Red Sox Hire Chaim Bloom As Chief Baseball Officer

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Well, after all, a guy could make more money producing a losing team than a winner
 

HPJoker

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I see that Joker plainly puts where he's at in his username.

What did you expect a press conference that was summed up in an email to be about? Work in any kind of office setting and you'll find that most meetings are just about buzzwords and throwing them around. The dude just got hired, he's not going to say more than he did. Is the team sustainable? Sure, but not at the expense that it's at now.

Bloom was brought in to get creative. Instead of exercising Cashner's $10 million option, let him go and find a cheaper option that DD wouldn't have thought of, for an example. It's what he does best, seemingly.
Find where I said that it would be smart to give Cashner $10MM and get back to me. The notion that Dave would’ve done this is also baffling.

The Red Sox make money hand over fist and there’s no reason they can’t thrive over the highest threshold of the luxury tax.

'Sustainability' in this context to me means filling the pipeline with pre-arb talent, developing your own pitching, all things that every team needs to be doing and that Dombrowski had dropped the ball on.
Dombrowski’s last two drafts have stellar considering where they were drafting (because they won a lot of games.) The only talent missed that he traded away were Travis Shaw, Mauricio Dubon, maybe Logan Allen. There wasn’t a path to “sustainable” contention that Dave chucked away. In the case of Moncada, you gotta give up talent to get talent. He traded the right guys and maximized the potential of the roster he had and now we got people saying he screwed the pooch on the chance for World Series titles when it was never an option to begin with. It’s a bunch of kvetching about an empty farm system that largely busted when it was traded elsewhere or succeeded at the major league level for the Red Sox.

But hey things are gonna be great when they trade Mookie for a fringe top 100 prospect and a relief arm. That’s optimization, baby.
 

OurF'ingCity

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They’re talking about “sustainability” as if this isn’t a franchise that hasn’t won 4 World Series in 15 years including two this decade. They just finished a run where they became the first AL East team to win the division 4 consecutive years. If that isn’t sustainability, what is?
And before that they had a pretty shitty run, and before that they won the World Series, and before that they had another pretty shitty run. I didn't listen the press conference so I don't know the exact context but it's hardly surprising ownership would want to avoid the past trends for the Sox, which have been amassing a ton of expensive talent, winning the WS, then having to dump/eat a lot of those expenses. If this is Bloom's way of saying "I'm going to avoid past missteps like the contracts for Crawford, Panda, Hanley, Eovaldi, and Sale," how is that not a good thing?

“sustainability” is the new euphemism for trimming payroll and everyone touting this model is conveniently ignoring that you can have a sustainable contender while spending money.
Having a sustainable contender while spending money is precisely what Dombrowski struggled with. Your suggestion that "sustainability" necessarily means trimming payroll is unsupported by any evidence.

And it sounds like offloading Mookie’s salary was a condition of the job since trading him and getting under the payroll are essentially paired outcomes.
Wrong. There is a whole long thread elsewhere on this site dedicated to discussing, among other things, the various ways the Sox can sufficiently reduce salary while still keeping Mookie long-term, and I suspect exploring all of those possibilities is going to be one of Bloom's first major projects.
 

jon abbey

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Dombrowski’s last two drafts have stellar considering where they were drafting (because they won a lot of games.) The only talent missed that he traded away were Travis Shaw, Mauricio Dubon, maybe Logan Allen. There wasn’t a path to “sustainable” contention that Dave chucked away. In the case of Moncada, you gotta give up talent to get talent. He traded the right guys and maximized the potential of the roster he had and now we got people saying he screwed the pooch on the chance for World Series titles when it was never an option to begin with. It’s a bunch of kvetching about an empty farm system that largely busted when it was traded elsewhere or succeeded at the major league level for the Red Sox.
Nope, this is exactly the point too many people misunderstand. It has nothing to do with trading away talent as you say. It's that right now if you look at the number of prospects in the system currently that Fangraphs deems worthy of following, BOS has just 33 to NY's 58 and TB's 59. Both NY and TB I am guessing have traded away more prospects in the last few years than BOS, it has nothing to do with that as you say.

https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2019-in-season-prospect-list/summary?sort=-1,1&team=&pos=&filter=&pagenum=0
 

Green Monster

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My first impression of Chaim was very positive. I think he was humble and personable. I am optimistic for the future....

