Article: In Defense Of Chaim Bloom

[Maddie Landis]

One year ago today, the Red Sox fired Chaim Bloom and Sox fans remain divided over his tenure in Boston. 

Scores of fans loathed his indecisiveness at the 2022 and 2023 Trade Deadlines, whereas some were more sympathetic to Chaim Bloom, acknowledging that he performed to the best of his ability with limited resources. 

Externally, Bloom’s four-year incumbency as the team’s Chief Baseball Officer was unimpressive. Boston “clinched” the AL East basement in 2020, 2022, and 2023, only making a playoff run in the 2021 ALCS. 

Fresh off the high of their World Series win, the Red Sox possessed the highest 2019 Opening Day payroll at $242 million. Unfortunately, the team missed the playoffs that year, finishing with an 84-78 record and 19 games behind the first-place Yankees. 

After seeing Chris Sale, David Price, and Steve Pearce’s extensions age horribly, the Red Sox front office sought a culture change. Before the end of the 2019 season, they fired Dave Dombrowski. 

Subsequently, the Red Sox hired Bloom as the successor to Dombrowski. In many ways, Bloom was a foil to Dombrowski, a known free spender and farm gutter. Under Bloom’s tutelage, the Rays had a 96-66 record in 2019 with an economical $49.08 million payroll.

Bloom arrived in Boston with three primary duties: 

1. Rebuild the farm 
2. Reduce payroll 
3. Maintain a competitive team

This article will examine players from Chaim Bloom's moves (excluding Rule 5 picks and drafts) who actively contributed to the Red Sox’s surprising 2024 success. 

Rob Refsnyder

• 12/21/21 - Boston Red Sox signed free agent 2B Rob Refsnyder to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training
• *NOTE: On June 3rd, 2023, the Red Sox extended Rob Refsnyder for $1.85 million in 2024 with a $2 million option in 2025

After floating around various team’s minor league systems, Refsnyder signed with the Red Sox in December 2021. He’s played at a career-best in Boston.

Season	AVG	HR	OBP	SLG	OPS+	wRC+	XBH
2022	.307	6	.384	.497	143	146	17
2023	.248	1	.365	.317	87	93	11
2024	.284	11	.361	.472	129	130	28

Refsnyder’s platoon splits are absurd. Over the past couple of seasons, he’s emerged as one of the best platoon bats on the roster, if not the entire league. Due to team injuries, Refsnyder has stepped up into more of an everyday role in 2024, with a career-high 306 plate appearances. He’s not a power hitter, but his Hard Hit % increased by 8.1% to 43.1% in 2024. His 11 home runs for the season are another career-high.

Handedness	AVG	HR	OBP	SLG	OPS+	wRC+	XBH
vs Left	.304	8	.396	.552	143	146	15
vs Right	.267	3	.329	.404	87	93	13

Moreover, Refsnyder provides solid defense in the outfield. He’s made some snazzy plays in the outfield, and his arm strength ranks in the 89th percentile. 

Refsnyder is a key contributor to the Red Sox. If not for Chaim Bloom, he wouldn’t be on the roster. Both on and off the field, he provides a stable veteran presence whom many younger players look up to. Hopefully, the team will pick up his $2 million option in 2025. 

Connor Wong

• Acquired on 02/10/20 - Los Angeles Dodgers traded CF Alex Verdugo, C Connor Wong, and SS Jeter Downs to Boston Red Sox for RF Mookie Betts, LHP David Price and cash

Connor Wong demonstrated that he was the key piece in the Mookie Betts trade four years later. Though he’s cooled off since his 17-game hitting streak, his slash line sits at .285/.336/.436 (wRC+ of 113). Wong’s strikeout rate dropped 10% and sits at 23.3%. He’s made some changes to his approach at the plate, resulting in his offensive success.

Wong is pretty speedy for a catcher. His 79th-percentile sprint speed (28.4 ft/sec) is the second-best in the league, behind J.T. Realmuto. 

Defensively, there’s some room for improvement. Wong primarily played shortstop and second base before converting to a catcher during his sophomore season at the University of Houston. Because of Wong’s defensive issues, some fans have called for hotshot prospect Kyle Teel to be the team’s primary catcher. However, Wong provides some versatility beyond the catcher’s box. He can field first and second base competently. 

With his much-needed right-hand bat and ability to play first and second, there’s room for both Kyle Teel and him on the roster. Fans are already dreaming about the Teel and Wong catching tandem. 

Nick Pivetta

• Acquired on 08/21/20 - Boston Red Sox traded RHP Brandon Workman and RHP Heath Hembree to Philadelphia Phillies for RHP Nick Pivetta and RHP Connor Seabold

Nick Pivetta is a durable member of the pitching rotation. He plays the game with passion. 

By no means is Nick Pivetta an ace. His pitching stats are league-average at best.

Season	GS	IP	ERA	K/9	SO	FIP	xFIP	WHIP
2024	23	129.1	4.24	10.86	156	4.04	3.41	1.14

Nonetheless, he has shown flashes of brilliance, carrying a no-hitter against the Marlins through seven innings in July. In his subsequent outing, he struck out eight consecutive batters (tying a franchise record). 

