Fire Bloom .

[Bellhorn04]

In conclusion , the owner needs to do what it takes to put a good team on the field. In the past, Henry has done that. Other owners have as well. Now, Henry seems to have reversed course. But , no matter what , the owner cannot will the team to win a short series or a single game. Ultimately, that comes down to the Dave Roberts, the David Ortiz', the Calvin Schiraldis , the Bucky Dents, the Bob Gibsons, the Bill Buckners, the Aaron Boones, etc. , etc. In the end, somebody has to make the big play or just be a little lucky. The owner cannot control all of that.

 

Sure, all the owner can do is give his team a better chance. Same with the manager. Same with the players, in fact.

[Bellhorn04]

It is just that the players are not that good. The Sox are weak behind the dish and throughout the IF unless you consider Raffy as a decent defensive 3B. Yoshida is terrible in LF with the glove. CF and RF are fine. Te rotation is held together by Duct tape and the BP is basically fine. That all adds up to a 40-41 record at the mid point.

 

And it's the duct tape rotation that was really easy to predict, and that Bloom is most accountable for. He let Eovaldi, Wacha and Hill go-not that any of them were spectacular, or durable, last year, but for all that they were our best starters. And he replaced those 3 with Kluber, plus Sale and Paxton, AKA a wing and a prayer.

[Dipre]

Eovaldi left of his own volition, but he could've re-signed mediocrity made pitcher and the lefty hammer for sure.

[dgalehouse]

It's my understanding that the objective with this team was to spend less money while remaining sustainably competitive. They have achieved the first part. They have saved money.

[Dipre]

It's my understanding that the objective with this team was to spend less money while remaining sustainably competitive. They have achieved the first part. They have saved money.

 

That is not the objective, as described by Bloom Himself. The objective is building a sustainable winner without inefficiently spending money. Henry's one of the owner that's been burned the most with expensive, sunk-cost contracts and having to spend over market value because of a lack of system depth. You'd think then, that a billionaire would look for a way to make his club as efficient and effective as possible. The strategy of only throwing money at the wall is no longer yielding results. Teams like Houston and the Dodgers spend big on key free agents, but supplement with a solid farm system.

[dgalehouse]

That is not the objective, as described by Bloom Himself. The objective is building a sustainable winner without inefficiently spending money. Henry's one of the owner that's been burned the most with expensive, sunk-cost contracts and having to spend over market value because of a lack of system depth. You'd think then, that a billionaire would look for a way to make his club as efficient and effective as possible. The strategy of only throwing money at the wall is no longer yielding results. Teams like Houston and the Dodgers spend big on key free agents, but supplement with a solid farm system.

 

First you tell me that John Henry won four championships in fourteen years. Then you say that is not sustainable. Have to do things differently. Well, it's not working.

[Dipre]

First you tell me that John Henry won four championships in fourteen years. Then you say that is not sustainable. Have to do things differently. Well, it's not working.

 

Of course, because the game has evolved, and they have to evolve along with it. You have penalties for over-spending on the payroll, finite money to spend on drafts, finite money to spend on international players. It only makes sense that they'd try to emulate what the teams who are sustainably winning are doing, just as they did when they started emulating moneyball and built a take-and-rake juggernaut with Epstein.

[notin]

And it's the duct tape rotation that was really easy to predict, and that Bloom is most accountable for. He let Eovaldi, Wacha and Hill go-not that any of them were spectacular, or durable, last year, but for all that they were our best starters. And he replaced those 3 with Kluber, plus Sale and Paxton, AKA a wing and a prayer.

 

But with all that, they’re still 40-41? At 40-40, they were 3 games off the pace of the 2019 team (43-37 after 80 games). A team that had a rotation of Sale, Price, Eovaldi, ERod and Porcello. And still had Betts, Bogaerts, Devers, Benintendi, JD Martinez, etc…

[dgalehouse]

But with all that, they’re still 40-41? At 40-40, they were 3 games off the pace of the 2019 team (43-37 after 80 games). A team that had a rotation of Sale, Price, Eovaldi, ERod and Porcello. And still had Betts, Bogaerts, Devers, Benintendi, JD Martinez, etc…

 

The biggest problem with the 2019 team was the bullpen. They blew so many leads. I say that now and I most definitely said it back then. It was a good team with a bad bullpen.

