So....who is the new GM/head of baseball ops?

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Harry Hooper

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I'd be curious to know how long either has been in their current position, where they were previously and what the consensus is on their contribution towards the current success of their teams. As we've witnessed, young guys brought in from successful organizations don't necessarily garner the desired results in the expected time frame, whatever that might be.
On a related point, maybe one of the lessons from the Bloom arc is don't hire someone who is severely curtailed in how many co-workers can come along to the new gig?

{Addendum: This would be less of a concern for a more seasoned person -- e.g., Dombrowski or Epstein -- with a much bigger array of contacts.}
 
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67YAZ

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I'd be curious to know how long either has been in their current position, where they were previously and what the consensus is on their contribution towards the current success of their teams. As we've witnessed, young guys brought in from successful organizations don't necessarily garner the desired results in the expected time frame, whatever that might be.
Right. It’s not just knowing the secret sauce recipe or even how to cook up the sauce yourself. It’s how do you manage the evolution of a large, complex, geographically distributed organization to start producing it.
 

JM3

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I'd be curious to know how long either has been in their current position, where they were previously and what the consensus is on their contribution towards the current success of their teams. As we've witnessed, young guys brought in from successful organizations don't necessarily garner the desired results in the expected time frame, whatever that might be.
I mean, I can post their resumes, but obviously I have never talked to either of them in person & am not intimately familiar with their exact levels of expertise. If they interview them & find out that either is not cut out for promotion & they have reached their highest level of competence, so be it.

The fact is that other guys who are already successful #1s in their organization aren't probably looking to move on (like Antonelli has been with Cleveland since '99, are his New England roots supposed to overcome that?), and other guys who have done it before have pretty clear red flags. Click is interesting, but not sure they can go from the exact same tree that brought Bloom after firing Bloom. Would be fun to be able to draw from 2 different excellent pools of candidates.

Anyway, here's Gomes' timeline:

* Grew up in Fall River & attended Durfee High School where he excelled at pitching & SS.
* Attended Tulane where he played baseball. 17th round pick of the Padres.
* 173 game MLB career, all with the Rays.
* Released by the Cubs 6/4/16.
* Joined the Dodgers organization right away as "pitching coordinator of performance", part of the player development department.
* On 12/1/17 was promoted to director of player development.
* On 3/7/19 was promoted to Vice President & Assistant GM.
* On 1/18/22 was promoted to General Manager.

& here's Sestanovich (harder as he doesn't have a Wiki):

* Grew up in Washington D.C.
* Attended Harvard where he was a relief pitcher, graduated in 2011.
* [not sure]
* Became Assistant Director of Player Development for the Padres in around 2015.
* Became the Director of Player Development in 2019.
* Was poached by the Braves in December 2019 & named Assistant General Manager for Player Development & has served in that capacity since.
 

YTF

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I mean, I can post their resumes, but obviously I have never talked to either of them in person & am not intimately familiar with their exact levels of expertise. If they interview them & find out that either is not cut out for promotion & they have reached their highest level of competence, so be it.

The fact is that other guys who are already successful #1s in their organization aren't probably looking to move on (like Antonelli has been with Cleveland since '99, are his New England roots supposed to overcome that?), and other guys who have done it before have pretty clear red flags. Click is interesting, but not sure they can go from the exact same tree that brought Bloom after firing Bloom. Would be fun to be able to draw from 2 different excellent pools of candidates.

Anyway, here's Gomes' timeline:

* Grew up in Fall River & attended Durfee High School where he excelled at pitching & SS.
* Attended Tulane where he played baseball. 17th round pick of the Padres.
* 173 game MLB career, all with the Rays.
* Released by the Cubs 6/4/16.
* Joined the Dodgers organization right away as "pitching coordinator of performance", part of the player development department.
* On 12/1/17 was promoted to director of player development.
* On 3/7/19 was promoted to Vice President & Assistant GM.
* On 1/18/22 was promoted to General Manager.

& here's Sestanovich (harder as he doesn't have a Wiki):

* Grew up in Washington D.C.
* Attended Harvard where he was a relief pitcher, graduated in 2011.
* [not sure]
* Became Assistant Director of Player Development for the Padres in around 2015.
* Became the Director of Player Development in 2019.
* Was poached by the Braves in December 2019 & named Assistant General Manager for Player Development & has served in that capacity since.
This was more me thinking out loud and asking rhetorical questions. I never expected you to do the legwork on this, but appreciate the ALL of the time and effort that you've been putting in here.
 

Harry Hooper

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A quick item up on Boston.com runs through some of the candidates and then ends with a highly doubtful proposition:

With less than 15 games remaining in the 2023 season, and a long offseason ahead, we may not know who Bloom’s successor will be until next year.
Time will tell, but I expect Sox will hire someone no later than late October.
 

