That was my first thought when I read this news. He seems to be the type of investor who would rather play the long game and this could all be part of a longer-term financial strategy.
Red Sox make scouting department cuts
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
thats not an unfair first impression, but twelve hours later and after reading 50 posts about it I imagine you have changed your opinion on the matter?
Agreed. And lurkers seem to think it's a good way to look clever or something too.
The boards really are a mess lately.
Yes, let’s all pretend that financial situations never change for the worse, ever. The Wilpons being exhibit A.
I mean, they technically are refusing to spend money. That doesn’t seem to be in dispute. They said they stopped spending ostensibly to get under the luxury tax threshold. They cut payroll drastically and traded their best player to do it.
This clarifies things a great deal. Once again, the rush for clicks obscured the story.
Why is it so out of the realm of conception that they traded Mookie and got under the cap for things other than the money in their bank accounts? There are many reasons the move made sense - they've all been laid out in full, multiple times, I'm not about to do it again - and I see zero reasons that the ownership group hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt.
Because that doesn't fit the narrative that they're cheap and don't care about winning
They've won a world Championship in baseball, the European Champions League and the English Premier league in Soccer, all in the last 22 months. Maybe they want to try not winning things for a bit?
Yeah, that wasn't a great investment for them. From what I can figure out they paid about $60m for half of the team back in 2007 and the whole thing is worth about $75m now. Turns out they bought at a peak on NASCAR. But that's a rounding error compared to what he's made on the Sox and Liverpool. They paid less than they paid for Rusney Castillo, and at least the racing team is still worth something.
I mean, they’ve finished last four times in the last 8 years around those two WS titles (2012, 2014-15, 2020). Obv the Punto trade blew up 2012 and then the vets from 2013 all crashed hard afterwards. Maybe the boom-bust cycle is getting shorter all over baseball? The Royals had two good years but have faded away since.
I had thought with the young core of 2018 that the Sox were set to be great for years to come but obv that’s not the case. 2019 was a slog, an odd year where they never got going. That was the full core’s last chance but unfortunately they couldn’t do it.
This is Bloom’s chance to build a team with more or less a blank slate. I don’t know how quickly he should be expected to do so given the state of the major league club. Will they give him 2 years? 3? 5? No idea. In many ways these are uncharted waters. IIRC the Sox have spoken about wanting to compete every year but if they have to reset the tax once in a while then that may not be feasible.
Is there any Red Sox fan alive that isn't THRILLED at how the Henry-Werner ownership run has turned out for the Red Sox?
19 seasons (2002-2020)
- 1639-1319 record (.554)
- 5 AL East titles
- 10 playoffs
- 4 AL pennants
- 4 WS titles
- 4 last-place finishes
- 12 90+ win seasons
So about every 4-5 years (if you want to look at it this way), the Sox under JH/TW have produced:
- 1 division title
- 1 last-place finish
- 2-3 playoff appearances
- 2-3 90+ win seasons
- 1 AL pennant
- 1 WS title
I mean....is there any Red Sox fan born before 2004 that isn't thrilled with this?
19 seasons (2002-2020)
- 1639-1319 record (.554)
- 5 AL East titles
- 10 playoffs
- 4 AL pennants
- 4 WS titles
- 4 last-place finishes
- 12 90+ win seasons
So about every 4-5 years (if you want to look at it this way), the Sox under JH/TW have produced:
- 1 division title
- 1 last-place finish
- 2-3 playoff appearances
- 2-3 90+ win seasons
- 1 AL pennant
- 1 WS title
I mean....is there any Red Sox fan born before 2004 that isn't thrilled with this?
Of course they’d be thrilled. I certainly am. I’m just wondering if due to the luxury tax penalties, it’s now more necessarily to tear down and rebuild instead of attempting to maintain the winning percentage level we saw when ownership took over. To me that’s an interesting discussion to have.
Well, I think they've obviously worked to shed payroll to get under the luxury tax, add young talent while still keeping some core players, in order to allow them to do a (hopefully) short rebuild. They'll be able to start spending some real money again soon, and they've got some really nice pieces in place for 2021: Devers, X, Sale (when he returns), EdRo, Vazquez, Verdugo, JDM, etc. There's stuff to work with.
They won't have to go through another payroll shed until after the new CBA is in place. If the non-monetary penalties are removed, then they may never have to.
Yes. Bloom really needs to develop starting pitching from the system to fill this out; like a QB on his rookie deal who plays well, getting starting pitching that’s effective and not prohibitively expensive while pitching well will be a massive advantage under the luxury tax penalties.
Agreed. Not sure where he gets it. Snagging a stud in the next draft would help. Also Jay Groome panning out would also help immensely. Then there's Mata and Seabold who could end up being pretty good. There's a little hope there, but still lots of work to do.
FWIW...
View: https://twitter.com/Britt_Ghiroli/status/1305971907918016514
@Britt_Ghiroli: The Dodgers have sliced their pro scouting department as well, 4-5 guys axed, sources say.
2nd tweet: This is only the start of what's expected be a ton of downsizing around the league as teams shrink staff, get rid of minor league teams and try to whittle expenses.
View: https://twitter.com/ZHBuchanan/status/1305989738755547141
@ZHBuchanan: Mike Hazen said the Diamondbacks have eliminated around 15 baseball operations positions, most of them on the player development side as they expect to lose their short-season affiliates in Hillsboro and Missoula. But there are a few cuts among the scouting staff, too.
View: https://twitter.com/Britt_Ghiroli/status/1305971907918016514
@Britt_Ghiroli: The Dodgers have sliced their pro scouting department as well, 4-5 guys axed, sources say.
2nd tweet: This is only the start of what's expected be a ton of downsizing around the league as teams shrink staff, get rid of minor league teams and try to whittle expenses.
View: https://twitter.com/ZHBuchanan/status/1305989738755547141
@ZHBuchanan: Mike Hazen said the Diamondbacks have eliminated around 15 baseball operations positions, most of them on the player development side as they expect to lose their short-season affiliates in Hillsboro and Missoula. But there are a few cuts among the scouting staff, too.
The 10% supposedly includes those that were already let go (the ones that prompted the thread).
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1306707845694586888
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1306707845694586888
Gordon Edes is one of the ones who is being let go.
View: https://twitter.com/GordonEdes/status/1307046288026894339
View: https://twitter.com/GordonEdes/status/1307046288026894339
Dunno, he sounded like he was looking forward to the 5 year anniversary
And he looks 55 at most (at least he did at ST)
A nice twist on the old ST trope!
Bad news for those let go and their families. What will 2021 bring?
Which he amassed in part by not wasting money.More dodgers Layoffs:
Mark Walter's Net worth is around four billion dollars.