Official Boston Red Sox Thread - 2023

[The Viking]

Of note tonight, in the MLB draft they picked 14 and ended up with arguably the best catcher in the draft - Kyle Teel out of University of Virginia. Some had him going in the top 5 or 6.
Good defender who should stick at the position and a great hitter.
Their biggest weakness from a positional standpoint in the minors may have been the catcher position and they just took a big step at fixing that.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Of note tonight, in the MLB draft they picked 14 and ended up with arguably the best catcher in the draft - Kyle Teel out of University of Virginia. Some had him going in the top 5 or 6.
Good defender who should stick at the position and a great hitter.
Their biggest weakness from a positional standpoint in the minors may have been the catcher position and they just took a big step at fixing that.

Was very happy with that pick. I'd lose my mind if they took another HS SS. They are loaded at SS, and I remain convinced Mayer is one of the reasons they let Bogaerts go.

Now, if they can just develop more pitching. Bello has been a really nice success story. Hoping Houck can come back and become one as well. Feels like they haven't developed a really good starting pitcher since Lester.

 

[Husky25]

Was very happy with that pick. I'd lose my mind if they took another HS SS. They are loaded at SS, and I remain convinced Mayer is one of the reasons they let Bogaerts go.

Now, if they can just develop more pitching. Bello has been a really nice success story. Hoping Houck can come back and become one as well. Feels like they haven't developed a really good starting pitcher since Lester.

Nope. They waited until the 2nd and 3rd rounds to pick high school SSs. Though I read a write up that Antonio Anderson (3rd Rd.) projects to 3B or 2B with 20 HR pop. Two more SSs came in the 5th and 6th rounds, though they at least have college experience.

My guess is they think that because SS is the position requiring the most general skill (while P and C requiring specialized skill.), most should be athletic enough to adapt all over the infield, plus a couple outfield converts.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Nope. They waited until the 2nd and 3rd rounds to pick high school SSs. Though I read a write up that Antonio Anderson (3rd Rd.) projects to 3B or 2B with 20 HR pop. Two more SSs came in the 5th and 6th rounds, though they at least have college experience.

My guess is they think that because SS is the position requiring the most general skill (while P and C requiring specialized skill.), most should be athletic enough to adapt all over the infield, plus a couple outfield converts.

That's what I think too. They have done it with Mookie, and have seen Kike shift to OF as well. Several of these SS look like the bigger kind, 6' or more, which suggests they could move to 3rd or an OF spot.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Just when this team was showing something and making a move, they lose two straight, including a bad outing from Bello. Need to right the ship and get back to winning.

 

[HCCForever]

Just when this team was showing something and making a move, they lose two straight, including a bad outing from Bello. Need to right the ship and get back to winning.

Made even worse because they lost to Oakland.

 

[The Viking]

I don’t see a move they could reasonably make to make them world series contenders so it almost might be a blessing that they peeter out near tbe deadline instead of making a trade involving young kids that they might regret.
Paxton and Bello putting up stinkers within a few days is a bad omen. But there are still 11 days so who knows.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I hate the Sox, but this is pretty cool:

https://x.com/tylermilliken_/status/1693781843701539230?s=46&t=gFmtuv3Oqurwb9NhRvnJ5w

 

[HuskyHawk]

Sweep the Yankees, lose two straight to Houston. They just can't get over the hump.

 

[Husky25]

Sweep the Yankees, lose two straight to Houston. They just can't get over the hump.

In fairness, one is 5 games under .500, just "suffered" their longest losing streak in 40 years, and the other is currently headed for the playoffs.

They also just hung 17 runs on Houston to earn the split.

 

[HuskyHawk]

In fairness, one is 5 games under .500, just "suffered" their longest losing streak in 40 years, and the other is currently headed for the playoffs.

They also just hung 17 runs on Houston to earn the split.

Would have been nice to have some of those runs in the prior games.

 

[HCCForever]

Would have been nice to have some of those runs in the prior games.

Yes, it would. Unfortunately that is not how baseball works. Season has exceeded expectations for me. 3.5 out of a Wild Card spot with 34 games to go. They just need to play well this weekend as the circus comes to town with Mookie and the Dodgers.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yes, it would. Unfortunately that is not how baseball works. Season has exceeded expectations for me. 3.5 out of a Wild Card spot with 34 games to go. They just need to play well this weekend as the circus comes to town with Mookie and the Dodgers.

Season has been about what I expected. I didn’t anticipate the Mariners being good and I expected the Yankees to be better, Toronto maybe a bit worse. Always thought the Sox had a shot at a WC.

 

[HooperScooper]

Chaim Bloom gets the axe according to Jeff Passan. I blame ownership just as much for the mess they're in. Bloom is the just the fall guy.

https://x.com/JeffPassan/status/1702358743835382178?s=20

 

[Waquoit]

Chaim Bloom gets the axe according to Jeff Passan. I blame ownership just as much for the mess they're in. Bloom is the just the fall guy.

Ownership gets most of the blame. But Bloom was horrible. He just never got Boston.

 

[HCCForever]

Ownership gets most of the blame. But Bloom was horrible. He just never got Boston.

I agree that Bloom is the fall guy. I am quite sure that he followed the direction of the ownership in most cases. At least their farm system is improved according to what I read and the luxury tax was reset.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Ownership gets most of the blame. But Bloom was horrible. He just never got Boston.

I agree that Bloom is the fall guy. I am quite sure that he followed the direction of the ownership in most cases. At least their farm system is improved according to what I read and the luxury tax was reset.

