Speier's list is Hazen, Gomes & Romero.
View: https://twitter.com/tylermilliken_/status/1704299532425609252
So....who is the new GM/head of baseball ops?
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Hazen might not be available. The DBacks might not want to let him go -- AND - I'm just guessing, Hazen's personal life may keep him in Arizona.
He is a widower - his wife passed away, to cancer, in August of last year. He has four teenage sons in school out there. I would doubt he'd yank them out of school to come back east.
But who knows.
He is a widower - his wife passed away, to cancer, in August of last year. He has four teenage sons in school out there. I would doubt he'd yank them out of school to come back east.
But who knows.
Rob Bradford has brought up Kim Ng of the Marlins a few times. She has shown a willingness to make trades and has the Marlins competitive despite budget limitations. Apparently her contract is up after this season. Any thoughts on Ng?
She has done an excellent job in Miami (as much as one can) and does have experience operating in big markets, so I assume would understand the nuances (Asst GM for Cashman, Asst GM for the Dodgers). That said, I do wonder what made her not get the jobs in Seattle or San Fran when she interviewed for those (LAA is a clusterf*ck and I don't expect them to do anything smart, ever).
Certainly someone I'd be on board hearing about getting an interview, but I will say that I'd prefer to go picking from the Houston / Atlanta / Theo (in no particular order) trees if possible first.
Someone is not impressed with her . . . .
View: https://twitter.com/Bastards_Boston/status/1704918727148372158?t=L_tmUHeyLa1cxsy_AaPiyg&s=19
View: https://twitter.com/Bastards_Boston/status/1704918727148372158?t=L_tmUHeyLa1cxsy_AaPiyg&s=19
Do people not even care about wins at the major league level anymore? Marlins are in pace to win 84 games after winning 67 and 69 her first two years.
A lot of the Marlins top prospects in 2020 haven’t been great. Not sure that’s Ng’s fault.
https://www.mlb.com/news/marlins-2020-top-30-prospects-list
A lot of the Marlins top prospects in 2020 haven’t been great. Not sure that’s Ng’s fault.
https://www.mlb.com/news/marlins-2020-top-30-prospects-list
That twitter account has been one of the most toxic “fan” accounts on social media.
They should be ignored
Reports of them cutting their staff down sounded ominous, although I'm maybe not recalling if that was major league scouting or prospects. Whatever, it's all ancient history now.
Terry Cushman is atrocious, you are correct that they definitely should be ignored.
In this scenario it's not like Cora was completely in the dark until Romero got a yes, right? I would assume this is something that already happens -- GMs keep their manager in the loop as they are out developing potential deals.
God no, you can't blame her for the system rankings. She has been in the job less than three years. It's been just over two years since she ran a draft. Nobody outside the organization knows anything about her performance other than personnel changes at the major league level, where as you say they are improving.
I think it's fair to say the ideal candidate maintains a strong farm system while remaining competitive at the MLB level. Perhaps it's not fair to judge Ng for such a short reign in Miami, but maintaining the major league roster while reloading the farm system should the goal. That was my understanding of Theo's "scouting and player development machine." Look at the Rays and Dodgers consistency in the rankings on this list:
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-pipeline-2023-midseason-system-rankings
Heyman weighs in with three candidates:
In the actual article, Heyman suggests Hazen would be a top candidate but may stay in Arizona, then lists these three other candidates:
https://nypost.com/2023/09/21/brewers-likely-wouldnt-be-a-pete-alonso-trade-partner-now/
View: https://twitter.com/BOSSportsGordo/status/1705031712999112718?t=09rfWSRkQtO9UGNFlkqqRw&s=19
In the actual article, Heyman suggests Hazen would be a top candidate but may stay in Arizona, then lists these three other candidates:
https://nypost.com/2023/09/21/brewers-likely-wouldnt-be-a-pete-alonso-trade-partner-now/
View: https://twitter.com/BOSSportsGordo/status/1705031712999112718?t=09rfWSRkQtO9UGNFlkqqRw&s=19
Not saying this is wrong but if you follow this line of thinking the ideal candidate might be that Bloom guy that was just let go.
