Red Sox hopes were crushed by Rays and Yankees
The Red Sox season is not over since there are requirements to play out the schedule. The three-game sweep by the Yankees on the heels of an equally ignominious series loss to the Rays is the end. I’m calling it early. No Mas and raise the white flag.
Historical dates in history often become a watershed, and the Red Sox are no exception. The date that can now be associated with the Hindenburg 2021 season is July 30th. Our baseball date of infamy and Chaim Bloom was no FDR.
That date represents the trading deadline that ends at 4:00 PM. Teams engage in frantic negotiation to improve their roster or to jettison players. Too bad all the GMs could not be in a tent together and the antics broadcast. Images of the floor of the New York Stock Exchange or the Witches’ Market in La Paz, Bolivia, would pale in comparison.
On that date, Chaim Bloom failed. Bloom failed the players, manager, and most assuredly, the fans. When needing pitching, Bloom came home with a bat. Jack did not get any magic beans in this market. Any pitching of quality went elsewhere. Of course, Bloom could be presented as just a PR extension of ownership. He was merely following directives.
The first base situation screamed for Anthony Rizzo. A left-handed bat and a Gold Glove defensive player. What Bloom grabbed was the bat portion in Kyle Schwarber and the glove? Schwarber never played the position. That is now old news. By last beating it to death.
The team has also been listless, uninspired, and just not competitive. Manager Alex Cora has to shoulder some of that. Cora was also far from blameless with managerial decisions regarding an ever-shifting lineup and his use of the bullpen and the quick hook to starters. Plenty to finger point at, and that includes the 26-Man roster.
Alex Cora has mismanaged since the All-Star break. Is there such a thing as defensive managing? In the first half, all the moves were the right ones, and now they are the wrong ones. The skipper could not avoid the shoals of Tampa and New York. Of course, when his bullpen crew becomes Mo, Larry, and Curley, that doesn’t help. Lowe’s does not have enough trash cans to right the ship.
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The Red Sox may have just found their expected niche for the season. Pre-season, this team was .500 by even the most optimistic observers. Now comes the task at hand, and it will be costly. This is the BOSTON RED SOX and not some MLB backwater. They have holes, and you don’t fill them with the baseball version of the bum of the month club. Expect the crapshoot that goes with spending and accept the consequences. It can be messy but has produced four flags this century.
Success is now measured by getting under the luxury tax and having a high-ranked farm system, then chalk up 2021 as a rousing one. If you choose getting deep into the playoffs and a shot at a World Series title as success, then 2021 is not your plastic cup of Sam Adams.
So, folks, do we wait it out? Have a mountain of patience while the farm system gives us a string of Bobby Dalbecs? Are our high game costs rewarded with the stellar free-agent signings of the Garrett Richards’ of the pitching world? We pay the freight and expect first-class and not the coach. In Chaim, we trust?
The excellent news is Boston has resources, and that means money. The Red Sox have thrown money at problems this century, and sometimes it comes up David Price and Pablo Sandoval. It is unavoidable unless ownership makes a deal and trades franchises with Tampa – a rare exception.
So let’s all get out the old “Wait until next year” since the team has suddenly discovered their 2020 roots this year. Bloom can now get to his roster clearing, and that has already commenced. Far more to follow. Make the trades, be selective on prospects, and get this team back where it belongs. Or, better yet, revise the 2022 schedule for 81 games against the O’s.