Did anyone else pick-up some negative body language coming from the right side of the table (primarily TW and JWH)? Not sure if I am imagining it but something didn't seem right.
 

joe dokes

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My first impression of Chaim was very positive. I think he was humble and personable. I am optimistic for the future....

Did anyone else pick-up some negative body language coming from the right side of the table (primarily TW and JWH)? Not sure if I am imagining it but something didn't seem right.
JWH looks uncomfortable anytime he is in a room with more than zero other people. At least it was indoors. He looks like a cat stepping through water when he is outdoors.

If its anything real, its a recognition that they have to embrace some very different approaches than they did even 5 years ago. I suspect JWH is more open to that than Werner. JWH is just a weird guy.
 

Dewey'sCannon

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I'd have been shocked if they had made any offer to JD before DD's replacement was hired. And I'd still be shocked if they made one now. If they're looking to reduce payroll form 240, then eliminating JD's contract is the easiest way - maybe not the "best" in terms of maximizing wins, but by far the easiest, if he opts out. So I gotta believe they're hoping for this, but are making alternative plans in case he doesn't.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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There's zero reason to make any offers to Martinez right now. From the Red Sox perspective, they have him on a fairly reasonable deal (current self-inflicted budget crunch aside). If he wants to stay, better it be on the current deal than negotiating a deal that will only pay him more money. If he wants to opt-out, let him see what's out there but leave the door open for a return if he strikes out on the market...possibly on a deal a bit more friendly to the team but certainly no bigger than the deal he opted out of. If he signs elsewhere, oh well, allocate his earmarked salary for other purposes (like keeping Betts).
 

bankshot1

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Nope, this is exactly the point too many people misunderstand. It has nothing to do with trading away talent as you say. It's that right now if you look at the number of prospects in the system currently that Fangraphs deems worthy of following, BOS has just 33 to NY's 58 and TB's 59. Both NY and TB I am guessing have traded away more prospects in the last few years than BOS, it has nothing to do with that as you say.

https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2019-in-season-prospect-list/summary?sort=-1,1&team=&pos=&filter=&pagenum=0
Jon there's no question that having 58 or 59 lottery tickets is better than having just 33. However acccording to your source, while the Future Value of Tampa's 59 prospects and its minor league system is ranked #1, the Yankees 58 prospects are ranked in the bottom third (21st). According to estimated FV, Houston farm system is 24th, Washington (27th ), and the Red Sox at 30th. I think certain conclusions might be drawn, as to major league teams at the bottom of the rankings harvesting prospects and bringing them up to the majors, or trading prospects for immediate help. And in that regard, unless I misunderstand your point, the FanGraph evaluations very much take trades into account. For example, just checking a few teams, the White Sox (ranked 12th) 2nd most valued prospect, Michel Kopech, (ranked 20th in all baseball) was as a result of the Sale trade.

Now a case might be made that if the Sox untraded Sale, their FanGraph farm ranking would improve, but at the cost of the 2018 WS. Lets call it the Mookie dilemma or Chaim's conundrum.
 

jon abbey

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Jon there's no question that having 58 or 59 lottery tickets is better than having just 33. However acccording to your source, while Tampa' 59 prospects and minor league system is ranked #1, the Yankees 58 prospects are ranked in the bottom third (21st) , according to estimated FV, along with Houston (24th ), Washington (27th ), and the Red Sox at 30th. I think certain conclusions might be drawn, as to major league teams at the bottom of the rankings harvesting prospects and bringing them up to the majors, or trading prospects for immediate help. And in that regard, unless I misunderstand your point, the FanGraph evaluations very much take trades into account. For example, just checking a few teams, the White Sox (ranked 12th) 2nd most valued prospect, Michel Kopech, (ranked 20th in all baseball) was as a result of the Sale trade.

Now a case might be made that if the Sox untraded Sale, their FanGraph farm ranking would improve, but at the cost of the 2018 WS. Lets call it the Mookie dilemma or Chaim's conundrum.
Right, that's why I never mentioned farm rankings. I believe that the issue is a quantity one currently for BOS more than a quality one (although quantity can turn into quality as guys progress) and I don't think that trading away guys had much to do with it in their case. Have they traded away a single actual prospect since winning in 2018? Maybe, but I don't remember any.