Salem's Lot

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A quick item up on Boston.com runs through some of the candidates and then ends with a highly doubtful proposition:



Time will tell, but I expect Sox will hire someone no later than late October.
If they wait until January to announce a hire, it just means they’re promoting Romero, or someone else internally.
 

Ale Xander

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I'm expecting a mid-November hire. After the playoffs so all candidates fully available, yet still early for hot stove.
 

YTF

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I'm expecting a mid-November hire. After the playoffs so all candidates fully available, yet still early for hot stove.
If not sooner. Get someone in place so that the new hire can get his or her team in place with time to evaluate the organization top to bottom, get on the same page with ownership, make some new contacts throughout the league and plot the team's course for potential FAs and trade targets.
 

JM3

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They hired Bloom on 10/25/2019, which was the same day as game 3 of the World Series.

So hopefully sometime by around then.
 

Ale Xander

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They hired Bloom on 10/25/2019, which was the same day as game 3 of the World Series.

So hopefully sometime by around then.
Did they interview any Nats or Astros candidates? should have waited if not
 

Sad Sam Jones

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I'm expecting a mid-November hire. After the playoffs so all candidates fully available, yet still early for hot stove.
I don't think they're hiring someone off the Braves or Dodgers coaching staff. These candidates can take a couple of days off in mid-October to do a potentially life-changing interview. It should be a relatively slow time of the year for them.
 

JimD

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Are front office members required to wait until their team's season ends to leave a club?
 

tdaignault

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I read somewhere or heard on one of the podcasts that Hazen was unlikely to uproot his four young boys, who have grown up in Arizona, to move back to Massachusetts. Hazen's wife died from complications from brain cancer in 2022 and he took a partial leave of absence in 2021 to take care of his wife and sons. We'll see what happens.
 

absintheofmalaise

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I read somewhere or heard on one of the podcasts that Hazen was unlikely to uproot his four young boys, who have grown up in Arizona, to move back to Massachusetts. Hazen's wife died from complications from brain cancer in 2022 and he took a partial leave of absence in 2021 to take care of his wife and sons. We'll see what happens.
Link please.
 

JM3

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I read somewhere or heard on one of the podcasts that Hazen was unlikely to uproot his four young boys, who have grown up in Arizona, to move back to Massachusetts. Hazen's wife died from complications from brain cancer in 2022 and he took a partial leave of absence in 2021 to take care of his wife and sons. We'll see what happens.
Olney basically said Hazen is probably just looking for an extension.

Mike Hazen is one of the names discussed within the BOS organization as possible head of baseball ops. He's under contract with the D-Backs through next season, with a club option for '25. The Red Sox would need permission to talk to him. Might be an opportunity for him to get an extension from Arizona.
View: https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/1703461386570047839
 

JM3

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I have to ask... what about Hazen's tenure in Arizona would have one excited about having him take over our team?
 

Big Papi's Mango Salsa

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I have to ask... what about Hazen's tenure in Arizona would have one excited about having him take over our team?
I think his general inclusion in the Theo "tree" is something many people would find enticing. Yes, the success (or lack thereof) has been mixed among Epstein's front office lineage, but I can see the appeal. Ideally we "WANT" a team that can have a good farm system, regularly be competitive season to season and contend for World Series titles, and generally speaking we had that from 2003-2016 from that mindset. He also has a lot of background in being part of a team that built up some really good farm systems / prospect pipelines here in Boston from 2006 - 2016.

He continues to have a very good farm system - and (play the game) what if HE drafted the right high school shortstop and Bloom didn't in 2021 (Fangraphs has Lawlar 5th overall, Mayer 16th - which is NOT TO SAY MAYER STINKS or condemn Bloom for taking him, but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that Hazen got a better player at the same position two picks later - at least FG seems to think he did). To be fair, he also could have massively botched the Druw Jones pick, but just like Lawlar vs Mayer, Jones vs lets say Temarr Johnson, Brooks Lee or whomever is still way too early to tell.

Also, I think we all can "generally" agree that Bloom did one a very good job in terms of core and prospect line up pieces, but when it comes to the pitching side - both for the MLB core and on the prospect side, well, it's certainly lagged the position side to say the least.

The Red Sox desperately need starting pitching, and there Hazen has some pretty good "wins" under his belt recently in terms of turning positional depth into elite starting pitching (Jazz Chisholm for Zac Gallen). He also found Kelly from the scrap heap and was wise to hold on to him. Furthermore, Hazen also seems to have not lost his ability to identify weaknesses at the MLB level and get results sending players back down to work on said issues (Brandon Pfaadt).

