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While true, it as never an either/or situation. I would not have minded both. But I keep expecting Ottavino and his control issues to implode...

Given your track record with short term predictions, are you really going to stick your neck out on a long term one? A farm system can be turned around very quickly. Epstein did it brilliantly in 2005 and again in 2011. We just need a GM who not only knows how to draft, but also knows enough not to ignore the international markets. Not to mention, the Sox are a large market team that is clearly willing to spend. They don't have to depend on their farm system to the same extent Tampa does...

He improved the pitching rotation superficially. But there was and still is nothing below the top 5 starters. While you can argue the injuries to Sale, Eovaldi and Price were unlucky, they were hardly surprising. Sale ended 2018 with some concerns. Price has had his issues since coming to Boston. And Eovaldi is a frequent visitor the the DL/IL. The bullpen has actually been a pleasant surprise in some ways. I keep expecting Marcus Walden to fall apart, but the man is a Phoenix, repeatedly rising from the ashes of his own poor performances. Workman is having a career year. And Barnes, while up and down, was probably relied on too heavily by Cora early on. And now Josh Taylor looks like he might be carving out his own little niche for 2020. Still, the overall plan to grab a backup 1B in stead of another arm to give more depth in case anything went wrong strikes me as a very poor decision, especially since (unlike me) Dombrowski was aware of the Sox' financial situation. But really the bottom line is this team has struggled since March, and while getting Cashner was a nice idea, we really have not seen anything else from Dombrowski. Rome was burning, and there was Dombrowski, fiddling away with Chris Owings and Joey Curletta. Meanwhile, the Yankees have the best record in the AL, and Cashman still isn't sitting still. Sure, it's extremely unlikely David Hernandez, Tyler Lyons and Trevor Rosenthal contribute in any meaningful way this year, but they are joining his ever-growing fleet of lifeboats. Meanwhile, the Sox have decided to sink or swim with whoever was on board in March and cling to the mantra "they need to play better." And that tactic is simply not working...

Now that i look at this statement again, that is a massive oversimplification. The 2014 team came in last place. The team might have been "incomplete", whatever that means, but you can't go from first with the same team without a massive change in the player's performance. The Sox only lost two players, and while Ellsbury was still good, he wasn't so good that subtracting him changed the team by 25 wins. And the other player lost was Ryan Dempster, the fifth starter...

While people like to re-write the history, Dombrowski did want to keep Cherington on as his GM. But Dombrowski also wanted to expand his own role to handle the MLB roster, which apparently did not sit well with Cherington. That Dombrowski promoted Mike Hazen to replace Cherington, and Hazen was largely limited to minor league development, just shows the role Dombrowski wanted Cherington to fill within the organization...

Why would Henry feel wounded by the Crawford deal? It was actually a good idea for the Sox; it just didn't work out. But at the time, Crawford was coming off an MVP-caliber season, and the Sox probably suspected re-signing Ellsbury would not be easy, as he had rebuffed several extensions and his agent (Scott Boras) was notorious for advising players to go to free agency. To me, it looked like an early attempt to replace Ellsbury at the top of the lineup with an elite leadoff hitter. Sort of a pre-emptive strike, and probably smarter than waiting out Ellsbury and settling for whoever was the second best leadoff hitter the following season. The idea was good; the results were not. I doubt Theo comes back. Right now, a return to the Red Sox is a lateral move at best. Why goi from being President of Ops of one large market team to President of Ops of another, and one you have already worked for? If Epstein goes anywhere after Chicago, I would expect him to try a different challenge. When your reputation is for ending long standing title droughts, who is next? you ended the two mot famous ones already. He might have to try to end a smaller market one. Like Cleveland or Seattle. The Sox might even consider just promoting Assistant GM Eddie Romero. He's been with the organization a long time and is from a baseball family (dad played for the Sox). And if Henry wants someone he knows, Romero certainly qualifies. The Sox have certainly had no issue promoting internally to GM before, with Epstein, Cherington, and the oft-forgotten Mike Hazen. In fact, during Henry's tenure, the Sox have had six GMs. He inherited Duquette. Mike Port was an external hire from the Arizona Fall League, where he was President, but he had some GM experience with the Angels. (The Sox later promoted Port to VP.) Epstein, Cherington and Hazen were all internal promotions. And then Dombrowski, who has the dual title of President of Ops/GM, and who was really hired to replace the recently fired Larry Lucchino for the former position, but took over the GM role when Hazen accepted the Diamondbacks GM position. So really, internal promotion seems to be what his history dictates...

