Red Sox (Sandoval) vs Rays (Jax): 09/20/26, 1:40 PM

[Maxbialystock]

12 hours ago, FredLynn said:

I don’t expect us to win a ring every year-not even close. I expect us to be in the conversation nearly every year. Not three last place finishes in five years. This year we had the horses to compete. No one knew Crochet and Anthony would get hurt. Add another good bat or two over the winter and we could have been serious contenders. Except our owner is too cheap and our GM isn’t competent enough. I don’t care that we lost tonight. These bums aren’t going anywhere this year.
Another one and out.

Actually, we're not so far apart in terms of expectations.  I think the post-Dombrowski downslide was a combination of descending payroll, new and inexperienced CBO (Bloom), and, I believe, JH's intent to try a different way.  At the end of the movie Moneyball the brand new owner (JH) of the Sox tries to hire Billy Beane (with a record breaking salary offer) to duplicate the sabermetrics genius that made the Oakland A's so successful in 2002.

As it turned out, JH, who already had MLB and MiLB ownership experience, pretty much stayed with a high payroll and gave Epstein a pretty free rein which in fact led--thanks to his smart GM/CBO's--to those 4 WS wins and especially 2018, the best Sox team ever DD as CBO and the Sox with the highest payroll in MLB.

In 2019 the Sox still had the highest payroll in MLB and didn't even make the postseason, mostly because the pitching collapsed.  Also by 2019 the smartest program in MLB belonged to the Tampa Bay Rays, who had their ups and downs but consistently made it to the postseason with low payrolls.  

If you're JH you  see tons of examples of high payroll-low performance teams out there.  The Mets especially, but the Yankees, owners of 27 WS titles, are not the Yankees of old despite consistently high payrolls.  True, the Dodgers have a big payroll and consistently terrific teams--and their CBO was the mastermind of the Rays before the Dodgers hired him.  Even so, they have just 2 WS to JH's 4 since 2003.  

Back to not signing more big bats last offseason.  Do you remember Devers and his .900 OPS last year with the Sox when as DH he never missed a game?  He left in June and the Sox took off and finally made it back to the postseason.  They dumped his $35M x infinite years and got better.    Smart.  They also didn't re-sign Bregman for $35M x 5--which the Cubs with their 7th biggest payroll were happy
to do.  The Cubs are having a pretty good year--as is Bregman with his 14th best WAR in MLB--but, like the Sox, they will be a wild card with their record of 87-70.  They are 3 games ahead of the Sox.  

I honestly don't think JH is a cheapskate.  I think he's a smart businessman who has already proven himself as an owner--he didn't just end the 86 year curse, he added 3 more WS--and now wants to try a different way by letting Breslow emphasize pitching over hitting and going with small ball.  That approach is completely antithetical to the entire history of the Boston Red Sox.  Fenway is a ballpark for hitters.  

[FredLynn]

5 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Actually, we're not so far apart in terms of expectations.  I think the post-Dombrowski downslide was a combination of descending payroll, new and inexperienced CBO (Bloom), and, I believe, JH's intent to try a different way.  At the end of the movie Moneyball the brand new owner (JH) of the Sox tries to hire Billy Beane (with a record breaking salary offer) to duplicate the sabermetrics genius that made the Oakland A's so successful in 2002.

As it turned out, JH, who already had MLB and MiLB ownership experience, pretty much stayed with a high payroll and gave Epstein a pretty free rein which in fact led--thanks to his smart GM/CBO's--to those 4 WS wins and especially 2018, the best Sox team ever DD as CBO and the Sox with the highest payroll in MLB.

In 2019 the Sox still had the highest payroll in MLB and didn't even make the postseason, mostly because the pitching collapsed.  Also by 2019 the smartest program in MLB belonged to the Tampa Bay Rays, who had their ups and downs but consistently made it to the postseason with low payrolls.  

If you're JH you  see tons of examples of high payroll-low performance teams out there.  The Mets especially, but the Yankees, owners of 27 WS titles, are not the Yankees of old despite consistently high payrolls.  True, the Dodgers have a big payroll and consistently terrific teams--and their CBO was the mastermind of the Rays before the Dodgers hired him.  Even so, they have just 2 WS to JH's 4 since 2003.  

Back to not signing more big bats last offseason.  Do you remember Devers and his .900 OPS last year with the Sox when as DH he never missed a game?  He left in June and the Sox took off and finally made it back to the postseason.  They dumped his $35M x infinite years and got better.    Smart.  They also didn't re-sign Bregman for $35M x 5--which the Cubs with their 7th biggest payroll were happy
to do.  The Cubs are having a pretty good year--as is Bregman with his 14th best WAR in MLB--but, like the Sox, they will be a wild card with their record of 87-70.  They are 3 games ahead of the Sox.  

I honestly don't think JH is a cheapskate.  I think he's a smart businessman who has already proven himself as an owner--he didn't just end the 86 year curse, he added 3 more WS--and now wants to try a different way by letting Breslow emphasize pitching over hitting and going with small ball.  That approach is completely antithetical to the entire history of the Boston Red Sox.  Fenway is a ballpark for hitters.  

How does the Flops record (which I provided here) satisfy your expectations that we are in the conversation for a ring nearly every year? Three last place finishes in four years? Only one record higher than third? 
You’re smarter than that Max. The record since 2018 sucks. It has to be better and until the cheapskate owner sells the team we won’t win another ring. He won’t spend on talent. 

[Maxbialystock]

On 9/23/2026 at 7:08 PM, FredLynn said:

How does the Flops record (which I provided here) satisfy your expectations that we are in the conversation for a ring nearly every year? Three last place finishes in four years? Only one record higher than third? 
You’re smarter than that Max. The record since 2018 sucks. It has to be better and until the cheapskate owner sells the team we won’t win another ring. He won’t spend on talent. 

I don't at all disagree with the expectation that the Sox should be in the conversation.  In fact I fully agree they flopped in 2022, 2023, and 2024.  But I chalk that up to a new CBO (inexperienced) and JH's intent to spend less on the payroll.  I also chalk that up to his enthusiasm at the end of Moneyball for hiring what he thought was the best GM/CBO in MLB precisely because the A's won so much in 2002 with a low payroll.

Right now the Sox are 12th in payroll and appropriately headed for the postseason.  However, right now I expect them to lost all three to the Cubs and the first 2 games to the Yankees because their hitting seems broken beyond repair (this season).  So, yes I'm also disappointed with this team even though their pitching is terrific.  

Overall, as I keep saying, JH has my support because of ending the curse and winning 4 WS.  He is trying something new with Breslow and it is working on the pitching side but not on the hitting side.  

[FredLynn]

37 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

I don't at all disagree with the expectation that the Sox should be in the conversation.  In fact I fully agree they flopped in 2022, 2023, and 2024.  But I chalk that up to a new CBO (inexperienced) and JH's intent to spend less on the payroll.  I also chalk that up to his enthusiasm at the end of Moneyball for hiring what he thought was the best GM/CBO in MLB precisely because the A's won so much in 2002 with a low payroll.

Right now the Sox are 12th in payroll and appropriately headed for the postseason.  However, right now I expect them to lost all three to the Cubs and the first 2 games to the Yankees because their hitting seems broken beyond repair (this season).  So, yes I'm also disappointed with this team even though their pitching is terrific.  

Overall, as I keep saying, JH has my support because of ending the curse and winning 4 WS.  He is trying something new with Breslow and it is working on the pitching side but not on the hitting side.  

I expect BresLOW to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.....improve both the pitching AND the hitting in one off season. It could have happened. It didn't. As a result we are not serious contenders for a ring this year and haven't been for a long time.