With Nothing Left To Play For In '23, Red Sox Get A Jump On The Offseason By Firing Chaim Bloom

 

    On the precipice of possibly their third last-place finish in the past four seasons and with playoff baseball only a memory, the Red Sox (74-72) had no other choice this afternoon than to fire chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. Other than 2021's improbable run to the ALCS (where they fell to Houston in six games), Bloom has done his best to steer this once proud franchise straight into the ground. Of course, this mess was never all his fault since principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and president Sam Kennedy need to show much more dedication to putting a winning product on the baseball diamond instead of focusing most of their time and efforts (and hefty bank accounts) on other sports ventures. Still, what a disappointment and fraud that Bloom turned out to be: he worked in Tampa Bay for 15 years but never in a huge role so it should not have been a surprise that he was not built for this lofty position.

    We were told that Bloom was one of if not the best nerd in MLB and that could not be further from the truth. Sure, he went to Yale but all he seems to care about is building a farm system while results with the major league team were secondary and not all that important. Ironically, Boston's minor league teams are not in much better shape than they were before Bloom. Did he ever realize that the Red Sox are in one of the biggest markets (and few places that still cares about baseball) and not in Tampa where nobody pays attention or cares so you can be an anonymous robot lurking in the shadows and basically playing fantasy baseball with your dweeby buddies? Baseball America rankings mean nothing in the real world but don't tell that to Bloom and his pals.

    No matter who is the next nerd to replace Bloom-and get over it, MLB is riddled with dorks in powerful spots-Boston will never get back to being a perennial power without the owners buying in once again. It is empty talk at press conferences when people like Kennedy go on about how winning the World Series is important, the fans deserve this or that, blah blah blah. Sports fans in New England are not stupid and all you needed to see this week were Red Sox-Yankees (73-73) tickets going for $1 as the former best rivalry in baseball is relegated to a complete afterthought. Did I mention that the stands have been mostly empty this week for these games? Nevermind that Monday and Wednesday's contests were both rained out so there were doubleheaders on Tuesday and today but could you have ever imagined that it would come to this? 

    Looking around MLB, it is quite possible to win at the Major League level and also produce top talent that can both help you win said games while simultaneously helping to acquire the needed pieces to win a World Series title. Just ask the Dodgers (88-57), Braves (96-50) and Astros (83-64) who have been able to do both things at the same time, what a concept! There is no salary cap in MLB so it is imperative that the Red Sox owners remember that and use their financial advantages to get back on top. Ben Cherington, Dave Dombrowski and Bloom all basically got the same amount of time before they were fired from the Red Sox. 

    Regardless of who gets this very important job next, the bottom line is that Boston has to have a clear and focused plan starting from the top. Too often in recent years, they appear reactionary instead of trusting their decision makers and most importantly, backing them up with blank checks. Finally, Boston manager Alex Cora won his death match with Bloom and he might actually be the rare guy who survives a regime change. Typically, a new GM or chief baseball officer will handpick their own manager so we will have to wait and see if Cora makes it much longer than his buddy Chaim. 

Trade Season Starts For The Red Sox As Enrique Hernandez Gets Flipped Back To The Dodgers

 

    There is a week left before the MLB Trade Deadline (August 1) so it was about time that Red Sox chief baseball officer (the nerdiest title of all-time) Chaim Bloom logged off his computer for a minute and made an actual baseball trade. This afternoon's move was not a blockbuster by any means but at least it was something as Boston (53-47 overall) sent utilityman Kike Hernandez back to where he came from-the Dodgers (57-42)-for a pair of minor league pitchers (Justin Hagenman and Nick Robertson) and $2.5 million cash considerations. Hernandez played six seasons in LA before playing 2.5 seasons here in Boston. This reunion had been rumored since last week and with infielder Pablo Reyes activated yesterday plus shortstop Trevor Story expected to make his season debut shortly, Hernandez was the odd man out. 

    Besides a crazy heater during the 2021 postseason, Kike's Red Sox stay was pretty forgettable. He began this season as Boston's starting shortstop but that was a complete disaster as he made 14 errors and eventually lost the job in mid-June. He is a good defensive outfielder but there was not really a place for him there in this current Red Sox roster and his offense had also gone off of a cliff (.222/.279/.320) with six home runs and 31 RBIs. Red Sox manager and fellow Puerto Rican Alex Cora is a big fan of Hernandez but I am sure that Kike will be happy to return to LA where he still owns a home. 

