2021 MLB Season Thread

[a700hitter]

Theo was given a very nice foundation to work with and better than what Bloom got.

A platform of Betts, JD, Devers, Bogaerts, Sale, JBJ, Vasquez and Price. That is a pretty good framework.

[Kimmi]

Theo was given a very nice foundation to work with and better than what Bloom got.

 

Yes, he was. And what he left for Ben was better than what Bloom got.

 

Again, I was talking about his time with the Cubs.

[a700hitter]

OK, I thought we were talking about what he did with the Cubs.

 

Theo did not build the 2004 Sox from scratch. Duquette deserves some of the credit for 2004. Also, was Theo the one who traded Hanley?

you don’t think he had any inside the Gorrilla suit?

[Kimmi]

A platform of Betts, JD, Devers, Bogaerts, Sale, JBJ, Vasquez and Price. That is a pretty good framework.

 

How many of those players are Dombrowski's acquisitions?

[moonslav59]

Where did our farm system rank when Dombrowski left?

 

30th Bleacher Report (same after the 2019 draft and at the end of the season)

 

27th Prospect Digest

It’s essentially the Michael Chavis show. The young third baseman is the lone Top 100 prospect in the system. And, really, there’s not a whole lot developing down on Boston’s farm. Darwinzon Hernandez can miss bats with the best of them, but his inability to throw back-to-back strikes is more than concerning. Fellow left-hander Jay Groome looked poised for a big 2018, but he missed the year recovering from Tommy John. Mike Shawaryn and Alex Scherff fall into the backend starting category. And Triston Casas, the club’s first round pick last June, owns impressive power but he’s (A) likely to slider over to third base and ( owns a questionable hit tool.

 

MLB.com: 25th at the start of 2020

[Kimmi]

30th Bleacher Report (same after the 2019 draft and at the end of the season)

 

27th Prospect Digest

It’s essentially the Michael Chavis show. The young third baseman is the lone Top 100 prospect in the system. And, really, there’s not a whole lot developing down on Boston’s farm. Darwinzon Hernandez can miss bats with the best of them, but his inability to throw back-to-back strikes is more than concerning. Fellow left-hander Jay Groome looked poised for a big 2018, but he missed the year recovering from Tommy John. Mike Shawaryn and Alex Scherff fall into the backend starting category. And Triston Casas, the club’s first round pick last June, owns impressive power but he’s (A) likely to slider over to third base and ( owns a questionable hit tool.

 

MLB.com: 25th at the start of 2020

 

Thank you. Enough said.

[a700hitter]

How many of those players are Dombrowski's acquisitions?

The point is that Bloom didn’t inherit a bare cupboard.

[moonslav59]

The point is that Bloom didn’t inherit a bare cupboard.

 

A pretty but not completely bare farm system.

[moonslav59]

Thank you. Enough said.

 

Just reading the words, "Michael Chavis show" says it all.

[a700hitter]

OK, I thought we were talking about what he did with the Cubs.

 

Theo did not build the 2004 Sox from scratch. Duquette deserves some of the credit for 2004. Also, was Theo the one who traded Hanley?

And if Theo didn’t trade Hanley, we really can’t give him full credit for 2007, because Beckett and Lowell played a much bigger role on that team than Theo’s acquisitions of Drew, Lugo and Dice K.

[dgalehouse]

Here is the thing. We won the A.L. East an unprecedented three straight years . When has that ever happened ? But Dombrowski was a bum because some kid started a website and gave his " official rankings " of the MLB farm systems. Maybe this kid thought Anderson Espinosa really was the next Pedro and Logan Allen was the next John Lester , etc. Dombrowski thought otherwise . Who was right? Did " Bleacher Boy " know more about our farm system than Dombrowski and his staff ? And Bloom inherited our five 2021 All Stars , the core of this club. He inherited Chris Sale . He inherited an outfield that was considered one of the finest in the game , and a player who was considered second only to Trout. He inherited prospects like Duran , Houck , Casas , Dalbec and more. The cupboard was not bare . Far from it. That is the reality .

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

. Even with the pieces that Dombrowski added, they wouldn't have been possible if not for the work of Theo and Ben.

 

Aren't all championship teams that turnover GMs every five years or so the products of many regimes? Jalen Beeks and Santiago Espinal may have been drafted or signed by earlier guys, but it was Dombro who had the initiative to flip them for the MLB's best postseason pitcher and the 2018 World Series MVP. I've never seen one Sox fan regret the loss of Beeks or Espinal.