Despite his streakiness, Pivetta eats innings. In a pitching rotation plagued by injuries, he’s never injured. There is an underappreciated merit in a pitcher who consistently shows up every four to five days, delivers a quality outing, and allows the team to win.

Wilyer Abreu

• Acquired on 08/01/22 - Boston Red Sox traded C Christian Vazquez to Houston Astros for 2B Emmanuel Valdez and OF Wilyer Abreu

Fans and players questioned the Christian Vazquez trade. At the time of trade, Vazquez’s slash line was .282/.327/.432. 

Now, Wilyer Abreu is a ROTY candidate. He fares better in virtually every stat against the two frontrunners, Colton Cowser and Austin Wells. 

Abreu’s raw power is astronomical. His exit velocity ranks in the 86th percentile (91.6 mph), his hard hit % ranks in the 93rd percentile (50.4%), and his bat speed ranks in the 84th percentile (74.5 mph). 

On top of his bat, Abreu makes routine plays in the notoriously difficult-to-defend Fenway right field. He has a cannon of an arm and provides above-average defense.

Bloom sold high on Vazquez and received a ROTY candidate from the Astros in return. Need I say more?

David Hamilton

• Acquired on 12/01/22 - Milwaukee Brewers traded CF Jackie Bradley Jr., SS David Hamilton, and 3B Alex Binelas to Boston Red Sox for RF Hunter Renfroe

Following Trevor Story’s elbow injury, David Hamilton stepped up as the team’s everyday shortstop. His initial defense was… questionable. Cora exercised patience with Hamilton, filling him in the starting lineup despite his defensive miscues. 

Hamilton’s confidence grew, and by late May, he had started making routine infield plays, sometimes showing remarkable defensive prowess. His bat flourished. In mid-June, Hamilton’s slash line stood at .333/.376/.540. 

On August 29th, the Red Sox placed David Hamilton on the 10-day injured list with a left index finger fracture. His slash line was .248/.303/.395 with eight HRs, 28 RBIs, 47 runs, and 33 SB. 

Fifteen days after being placed on the IL, Hamilton still ranks 3rd in the AL for stolen bases. His sprint speed ranks in the 95th percentile (29.4 ft/s). 

A utility player with Hamilton’s elite sprint speed is a game-changer. If you need a ghost runner in extra innings, a guy like Hamilton can easily score the winning run from second base on a routine single or error. 

Fans were shocked when the Red Sox traded Hunter Renfroe. He was coming off a career season with 31 HRs, 96 RBIs, and 113 wRC+. From 2022-24, Renfroe amounted to 2.5 fWAR. Hamilton has 2.7 fWAR just in 2024 and is under control through 2026—Chaim cooked. 

Chaim Bloom came into his role at a significant disadvantage. The Red Sox possessed the highest payroll in the league. They had a young, controllable core that they wanted to keep, but their money was tied to David Price, Nathan Eovaldi, JD Martinez, and Chris Sale’s large contracts after trading prospects for Craig Kimbrel and Chris Sale. Their gutted farm system ranked in last place. 

The Red Sox directed Chaim Bloom to rebuild the farm, reduce payroll, and field a competitive major league team. Attempting to do two of those things simultaneously is very difficult. Undertaking all three tasks at once? Forget about it. 

As articulated above, Bloom rebuilt the Red Sox farm system, creating organizational depth for the future. He also modernized the Red Sox baseball operation philosophy, enforcing a more competitive, data-driven player development process. The team’s analytical research and development staff grew from 14 in 2019 to 33 in 2023. They poached Jason Ochart, David Besky, and John Soteropulos from Driveline to bolster their player development staff. 

Simply put, winning is a byproduct of player development. Successful teams are increasingly becoming more dependent on their player development systems. The Diamondback's young core, spearheaded by Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno, got them to the World Series last year. (If you want to read more about player development, I highly recommend reading “The MVP Machine” by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik.)

Bloom managed to accomplish two of his three tasks. However, he neglected to field a competitive major league team during his tenure. Bloom made too many mistakes at the 2022 and 2023 trade deadlines and completely disregarded the major league squad. The major league product he put together on the field never transpired and was, simply put, embarrassing to watch at times. Claiming that they were fielding a “competitive” team with Jonathan Araúz, Travis Shaw, Franchy Cordero, and Marwin González playing every day was a slap in the face to fans. While Bloom managed to find position players, he never developed an effective pitching staff. Year after year, the Sox bullpen looked amazing at the start of the season but fell apart when August rolled around.  

The Red Sox hired Chaim Bloom to construct a stable, sustainable franchise from the ground up, which requires time and patience. It took a while, but we’re finally witnessing that materialize in 2024. 

Outspoken fans advocated for the Red Sox to sign big-name free agents in the offseason. Baseball isn’t basketball. One superstar won’t lead a team to the World Series. More often than not, the most important players on the roster are your backend starter, utility journeyman, or platoon bat. Bloom showed he was a shrewd talent evaluator and brought these players to the Red Sox. It took some time for them to develop, but they are key movers for the team’s success this year. 