Possible last place finishes 3 out of 4 years does not meet the "remaining competitive at the MLB level" by any standards.Not saying this is wrong but if you follow this line of thinking the ideal candidate might be that Bloom guy that was just let go.
I did appreciate what Bloom did, but he also failed miserably at the last two trade deadlines, which would have helped build up the franchise in the long term. Acquiring more prospects at the deadlines could have given us assets to then flip for MLB ready talent in the off-seasons. What's not clear to me is if ownership or Cora to pressured him not to deal more veterans the last two years. Seemed like we were moving in the right direction by dealing Vasquez as sellers in 2022, but then screwed up royally and tried a little buying rather than getting under the luxury tax.
If you are looking to hire the person most responsible for either the Rays or Dodgers consistently being high in those rankings who is also currently available, Bloom would be high on that list, I just found that funny.
(Also FWIW I don't think the mlb.com system rankings have ever been very good, they focus on the top prospects and often ignore/misevaluate system depth, Kiley McDaniel for ESPN's are probably the best currently)
People keep saying that, but who are we missing - Kopech and Moncada? - and who’s still here, Casas, Rafaela, etc.
It’s not “Who are we missing” so much as “There’s nothing left to trade for major league talent”. Believe it or not that’s an actual problem.
Cherrington left a talent gap which DD inherited. DD turned absolute-nothings into somethings, and marginal to average ML talent into prime talent. And throughout all this he held onto Devers.
https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/the-red-sox-have-fired-chaim-bloom.40494/page-13#post-5739904
One of those "both are right" situations.
The Sox had a series of bad drafts under Cherington, and then restrictions on international free agent signings resulting from a pointless rule violation. Dombrowski traded a lot of players from the system to obtain major league talent. Turned out DD was correct in deciding which prospects to trade - neither Kopech nor Moncada nor Margot would have changed the trajectory this team was on. But one criticism of DD is that he did a lot of "4-for-one" deals, and so the team simply did not have very depth to trade from in 2020-22 without cutting into the bone (aka, Cassas, et al).
It was the right thing at the time. But it was also completely unsustainable in today's environment.
Compared to what?
Groome was a bad pick, but Houck is one of the more valuable first round picks for his year. Casas seems like a good bet to deliver a lot more value. They didn't even have a first round pick in 2019.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?draft_round=1&year_ID=2016&draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round
You can jump to picks year by year.
Was 16, when the Sox took Groome, a particularly bad draft? Mickey Moniak went first that year. The best first round pick that year so far looks to be Ian Anderson or Gavin Lux? Pretty meh.
2nd round on included Alonso, Bichette, Burnes, Bieber, Gallen, etc. Seems like a lot of teams screwed up their draft boards that year.
2nd round on included Alonso, Bichette, Burnes, Bieber, Gallen, etc. Seems like a lot of teams screwed up their draft boards that year.
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Calling Groome a bad pick is a bit unfair. In hindsight, yes he was a bust. But at the time, it was considered a stroke of luck that Groome was still on the board when Boston selected him. I believe he was considered the consensus top HS lefty in the draft.
Is this a good thing? What if the PBO doesn't want him? What if this means we get a "worse" PBO if retaining BOH is a must for ownership?
I'd think it would be more likely if Hazen wasn't already many times over a millionaire.
Going from a nice job as assistant GM to GM or president making millions each year could draw him... But he's already rich, he doesn't need extra he can't spend in exchange for uprooting his kids out of high school.
I'd say very unlikely indeed.
Was Groome a bad pick?
I looked at the career WAR of guys picked 16th in the draft, stopping at 2014 in order to not include guys who may still be developing. That's 50 guys.
14 never reached the majors
14 had a career WAR less then 1
8 had a career WAR from 1-10
10 had a career WAR 10-20
4 had a career WAR of over 20:
Nick Swisher (21.5)
Shawn Green (34.7)
Lance Parrish (39.5)
Lance Berkman (52)
He didn't work out so call it a bust id you want, but I call it "normal".