Your prices are a little less than reality considering that player would probably not settle for a 10 year $350 mill contract, and in fact has a 12 year $430 mill contract already...

Why not? The DH is an important position. It's not where you put players you want to give a day off to. Would you sign a closer to a $22mill contract before a DH? Assuming each is the best in the game at their respective positions? Who would you give $22mill to first - JD Martinez or Aroldis Chapman?

But the bottom line is, if reputation counts as "the deveil he knows", it opns up the field of candidates for Henry. Most of the larger markets higher GMs with some sort of reputation and track record anyway. Really, if anything, Henry's hire of Epstein shows him to be a bit bolder in that area than most of the other large market teams might have been...

That’s not really a fair statement. Despite a long history of team ownership, he hasn’t had a lot of GMs. And he did make an offer to Billy Beane before hiring Epstein. Other than the offer, he had no professional connection to Beane...

It’s different this time. I’ve added wild teenage party imagery. That’s new. Also it’s not about defending Cherington as much as it’s about criticizing Dombrowski...

Even I agree with that...

I don’t think I’m in the BC Fan Club so much. It’s more of my anti-Dombrowski stance from this year...

Yes if he can do his job and hit like JD. If JD played 1b or LF but was a terrible fielder, would that make him worth $22mill?

Oh cp. Pull up your pants and put away the ruler. I hope Sale bounces back, but I had trepidations about the deal at the time. Not unique to that deal; the same ones I have with any mega contract given to a player 30 or older. I just hoped Dombrowski did his due diligence. And he probably did, despite it not working out. You’re right. We shouldn’t compare Dombrowski to Cherington. Dombrowski isn’t even close, and today was a good lesson in how hypocritical the yardstick is. Cherington’s teams failed? That’s all on Ben. But when Dombrowski’s team fails, it’s on the players. Now what I saw happen was Cherington take over the Sox after a horrific collapse with a team that quit on everyone. Despite dominating the AL through August of 2011, they just quit. That same team largely came back and continued to suck. Same team, but underperforming. Sound familiar? When a good GM like Cherington has a team like that, he pulls of the boldest Trade in team history. He shakes things up. And, despite getting back basically nothing in that trade, still won a World Series 14 months later. Dombrowski? What does he do when the team doesn’t play as well as expected? Anything? Dombrowski inherited a lot of good players and a good farm. But he’s essentially that rich kid with a big allowance whose parents went away for the weekend. He spent everything he had to keep the party going, and when it stopped being fun, he quit on us all and is now ready to have someone else clean up the mess. He’d just assume the help get the vomit out of the chandelier and drain the beer from the fish tank...

That appears to have been Dombrowski’s exact stance...

While a player’s trade value is completely dependent on what another GM thinks he is worth and nothing else, http://www.baseballtradevalues.com values Chavis as being worth $12.0 million, which makes him tradable for maybe a Chris Bassitt. I wouldn’t bother if that was the case...

It’s not the guessing wrong that bothers me. It’s the absolute nothing that followed the bad guesses..,

I’m usually among the last to give up /as well. This year, it’s a two person race to see who gives up last. Kimmi vs Slasher. And right now that race is more interesting than the Sox postseason hunt...

Not really. They can all afford the lofty ticket prices...

He’ll probably be on the team next year, but I don’t think much should be expected, except for his annual long trip to the IL...

Well, he gave you half of that...

I think his $8.8mill salary for a Gold Glove fielder/part time hitter just isn't in the budget for a lot of teams. There are plenty of good glove CF's out there who make a lot less...

Well, my rant is about the condition and lack of depth for the SP. I think we all at least had questions about Sale and Price after 2018. Or should have. And expecting a full season from Eovaldi is simply not wise. Where was the depth?

I typoed that. On my keyboard, the "8" and "9" are right next to each other...