If pitchers and catchers report to spring training, but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
It’s one thing for fans to be down on a franchise coming off another last place finish, but after an offseason of inactivity, even the national media is smoking this team.
USA Today has the Red Sox sitting at No. 19 in their power rankings, which seems a bit high, but also denotes the ranking is tied to expected hopeful reinforcements being added to the squad. They also gave the Sox a D grade for their offseason so it any sense of optimism comes with a grain of salt.
Yahoo! Sports did not mince words in their prediction of the potential dumpster fire on Landsdowne:
Season prediction: The Red Sox are worse than bad; they are forgettable and irrelevant. Their unwillingness to spend predictably backfires, and the pivot from former head honcho Chaim Bloom to Breslow doesn’t change all that much. The lack of superstardom beyond Devers (and Casas) leads to dwindling interest in the team, and by August, the city of Boston is watching preseason football. Very few people watch the Netflix doc, which, given the circumstances of the season, paints the Red Sox as a disorganized jambalaya of chaos.
So yes the Red Sox are projected to finish last in the AL East by just about everyone, which would accomplish a rare feat for the Sox as that would make it four times in five years and six out of the last 10! If they were to finish in last place yet again, that would mean the Boston Red Sox, over the course of a DECADE, finished in last place 60 percent of the time.
That is absurd.
Compare that to the Orioles who are only going to get better as a team stocked with young talent that already won 101 games last year, the Yankees improved by trading for Juan Soto, the Rays are coming off a 99 win season and always seem to find a way to win 90+ games, and the Blue Jays snatched away one of Boston’s few good players, adding Justin Turner to a team that finished 11 games ahead of the Red Sox last season.
Meanwhile the Sox offseason consisted of whiffing on Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and second tier guys like Aaron Nola in free agency while not even kicking the tires on reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell or World Series hero Jordan Montgomery, who as we all know has literally been hanging out in Boston all winter.
Are either one of Snell or Montgomery take it to the bank, guaranteed 30 starts and sub 3.50 ERA guys? No, but signing one of them would at least be signaling to the fan base that you’re going to at least try and be competitive and hopefully get some productive years out of players with legitimate track records.
Boston also traded its only representable defender in the outfield in Alex Verdugo to the Yankees, while letting productive veterans Turner and Adam Duvall walk for peanuts. They traded away oft injured, yet default ace Chris Sale in a salary dump for a second baseman in Vaughn Grissom who on his absolute best day profiles as a Dan Uggla cosplay. The Sox did bring in Lucas Giolito, who is now probably out for the season with a UCL tear, but this is the man who is best known for surrendering an absolutely preposterous 41 home runs in 2023. You wouldn’t hit that many dingers playing home run derby in Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball.
One of the highlights of the offseason was the Red Sox signing Liam Hendriks and the team Instagram pretending like it’s 2022 All-Star closer Liam Hendriks and not out (at least) through half of the 2024 season Liam Hendriks as he recovers from Tommy John.
Unsurprisingly John Henry declined to speak to the media at the start of Spring Training once again, which extends his vow of silence in official interviews all the way back to the post-Mookie Betts trade press conference. So Sam Kennedy once again stepped in as Henry’s stunt double, taking all the body blows. I was however shocked to hear Kennedy drop the nugget that yes ownership has in fact set parameters for new head of baseball ops Craig Breslow and he is operating within those parameters.
Breslow when asked why he didn’t sign any notable free agents in his first offseason:
What a wild, wild thing for ownership to let slip, essentially acknowledging huge expectations from the fan base, a vaunted history of success over the past 20 years, yet they will actually be shedding payroll. They actively cut payroll by 20% as if Boston isn’t a major market.
The Red Sox are going to be rolling the Six Million Dollar Man onto the field on April 9th
Rather than building for the short term and the long term in tandem, the Red Sox will instead rely on teenagers, minor leaguers, and top prospects all coming up through the system at around the same time (in the near to distant future) and all producing out of the gate like established big leaguers, and quickly becoming all-stars around the same time, and winning a World Series or four, all doing so before any of them can reach arbitration and ask for a raise.
Game 7 of the National League Championship Series is in Philadelphia tonight, and I am torn. Pulling for Texas in the American League Championship Series was a given. Picking a team to root for in the NLCS is a lot harder.
A lot of times in games like this, games that do not involve Boston and have no implications for a Boston team, I want both teams to lose. A recent example of that was last years Chiefs/Eagles Super Bowl. That’s not the case for tonight, though. There are good reasons to pull for each side tonight. Even Philly!