    It is doubtful that he will get a ton of playing time with the loaded Dodgers who are still one of the top teams in baseball but that is where he won a World Series title in 2020 and there are still a bunch of teammates from that time that he is probably close to. Now we wait to see if Bloom will invest further in this up-and-down team with more substantial moves or if he stays with his usual middling trades like this. I certainly do not believe in this group who entered tonight's series opener vs. Atlanta (64-34 overall) 2.5 games behind Toronto (56-45 overall) for the third and final AL Wild Card. However, the third AL Wild Card winner will likely face the AL Central winner which figures to be the Twins (54-48 overall) or Guardians (49-51 overall)-two similarly mediocre teams to the Red Sox. 

    The bottom line is that this is a huge MLB Trade Deadline and regular season for Bloom who is in his fourth season here. If the Red Sox do not make the playoffs, he should be fired. Enough of running a big market team like they are the Rays (61-42 overall). The last time I checked, Tampa Bay has never won a World Series title so who cares that they can win a bunch of meaningless regular season games on a tiny budget. Boston should be in the mix for Shohei Ohtani and every other star player that is available via trade this next week or in free agency over the winter. If the past is any indication though, Bloom is too infatuated with his own prospects-many of whom will never amount to anything, that is just a fact in baseball-to make any notable transactions. Boston is one of the few good baseball markets left in the U.S. but with so little star power on the Red Sox, it has been very hard to get into the club for most of Bloom's tenure except for the (lucky?) 2021 campaign. We all deserve a better product on the field than this and a better baseball decisionmaker than him.

With Bogaerts Gone To San Diego, What Is Even The Point Of Rooting For The Red Sox Anymore?

 

    What started out as a decent day for the Red Sox after they finally made a few moves in free agency-signing All-Star closer Kenley Jansen to a two-year, $32 million contract and Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million contact-ended in the worst possible way with the late breaking news that franchise shortstop Xander Bogaerts had signed an 11-year deal worth $280 million with the Padres. The fact that the heart and soul of their club is now gone just a few years after they traded away another cornerstone-Mookie Betts-for pennies on the dollar, makes you wonder what exactly Chaim Bloom does for the Red Sox besides transforming them into the Boston Rays? Additionally with Boston's only other star Rafael Devers entering free agency after the 2023 season is there any doubt that he will eventually be moved for a bunch of middling prospects? 

    Very few players in any professional sports these days get to only play for one team but Bogaerts (and Betts for that matter) should have been in that rarified class. He was a two-time World Series champion, an All-Star, a leader on and off the field and a steady professional that always remained accountable even while Bloom and Red Sox ownership continually let him down as they recently stumbled to their fifth (!!!) last-place finish in the past 11 seasons. The last time that I checked, there is no salary cap in MLB (which is preposterous) but that is why big market teams like the Red Sox, Yankees (who just re-signed Aaron Judge to a nine-year deal worth a whopping $360 million dollar contract on Tuesday), Dodgers, Cubs and Phillies should inherently have a huge advantage over the small market teams like Tampa, the Pirates, the Brewers, the A's, etc.

    Bloom was supposedly brought in to firm up Boston's terrible farm system and yet they have produced very few high end prospects since he has been here. Furthermore, what is the point of drafting and developing your own players when like Betts and Bogaerts, they ultimately will be traded away or even worse, leave because you were not even in the same area code in terms of what type of legitimate offer you would give to your homegrown superstar? Listen, we all have the same gripes about the Red Sox and Fenway Park experience these days: the tickets are way too expensive, the product on the field stinks and the ballpark is a pain to get to let alone sit comfortably in on a hot summer night. 