On the player position side he's done well selling high with guys he drafted and developed (turning Varsho into Gurriel Jr and Montero). Identifying and holding on to Corbin Carroll (though my goodness was that 2019 draft STOCKED). Finding Christian Walker off the scrap heap. Getting Marte (with Taijuan Walker) for virtually nothing that came back to bite him.

He absolutely hasn't been perfect (sure, he probably could have sold higher on pieces like Alek Thomas or Drey Jameson; he employs Zac Davies to regularly pitch MLB games) but I can absolutely see the reasons someone would see many similarities while thinking he's a better version of Bloom.


Personally I do prefer Click first, but I would be more than fine with Hazen and I think he's a similar (but better) version of Bloom. That said, I don't see Hazen being interested in / ultimately taking the job for many reasons others have outlined. I can absolutely see the interest and appeal, however.
 
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moondog80

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I have to ask... what about Hazen's tenure in Arizona would have one excited about having him take over our team?
The problem is that being the Red Sox GM provides an opportunity that isn't there in about 3/4 of of organizations; the ability to spend right up to the tax threshold, and in some years over it, pretty much every year. Running the Diamondbacks is different from running the Red Sox in a way that's not so for say, the Hornets and the Celtics. So it's tough to evaluate. Andrew Friedman moved from the Rays to the Dodgers and has crushed it. Bloom had a tougher time. We just don't know.
 
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JM3

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The problem is that being the Red Sox GM provides an opportunity that isn't there in about 3/4 of of organizations; the ability to spend right up to the tax threshold, and in some years over it, pretty much every year. Running the Diamondbacks is different from running the Red Sox in a way that's not so for say, the Hornets and the Celtics. So it's tough to evaluate. Andrew Friedman moved from the Rays to the Dodgers and has crushed it. Bloom had a tougher time. We just don't know.
He is 7 years in. If he's someone worth poaching, he should have a really good resume by now, despite the circumstances.

If they weren't greatly outperforming their pythag, they'd be looking at their 4th straight losing season.
 

moondog80

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He is 7 years in. If he's someone worth poaching, he should have a really good resume by now, despite the circumstances.

If they weren't greatly outperforming their pythag, they'd be looking at their 4th straight losing season.
You might be right. I'd say the higher up "connection to Boston" is on the list of reasons to hire someone, the less I want them.
 

JM3

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I think his general inclusion in the Theo "tree" is something many people would find enticing. Yes, the success (or lack thereof) has been mixed among Epstein's front office lineage, but I can see the appeal. Ideally we "WANT" a team that can have a good farm system, regularly be competitive season to season and contend for World Series titles, and generally speaking we had that from 2003-2016 from that mindset. He also has a lot of background in being part of a team that built up some really good farm systems / prospect pipelines here in Boston from 2006 - 2016.

He continues to have a very good farm system - and (play the game) what if HE drafted the right high school shortstop and Bloom didn't in 2021 (Fangraphs has Lawlar 5th overall, Mayer 16th - which is NOT TO SAY MAYER STINKS or condemn Bloom for taking him, but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that Hazen got a better player at the same position two picks later - at least FG seems to think he did). To be fair, he also could have massively botched the Druw Jones pick, but just like Lawlar vs Mayer, Jones vs lets say Temarr Johnson, Brooks Lee or whomever is still way too early to tell.

Also, I think we all can "generally" agree that Bloom did one a very good job in terms of core and prospect line up pieces, but when it comes to the pitching side - both for the MLB core and on the prospect side, well, it's certainly lagged the position side to say the least.

The Red Sox desperately need starting pitching, and there Hazen has some pretty good "wins" under his belt recently in terms of turning positional depth into elite starting pitching (Jazz Chisholm for Zac Gallen). He also found Kelly from the scrap heap and was wise to hold on to him. Furthermore, Hazen also seems to have not lost his ability to identify weaknesses at the MLB level and get results sending players back down to work on said issues (Brandon Pfaadt).

On the player position side he's done well selling high with guys he drafted and developed (turning Varsho into Gurriel Jr and Montero). Identifying and holding on to Corbin Carroll (though my goodness was that 2019 draft STOCKED). Finding Christian Walker off the scrap heap. Getting Marte (with Taijuan Walker) for virtually nothing that came back to bite him.

He absolutely hasn't been perfect (sure, he probably could have sold higher on pieces like Alek Thomas or Drey Jameson; he employs Zac Davies to regularly pitch MLB games) but I can absolutely see the reasons someone would see many similarities while thinking he's a better version of Bloom.