Edit: I posted a bit more about this when DD was fired, I think it's in large part an international signing issue but maybe also a development one:

https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/dd-fired.28244/page-2#post-3537243
 

bankshot1

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Right, that's why I never mentioned farm rankings. I believe that the issue is a quantity one currently for BOS more than a quality one (although quantity can turn into quality as guys progress) and I don't think that trading away guys had much to do with it in their case. Have they traded away a single actual prospect since winning in 2018? Maybe, but I don't remember any.
But the impression you gave was the Yankees farm system with 58 prospects was of the same value as Tampa's, when it clearly is not. I thought it was a misleading example that needed some clarification. Quantity and quality are not the same. And the FG rankings include propects that were traded for, so its not a terribly persuasive argument to use FG as your ranking guideline, but then say trades don't impact the valuations when they clearly do.
 

jon abbey

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But the impression you gave was the Yankees farm system with 58 prospects was of the same value as Tampa's, when it clearly is not. I thought it was a misleading example that needed some clarification. Quantity and quality are not the same. And the FG rankings include propects that were traded for, so its not a terribly persuasive argument to use FG as your ranking guideline, but then say trades don't impact the valuations when they clearly do.
I definitely didn't mean to imply that, if I was talking about current farm system ranking in this context, I would have mentioned the specific team rankings. As to the latter part, you are combining two different kinds of trades: trades that contenders make to shore up their current team where they move prospects for current major league talent (Beeks for Eovaldi, 4 guys from HOU for Greinke, Sheffield for Paxton) is one, trades that involve prospects coming your way is the other, which is part of what I'm talking about, refilling the pipeline (Jake Cave for Luis Gil is the first one that comes to mind from a contender, Cave was a spare part for NY, Gil is a high ceiling SP that is still in low A but is jumping up prospect lists).

Anyway, I feel like it's kind of a clear and obvious point I'm making, that the pipeline has been too neglected under DD, which is a lot of why he was fired. I was just trying to bring some specifics into it.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Right, that's why I never mentioned farm rankings. I believe that the issue is a quantity one currently for BOS more than a quality one (although quantity can turn into quality as guys progress) and I don't think that trading away guys had much to do with it in their case. Have they traded away a single actual prospect since winning in 2018? Maybe, but I don't remember any.

Edit: I posted a bit more about this when DD was fired, I think it's in large part an international signing issue but maybe also a development one:

https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/dd-fired.28244/page-2#post-3537243
They've traded 3 but I'm not sure you'd call them prospects. Esteban Quiroz, Noelberth Romero and Elio Prado.
 

bankshot1

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Anyway, I feel like it's kind of a clear and obvious point I'm making, that the pipeline has been too neglected under DD, which is a lot of why he was fired. I was just trying to bring some specifics into it.
I'm pretty sure most in this thread had a reasonably good understanding of the Sox farm, the extent to which it had been aggressively harvested in the past few years, the salary cap problems, and the gnawing fear we were on the path to becoming the Dombrowski Tigers.
 

lexrageorge

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I have to believe this was a known risk with bringing in someone from the outside.

This will be a good hire if Henry and Werner allow him to do his job. I get the feeling that they never let Cherington do anything; it made no sense for him to go after Pablo; that was a move that smelled all along like it was forced on him by ownership looking to win in more exciting fashion. They let DD do his own thing, but they sort of had to in order to get him on board. Unfortunately, they didn't put a stop on him after the World Series; that $208M number looks a lot more achievable if there's no Eovaldi contract to squeeze in.
 

Dewey'sCannon

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Gotta figure its the Pirates....Is anyone else looking for a GM?
I immediately thought the same. Although the Pirates situation is rather a mess, so not clear how attractive that job really is, although it is one of only 30. And just because he's interviewing doesn't mean he'll leave - as we've often seen, interviewing for one job helps get you on the interview list for other future vacancies. We've certainly lost more than our share of talented young executives, who are now scattered across the MLB front office landscape. It's the inevitable cost of success, which is built on having good people.
 

JimD

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On the other hand, it could also be an opportunity for Bloom to bring in someone from the Rays organization, not necessarily at Romero's level but as a promotion over their current job.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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wade boggs chicken dinner

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Right, that's why I never mentioned farm rankings. I believe that the issue is a quantity one currently for BOS more than a quality one (although quantity can turn into quality as guys progress) and I don't think that trading away guys had much to do with it in their case. Have they traded away a single actual prospect since winning in 2018? Maybe, but I don't remember any.