    Fenway is such a tourist trap that it seems immune to not cranking out money no matter how bad the Red Sox might be. Still, that seems to be the only hope to make owner John Henry and his other negligent bozo billionaires to pay attention: stop going to the games, stop buying merchandise and stop watching the games on TV (well that has already happened but that's another story for another day). I have said for years that I love baseball but the sport makes it really hard on fans what with their way too long regular season, tedious games and terrible marketing of the overall product. Likewise, I have no idea how the Red Sox think that treating their team like the Rays is going to make anyone that actually cares about it want to pay any attention ever again. There will always be tough decisions to make in sports but the Red Sox have become completely tonedeaf to what really matters; building a consistent winner with likable players like Bogaerts and Betts should not be that difficult when you have endless resources in every way possible. It is one thing to get pantsed by the Dodgers in a lopsided trade but now they are getting pushed aside by the likes of the Padres. What a joke, thanks for everything Xander-you deserved way better than this pathetic exit from Boston.  

After Almost Two Seasons Of Buffoonery, The Red Sox Finally Got A Real First Baseman-Eric Hosmer

 

    Today the 2022 MLB Trade Deadline came and went with the Red Sox (53-52 overall) thankfully making one final important move: they acquired first baseman Eric Hosmer (a four-time Gold Glover!), two minor leaguers and cash considerations from the Padres (60-46 overall) for minor league LHP Jay Groome. The back story is that Hosmer was supposed to be involved with the blockbuster Juan Soto trade from the Nationals (36-69 overall) but he used his no-trade clause to reject a move to DC. This allowed Boston's chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom to swoop in and obtain the 32-year-old Hosmer with San Diego footing the rest of his contract. It was a move that would make Patriots head coach Bill Belichick proud in the way that Bloom was able to get a quality player and still make someone else pay for him.

    Boston's lack of a true first baseman had become a complete embarrassment these last few years. No more being forced to watch Franchy Cordero or Bobby Dalbec stumbling around trying to play a position that neither could handle at all. Hosmer was an All-Star in 2016 and he helped win the 2015 World Series with the Royals. The Padres had also picked up first baseman Josh Bell (who reportedly had been a Red Sox trade target) in the Soto deal so this left Hosmer as the odd man out for what is now one of the best teams in baseball. You cannot blame him for rejecting a move to Washington since the Nationals are going to be rebuilding for years to come. It's not like the Red Sox are exactly World Series contenders at the moment but at least he goes to a market and team that matters so if he plays well, he can set himself up for one last nice contract in MLB before he retires.

    Going back to his days with Kansas City, Hosmer (the No. 3 overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft) had long been rumored to be coveted by Boston. On a personal note, he is married to former NESN sideline reporter and host Kacie McDonnell who is currently pregnant with their first child. In 90 games this season with the Padres, Hosmer was hitting .272/.336/.391 with eight HRs and 40 RBIs. He has a reputation as a leader and a good clubhouse guy which Boston certainly needs more of both of those things these days. He won't be a Hall of Famer but he has put together a notable career in MLB, hitting a career-high 25 homers in both 2015 and 2016 with a career-best 104 RBIs in his All-Star season (when he was also the All-Star Game MVP). He even won the Silver Slugger for the American League first basemen in 2017 and for his career, his batting splits are .277/.336/.429. The Christian Vazquez trade to Houston (67-38 overall) doesn't make a ton of sense although the former Red Sox catcher admitted that he'd be open to returning here this winter in free agency but at least Boston drastically improved its biggest weakness-first base-with the addition of a fine pro like Hosmer.

On The Eve Of The MLB Trade Deadline, The Red Sox Flipped Christian Vazquez To The Astros

 

    With the Red Sox (52-52 overall, 26-25 road) firmly going nowhere this season, they finally started to make some notable moves with the MLB Trade Deadline now less than 24 hours away (Tuesday night at 6 pm EST). Ironically, they opened a three-game series tonight in Houston (67-37 overall, 33-16 home) and actually beat the Astros 3-2 but the move that the Red Sox made right before the game was particularly memorable since it involved catcher Christian Vazquez going to Houston. The homegrown catcher who is having a career-year offensively, was dealt for a pair of minor leaguers: infielder Enmanuel Valdez and outfielder Wilyer Abreu. I will not pretend to know anything about either of those guys but apparently, they are both supposed to be pretty good (at the Triple A and Double A levels respectively). 