Personally I do prefer Click first, but I would be more than fine with Hazen and I think he's a similar (but better) version of Bloom. That said, I don't see Hazen being interested in / ultimately taking the job for many reasons others have outlined. I can absolutely see the interest and appeal, however.
Lawlar being better than Mayer (irl, not just based on rankings dropping Mayer for playing injured for a few months) would only be a reference point if he drafted Lawlar instead of Mayer.

After 7 years they have an ok farm system & an ok MLB team. I'm not excited.
 

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I don’t follow the Diamondbacks closely, so when I heard his name come up this weekend, I tried to learn a bit. Maybe I whiffed, but I don’t see big trades or signings under his tenure there. He did work under DD for a year, so maybe some of that rubbed off on him—if that’s a good thing—but if he didn’t have a Boston connection, I doubt his name would come up.
He’s not too interesting to me.
 

Big Papi's Mango Salsa

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I have to ask... what about Hazen's tenure in Arizona would have one excited about having him take over our team?
This is totally fair, but as a part of an overall list of reasons to hire someone, but I do think that understanding the demands of a big market is something that should be looked at as a positive in someone's resume. Regardless of where that is. Familiarity with the biggest markets / smallest fishbowls that tend to come with the North East is, I think, something that is preferable to those on the left coast.

Roughly I speaking, I put Hazen as roughly similar to Fuld (Philly). I can see the logic behind wanting someone that is experienced at the head of the department (Hazen) but I can also see the appeal of the "prospect" so to speak in terms of Fuld.

Even with their time in big markets, I have them both behind Click because, first and foremost, Click has won a world series in a "big" market (certainly Houston has the payroll and the size of the city, but Texas - like California - vs the NorthEast is a different animal in terms of baseball markets.


I like to tier things to show similarity, so I'd personally go like this:

1 - Theo. There is a 99.95% chance this doesn't happen. But I'm going to hold on to the .05% hope until something else happens instead.

Huge gap to :

2 - Click. He's won a World Series. He has time working in the "development darling" franchises. He has had success in a big market. He's my highest ranked of the non-Theo candidates, and it's not close.

Gap to :

3 - Stearns.

Small gap to:

3A Hazen and Fuld.

Very, very small gap to :

3B - Sestanovich, Fast.

Gap to :

4 - I'd put Antonelli here (yes, what they've done is impressive, but similar to Oakland, Tampa, etc, haven't been able to get over the top despite constantly being in the playoffs.). I put Bloom here too, FWIW. Gomes and Hawkins probably as well.

Gap to :

Promoting from within the organization.

I do think it was time to move on from Bloom, but not because he stinks, but because I think there are a) better options and b) similar options that very well could be better. However, I don't know that I'd have moved on from Bloom just to hire someone in tier 4 or 5. Seems like a lateral move. I think the other tiers are upgrades. Though that is of course nothing but personal opinion.
 
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Big Papi's Mango Salsa

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I don’t follow the Diamondbacks closely, so when I heard his name come up this weekend, I tried to learn a bit. Maybe I whiffed, but I don’t see big trades or signings under his tenure there. He did work under DD for a year, so maybe some of that rubbed off on him—if that’s a good thing—but if he didn’t have a Boston connection, I doubt his name would come up.
He’s not too interesting to me.
Ketel Marte - November 23, 2016: Traded by the Seattle Mariners with Taijuan Walker to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Zac Curtis, Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura.

Zac Gallen - July 31, 2019: Traded by the Miami Marlins to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jazz Chisholm Jr..

Daulton Varsho out - December 23, 2022: Traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Toronto Blue Jays for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno.

Paul Seawald - July 31, 2023: Traded by the Seattle Mariners to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Ryan Bliss (minors), Dominic Canzone and Josh Rojas.


Also, some of his under the radar signings have gone pretty well, most notably Merrill Kelly and Christian Walker (but it certainly took Walker a long time to develop, which he probably wouldn't have had that leash in Boston).

However, if Bloom had acquired (and kept) two pitchers similar to Gallen and Kelly while trading for pieces like Marte, Moreno, and to a lesser extent Gurriel Jr and Seawald he'd probably still have a job here in Boston.


Again, I don't see a huge difference between Hazen, Fuld, Sestanovich and Fast and I'd be pretty pleased with any of them. Though they're all below Click in my opinion (and Stearns, just for the sake of ranking, not that Stearns is in play, obviously).
 

moondog80

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McAdam mentioned Sabean and Dayton Moore as possible hires and good god let's hope not
I don't mind someone like that in an advisory role. But the game has changed so much, you need someone younger than that. I wouldn't even want Billy Beane as the head guy.
 

JM3

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I have absolutely no interest in your tier 3. I mean mayyyyybe Stearns, except for the fact he already was hired by the Mets.

