Craig Breslow hired as Head Of Baseball Operations

[mvp 78]

So why not fire him after 2022?

 

They wanted to see if he could pull '23 off. He may have kept his job if he had re-signed Wacha and went for another cheapo like Miley, instead of Kluber.

[Bellhorn04]

They wanted to see if he could pull '23 off. He may have kept his job if he had re-signed Wacha and went for another cheapo like Miley, instead of Kluber.

 

Sad.

[mvp 78]

Sad.

 

Also, there is a much longer answer about ownership giving Bloom leeway for not entirely handling the '22 deadline well. Bloom then has a pretty terrible offseason (in part due to him having to reset the CBT), which includes a very ugly performance at the Winter Weekend where the crowd lustfully boos him. He turtles during the '23 deadline and the team completely falls apart with lots of conversation around the team feeling like they were just left out to dry and not given help from the FO.

 

Bloom made several missteps, but the biggest one was the '22 deadline and not trading JD which would have put the team under the CBT (better comp picks, better '23 offseason).

[Bellhorn04]

Also, there is a much longer answer about ownership giving Bloom leeway for not entirely handling the '22 deadline well. Bloom then has a pretty terrible offseason (in part due to him having to reset the CBT), which includes a very ugly performance at the Winter Weekend where the crowd lustfully boos him. He turtles during the '23 deadline and the team completely falls apart with lots of conversation around the team feeling like they were just left out to dry and not given help from the FO.

 

Bloom made several missteps, but the biggest one was the '22 deadline and not trading JD which would have put the team under the CBT (better comp picks, better '23 offseason).

 

It took a bunch of missteps to go 78-84 the last two years.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Also, there is a much longer answer about ownership giving Bloom leeway for not entirely handling the '22 deadline well. Bloom then has a pretty terrible offseason (in part due to him having to reset the CBT), which includes a very ugly performance at the Winter Weekend where the crowd lustfully boos him. He turtles during the '23 deadline and the team completely falls apart with lots of conversation around the team feeling like they were just left out to dry and not given help from the FO.

 

Bloom made several missteps, but the biggest one was the '22 deadline and not trading JD which would have put the team under the CBT (better comp picks, better '23 offseason).

 

... second-biggest, to trading a Hall of Famer in his prime for Hall of Shamers with attitude problems and Yankee names.

[notin]

... second-biggest, to trading a Hall of Famer in his prime for Hall of Shamers with attitude problems and Yankee names.

 

I don’t think that one was a Bloom mistake…

[mvp 78]

It took a bunch of missteps to go 78-84 the last two years.

 

Whether he did it to himself or his shoes were tied together by ownership, we won't know until the Speier 300 page book.

[mvp 78]

... second-biggest, to trading a Hall of Famer in his prime for Hall of Shamers with attitude problems and Yankee names.

 

I think that was probably told to him in the interview process. When you compare the Dodgers received to the Padres offers, the Verdugo trade was still the better one. Should have just taken Brusdar.

[Bellhorn04]

I don’t think that one was a Bloom mistake…

 

Probably not, but it was a bungled trade.

 

The Padres actually got some pitching when they traded Soto. Maybe getting to work on it early in the offseason helped.

 

The Sox dilly dallied with the Betts trade like just about everything else since Bloom was hired.

[mvp 78]

Probably not, but it was a bungled trade.

 

The Padres actually got some pitching when they traded Soto. Maybe getting to work on it early in the offseason helped.

 

The Sox dilly dallied with the Betts trade like just about everything else since Bloom was hired.

 

What trade offers reported at that time would you have rather had? Cal Quantrill and Capusano?

[notin]

What trade offers reported at that time would you have rather had? Cal Quantrill and Capusano?

 

Verdugo and Graterol…

[Bellhorn04]

What trade offers reported at that time would you have rather had? Cal Quantrill and Capusano?

 

I don't know, but have you ever wondered why they waited until February to trade Betts?

 

Knowing what we do now, doesn't it seem possible it was just another case of this front office's constipated system of decision-making?

Edited December 26, 2023 by Bellhorn04

[Bellhorn04]

Verdugo and Graterol…

 

And even Graterol wouldn't have made much difference. He's rapidly becoming a premier reliever, but his career fWAR is still only 3.0. And now you have to pay him.

[Hugh2]

Verdugo and Graterol…

 

I'm sure a good relief pitcher is what would have put this team over the top last year.

[Hugh2]

I'm sure a good relief pitcher is what would have put this team over the top last year.

