The 2018 team was loaded. That was decidedly not Cora squeezing everything out of a bunch gritty Jags.Cora won a title, with a historically overachieving team
Bloom hasn’t and has had underachieving teams
The 2018 team was loaded. That was decidedly not Cora squeezing everything out of a bunch gritty Jags.Cora won a title, with a historically overachieving team
Bloom hasn’t and has had underachieving teams
1) Tell me one person who thought they would win 108?The 2018 team was loaded. That was decidedly not Cora squeezing everything out of a bunch gritty Jags.
They had won the AL east the previous 2 seasons, and were a strong favorite to repeat and make a deep playoff run. What are you talking about?1) Tell me one person who thought they would win 108?
2) Dombrowski did his job
Tell me one person who thought they would win 108 games?They had won the AL east the previous 2 seasons, and were a strong favorite to repeat and make a deep playoff run. What are you talking about?
Exactly? Come on. But they were predicted to be very good.Tell me one person who thought they would win 108 games?
My man, you’re really pinning your premise on the exact win total?Tell me one person who thought they would win 108 games?
Don’t be obtuseExactly? Come on. But they were predicted to be very good.
Do you think 93 is the same as 108 or anywhere close?My man, you’re really pinning your premise on the exact win total?
Me?Don’t be obtuse
They weren’t expected to be 108 wins good
They were not, by any measure, a significantly overachieving team. They were a strong pre-season favorite. This is a very weird hill to die on.Do you think 93 is the same as 108 or anywhere close?
I can’t believe that you people are fighting with me over if the 2018 Red Sox, a team that won more games than any in team history and capped off with a WS, overachieved.Me?
dude.
108 was a surprise. First place and a really good team was not.
A weird hill to die on that they didn’t overachieveThey were not, by any measure, a significantly overachieving team. They were a strong pre-season favorite. This is a very weird hill to die on.
Your premise is ridiculous. Your defensiveness/doubling down on it is worse. Nobody’s picking on you.I can’t believe that you people are fighting with me over if the 2018 Red Sox, a team that won more games than any in team history and capped off with a WS, overachieved.
If you’re just going to disagree with me if I say the sky is blue, you should probably stop replying to my posts.
You know who you are
It was a joke.I mean, everyone knows this was Jerry Krause. You could have done the San Antonio GM who took Robinson, Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, although probably many NBA fans know that too.
Cashman? Because we want more bad trades and siginngs?If the rationale for firing Bloom was that the results suck, I don’t understand why Kennedy said they expect to keep Cora as manager.
As a side note, I would think axing Chaim will make it even harder for Hal to keep Cashman and Boone another year. Maybe Cash could fill Chaim’s shoes???
Thanks for looking this uphttps://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/22586812/chalk-complete-list-2018-mlb-win-totals-odds-playoffs-division-world-series
The Yankees were the preseason favorite to win the AL East in 2018.
Yankees O/U was 94.5.
Red Sox O/U was 92.5.
This is where I am (except for being down on Bloom, which I'm not).I am very, very down on Bloom, but this makes no sense. To the extent he had a plan, next year was when it was going to come to fruition -- the young bucks were going to start rounding into form. Ownership saddled Bloom with the Sale contract and trading Mookie, then dispatched him just when his work was going to bear fruit. I don't get it.
Thank you for this great post and the time you took to post it.I'm going to put my take here for posterity, not to argue and what not. I haven't read much of the thread, so I apologize in advance if I'm repeating things that have already been said.
I've generally defended Bloom. I think he's gotten way more hate than he deserves, and I think that firing him could very likely end up proving to be a mistake. I don't think Bloom is perfect either and wouldn't even call myself a "fan" of Bloom. Here's my rationale:
After the 2019 season, my view of the team was decidedly not sanguine. The 2019 club had a lot of talent, but the performance was decidedly mediocre. 84 wins and 9 games out of a wildcard was a depressing followup to 2018. The team had the highest payroll in MLB in 2019 and had pushed past the tax limit for two years running. The clock was about to run out on Betts with Bogaerts, Devers, and JDM looming in the following years. To make matters even worse, the Red Sox were generally considered to have one of if not the worst farm systems in baseball. And to make matters even worse than that, 3 divisional rivals were often ranked in the top 15, with the Rays near the top of the list and the Blue Jays still clocking in toward the middle of the pack despite graduating Vlad Jr., Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio.
