Hugh2

That's absolutely 100% correct, good post, I fully agree here. I think if anything John Henry needs more scrutiny going forward as well. But, I still wonder, what's normal here? I don't have anything to compare it to. 8 out of 18 or 20 guys have said yes to an interview. That's roughly 1/2 maybe a little less. Is that normal, below average, or above average when looking to hire someone from a pool of candidates whom many already have jobs??? The reason I ask this, and I don't expect any of us to truthfully be able to answer it is I wonder just how much trouble they actually are in here. If it's average, or even a little below I don't think they are. I don't truly know that though. I'd imagine guys who are already in positions of similar stature are going to be far and wide less interested. You're asking a guy to make a sideways move and move his family across the country for probably only marginally more money. This kind of answers 700a's question but this is why you see a lot of guys who have real front office experience but maybe in a lesser role take on these jobs are throw their hats in the ring for an interview because this is the job the dream about and have been working up the ladder for. If you're vice president, or assistant GM in another organization, the odds of you being interested in this job are a lot higher than they are if you're already the head guy. This is why guys like Kapler and Breslow are getting a look, they do have real F.O. experience and Breslow allegedly has a very good reputation in the industry and is considered to be on the rise. He might be a much better candidate than people realize.

Well, he has front-office experience. So, he fits the bill.

But that's my point, when has this ever become a huge media story? and how many people are going to turn you down when a large pool of candidates already have good jobs with family and careers on the other side of the country. There's a difference between putting out an ad to advertise a job to people who are looking for one, and an entirely different thing to go try and poach people away from other careers. Inherently it's obviously true you're going to get a LOT more no's from that latter concept, but how much is normal and how much of this is a concern? Whats a normal amount of people to say no? 1 out of 2, 1 out of 4? I have no ideal. I don't think any of us do. Last time the Sox went looking for a guy to fill this role they didn't even look, they had their guy in Bloom.

Does it negate the strategy overall? because a good strategy can fall short of expectations one year and exceed them the next. E.G. Ok maybe Jordan doesn't amount to much, but what if Roman Anthony becomes an absolute stud?

I'm not saying that the 3 guys in 12 years aren't having an impact on their search, as a matter of fact, my opinion is starting to be persuaded to buy that argument but I still think it hasn't been as bad as the media has hammered home about. At this point, it's probably not anything a few extra million and a little sweet talking couldn't cure for most people who would otherwise be interested in the job. But, you certainly do not want that reputation around town. Still, I can't help but contemplate how often a process like this has been so heavily reported on. I'm not sure what people should expect when you're trying to hire for a position and you're asking people who already have jobs to come to fill the position. How many of the people turning down interviews don't have gigs in 2024 and are actively looking for a job? Why would a guy from the southwest want to move his family AND leave an organization that is on the up and currently in the playoffs? Now, I know there are reasons to say yes. Very little incentive to make that move if it's not a promotion but these executives who are VPs and on their way up are the types of opportunities they wait for and many, not all, anticipate some kind of regional to national uprooting. Do any of us really have an ideal of what is a normal number of candidates to ask to interview and how many decline? I certainly do not.

He also gave out sizable contracts to Story and Yoshida as well. Not monster deals but, if that is the price range you have to work with he could of signed much better than Kluber.

People who have been interviewed include: Eddie Romero Paul Toboni Michael Groopman Neal Huntington Thad Levine Craig Breslow Am I missing anyone????

Let us throw our hats in the rings with some predictions. Let us not debate it there's plenty of that going on in the other threads. Let's see who gets it right. GM: Craig Breslow Head of Baseball Operations: Eddie Romero

Well I don't agree to that at all (slams fist into table)

That was my point. Zanatello is a short stop though, at least for now he primarily is.

It doesn't really matter, it's completely besides the point. There have been other players available the last several years. Bloom seemingly always got outbid, he was never willing to budge, and when you're NEVER willing to do so you will miss out on your guy almost every time. It's like having a crush on a pretty girl at school and being surprised when someone else is dancing with her.

You know what I meant.