First, let’s take a look at Arizona. They are easy to root for because they are (checks notes) not from Philadelphia. It’s also fun to root for an underdog. Arizona was the last team in the playoffs this year and are one game away from the World Series. And while their current uniform offerings are a bit of a mess, millennials everywhere look back fondly on these beauties:
The Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen is also a local guy and former Red Sox front office executive. If that’s not enough, he recently re-upped with the D-Backs instead of potentially returning to the Nightmare on Jersey Street. Good for him, and enjoy the warm winters in the desert. And that brings us to the case for the Phillies…
Hazen’s last year in Boston was 2016, when he worked under Dave Dombrowski. Dombrowski of course is now the head baseball man in Philly. There are lots of reasons to root against Philadelphia in anything, including but not limited to the abhorrent behavior of so many of their fans. I’d sooner wear a Red Sox hat in the Bronx than a Patriots jersey to Lincoln Financial Field. But that’s not what this post is about. This post is about reasons to root for each side, and a win for Dombrowksi and the Phillies would be a great way to stick it to John Henry and the Red Sox.
Dombrowski was Boston’s top baseball man for nearly four full seasons (2016-2019). In those four seasons, the Red Sox won 58.3% of their games, including a team record 108 in 2018, three consecutive division titles for the first time in team history, and the 2018 World Series. He also hired Alex Cora in 2018, one of the top managers in the game today. In the midst of all that winning, though, I guess he didn’t pay enough attention to the farm system. And winning isn’t cheap. So for those crimes he was fired in September of 2019.
Dombrowski is a hall of fame executive. He is one of the last old school baseball guys and not an analytics-obsessed GM. It’s hard to forget how dirty the Sox did him when they showed him the door. His successor in Boston, Chaim Bloom, also met a similar fate as the Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer. While Bloom didn’t have nearly the success Dombrowski did in Boston, it’s tough to see a guy get fired for doing what he was asked to do (cut payroll, rebuild a farm system, and still field a somewhat competitive major league team). I say that as a guy who is only somewhat more hesitant than peak George Steinbrenner when it comes to making firings.
Which is why the Red Sox find themselves where they are today. There appears to be little interest from qualified candidates for what should be one of the best jobs in North American sports. So a win for Philadelphia tonight could be seen as a rebuke of the way business is being done in the Fens these days.
That being said, it’s also never a bad day when Philly loses. I just hope the light poles are greased.
Earlier this week I heard whispers of a new Taco Bell menu item being rolled out in a select market. As David Letterman used to say, “I just pray to God that your city has been selected.” Well, the fast food gods were smiling on me because my market was selected and that’s how I got my hands on the latest innovation from Taco Bell.
Well, it’s not really an innovation. The Bell certainly didn’t reinvent the wheel to pump out chicky nuggies. Even nacho fries, which I love, were a little more innovative. If anything, the dipping sauces were more innovative than the nuggets themselves.
My first thought when opening the box was “oh shit.” These nuggets looked strikingly similar to the worst fast food nuggets I’ve ever had the displeasure of eating (congrats Sonic!). But they were actually somewhat juicy and tender, and not covered in a Michelin Tire-like coating.
The nuggets themselves were not that much of a departure from your standard (non-McDonald’s) nuggets. I didn’t sense any special seasoning on them, like there is on nacho fries. But the sauces were surprisingly good. The two nugget dipping sauces were “Bell sauce” and a jalapeno-flavored honey mustard. The Bell Sauce tasted like thicker Taco Bell sauce you’d get out of the packet and was the better of the two, but the honey mustard packed good flavor and wasn’t too spicy.
Eating the nuggets dipped in the sauces was actually a similar experience to boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings.
So what’s the verdict? I wouldn’t go out of my way to grab Taco Bell chicken nuggets the way I would a Crunchwrap Supreme. But I won’t go so far as to say they serve no purpose. My guess is that Taco Bell chicken nuggets will be most popular in late night group orders. A good add on, or an option for the one guy in the car at 1 AM who doesn’t want a taco. I can’t imagine them being too popular with the younger set, though. (Sorry, dads who would rather a Chalupa than a Quarter Pounder when grabbing chicky nuggies for the kids.)
I didn’t order the meal, as I wanted 10 nuggets to try both sauces (could only do a meal with five nuggets). A 10-piece with both sauces ran me $6.99 before tax. Overall, I give the Taco Bell Chicken Nuggets a 5.8. Good, not great. Won’t go out of my way to grab these again, but I could see myself eating a few in addition to my next quesadilla. The dipping sauces helped the score. McDonald’s and the other chicken fast casuals do not need to press the panic button.
Absolute heartbreak city right here. Like most people that walk this fine Earth, I have never hit a hole-in-one. I did nearly sink one playing at Royal and Ancient Chappaquiddick Links on Martha’s Vineyard though. It was a Par 3 so it was feasible for an average golfer. Hit one of those shots where everything just feels perfect, one of those you get maybe once a round that keeps you coming back for more.
As I walked down the fairway I realized I couldn’t see my ball even as I neared the green, so I allowed the excitement to creep in. Did I just bury an Ace, on Amity Island in July no less?