Edit: I posted a bit more about this when DD was fired, I think it's in large part an international signing issue but maybe also a development one:

https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/dd-fired.28244/page-2#post-3537243
Is the Yankee's ratings goosed by the international signing blitz they did in 2014? I ask that because I don't agree that DD has been neglecting the international signing side. I haven't totaled up the lists on Sox Prospects but it appears that for the last three years that Sox have spent all or nearly all of their international signing cap so it's not like they haven't been trying on that side.

The biggest thing I want to find out from Chaim Bloom is whether the Rays (also HOU and LAD, among others) have unlocked some some "secret sauce" that gave those teams a competitive advantage on the development side (because, as you may remember from prior discussions, I'm skeptical whether anyone has figured out a competitive advantage on the drafting side given the current rules of draft salary cpas and slotting).

It will also be interesting to see whether if any competitive edge holds, given how many teams are trying to mimic whatever it is these teams are doing.
 

JimD

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Good profile by Alex Speier today of Brian O'Halloran:

On Friday afternoon, members of the Red Sox baseball operations department assembled inside Fenway Park to discuss the new direction of the organization. With rumors spreading, the Red Sox wanted to be transparent and wanted their own employees to hear first-hand about the plans.

Yes, confirmed assistant general manager Brian O’Halloran — one of the four members of the department who’d taken a transitional leadership role — Chaim Bloom was coming on board from the Tampa Bay Rays, news that was greeted with enthusiasm but also some reserve.

“Everyone is anxious because they don’t know Chaim,” said assistant GM Zack Scott. “We told them, ‘He’s great. You’re going to love him.’ But there’s still tension in the room.”

It wouldn’t last. Scott and senior vice president Raquel Ferreira, who’d also been part of the four-person interim team, nudged O’Halloran. There was more to announce.

“We were like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ ” recounted Scott.

O’Halloran didn’t want to say anything about himself, so Ferreira took the floor. Bloom was coming in as the chief baseball officer. O’Halloran, meanwhile, was being promoted to general manager.

The room exploded in applause.
Red Sox general manager Brian O’Halloran earned his admirers behind-the-scenes
 

jon abbey

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Is the Yankee's ratings goosed by the international signing blitz they did in 2014? I ask that because I don't agree that DD has been neglecting the international signing side. I haven't totaled up the lists on Sox Prospects but it appears that for the last three years that Sox have spent all or nearly all of their international signing cap so it's not like they haven't been trying on that side.

The biggest thing I want to find out from Chaim Bloom is whether the Rays (also HOU and LAD, among others) have unlocked some some "secret sauce" that gave those teams a competitive advantage on the development side (because, as you may remember from prior discussions, I'm skeptical whether anyone has figured out a competitive advantage on the drafting side given the current rules of draft salary cpas and slotting).

It will also be interesting to see whether if any competitive edge holds, given how many teams are trying to mimic whatever it is these teams are doing.
Actually it is looking like that 2014 spending spree was pretty much a total bust, the only guys who look like prospects from that class for NY are a few who didn't cost much like Florial. It is goosed by the last few years of international spending, though, where they have traded each year to acquire the max possible amount and turned that into big name guys each year.

Also drafting is just part of it, NY actually has been ok to bad at that (bad at first rounders, OK at later rounders, great at developing endless quality relievers). International signings is another part, where NY and TB have both been killing it in recent years, and maybe most importantly is targeting pre-arb guys on other teams who they have given up on and can be acquired cheaply, Voit and Urshela and Tauchman in the last 14 months for NY. Each one of those guys who blossoms has the same impact on the organization as a top prospect fulfilling their promise, very cheap production under control for the next 5-6 years.
 

jon abbey

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When talking about the Red Sox farm, it's worth noting that they were hurt by the one-year ban on international signings in the 2016-2017 period. They also did not get to keep 5 players they signed when they violated the rules.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/07/red-sox-international-penalties.html
That violation and the ban was a big blow that's still being felt.
That and Daniel Flores (RIP) certainly had an effect, but it's also interesting to note that in the two classes since Flores, they seem to have stayed away from big money signings at a time when NY has been doing the exact opposite. Those players are still all 17 and 18, so it's hard to pass much judgment on either strategy yet.

https://soxprospects.com/international.htm
 

jon abbey

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It's throwing me off that, at least from the press conference, everyone seemed to be pronouncing it as if it was just "Haim," when I would figure it's more the Hebrew "Ch" pronunciation.
Wonder if that'll ever get fixed.
"The first line in Bloom’s executive bio on the Rays’ website is how to pronounce his first name: HIGH-em. Chaim is a name of Hebrew origin which means “life.” Though there’s technically a guttural emphasis on the first syllable, Bloom has said he’s more or less given up on that exact pronunciation.