Drafting is hard in all sports, but especially in MLB.
I looked at the career WAR of guys picked 16th in the draft, stopping at 2014 in order to not include guys who may still be developing. That's 50 guys.
14 never reached the majors
14 had a career WAR less then 1
8 had a career WAR from 1-10
10 had a career WAR 10-20
4 had a career WAR of over 20:
Nick Swisher (21.5)
Shawn Green (34.7)
Lance Parrish (39.5)
Lance Berkman (52)
He didn't work out so call it a bust id you want, but I call it "normal".
Drafting is hard in all sports, but especially in MLB.
Wow, Jay Groome has had a rough season for SD in AAA. I wonder if any professional pitcher has given up as many ERs on any level this season, 128 in 134.2 innings (8.55 ERA).
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=groome000jas
Jordan Lyles has the most in MLB with 119, it's hard to keep getting starts if you're giving up that many.
Fake edit: Yep, Groome has the most, Lyles is second.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=groome000jas
Jordan Lyles has the most in MLB with 119, it's hard to keep getting starts if you're giving up that many.
Fake edit: Yep, Groome has the most, Lyles is second.
The best player they drafted that year, by far, was Bobby Dalbec. I was going through the drafts in the Minor League forum yesterday randomly. Will put them in here in chronological order...
Not making any conclusions, but I did the work, so here it is.
O'Halloran and Romero have been in the organization since the Theo days, getting promoted under Cherington, Dombrowski, and Bloom. Seems like a concrete pattern of this ownership preferring not to entirely clean house to suit the whims and wants of their next hire.
The pattern of this moves and the chatter around Hazen (that he doesn’t want to leave Arizona) makes me think the odds-on favorite is Josh Byrnes.
He’s worked with Romero and O’Halloran, knows the owners and team infrastructure.
I think he would be a good hire (worked under Theo and has worked under Friedman, a good executive tree)
He’s worked with Romero and O’Halloran, knows the owners and team infrastructure.
I think he would be a good hire (worked under Theo and has worked under Friedman, a good executive tree)
My first thought on Byrnes was "meh". But there's some interesting draft history stuff...
This was the Scherzer trade fwiw:
He didn't last too long in charge of San Diego, but some impressive drafting...
& who knows how much power he has in LA, but they definitely do the farm system & young talent right.
It's amusing that his Wiki is written like a puff piece, but there is a lot of interesting things in there.
& here's from his tenure with Boston before he got that DBacks job:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Byrnes
I looked at his Wiki and drew the exact same conclusion you did. It seems like he got a particularly raw deal in San Diego as well (new ownership who didn't hire him and wanted to get their own guy in).
I like Byrnes over Sawadaye and Fuld because Byrnes actually has the experience of being the top dog. Ideally the Red Sox would be able to keep all of their top execs (Romero, O'Halloran, Raquel Ferreira) and Byrnes can poach one or two of the well thought of execs from LA.
Yeah, he's definitely on my short list after reading, so thx. I would love it if he brought in Ben Sestanovich from the Braves as his GM, though, because I'm still fascinated by the idea of bringing in knowledge from both those organizations while retaining knowledge from our own.
I love this idea. We're talking a lot in this thread about finding someone whose strengths fill the gaps where Bloom was weak, but building a good, deep D&D org is still a good idea. I'd like to see them hire someone who can do the things that Bloom couldn't do, while also doing the things that Bloom did well.
I couldn't agree more. I think this would be the best realistic scenario.
FWIW, I prefer Byrnes to Click, but this was the first I'd seen Byrnes tied to the situation at all, but he'd be my immediate first choice. If a situation of Byrnes as PoBO and either Sestanovich or Fast as GM were possible, that would be an excellent front office set up - at least in my opinion.
O'Halloran also has a professional (at least) relationship with Byrnes from their time together here in Boston from 2003-2006 so I could see him at worst not objecting and at best actively wanting O'Halloran in the organization in some capacity.