Roman Anthony is the newly minted No. 1 Prospect in baseball. Following the implementation of Bloom’s player development systems, there’s a plethora of talent in Triple-A knocking at the door. They have the financial resources to bolster the team this winter. With their current payroll commitments for 2025, the team is about $62 million under the Competitive Balance Threshold. They are just a couple of players *cough cough starting pitchers* away from becoming a World Series contender. The Red Sox have a bright future, partially thanks to Chaim Bloom.

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[Bellhorn04]

My problem with using the 'surprising success' of the 2024 team as a defense of Bloom is that I don't consider 2024 to be a surprising success.  I consider it a resounding failure.  We're a horrific 21-32 in our last 53 games and we're on target to be the first Red Sox team since the 1964-1966 teams* to finish under .500 3 years in a row.

We can find some isolated instances of success like Abreu and Refsnyder, but that's not much consolation in the big picture.

* If you count 1994 as a season the 1992-1994 teams would be the last. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

As a longtime, ancient Red Sox fan, I won't defend Chaim Bloom for anything. 

I have hated the entire Bloom Era from the beginning -- orchestrated by ownership, defined by the worst trade in Red Sox history -- which continues to this day with the same CBO using an alternate name and degree from the same university.

[Bellhorn04]

I don't really blame Bloom that much.  I think he did okay given the constraints.

The "culture change" referenced in the article says it all.  Henry took what wasn't broke and fixed it. 

[Old Red]

8 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't really blame Bloom that much.  I think he did okay given the constraints.

The "culture change" referenced in the article says it all.  Henry took what wasn't broke and fixed it. 

Brez won’t win any executive of the year award this year. Most of what he did just did not work out, but it made the team worse. Trading Sale, and his 5 pickups at, or near the trade deadline was all on Brez, and not JH. Adding a OF who has hit 30 HR was no big deal. Even Bloom did that. Brez should get plenty of blame for the failure of this years team. As Sam said two years ago Baseball Ops failed, and failed again they did. ALL of them.

[Bellhorn04]

5 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Brez won’t win any executive of the year award this year. Most of what he did just did not work out, but it made the team worse. Trading Sale, and his 5 pickups at, or near the trade deadline was all on Brez, and not JH. Adding a OF who has hit 30 HR was no big deal. Even Bloom did that. Brez should get plenty of blame for the failure of this years team. As Sam said two years ago Baseball Ops failed, and failed again they did. ALL of them.

Yes, if Kennedy has a shred of honesty (ha ha) he's going to have to admit that they failed again and in fact outdid themselves, they failed SPECTACULARLY in view of expectations for improvement.  

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

12 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't really blame Bloom that much.  I think he did okay given the constraints.

The "culture change" referenced in the article says it all.  Henry took what wasn't broke and fixed it. 

Never hated the guy; always hated what he represented -- IN BOSTON.

However, can't feel sorry for Bloom. He got paid well for the job opportunity he fully accepted.

Breslow seems more like he was a bit deceived by how much control he'd have -- or not have.

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Never hated the guy; always hated what he represented -- IN BOSTON.

However, can't feel sorry for Bloom. He got paid well for the job opportunity he fully accepted.

Breslow seems more like he was a bit deceived by how much control he'd have -- or not have.

Yes, I think they misled Breslow, and I think he told us so in his carefully coded quote about how his understanding of the organization's objectives had shifted after further discussions.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I think ownership is clearly to blame here.

This year, the Sox have the 11th-highest payroll in baseball (per SpoTrac).

Two years ago, it was sixth-highest.

Five years ago, it was the highest in baseball.

Ten years ago, it was fifth-highest.

The Sox can't compete directly with the Yankees and Dodgers on spending. That's a reasonable limit. But they should at least be spending at Cubs-level and Giants-level. This is a franchise that dominates New England, which has a population around 15 million people. The attendance always averages over 30,000 per game. There's no excuse for a payroll outside the top ten of baseball.

[Old Red]

2 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Yes, I think they misled Breslow, and I think he told us so in his carefully coded quote about how his understanding of the organization's objectives had shifted after further discussions.

I don’t feel sorry for Brez at all. Did he contemplate why 10+ candidates for the job he took wouldn’t even interview for the job? If he did it should have told him something, and if he didn’t then shame on him.

[Old Red]

9 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I think ownership is clearly to blame here.

This year, the Sox have the 11th-highest payroll in baseball (per SpoTrac).

Two years ago, it was sixth-highest.

Five years ago, it was the highest in baseball.

Ten years ago, it was fifth-highest.

The Sox can't compete directly with the Yankees and Dodgers on spending. That's a reasonable limit. But they should at least be spending at Cubs-level and Giants-level. This is a franchise that dominates New England, which has a population around 15 million people. The attendance always averages over 30,000 per game. There's no excuse for a payroll outside the top ten of baseball.

There was plenty of payroll being paid out this year that was for players on other teams, or on the injured list that Max has pointed out many times on here this year. I keep telling posters on here that JH is not the same guy as he was when he bought the team, or even 10 years ago. On here it’s just expected that JH should pay up to the CBT line, and that’s just not going to happen, and all the complaining on here is not going to change that. To many bad decisions, or bad luck, or s*** happening by the HOBO has been a big problem in itself.

[Bellhorn04]

54 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I don’t feel sorry for Brez at all. Did he contemplate why 10+ candidates for the job he took wouldn’t even interview for the job? If he did it should have told him something, and if he didn’t then shame on him.