The thing with Click (other than having the exact same career path as Bloom in terms of BA to TB to GM) is, how much of the World Series does he get credit for?

The top 10 guys in plate appearances in '22 were already in the org when he got the job in '20. He acquired Mauricio Dubon (57 OPS+) & Trey Mancini (76 OPS+) at the trade deadline.

In terms of pitching, Click signed Jake Odorizzi to a 2/$23.5m contract with a player option, & then traded him for Will Smith at the '22 trade deadline. He also traded for Rafael Montero in '21 as part of the Kendall Graveman trade. He also signed Hector Neris for 2/$17m. Also, in '21 he got Phil Maton who he traded Myles Straw for (Astros also got Yainer Diaz). Maton missed the '22 playoffs after punching a locker. He signed Ryne Stanek to a $1.1m contract & then $2.1m arb settlement.

But Click inherited the following starters: Verlander, Framber, Urquidy, Javier, Garcia & McCullers, as well as closer Ryan Pressly, & others including Hunter Brown & Bryan Abreu.

& then he got fired*. That team is 95% Jeff Luhnow's handiwork, & Click was able to get in on the fun due to trashcan gate.

The Astros, by all accounts, also currently have a bottom 2 farm system.

*ETA: not technically fired, just not renewed & only offered a 1-year contract.
 
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Yelling At Clouds

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Ketel Marte - November 23, 2016: Traded by the Seattle Mariners with Taijuan Walker to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Zac Curtis, Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura.

Zac Gallen - July 31, 2019: Traded by the Miami Marlins to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jazz Chisholm Jr..

Daulton Varsho out - December 23, 2022: Traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Toronto Blue Jays for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno.

Paul Seawald - July 31, 2023: Traded by the Seattle Mariners to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Ryan Bliss (minors), Dominic Canzone and Josh Rojas.


Also, some of his under the radar signings have gone pretty well, most notably Merrill Kelly and Christian Walker (but it certainly took Walker a long time to develop, which he probably wouldn't have had that leash in Boston).

However, if Bloom had acquired (and kept) two pitchers similar to Gallen and Kelly while trading for pieces like Marte, Moreno, and to a lesser extent Gurriel Jr and Seawald he'd probably still have a job here in Boston.


Again, I don't see a huge difference between Hazen, Fuld, Sestanovich and Fast and I'd be pretty pleased with any of them. Though they're all below Click in my opinion (and Stearns, just for the sake of ranking, not that Stearns is in play, obviously).
You missed kind of a big one
 

JM3

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Ketel Marte - November 23, 2016: Traded by the Seattle Mariners with Taijuan Walker to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Zac Curtis, Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura.

Zac Gallen - July 31, 2019: Traded by the Miami Marlins to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jazz Chisholm Jr..

Daulton Varsho out - December 23, 2022: Traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Toronto Blue Jays for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno.

Paul Seawald - July 31, 2023: Traded by the Seattle Mariners to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Ryan Bliss (minors), Dominic Canzone and Josh Rojas.


Also, some of his under the radar signings have gone pretty well, most notably Merrill Kelly and Christian Walker (but it certainly took Walker a long time to develop, which he probably wouldn't have had that leash in Boston).

However, if Bloom had acquired (and kept) two pitchers similar to Gallen and Kelly while trading for pieces like Marte, Moreno, and to a lesser extent Gurriel Jr and Seawald he'd probably still have a job here in Boston.


Again, I don't see a huge difference between Hazen, Fuld, Sestanovich and Fast and I'd be pretty pleased with any of them. Though they're all below Click in my opinion (and Stearns, just for the sake of ranking, not that Stearns is in play, obviously).
They barely won that Marte trade...

Marte has put 21.4 bWAR in 7 seasons for the DBacks 2.9 in 3 seasons for Taijuan Walker = 24.3 bWAR in 10 seasons
Haniger put up 15.5 bWAR in 5 seasons for the Mariners & 7.4 in 2 seasons for Jean Segura = 22.9 bWAR in 7 seasons

Gallen is a clear win & Kelly has obviously worked out well...of course they did both of those things before Bloom was even hired.

The Varsho trade has obviously been great so far.

What am I missing about the Sewald trade? He has a -0.3 fWAR (0.2 bWAR) since being acquired. Rojas alone has a 0.9 fWAR (0.5 bWAR) since the trade.

So in 7 years you've shown me 2 really good trades & 2 good scrap heap acquisitions.

& this is what Hazen got for Paul Goldschmidt...

Four years later, the trade hasn't aged particularly well for the Diamondbacks. Included in the prospect haul were pitcher Luke Weaver, catcher Carson Kelly, outfielder Andrew Young, and the no. 75 pick of the 2019 MLB Draft, outfielder Dominic Fletcher.
 