[dgalehouse]

Of course, because the game has evolved, and they have to evolve along with it. You have penalties for over-spending on the payroll, finite money to spend on drafts, finite money to spend on international players. It only makes sense that they'd try to emulate what the teams who are sustainably winning are doing, just as they did when they started emulating moneyball and built a take-and-rake juggernaut with Epstein.

 

Dipre, you weren't around last year, but as the Sox season deteriorated, the battle cry was " 2023 is the make-or-break year. " Not hearing that now. The question is, how much patience should we have? " Wait till next year" can become a bad habit. This is year four of Bloom's tenure.

[notin]

Dipre, you weren't around last year, but as the Sox season deteriorated, the battle cry was " 2023 is the make-or-break year. " Not hearing that now. The question is, how much patience should we have? " Wait till next year" can become a bad habit. This is year four of Bloom's tenure.

 

Opinion is divided. Plenty still say this is Bloom’s “make or break” year. The contrary opinion is “we really don’t know what the plan is.” If Henry is on board with this and likes the way the bigger picture is shaping up, it might not be a make or break year…

[moonslav59]

Opinion is divided. Plenty still say this is Bloom’s “make or break” year. The contrary opinion is “we really don’t know what the plan is.” If Henry is on board with this and likes the way the bigger picture is shaping up, it might not be a make or break year…

 

I really thought this would be Bloom's "legacy" or "make or break season," because I felt he'd have enough to spend and to put his stamp on the team. Only Sale is dragging the budget down as a non Bloom guy.

 

I'm not sure JH is viewing this as make or break, especially if the idea is to go over the line, next year.

 

If JH brought Bloom on board to build up the farm and foundation, then he must be fine with waiting longer for the results. (He did pull the plug on Ben's rebuild plan, so I still have some doubts.)

 

I admire what Bloom did building up the pen.

It looks like he's done a good job building up the farm, foundation, while bettering the long term budget outlook.

I had hoped the rotation would be better, and the amount of resources spent on it went down from 2022.

The win-loss records seem to be the big sticking point with many fans, and it's not rocket science to know why.

I hate watching us lose over and over, too, and my opinion will change, if we suck, again, this year, but I'm not so sure JH will can him, if we suck by game 162.

 

[Dipre]

Dipre, you weren't around last year, but as the Sox season deteriorated, the battle cry was " 2023 is the make-or-break year. " Not hearing that now. The question is, how much patience should we have? " Wait till next year" can become a bad habit. This is year four of Bloom's tenure.

 

No, I was around. I just couldn't log in. I couldn't say it, but I didn't agree with the sentiment. I fully expected this team to be meh or bad, as they improved the farm and waited for players they truly believed they could pony up for.

[MADSTORK]

Romero is playing this year. You're just not paying attention.

 

International signings are a "risk"? This makes zero sense. The only risk is the money spent which is virtually nothing.

 

More pink hat dribble!

Romero hasn’t taken an AB

 

Laughable

[notin]

More pink hat dribble!

Romero hasn’t taken an AB

 

Laughable

 

He’s 3 for 9. You never get anything right. And clearly don’t grasp what a pink hat is…

[Dipre]

He’s 3 for 9. You never get anything right. And clearly don’t grasp what a pink hat is…

 

DFtT

[Randy Red Sox]

that is EXACTLY the mandate Bloom was given and he has achieved that marvelousy. team is around .500 and payroll has been substantially reduced. Bloom has done his job !!!

It's my understanding that the objective with this team was to spend less money while remaining sustainably competitive. They have achieved the first part. They have saved money.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Randy Red Sox

[moonslav59]

that is EXACTLY the mandate Bloom was given and he has achieved that marvelousy. team is around .500 and payroll has been substantially reduced. Bloom has done his job !!!