    He nearly made his first All-Star team this season as the 31-year-old Vazquez is batting .282/.327/.432 with eight home runs and 42 RBIs. Heading into free agency this winter, he was an obvious asset to use since catcher is one of Houston's only weaknesses as they seek another World Series title. It's a good move personally for him since he will get to go for his second championship and cash in after he helped Boston win the 2018 World Series. The scary part for the Red Sox is that they have absolutely no other decent catcher at the Major League level (haha Kevin Plawecki is the definition of a terrible backup catcher at best in MLB) or in chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom's beloved farm system. The role of catcher has become pretty irrelevant at least offensively as evidenced by the fact that Vazquez is one of the better hitting catchers in the game these days. He was known much more for his defensive prowess when he made his Red Sox debut in 2014 but as the years have gone on, his bat has gotten way better (in 2019 he topped out with 23 HRs and 72 RBIs). 

    In the other two much less important moves of the day, Boston acquired outfielder Tommy Pham from the Reds for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Also, they traded their crappy lefty reliever Jake Diekman to the White Sox for a backup catcher who stinks named Reece McGuire. Rumors have swirled for weeks with Boston's season going down the drain that starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (who pitched really well tonight) and designated hitter J.D. Martinez are the other biggest names that could be moved before the deadline now that (thankfully) third baseman Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts are both said to be off the table. The addition of a third Wild Card team in the playoffs makes some people want to believe that the Red Sox are still in it since they are only three games out of that last spot but if you've watched this team at all in 2022, there is a reason (or rather many) that they are in last place in the AL East.

    Nobody needs a better deadline than Bloom since the shine has quickly come off of him in what has all the makings of a lost season. From what we can tell (since we rarely see that robot or hear from him), he still thinks that he works for the Tampa Bay Rays and operates on a shoestring budget with a media and fan base that is non-existent and therefore does not care. Baseball in general and the Red Sox certainly are not what they used to be in terms of relevance both nationally and locally but this is one of the few markets where it does still matter. With their basically unlimited payroll, Boston should never be this average (if you're being nice) or fatally flawed. It is wonderful that he has built their minor league clubs up (apparently) but so far, many of his top prospects have performed like far from gamechangers when they have finally reached the Red Sox. The Dodgers have also proven lately that you can be a World Series contender every year while still fielding a great farm system as well. Losing Vazquez stings and he is another guy (much like Kyle Schwarber with the Phillies and Hunter Renfroe with the Brewers this season) who will immediately do well on another better team than Boston. The clock is ticking on Bloom, he has to turn things around soon or else they will need to go in another direction ASAP before things get damaged any further.

The Red Sox Finally Spent Some Money Once Again & Signed A Legit Free Agent In Trevor Story

 

    Between the Patriots and Red Sox, it had been a very frustrating few weeks for fans as neither club had done much of anything to improve their team in free agency or via trades while many other teams loaded up and spent tons of money to improve their rosters. Thankfully that all changed today-at least for the Sox-as they reportedly signed shortstop Trevor Story to a six-year, $140 million deal. In terms of both length and the amount of money, it's by far the most that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has given out since he came to Boston. It would also be the team's most years and money since they signed David Price. It always comes back to the Rays doesn't it whenever you mention Bloom? For a guy that I'm pretty sure should be reminded every day that he works for a big market club in the Red Sox and not the penny-pinching Rays, this was a welcome change from his usual habits of signing nobodies, injured and/or washed up guys because that best fits some goofy analytic models on his computer. 

    The obvious question with Story's signing is what happens with Xander Bogaerts? Both players have been exclusively shortstops in MLB so obviously one of them will have to try a new position (second base) starting now. It sounds like the newcomer will be the one to move over to his left in the infield which sounds scary except Story has been a Gold Glove finalist so unlike say Kyle Schwarber last season who had never played first base (and frankly shouldn't be allowed to play any position in the field), this transition figures to be much smoother. Boston's lineup was already pretty strong but the addition of a two-time All-Star and two-time slugger in the prime of his career (he's 29 years old) means that it will be even deeper and more powerful. 

    The only other major issue in my mind with this move is seeing how Story does outside of the Little League park that is known as Coors Field since he has only ever played for the Rockies in MLB. As you would expect, his numbers at home were much better than on the road: 95 HRs, 279 RBIs, .303 BA, .369 OBP & .603 SLG vs. 63 HRs, 171 RBIs, .241 BA, .310 OBP & .442 SLG. Then again, Fenway Park has always been known as a hitter's park as well particularly for right-handed guys with some pop in their bat. With that said, he should continue to be a star here because he's played on mostly crappy teams in Colorado (he's only appeared in five career playoff games) and for the Sox, he won't need to carry nearly as much of the load on a daily basis.

