Build from within.īut at some point, you’ve got to build around something we can hold on to. Sell a year too early before a year too late. Flip a flawed Hunter Renfroe after a hot season. You can win that way, of course (and spare me the “Tampa never won the big one” dreck that ignores teams that make the playoffs every year win a lot more titles than the ones that don’t). Last week, colleague Chad Finn smartly pointed out that Bloom’s style likely would’ve meant David Ortiz finishing his career in something other than a Red Sox uniform, and that Bloom “probably would have traded every superstar lifer they’ve ever had other than Ted Williams.” The easy slag is to quip that team ownership took that success cliché literally, but I don’t think that entirely fair. The sort the Torontos and the Milwaukees and the San Diegos are chasing a sliver of if they go all-in in the coming hours. Our worlds changed after 2004, when we - and, more importantly, the players - could finally lift the weight of eight decades of failure off every series.įourteen years later, we had enough success to last a lifetime. 28, 2018, drawing down to Monday or Tuesday or this winter, when that title roster feels truly, entirely gone. It has all been one long goodbye since Oct. Bloom traded Betts about three months into his tenure as the replacement. Three months later, John Henry (who owns Boston Globe Media Partners, including ) first told a wide audience the team had exceeded its budget, and first uttered the infamous phrase about “how much money are you willing to lose?” That September, Dave Dombrowski was fired. It was more prescient than even I ever could have understood. A fourth title in 15 years, via a 119-win season, was going to be awful hard to top for the rest of our lives. When the Red Sox won the 2018 World Series, it struck me that we’d reached the pinnacle as observers of the team. Both of the current roster, and the franchise as a whole. Martinez probably won’t either.Īnd it’s hard to reconcile the logic in the decisions Bloom’s making with the relative pain of this evolution. Martinez wants to be here, going so far this weekend as to suggest that old Jon Lester dream of coming back even if he’s traded at the deadline. In their statement saluting Russell, the team concluded that “the fire that burned so bright in him will continue to inspire us at Fenway Park.” To the degree that anyone even noticed it, that figures to age like milk should Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi really meet in a Yankees-Dodgers World Series, and should Xander Bogaerts join them this winter as a departed homegrown star. Which introduces the other elephant to this room. Of course, if you’re Chaim Bloom and you’re not planning on reupping these guys this winter, all you have to beat in a return is a compensation draft pick. Christian Vázquez is perennially underrated, but he’s also a catcher regressing defensively and going on 32 years old. Nate Eovaldi, going into his Monday start in Houston, hasn’t had the same velocity since his five-week injury absence. 31 and 32, two off the AL lead, but he has nine home runs and a balky back on Aug. Martinez’s words) might be just how little its players might bring back. The most compelling reason to “keep the band together” ( in J.D. Suffice to say, it hasn’t gotten it, and results have done nothing to demand it keep chasing it. This roster was built for a best-case scenario season like the one 2021 produced. #Bloom deals series#That’s a pretty big ask for a shot at a three-game series on the road. (Fangraphs’ playoff odds have Boston ninth in a race for six American League spots.) Their needs begin with a first baseman and bullpen help, but realistically include an outfielder and rotation support. They are just 3.5 games from a wild-card with 59 to play, but would have to jump four teams to get there. Former MLB GM Jim Bowden tweeted Sunday night that “buyers and sellers” best described the Red Sox’ mindset we’ll see what that translates to across the next day and a half. A 3-7 homestand is better than 2-8, a 8-19 month is better than 7-20, and one July win from a starting pitcher is better than none.ĭoes it change the path of the franchise? One game shouldn’t, and I don’t think this one did either.
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