Rosenthal: Red Sox ownership shares blame for disappointing offseason teams

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I can’t defend Chaim Bloom. Not for his missing a trade deadline. Not for his uninspired work so far this offseason. But Red Sox ownership deserves as much if not more blame for the franchises’ current inertia. Bloom, the leader of the baseball team, shouldn’t be the only punching bag.

The Mets are spending big because owner Steve Cohen is pushing general manager Billy Eppler. The Padres keep adding stars because owner Peter Seidler empowers GM AJ Preller. Yankees Hal Steinbrenner extended to keep Aaron Judge. Even Cubs Tom Losses of Biblical Proportions Ricketts woke up from a long slumber to clear a $177 million deal Saturday with shortstop Dansby Swanson.

The Red Sox under owners John Henry, Tom Werner and Co.? They haven’t reacted to the changing market, a market in which stars get decade-long contracts. Going back to Mookie Betts, Sox owners have been opposed to such contracts. They will have to adjust their philosophy to compete for top talent, including their own third baseman, Rafael Devers. Otherwise, they’ll have to trust Bloom to thread the needle, which he failed to do.

Yet despite all of this, the Red Sox insist that all is well.

We remain optimistic that we will field a very competitive team with a chance to play baseball in October and win a World Series in 2023, absolutely, team president Sam Kennedy told me on Saturday before the Red Sox did lose Swanson, a player they were interested in. (Kennedy is the owner group member designated to speak on behalf of Henry and Werner, who rarely speak to each other in public).

Bloom talked in winter meetings about adding seven, eight, nine, maybe more players than we had after 22. At this point the Sox added six four relievers plus the infielder / DH Justin Turner, 38, and Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida, 29. , which many in the industry believe was overpaid by $90 million for five years. They hit on early attempts to land first baseman Jos Abreu and right-hander Zach Eflin. And they outbid a player they said they wanted to keep, shortstop Xander Bogaerts, by about $120 million.

It’s only December 19. Bloom told The Athletics Chad Jennings that the Red Sox are very, very actively exploring trades. But as is often the case with the Sox, most clearly demonstrated by their pursuit of Bogaerts, a disconnect exists between their words and their actions.

In the wake of Xander Bogaerts leaving for San Diego, the Red Sox are focusing on the trade market. It’s something we’re very, very actively exploring,” Chaim Bloom said. https://t.co/NNvb5Ejs6Q

Chad Jennings (@chadjennings22) December 12, 2022

The Sox, in theory, could host the kind of offseason they did a decade ago before winning the 2013 World Series, splitting $100.45 million among seven mid-level free agents. But the 2013 club saw stars such as David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury perform at elite level. The 2023 club will feature Devers and who exactly?

Of Jim Bowden’s top 25 free agents, the only ones still available are right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, whom the Sox have an interest in keeping, and outfielder Michael Conforto, out all of last season with a shoulder injury that required surgery.

Kennedy said, “We were in the top five in payroll last year. Would continue to do so. But according to Fangraphs, the Sox currently rank 12th in cash payroll at $183.6 million and 14th in luxury tax payroll (based on average annual salaries) at $202.7 million. of dollars. They are more than $30 million under the lowest threshold. And, at least in free agency, virtually every top player is gone.

It’s not that the property lacks commitment or at least it hasn’t in the past. The Sox had the highest payroll in luxury taxes in 2018 and 2019. They ranked sixth in 2021, when they came two games away from reaching the World Series, and fourth in 2022, when they finished last in the AL East.

In some ways, 2022 has been a year in which everything that could go wrong has gone wrong; the Sox started the season with the fifth-best playoff odds in the AL, according to Fangraphs, behind the Blue Jays, Yankees, Astros and White Sox. Injuries played a part in the Sox’ loss, but Kennedy rightly called their 35-51 record after a 43-33 start an absolute disaster.

In Kennedy’s view, the current exasperation in the Red Sox nation is a direct reflection of that finish. Many fans would disagree, attributing their irritation to the aftermath of the Sox’s lukewarm offseason ending.

We recognize that what makes this market so great is that our fans care more than they care in any other market. And it’s not acceptable to our fanbase when we’re not successful at the major league level, Kennedy said. This is why you see and hear anger, outrage, frustration. And we understand that.

