Craig Breslow: CBO of the Red Sox

[dgalehouse]

8 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

It's all about maximizing profits and lining pockets/wallets. Maybe the 99% part was hyperbole, but JH is doing exactly what most owners and corporate leaders are doing.

It's the American way, but somehow, when it comes to baseball, an owner is supposed to fork over more of the profits to please his customers, even if he doesn't have to do it to make more money.

I don't want this to morph into politics, and I don't despise owners for wanting to maximize profits. It just is what it is, except, apparently, for baseball, which has had a lot of slack from the government, over the years.

     MLB is part of the larger entertainment industry. Baseball owners , for the most part, are as greedy as anyone else. That is why they hire a Ron Manfred for Commissioner. He doesn't know a sweeper from a Fenway janitor. But he knows how to maximize their profits.  There is nothing remotely likable about him. Or about John Henry, for that matter.  Baseball fans can choose how much they are willing to spend for this entertainment. And they certainly have a right to complain when they feel they are watching a substandard product. 

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, dgalehouse said:

     MLB is part of the larger entertainment industry. Baseball owners , for the most part, are as greedy as anyone else. That is why they hire a Ron Manfred for Commissioner. He doesn't know a sweeper from a Fenway janitor. But he knows how to maximize their profits.  There is nothing remotely likable about him. Or about John Henry, for that matter.  Baseball fans can choose how much they are willing to spend for this entertainment. And they certainly have a right to complain when they feel they are watching a substandard product. 

I totally agree. Not only do they have the right to complain, they should do it, loudly.

We finally agree on something.

[Randy Red Sox]

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

It's all about maximizing profits and lining pockets/wallets. Maybe the 99% part was hyperbole, but JH is doing exactly what most owners and corporate leaders are doing.

It's the American way, but somehow, when it comes to baseball, an owner is supposed to fork over more of the profits to please his customers, even if he doesn't have to do it to make more money.

I don't want this to morph into politics, and I don't despise owners for wanting to maximize profits. It just is what it is, except, apparently, for baseball, which has had a lot of slack from the government, over the years.

Let John  Henry make his millions in other endeavours

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

Let John  Henry make his millions in other endeavours

I'm not defending the guy: I'm just pointing out that he is not much different from any ole business man out to make money.

[mvp 78]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm not defending the guy: I'm just pointing out that he is not much different from any ole business man out to make money.

And we are free to hold him to account as often or loudly as we choose. 

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

And we are free to hold him to account as often or loudly as we choose. 

We know DD is laughing at the plight of the Red Sox, because of his fondness of JH, and I suspect Bloom is having a few chuckles himself.

[notin]

15 hours ago, dgalehouse said:

     MLB is part of the larger entertainment industry. Baseball owners , for the most part, are as greedy as anyone else. That is why they hire a Ron Manfred for Commissioner. He doesn't know a sweeper from a Fenway janitor. But he knows how to maximize their profits.  There is nothing remotely likable about him. Or about John Henry, for that matter.  Baseball fans can choose how much they are willing to spend for this entertainment. And they certainly have a right to complain when they feel they are watching a substandard product. 

What about fans who don’t spend?

I’m in Chicago; I don’t go to games for obvious reasons.  I never purchase merch, although my family has found it’s the easy way to get me gifts.  I can’t subscribe to NESN.  My Sirius satellite is free. (I bought the lifetime subscription back in 2003 when that was a thing.

Outside of my MLB.com subscription, I don’t spend on them.

Maybe that’s why I complain less.

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, Old Red said:

We know DD is laughing at the plight of the Red Sox, because of his fondness of JH, and I suspect Bloom is having a few chuckles himself.

This is still Bloom's mess, so I don't know what he has to laugh about. 

[Bellhorn04]

6 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

This is still Bloom's mess, so I don't know what he has to laugh about. 

I'm not sure it is Bloom's mess.  I think it just might be Henry's mess.  

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

This is still Bloom's mess, so I don't know what he has to laugh about. 

But what about the lane that Brez picked at the trade deadline? He made sure they stayed underdogs, so it’s Brezslows mess now. 

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm not sure it is Bloom's mess.  I think it just might be Henry's mess.  

Bloom did enough dithering for a few years to contribute to the mess. He's complicit. It's not like he left with high marks from all of us. 

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Old Red said:

But what about the lane that Brez picked at the trade deadline? He made sure they stayed underdogs, so it’s Brezslows mess now. 

He acquired two decent relievers that didn't work out. s*** happens. 

He got a low risk/low reward starter that unsurprisingly didn't work out. 

He traded a decent prospect that wasn't going to play in Boston for some reason for a starting pitching prospect. Good trade to me. 

More work was done for the MLB this deadline than for '22 or '23. 

[Bellhorn04]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Bloom did enough dithering for a few years to contribute to the mess. He's complicit. It's not like he left with high marks from all of us. 

I don't disagree, but it was Henry who hired him and I think it was Henry who dictated Bloom's general approach. 

If we agree that Breslow was hindered this year by the budget and lack of interest in winning, I don't think it's a stretch that Bloom was similarly hindered.

 

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't disagree, but it was Henry who hired him and I think it was Henry who dictated Bloom's general approach. 

Henry wanted more movement at the '22 and '23 deadlines. Bloom couldn't get it done. That's the reason he's out of here. It has nothing to do with the 78-82 records. If Breslow ends at 78-82, Henry will be fine with it. Henry just wants more pandering to the fans and Bloom didn't do enough of it. At least Breslow can say that he tried and it didn't work out. 

[Old Red]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

He acquired two decent relievers that didn't work out. s*** happens. 