Oh, I don't feel sorry for him either.  He's not dumb, he could see why the Sox have developed a terrible rep for how they treat their CBOs and he took the job anyway.  I'm sure he has a good salary.  I hope he invests it wisely.

[moonslav59]

I wonder how people might view or change their views on Bloom, if we win a ring (or come close) by 2027 based mainly on a core of players Bloom acquired or did not trade away.

Bloom certainly made a mess of bad moves, even when considering the context of his budget limits, while so many of our best players reached their big payday moments. He failed at what he was hired to do. Sure, he made some moves like some listed in this article, but he needed to make many more like his few success stories, and he did not.

I do think he drafted well and helped set up a situation where Brez can take it a step forward, but that's about it.

[Maxbialystock]

11 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't really blame Bloom that much.  I think he did okay given the constraints.

The "culture change" referenced in the article says it all.  Henry took what wasn't broke and fixed it. 

The only sensible remark on this thread.  I'm pretty sure I castigated CB as often as anyone, but I think the article is right to defend him.  

To me this season has turned out way better than it should have, mostly because of Chaim Bloom and despite the idiocies of Craig Breslow, whose two big offseason moves were to dump Chris Sale and pay $17M of his salary so he could be a Cy Young candidate for the Braves and to sign Giolito for $19M/season so he could do absolutely nothing for the Sox this season.  

Remember the conversation between John Henry and Billy Beane near the end of Moneyball?  JH cites how much the A's paid per win in 2002 vs how much the Yankees paid.  Huge difference.

Right now the Yankees have 86 wins, for which they paid $309M--or $3.7M/win.  The Sox have 75 wins which cost $190M, or $2.5M per win.  And don't forget that $190M includes the aforementioned $17M for Sale to compete for the Cy Young as a Braves pitcher abd the $19M for Giolito.  Plus $22.5M for Story to play maybe 30 games, $7.5M for Chris Martin to earn a WAR (to date) of +0.2, $6.7M for Justin Turner to play elsewhere; $2M for Joely Rodriguez to drag the Sox down with his -0.5 WAR, etc  

The best thing DD did for the Sox was to fire Farrell and hire Cora.  Then CB rehired Cora after he was suspended for the 2020 season.  And, lo and behold, the 2021 Sox turned out to be way better than the 2016 and 2017 Sox (about whom ignorant Talksoxers rhapsodize).  

[Duran Is The Man]

9 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I wonder how people might view or change their views on Bloom, if we win a ring (or come close) by 2027 based mainly on a core of players Bloom acquired or did not trade away.

Bloom certainly made a mess of bad moves, even when considering the context of his budget limits, while so many of our best players reached their big payday moments. He failed at what he was hired to do. Sure, he made some moves like some listed in this article, but he needed to make many more like his few success stories, and he did not.

I do think he drafted well and helped set up a situation where Brez can take it a step forward, but that's about it.

is there one single pitcher that Bloom drafted that will ever amount to anything?

[Maxbialystock]

22 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I think ownership is clearly to blame here.

This year, the Sox have the 11th-highest payroll in baseball (per SpoTrac).

Two years ago, it was sixth-highest.

Five years ago, it was the highest in baseball.

Ten years ago, it was fifth-highest.

The Sox can't compete directly with the Yankees and Dodgers on spending. That's a reasonable limit. But they should at least be spending at Cubs-level and Giants-level. This is a franchise that dominates New England, which has a population around 15 million people. The attendance always averages over 30,000 per game. There's no excuse for a payroll outside the top ten of baseball.

"Ownership" is John Henry, who only happens to be the most successful owner in MLB since 2002 and the best Sox owner ever.  As I've said before, he did not arrive as a neophyte because he had previously owned the Miami Marlins and before that a minor league team.  He bought the Sox for around $660M, and they are now worth $4.5B or $5B.  

I think John Henry is hard to pin down.  In the movie Moneyball, which is based on the story of the Oakland A's great season in 2002 and their GM/CBO Billy Beane, who used something like sabermetrics to create that winning ball club, In the movie Billy Beane flies to Boston to see John Henry at the end of the 2002 season and is told he is the best GM/CBO in MLB and is offered a contract commensurate with that--which he turns down because he doesn't want to move away from California.  John Henry also tells Billy he has hired Bill James, author of Sabermetrics.  

However, John Henry did not go the Billy Beane/Sabermetrics route with the Sox.  Nosiree.  He bankrolled the Sox at a competitive level for close to 20 freaking seasons, which allowed them to end the 86 year drought in 2004 and to win three more World Series, more than any other franchise over the same period.  For comparison, the Yankees with their 27 WS titles, have won just 1 in the JH era.  That sort of reached a peak with the amazing 2018 season when the Sox won 108 regular season games and then beat the Yankees, 3 games to 1, in the ALDS, the Astros 4 games to 1 in the ALCS, and the Dodgers 4 games to 1 in the WS.  

The Sox had the highest payrolls in MLB in both 2018 and 2019, but in 2019 they didn't even qualify for the postseason. 