I didn't see any chance for the Red Sox to compete over the next few years short of a miracle. There just wasn't any realistic way to get better over the short term -- a roster that already isn't good enough, a budget that is already stretched thin, and no help coming from the farm. Furthermore all of our rivals were poised to get better over the next few years due to their farm systems bearing fruit if nothing else.
I was anticipating a few years of doldrums at the very least. I know that some folks have bandied about the idea that the Red Sox were basically competitive from the 2000's through Bloom's hiring, but that just isn't true. Following the 2011 collapse, the Red Sox had terrible seasons in 2012 and 2014 and a bad season in 2015. 2013 came out of absolute nowhere and was surrounded by suck. Then the Sox were very good for 2016-2018 and mediocre in 2019.
It sure seemed like we were headed for a cyclical pattern of garbage seasons followed by excellence followed by more garbage. I thought we were headed for 2012-15 only without the fluke in the middle.
When Bloom was hired, his vision seemed to provide a possible out to that pattern -- pursue success in the mold of the Dodgers. I didn't think a short term fix was possible, but at the very least I hoped that Bloom's approach would provide us with another window toward the middle of the 2020's and then launch into a more perennial cycle of competitiveness as opposed to a boom/bust pattern.
2020 went basically as I expected. The 2021 season came as a complete surprise, much like 2013 only without quite getting all the way. The past two years have been middling, but far from dire performance of 2014 or even 2015. The division is tougher by a margin, and the Red Sox have played meaningful baseball fairly late into the season for both of the past two years. Some of that is due to the expansion of the playoffs, but even with said expansion the 2014-15 Sox would not have been going nearly as deep into the summer if my memory serves. Bloom has managed to do that largely by hitting big on small ticket free agents, much like the 2013 Sox. While not every Bloom acquisition has worked out and a couple have been really bad, I think overall the moves that he has made have been very good.
Meanwhile, the farm system has exceeded my expectations. Bloom's organization has developed more talent than expected out of the bottom-rung farm system that he inherited, and he has stocked the farm impressively with his own contributions.
I think where a lot of valid criticism of Bloom lies is in his non-moves. My impression is that Bloom may be a bit too much of a value hound, and that sometimes perfect gets in the way of the good. Quite a bit of the scuttlebutt following the firing has added weight to this idea, although it's hard to know if that's just the narrative that's being pushed or if there is a factual basis. Regardless, there are quite a few moments when it seemed like Bloom should do something and failed to do so. If indeed there were opportunities that Bloom failed to capitalize on because of maximizing or indecision, then he absolutely deserves criticism for that.
If ownership sees a path to improve upon Bloom's vision by hiring someone who live up to Bloom on the things that Bloom did well while improving upon the areas that he did poorly, then I can understand moving on. I'm definitely concerned though that we're going to see a change in direction that will tilt us back toward the cyclical pattern instead of perennial contention, and I think there's a nonzero risk that the next guy will end up ruining the next contention window on top of that. I hope that doesn't happen.
TL;DR:
- Before Bloom's hiring, I was expecting 2020-2023 to look like 2012-2015 but without the out-of-nowhere 2013 result
- Under Bloom, 2020 was just as expected, 2021 was way better than I expected, and 2022-23 were moderately better than I expected. Basically I was anticipating a couple of F's and a couple of D's, and we got an F, an A (maybe A- if you're a tough grader), and a pair of C+'s. It seems to me that there is a lot of hindsight criticism that he could have maybe gotten those C+'s to B's, and I can't disagree with that, but I also think that discounts the very real accomplishments of turning those F's and D's into C+'s to begin with (not to mention the lucky A).
- Bloom got more out of the farm he inherited than I expected and did a fantastic job of building onto it
- Bloom's lack of action at a few junctures could well have been significant unforced errors. We don't know for sure what opportunities were out there, but if he missed some because he was trying to maximize or was being indecisive, then I think that's a pretty big mark against him.
- There's definitely room for improvement, but there's also a ton of downside risk. I'm more afraid of the downside risk right now than the upside, given that the team should be on the ascendant anyway. Even if the org stays the course, there's no guarantee that Bloom's replacement will outperform him, and worse yet if they mortgage the farm too aggressively we could easily end up in a repeat of 2011/2019 much sooner and have to do it all over again.
