Bloom, Red Sox ruining our summah --- again!
My friend and I --- who enjoyed going to several Pawtucket Red Sox games a year --- will attend our first Worcester Red Sox game of the 2023 season next week, and by that time, all of the so-called "reinforcements" for the Boston Red Sox (rehabbing players) should be back with the big club.
But having pitchers Chris Sale, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock rejoin the Red Sox after shortstop Trevor Story's return on Tuesday night (Aug. 8), will be moot, because the Red Sox aren't going anywhere fast.
Indeed, by the time that my friend and I travel to Boston for a Wednesday afternoon game against the Houston Astros two weeks later, chances are good that the team will have been going through the motions for a while, because the season is all but over as I write this on Aug. 9.
Once again, under the regime of Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom, the Red Sox waved the white flag at the trade deadline and are apparently content to finish last place yet again. Before last weekend's series at Fenway Park against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Sox trailed the Jays by two games for the third Wild Card spot. After getting swept by the Jays, including an embarrassing 13-1 rout on Sunday, the Sox trailed the Jays by five games, with less than 50 to play.
Bloom, in a slip of the tongue, called the Red Sox playoff "underdogs" in his post-trade deadline press conference, and you get the feeling that he never did care about this season, just as he didn't care about the 2022 season.
I make this statement based on Bloom's blunders ---- and they were many, both before and during the 2023 season.
* Most recently, as NESN commentators Jim Rice and Jonathan Pabelbon pointed out after Tuesday night's 9-3 loss to the lowly Kansas City Royals, Bloom's insistence on not picking up any decent starters before the trade deadline and deciding to instead go with the cheap "opener" concept for two games out of every five, has backfired. As Rice and Pabelbon said, that decision has severely weakened the bullpen as it has pushed the pitching staff, especially the relievers, to their limits. Couple that with the fact that Bloom has cornered the market on rejects from other clubs to fill his pitching holes, and you have a baseball executive who clearly doesn't care about winning and should be fired before he does even more damage to the team's future.
His biggest blunders have included the following:
* Bloom's trade and free-agent pitching acquisitions in the off-season --- Joely Rodriguez and Richard Bleier --- have been major busts. Bleier was hurt and was recently released, and Rodriguez has been on the injured list most of the season.
* Bloom passed on retaining free-agent pitchers Nathan Eovoldi and Michael Wacha, and instead signed Corey Kluber, and that was a fiasco. Kluber had nothing left and posted an ERA higher than most Sox batting averages, and has been "hurt" and on the injured list since July and may be done for the season.
* Bloom's one promising (at the time) solid infield acquisition, Alberto Mondesi, has been hurt and has never played and likely won't play a single day. They gave up a lefty, Josh Taylor, for him. A total and utter bust of a trade!
The list could go on, but I'll spare you.
But one thing I will say is that Sox fans of a certain age --- those who really care about the team and who go to games to keep score and not to sing "Sweet Caroline" in the midst of dreadful losses --- are being cheated.
Billionaire owner John Henry, who hasn't spoken publicly about the team in a real long time, clearly doesn't care. The Sox continue to make excuses and charge the highest ticket and concession prices in baseball despite having stopped competing for the best players.
The Sox look to be losers again this year and for the future.
Which leads me to this parting observation: If you expect Henry and company to compete for Angels superstar Shohei Otani's services --- he might command as much as $600 million over 10 years on the open market --- I have a bridge or tunnel in Boston that I'll sell you for $24!
The Sox are cooked, and will be until Bloom is gone and the roster is severely overhauled by a baseball boss who cares about winning.
But having pitchers Chris Sale, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock rejoin the Red Sox after shortstop Trevor Story's return on Tuesday night (Aug. 8), will be moot, because the Red Sox aren't going anywhere fast.
Indeed, by the time that my friend and I travel to Boston for a Wednesday afternoon game against the Houston Astros two weeks later, chances are good that the team will have been going through the motions for a while, because the season is all but over as I write this on Aug. 9.
Once again, under the regime of Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom, the Red Sox waved the white flag at the trade deadline and are apparently content to finish last place yet again. Before last weekend's series at Fenway Park against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Sox trailed the Jays by two games for the third Wild Card spot. After getting swept by the Jays, including an embarrassing 13-1 rout on Sunday, the Sox trailed the Jays by five games, with less than 50 to play.
Bloom, in a slip of the tongue, called the Red Sox playoff "underdogs" in his post-trade deadline press conference, and you get the feeling that he never did care about this season, just as he didn't care about the 2022 season.
I make this statement based on Bloom's blunders ---- and they were many, both before and during the 2023 season.
* Most recently, as NESN commentators Jim Rice and Jonathan Pabelbon pointed out after Tuesday night's 9-3 loss to the lowly Kansas City Royals, Bloom's insistence on not picking up any decent starters before the trade deadline and deciding to instead go with the cheap "opener" concept for two games out of every five, has backfired. As Rice and Pabelbon said, that decision has severely weakened the bullpen as it has pushed the pitching staff, especially the relievers, to their limits. Couple that with the fact that Bloom has cornered the market on rejects from other clubs to fill his pitching holes, and you have a baseball executive who clearly doesn't care about winning and should be fired before he does even more damage to the team's future.
His biggest blunders have included the following:
* Bloom's trade and free-agent pitching acquisitions in the off-season --- Joely Rodriguez and Richard Bleier --- have been major busts. Bleier was hurt and was recently released, and Rodriguez has been on the injured list most of the season.
* Bloom passed on retaining free-agent pitchers Nathan Eovoldi and Michael Wacha, and instead signed Corey Kluber, and that was a fiasco. Kluber had nothing left and posted an ERA higher than most Sox batting averages, and has been "hurt" and on the injured list since July and may be done for the season.
* Bloom's one promising (at the time) solid infield acquisition, Alberto Mondesi, has been hurt and has never played and likely won't play a single day. They gave up a lefty, Josh Taylor, for him. A total and utter bust of a trade!
The list could go on, but I'll spare you.
But one thing I will say is that Sox fans of a certain age --- those who really care about the team and who go to games to keep score and not to sing "Sweet Caroline" in the midst of dreadful losses --- are being cheated.
Billionaire owner John Henry, who hasn't spoken publicly about the team in a real long time, clearly doesn't care. The Sox continue to make excuses and charge the highest ticket and concession prices in baseball despite having stopped competing for the best players.
The Sox look to be losers again this year and for the future.
Which leads me to this parting observation: If you expect Henry and company to compete for Angels superstar Shohei Otani's services --- he might command as much as $600 million over 10 years on the open market --- I have a bridge or tunnel in Boston that I'll sell you for $24!
The Sox are cooked, and will be until Bloom is gone and the roster is severely overhauled by a baseball boss who cares about winning.
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