The Red Sox are buyers
Just like last season the Red Sox tripped over their own feet heading into the All Star break. Their record against the AL East is 12 and 26. They have yet to win a series vs the division. Over all they stand at 48-45 and out of the playoffs. Two weeks ago they firmly held the #1 wild card spot.
Injuries have desolated their pitching staff. At one point in July every starter was a rookie. The bullpen has blown more games than I can count, but statistically sit somewhere in the middle with a 3.90 ERA, 1.26 whip, etc. With Whitlock getting back into his normal position hopefully it sures up the back of the bullpen a bit, but no promises.
Last season Bloom went out and traded low end prospects for an injured Schwarber and made a salary dump in order to stay under the tax line to bring back Hansel Robles from the Twins. To his credit those moves worked for the most part. Robles was dog shit at first, but straightened out to a reliable arm in the late innings. They nearly blew the season before Schwarber could actually get into the line up but once in there he mashed. I can’t say the experiment at 1st base was a total win.
Should we expect the same buy low magic from Bloom this season? Based on John Henry’s latest comments I think it’s the best we can hope for.
SOURCE Red Sox owner John Henry said the team is “still in a building mode” and is “concentrating on building our organization from top to bottom,” according to Alex Speier of the BOSTON GLOBE. Speier writes the “future is similarly uncertain.”
If we are being honest with ourselves the Red Sox are 4 pieces away from a true contender. First base, Right Field, Back end Bullpen (one maybe 2 high end arms), plus a starter now the Sale is hurt AGAIN. That’s not a deadline I’d expect to see, but I’m like Dr. Big Mac 20 years ago looking at my dick. I’m just asking for a little movement.
Could they at least get a big league first baseman though? After almost 2 years of piece mailing the bags of shit at that position and passing on Rizzo last year? Something at least respectable please. Josh Bell from the Nats is the latest rumor. He’ll do! Oh, and a big league arm for the bullpen is one of the easiest positions to find. It’s also the most sought after. David Bednar, Pirates, is the guy at the top of that list. Vets like Chris Martin or Robertson from the Cubs are probably more in the wheel house. That even may be shooting high for Bloom.
So, the Red Sox are buyers but they are still shopping from the bargain bin. If they are only willing to pay Raffy Devers, the leader for AL MVP, best under 25 year old player in the game, over all stud $168 million over 8 years why would they over extend for a dead line guy just to get them bounced in the playoffs?
SOURCE Prior to the start of the season, the Red Sox and third baseman Rafael Devers engaged in some extension talks that didn’t yield much progress, as the two sides were reportedly around $100MM apart in their floated prices. Some more details on the negotiations were shared by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, who reports that the Sox viewed Matt Olson’s extension with the Braves as a possible model for a Devers deal.
Olson signed his eight-year, $168MM extension (with a $20MM club option for 2030) just a day after Atlanta landed the first baseman in a blockbuster trade with the Athletics. Both Devers and Olson are in the same service-time class, and were under control through the 2023 via a final year of arbitration eligibility.
Are we sure this approach is best? Could they benefit more from selling off the guys who won’t be here next year? Unrestricted free agent list looks like this:
Xander Boagerts
Nathan Eovaldi
JD Martinez
Kike Hernandez
Christian Vazquez
Matt Strohom
Everyone of those players would have a different level of value to a contending team. Each bring back a different level of talent. Could we not find some young MLB arms to throw into the equation? If the new plan for Henry and Bloom is to truly build this from the ground up they would sell. But, they are too chicken shit to ship a Bogaerts or Eovaldi out of town. They couldn’t handle the PR.
As fans we have to hope the players themselves can over achieve on the expectations the club set for them and the roster they were handed. Hey, maybe they’ll surprise us and pony up Chaim’s precious prospects for Soto?
SOURCE “Early unconfirmed speculation is that the Nats would request a team’s top four prospects and/or young major leaguers and perhaps a willingness to take Patrick Corbin’s bloated contract,” Heyman wrote. “With this kind of player, almost anything in the ask should be considered fair game.”
And maybe I’ll stop drinking. Neither are bets I would take.