Who told you this?Gotta wonder if the Theo thing could happen. i was told back in the early summer there were some talks.
A good friend who I do trust who has marginal connections nothing sexy. From what Kennedy said today (he ruled Theo out) I don't think its a stretch there was some level of conversation that took place.Who told you this?
Does it necessarily dispel that notion? They may have brought him in to do the dirty work and now he gets to be the fall guy.This seems to dispel the notion that Bloom was executing a stealth rebuild exactly as ownership wanted (but couldn't publicly admit). Perhaps their hope was to rebuild the farm, and dip under the tax to create space to be more aggressive on the FA market. Bloom could have dipped under the tax last year, but hedged at the deadline. And then he could have subsequently been more aggressive on the FA front in this past off season. He did get Yoshida, but seemed to prioritize short term deals for older players. So, maybe the expectation from ownership was to have a winning team in by 2023, not 2024 or 2025.
I've been critical of Bloom, though recognize he did some things well. And though the team is .500 this year, they do have several seeds of promise, so I expected ownership to give him another year. Surprised.
This is really well done. It reflects my feelings very well, but I can't write so good.I'm going to put my take here for posterity, not to argue and what not. I haven't read much of the thread, so I apologize in advance if I'm repeating things that have already been said.
I've generally defended Bloom. I think he's gotten way more hate than he deserves, and I think that firing him could very likely end up proving to be a mistake. I don't think Bloom is perfect either and wouldn't even call myself a "fan" of Bloom. Here's my rationale:
After the 2019 season, my view of the team was decidedly not sanguine. The 2019 club had a lot of talent, but the performance was decidedly mediocre. 84 wins and 9 games out of a wildcard was a depressing followup to 2018. The team had the highest payroll in MLB in 2019 and had pushed past the tax limit for two years running. The clock was about to run out on Betts with Bogaerts, Devers, and JDM looming in the following years. To make matters even worse, the Red Sox were generally considered to have one of if not the worst farm systems in baseball. And to make matters even worse than that, 3 divisional rivals were often ranked in the top 15, with the Rays near the top of the list and the Blue Jays still clocking in toward the middle of the pack despite graduating Vlad Jr., Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio.
I didn't see any chance for the Red Sox to compete over the next few years short of a miracle. There just wasn't any realistic way to get better over the short term -- a roster that already isn't good enough, a budget that is already stretched thin, and no help coming from the farm. Furthermore all of our rivals were poised to get better over the next few years due to their farm systems bearing fruit if nothing else.
I was anticipating a few years of doldrums at the very least. I know that some folks have bandied about the idea that the Red Sox were basically competitive from the 2000's through Bloom's hiring, but that just isn't true. Following the 2011 collapse, the Red Sox had terrible seasons in 2012 and 2014 and a bad season in 2015. 2013 came out of absolute nowhere and was surrounded by suck. Then the Sox were very good for 2016-2018 and mediocre in 2019.
It sure seemed like we were headed for a cyclical pattern of garbage seasons followed by excellence followed by more garbage. I thought we were headed for 2012-15 only without the fluke in the middle.
When Bloom was hired, his vision seemed to provide a possible out to that pattern -- pursue success in the mold of the Dodgers. I didn't think a short term fix was possible, but at the very least I hoped that Bloom's approach would provide us with another window toward the middle of the 2020's and then launch into a more perennial cycle of competitiveness as opposed to a boom/bust pattern.
2020 went basically as I expected. The 2021 season came as a complete surprise, much like 2013 only without quite getting all the way. The past two years have been middling, but far from dire performance of 2014 or even 2015. The division is tougher by a margin, and the Red Sox have played meaningful baseball fairly late into the season for both of the past two years. Some of that is due to the expansion of the playoffs, but even with said expansion the 2014-15 Sox would not have been going nearly as deep into the summer if my memory serves. Bloom has managed to do that largely by hitting big on small ticket free agents, much like the 2013 Sox. While not every Bloom acquisition has worked out and a couple have been really bad, I think overall the moves that he has made have been very good.
Meanwhile, the farm system has exceeded my expectations. Bloom's organization has developed more talent than expected out of the bottom-rung farm system that he inherited, and he has stocked the farm impressively with his own contributions.