I walked up and took a peak in the cup anddd it was not there.
It had actually bounced off the back of the green into some bushes and my wife made sure to chirp me for the misplaced confidence there. They say hitting a home run is the hardest thing to do in sports, but getting an Ace really should be at the top of that list. It can’t all be luck, right?
If the current 40 degree temperatures in Boston have you doubting it, hearing those two words and seeing the Azaleas in full bloom are here to let you know that spring has arrived and with it comes The Masters. If that wasn’t enough to get you ready to call out of work on Thursday, may I remind you that sports gambling is now officially legal in Massachusetts making this truly the single greatest four day span on the sports television calendar.
So who’s going to take home the Green Jacket this year? Let’s dig in.
All odds shown below are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook as of April 5th.
Favorites to Win The Masters:
Scottie Scheffler +650
Rory McIlroy +750
Jon Rahm +850
Tony Finau: +1800
Jordan Spieth +1800
Patrick Cantlay +2000
Justin Thomas +2200
Jason Day: +2200
Dustin Johnson +2200
Xander Schauffele +2500
Longshots to Win The Masters:
Tiger Woods +9000
Sahith Theegala +12000
Phil Mickelson +35000
Dark Horse Bets to Win the Masters:
Collin Morikawa +2800
Brooks Koepka +4000
Matthew Fitzpatrick +5000
Scottie Scheffler
Simply put, Scheffler went off last year with four wins, including The Masters, four runner up finishes, 11 Top 10 finishes, $14M in earnings, plus two more wins already this season. However, nobody has won back to back Masters since Tiger Woods did it back in 2002. In fact, over the last 16 years no defending champion has finished better than 12th at The Masters. So despite his blistering run last season, history is not on Scottie’s side here. With all that being said, Scheffler is the No. 1 golfer in the world for a reason and is still the favorite to don the Green Jacket yet again on Sunday. If you think the pressure is going to get to the resident Zen Master on tour, think again.
If you're overly stressed about work, life, or the future just remember this Zen Master quote from Scottie Scheffler. Phil Jackson would be proud.
Rory finished second to Scheffler at The Masters last year as the Green Jacket is the final major accolade that continues to elude him as he seeks to complete the career Grand Slam. I laughed out loud during an episode of the Netflix series Full Swing when after one of his kids points out a photo of Rory, he self depricatingly jokes “that’s back when Daddy used to be good.” So while he seemingly takes it in stride, make no mistake Rory is not taking it easy in Augusta this week.
Rory McIlroy says he's played 81 holes in the last 2 1/2 weeks at Augusta National.
Rahmbo is a threat to win any time he laces em up. Despite an uncharacteristic tank job last year when he finished tied for 27th, Rahm had finished in the Top 10 at Augusta four years in a row, with his best effort coming in 2018 when he finished fourth. With three wins already in the books for Rham this season, there are worse guys to put your money on.
Tiger Woods
Tiger may be going into Augusta at 90/1 odds, but don’t tell the patrons that because the five time Augusta champ is still THE fan favorite.
Couldn't believe the amount of people by 18 yesterday for Tiger. Picture's even wilder. This is a MONDAY. pic.twitter.com/1lbjfZaG9s
I’ll be honest, I always have a separate screen setup strictly dedicated to Tiger Watch even if he’s struggling and out of it on Day 1. Tiger himself even suggested he’s on borrowed time as he said in his Augusta presser, “I don’t know how many more I have in me.” Don’t ever rule out Sunday Red doing the unthinkable and taking over if Tiger is in contention come the weekend, but if nothing else make sure you truly enjoy watching Tiger Woods at Augusta while you still can.
Koepka seems to be rounding into form with two recent wins on the LIV tour, which has my gambling spidey senses tingling. Before a rash of injuries and an unceremonious jump to the LIV tour, Koepka was like a majors whisperer. The guy was absolutely money in major tournaments, even if he seemed to lack that same focus in regular tournaments throughout the season. I guess it makes sense you’re more focused and geared up for The Masters than say the Honda Classic, but it’s wild when you look at Koepka’s career stats. Of his eight career victories, half of those are majors. While Full Swing showed a Koepka at his lowest and seriously lacking in confidence, maybe the recent run of success on the Saudi tour has given BK the juice he needs to finally slip on a green jacket this weekend.
LIV Golf at The Masters
What comes as a surprise to absolutely no one is things have been a little awkward in Augusta between the LIV rebels and the PGA Tour rank and file. You’ve got stories of a famously gregarious Phil Mickelson not saying a word at the Champions Dinner and mainly keeping to himself, which if we’re being honest bums me out.
Of course there was more venom being spit back and forth between Greg Norman and Fred Ridley after Norman publicly complained about not being invited to Augusta this year despite having spent the last 12 months trashing the PGA.
