McCaffery had a mailbag pop today in the Athletic. A few interesting tidbits:
On a general question about the "direction" of ownership, possible selling of the team and such things:
"I’ll start with this: I do think they notice attendance numbers are slipping and they certainly noticed droves of visiting fans filling the stands as well as that late-season
Yankees series where the park was hardly full. In some respects it seems like they’re white-knuckling through a self-induced tough time image-wise, waiting to get to the other side because they believe in their long-term vision, but they aren’t laying out clearly enough what that vision is or what the end date might be."
Relative to the "why fire Bloom" mantra:
"The problem is that frustration is so high right now, building up around the park won’t matter if no one is coming to games anymore. I think
Henry firmly believes spending around $225 million for payroll should be enough to field a competitive team. It sounds more and more like he didn’t think Bloom made the right moves with the money he was allotted to spend. Whether that’s fair or not is another discussion. Breslow seems to be entering a similar paradox of finding the best talent for a set payroll."
Does she think spending will increase (ie the annual discussion about if and when they'll go over the Tax):
"I think it’s completely fair for fans to be angry about sky high ticket prices and billionaire owners not spending to their full means. But I’m also not sure they’ll change anytime soon."
On draft approach under Breslow:
"As it relates to the draft, I do think under Breslow there will be a heavier emphasis on drafting pitchers given his background and the farm system’s need."
Prospect acquisition:
"aggressiveness in adding pitching prospects this winter via trades. Baseball America labeled
Justin Slaten as the top pitcher available in the Rule 5 Draft. When the Mets selected him ahead of the Red Sox, Breslow worked a trade with the Mets immediately after the draft to acquire Slaten. They’re clearly targeting pitchers they feel fit their system." - she mentions both Fitts and Criswell in this regard, as well.
She has some other good stuff about the general state of the team including the development around Fenway, information on the Hernandez situation and how they view the OF in general, and ideas on "timelines" for the top prospects.
https://theathletic.com/5193244/2024/01/11/red-sox-ownership-questions-mailbag/
