Red Sox/MLB 2024 Spring Training Part 4: - Ownership seems content with another last place finish in 2024

[Morris Wanchuk]

Who is Mike Gordon? He's the FSG man of mystery

 

[DKH]

It helps that they had a top 5 pick in 4 consecutive MLB Drafts:

2019 - Adley Rutschman ( 1st overall )
2020 - Heston Kjerstad ( 2nd overall )
2021 - Colton Cowser ( 5th overall )
2022 - Jackson Holliday ( 1st overall )

And they got Gunnar first pick in round 2

I’d rather do it Bruins way - get McAvoy 14, Pastrnak 25, and Swayman in round 4

 

[Therick67]

I said a while back these guy’s weren’t focused on the Red Sox anymore with all the other things they had going on.

 

[Johnnyduke]

6/140 was considered a value play at the time too. Funny thing about baseball! It’s never not a MF

What is a value play? There was basically nobody interested in Trevor Story at that contract. Maybe there was one other team in the vicinity.

 

[DKH]

Ratings are so subjective

I land they are top third 1-10 closer to 10

The pitching is issue why they should get Montgomery

Fangraphs who I respect and use a lot is 2

I’ve seen 2,3 and 5 and mlb.com gotta look but they only had 4 prospects in top 100 and none in top 14

Farm System Rankings | FanGraphs Baseball

www.fangraphs.com

Mike McCarthy is terrible - between his annoying voice and whiney takes he’s a sports vampire

Down on the farm: Execs pick best systems for 2024

Over the first three parts of the 2024 MLB Pipeline Poll series, all of the questions were about individual players and their tools. In the finale of the series, we’re switching gears and have asked front office executives to take a deeper look at farm systems. - MLB Pipeline |

www.mlb.com

 

[Johnnyduke]

@DKH you can say he's terrible but he's 100% spot on about the lack of pitching prospects. That might be Chaim Bloom's biggest failure. And I think we have overrated the farm system. It's good. But it's not "great". And it looks to have leveled off from last year to now.

 

[DKH]

@DKH you can say he's terrible but he's 100% spot on about the lack of pitching prospects. That might be Chaim Bloom's biggest failure. And I think we have overrated the farm system. It's good. But it's not "great". And it looks to have leveled off from last year to now.

The pitching is a huge problem

I agree - your system can’t be 2 or 3 or 5 when none of your pitchers aren’t in top 20 or in this case top 100

McCarthy just is 99.9 % negative - give me some balance

We are frustrated because if the Sox gave half a shit they could at least give us hope they could get to 85-90 games

 

[KrejciMVP]

@DKH you can say he's terrible but he's 100% spot on about the lack of pitching prospects. That might be Chaim Bloom's biggest failure. And I think we have overrated the farm system. It's good. But it's not "great". And it looks to have leveled off from last year to now.

not a shocker, all that prospect talk was just used to kick the can down the road to deflect from the failures of the FO.

 

[DKH]

I’d rate system 8-10 due to lack of front line pitching in system

Division 5th

I’d pick 76 wins as my bullseye number to win a cash contest

76 wins is pathetic with their reputation and resources

 

[DKH]

Really simple

Sign Montgomery
Sign Duval (1 year overpay a bit let’s you get more information on Anthony, Duran, Abreu, Rafaella etc…even O’Neil) great in clubhouse

Trade Jansen and load up pen with Whitlock closer and Houck somewhere in 7-8 and backup closer

Not freaking hard to at least stand at intersection of hope & give a crap

not a shocker, all that prospect talk was just used to kick the can down the road to deflect from the failures of the FO.

We want both - top ten team overall and prospect oool

Your Rays are exactly that

 

[KrejciMVP]

Really simple

Sign Montgomery
Sign Duval (1 year overpay a bit let’s you get more information on Anthony, Duran, Abreu, Rafaella etc…even O’Neil) great in clubhouse

Trade Jansen and load up pen with Whitlock closer and Houck somewhere in 7-8 and backup closer

Not freaking hard to at least stand at intersection of hope & give a crap


We want both - top ten team overall and prospect oool

Your Rays are exactly that

The Red Sox failed Rays model has got to go. They are much better off bullying the league with Pedro and Manny like acquistions. The Rays are happy for teams like the Sox to try an copy them and bring them down to their level. Seen Rays fans giddy over sabotaging the Sox with Chaim Bloom. Ya its fun to go see some live baseball in St Pete as a hobby but I don't consider these small market teams real threats come playoff time

The rot in the Sox starts with ownership. Team is going nowhere until they sell and get a real committed owner who doesn't have the team as another asset on their balance sheet.

 

[LSCII]

Are some folks really excited about this bullshit PR move? Who the f*** cares about them hiring an executive when the entire roster top to bottom f***ing blows? It was a last place roster last year and they've only gotten worse. No f***ing front office hire will fix that shit show as long as they refuse to sign and pay for actual talent.