Big Papi's Mango Salsa

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Yeah, that was just for ranking purposes on Stearns.

Regarding Click, I give him credit on the young players and choosing whom to hold on to / build around the same way I do Bloom regarding Bello, Casas, Duran, Rafaela, etc. If we want to say Click gets no credit for identifying and developing the players he was given, don't we have to equally give no credit to Bloom?

Personally, I give both "half credit" so to speak.

For what it's worth: he had to re-sign Verlander after TJS (not sure if that was a "done deal" no matter what or not); neither Framber nor Javier were starters, and Click had to make the call to roll with those guys and it turned out spectacularly whereas Bloom made the call to roll with Whitlock, Crawford and Houck and it's worked considerably less well.

I'm not trying to say Click is above reproach - short of us hiring Theo or AA we're going to be able to pick holes or "unknowns" in the hire of anyone.




So yes, with a handful of "unknowns" I do put the GM that went "ALCS Loss, WS Win, fired before the next season" ahead of the others (FWIW, Houston also lost the 2020 ALCS, but that entire season was a sham. If we credit Friedman with a WS, we have to credit the other teams too, but at least in my mind Friedman still hasn't won a title either).


Re the PG trade, obviously I don't think Hazen is perfect, by any stretch. I'm just saying I can see the appeal to him. He has questions. So does anyone we'd realistically hire. Sestanovich or Fast could just as easily be the remarkable Peter Woodfork (credit to Peter Gammons) as opposed to Cherington (whom I did / do like and I'm holding him up as a success, to be clear, if Sestanovich is hired and wins a WS in 2 seasons, I'm going to be holding him up there too, for instance).

I want to reiterate again, I also think that Sestanovich, Fast, Fuld and Hazen would be good hires and aren't that far apart from each other or Click and Stearns. Though we really have no idea how much credit any of them assistant GMs get for decisions working under AA and DDski, respectively. There is always a danger with promoting what I'll call "assistant GMs" just for the colloquial nature of it - and there is a danger with re-treads as well. I just think what Click has accomplished with what he had in his role is more impressive and bodes better moving forward than going to those that were in essence "assistant GMs".

Though to be fair I changed it to "gap" as opposed to "large gap" when going from Click down to anyone in the Tier 3 as I do think they're all pretty similar in terms of questions.
 
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JM3

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Yeah, that was just for ranking purposes on Stearns.

Regarding Click, I give him credit on the young players and choosing whom to hold on to / build around the same way I do Bloom regarding Bello, Casas, Duran, Rafaela, etc. If we want to say Click gets no credit for identifying and developing the players he was given, don't we have to equally give no credit to Bloom?

Personally, I give both "half credit" so to speak.

For what it's worth: he had to re-sign Verlander after TJS (not sure if that was a "done deal" no matter what or not); neither Framber nor Javier were starters, and Click had to make the call to roll with those guys and it turned out spectacularly whereas Bloom made the call to roll with Whitlock, Crawford and Houck and it's worked considerably less well.

I'm fine being talked out of Click though - but I do think he'd be a good hire.


To be fair, I also think that Sestanovich, Fast and Fuld would be good hires. Though we really have no idea how much credit any of them get for transactions working under AA and DDski, respectively. There is always a danger with promoting what I'll call "assistant GMs" just for the colloquial nature of it - and there is a danger with re-treads as well. I just think what Click has accomplished with what he had in his role is more impressive and bodes better moving forward than the authority delegated to the assistant GMs.

Really I'd be good with any of Click, Hazen, Fuld, Sestanovich and Fast. I could see the argument for Gomes as well, but he's behind those other 5 for sure.
I'm not saying Click is bad...just that he hasn't proven that he's good. He's probably just fine. He inherited a super loaded situation, though. All those guys were already on the cusp or there when Click took over. All the guys you're referring to for Bloom finally made it this year.

Hazen hasn't proven anything to me & I don't see the DBacks as a well run organization. Same with the Phillies, which is why I want no part of Fuld & the DD tree.

Sestanovich & Gomes are my 1st 2 choices (& I think my idea for both would be amazing). Also fine with Fast. & I wouldn't hate Click, but I don't think it's a slam dunk & I can't imagine them doing it.
 

JM3

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I'm not saying Click is bad...just that he hasn't proven that he's good. He's probably just fine. He inherited a super loaded situation, though. All those guys were already on the cusp or there when Click took over. All the guys you're referring to for Bloom finally made it this year.

Hazen hasn't proven anything to me & I don't see the DBacks as a well run organization. Same with the Phillies, which is why I want no part of Fuld & the DD tree.