Masters chairman Fred Ridley confirms that Greg Norman wasn't invited to Augusta National, unlike other commissioners of major tours. "I want the focus to be on the competition. I would also add that in the last 10 years, Greg Norman has only been here twice."
Now if you are the type of sports fan who doesn’t have a horse in the race and is just rooting for chaos, then you’ll want to keep a close eye on the 18 LIV golfers this weekend. Norman has already gone on record to say the LIV golfers will storm the 18th green in celebration if one of their guys wins. What are the chances of that chaos coming to fruition this weekend? Not super likely, but there are obviously some big names who have had success here with six former Masters champions on the LIV roster including Dustin Johnson (+2200), Phil Mickelson (+35000), Patrick Reed (+8000), Sergio Garcia (+15000), Charl Schwartzel (+35000), and Bubba Watson (+25000).
Of course Cameron Smith is a solid bet at (+3500) and we already talked about Koepka. Maybe Joaquin Niemann (+5500), Mito Peirera (+8000) or even Bryson DeChambeau (+11000) breaks through, but I’m not putting my money on it. Hell even Phil might be worth throwing $5 on at 350/1 odds! The biggest roadblock to any of the LIV players though is going to be the relative lack of competition they’ve been playing against since defecting.
Whoever you do decide to place your wagers on, do yourself a favor and spread it around on a few different golfers and maybe some Top finish bets because if you haven’t realized yet the final round falls on Easter Sunday this year. Just make sure you give yourself something to hang onto so you’re not shouting at the TV in front of grandma when your only guy is shooting over par before brunch is even finished.
Although it’s currently still 36 degrees outside, Opening Day at Fenway marks the real end of winter in Boston and despite the Red Sox projected wins total, it’s impossible to be in a bad mood today. In order to truly and fully move on to 2023 though, first we must take a look back at last season.
To be fair, the Sox were coming off a 92 win season in 2021 and an electric ALCS appearance so I may have gotten wrapped up in the hype a little bit.
This year expectations are, to put it nicely, circling the drain already as the consensus has the Red Sox finishing in last place for the second year in a row. With that being said, let’s not lose sight of all the positives that came out of the disappointing (and confusing) 2022 season. To fully appreciate the full picture of last year, take a look at the 5 Best and 5 Worst Parts of Another Red Sox Last Place Finish.
But, as they famously like to say, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.
So with that in mind, have a good deep belly laugh at some of the wildest moments, reflect on the bittersweet moments, get excited about the potential shown, and fire up some game day dogs for Opening Day baby!
Why does a semi-retired part-time blogger think he has the qualifications to speak on the goings on of the American business world?
Fair question. The two main things are I used to work in the recruiting/HR space and I also have been through four layoffs (surviving three) so I have a bit of a unique background in terms of discussing this specific topic. I just kind of “get it,” in my opinion at least.
To begin, it’s important to understand that anyone who works in a department outside of the groups that are actually making the company money (ex. in tech, the product teams, sales, marketing, etc.) works in a department referred to as a “cost center.” This literally means you are costing your company money for doing work that supports its operations. But you are indeed not making them a cent.
With that understood, here is my general view of what’s gone down.
Let’s first assume we all know companies (we’re going use the tech sector for this discussion) make stuff to make money. Right? And once the company and it’s original employees are making and selling so much stuff that they can’t do it alone lest they work 24/7 they start to hire people to do some of that work. Right? Makes sense so far?
Well over the last couple years (ish) companies have been doing well. They’ve been making and selling a lot more stuff. The money made from selling that stuff is called revenue. And as revenue has grown they’ve hired a lot more people to support the business. A lot of companies even predicted that revenue would keep steadily growing so they hired way ahead of their current numbers. They thought that sales would catch up with headcount and operational cost because of course they would! We’re killing it!
While this was all happening a lot of these companies also made a mistake that is becoming more and more common. You might have heard some variation of the phrase “stay close to the money” in terms of these layoffs the past few weeks. That phrase basically means, “don’t veer too far away from what made you make money in the first place.” And too many companies did not heed that advice. They decided to proof-of-concept (POC) or straight up begin building out new lines of business in which there was no guarantee of an actual revenue stream, let alone profit (more revenue than costs associated). So basically even if their normal revenue stream(s)/original business was doing well these pie in the sky side projects could be tanking their business. How exactly? Well what I failed to mention was the HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF FUCKING PEOPLE they hired to support them. So ya. Not great.
Now we cut to 2022 and these tech companies and 1. revenue and the overall operational business needs have not caught up to the amount of people hired. Yes, this does have to do with the economy to some extent because if their customers just had cash to burn they’d be like “fuck it buy a zillion software licenses.” But that’s only a small part of the problem. Then we get to 2. Those shiny side project that these companies have spun up are not making nearly the amount of money they thought, or any at all, so they are paying a fuckton of people to basically bury their business.