 

I think he was given 4 major objectives:

 

(In order of importance over first 4 years)

1. Build farm to a sustainable and respectable system.

2. Get the budget under control (lessen dead weight/long term deals)

3. Build a foundation of supporting cast players.

4. Try to give the impression we can or might compete every season (starting after 2020.)

 

Going forward, the order may shift to 3, 4 and 1-2 tied for 3rd with #4 becoming actual competition and not just the perception of doing so.

[Bellhorn04]

I think he was given 4 major objectives:

 

(In order of importance over first 4 years)

1. Build farm to a sustainable and respectable system.

2. Get the budget under control (lessen dead weight/long term deals)

3. Build a foundation of supporting cast players.

4. Try to give the impression we can or might compete every season (starting after 2020.)

 

Going forward, the order may shift to 3, 4 and 1-2 tied for 3rd with #4 becoming actual competition and not just the perception of doing so.

 

"Try to give the impression" - I like that one.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

"Try to give the impression" - I like that one.

 

Who are they CBing? That's a lot of SK. In fact, the whole team is full of JH.

[moonslav59]

"Try to give the impression" - I like that one.

 

Isn't that what it has been?

 

It worked in 1 of 3 years.

[sk7326]

"Try to give the impression" - I like that one.

 

THAT is the immensely depressing part of the missive.

[notin]

THAT is the immensely depressing part of the missive.

 

Bear in mind it’s our words , not Henry’s. Not Bloom’s…

[moonslav59]

Most of us knew it was not going to be easy getting back on track after 2019-2020.

 

We lost a ton of talent and many others declined and or were hurt from 2020-2022.

 

We watched as our farm produced just Houck from the Devers call up in 2017 to the maturing of Bello in 2023. This aspect alone should knock up aside the heads of all the fans scratching their heads and wondering "Why?"

 

We saw a truly massive budget cut before 2020, that still had deadweight like Sale, Pedey and half-Price as our highest paid players. It took 2-3 years to return to any semblance of prior budgets, and we were still ranked as low on spending as any JH years on record.

 

New MLB rules make it much more difficult for high spending teams to throw money at the draft and IFA market. It just can't be done, anymore.

 

To me, where most of us stand, now, is based on what we expected 1, 2 and 3-4 years ago, and our understanding of just what we were facing.

 

There was a sizable crowd, back then, that basically said, "We'll rebuild the farm and will fill the holes with free agents, as needed and won't miss a beat." They blamed 2019 on "Restgate" and felt it was not a sign of decline, since we had so many of the same players as 2018.

 

[moonslav59]

Bear in mind it’s our words , not Henry’s. Not Bloom’s…

 

Part of the "giving the impression" is to say glowing things to the fans and to throw a bone, like the Story signing, every now and again.

[moonslav59]

As we have seen, the glow can wear off very quickly.

 

(To many, there has not been a glow since the start of 2019.)

[Bellhorn04]

Bear in mind it’s our words , not Henry’s. Not Bloom’s…

 

True. Henry says next to nothing. Bloom spins fairy tales about "our top priority this offseason", "gonna be way better next year", "leadership, innings and upside", ad nauseum.

[Bellhorn04]

Part of the "giving the impression" is to say glowing things to the fans and to throw a bone, like the Story signing, every now and again.

 

How stupid of them.

[moonslav59]

How stupid of them.

 

They are still making money hand over fist, while watching the value of their asset grow exponentially.

 

Who are the "stupid" ones?

[Bellhorn04]

They are still making money hand over fist, while watching the value of their asset grow exponentially.

 

Who are the "stupid" ones?

 

There are different kinds of stupid. I for one actually think Henry cares about the team's performance. He could sell the team and cash in any time. You think he digs getting the crap booed out of him when he goes to events?

 

Also, I'm including Bloom in this. And he's a salaried employee on a short-term contract.