Sestanovich & Gomes are my 1st 2 choices (& I think my idea for both would be amazing). Also fine with Fast. & I wouldn't hate Click, but I don't think it's a slam dunk & I can't imagine them doing it.
Those top 10 in PAs that Click inherited included Altuve, Bregman, Alvarez, Tucker, McCormick, Pena & Brantley.

He also made that bad trade for Christian Vazquez (68 OPS+) where he gave up Wilyer Abreu & Enmanuel Valdez :)
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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I get it that SD hasn't won much. However he's proven that he can develop a high-quality farm system, identify guys to keep for their team, and also the guys to trade for established stars. In my mind, he has done everything he can do from his end to put the best possible team on the field and it's not his fault that they've underperformed. Now I don't want him to come in and trade the farm away like he did in San Diego, but I would feel confident that he'd put a quality team on the field and it's up to the players to perform.
What???? This is exactly why you hate Bloom! I’m confused
 

Jimbodandy

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McAdam mentioned Sabean and Dayton Moore as possible hires and good god let's hope not
I think that he's just messing with us.


Is it that hard to find a GM who both prioritizes building a good farm system and can pull in key, experienced MLB players through trades and free agency? Baltimore, LAD, and Tampa are way up the league standings and farm system rankings, so it's possible to both compete and build farms. That's where I would be looking, teams that have done both, so that it's sustainable.

edit: Yes, I know where Bloom came from.
 

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I think that he's just messing with us.


Is it that hard to find a GM who both prioritizes building a good farm system and can pull in key, experienced MLB players through trades and free agency? Baltimore, LAD, and Tampa are way up the league standings and farm system rankings, so it's possible to both compete and build farms. That's where I would be looking, teams that have done both, so that it's sustainable.

edit: Yes, I know where Bloom came from.
Wait, Baltimore? They certainly didn’t compete while they built their farm. They tanked hard.
 

67YAZ

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Keeping in mind that I was driving the Brandon Taubman bandwagon in 2019...before he harassed reporters in the locker room by praising an abuser and was found to be part of the cheating program...in other words, I don't know very much.

Let me suggest Sig Mejdal, VP and AGM for Analytics of the Orioles.

I'm interested in people who not just know the "secret sauce" from organizations with great recent track records, but also people that have been leaders in a major change process. And what Elias, Mejdal, and Rosenbaum have done to overhaul the Orioles is nothing short of incredible.

Mejdal was working for Lockheed Martin when he read Moneyball and decided to pursue his passion for baseball. He failed in his first few attempts and worked for NASA as a back up.

In 2005, he was hired in to StL's new analytics department. He rose to senior analyst in 2008 and director of amateur draft analysis in 2011. In 2012, the Astros poached him to be director of "decision sciences," where he stayed until Elias brought him over to Baltimore.

I see a guy who has worked his way up the ladder over 18 years, the bulk of those within 2 very successful organizations. And now he has been #2 through a massive overhaul of a longtime loser into an exciting up and comer. Not sure if he's ready to be CBO and GM, but I'd be excited if he was the new GM.

Here's a FanGraph podcast with him from back in February if you want to get a sense of him.
 

JM3

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Keeping in mind that I was driving the Brandon Taubman bandwagon in 2019...before he harassed reporters in the locker room by praising an abuser and was found to be part of the cheating program...in other words, I don't know very much.

Let me suggest Sig Mejdal, VP and AGM for Analytics of the Orioles.

I'm interested in people who not just know the "secret sauce" from organizations with great recent track records, but also people that have been leaders in a major change process. And what Elias, Mejdal, and Rosenbaum have done to overhaul the Orioles is nothing short of incredible.

Mejdal was working for Lockheed Martin when he read Moneyball and decided to pursue his passion for baseball. He failed in his first few attempts and worked for NASA as a back up.

In 2005, he was hired in to StL's new analytics department. He rose to senior analyst in 2008 and director of amateur draft analysis in 2011. In 2012, the Astros poached him to be director of "decision sciences," where he stayed until Elias brought him over to Baltimore.

I see a guy who has worked his way up the ladder over 18 years, the bulk of those within 2 very successful organizations. And now he has been #2 through a massive overhaul of a longtime loser into an exciting up and comer. Not sure if he's ready to be CBO and GM, but I'd be excited if he was the new GM.

Here's a FanGraph podcast with him from back in February if you want to get a sense of him.
Mejdal is interesting. I think my only real hesitation is that the things that he's proven that he's really good at aren't really the areas the Red Sox need to improve. Like they fired Bloom presumably to get the next guy to put them over the top, but Mejdal has only gotten up through the player development portion for the most part. If he interviewed well & had really smart ideas about how they could take those next steps, though? I wouldn't be opposed on principal.
 