I'd suggest Boston never got Bloom. But yes, the owners caused it. He built a really strong group of prospects and the Sox will soon be very good. But too many fans get caught up in big names. Orioles are terrific and nobody knows any of their players. Ownership simply isn't honest with the fans about the strategy. Bogaerts should have been traded for pitching.

Time to find somebody else, but please not the Dombrowski type that spends recklessly and burns the whole farm system. The goal is to a playoff team year after year.

 

[Waquoit]

I'd suggest Boston never got Bloom. But yes, the owners caused it. He built a really strong group of prospects and the Sox will soon be very good. ...

Time to find somebody else, but please not the Dombrowski type that spends recklessly and burns the whole farm system. The goal is to a playoff team year after year.

My brother tells me that only 2 Bloom draft picks are in AAA. And neither of those two are in their top prospects. He was an incredible failure.

And if only the Sox could find another Dombrowski? How many of the prospects he traded ended up any good? Whaddya want picks or pennants?

 

[The Viking]

In baseball it takes awhile for prospects to move up the ranks.
Boston’s AA team is absolutely loaded with Bloom picks - a lot of whom will be up in Boston by 2025.
Bloom did a great job making them a top 5 farm system and outside of Devers they have no long term deals on the books so they have great payroll flexibility unlike when he arrived.
On the flip side it’s leaked out in the last 24 hours that he was always slow on pulling the trigger on deals including not trading sale last year because he didn’t like the prospect package even though the other team would have taken his ENTIRE salary.
So in closing he’s great at building the farm and building in a lot of analytics stuff n the org but at the big league level his inability to pull the trigger in trades was what did him in.

 

[HuskyHawk]

In baseball it takes awhile for prospects to move up the ranks.
Boston’s AA team is absolutely loaded with Bloom picks - a lot of whom will be up in Boston by 2025.
Bloom did a great job making them a top 5 farm system and outside of Devers they have no long term deals on the books so they have great payroll flexibility unlike when he arrived.
On the flip side it’s leaked out in the last 24 hours that he was always slow on pulling the trigger on deals including not trading sale last year because he didn’t like the prospect package even though the other team would have taken his ENTIRE salary.
So in closing he’s great at building the farm and building in a lot of analytics stuff n the org but at the big league level his inability to pull the trigger in trades was what did him in.

This makes sense. I like the way he built the farm system. But roster construction? Turning the dozen future MLB middle infielders we have into other players? He's not been good at that. People complain about the wrong things. If he could have dumped Sale, he needed to do that ASAP. Signing Hernandez made little sense to me. Story was a grasp to get a big name at the one position we didn't need.

The team is in really good shape for next year and beyond. Somebody is going to have to move some pieces around to get a more complementary roster.

 

[HCCForever]

This makes sense. I like the way he built the farm system. But roster construction? Turning the dozen future MLB middle infielders we have into other players? He's not been good at that. People complain about the wrong things. If he could have dumped Sale, he needed to do that ASAP. Signing Hernandez made little sense to me. Story was a grasp to get a big name at the one position we didn't need.

The team is in really good shape for next year and beyond. Somebody is going to have to move some pieces around to get a more complementary roster.

The team may be in good shape for positional players. But where is the starting pitching?

 

[HuskyHawk]

The team may be in good shape for positional players. But where is the starting pitching?

It's what they need to trade some of that minor league depth for. Not Mayer, but they have more middle infielders than can ever play for them.

 

[The Viking]

I’ve been saying this for awhile but I think all along under the Bloom regime THIS was going to be the off-season where they finally spend on a big FA or two. And yes I’ve always thought they were a silent under the radar team for Ohtani- as long as Ohtani is willing to come East.
Or if they want to spend a ton on pitching they can outspend anyone on the Japanese pitching stud who is about to come to the US.
I see the Yankees are heavy on him as are others but no team has the history of spending AND payroll flexibility over the next 5 years that we do. Especially with the young kids who have already showed up in the past 12 months and the ones incoming in the next 1-2 years.
Lots of low salary potential coupled with spending big on the right players.
The irony that everything bloom worked on to get to the spending part of the plan is finally here and he’s not around to do it.
But perhaps that’s for the best as he has shown to be too indecisive when it comes to major league decisions.
A GM who is a combo of Dombrowski and Bloom would be the perfect hire right now.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I’ve been saying this for awhile but I think all along under the Bloom regime THIS was going to be the off-season where they finally spend on a big FA or two. And yes I’ve always thought they were a silent under the radar team for Ohtani- as long as Ohtani is willing to come East.
Or if they want to spend a ton on pitching they can outspend anyone on the Japanese pitching stud who is about to come to the US.
I see the Yankees are heavy on him as are others but no team has the history of spending AND payroll flexibility over the next 5 years that we do. Especially with the young kids who have already showed up in the past 12 months and the ones incoming in the next 1-2 years.
Lots of low salary potential coupled with spending big on the right players.
The irony that everything bloom worked on to get to the spending part of the plan is finally here and he’s not around to do it.
But perhaps that’s for the best as he has shown to be too indecisive when it comes to major league decisions.
A GM who is a combo of Dombrowski and Bloom would be the perfect hire right now.

I expect them to bid high on the pitcher from Japan. But the Yanks may be desperate.

A smart GM would invest in scouts in Japan and try to identify these players earlier and get them cheaper. It’s long been a benefit to big money teams that they have way more scouting staff in the Caribbean and Central America.

They really are close and the kids that came up did they job.

 

[Waquoit]

They really are close and the kids that came up did they job.

Close to what? The playoffs? This roster is bereft of major league talent and there is no pitching in the minors. It's years from contending. Four years of shedding talent without replacing it will do that.