 

Downs was the 44th best ranked prospect in all of baseball at the time of the trade, and before he lost his prospect status Verdugo was ranked even higher.

 

No one can predict with precise accuracy a human beings future.

 

YOu can be the best evaluators, best scouts, best predictionists in the market and still be wrong a lot.

 

To this day, the biggest blunder was the decision to trade Mookie because of their unwillingness to extend him when he was younger and that may have been a possibility.

[notin]

I'm sure a good relief pitcher is what would have put this team over the top last year.

 

He could have at least helped more than a Jeter Downs…

[Hugh2]

He could have at least helped more than a Jeter Downs…

 

Hindsight is 20/20

 

Jeter Downs would have looked pretty good at SS last year or 2nd this year if he panned out.

[notin]

And even Graterol wouldn't have made much difference. He's rapidly becoming a premier reliever, but his career fWAR is still only 3.0. And now you have to pay him.

 

Ok.

 

But he was still the right choice over Wong/Downs. And the Sox actually had him, unlike whatever trade you’re imagining that was never offered…

[notin]

Hindsight is 20/20

 

Jeter Downs would have looked pretty good at SS last year or 2nd this year if he panned out.

 

Hindsight? I was making this complaint the second after the deal was returned!!

 

And hindsight is a better judge than alternates universes where Jeter Downs panned out…

[Hugh2]

Hindsight? I was making this complaint the second after the deal was returned!!

 

Maybe, I can take your word for it. But what do you, or I, or any of us really know about prospects in other peoples systems? Who was ranked higher at the time? At the time of the trade Downs was regarded across the industry as a better prosepct, and Gaterol had health concerns.

 

Also, an above average regular up the middle in the infield would be about 1000000X more helpful to the 2024 team than another relief pitcher at this point.

 

Of course, we're not even having this conversation if the Sox prioritzed extending homegrown star talent.

[Bellhorn04]

Ok.

 

But he was still the right choice over Wong/Downs. And the Sox actually had him, unlike whatever trade you’re imagining that was never offered…

 

I'm not imagining, I'm questioning why they waited until February, and I'm looking at what the Padres got for Soto.

[notin]

I'm not imagining, I'm questioning why they waited until February, and I'm looking at what the Padres got for Soto.

 

And transposing it into what the Sox got for Betts.

 

The Sox had TWO offers for Betts.

 

One had Graterol. One had Quantrill and Joey Lucchesi.

 

No one offered anything else…

[Bellhorn04]

And transposing it into what the Sox got for Betts.

 

The Sox had TWO offers for Betts.

 

One had Graterol. One had Quantrill and Joey Lucchesi.

 

No one offered anything else…

 

It doesn't answer why they waited so long. Forgive me for not assuming they waited because they were being smart.

[notin]

It doesn't answer why they waited so long. Forgive me for not assuming they waited because they were being smart.

 

 

What advantage would have been had by dealing him in December?

[Bellhorn04]

What advantage would have been had by dealing him in December?

 

Talk to the Padres. They got 4 starting pitchers, one with significant recent MLB success, one 2022 second round pick, two others that pitched in the bigs this year.

[mvp 78]

I don't know, but have you ever wondered why they waited until February to trade Betts?

 

Knowing what we do now, doesn't it seem possible it was just another case of this front office's constipated system of decision-making?

 

Probably because they were waiting on the best deal available because they were trading a franchise player!

[Bellhorn04]

Probably because they were waiting on the best deal available because they were trading a franchise player!

 

Possibly, but keep in mind that I'm not assuming competence. I suspect it took them a long time to actually come to the decision to do it.

[Old Red]

And transposing it into what the Sox got for Betts.

 

The Sox had TWO offers for Betts.

 

One had Graterol. One had Quantrill and Joey Lucchesi.

 

No one offered anything else…

 

Nothing else was reported, but that doesn’t mean the Red Sox couldn’t have gotten more for Betts. DD was working on a deal for Mookie during the 2019 season, but backed out. I wonder what would have been in that deal?

[moonslav59]

Probably because they were waiting on the best deal available because they were trading a franchise player!

 

Yes, and how many teams were able to take on the contracts of Betts and half Price?

[mvp 78]

Talk to the Padres. They got 4 starting pitchers, one with significant recent MLB success, one 2022 second round pick, two others that pitched in the bigs this year.

 

It's a completely different trade market and trading partner. Again, what deals at the time were better than what they got? There weren't a lot of pitching heavy deals being floated back then. I'm sure Bloom would have loved one.