5GoldGlovesOF,75

I said from the beginning they know, and the extensive intensive (to some here, pensive) interview process is just for show.

He was in charge when a trio of prospects were developed by his people to make solid contributions to the big league team. He acquired another trio of bargains who were really good for one season or stretch drive: a reliever, a power hitter, and a starting pitcher... ... the problem is that he only signed one longterm, Whitlock, and let Schwarber and Wacha walk away. This was very uncharacteristic of any Red Sox team during modern times -- to find an obvious fits to the puzzle, then leave them out and try to frame the picture with holes in it. And the worst thing he'll always be remembered for isn't three last place losers; it's Mookie Betts. It ultimately doesn't matter if it's the owner's fault or the player's fault -- it happened on Chaim Bloom's watch.

Ever try sifting rapid-fire through bargain bins? Those plastic lid handles have to click shut, lest moths sneak in and chew holes in the fabrics.

Baaaaaah -- four years living in Boston, running the Red Sox! What youngish baseball-lifer-wannabe can turn that down. They need to stop recruiting Ivy League elitists and scour the community colleges instead. There are plenty of capables who would jump at the chance -- and probably never lose the energy or the buzz for the job.

I actually didn't research this, but lived it. Hodges basically started three Gold Glovers at C-SS-CF every game -- Pitching and DEFENSE, Rot Sox -- and a .340 batter in LF.

Can't believe how many baseball execs have families! ... really, it's only been a few decades since Theo was the youngest GM ever. Before Epstein, the Old Boy Network of Empty Nesters ruled the majors for too long.

No more damn rescues! Bloom is history. Bring in some purebreds -- and not from a puppy mill!

Earl Weaver didn't invent platooning, but he did have team employees go through box scores and scorebooks to break down all his batters' splits vs. RHP/LHP to help make line-up decisions. Presumably, he did the same with his pitchers vs. right/lefty hitters. Of course, it could be said Earl learned a huge lesson getting upset in the '69 Series by Gil Hodges and the Miracle Mets, who platooned over half their batting order in every game.

Fair point, and definitely a ratio that has trended more lately. Though looking at close-ups of Bochy and Baker in the ALCS, gotta wonder about their ratios -- not what they agree to, when they accepted the jobs... but what really drives decisions: 50-50? 49-51?

I'm giving him credit for promoting and giving big roles to Bello, Casas and Duran. But if Nick Yorke ever makes it, the next GM has to be acknowledged some for his development. Yorke was Bloom's stealth first-round California high school pick in 2020, signed for less than physical specimen Jordan Walker (chosen four picks later). Luck has to be involved for the Rangers taking Evan Carter -- now batting third in the ALCS -- from a New Jersey high school 33 picks after Yorke, and inking him for less than half of what Yorke and Walker got... right?

You can cite quantitative data all day on pitching and hitting in the NL West ballparks compared to in the AL East ballparks. But there are qualitative differences, which may be hard to accept unless you've played competitively in each or talked to guys who have. I am sure many posters here have researched a guy like Trevor Story, and his stats playing in Colorado. There might even be forum members who would agree that a young Rockies' pitcher with mediocre numbers may be more successful if he joined the Red Sox -- even facing the mighty AL BEasts. The Rox pitching staff would be worth a look by a new GM seeking to recruit some hidden potential (if you can pitch there, and stay in the Show, you made it). A lot of media attributed Baltimore's surge this year specifically to moving back the leftfield fence in Camden Yards. Pitchers were more aggressive -- on the mound, and agreeing to join the O's.

In the postgame, Pedro Martinez said some closers struggle in non-save situations (what a poor excuse-maker). Even if a closer can't close a tie game. Papelbon was similar, and even admitted it in the booth this summer.

How's this for security: come to Boston to work for four years in a major MLB market -- and we'll pay you for five years. Here's a million dollars. If you win, you'll be a legend -- or at least, have a career in baseball as a sought-after exec. If you lose, you'll still be a millionaire. Naaahh, I wanna pick my own manager!