So DD got fired because--I believe--by the end of the season he needed a lot more money, over and above the highest payroll in MLB, to compete with the Dodgers, a far wealthier team, to keep Mookie Betts, and also to replace Chris Sale and David Price while still fulfilling their pricey, long-term contracts.  There was, in fact, no limit to the amount of money DD was going to need to keep the Sox competitive.  

Thus Chaim Bloom, who came from a franchise, the Rays, who had in fact mastered the fine art of producing competitive teams cheaply.   Their payrolls were consistently among the bottom 5 in MLB, and, just as consistently, they competed well in the ferocious AL East.  They played in the WS and lost in 2008, their first winning season.  Since then, they've made it to the postseason 8 times, including 2021 when they won 100 regular season games and lost--wait for it!!--to Boston, who had won 92 games, with CB as the Sox CBO. 

The problem for/with Chaim Bloom is that the Rays needed decades to build their system of low payroll but competitive MLB teams.  Besides, the Sox and John Henry don't need to go lowball on salaries because the Sox still draw, this year, 32,783 attendance per game despite a .500 won-loss record.  The Rays draw half as many.  

Relatedly, a telling stat.  The 2024 Sox  are still drawing 32,783 in what is their 3d straight season of probably not making the postseason.  That attendance is ranked 11th in MLB.  In 2018 when DD and john Henry and Alex Cora built and managed the best Red Sox team ever--which also had the highest payroll in MLB--their average attendance was 35,747, ranked 9th in MLB.  

Does anyone on talksox care to guess what the Sox attendance was in 2012 when the Sox finished dead last in the AL East with a dipstick (who replaced Francona) as manager?  How does 37,567 sound?  

Does anyone on talksox doubt for a moment JH is unaware of the Sox attendance?   

 

 

 

[Bellhorn04]

I think JH is aware of every little thing that goes into the Red Sox financial picture.

There's plenty we're not aware of, though.  We don't really know exactly why he's been holding the line so tightly on payroll. 

The big X factor is the investment of RedBird Capital, an outside group that bought 10% of FSG.  RedBird came in when FSG needed a serious cash injection after sustaining losses from COVID.

Is RedBird guaranteed a big fat dividend every year regardless of the operation's profit for that year?  I have no clue, but I've heard speculation that's the case and it's got a lot to do with the payroll. 

[Maddie Landis]

11 hours ago, Duran Is The Man said:

is there one single pitcher that Bloom drafted that will ever amount to anything?

Garret Whitlock was a Rule 5 pick that Bloom drafted. At times, he's looked good. Other occasions? Eh. 

Given his injury history, he's shown that he's not cut out to be a starter. IMO, the Sox screwed up his development, moving him back and forth from the pen to the rotation. 

He could've been (and still has the potential to be) a lights out RP. I hope the Sox put him in the 2025 bullpen for the sake of his career.

[Maddie Landis]

14 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Right now the Yankees have 86 wins, for which they paid $309M--or $3.7M/win.  The Sox have 75 wins which cost $190M, or $2.5M per win.  And don't forget that $190M includes the aforementioned $17M for Sale to compete for the Cy Young as a Braves pitcher abd the $19M for Giolito.  Plus $22.5M for Story to play maybe 30 games, $7.5M for Chris Martin to earn a WAR (to date) of +0.2, $6.7M for Justin Turner to play elsewhere; $2M for Joely Rodriguez to drag the Sox down with his -0.5 WAR, etc  

Thank you for the insightful analysis.

Locking up young talent on team friendly deals seems to be the new MO.

We have Bello, Rafaela, and Devers in their prime.  Casas and Houck should be next for extensions. 

Constantly signing high-impact free agents doesn't lead to sustainable success. Teams with young, homegrown cores bolstered by free agents create long-lasting success. The 2007 and 2018 team are good example of this. 

The issue is that we didn't keep Bogaerts and Mookie. JBJ and Benintendi didn't reach their full ceiling.

Dombrowski moved to the Phillies and picked up huge contracts for Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, and Nick Castellanos. The Phillies are hot now in 2024. However, there lineup features only two homegrown players, Bryston Stott and Alec Bohm. The Phillies farm system is ranked in the middle of the league. Is their success sustainable? We'll see. 

I'm more optimistic than some fans. Our farm is loaded with talent. Roman Anthony, Kyle Teel, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer will play in the majors within the next 1-2 years. I believe the FO has learned from their past mistakes and now realize that it's important to lock up homegrown core players. 

The Red Sox have money to spend in the offseason. If we keep developing major league talent and make smart FA decisions, we'll be contenders year after year.

[moonslav59]

14 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

The only sensible remark on this thread.  I'm pretty sure I castigated CB as often as anyone, but I think the article is right to defend him.  

To me this season has turned out way better than it should have, mostly because of Chaim Bloom and despite the idiocies of Craig Breslow, whose two big offseason moves were to dump Chris Sale and pay $17M of his salary so he could be a Cy Young candidate for the Braves and to sign Giolito for $19M/season so he could do absolutely nothing for the Sox this season.  

Remember the conversation between John Henry and Billy Beane near the end of Moneyball?  JH cites how much the A's paid per win in 2002 vs how much the Yankees paid.  Huge difference.