And this is where layoffs come in. As I mentioned it’s not necessarily an economic downturn. The business has just has too many people compared to what they need to operate the business at the “size” (how much stuff they need to make to produce the revenue they are creating) they are at.
And remember those “cost centers” we discussed earlier. Well when business are booming they tend to really invest in those areas. Because fuck it, why not? Isn’t it great for the brand to have a Sr. Director of Hiring Experience? Sure it is. It makes you look good to the talent market and shows you really care about your hiring process. Is it at all the fuck necessary to pay someone that much to do that extremely specific, not totally necessary job? Nope!
And so the fat begins getting trimmed. And it usually starts with the cost centers. It’s a recruiter massacre usually. Learning and development and HR usually get hit hard too. Then outside of the cost centers even middle of the road Marketing will generally also take it off the chin.
And then they come for those working on the projects making no money. Those ones we talked about. Sure, you’re a kickass Engineer/Architect/Product Manager, etc. but what you’re working on has spent two years costing the company money. Better hope the company could use your talents elsewhere or you’re out. And good companies will do that by the way. They’ll evaluate those getting cut and see if they can use them elsewhere. It sucks to lose someone excellent just because the exact thing they are working on isn’t a good fit for the company anymore.
Given that that is my take on layoffs in general, the other question is how to avoid them. Well, that really goes all the way back to your job search in my opinion. But I want to make it abundantly clear I am not picking on anyone’s career choices or trying to be mean. Do something you love and you’ll never work a day and all that, but you have to know when reviewing the ads for those Sr. Director of Hiring Experience roles that you will always be at tremendous risk at being “the first to go.” So rule one is finding a role that is necessary to the company, literally. The further you get away from that the more at-risk you’ll be.
Rule two is taking a step back and measuring how important the thing you are working on/supporting is to the company. Are you working on “the” product or a side hustle the CEO is trying to kick off for shits and giggles. I remember a killer engineer I recruited years ago that was working at a leading home coffee machine company. They were trying to create a new line of their very successful coffee makers that could basically be some sort of IoT of coffee machines? Or something? Ya needless to say he was pretty sure the whole unit he worked for was being laid off soon despite how talented he was. Rule Two basically states that again, even if it’s a cool new thing you’ll be working on at least make sure it has real market heat or is already making money or you’ll be at high risk to lay offs.
For Rule Three we take a final step back. This really applies to start ups (we are talking tech this AM). Here we ask ourselves about how viable the company itself here. Do normal or even slightly bad economic conditions support this company? If companies or people need to tighten their purse strings, will your company be the first to get dropped from their spending? Or maybe is your company a flash in the pan? I mean I feel horrible for the people let go at Peloton, but honestly how long was that ride going to last PUN FUCKING INTENDED BOO YAH. No but seriously it always sucks to see someone lose their livelihood but I can’t imagine thinking that the Peloton boom would last forever. Especially considering how much in-person group spin classes and studios were on the rise just pre-pandemic. So ya Rule Three, make sure your company has some legs and can actually make it.
Again, this was all one man’s opinion. If I can give myself and my brain credit for one thing it’s that I’m (and it is) the ultimate pragmatist. Don’t make things too confusing. Just admit when Meta and Google hired 10,000 recruiters and then watched shit slow down on them and move on. It’s going to happen from time to time.
Best of luck out there. It’s a weird and scary place in corporate America but not impossible to navigate with the help of some simple rules to follow.
The Boston Red Sox are once again at a crossroads when it comes to their organizational philosophy, which is something fans have heard before. The Sox are seemingly stuck between being the free spending free agency big players of yesteryear and the fiscally responsible, efficient, consistent machine they want to become.
The only problem with trying to find and capitalize on every market inefficiency is the boom or bust nature of doing so. Moneyball was the monster hit it was and something that made the sport cool to a generation of baseball “outsiders” because it took something nobody was investing in and spun it into a game in of itself; an entire team building philosophy for organizations. Except, the Red Sox knew that you couldn’t rely on the idea Moneyball alone or else they’d end up like the Oakland A’s; consistently pretty good but not enough star power to push a team over the finish line. So the Sox supplemented OBP diamonds in the rough like Kevin Youkilis and homegrown studs like Dustin Pedroia with highly paid superstars like Ortiz, Schilling, Damon, Foulke, Beckett and on and on.
Now this isn’t to say the team needs to abandon any notion of being creative while opting instead to sign every top tier free agent and trade away every Baseball America darling to essentially buy a World Series. Nor does the team need to go the complete opposite way and try to compete with a model that the Tampa Bay Rays have tried (and failed) to win with for decades.
But there has to be a balance.
The Sox have had Ben Cherington, Dave Dombrowski, and Chaim Bloom all in charge of building this team at various points over the past eight years. Three GMs/Head of Baseball Ops/Chief Baseball Officer or whatever you want to call it these days in eight years is going to make it difficult to find a consistent organizational philosophy and stick to it. Dombrowski and Bloom in particular could not be more antithetical from each other in terms of philosophy.