I think where a lot of valid criticism of Bloom lies is in his non-moves. My impression is that Bloom may be a bit too much of a value hound, and that sometimes perfect gets in the way of the good. Quite a bit of the scuttlebutt following the firing has added weight to this idea, although it's hard to know if that's just the narrative that's being pushed or if there is a factual basis. Regardless, there are quite a few moments when it seemed like Bloom should do something and failed to do so. If indeed there were opportunities that Bloom failed to capitalize on because of maximizing or indecision, then he absolutely deserves criticism for that.
If ownership sees a path to improve upon Bloom's vision by hiring someone who live up to Bloom on the things that Bloom did well while improving upon the areas that he did poorly, then I can understand moving on. I'm definitely concerned though that we're going to see a change in direction that will tilt us back toward the cyclical pattern instead of perennial contention, and I think there's a nonzero risk that the next guy will end up ruining the next contention window on top of that. I hope that doesn't happen.
TL;DR:
- Before Bloom's hiring, I was expecting 2020-2023 to look like 2012-2015 but without the out-of-nowhere 2013 result
- Under Bloom, 2020 was just as expected, 2021 was way better than I expected, and 2022-23 were moderately better than I expected. Basically I was anticipating a couple of F's and a couple of D's, and we got an F, an A (maybe A- if you're a tough grader), and a pair of C+'s. It seems to me that there is a lot of hindsight criticism that he could have maybe gotten those C+'s to B's, and I can't disagree with that, but I also think that discounts the very real accomplishments of turning those F's and D's into C+'s to begin with (not to mention the lucky A).
- Bloom got more out of the farm he inherited than I expected and did a fantastic job of building onto it
- Bloom's lack of action at a few junctures could well have been significant unforced errors. We don't know for sure what opportunities were out there, but if he missed some because he was trying to maximize or was being indecisive, then I think that's a pretty big mark against him.
- There's definitely room for improvement, but there's also a ton of downside risk. I'm more afraid of the downside risk right now than the upside, given that the team should be on the ascendant anyway. Even if the org stays the course, there's no guarantee that Bloom's replacement will outperform him, and worse yet if they mortgage the farm too aggressively we could easily end up in a repeat of 2011/2019 much sooner and have to do it all over again.
I don’t know, that seems implausibly cynical.Does it necessarily dispel that notion? They may have brought him in to do the dirty work and now he gets to be the fall guy.
You know what would be funny is if some guy drafted Kwame Brown #1 overall then later Adam Morrison #3 then made a documentary and with a straight face said Jerry Krause was a shitty GM. It would be especially classy if Krause was dead and unable to defend himself.I mean, everyone knows this was Jerry Krause. You could have done the San Antonio GM who took Robinson, Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, although probably many NBA fans know that too.
also wanted watler davis and joe woif just because they went to north carYou know what would be funny is if some guy drafted Kwame Brown #1 overall then later Adam Morrison #3 then made a documentary and with a straight face said Jerry Krause was a shitty GM. It would be especially classy if Krause was dead and unable to defend himself.
This has a whole ton of truth to it.If you're of the mind - which I am - that Sale's continued contract and place on the roster has stymied the club's ability to put together a solid rotation then his ability to take out Sox PBO's is essentially unrivaled.
Thank you for this. I would have loved to have the capacity to put it together myself, and it really hits on how I feel.I'm going to put my take here for posterity, not to argue and what not. I haven't read much of the thread, so I apologize in advance if I'm repeating things that have already been said.
I've generally defended Bloom. I think he's gotten way more hate than he deserves, and I think that firing him could very likely end up proving to be a mistake. I don't think Bloom is perfect either and wouldn't even call myself a "fan" of Bloom. Here's my rationale:
After the 2019 season, my view of the team was decidedly not sanguine. The 2019 club had a lot of talent, but the performance was decidedly mediocre. 84 wins and 9 games out of a wildcard was a depressing followup to 2018. The team had the highest payroll in MLB in 2019 and had pushed past the tax limit for two years running. The clock was about to run out on Betts with Bogaerts, Devers, and JDM looming in the following years. To make matters even worse, the Red Sox were generally considered to have one of if not the worst farm systems in baseball. And to make matters even worse than that, 3 divisional rivals were often ranked in the top 15, with the Rays near the top of the list and the Blue Jays still clocking in toward the middle of the pack despite graduating Vlad Jr., Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio.