Right now the Yankees have 86 wins, for which they paid $309M--or $3.7M/win.  The Sox have 75 wins which cost $190M, or $2.5M per win.  And don't forget that $190M includes the aforementioned $17M for Sale to compete for the Cy Young as a Braves pitcher abd the $19M for Giolito.  Plus $22.5M for Story to play maybe 30 games, $7.5M for Chris Martin to earn a WAR (to date) of +0.2, $6.7M for Justin Turner to play elsewhere; $2M for Joely Rodriguez to drag the Sox down with his -0.5 WAR, etc  

The best thing DD did for the Sox was to fire Farrell and hire Cora.  Then CB rehired Cora after he was suspended for the 2020 season.  And, lo and behold, the 2021 Sox turned out to be way better than the 2016 and 2017 Sox (about whom ignorant Talksoxers rhapsodize).  

Outstanding post, Max. 100% spot on.

Certainly, paying so much of our spending budget on players not giving us much value, if anything is a major reason for our lack of success. That is on the GM/CBO's.  Not spending enough is the other major reason and that is on JH & Co. It has really been a tag team event since and including DD's final year with the Sox.

Here is a look at some of the failed big contracts by year, starting with 2019 (in $millions): 31 Price began his steep decline, 21 Porcello had a god-awful season, 17 Nate (5.99 ERA in just 12 GS), 15 Pedey (nada) and 15 Sale (4.40 in 25 GS) In some ways, the 2019 saw the biggest waste of big money contracts over a long period of time... more than any year of Bloom, Brez and maybe even Ben & Theo.

2020 was a total disaster and was Sale's first extension year (25.6M and 0 GS). Even JD 22M hit .680.  17 Nate did okay but missed 25% of his starts. 14 Pedey gave nada, 8 ERod sat out the year. The 6.5 spent on Martin Perez pales when compared to those listed ahead of him, but was still a bad choice by Bloom.

2021 was the feather in Bloom's cap, but in reality, we still saw a lot of wasted salary, including the $10M Bloom paid Richards and 5.5 on Perez. We also saw... 25.6 on 9 starts by Sale and 8.3 on ERod's 4.74 ERA. The others pulled their weight, so this was one of the better years for least amount of sunken cost, and it's no fluke, we did well.

2022 saw another 25.6 wasted on Sale's 2 GS. 17 Nate did okay but missed 12 GS, 23.3 on Story missed, badly (Bloom,) 22 JD was down at .790. The $12M spent on JBJ and 7 on Kike hurt, as well. The 9 Barnes extension fell apart mid season. (Bloom did okay with the Wacha, Hill, Strahm and Renfroe deals)

2023 saw yet another letdown by 25.6 Sale w only 20 GS and a not-so-great 4.30 ERA. 23.3 on Story was another year missed. Bloom's 18 on Yoshida, 10 on Kluber and 10 on Kike were near or total busts. (Bloom did okay with themis to  lower deals like 16 Jansen, 11 Turner, 7.5 Martin & 7 Duvall.

2024 saw a frighteningly low amount of additions, especially large ones. Brez's 19.5 on Gio was a complete wiff. Paying 17 for Sale to win the Cy Young w ATL was worse than a total bust. 23.3 on Story (Bloom) was yet another wasted year. 18 on Yoshi looked a little better, but he missed time and still has not earned his contract for 2024, alone. 16 on Jansen was okay, 7.5 on Martin was not. (Only the 6 paid for O'Neill and 1 for Criswell worked out well.) 5 Hendriks gave us zero for 2024.

I'm not going to total all this up, but it has been a huge percentage of our budget.

 

 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notcraigbreslow said:

Garret Whitlock was a Rule 5 pick that Bloom drafted. At times, he's looked good. Other occasions? Eh. 

Given his injury history, he's shown that he's not cut out to be a starter. IMO, the Sox screwed up his development, moving him back and forth from the pen to the rotation. 

He could've been (and still has the potential to be) a lights out RP. I hope the Sox put him in the 2025 bullpen for the sake of his career.

 

[moonslav59]

No doubt, Bloom failed on his drafting of pitching, but the idea of drafting the best available player has a wide following among GMs. It's sad to say that maybe his best pitching choices was not trading Houck or Crawford and trading for Pivetta and Wink, along with the Rule 5 pick of Whitlock.

I will say, draft picks often take 3-6 years to make an impact, so the jury may still be out. His drafts rounds:

2020 (only 4 picks total): 4  Wu-Yelland, 5 Drohan

2021: 4 E R-C looks promising, 8 Dobbins & Guerrero, too.

2022: 3 Rogers, 5 Dean, 6 Hoppe, 10 I Coffey and 12 Mullins all look like long shots.

2023: 4 Duffy, 5 Early, 9 Wehunt and 14 Ingrassia look faw away.

IFAs: Paez & Nunez "21, Portes '22 (traded away by Brez) & Cohen, C Lee & A Bates in '23 and in 2024, D Reyes looks promising.

Overall, these were Bloom's major and decent+ additions to the Sox pitching system (farm + MLB)

Pivetta, Wink & Robles  (trade)

Whitlock (Rule 5)

Kelly, Bernardino, Schreiber (MiLB FA/Waivers)

FA: Jansen, martin, Wacha, Hill, Strahm, Paxton was okay for $10M

This list is not impressive, at all.