    Story has good size (6-foot-2, 213 pounds) and surprising speed with 100 career stolen bases. In six major league seasons, he has put together what I would count as two excellent campaigns-his All-Star years in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, he hit .291/.348/.567 (tied career-high) with a career-best 37 HRs, 108 RBIs and 27 stolen bases (career-high) in 157 games. He played in 12 fewer games the following season but still managed to record some stellar statistics: .294 (career-high)/.363 (career-high)/.554 with 35 HRs, 85 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. 

    With Boston coming off a playoff run to the ALCS last fall and not to mention his huge paychecks, much will be expected of Story from day one. We won't know how he will be in a tough market like this until he goes through the inevitable prolonged slump. Let's hope that he is not similar to Price in that way in terms of a fragile ego and that he can power through any struggles that he might have getting acclimated to a new league, team and city. Overall, today was a great day for the Red Sox and easily the best that they have made us felt since last season ended. With Opening Day coming up soon on April 7, Bloom's next task has to be to find some more starting pitching, that appears to be their biggest hole at this juncture.

The Astros Blanked The Red Sox 5-0 To Reach The World Series For The Third Time In Five Years

 

    The improbable 2021 postseason ride for the Red Sox ended abruptly tonight at Minute Maid Park as the Astros shut them out 5-0 in Game 6 of the ALCS. Houston advances to their third World Series in five years so it's safe to say that the better team ultimately won. It was quite a turnaround after the Sox led the ALCS 2-1 with their offense seemingly firing on all cylanders. Since then, they were blown out 9-2 in Game 4 after giving up seven runs in the ninth inning and they were embarrassed 9-1 in Game 5. Are you sensing a pattern here? Boston's bats went completely silent one last time as they could only manage two total hits and two walks against rookie Luis Garcia (5.2 IP, 1 hit, 7 Ks, 1 BB) and four Astros relievers. Houston will face either the Braves or the Dodgers in the World Series starting on Tuesday night, Atlanta currently leads the NLCS 3-2 with Game 6 tomorrow night (8:08, TBS). 

    With Boston sports fans high expectations, any season that doesn't end in a championship is always a disappointment but if we take a step back, you have to remember where these Red Sox were coming from after last year's nightmare Covid-19 season. They overachieved and it is pretty remarkable that they got this far with all their obvious issues and shortcomings. Let's hope this run inspires Boston's chief robot nerd Chaim Bloom to invest some money in starting pitching, relievers and even a few veteran utility players. This group can no longer sneak up on anyone and likewise, their expectations for next season will be way higher so the Red Sox will have to find more talent because the gap between them and the Astros was sizable as the three straight losses to close the series proved. 

    There were signs right away that this wouldn't be Boston's night as center fielder Kike Hernandez (who was incredible in the playoffs) dropped a long fly ball by DH and ALCS MVP Yordan Alvarez (4-for-4, 2 runs, 2B, 3B, RBI) in the first inning that scored Houston third baseman Alex Bregman. Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi (4.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 Ks, 1 BB) pitched well enough in a very tough spot but his teammates completely let him down. Hernandez barely missed another home run by mere inches in the sixth inning as his triple hit just below the yellow line on the left center field wall. Unfortunately, there were already two outs so the next batter-third baseman Rafael Devers-popped up to strand Kike at third base with Boston's best scoring chance of the evening.

    Alvarez scored on a double play ball in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 2-0 Houston lead and the Astros officially sealed it in the eighth inning when right fielder Kyle Tucker hit a three-run bomb to left field off Boston reliever Adam Ottavino that plated Alvarez and shortstop Carlos Correa. It was such a crazy season for the Red Sox in terms of some awesome highs and many terrible lows. However, I think the lasting memory from this year's club is that they helped bring (some) people back to the team. Particularly in October, they were wildly entertaining and hopefully this season will serve as a springboard for future campaigns and more titles. The Patriots (2-4) are not winning a Super Bowl anytime soon, the Celtics (0-2) appear to be regressing and the Bruins (2-1) are good but they will fold in the playoffs as usual so believe it or not, I think the Sox are the closest Boston team to a title (unless you count the Revs but who really does?). Baseball will never be what it once was in terms of popularity both here and in other markets but at its core, Boston is still a baseball city when the Red Sox are at least competitive. 