“The ‘ch’ to me is sort of a varsity-level thing with my name,” he said in this fantastic profile of him earlier this year in Tablet Mag, an American Jewish online magazine.

“In this game, if the worst thing you’re being called is some mispronounced version of your actual name, you’re doing pretty well.”"

https://theathletic.com/1324296/2019/10/25/5-things-to-know-about-red-sox-gm-target-chaim-bloom/
 

Earthbound64

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Though there’s technically a guttural emphasis on the first syllable, Bloom has said he’s more or less given up on that exact pronunciation.

“The ‘ch’ to me is sort of a varsity-level thing with my name,” he said in this fantastic profile of him earlier this year in Tablet Mag, an American Jewish online magazine.

“In this game, if the worst thing you’re being called is some mispronounced version of your actual name, you’re doing pretty well.”"
So basically "People are saying it wrong, but I don't care / it doesn't bother me / I gave up trying to get people to pronounce it correctly and just go with what people are saying," more or less.
While that may be the case, it seems like we can do better here.
 

lexrageorge

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When talking about the Red Sox farm, it's worth noting that they were hurt by the one-year ban on international signings in the 2016-2017 period. They also did not get to keep 5 players they signed when they violated the rules.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/07/red-sox-international-penalties.html
That violation and the ban was a big blow that's still being felt.
I'm still curious as to who in the Sox front office thought attempting to circumvent those rules was a good idea. Seems fairly obvious that MLB would be looking out for teams circumventing rules that had just been put in place. Borderline firing offense.
 

Green Monster

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I'm still curious as to who in the Sox front office thought attempting to circumvent those rules was a good idea. Seems fairly obvious that MLB would be looking out for teams circumventing rules that had just been put in place. Borderline firing offense.
It would seem to have been during Cherington's tenure
 

chrisfont9

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So basically "People are saying it wrong, but I don't care / it doesn't bother me / I gave up trying to get people to pronounce it correctly and just go with what people are saying," more or less.
While that may be the case, it seems like we can do better here.
I'll always remember the varsity level pronunciation from an old Woody Allen skit called "What's My Perversion?" (can't link from work but it's on Youtube) involving a rabbi named Chaim and some bondage-y behavior.
 

chrisfont9

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The biggest thing I want to find out from Chaim Bloom is whether the Rays (also HOU and LAD, among others) have unlocked some some "secret sauce" that gave those teams a competitive advantage on the development side (because, as you may remember from prior discussions, I'm skeptical whether anyone has figured out a competitive advantage on the drafting side given the current rules of draft salary cpas and slotting).
Agree. I suspect this is their thinking, although of course I can't know. But if they find the secret sauce, I know the Mariners would pay at least $100m for the recipe. We've all heard about the importance of spin rate and maybe the Rays, Astros and Dodgers just got a head start on hording those guys, but they seem to develop hitters pretty well too.
 

Plympton91

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Is the Yankee's ratings goosed by the international signing blitz they did in 2014? I ask that because I don't agree that DD has been neglecting the international signing side. I haven't totaled up the lists on Sox Prospects but it appears that for the last three years that Sox have spent all or nearly all of their international signing cap so it's not like they haven't been trying on that side.

The biggest thing I want to find out from Chaim Bloom is whether the Rays (also HOU and LAD, among others) have unlocked some some "secret sauce" that gave those teams a competitive advantage on the development side (because, as you may remember from prior discussions, I'm skeptical whether anyone has figured out a competitive advantage on the drafting side given the current rules of draft salary cpas and slotting).

It will also be interesting to see whether if any competitive edge holds, given how many teams are trying to mimic whatever it is these teams are doing.
Im reading a book called MVP Machine, and it’s making the case that we are on the frontiers of a player development breakthrough given advances in video, data, and computing power. The Astros and a few other teams have apparently installed massive high tech camera systems in all their minor league complexes and are doing state of the art analysis that leads to highly specialized training. Very interesting stuff. And it is highlighting that if you’re not doing what the best teams are doing in this front, you’re going to fall very far behind very quickly.