 

I hope Schwarber turns out to be Bloom's gem acquisition, but nobody hits on all their choices. Crawford, Panda, Cashner and Robles say bye.

[moonslav59]

Here is the thing. We won the A.L. East an unprecedented three straight years . When has that ever happened ? But Dombrowski was a bum because some kid started a website and gave his " official rankings " of the MLB farm systems. Maybe this kid thought Anderson Espinosa really was the next Pedro and Logan Allen was the next John Lester , etc. Dombrowski thought otherwise . Who was right? Did " Bleacher Boy " know more about our farm system than Dombrowski and his staff ? And Bloom inherited our five 2021 All Stars , the core of this club. He inherited Chris Sale . He inherited an outfield that was considered one of the finest in the game , and a player who was considered second only to Trout. He inherited prospects like Duran , Houck , Casas , Dalbec and more. The cupboard was not bare . Far from it. That is the reality .

 

Strawman. Nobody is calling DD a bum. Not even close.

 

Most of us realize a lot of good things happened thanks to him, and that some of those good things had some bad consequences. Some feel those consequences greatly cut into his overall grade, some think not by much, and some seem to think it had no effect on where we were in 2020 and now.

 

The few posters who seem to think his legacy might have been an overall negative are not discounting everything he did or calling him a bum.

[moonslav59]

Here is the thing. We won the A.L. East an unprecedented three straight years . When has that ever happened ? But Dombrowski was a bum because some kid started a website and gave his " official rankings " of the MLB farm systems. Maybe this kid thought Anderson Espinosa really was the next Pedro and Logan Allen was the next John Lester , etc. Dombrowski thought otherwise . Who was right? Did " Bleacher Boy " know more about our farm system than Dombrowski and his staff ? And Bloom inherited our five 2021 All Stars , the core of this club. He inherited Chris Sale . He inherited an outfield that was considered one of the finest in the game , and a player who was considered second only to Trout. He inherited prospects like Duran , Houck , Casas , Dalbec and more. The cupboard was not bare . Far from it. That is the reality .

 

It's funny how you claim all the guys DD traded away amounted to nothing all that good, but are also claiming DD's prospects left behind, who have done nothing, except Houck's 8 starts in MLB are far from "bare."

 

DD did leave Bloom a nice core of ML players, but they were also the ones who imploded in 2019, and some were past or nearing past prime years.

 

The Price contract was a burden, and if you use hindsight judgement to grade out the prospects DD traded away, let's judge Price's productivity after DD left, JD's 2020 season, and JBJ's complete meltdown, a year after DD left.

 

Also, nobody is claiming the guys DD traded away ended up doing great, so why keep bringing it up?

 

Most of his trades look good to great, in hindsight, but that does not mean he couldn't have done better or that the farm he left was worse than the one he inherited.

 

The one he left Bloom is clearly not a good one. It's not "empty," but are you saying the ranking of 25 to 30 is incorrect?

 

Was the rankings back when Ben and DD inherited their farms wrong, too?

 

Were they way off?

[moonslav59]

Okay, we're still 5 back of the impressive Rays, but we are tied for 4th in AL wins and just 1 game back on the A's. We remain 2.5 up on the Yanks, and although the one up in the loss column seems frightening, what about the Yanks, makes anyone think they will win all 3 games they have to play more than us?

 

Toronto is playing the M's, so one is going to lose, today and tomorrow. The Yanks had a rare Friday off and here is today's slate of games:

 

BAL (Jorge Lopez) @ BOS (Chris Sale)

 

TBR (TBD) @ MN (Maeda)

 

NYY (Taillon) @ CWS (Cease)

 

HOU (Garcia) @ LAA (Barria)

 

TOR (Ryu) @ SEA (Kikuchi)

 

[a700hitter]

Here is the thing. We won the A.L. East an unprecedented three straight years . When has that ever happened ? But Dombrowski was a bum because some kid started a website and gave his " official rankings " of the MLB farm systems. Maybe this kid thought Anderson Espinosa really was the next Pedro and Logan Allen was the next John Lester , etc. Dombrowski thought otherwise . Who was right? Did " Bleacher Boy " know more about our farm system than Dombrowski and his staff ? And Bloom inherited our five 2021 All Stars , the core of this club. He inherited Chris Sale . He inherited an outfield that was considered one of the finest in the game , and a player who was considered second only to Trout. He inherited prospects like Duran , Houck , Casas , Dalbec and more. The cupboard was not bare . Far from it. That is the reality .