With Hours To Go Until The Trade Deadline, Sox Finally Did Something: Trading For Kyle Schwarber

 

    I don't know about you but I will admit that I was getting pretty antsy tonight since tomorrow's MLB Trade Deadline (4 pm ET) was quickly approaching and the Red Sox (63-41 overall) still hadn't made a single deal while many other playoff and World Series contenders like them were quite busy. Thankfully that all changed late this evening as Red Sox chief baseball nerd Chaim Bloom woke up from his slumber and actually did something productive: he flipped some 20-year-old pitcher named Aldo Ramirez (ranked the club's #19 prospect by MLB Pipeline) to the Nationals for left fielder Kyle Schwarber. You might remember him as a key part of the 2016 World Series champion Cubs and he was also the hottest player in baseball earlier this season before he strained his right hamstring on July 2. To make room on the 40-man roster, Boston designated reliever Brandon Workman for assignment. 

    Technically, Schwarber is a rental since he will be a free agent after 2021 who figures to make a boatload of money because he was an All-Star this summer for the first time in his career and he's hitting .253/.340/.570 with 25 home runs and 53 RBIs. He originally started out as a catcher but almost exclusively in the past five seasons, he has been a full-time left fielder (playing his entire career in the National League). Boston's outfield is currently pretty full with Alex Verdugo in left, Jarren Duran in center and Hunter Renfroe in right not to mention J.D. Martinez is primarily a DH so where does that leave Schwarber to play? A new first baseman is arguably the biggest need for the Red Sox so perhaps they hope to have Schwarber try and fill that black hole. 

    Boston lacked lefty hitters so at the very least, Schwarber should immediately help to fix that. He will never win a batting title (his career batting average is .233, yuck) but he has legit power which is hard to find: 146 HRs and 332 RBIs in 623 games. Kyle also has a proven track record of postseason success where he has hit .288/.405/.576 with six homers and 11 RBIs in 24 playoff games. He has reached 25+ home runs four times in seven MLB seasons (6 with Chicago, 1 with Washington) with his best year being 2019 with 38 HRs, 92 RBIs and .250/.339/.531. He strikes out a ton (679 times in 2071 career at bats) so we'll need to get used to that but what do you expect from a guy that's shaped like a fire hydrant at six-feet-tall and 229 pounds? He is in the prime of his career at the age of 28 and the former first-round draft pick (4th overall in 2014) will want to cash in after he bet on himself and signed a modest one-year deal (worth $7 million) last winter with the Nationals. 

    This was a nice start for Bloom and hopefully he continues to work the phone lines tomorrow morning and afternoon to find a true first baseman, a reliever and possibly a starting pitcher as well. Over the last few days, many top MLB reporters had mentioned that the Red Sox were in on Nationals ace Max Scherzer (who is now going to the Dodgers in a blockbuster trade) and Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo (headed to the Yankees, ugh) and while they missed out on both of those guys, Schwarber is better than a consolation prize. Assuming that he's not a complete disaster these next few months in Boston, he would be another nice piece to help Bloom build a World Series contender year after year. We are not sure exactly when he will make his Red Sox debut, they have a huge three-game series at Tampa Bay (61-42 overall)-who is only 1.5 games back with a game in hand-starting tomorrow night (7:10, NESN)-but he has been lightly jogging and taking batting practice lately so it should not be too far away. 

UPDATE 7/30/21:  Welp, the Red Sox made two other trades today but they were for a pair of awful relievers: righty Hansel Robles was acquired from the Twins for minor league righty Alex Scherff and infielder Michael Chavis went to Pittsburgh (poor bastard) for lefty Austin Davis. 