I didn't see any chance for the Red Sox to compete over the next few years short of a miracle. There just wasn't any realistic way to get better over the short term -- a roster that already isn't good enough, a budget that is already stretched thin, and no help coming from the farm. Furthermore all of our rivals were poised to get better over the next few years due to their farm systems bearing fruit if nothing else.
I was anticipating a few years of doldrums at the very least. I know that some folks have bandied about the idea that the Red Sox were basically competitive from the 2000's through Bloom's hiring, but that just isn't true. Following the 2011 collapse, the Red Sox had terrible seasons in 2012 and 2014 and a bad season in 2015. 2013 came out of absolute nowhere and was surrounded by suck. Then the Sox were very good for 2016-2018 and mediocre in 2019.
It sure seemed like we were headed for a cyclical pattern of garbage seasons followed by excellence followed by more garbage. I thought we were headed for 2012-15 only without the fluke in the middle.
When Bloom was hired, his vision seemed to provide a possible out to that pattern -- pursue success in the mold of the Dodgers. I didn't think a short term fix was possible, but at the very least I hoped that Bloom's approach would provide us with another window toward the middle of the 2020's and then launch into a more perennial cycle of competitiveness as opposed to a boom/bust pattern.
2020 went basically as I expected. The 2021 season came as a complete surprise, much like 2013 only without quite getting all the way. The past two years have been middling, but far from dire performance of 2014 or even 2015. The division is tougher by a margin, and the Red Sox have played meaningful baseball fairly late into the season for both of the past two years. Some of that is due to the expansion of the playoffs, but even with said expansion the 2014-15 Sox would not have been going nearly as deep into the summer if my memory serves. Bloom has managed to do that largely by hitting big on small ticket free agents, much like the 2013 Sox. While not every Bloom acquisition has worked out and a couple have been really bad, I think overall the moves that he has made have been very good.
Meanwhile, the farm system has exceeded my expectations. Bloom's organization has developed more talent than expected out of the bottom-rung farm system that he inherited, and he has stocked the farm impressively with his own contributions.
I think where a lot of valid criticism of Bloom lies is in his non-moves. My impression is that Bloom may be a bit too much of a value hound, and that sometimes perfect gets in the way of the good. Quite a bit of the scuttlebutt following the firing has added weight to this idea, although it's hard to know if that's just the narrative that's being pushed or if there is a factual basis. Regardless, there are quite a few moments when it seemed like Bloom should do something and failed to do so. If indeed there were opportunities that Bloom failed to capitalize on because of maximizing or indecision, then he absolutely deserves criticism for that.
If ownership sees a path to improve upon Bloom's vision by hiring someone who live up to Bloom on the things that Bloom did well while improving upon the areas that he did poorly, then I can understand moving on. I'm definitely concerned though that we're going to see a change in direction that will tilt us back toward the cyclical pattern instead of perennial contention, and I think there's a nonzero risk that the next guy will end up ruining the next contention window on top of that. I hope that doesn't happen.
TL;DR:
- Before Bloom's hiring, I was expecting 2020-2023 to look like 2012-2015 but without the out-of-nowhere 2013 result
- Under Bloom, 2020 was just as expected, 2021 was way better than I expected, and 2022-23 were moderately better than I expected. Basically I was anticipating a couple of F's and a couple of D's, and we got an F, an A (maybe A- if you're a tough grader), and a pair of C+'s. It seems to me that there is a lot of hindsight criticism that he could have maybe gotten those C+'s to B's, and I can't disagree with that, but I also think that discounts the very real accomplishments of turning those F's and D's into C+'s to begin with (not to mention the lucky A).
- Bloom got more out of the farm he inherited than I expected and did a fantastic job of building onto it
- Bloom's lack of action at a few junctures could well have been significant unforced errors. We don't know for sure what opportunities were out there, but if he missed some because he was trying to maximize or was being indecisive, then I think that's a pretty big mark against him.
- There's definitely room for improvement, but there's also a ton of downside risk. I'm more afraid of the downside risk right now than the upside, given that the team should be on the ascendant anyway. Even if the org stays the course, there's no guarantee that Bloom's replacement will outperform him, and worse yet if they mortgage the farm too aggressively we could easily end up in a repeat of 2011/2019 much sooner and have to do it all over again.
"It isn't the high price of stars that is expensive, it's the high price of mediocrity." -Bill VeeckHe whiffed on Story. Semien and Seager were more expensive but are better. I think someone else said it right in another thread, better to slightly overpay for the premium players than overpay a lot for the second tier players.