Listening to the book, in which brian Bannister plays a starring role, makes me a little less skeptical of Walden’s breakthrough season. It may just be possible that they tweaked his slider enough to make it a dominant pitch, by looking at frame by frame high definition sequences of his finger and wrist positions through the release, or something similar.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Im reading a book called MVP Machine, and it’s making the case that we are on the frontiers of a player development breakthrough given advances in video, data, and computing power. The Astros and a few other teams have apparently installed massive high tech camera systems in all their minor league complexes and are doing state of the art analysis that leads to highly specialized training. Very interesting stuff. And it is highlighting that if you’re not doing what the best teams are doing in this front, you’re going to fall very far behind very quickly.

Listening to the book, in which brian Bannister plays a starring role, makes me a little less skeptical of Walden’s breakthrough season. It may just be possible that they tweaked his slider enough to make it a dominant pitch, by looking at frame by frame high definition sequences of his finger and wrist positions through the release, or something similar.
The Astros (and Trevor Bauer) were the first but every team is using the same high-speed motion cameras now: https://www.mlb.com/news/rapsodo-and-edgertronic-are-changing-baseball.

So maybe the early adopters had a competitive advantage - and they still do to some extent but as the article points out that gap is decreasing - but maybe now we are back to early days of sabermetrics - where everyone was trying to do it, but the team that hired the savant that was really able to get something concrete out of the data was the team that had the competitive advantage.
 

lexrageorge

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The Astros (and Trevor Bauer) were the first but every team is using the same high-speed motion cameras now: https://www.mlb.com/news/rapsodo-and-edgertronic-are-changing-baseball.

So maybe the early adopters had a competitive advantage - and they still do to some extent but as the article points out that gap is decreasing - but maybe now we are back to early days of sabermetrics - where everyone was trying to do it, but the team that hired the savant that was really able to get something concrete out of the data was the team that had the competitive advantage.
I think the bigger context is that some teams were able to consistently be on the leading edge of using analytics. I don't believe for a minute that we've exhausted all of the possibilities for the use of advanced analytics, and there is likely some innovations yet to come (for the record, I acknowledge that you were not specifically arguing for or against this thesis).

For whatever reason, the Sox may have fallen behind the curve here. Perhaps they felt that bringing in Cora and Bannister was enough. Or perhaps it was just DD that thought that way, which would be a contributing cause to his departure.
 

jon abbey

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And they've asked La Russa to stay:

"The Red Sox have asked Tony La Russa to remain with the club. The Hall of Fame manager came to Boston to work as VP/special assistant to Dave Dombrowski, who worked w/La Russa w/White Sox decades earlier. But remaining brass prefers TLR stay, and there have been talks to that end"

View: https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1174816902083989504
Did we ever hear La Russa left BOS? He just signed on with the Angels, so I guess we know he left.

View: https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1194383947452403713
 

Granite Sox

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I wonder if La Russa was the one fo member they were speculating about interviewing elsewhere
FWIW, I sat behind the Sox' Pacific Rim Scout Coordinator at the Japan vs. US game in the Premier12 tournament last night at the Tokyo Dome. Cheerful Aussie. Hired by DD in 2016.

He was quite chatty. This guy reports directly to Romero. It has been speculated that Romero may be one of the Go4 that has been contacted about open positions.

Similar to most reporting thus far, the scout said he hasn't heard a single negative word about Bloom, "which is pretty rare in this business". Said each of the Gang of Four is fantastic, and that Boston has one of the best front office cultures around with the current staff. He was first hired in baseball by Roland Hemond, and worked for Pat Gillick for many years as well. Said Bloom, Romero, and the rest of the current Sox' front office is as good as any of them.

I was wearing a Red Sox pullover, and he initiated a conversation with me. He was there to check out Chatham, Dalbec, Song, and Houck, as well as a few other players in the tournament originating from Asia/Australia.

Parenthetically, I also chatted with an Asian scout for the Twins. He was based in Korea, and the team asked him to go to Tokyo to scout the games. Around the third inning, he said he didn't even know if the Twins had anyone there in the system. About two hours later, he turned around and said, "Hey... I just now got an email saying that Brent Rooker is one of our guys... so I guess I better start paying attention!" :)
 
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