This goes all the way back to 2014 when the Sox opted to trade Jon Lester to the A’s when they realized they weren’t going to be able to resign him after failed negotiations. Lester then signed with the Cubs in December of 2014 for more than double what the Sox had initially offered him.
The Red Sox had seemingly adopted an organizational philosophy that they don’t sign players on the wrong side of 30 to mega contracts because the value just isn’t there. Not something I agreed with, but sure at least there’s a plan in place. (This is a notion that John Henry has bristled at as an overreaction from fans to comments he made in a 2014 Bloomberg Business article.)
In 2015, the Sox finished in last place, 15 games out of first with only one starter on the staff making 30+ starts and that was Wade Miley.
Just one year after Lester joined the Cubs, the Red Sox reversed course and signed 30-year-old David Price to a 7-year $217 million contract, which at the time was the highest average annual salary for a pitcher ever.
Now obviously the Price contract had its ups and downs as did the 4-year $67.5 deal for Nathan Eovaldi, as has the 5-year $145 extension for Chris Sale. There are pros and cons to building entirely through the farm system and market inefficiencies just like there are pros and cons (albeit more costly cons) of prioritizing top tier free agents.
With Xander Bogaerts skipping town for warmer weather and an astronomical $280 million payday in San Diego, the attention now turns to the impending free agency of another homegrown star in Rafael Devers. As Bloom was recently quoted on Rob Bradford’s podcast, the Sox are willing to resign Devers “if there’s something within reason, or even a little outside of reason.” As history has shown, reasonable may not be enough to get it done with a player of Devers’ caliber. After seeing what Bogaerts got paid, the Sox may have already soured on the idea of spending the dollars that a Devers deal will command, but the market is the market.
As Bill Belichick once famously said, “It’s just our job to do business as business is being done.”
It’s time for the Red Sox to truly decide what they want to be. Pleasing everybody simply isn’t possible, but frequently altering course every few years is a sure-fire way to anger everyone. So whichever direction it decides to go, the team needs to swallow hard and rip the band-aid off, commit to a course of action, burn the boats. Pick whichever figure of speech you prefer.
Whether we’re watching Rafael Devers playing in Petco Park or Fenway Park in 2024 will be the clear anemometer for the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox are fresh off of their fifth last place finish in the past 11 seasons. That is absolutely insane for a team with the resources it has and the scrutiny the Sox face year in and year out. Obviously you can’t win the World Series every year and nobody expects that, but you better believe Red Sox fans expect a playoff team every year. Or at the very least a team that is pushing for a playoff spot and not something half the city tuned out in August.
As the baseball season continues for the more fortunate and we all turn our attention to the Bruins and Celtics, I figured what better time to breakdown the 5 Best and 5 Worst parts of this disastrous season? I won’t lie, it was significantly easier (and faster) to make the 5 Worst List than the 5 Best, but as much of a flaming dumpster this season turned into let’s not lose sight of every positive development.
5 Best Parts of the 2022 Red Sox Season
1.) The Youth Movement Has Officially Arrived
The Sox had what some called the worst farm system in all of baseball just a few years ago to being ranked No. 11 in MLB this season. Great, hooray, lets throw a party, I know I know, BUT that tree is starting to bear fruit at the major league level. It’s still early as all three of these guys made their debut in 2022, but Brayan Bello, Triston Casas and to a lesser extent Kutter Crawford showed they are ready to produce at the big league level. Beyond that, there were legitimate showcases of some seriously elite budding talent at Fenway this season.
Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds say that Brayan Bello’s changeup reminds them of Pedro Martínez.
Then you add in Triston Casas, who has shown *prodigious* power and plate discipline along with a really calming influence over at first base defensively. Now we’re cooking with gas.
Top it off with young guys like Tanner Houck (3.15 ERA) and Kutter Crawford (led the rotation in SO/9) and the Red Sox suddenly have some legitimate young talent on their roster, which is something they’ve struggled to restock in recent years.
2.) This Team Isn’t *Too* Far Off
This isn’t a roster that is so bad that it requires a complete tear down. In fact the Red Sox aren’t all that far off from returning to serious contention. Despite their complete cratering after the All-Star break, they were one of the top 3 teams in the AL in the first half so with a couple of key moves in free agency (read: open the damn wallet) and some (any) actual good fortune with injuries, this team could be right back in the mix next year. There will ample opportunity to shore up the rotation this offseason with free agents including guys like Jacob deGrom, Carlos Rodón, Just Verlander, Chris Bassitt, and that’s before we mention their own guy Nathan Eovaldi.