How will they? or how could they?

Because certainly this front office wouldn't lie to us. I think they like Cora, and want to keep him and it's likely he'll be here next year. I put stock in those comments BUT I don't believe for one second this front office wouldn't turn on Cora if the winds change.....and they may or may not be depending on how this search plays out.

I think if your extreme case you would credit the new guy, because he is the one who had the foresight to switch him to pitching. However, you also bring up a good point in that if DD gets credit for not trading Devers, then you can say the same about guys now. Does Bloom look not as bad years from now if Casas turns into a perennial middle-of-the-order bat??? Although, I also wonder how much of that would be and how much of that would be the internal coaching staff. But yeah, in terms of "taking all those short stops" think about this. Besides Zanatello, who will probably be the inverse of Rafaela, playing mostly SS with some CF and has serious upside. I believe his primarily playing ss now but here is the rest. Antonio Anderson - drafted as a SS has played only 3B in the field since being drafted Kristian Campbell - drafted as a SS has Played primarily 2B since being drafted. Justin Riemer - drafted as a SS and has not played yet but is rumored the organization will play him mostly at 2nd. Campbell has also seen some time in leftfield, whether or not he moves there the Sox realistically have drafted one short stop who is now a short stop in pro ball at the minor league level. One.

Look at the cap space we have, and also consider that you don't need to go out and get Kluber. In the spirit of my point, the point is the Sox could have got someone like Efflin if they really wanted to. A gm with Daves mindset would have just signed Efflin. Now call that what you want, we can debate all day if that's good or bad and talk about the long-term ramifications of such actions but that's how he was. Ultimately that's Bloom's biggest weakness, he's unwilling to move off of his position of value more so than anyone else. That seems like a good trait at first glance, but too much of that and you become unreasonable and hard to bargain with. And, according to rumors that's exactly how the industry perceived Bloom. If you are an owner, and you want to start making some serious moves (whether it's trading or buying) and your guy has that reputation, you kind of understand you HAVE to move on from that guy. Even if you think he did a good job. As a business owner and manager, I can respect that concept.

I mean 2-2 and 2-1, It literally can't be anymore even at this point in time.

I agree someone could have done better than Bloom. How wide is that margin? I think it can vary depending on what the FO gives you. I don't think anyone would of had much more success than Bloom had given what he was BUT, I think that's probably a stronger argument for Blooms first two years than his last two. Despite the budget concerns and "mandates" coming from Henry.....it's not like he turned the Sox into the Oakland A's.

I also for one second don't believe that if all these GMs turning down the job or interview are doing so largely because they can't pick their manager the brain trust wouldn't get rid of Cora in an instant. Of course, this saga isn't over. Maybe we do see Cora go.

The difference is instead of missing out on Efflin by a few million he would miss out on Nola/Snell/Montgomery/Ohtani by a few more million.

If Henry plans on going cheap in 2024 then he should have let Bloom play out his contract.

People can be very smart and horrible employees. I know this for a fact myself. You have to be smart enough, but after that you gotta do your job and not be a dick to the bosses family.

I partied a lot down in New Haven in my younger and more vulnerable years. I had a lot of friends who attended Southern which is also in New Haven. We use to ravage Yale parties, I remember walking into a rager once with two of my friends and we took 1/2 their alcohol while they stared right at us and my friend said to him "ain't so smart now are ya". We were dicks.

I think this is an inaccurate description of Bloom. Bloom didn't have a hard time deciding, I actually think his mind was SO made up on things that prevented him from being able to make any decisions that could have benefited the ballclub. "what? Efflin wants a few more milliion. NOPE, this is what I have him valued at" Having a hard time deciding something and making bad decisions are two entirely different things.

Sometimes these people have very little social skills because they're geniuses. literally, almost everyone getting in there is valedictorian. Aint no dummies. But I'm sure you've met a big enough sample size of Yalees to tell us otherwise. But intelligence is relative anyway. Show me one of the smartest man in the world and let's see how well he does if you air-drop him in the Congo. An ant is probably smarter than him there.