Red Sox Finally End Their Fake Manager Search & Rehire Alex Cora Like We All Knew They Would

 

    Quick question, who was the Red Sox manager in the utterly forgettable 60-game season of the 2020 Covid-19 campaign? Answer: good old Ron Roenicke. Thankfully nobody was watching since the team was a wretched 24-36 as they didn't even pretend to try to win. Sadly, they couldn't even tank properly in the shortest regular season in MLB history and thus earn the No. 1 pick (it would have been a 1st in franchise history) in the 2021 MLB Draft. Well the pandemic is still here in a big way and despite having our Presidential Election on Tuesday, as I write this late on Friday night, the race still hasn't been officially called in favor of Joe Biden but it's getting mighty close my friends. Anywho, back to the Sox who did their classic Friday night news dump (bonus points for having the balls to do it during this national nightmare) this evening with the much-expected announcement that Alex Cora is back from purgatory to manage the team. He gets a two-year deal with a two-year club option for 2023 and 2024.

    Alex picked a perfect time to get punished for cheating with the 2017 Astros (when he was their bench coach) by skipping out on this fake season. Boston had no choice but to fire him in January after all the sordid revelations (and most importantly for the Red Sox owners: bad publicity) came to light. The Red Sox and MLB in general have plenty of issues to get back to relevance since nobody under the age of 95 watches or cares about baseball even a little bit but for Boston, this was a most obvious quick fix. Let's be real, managers in MLB have very little to do with winning or losing, they are more like the figure heads of their franchises. They need to make sure the star players are happy and keep everyone else's spirits up while the nerds in the team's analytics departments give them lengthy print outs to closely follow in each game. 

    Look no further than the 2020 World Series for an example of how useless managers have become in baseball: Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash pulled ace Blake Snell in a must-win Game 6 way too early (because that's what the spreadsheets said to do) and the Dodgers ended up rallying to capture their first World Series title since 1988. Thanks dorks! Whatever happened to having a feel for the game? I guess that doesn't exist anymore or more likely, it's not a thing to the Sabermetics crowd. Oddly enough, the two managers that preceded Cora with the Red Sox also won World Series crowns in their first years in charge: Terry Francona in 2004 and John Farrell in 2013. Cora's 2018 was perfect as the team put up a franchise-record 108 wins in the regular season then they barely sweated en route to their fourth World Series title in 15 years. 

    Way back when, Boston used to be a brutal market to handle for managers and top Red Sox players alike but those days are long gone. I would argue that for most ages outside of senior citizens, the Sox have fallen to fourth-place in terms of popularity behind the Patriots, Celtics and yes even the Bruins. You can't expect Cora to turn things around right away unless the ownership group fortifies this terrible roster with some more talent-namely starting pitchers-but that would force owner John Henry to open up his wallet. After all, his second year was a complete flop as the Sox went 84-78 in 2019. Nope, Cora's biggest role for the time being is to bring positive attention back to the club (which would sound crazy to say years ago but it is 100% valid now) and also supporting the Latino players-Xavier Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Eduardo Rodriguez, Christian Vazquez and J.D. Martinez who happen to still be most of their best players. At age 45 not to mention being a proud Puerto Rican, Cora by nature is able to relate so much better to modern players than the typical old white guy baseball lifer that happens to be a manager in MLB.

    I'd like to think that baseball will learn from its myriad mistakes from this past doomed summer: letting teams stay at home and travel to road games while not utilizing a bubble until the postseason was a mind-numbingly stupid decision although not quite on par with allowing LA's third baseman Justin Turner to run around after Game 6 without a mask when he had tested positive for Coronavirus but I digress. For that reason, I doubt that fans will be allowed anytime soon back in Fenway Park assuming that it starts on a somewhat normal schedule. Speaking of which, can they please get rid of the 162-game regular season? Nobody besides ESPN's Tim Kurkjian needs that much baseball in their lives every year. 

    Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom's pick for manager had to be former Rays outfielder Sam Fuld (currently the Phillies' Director of Integrative Performance-whatever that means) as it apparently came down to Cora and Fuld after the original list of nine candidates had been whittled down to those two guys. Fuld has to be really smart since he graduated from Stanford so you know that Bloom was dying to geek out with him over a shared love of baseball analytics. Unfortunately for them, nobody except the most die-hard fans (which don't really exist anymore for this dying sport) knows who Fuld is or anything about him. Conversely, Cora brings instant name recognition both locally and nationally. I honestly doubt that many people even care that much about the cheating scandal anymore with what else has transpired in the worst year ever. After all, the Astros' manager at the time-A.J. Hinch-was fired by Houston then also suspended for this past season but he was hired just last week to be Detroit's manager. These guys have paid their penance and honestly, baseball more than any other sport has always been a game built on cheating in one form or another: sign-stealing, steroids, pine tar, corked bats, spit balls, etc. Not to get too cheesy here (it is baseball so come on!) but things couldn't be much worse both for our country and the Red Sox at the moment, however with any luck Biden and Cora are the perfect guys to start to turn things around and bring some positive energy back to their respective vitally important positions. 

Let The Red Sox Rebuild Begin As They Flip Brandon Workman & Heath Hembree To Phillies

 

    There is a simple reason why I haven't mentioned the Red Sox once since their truncated 60-game regular season began on July 24: they are absolutely terrible but that's the whole point. Despite tonight's 8-5 win at Baltimore (12-14) which extended Boston's (9-18) season-high win streak to a pathetic three games, they are no doubt tanking to try and "earn" the No. 1 draft pick in the 2021 MLB Draft (something which the franchise has never had). There were rumors of a Red Sox-Phillies trade in the works this afternoon and with the Trade Deadline coming on August 31, they wasted no time getting it done this evening: Boston dealt closer Brandon Workman and set-up guy Heath Hembree to Philadelphia (9-13) for right-handed pitcher Nick Pivetta and minor league right-hander Connor Seabold. 

    Vanderbilt stud starting pitcher Kumar Rocker (what a name!) is expected to be the next top overall pick and the Red Sox are in desperate need for starting pitching after David Price was traded to the Dodgers, Rick Porcello signed with the Mets and Eduardo Rodriguez got Covid-19 then opted out of this cursed season with understandable worries about a previously diagnosed heart condition. We can all agree that Boston's new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has inherited a tricky situation. Of course, unlike lame-duck manager poor Ron Roenicke who will be out of here next season (with Alex Cora's triumphent return from suspension?), Bloom won't be going anywhere else for awhile. After all, he's 37 and his work making Tampa Bay a contender year after year on their shoestring budget proved that the Yale alum knows a thing or two.

    Workman is the only real notable name of this group, unless Seabold becomes something but he's probably (at least) a few years from making a real impact in MLB. Brandon was a surprisingly key part of Boston's 2013 World Series champion as a rookie then he missed 2015 and 2016 following Tommy John surgery. Props for him though for sticking with his rehab when many would have given up as he became an important piece of the Red Sox bullpen the last four seasons including the 2018 World Series champs. His value only increased in 2019 as he proved he could be a closer in the majors-something the Phillies desperately need right now-with a 10-1 record, 16 saves, 1.88 ERA and 104 strikeouts/45 walks in 71.2 innings. 

    Also a World Seris champion in 2018, Hembree had been here for longer than you probably think since he was a part of the Jake Peavy (remember him?) trade to the Giants way back in July 2014 at the Trade Deadline. In seven seasons with the Red Sox, he combined to go 15-5 with two saves, a 3.70 ERA and 270 strikeouts/97 walks in 257.2 innings pitched. Pivetta is 27 and his career record-mostly as a starting pitcher-is 19-30 with a 5.50 ERA. The Phillies have been awful for most of his four seasons there but he struggled so much that they demoted him to the bullpen and he had already been sent to their alternate site this year after three miserable appearances where he had a 15.88 ERA! Yikes. I won't waste your time or mine talking about Seabold since who has any clue whether a prospect will ever pan out in baseball? 

    I read far-fetched stories this week about the Red Sox possibly trading J.D. Martinez or god forbid Xander Boegarts. Martinez is an incredible hitter but that's really all he can do on a baseball field and he actually turned 33 today so his trade value isn't nearly as high as you would assume given his amazing stats the last few years. Bogey is the face of the franchise in his prime so I would puke if he changes teams anytime soon ala Mookie Betts. A player like outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. or Andrew Benintendi (who is currently on IL with a fake injury to cover for how hopeless he's been at the plate in 2020) make way more sense to be the next players to be dealt from Boston. You know that Chaim can't wait to have some more deals too since that is specifically why he is here.