... and very vulnerable when not pitching in a save situation.

It's a factor that is presumably turning some candidates off, and one that also favors those with collegial connections with Cora. For example, he played on teams with or for external candidates like Breslow or Ng. Anyone agreeing to interview already knows that working closely with AC will be high on the list of job duties.

That's not silly, if we also acknowledge that maybe -- just maybe -- the tepid Red Sox pin cushions make all those AL East MONSTERS just look better than they actually are.

New perspective: since we all acknowledge that organizations develop prospects into big leaguers... shouldn't the guy in charge at the time get more credit -- even if he didn't draft the kid?!? If Dombrowski gets credit for not trading Devers or Benintendi when they were prospects, then maybe Bloom should get more credit for the progress that advanced Bello, Duran and Casas. We can't blame Bloom and his people for not turning Springs and even Braiser into stud pitchers, without giving them credit for guys they kept that made it. In a few years, what if a new Baseball Chief -- let's call him Breslow -- converts Nazzan Zanetello into a lights-out lefty reliever? Will Bloom be redefined as the hero for drafting him? ... I know, extreme case... but the whole ideal of taking all those best-player-availables is that they won't all stay at shortstop their entire careers.

When it comes to Red Sox GMs, being decisive, going all in on free agents or trade targets, is perhaps a most important trait. Spending really isn't the issue, but who they spend it on. Duquette landed Manny, Pedro, Damon (among others) -- and no one thought they weren't worth the investment. Epstein spent like a drunken Dombro, hit or miss -- for every Schilling and Foulke, there were Camerons and Gagnes -- but when he didn't want to keep a Cabrera or Renteria or Lugo, he never stopped, adding an Alex Gonzalez or Stephen Drew... Todd Walker became Mark Bellhorn -- get back, Loretta... Kevin Millar was going to Japan, but Theo redirected his flight. Cherington collected a lot of good vets that coalesced together to win a title. But his later acquisitions were bad fits: Hanley in left, Rusney in the majors, Pablo anywhere in a Sox uni... As a GM, Bloom was maybe most similar to Ben (sans the ring). Both were tasked with huge salary dumps, and Chaim's big expenditures, like Story and Yoshida also look like awkward investments -- so far. But what separated Bloom from his predecessors and made him an ultimate failure was his inability to lock down better bets with market value contracts, or swing deals for others under control by parting with prospect capital. Some might blame ownership on his roster-building. Then again, isn't his roster-building the reason he was fired?

Protect any pitcher with promise. Let somebody else draft Paulino and not trade him at the deadine.

Billy never made contact with Reggie, because Yogi jumped in, and Bill White pulled them apart. But as the Twins skipper in '69, Martin decked 20-game winner Dave Boswell at a bar. Minnesota got swept by the Orioles in the LCS that year and the next, then never sniffed the postseason for another 17 seasons... before winning it all twice, while Red Sox fans punched each other.

The A's and Yanks featured fistfights among teammates all through the Seventies, and still won half the World Series. It didn't work as well when Manager Billy Martin punched out his own players.

Fredo declined an interview for family reasons.

It's hard to compare the two staffs with stats, since balls fly in AL West air found in places like Arizona and Colorado. But Boston has to pitch in the OMG AL EAST -- the greatest division in history that never won a single postseason game in 2023!

I got a million of 'em (well, not so much anymore). I know a PHD who got scammed out of some funds on her cellphone... even with her husband yelling in the background not to give out any account numbers over the phone. "It's ok," she said, "It's the bank..." The fraudsters had cloned the bank phone number that showed up on her caller ID.

Kennedy was sold on Bloom, after Sam saw the name of the author of the top two books on Yale's reading list, the Iliad and Odyssey. "This guy studies Homers!" he told John Henry. "Don't hire anyone who studies Whiffers..."