Certainly the most likely scenario. The Sox just never felt Bogey was anywhere near what BorA$$ wanted. Maybe part of their decision was based on thinking he'd never get close to what was demanded, and if that's the case, they sure got that wrong.
If their setting value system was so far off, at least on Bogey, there is a chance they are proven right, but it seems like all the big ticket players are being grossly overpaid, so a choice needs to be made, or already has been made, to either bite the bullet or go with more second tier FAs over frontline ones. Maybe not quite the extreme quantity over quality I've been calling it but never top quality, if it is expensive.
To win under that system, you gotta have an incredibly strong farm system- top to bottom. Scouts, developers and people able to spot the right guys to trade for. The RHerns, Binelases and Winckowskis aren't getting the job done.
It took the Astros many years to get to where they got, and tanking for a few made it go more quickly than it will probably take the Sox, but it does look like that part of the planterm. has been the highest priority since day one of Bloom's term. It's hard to know, if we'll ever come close to the talent the Astros system churned out and is still churning out, but it does look like we are trying to get there, and often at the expense of the here and now ML team. We've traded no top prospects under bloom and even during DD's last season. That's 4 years.
I'm hopeful we'll start seeing results from the farm, this year, and most of Bloom's farm additions are slated for arrival in 2024 or beyond, but most fans don't really want to hear about 2025 and beyond hopes and dreams. They don't even want to wait until 2024. I don't either. I thought this could be the winter- Bogey or no Bogey, where we flip from quantity to quality, but for some reason, the Sox top brass has a different view or plan.
They won't be honest about their plan, and that makes it worse. For some reason, they think lying and deceiving the fanbase will make things better. They couldn't be more wrong. I'm not sure they know how or have the will to change their stripes.