We have a faction of members who are Bloom Boys. Almost to a person, they were also Benny Boys. They have a very hard time dealing with criticism of those GMs. But they had no problem criticizing DD while he was building a three peat in the division and a wire to wire dominant World Champion. They have a different perspective from me.

[a700hitter]

Our last 3 GM’s had some things in common. Each won at least one division title (3 for Dave) and each won at least one World Championship (2 for Theo). Bloom has a long way to go to compare with any of them.

[dgalehouse]

Strawman. Nobody is calling DD a bum. Not even close.

 

Most of us realize a lot of good things happened thanks to him, and that some of those good things had some bad consequences. Some feel those consequences greatly cut into his overall grade, some think not by much, and some seem to think it had no effect on where we were in 2020 and now.

 

The few posters who seem to think his legacy might have been an overall negative are not discounting everything he did or calling him a bum.

 

Nobody is calling him a bum in so many words. But a few are always taking shots at him . To me , he was very successful . And I do hope Bloom can be successful as well.

[moonslav59]

Our last 3 GM’s had some things in common. Each won at least one division title (3 for Dave) and each won at least one World Championship (2 for Theo). Bloom has a long way to go to compare with any of them.

 

Sure he does. No doubt.

 

Given the reset demands of 2020 and the budget constraints on his second year, having a ring already would have been a miracle.

 

Although some view 2013 as a "miracle," I don't think Bloom should be judged, at this point in time, by the number of rings he has.

 

He seems to be doing a better-than-expected job at rapidly rebuilding the farm.

 

The 2021 40 man roster looks deeper than fall 2019 or Spring 2020.

 

The results of the 2021 Red Sox team and their farm teams have been incredibly unexpected and positive. Yes, he has some big goals to achieve to gain the accolades the previous 3 Sox GMs have earned, but he seems to be heading in the right direction.

 

I, for one, did not expect such a quick turn around under the increasingly difficult framework MLB has imposed on winning and high-spending teams.

 

Some posters expected up to 90 losses, this year, and winning 90 may not be equal to winning a ring with a nice foundation left by the previous GM or two, ut it is quite an achievement and a great sign of things to come.

 

Bloom has had just 2 drafts and 2 off seasons to rebuild the farm and 40 man roster with a very limited budget. He has added the following pieces to the farm in just 2 years:

 

Draft: Mayer, Yorke, McDonough, Jordan, Hickey, Drohan, Wu-Yelland & others.

 

IFA: H Sawamura, Miguel Blies, Winkelman Gonzalez, Enderso Lira (no sugar coating the lack of advances here)

 

Trades: Downs, Seabold, Wong, Winckowski, Ro Hernandez, J Rosario, H Potts

 

He's certainly swung and missed on a bunch of low profile FA signings as well as some moderate signings, but what can be expected when you are given a limited budget and 10-15 forty man roster slots to fill.

 

Bloom's biggest FA signing, so far, ranks 31 in total money spent since 1991.

 

31. Enrigue Hernandez $14M/2

40. Garrett Richards $10M/1

55. Martin Perez $6M/1 (2020)

64. Martin Perez $5M/1 (2021)

79. Hunter Renfroe $3.1M (still has 2 arbs)

80. Mitch Moreland $3M/1 (2020)

80. Marwin Gonzalez $3M/1 (2021)

$2.1M Andriese (+ option for 2022)

$1.75M D Santana (pro-rated for partial time in minors)

$900K Plawecki (2020) arb raise to $1.6M in 2021

 

 

Other notable players acquired by trade:

Pivetta (Wormna & Hembree)

Verdugo (Betts)

Ottavino & F German & cash (nothing)

Schwarber (A Ramirez)

Y Rios (Cash)

 

Waivers:

Arroyo

 

Rule 5: Whitlock, Arauz, K Ort, T Reed

 

 

[moonslav59]

Nobody is calling him a bum in so many words. But a few are always taking shots at him . To me , he was very successful . And I do hope Bloom can be successful as well.

 

Taking shots at one particular aspect of his time with the Sox is far from calling him a "bum."

 

Many of us love what he did for us while realizing it led to some pain and rebuilding afterwards.

 

It does not have to be all black and white.

 

Overall, I think DD was a clear plus, yet I'm often accused of being one of his biggest bashers, because I refuse to sugarcoat the affects he had on the team, now.

[dgalehouse]

This is a fact of baseball life. The better teams are the teams with the higher payrolls. The lousy teams are the teams with the low payrolls. Obviously , there are and always will be a couple of exceptions to this. But it is generally true. And the owners are all extremely wealthy people. And some of them are more willing to spend money on the team than others.