View: https://twitter.com/jcmccaffrey/status/1705220747021484304
They're also keeping Ferreira & Romero not sure if new news, but new news to me, even if not surprising).
Word. I'm a little concerned that they're publicly advertising that the new CBO isn't building his/her staff. Not that ownership shouldn't encourage the new hire to keep parts of the organization with good institutional knowledge or simply watch a Pitino-like, Michael Corleone purge of the existing org, but I'm surprised that Kennedy thinks that he should be telling the world that O'Halloran et al. are staying on. And why do they need to keep telling people that they don't have a plan for the structure yet. "We're hiring a new CBO, org structure will take shape after that happens" seems like enough.
Although if this is the case, someone who's familiar with all these people seems like the most likely hire.
The more I see, the more I agree with those who suggest Josh Byrnes.
Fair point. I realize hindsight's not very sophisticated, but it's easy.
Another, far more sophisticated, is to ask if the player picked made sense for the org at the time, in terms of risk and development that was in place for them. So for Groom, he's a high consensus pick, and there's an argument to be made it was a very good use of the slot the Sox had. OTOH, he was a HS lefty, and those inherently carry risk. So maybe you grab him, knowing you won't get a chance to pick that sort of potential upside player once the ML team gets competitive.
So maybe not a "bad" pick, but an unfortunately unproductive one. And you can only have so many of those.
Yes, but the system was still bare when he left, and the team’s only trade assets were on the MLB roster. That is a problem. Look at it this way, the only players left in the system when he left are only now hitting AAA/MLB. That’s an issue.
Yeah, this year really was the 1st year anything kicked loose from the DD tree.
These are a couple posts I made last December about what Bloom inherited...
These are a couple posts I made last December about what Bloom inherited...
It really was a barren wasteland. Which isn't to say Bloom couldn't have done certain things better, but A LOT had to be done to repair the future state of the org.
I'm not even a "DD defender" or whatever the tribal equivalent is in the development/trade scrum that seems to have developed among the fans. These are just facts. This is just what happened.
The team actually had a severe talent gap in 2017-2018-2019. (Devers in 2017 is a notable exception because he was such a strong contributor. . .but he was the only contributor. There were no competent bullpen arms, etc.)
And as to the "why" of that situation, why not look and see what happened with the drafts/incoming classes that were supposed to produce that wave of talent? (Spoiler: weak Cherrington drafts mostly.)
We could also look and see if DD made significant trades out of those classes, or somehow squandered said talent. (Spoiler: he did not. He traded up.)
https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/the-red-sox-have-fired-chaim-bloom.40494/page-15#post-5740238
Could DD have traded to restock the upper minors? Maybe - that's a more open and speculative question. But it's not really accurate to say that:
It was not bare when he left. Bello, Casas, Houck, Duran, Murphy, Mata, Song, etc.
That's a totally different issue, and a valid one. Most of the talent was clustered in the low minors and started to come up in 2020 (Houck/Dalbec) and later.
The team actually had a severe talent gap in 2017-2018-2019. (Devers in 2017 is a notable exception because he was such a strong contributor. . .but he was the only contributor. There were no competent bullpen arms, etc.)
And as to the "why" of that situation, why not look and see what happened with the drafts/incoming classes that were supposed to produce that wave of talent? (Spoiler: weak Cherrington drafts mostly.)
We could also look and see if DD made significant trades out of those classes, or somehow squandered said talent. (Spoiler: he did not. He traded up.)
https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/the-red-sox-have-fired-chaim-bloom.40494/page-15#post-5740238
Could DD have traded to restock the upper minors? Maybe - that's a more open and speculative question. But it's not really accurate to say that:
-DD recklessly threw good prospects away.
-DD didn't draft good prospects.
-DD left the cupboard bare.
-Cherrington was some kind of development machine.
-Cherrington left a full cupboard of prospects (paired with the DD throwing-away meme.)
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