He got a low risk/low reward starter that unsurprisingly didn't work out. 

He traded a decent prospect that wasn't going to play in Boston for some reason for a starting pitching prospect. Good trade to me. 

More work was done for the MLB this deadline than for '22 or '23. 

The bottom line is that the team got worse after the trade deadline, and that’s all on Brez. Brez had more than his share of not work out s*** happens this year. Bad luck, or just plain bad decisions? 

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't disagree, but it was Henry who hired him and I think it was Henry who dictated Bloom's general approach. 

If we agree that Breslow was hindered this year by the budget and lack of interest in winning, I don't think it's a stretch that Bloom was similarly hindered.

 

Henry hired Brez, because there wasn’t many to pick from after so many turned down to be even interviewed.

[mvp 78]

Just now, Old Red said:

The bottom line is that the team got worse after the trade deadline, and that’s all on Brez. Brez had more than his share of not work out s*** happens this year. Bad luck, or just plain bad decisions? 

The swoon started the middle of July, not after the trade deadline. 

10 games over .500 at ASB. 6 games over at end of July. 4 games over at end of Aug. Now at .500.

[Bellhorn04]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Henry wanted more movement at the '22 and '23 deadlines. Bloom couldn't get it done. That's the reason he's out of here. It has nothing to do with the 78-82 records. If Breslow ends at 78-82, Henry will be fine with it. Henry just wants more pandering to the fans and Bloom didn't do enough of it. At least Breslow can say that he tried and it didn't work out. 

I don't know man.  You could be right but I'm not convinced all the confusion and ineptitude was Bloom's doing.  In 2022 the Sox made kind of a big deal out of telling Bogaerts they weren't going to trade him.  If Henry wanted Bloom to sell, why the hell did they do that?

Breslow might get a pass for this year's disasters, but it's going to be a short honeymoon, I think. 

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't know man.  You could be right but I'm not convinced all the confusion and ineptitude was Bloom's doing.  In 2022 the Sox made kind of a big deal out of telling Bogaerts they weren't going to trade him.  If Henry wanted Bloom to sell, why the hell did they do that?

Breslow might get a pass for this year's disasters, but it's going to be a short honeymoon, I think. 

They didn't need to trade Xander. They were probably fine getting the QO for him. However, they had a few other guys they could have dealt at the '22 deadline and still kept Xander around and "attempted" to re-sign him. 

JD

Wacha

Hill

Eovaldi

Schreiber (at the height of his value)

[Old Red]

19 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The swoon started the middle of July, not after the trade deadline. 

10 games over .500 at ASB. 6 games over at end of July. 4 games over at end of Aug. Now at .500.

Bottom line did Brez make the team better at the trade deadline?  He definitely thought he did, but what is their record since. Picking up a 44 yr old Little League coach to pitch topped it all. Brez gets no pass for this year in my opinion. It was reported when they hired him he wasn’t all that hands on with the Cubs, and did most of his work from home. Bad luck, s*** happens, and bad decisions has dropped the Red Sox to 500, and it’s on the Brez watch, and making excuses for him isn’t going to change that record.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

And we are free to hold him to account as often or loudly as we choose. 

Yes, I even said we should be loud about it. My point was that most business leaders do the same thing: it's all about money and not the customer. Usually, making the customer happy is a big way to increase profits, but not always as the only way to do it.

[moonslav59]

25 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They didn't need to trade Xander. They were probably fine getting the QO for him. However, they had a few other guys they could have dealt at the '22 deadline and still kept Xander around and "attempted" to re-sign him. 

JD

Wacha

Hill

Eovaldi

Schreiber (at the height of his value)

Exactly. They could have gotten something for all these guys AND gotten a better comp pick for Bogey by getting under the tax line. (We did get K Campbell, so maybe that argument rings hollow.)

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, I even said we should be loud about it. My point was that most business leaders do the same thing: it's all about money and not the customer. Usually, making the customer happy is a big way to increase profits, but not always as the only way to do it.

Well, I'm not sure if he can keep increasing the cost of the tickets. He is treating the Sox as a real estate investment, but that's at the expense of the MLB club itself. I think it eats into the overall value of the club more than he realizes. At some point, the Sox Nation stuff is oversaturated and people won't care anymore. They need to pander to their fans of a whole generation of people will simply stop caring or not learn to care. 

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Exactly. They could have gotten something for all these guys AND gotten a better comp pick for Bogey by getting under the tax line. (We did get K Campbell, so maybe that argument rings hollow.)

That wouldn't have prevented them from drafting Campbell earlier OR in the 4th round anyway. If the scouts really liked him, they still would have grabbed him. 

[illinoisredsox]

1 hour ago, notin said:

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

He acquired two decent relievers that didn't work out. s*** happens. 

He got a low risk/low reward starter that unsurprisingly didn't work out. 

He traded a decent prospect that wasn't going to play in Boston for some reason for a starting pitching prospect. Good trade to me. 

More work was done for the MLB this deadline than for '22 or '23. 

The results have been weak, but I am at least satisfied Breslow made deadline trades.   At some point, however, Priester probably needs to get the call simply because this team needs arms that are not worn out…

[illinoisredsox]

How the heck do you delete a post here?

[notin]

9 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

That wouldn't have prevented them from drafting Campbell earlier OR in the 4th round anyway. If the scouts really liked him, they still would have grabbed him. 

But even if that’s the case, at least they got the guy they wanted.

 

It was a situation that was handled badly but still worked out somehow.  Call it a lucky escape…

[notin]

3 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

 

That’s one way to delete a post…

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

How the heck do you delete a post here?

Click on the three dots in the upper right corner of your post and you should be able to delete it.