Sale-ing Away

I know, I'm so clever with the title, right?

It came to my attention that I haven't commented on any of the big news coming from the Red Sox this offseason, and I'm sure you were all waiting and wondering what I think. So, here we go.

A new GM. Or baseball ops cheif, or whatever title Chaim Bloom used to have and is not somewhat covered by a position Craig Breslow now has. I never had that much of a problem with Bloom. I did think he had a flaw Theo had where he was a bit to willing to ride it out with his guys. In 2011 Theo made the calculated gamble to patch holes with his prospects instead of trading them for help, assuming the Sox would still win just enough to keep them in the playoffs. He was a game off. I saw Bloom as the same. Rather than trade guys to fill holes from injuries, he hoped to tread water until they came back. Bloom was similar. Rather than get replacements for Story or Sale, he hoped he could tread water until they returned. But, all the injuries seemed to linger forever, and he got bit. As far as roster construction, he didn't seem that far off. So, as disappointed as I was to see him go, I was glad to see a Theo guy in Breslow come take his place. Honestly, with Theo's endorsement, I'm shocked there were other choices. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if all the other options that "turned down" the Sox really turned them down by saying, "Aren't you going with Breslow?" Sort of like when Billy bean turned down the Sox and told them they had that Theo kid anyway. So I was very happy to see what Breslo could do.

He didn't waste much time by trading Alex Verdugo. He was a solid borderline all-star, but losing him doesn't seem like the end of the world. The Sox seem more than happy to go with their young outfielders, and I can't argue against that. Some combination of them should be able to fill in for things just fine.

Breslow wisely avoided the Ohtani/Yamamoto circus. I didn't want any part of either of those contracts.

The Sox were, however, to add Lucas Giolito to the rotation. While not as flashy, he's exactly what the Red Sox were missing. A guy you can count on to go out there and be good. He'll keep you in the game until it get in the bullpen. All the time. It's one of those things where you may not even notice. But, halfway through the season things just seem better, and you can't quite put your finget on it. Until you notice that last year the #3 starter went 4 innings giving up 4 runs, and Giolito is always going 5 and 3. Just that solid performance you need. Of course, he also has much more upside than that. If he can find his previous form, that would go a long way. He has a great floor, and a great ceiling.

Of course, the biggest news is the trade of Chris Sale. I'm amazed that when after the Giolito acquisition if mock rotations put Sale at the top and everyone responded with "he's not an ace anymore". If the rotation went Bello-Giolito-Sale, people would complain that Sale would never be healthy enough for that spot. But, now that he's been traded, he was apparently prime Pedro. Again, I like this move. Sounds like the Sox filled a position of need by getting a good young second baseman in exchange for a huge question mark. My guess is that replacing what they actually expected for Sale might not be difficult. Replacing what they "hoped for" from Sale? That might be tougher. But, there's still plenty of time to figure that one out. 

I'm excited to see how the roster fills out. This is going to be fun.

Welcome Back Craig Breslow!

I remember when Joe Biden was getting ready to announce his choice for running mate. There were stories after stories speculating about the choice. Would it be this senator, or this congressman, or this random person. Every expert had their own angle and their own reasons why they were predicting the correct candidate. Then, when he selected Harris, the stories came out that she was actually a college friend of his son. They'd known each other for years, and Harris had shared many a meal at the Biden house over the years. I remember thinking...wait, people knew this and were still "wondering" who he would choose? Might the "longtime friend who he almost considers a daughter who is also a very qualified senator from the biggest state in the country" be an obvious choice? Were all those stories...what were they...just to push content for clicks?

Or, remember when Amazon was trying to select the location for their next warehouses or whatever? They put on a "nationwide search" to find the perfect location. Local governments were sending Amazon their master plans to show Amazon why they'd be the perfect fit. There were meetings, and concessions. Finaly after a thorough search, Amazon selected...NYC and Washington DC. Was the big search really needed? I could have picked those myself at the beginning. Why the hoopla? (OK, in Amazon's case, the hoopla was to collect planning information from cities and towns for free in order to resell it since Amazon isn't a retail marketplace. It's actually a GIS firm. But you get the point.)

I feel that way this now about Craig Breslow.

All these months of speculation. All these endless stories about who didn't want to job. All these headlines about where the Sox were headed. After all that searching, they selected the guy that the team president's best friend previously hired, trained under another friend, and then recommended. Oh, and the guy happens to be a former Sox player who has the same team building philosophy as the owners and the rest if baseball ops.

Duh!

I mean, what were we even doing here? Were all those stories just clickbait headlines to make the front office look bad? (Wait, don't answer that. I already know.) How many of the other GMs who "took their names out of consideration" did so because they too knew Breslow was too obvious, and didn't want the "loss" on their resume when they didn't get the job. If I'm the GM of another team, why would I publicly court another job with another team if I knew I wasn't going to get it? I wouldn't. Sure, the guy who already works for the team cn give it a try. No harm there. But, why would anyone else waste their time?

As for the hire itself? I have no idea. I don't know what a Chief Baseball Officer, or whatever they're calling him, does. Sure, they have day to day duties running the staff. But, I'm guessing they're big picture guys. I think he can do that. I remember when Theo was hired as GM one of the comments was that he should be able to do the job since he had negotiated the previous free agent contract the Sox just signed. So, that would imply the actual negotiations and contract stuff are a couple pay grades below Breslow. That leaves him with "here's how we should spend our money, and here's how much of our playroll player X should take." With that job description, the Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer influences seem like a good place to start. 

Let's see how it goes!