But we will not be discouraged. We will do our best to continue to make the right decisions for the organization in the short and long term. And at the heart of that is empowering our baseball players to do what they know how to do. This has been the recipe for success for 21 years.

Asked if that meant Bloom was responsible for decisions not to spend big money on Bogaerts or even Correa, Kennedy said no, explaining that ownership is always involved in big money moves. When asked if Bloom gets too much criticism, Kennedy replied: Absolutely. General managers of sport generally receive too much criticism and too much credit.

Bloom, however, had more than her share of missteps. The Sox owners gave him a difficult task when they hired him from the low-income Rays in October 2019, saying they wanted him to keep the major league club strong while rebuilding the minor league system. Everything seemed on track when the Sox qualified for the 2021 American League Championship Series. This season, however, now looks like a mirage.

If the Sox were a fast-burning candle under Bloom’s predecessor, Dave Dombrowski, they’re now a slow-burning candle, and sometimes the candle doesn’t even seem lit. After Bogaerts agreed to his $280 million deal with the Padres, his agent, Scott Boras, hinted at the difference in the Sox’s approach under Bloom, saying the decision makers are different from before. It’s their process. But free agency, perhaps the most property-influenced part of roster building, isn’t the only area where Bloom fails.

Consider Blooms’ returns in trades for Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Hunter Renfroe, Mitch Moreland, Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree and Christian Vzquez. At this point, those deals have yielded a slightly above-average corner fielder (Alex Verdugo), backup receiver (Connor Wong), No. 4 starter (Nick Pivetta) and rotational depth play (Josh Winckowski) , as well as a number of prospects who have yet to live up to expectations. Foremost among those disappointments: Infielder Jeter Downs, who arrived in Betts’ trade and was slated to be assigned to clear a 40-man spot for Yoshida.

Almost as damning are the trades Bloom didn’t make by the 2022 deadline, the subtractions of Eovaldi and designated hitter JD Martinez that could have knocked the Red Sox below the luxury tax threshold. But Bloom, with the backing of ownership, took a half-baked approach to the deadline, not quite, not quite.

If the Sox really believed they had a chance of making the playoffs, they should have kept Vzquez and southpaw Jake Diekman with Eovaldi and Martinez. Instead, they’ve tried to play it both ways, adding outfielder Tommy Pham, receiver Reese McGuire and recently DFAD first baseman Eric Hosmer. For their efforts, they suffered the double ignominy of finishing over the threshold and missing the playoffs by eight games.

The damage will carry over to the next entry draft. Going below the threshold would have allowed the Sox to receive a pick after Competitive Balance Round B for Bogaerts, and for Eovaldi if they ended up losing it. Staying on top means their compensation for Bogaerts and possibly Eovaldi will be after round four. The first pick after Competitive Balance Round B last year was No. 75. The first pick after Round Four was No. 137.

The trade for Hosmer, meanwhile, cost Sox left-handed pitcher Jay Groome, whom MLB.com installed as the Padres’ 12th-best prospect, while bringing in two other youngsters who didn’t crack the top. 30 from the Red Sox. Not a productive trade, but the Soxs farm system has indeed improved under Bloom, at least according to subjective rankings from various publications.

However, what are we talking about here? As Kennedy said, the way to make fans happy is to win the World Series, not build the No. 1 system in games. Additionally, while the impacts of Blooms’ trades and some of his trades are yet to be fully realized, two of the Sox’s top prospects, first baseman Triston Casas and right-hander Brayan Bello, were players they added under Dombrowski.

But enough about Bloom. Any analysis of its shortcomings should begin with the people who manage the Red Sox purse strings, the people who wield the ultimate power. It’s the property that hired Bloom to bring Rays-like efficiency to the Sox, the property that bears the greatest responsibility for Betts’ loss, the property that didn’t exceed $160 million for Bogaerts and that is now on the rendezvous with Devers, who enters his march. year.

Back on Sept. 1, I wrote, For Sox ownership and head of baseball Chaim Bloom, the upcoming offseason looms as a turning point, if not a breaking point. The offseason is still rolling. But try to convince everyone who follows this team that the Sox are not broke.

(Photo by John Henry: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images))

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