As for the lineup, after getting Kike Hernandez back from injury, Casas getting called up, and when Trevor Story is actually healthy, this is still one of the better lineups in baseball when at full Megazord power. Xander Bogaerts and Raffy Devers showcased what the heart of the Red Sox order can look like for the next 5 years IF the team is smart and extends both players.
Obviously when I say “this team isn’t too far off” it implies that only remains the case if they stop pretending to be the Tampa Bay Rays and crack open John Henry’s piggy back, but there is a clear path back to contention.
3.) Garrett Whitlock is the Real Deal
Arguably the biggest pro of the 2022 season was Garrett Whitlock proved his success last year wasn’t just a flash in the pan. However, the Sox did exactly what I didn’t want them to do with Whitlock: jerk him back and forth from the bullpen to the rotation. Shockingly, Whitlock’s body didn’t hold up and he hit the IL multiple times before ending his season early to undergo hip surgery. By all reports it doesn’t seem like a major surgery so he should be fine for next season, but the Sox *have* to pick a role for Whitlock and stick to it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I want him in the rotation. I understand the game has changed and there is less of an emphasis on starters, less pitchers going through a lineup three or more times, and a greater value placed on middle relievers. But that doesn’t change the fact that a top of the line starter is going to give you 200 innings vs maybe half that for a workhorse reliever. Whitlock is incredibly valuable out of the bullpen because he is lights out, but that value was magnified because the Sox just didn’t have many other reliable relievers to turn to this year. Shore up the bullpen with actual, legitimate additions, set Whitlock up to be a top of the rotation starter and lets go.
4.) Michael Wacha Was a Revelation
If you recall, I was not all that optimistic about Wacha coming to Boston because it had been a while since he was an effective MLB starting pitcher. But, I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong and when healthy (my god I am saying that a lot today), Michael Wacha was arguably the best starter on the team. Wacha finished the season at 11-2 with a 3.32 ERA in 127.1 IP and 104 strikeouts. Having signed a one-year contract for this season, the Sox need to bring this guy back.
Simply put, this is the Chaim Bloom experience. Bloom’s roster management is reminiscent of me walking into Marhsall’s. Sometimes I find really solid workout clothes that are comfortable, affordable, and even name brand. Sometimes I buy a pair of jeans for $12 dollars that rip right down the middle after a couple of times wearing them, ya know because they’re $12 jeans. Once in a while I get a real gem, like the time I found a rare throwback red Patriots Tom Brady jersey for just $20. So there are days I find absolute gold for $20, other times I walk out with an absolute piece of shit that I know I’m probably never going to wear more than once. But like Chaim Bloom, I’m never going to stop shopping at Marshall’s. In case this was too dense to read through, Michael Wacha is the red Brady jersey and the $12 jeans are the $10 million James Paxton contract (0 IP in 2022).
5.) Uhh..
5 Worst Parts of the 2022 Red Sox Season
1.) Finished in Last Place, Yet Again
The Boston #RedSox finished last just once from 1933-2011.
The Sox (72-81) now are on verge of finishing last for the 5th time in 11 years.
It certainly has been feast or famine for Sox during this stretch: 4 first place finishes. 2 World Series titles. 5 last-place finishes.
As I mentioned earlier in this blog, this is the fifth time the Red Sox have finished in the basement in the last 11 seasons. If the two World Series titles sprinkled in over that same period have caused people to overlook the low times, then the tweet above should hit you like a sledgehammer. The wild fluctuation of this franchise from top of the mountain to dumpster fire year after year would be impressive if it weren’t so maddening. For a team with a $200M+ payroll it’s just not acceptable to finish in last place. In fairness the division is much improved from the days when it was a two team race between the Sox and the Yankees back in the day, but the Sox finished a whopping 21 games out of first place.
2.) Absolute Abysmal Record vs AL East
This division has grown into one of the toughest in all of baseball, but the Sox got absolutely walloped by their division rivals this year, going 26-50 vs the AL East. If you can’t keep pace with your peers, take advantage of a distinct home field advantage at Fenway, AND finish behind the perpetually rebuilding Orioles, then something is seriously wrong.
3.) Chris Sale Injured Yet Again
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, just wait until Chris Sale is back, Chris Sale will be better than any trade deadline deal, the Chris Sale injury isn’t considered significant etc. etc. I love Chris Sale so this isn’t Sale Slander, but at 33-years-old and after six(!) years in Boston, he is what he is at this point in his career. Coming back from another offseason injury (broken rib, Tommy John, take your pick) Sale pitched only 5.2 innings this year after a comebacker broke his pinky in just his second start back. I actually felt bad for Sale after this one because it’s just one thing after the next for a guy who clearly relishes pitching in Boston and just wants to be on the mound. With that being said, anything the team gets from Sale here on out has to be considered gravy; not something the team can rely on. In 2021 Sale pitched just 42.2 innings, 0 IP in 2020, 147.1 Ip in 2019, 158 IP in 2018, and 214.1 IP in 2017.
