build a team more through the farm system than free agency. Maybe Henry has set the budget limit too low, but then you see lower budget teams outperform higher budget teams. So, I am a bit confused over which team has the best philosophy for configuring a team and spending. Is it the Dodgers or are they in a league of their own? Is it the Yankees but the haven’t won a World Series since 2009? The Red Sox seem to be toying with their philosophy since the brought in Bloom in 2020. I liked the idea of giving a guy from Tampa Bay and much bigger budget. So, I’m not convinced their overarching philosophy is to be cheap.
I think if you look at it in the context of everything Henry’s been doing the objective becomes a littler clearer. In the 2000’s, he ran it like a baseball fan. They saved Fenway Park, and then gave it a facelift to put the “New Fenway” proposals to bed for a long time. They chased star players – didn’t always win the bidding wars, but did earnestly go all out for the guys they were trying to get. And they got enough of them that you never had to wonder if they were really serious about the ones they didn’t. You could tell they were pissed when they lost a guy they were after, after all it was this ownership group that coined the Yanks’ Evil Empire moniker. Nowadays if they miss on a big name target you get the sense they’re just relieved they don’t have to cut the check.
Then they bought Liverpool and did the FSG rebrand. 2010 was the year of the infamous “bridge year” sentiment, the first time Henry gave signs they were thinking about reining it in financially. It’s been all about the business conglomerate since then, which eventually tacked on the Penguins and other adjacent ventures. The priority has clearly shifted from trying to compete for championships every October to trying to net as much cash as they can for the partners. They’ve been more worried about attracting follow-on investors than in attracting the best and brightest when it comes to baseball players and executives.
In terms of philosophy, I think we seem to generally agree that the smartest approach seems to be trying to be smart at the core by developing most of your core players internally, and using your financial might to retain every prospect you hit on while augmenting in the spots you miss on. But it’s tough to convince me they were even trying to do that when the list of home grown star players they have dumped over the last 10 or so years is as nauseating as it is. You could also argue they already were doing that since so much of the 2007 and 2018 teams in particular were dominated by products of our own farm system.
DW: It’s a pretty tough call for me. Are they spending enough? Should John Henry be allowed to run the Red Sox like a business? I can see arguments on both sides of each issue.
All- The Mets are clearly an example that overspending doesn’t guarantee that you are going to win. You need to put together the right combination of players. The Cubs and Phillies have done better and the Dodgers have shown that if you are not worried about the budget and you get the right players you can “buy” your way to the World Series.
I would not call the Red Sox cheap, but considering their history and their market I do think they could have been more aggressive for some players. It has been a while since they have gone all in on a player who is a game changer like Judge or Ohtani.
If they really want to win another World Series, they are going to need to outspend some of those other bigger spenders to get foundational players that can carry the team. I think they have done well building the farm system back up and drafting some players who have the potential to be stars. I don’t think their free agent signings or trades, aside for Crochet, have been as effective as they could have been. Hopefully Crochet will get back to dominance and give them that ace they need over the long term.
He owns it so yes he is free to run it as he sees fit, but that doesn’t obligate any of us to have to be on board with it.
I get it, I’m a believer in capitalism too so I know he needs to make money too. I’m not asking or expecting him to run it like a state enterprise or a non-profit or anything. I just strongly believe they are running too lean and it’s obviously been a negative experience for the fans. If they spend enough to reignite rabid interest from the fans I think it would ultimately make him more money in the long run.
There’s the infamous graphic that’s been going around showing how much teams spend on payroll as a percentage of their revenue, with 2024 and ’25 data. The Red Sox sat in 22nd at 42% – as far as I’m concerned there is never an excuse for this team to sit in the bottom 10 of that metric. They should never be outside the top 10 in a year where they claim a deep playoff run is the goal. In a planned gap year, fine, I understand those need to happen sometimes.
If you raise them just to 48%, which would be enough to put them at 14th, that would equate to a $275 million payroll. According to Spotrac’s payroll table they have $193 million invested in the active roster this year. Bump it up to 52% to put them at 9th in the league, and the payroll should be around $298 million – over $100 million more than current spending.
For that kind of gap in spending, they could plug every hole on this roster several times over if they actually spent in line with their peers.
Cora, unfortunately, isn’t going anywhere except eventually into the GM chair which will be a catastrophe.
Carmen
as if my baseball outlook wasnt gloomy enough, this is simply frightening
Big swing and miss stuff. Was absolutely dealing this spring.
I’m a bit suspicious when they are adding him to the 40 when Bennett is nominally available and already on the 40. I’m a bit worried someone has something going on that’s not reported yet. Either with Bennett or a starter he might have to replace.
Any chance he’s Bombo’s grandson?? Mariano’s cousin?? Or Geraldo’s his uncle?? Oh and for good measure… I still think Yankees suck!!! My team just happens to suck more so far….
Olm – You’re forgetting The Greatest Prospect of All Time, Ruben Rivera!!!
He left the Yankees after getting caught stealing a teammate’s bat and glove, then selling them for $2,500 to a dealer.