 

[notin]

1 hour ago, notcraigbreslow said:

Garret Whitlock was a Rule 5 pick that Bloom drafted. At times, he's looked good. Other occasions? Eh. 

Given his injury history, he's shown that he's not cut out to be a starter. IMO, the Sox screwed up his development, moving him back and forth from the pen to the rotation. 

He could've been (and still has the potential to be) a lights out RP. I hope the Sox put him in the 2025 bullpen for the sake of his career.

I struggle to buy into the most casually thrown-around phrase on Sox forums that i certainly don’t understand and I think has just become a blame catch-all, the infamous “screwed up his development.” 
 

In the case of Whitlock, what was wrong with his development? He appears to have turned out to be a very talented pitchers.  He lacks durability, but not like many where it’s the stamina, something that can be changed.  But rather, extensive pitching causes physical problems for Whitlock.

 

The Sox have repeatedly ignored this, operating on the premise that past injuries cannot predict future ones.  Only to be proven wrong each time.  Whitlock does appear to be best suited for the pen, but he’s already shown his ability to excel there.  His development has been fine.

 

This is not like Jeter Downs, where after a missed season, the Sox thrust him ahead two full minor league levels and he was never the same.  Maybe THAT screwed up his development.  Of course, it’s also possible Downs was simply never all that good.  Or Jay Groome.  Injury after injury, yet the Sox kept him in a starting role until they finally unloaded him and acquired a useless salary dump. This I might be what Whitlock would look like had the Sox “screwed up his development” IMO.

I guess I struggle to buy into the idea that a player who reaches the majors and sticks had his development all that screwed up by someone else…

[Maxbialystock]

On 9/14/2024 at 9:31 AM, Bellhorn04 said:

Yes, if Kennedy has a shred of honesty (ha ha) he's going to have to admit that they failed again and in fact outdid themselves, they failed SPECTACULARLY in view of expectations for improvement.  

What failure?  The attendance this year is the same as last year and the year before and better than 2021, the year after the 2020 covid season.  

As long as Sox fans continue to come to the park in semi-droves (almost 33K/game) and pay top dollar to watch .500 baseball,  that's what they will get.  

Boston is reputed to be one of the great educational cities in America, but it has spawned one of the dumbest fan bases around.   I say again, the 2012 Sox absolutely stunk and the Sox fans came to games in freaking droves--37,383 per game.  Six years later, 2018, the Sox had the best team in their entire freaking history, and the attendance was down to 35,747 per game. 

I hasten to add that, while I will agree Fenway park is very photogenic on TV, it is also one of the crappiest ballparks in MLB with way too many seats with terrible sight lines.  

[Maxbialystock]

40 minutes ago, notin said:

I struggle to buy into the most casually thrown-around phrase on Sox forums that i certainly don’t understand and I think has just become a blame catch-all, the infamous “screwed up his development.” 
 

In the case of Whitlock, what was wrong with his development? He appears to have turned out to be a very talented pitchers.  He lacks durability, but not like many where it’s the stamina, something that can be changed.  But rather, extensive pitching causes physical problems for Whitlock.

 

The Sox have repeatedly ignored this, operating on the premise that past injuries cannot predict future ones.  Only to be proven wrong each time.  Whitlock does appear to be best suited for the pen, but he’s already shown his ability to excel there.  His development has been fine.

 

This is not like Jeter Downs, where after a missed season, the Sox thrust him ahead two full minor league levels and he was never the same.  Maybe THAT screwed up his development.  Of course, it’s also possible Downs was simply never all that good.  Or Jay Groome.  Injury after injury, yet the Sox kept him in a starting role until they finally unloaded him and acquired a useless salary dump. This I might be what Whitlock would look like had the Sox “screwed up his development” IMO.

I guess I struggle to buy into the idea that a player who reaches the majors and sticks had his development all that screwed up by someone else…

Well said.  Whitlock was a great find and terrific his first season, all of which was in relief.  But he had and continues to have the repertoire of a starter, which is why he was almost certainly thrilled to be given a shot at starting.  I'm no expert, but it does seem to me that good relievers only need 2 or 3 good pitchers to be effective.  Starters need 3 or 4.  I could swear Kenley Jansen sometimes seem to get by with one freaking pitch, but is pretty good at hitting corners.  When Kimbrel and Barnes were at their best, they both had good fastballs, over 95 mph, and terrific curve balls.  Koji Uehara had the slowest fast ball in the known universe.  I doubt that it ever went more than 90 mph, and was normally around 88.  But it was nevertheless a good fit with his superb splitter and masterful control.  

[Maddie Landis]

 It was a huge oversight by the team to use Whitlock as a starter when he only had three pitches (a sinker, a changeup, and a sweeper) in his arsenal for the majority of his career.  

SPs are expected to pitch at least five innings, right? Whitlock’s career fifth inning splits are… atrocious. 

Split	G	IP	ER	ERA	PA	AB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB
5th inning	24	20.1	12	5.31	89	81	0.309	0.348	0.58	0.929	47

Last year, Whitlock was used as SP in the rotation. SPs face the opposing batting order two or three times. He fell apart after facing the order for the third time.