It’s the same story for pitching. If the models said Eflin is a good pitcher, overpay a bit.
Though if he was doing the dirty work that they charged him to do why would they need a fall guy? To quell the angry masses? If a stealth 4-6 year rebuild was the organizational plan all along, surely they would have anticipated the angry masses and not scapegoated Bloom when the pitchforks showed up.Does it necessarily dispel that notion? They may have brought him in to do the dirty work and now he gets to be the fall guy.
No, you’re right, it is horribly cynical.I don’t know, that seems implausibly cynical.
You think Henry and crew knew in the fall of 2019 that they’d can him as soon as the farm got to a decidedly better place?
They scapegoat everyone, even the successful guys like TitoThough if he was doing the dirty work that they charged him to do why would they need a fall guy? To quell the angry masses? If a stealth 4-6 year rebuild was the organizational plan all along, surely they would have anticipated the angry masses and not scapegoated Bloom when the pitchforks showed up.
To be clear, I don't think that. I just think that reasoning like the bolded...I don’t know, that seems implausibly cynical.
You think Henry and crew knew in the fall of 2019 that they’d can him as soon as the farm got to a decidedly better place?
...is maybe a touch naive. If ownership anticipated angry masses following from their direction, wouldn't they be looking for a PR strategy? Mightn't that strategy involve bringing in a (well-remunerated!) figurehead who would serve as a lightning rod redirecting that fan criticism? Sports owners fire executives and coaches for dubious reasons all the time, and this ownership group hasn't been shy about leaking unflattering things about outgoing personnel. Lucchino is gone, it's true, but its not like Henry and Warner protested publicly when they leaked that Francona had allegedly become dependent on prescription painkillers.Though if he was doing the dirty work that they charged him to do why would they need a fall guy? To quell the angry masses? If a stealth 4-6 year rebuild was the organizational plan all along, surely they would have anticipated the angry masses and not scapegoated Bloom when the pitchforks showed up.
THANK YOU.They scapegoat everyone, even the successful guys like Tito and Theo
Not very solid reasoning. Winning a championship does not excuse all mistakes. For example, if Dombrowski were still here and the Red Sox hadn't won more than 70 games in a season since 2020, people would be calling for his head.
Flags fly forever is very solid reasoning.Well, Sale and Price did result in the team's hoisting a flag that is still flying. And Sale's extension led to a payroll crunch and at least indirectly led to Dombrowski's firing.
Except I don't think Henry was amused that last season's deadline left the team above the tax threshold leading into an offseason in which they said goodbye to a couple of key free agents. The trade deadline is one of the key responsibilities of a GM, so subsequent failures are not "overblown" by any means.
I'm sort of shocked at the news today about Bloom. That said, it feels like two things are at play.
1. The last 4 years were a rebuild. That word wasn't used publicly by the team, but that's what it was. Only difference was they spent up to the tax, which teams generally don't do during a rebuild. It confused the public.
2. They used what Bloom was good at and assessed they needed someone to take them beyond the rebuild and into the free agency/championship building period. We can't know if he would have succeed at what they were about to do this Winter. We'll never know if he could have finished the job or not.
All of that said, Bloom just showed that if someone wants to hire him to rebuild their franchise, he's great at that. Imagine what would have happened if the Red Sox had publicly stated they don't plan to be competitive for a while as he built up the team. I doubt anyone looks down on the job he did in that scenario. We expected winning results because no one called it a rebuild. They just said as much in the press conference that he did a fantastic job repositioning the organization for success. Another org will benefit from hiring him to do the same thing, and if they call it a rebuild he'll be appreciated a lot more.
I believe Cherington was the victim of Dombrowski becoming available.Though the team won a Championship under Cherington.
Cashman and Boone should have been fired several years ago. As Red Sox fans we should be thrilled that they're both in place.Bloom getting fired for having a better season (in terms of having more cost-controlled players, payroll in a better place) than Cashman and having a much better farm system is a funny thing.
Then why have they been more concerned with staying under the luxury tax threshold more than any time in the last 20 years?We have often said on SoSH that these last few years were a rebuild, maybe a stealth rebuild but a rebuild all the same. And the window was about to open and that had been the plan all along.
What I think I've learned today is Sox ownership did not see it that way.