The teammate’s name? Derek Jeter!!
How crazy is that?
I was once told by a player’s dad that former ABA player LaVern Tart was known to carry a gun to games. I think that’s why the Nets traded him away even though he was a high scorer. Then later they got that Julius fellow.
hayzee – I heard of that Orange Julius guy, wasn’t he a seedy character? Didn’t one of his teammates squeeze him for money?
Hayzee… back in the day I received my sporting news… on the cover was MJ ( in scrubs) saying he’s gonna be the next Dr J, I laughed with a friend and said ‘ Yeah good luck with that!!’.. just another instance of my great sports instincts…
olm – MJ was in Scrubs? That’s my favorite sit-com, I’ve seen every episode …. don’t recall that one though.
BTW – Dr. J went to UMass Amherst, close to my home turf.
FPG… great tidbit.. many years ago on a Jay Buckleys baseball trip we saw a game I believe AAA, the Clippers, a father and son from NY were hyping this kid up something fierce, I said he’d be lucky to be better than Jackie Gutierrez , yeah you guessed who it was … Side note the Monkees ( minus Mike ) played in centerfield after the game!! See above..in Hayzee comments, I would have been the worst scout in the history of sports!!!
olm – The title of Worst Scout in the History of Sports is already taken by Eddie Romero, who insisted on signing a guy named Rusney Castillo.
But Eddie still has a job, thanks to Red Sox great Ed Romero.
In fact Eddie was promoted to Assistant GM!
10 more days!!!
Points for the Bombo Rivera reference.
Red Sox are lucky they did not lock up Casas with a big contract. Now stuck with Bello and Campbell.
Bello needs to be moved to bullpen… how long have we waited for him to evolve and mature as a starter. Seems to be the same every year with him. Never mind… This team is a hot mess.
who – Look at Bello’s numbers last year …. he was awesome.
Fever – Bello’s head doesn’t always seem to be in the game. I was hoping Kutter would be back, but guess not.
Carmen – Agree that was a big issue with Bello prior to last year, but he was much better last year.
I’m hoping his struggles this season were due to the mismanagement during ST. Obviously he’s not the only Sox SP that struggled his first couple games.
Kutter seems to be emulating 2019-2023 Chris Sale, unfortunately.
I still hold it against Breslow that he acquired Quinn Priester, kept him in Worcester, and traded him away when they needed starting pitching. Meanwhile, Kutter and Tanner Houck are still on this roster.
The Red Sox had a lot of pitching depth when they traded Priester.
“The Sox had to start 2025 with Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and Kutter Crawford on the injured list, but that wasn’t enough to get Priester to the big leagues. They started the season with Crochet, Buehler, Tanner Houck, Richard Fitts and Sean Newcomb in the rotation. Cooper Criswell and Hunter Dobbins are also on the 40-man roster and capable of working in long relief roles or in the Triple-A rotation.”
“Both Bello and Giolito are on rehab assignments and should be with the big league club in the next week or two. They should slot in next two Crochet, Buehler and Houck. Dobbins is already back in Triple-A after serving as the 27th man in yesterday’s double-header. If the Sox want to keep Newcomb, they could move him to the bullpen while optioning Fitts and Criswell. As mentioned, Sandoval could be in the mix later in the year.”
“That’s a fairly healthy amount of rotation depth even without Priester in it, which seemingly allowed the Sox to feel comfortable moving on, even with the risk that further injuries throughout the season could cut into that depth.”
mlbtraderumors.com/2025/04/brewers-to-acquire-quin…
Most people, including myself, weren’t surprised by the Priester trade due to the collection of mediocrity we collected for the garbage rotation.
A lot of us were surprised that at the end of that season when Priester got his sole outing, there wasn’t a single respectable option preventing the Red Sox taking a good hard look at 3 or more outings from Priester and any of the others supposed younger depth options. Instead, we got about 30+ outings from the discard pile of MLB. His only outing was good. Thanks for playing, move it along. It isn’t that he was traded, or the quality of that return. It was not making the effort to see what you had in those guys when there was a prolonged and clear opportunity to do so.
William – Which goes back to the Red Sox decision to shift heavily toward data-driven player evaluation, reducing reliance on traditional in-person evaluation.
Either way, Bailey and the Red Sox were unable to fix Priester …. just like Harrison, Pivetta, Newcomb, and so many others.
Worse than that we seem to be stuck with Cora.
Rivera has been lights out for Portland. He earned the call up. Now let’s see if he sticks.
Casas may be done as a Red Sox.
Great job ER‼️💯⚾️FIRE🔥🧯‼️ NOW…FIRE CORA AND THE HITTING COACH IT’S TIME‼️
FIRE CORA AND THE HITTING COACH IT’S TIME‼️
FIRE CORA AND THE HITTING COACH IT’S TIME‼️
FIRE CORA AND THE HITTING COACH IT’S TIME‼️
FIRE CORA AND THE HITTING COACH IT’S TIME‼️