The "reports" that Theo was brought in to focus on the roster is laughable given they told Breslow he'd be able to spend money to improve it, yet they didn't allow it. This is 100% PR spin and reason 5 million why this ownership group blows.

 

[EverettMike]

I actually think they are going to sell the team and Theo is cover until they do.

 

[LSCII]

I was going to boycott the Sox this season but since they added a front office executive as their big off season acquisition, I'm buying seasons tickets...

 

[GatorMike]

The part of this whole "FSG isn't focused on the Red Sox" thing that confuses me is how much do they really have to do, anyway?

As owners, shouldn't their job basically be to say "OK, Craig... here's the budget. Call me if you want do anything major."

 

[DKH]

The Red Sox failed Rays model has got to go. They are much better off bullying the league with Pedro and Manny like acquistions. The Rays are happy for teams like the Sox to try an copy them and bring them down to their level. Seen Rays fans giddy over sabotaging the Sox with Chaim Bloom. Ya its fun to go see some live baseball in St Pete as a hobby but I don't consider these small market teams real threats come playoff time

The rot in the Sox starts with ownership. Team is going nowhere until they sell and get a real committed owner who doesn't have the team as another asset on their balance sheet.

Bang on - great post

Henry is approaching mid 70’s with young active family & monster acquisition in golf - Werner sucks and failed being point person on Red Sox. You can’t take money with you and Henry may be able to juggle 3 balls but not 5 or 6 or 7

Theo is here to eventually own this team and be a significant contributor to FSG

He and Breslow are close to begin with so I’m cautiously optimistic

Kudos to Henry for realizing the Sox are a mess and time to focus on golf or whatever - let Theo be heavily involved

The Orioles are the hot knew kid at school and time for Yenks & Sox to be bullies - Toronto can hang with them also but clearly these 2 need to drive basebsll in the East

 

[DKH]

I was going to boycott the Sox this season but since they added a front office executive as their big off season acquisition, I'm buying seasons tickets...

He’s bringing the Cubs WS trophy to Fanuel Hall

 

[LSCII]

He’s bringing the Cubs WS trophy to Fanuel Hall

Maybe Ray Bourque can bring his Stanley Cup from Colorado and they can have a parade?

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

The part of this whole "FSG isn't focused on the Red Sox" thing that confuses me is how much do they really have to do, anyway?

As owners, shouldn't their job basically be to say "OK, Craig... here's the budget. Call me if you want do anything major."

What budget?

 

[Mr Cartmenez]

What is a value play? There was basically nobody interested in Trevor Story at that contract. Maybe there was one other team in the vicinity.

I wouldn't call it neither a value play nor an overpayment. It could have been justified if they had been a contender from day 1 of that contract and could have actually used Story at the position with the most value (SS).
It was an unnecessary signing from day 1, the same as Yoshida. And both of these guys are in the top 3 of our highest paid players.

I actually think they are going to sell the team and Theo is cover until they do.

That's quite possible, but I think unlikely for at least the next 2-3 years. They can still milk the cow. I have read somewhere (but could be wrong) that their franchise value according to forbes is going up again (with less cost). The attendance drop from 2018 was only 8%. Viewers on front of the TV could be a problem, though.

I think they have realized that you can buy wins cheaper than they used to. In 2018, they had a payroll at about 230m. If pro-rated to todays standard, it would be around 290-300m. Not to mention that other teams caught up and are spending more to the threshold. Henry might have decided that it's not worth it to spend so much in the MLB to be competitive.


Merely two years ago they invested in a NHL-franchise (a league with a hard cap).

In baseball, you gotta be a passionate and aggressive spender with how harsh the tax penalties have become.

 

[Johnnyduke]

The part of this whole "FSG isn't focused on the Red Sox" thing that confuses me is how much do they really have to do, anyway?

As owners, shouldn't their job basically be to say "OK, Craig... here's the budget. Call me if you want do anything major."

That's the thing though. I don't need to see or hear John Henry as long as I see the commitment to winning. Sorta like how the Bruins always spend to the cap. As long as that happens I don't care if I never see Jeremy Jacobs again.

 

[Smitty93]

I actually think they are going to sell the team and Theo is cover until they do.

We're not that lucky. I think the long-term goal is to have a piece of every league. Vegas expansion NBA team will be coming soon (with Lebron as the lead). I'm sure they'll inevitably grab an NFL team as well. All that will happen is the Red Sox will drop further down the list of priorities.

 

[Walkenthewalk]

I don’t think the ownership has issues. Seems they are doing exactly what they want.
Have a cash cow

 

[CDJ]

Entire group is called Fenway Sports Group, they ain’t selling

Theo gives me optimism that he won’t let this ship continue to sink and he’s always been able to convince Henry to spend but at the same time he’s not gonna be working on the Sox full time so it’s tough to get too enthusiastic about it. Nice to have him back in town at least

 

[GatorMike]