Jimbodandy

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Wait, Baltimore? They certainly didn’t compete while they built their farm. They tanked hard.
They are competing now and yet still have the best farm. Ergo, it's possible.

Everyone seems to think that you need to tank for years, then accumulate prospects, then promote and/or trade them all in order to compete. But there are teams with fat farms and great records somehow.
 

chrisfont9

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I see a lot of discussion here about trades but what the Sox probably need most immediately is a guy who is good at making big free agent acquisitions, which is a different skill set. Trading acumen helps and that's getting tossed around as the big criticism of Bloom, but the offseason will depend, at first, on whether the next guy can convince Yamamoto or another free agent (Ohtani?!?) that they should sign with Boston, and money will only be one factor.
 

Big Papi's Mango Salsa

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I'm not saying Click is bad...just that he hasn't proven that he's good. He's probably just fine. He inherited a super loaded situation, though. All those guys were already on the cusp or there when Click took over. All the guys you're referring to for Bloom finally made it this year.

Hazen hasn't proven anything to me & I don't see the DBacks as a well run organization. Same with the Phillies, which is why I want no part of Fuld & the DD tree.

Sestanovich & Gomes are my 1st 2 choices (& I think my idea for both would be amazing). Also fine with Fast. & I wouldn't hate Click, but I don't think it's a slam dunk & I can't imagine them doing it.
Totally fair and fine. I mostly agree. The crux is that anyone the Sox are likely to hire are going to have similar (or the same) criticisms.

Though, to be fair - Andrew Friedman inherited a situation that was nearly as good as what Click walked into. LAD was coming off 3 straight division titles. They had a still very productive Adrian Gonazlez at 1b, a 23 year old YPuig in RF, a 22 year old Corey Seager at SS and 29 year old Justin Turner playing everywhere, a rotation fronted by Clayton Kershaw at 27, Zack Greinke at 31, Ryu at 27, and Alex Wood at 23 with Kenley Jansen closing at 27. Each of Pederson, Urias and Bellinger were already in their system. All of that AND the Dodgers money and Friedman still hasn't won a legitimate title.



Either way though - and I fully admit I know nothing (as mentioned I was "meh" on hiring Theo, loved hiring Cherington, hated hiring DDski and loved hiring Bloom). Though I continue to feel good about the state of the team under FSG and better about it than I did last week. I understand some will say they have no plan, or the flip / flop or whatever. However, I think of it a different way - FSG clearly knows what works in Boston (4 titles in 20 years must prove that). They thought Bloom had it and gave him 4 years. They then decided he didn't have it and they moved on. Personally, I think of this as signs of a decisive ownership group that wants more than "contending for the wild card spots each year" and they're going to try and find someone to do better than that.

I still think they're going to use roughly the $Luxury Tax Threshold as a budget. Beyond that, I really don't think they meddle in baseball decisions. They probably have to approve going beyond that, but I genuinely believe they tell all their execs, Bloom included, they can spend up to that but are responsible for their decisions.

I trust they will be able to find someone that can contend for World Series titles while having a top half system for around $235m per season. Whether that is Click, Sestanovich, Fast, Hazen, Fuld or whomever. I also trust that if that person doesn't show that ability, they'll be gone in about a presidential cycle as well.
 
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JM3

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Though, to be fair - Andrew Friedman inherited a situation that was nearly as good as what Click walked into. LAD was coming off 3 straight titles. They had a still very productive Adrian Gonazlez at 1b, a 23 year old YPuig in RF, a 22 year old Corey Seager at SS and 29 year old Justin Turner playing everywhere, a rotation fronted by Clayton Kershaw at 27, Zack Greinke at 31, Ryu at 27, and Alex Wood at 23 with Kenley Jansen closing at 27. Each of Pederson, Urias and Bellinger were already in their system. All of that AND the Dodgers money and Friedman still hasn't won a legitimate title.
I mean sure...but 9 years later they've made the playoffs 9 times, will win their 8th division this year, & easily have a top 10 farm system.
 

moondog80

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They are competing now and yet still have the best farm. Ergo, it's possible.

Everyone seems to think that you need to tank for years, then accumulate prospects, then promote and/or trade them all in order to compete. But there are teams with fat farms and great records somehow.
Yes, because the fruits of their futility have started to bloom, and their futility lasted so long that they still have plenty of prospects in the pipeline. They had the first pick in the draft (who is now one of the top prospects in all of MLB) as recently as last year. If they have a 5 or 6 year run of 90+ wins, tell me what the farm system looks like at that point.
 
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