sk7326
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Everything posted by sk7326
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Meh. The Story signing was okay in that you don't anticipate his arm would fall off his body. The team doesn't want to spend until they can sustain a winner - but is there evidence they are spending on the infrastructure to make that so? Going to the Tampa example, they spend a TON on their scouting ... largest pro scouting staff in baseball. Now this stuff is harder to know - but you'd like to see evidence the Red Sox are using their financial muscle somewhere.
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The ultimate story with Betts is that if the Red Sox could not/did not want to (I think the answer is a little from column A, a little from column show Mookie the bag, they should have traded him at the 2019 deadline. It would have taken a lot of organizational PR courage, more than this ownership typically has shown.
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It is a terrific return considering the handcuffs ownership placed on the trade.
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I'd like to have faith. But the team has just not been able to put together a real run. And they have not feasted on the balanced schedule like we all expected. Indeed they are 16-11 against the East after last year's 26-50 debacle. They just have not cleaned up against everybody else - and they have been particularly lousy in Interleague. (though the New Normal interleague means the AL does not have that inherent lineup advantage)
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Heck I'm not sure the Cardinals are going to give up. I think the Cardinals are much more likely to be buyers - if they sell, it will be small because they (correctly) think they should be good next year.
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Bloom spends more on hitters than pitchers due to safety. Chris Sale has of course vindicated this position many times over. Maybe he should have taken a more aggressive approach to adding outside pitching. That said - if you look past the noise for the signal - our pitching has actually been quite good. And Cora has been consistently very good at handing the controls there. Bloom's issue has been nearly totally ignoring the whole "catching the ball" thing despite that being an absolute lynchpin of what makes Tampa go.
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The major league roster has been mostly plate spinning. The minors there has been more done. Looking askance at the operation for not producing a major league stud is unfair. Seeing a lack of All-Star ceiling in the system at AAish is a fair thing to note. One thing I think in your analysis that is worth mentioning is that your generosity is based on taking the ownership budget cuts as a given - I respect that. Personally, I think those ownership budget cuts are part of the soup the last 4 years (even if outside of Bloom's purview) and has to be part of the "is our Red Sox doing a good job" question.
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They have not generated "hope"
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There were issues - but the Red Sox are a team that can make the money machine go brrr on all fronts (pro scouts, amateur scouts, math nerds, on top of payroll) ... that fans account that in expectation makes complete sense to me. I mean there will be seasons the team doesn't win 90 games - but those should be looked at as disappointments.
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Bloom overall has done an okay job. That said, an architect of the Rays' machine - with the Red Sox resources - ending up just kind of spinning plates out there, is a bit of a bummer. The obvious comparison is to Bloom's mentor Friedman with the Dodgers - but that is a bit unfair considering the Dodgers were in better shape in 2015.
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I don't blame him for stuff that has happened before him ... and I understand he is kind of executing a very muddled ownership position. But sure with what he had and with the resources he has - and the nature of baseball contention itself - being a big league afterthought 4 years in does reflect badly.
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This is where moon is right - there was no farm for Bloom to trade anyway. But you'd like to see some of the development work bear fruit ... and the team has not been nearly aggressive enough when they have had chances to sell. I also understand 2020 threw off the development pathways a lot.
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The way the playoffs have gone historically? Of course making the playoffs means you have a chance at the ring. This ain't the NBA. But the more important point is - the fans I think are totally justified expecting 2021 to be the sort of floor for a team like the Sox.
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In year 2 they made the playoffs - and in baseball, that's all you need given how bonkers the playoff tournament is. I am sympathetic with Bloom to a degree - he has been left holding the bag for a lot of ownership choices. I think ownership is trying to recover but squandered a lot of goodwill with some of those choices.
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The Paxton starts are fun - good for him ... but he is 34, and will he be an integral part of the next truly good Red Sox team? The Bello starts aside, this has been a thoroughly unremarkable team with a thoroughly unremarkable record.
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THAT is the immensely depressing part of the missive.
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I am! And I don't take back any of it. The team could go on a run. There is more org pitching than there has been in a while. Casas is coming along. But also taking inventory at the 82 game pole: 40-42 5 games out of the a playoff spot with 4 teams to hop over, two of them being the reigning ALCS participants I'm a fan before the rest of it with regards to the Sox. And from that aesthetic perspective, where is the juice here? Right now - it's the Bello starts and that's about it. Shows how spoiled folks like me were with the buzz surrounding Pedro Martinez starts and so on.
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As much as the 40-42 record is just how uninteresting the team is ... it really feels like I can just go out and mow my lawn or something in between Bello starts and not miss anything. I almost want them to just promote Rafaela so there is something fun.
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One mitigating factor of course for Boston is that they have gone 40-39 against the 2nd toughest schedule in the league to date. (the Rays SoS is 22nd per ESPN) How much that ultimately matters - who knows.
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Wait ... you didn't think one of the architects of the Rays machine (the forefather of the current Dodgers machine) was not a good choice to run the Sox?
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Trivia notes and questions (some of which may not be answerable)
sk7326 replied to Bellhorn04's topic in Other Baseball
Pedro's 1997-2000 is probably the best I'll ever see a pitcher do it. And that is fully acknowledging Clemens' ridiculous output (insert PED opinion here), The Big Unit, and Maddux's elegant brilliance. Like Pedro's 1.74 ERA led the majors by almost a full run. Kevin Brown was 2nd at 2.58. In the American League, Pedro was almost 2 full runs clear of 2nd place! (Clemens 3.70). Clemens was closer to 34th place among qualified AL starters than he was to 1st! -
It is always worth remembering that in his first exposure to the bigs, it looked more or less like Dustin Pedroia was totally incapable of playing major league baseball. Then 2007 happened, and the next year he was the MVP. The progress on Casas has been slow - but it has been real. He has always had command of the strike zone - but now he is making more regular contact. I don't worry as much about the defense - but he has to get a bit better there. He is hardly the main culprit of the Sox' wretched defense.
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If it was easy, everyone would do it. And good teams by definition have fewer chances at blue chippers. The team has got more interesting pitching in the org than in a long time - but the ceiling is questionable. Bello's development is a very good datapoint in the team's corner tho
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I guess. But - honestly - was there REALLY a part of this team ex ante you thought "we've got this". The nice thing is I thought the pitching and the offense both had chances to be above average to good. But I did not think either was a given. Even if I picked 84-78, it felt like a 90 win season was a 90th percentile outcome for the talent level, particularly without Story.
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Yeah. The irony is that even with the injuries, the pitching has largely been fine. Basically the 2nd quarter of the season has been an inversion of the first. Early on, the offense was good and the run prevention was ho-ho-horrendous. Now it is kind of the opposite.