Why? Because he relied on three pitches.

Season	TTO	IP	ERA	TBF	ER	HR	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA
2023	3rd Through Order as SP	9.2	11.17	49	12	5	5	0.409	0.429	0.818	0.504

Good starters have at least 3 pitches in their arsenal; most quality pitchers possess between 4-6.  A 2019 MLB article reported that 92% of pitchers have thrown between 3-6 pitch types in their careers.

RPs can get by with 3 pitches because they’re not facing the lineup multiple times. Take a look at Whitlock's career stats as a starter vs a reliever. 

He only added a fourth pitch, a cutter, to his repertoire this year. Um, hello?

Thanks to his new and improved pitching arsenal, Whitlock looked solid prior to his injury. 

In today's world, it seems like pitchers are constantly refining their mechanics and developing new pitches in pitching labs. The team did a huge disservice to Whitlock by not encouraging him to develop another pitch. Last year, Whitlock probably would've fared better as a starter if he had four pitches in his repertoire. I don't know why they waited until this year to do so.

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, notcraigbreslow said:

 It was a huge oversight by the team to use Whitlock as a starter when he only had three pitches (a sinker, a changeup, and a sweeper) in his arsenal for the majority of his career.  

SPs are expected to pitch at least five innings, right? Whitlock’s career fifth inning splits are… atrocious. 

Split	G	IP	ER	ERA	PA	AB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB
5th inning	24	20.1	12	5.31	89	81	0.309	0.348	0.58	0.929	47

Last year, Whitlock was used as SP in the rotation. SPs face the opposing batting order two or three times. He fell apart after facing the order for the third time.

Why? Because he relied on three pitches.

Season	TTO	IP	ERA	TBF	ER	HR	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA
2023	3rd Through Order as SP	9.2	11.17	49	12	5	5	0.409	0.429	0.818	0.504

Good starters have at least 3 pitches in their arsenal; most quality pitchers possess between 4-6.  A 2019 MLB article reported that 92% of pitchers have thrown between 3-6 pitch types in their careers.

RPs can get by with 3 pitches because they’re not facing the lineup multiple times. Take a look at Whitlock's career stats as a starter vs a reliever. 

He only added a fourth pitch, a cutter, to his repertoire this year. Um, hello?

Thanks to his new and improved pitching arsenal, Whitlock looked solid prior to his injury. 

In today's world, it seems like pitchers are constantly refining their mechanics and developing new pitches in pitching labs. The team did a huge disservice to Whitlock by not encouraging him to develop another pitch. Last year, Whitlock probably would've fared better as a starter if he had four pitches in his repertoire. I don't know why they waited until this year to do so.

Great post. I will say that Houck had horrific numbers after 4-5 IP or 75 pitches, too.

I hope we finally decide to keep Whit in the pen, all year.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, notcraigbreslow said:

 It was a huge oversight by the team to use Whitlock as a starter when he only had three pitches (a sinker, a changeup, and a sweeper) in his arsenal for the majority of his career.  

SPs are expected to pitch at least five innings, right? Whitlock’s career fifth inning splits are… atrocious. 

Split	G	IP	ER	ERA	PA	AB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB
5th inning	24	20.1	12	5.31	89	81	0.309	0.348	0.58	0.929	47

Last year, Whitlock was used as SP in the rotation. SPs face the opposing batting order two or three times. He fell apart after facing the order for the third time.

Why? Because he relied on three pitches.

Season	TTO	IP	ERA	TBF	ER	HR	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA
2023	3rd Through Order as SP	9.2	11.17	49	12	5	5	0.409	0.429	0.818	0.504

Good starters have at least 3 pitches in their arsenal; most quality pitchers possess between 4-6.  A 2019 MLB article reported that 92% of pitchers have thrown between 3-6 pitch types in their careers.

RPs can get by with 3 pitches because they’re not facing the lineup multiple times. Take a look at Whitlock's career stats as a starter vs a reliever. 

He only added a fourth pitch, a cutter, to his repertoire this year. Um, hello?

Thanks to his new and improved pitching arsenal, Whitlock looked solid prior to his injury. 

In today's world, it seems like pitchers are constantly refining their mechanics and developing new pitches in pitching labs. The team did a huge disservice to Whitlock by not encouraging him to develop another pitch. Last year, Whitlock probably would've fared better as a starter if he had four pitches in his repertoire. I don't know why they waited until this year to do so.

You could use this exact argument to put Houck in the pen on 4/1/24.

[Duran Is The Man]

8 hours ago, notcraigbreslow said:

Garret Whitlock was a Rule 5 pick that Bloom drafted. At times, he's looked good. Other occasions? Eh. 

Given his injury history, he's shown that he's not cut out to be a starter. IMO, the Sox screwed up his development, moving him back and forth from the pen to the rotation. 

He could've been (and still has the potential to be) a lights out RP. I hope the Sox put him in the 2025 bullpen for the sake of his career.

so....just one middle reliever. nice job Bloom.

and i agree....put in the bullpen. forever.

 

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, Duran Is The Man said:

so....just one middle reliever. nice job Bloom.

and i agree....put in the bullpen. forever.

 

The final grade is years away, but it sure does not look good.