[Kimmi]

Here is the thing. We won the A.L. East an unprecedented three straight years . When has that ever happened ? But Dombrowski was a bum because some kid started a website and gave his " official rankings " of the MLB farm systems. Maybe this kid thought Anderson Espinosa really was the next Pedro and Logan Allen was the next John Lester , etc. Dombrowski thought otherwise . Who was right? Did " Bleacher Boy " know more about our farm system than Dombrowski and his staff ? And Bloom inherited our five 2021 All Stars , the core of this club. He inherited Chris Sale . He inherited an outfield that was considered one of the finest in the game , and a player who was considered second only to Trout. He inherited prospects like Duran , Houck , Casas , Dalbec and more. The cupboard was not bare . Far from it. That is the reality .

 

It's not about whether any of those individual prospects pan out or not. It's about the state of the team going forward. We felt the effects big time in 2020 and we are still feeling the effects now. When Bloom can't sign a free agent that we want or trade for a pitcher that we want, you can thank Dombrowski for that.

 

Unless you want to be George Steinbrenner's Yankees, which Red Sox fans passionately hated and even Hal doesn't want to be, it's about the farm system. It's always about the farm system.

[Kimmi]

Aren't all championship teams that turnover GMs every five years or so the products of many regimes? Jalen Beeks and Santiago Espinal may have been drafted or signed by earlier guys, but it was Dombro who had the initiative to flip them for the MLB's best postseason pitcher and the 2018 World Series MVP. I've never seen one Sox fan regret the loss of Beeks or Espinal.

 

I hope Schwarber turns out to be Bloom's gem acquisition, but nobody hits on all their choices. Crawford, Panda, Cashner and Robles say bye.

 

Of course every GM inherits the previous GM's prizes and mistakes. I take issue with those who give Dombrowski all the credit of being the genius who saved this team. Far from it.

[Kimmi]

This is a fact of baseball life. The better teams are the teams with the higher payrolls. The lousy teams are the teams with the low payrolls. Obviously , there are and always will be a couple of exceptions to this. But it is generally true. And the owners are all extremely wealthy people. And some of them are more willing to spend money on the team than others.

 

Are you saying that Henry is not willing to spend more than others?

[Bellhorn04]

It's not about whether any of those individual prospects pan out or not. It's about the state of the team going forward. We felt the effects big time in 2020 and we are still feeling the effects now. When Bloom can't sign a free agent that we want or trade for a pitcher that we want, you can thank Dombrowski for that.

 

Unless you want to be George Steinbrenner's Yankees, which Red Sox fans passionately hated and even Hal doesn't want to be, it's about the farm system. It's always about the farm system.

 

Bloom inherited a very tricky state of affairs for sure. And I think he's done a very good job.

 

At the same time, the 2021 Red Sox are a good team, and Bloom made some bad acquisitions (Richards, Marwin etc.).

 

So obviously what he took over was far from unworkable. He didn't have to perform miracles, just had to be smart. Which he is.

[Kimmi]

Bloom inherited a very tricky state of affairs for sure. And I think he's done a very good job.

 

At the same time, the 2021 Red Sox are a good team, and Bloom made some bad acquisitions (Richards, Marwin etc.).

 

So obviously what he took over was far from unworkable. He didn't have to perform miracles, just had to be smart. Which he is.

 

I do not disagree with this.

[moonslav59]

Bloom inherited a very tricky state of affairs for sure. And I think he's done a very good job.

 

At the same time, the 2021 Red Sox are a good team, and Bloom made some bad acquisitions (Richards, Marwin etc.).

 

So obviously what he took over was far from unworkable. He didn't have to perform miracles, just had to be smart. Which he is.

 

One might call Whitlock a miracle work. Other than him, only Kike and sticking with Dalbec and Pivetta seem to be outstanding decisions. The rest seem just plain good, except for Marwin, Santana and to some extent Richards.

[Bellhorn04]

One might call Whitlock a miracle work. Other than him, only Kike and sticking with Dalbec and Pivetta seem to be outstanding decisions. The rest seem just plain good, except for Marwin, Santana and to some extent Richards.

 

And with Whitlock, it was reported that a former Sox scout named Bob Hamelin was the one who did all the legwork and advocacy for taking him if at all possible.

[moonslav59]

And with Whitlock, it was reported that a former Sox scout named Bob Hamelin was the one who did all the legwork and advocacy for taking him if at all possible.

 

A million thanks to Bob!

[Bellhorn04]

A million thanks to Bob!

 

And for his efforts he got a pink slip!