It doesn’t take an economics degree to see the trend line there.
So while I love Sale, I am not banking on him to be the savior of this rotation anymore. It’s negligent to do so at this point. The Sox need to act as if he’s not coming back and build a pitching staff that if Sale does come back healthy then the team will have a good problem finding him some innings. We’ve seen he can still be a highly effective pitcher, he just isn’t someone the team can bank on for volume.
And it wasn’t just Sale either, injuries absolutely killed this team with a ton of games missed by him, Kike Hernandez, Trevor Story, Nathan Eovaldi, Garrett Whitlock and others. If this team can get a little bit of luck with health next season then it’ll make a world of difference.
4.) Somehow STILL Finished Over the Luxury Tax
This is probably the most inexcusable part of the entire last place finish. If you want to clear up dead money and acquire some lottery ticket prospects in the meantime, fine. If your owner ties your hands because of luxury tax penalties so you can’t make any big money moves until the books are in order, then fine. But all of those moves are only tolerated by fans because of the promise that it’s building to something in the near future. To finish in last place, trade away key players, let key free agents walk, and STILL finish over the luxury tax that is the definition of insanity. Moves like eating JBJ’s salary just to scoop up a couple of prospects did not help, made only worse by Bradley playing so poorly that the team ultimately released him. Compare that to the guy we traded away for him in Hunter Renfroe having a career year (28 HR and counting) for a fraction of the price. Oof.
5.) Chaim Bloom’s Plan
In fairness, Bloom does seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place. He now runs a BIG market team and works for an owner who loves to be frugal and efficient and smarter than everyone else, yet is *notorious* for flip flopping on organizational philosophies. Remember the whole mantra about how the Red Sox don’t commit big deals to pitchers over 30? That quote got raked over the coals when the Sox finished in last place their first year without 30+ year old Jon Lester (who flourished for Theo Epstein’s Cubs), and the team immediately signed 30-year-old David Price to a 7-year $217M contract. So I get it that his boss may be moving the goal posts on him a bit, but we are now three years into the Chaim Bloom experience.
It is truly put up or shut up time for Chaim Bloom because I do not want to hear any more talk about his five year plan.
It’s been an up and down tenure for the new face of the Red Sox as the team was surprisingly successful last year reaching the ALCS with a team nobody expected a deep run from. Then came the regrettable Hunter Renfroe trade, the bad gambles on injured free agents, playing stiffs at first base for two years while not even bothering to try and resign Kyle Schwarber (46 HRs for the Phillies and headed for the World Series), the near mutiny in the clubhouse when they didn’t bring in any reinforcements this year, dumping Christian Vazquez, attaching top prospect Jay Groome instead of eating salary in the Eric Hosmer deal, the lowball offer to Xander Bogaerts followed by an entire season of drama and I can go on and on and on.
October 28th marks three years since the Red Sox hired Bloom so its time for the drastic organizational shift away from the Dave Dombrowski (also World Series bound with the Phillies) philosophy to start showing dividends.
Bonus No. 6) Dennis Eckersley Retiring
I could write 10,000 words about Eck and what an excellent broadcaster he is, but for now I’ll just say what a bummer it is to see him go. It was a surprising announcement from Eck mid-season that this year would be his last as he wants to move back to Cali to be closer to his grandkids and for that I can’t fault him. However, that doesn’t make it any less sad to see him go, which I think hit harder for Sox fans as they’ve now seen Eck, the late great Jerry Remy, and Don Orsillo leave the NESN booth in just the last few years. The Red Sox broadcast has a steep, uphill battle to find a crew that comes even close to the entertainment, energy, and chemistry that those three guys displayed on a nightly basis over the years with whoever was beside them. We’ll miss ya Eck, don’t be a stranger.
Damn, another legend gone too soon. RIP to Coolio, who died yesterday at the way too young age of 59. I’m not going to tell you I knew every song in Coolio’s catalogue, but Gangsta’s Paradise is a first ballot Hall of Fame rap song. Released in 1995, Gangsta’s Paradise hit No. 1 on the charts and earned Coolio a Grammy for his efforts. The view count on the music video alone is north of one billion. That’s billion with a B.
If you really want to have your mind blown, check out the original source that Coolio sampled for the song: Stevie Wonder.
Coolio is one of the first rappers I remember seeing at a young age and just immediately understanding oh this guy is ice cold cool. As an entrepreneur Coolio was pretty ahead of his time as he understood crossover appeal and the benefit of tapping into audiences that may not have been as familiar with Compton rappers. Case in point, the absolute banger of a theme song for Kenan and Kel.
Not to mention linking up with Cartoon Network to do a rap about Dexter’s Lab.
And if you’re not into rap, but are somehow still reading this blog, Coolio was the basis for one of Weird Al Yankovic’s most well known parody songs, Amish Paradise. So there’s that. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all.
The 300s 