One of the positive outfalls of discussing Chaim Bloom of the Boston Red Sox is I get to use the word vitriol. I could also use another common term, and that is cult. Both words describe a nation divided. In Lincolnesque terms, a "house divided," but (thankfully) only in a baseball sense.
Bloom is finishing off year four of his five-year contract, and the results are mixed. If I were to create a balance sheet of negatives and positives in a purely subjective sense, Bloom deserves to finish his mission.
Senior management seeks youth in leadership roles, such as Bloom. Theo Epstein, Ben Cherrington, and now Bloom were all executive youngins, except for Dave Dombrowski, who was sent to the U-Haul office less than a year after winning a title.
A common thread connects the former GMs or presidents of baseball operations or fetchers of coffee (no cream) for principal owner John Henry -- they all won a championship.
Bloom's mission was threefold: The first was to cut payroll, the second was to build up the farm system, and the last was to win a championship. Evaluation check marks are by the first two, and the third is the most important. To the anti-Bloom forces, every move is dismissed, minimized, and laughed at.
Conversely, the pro-Bloom sentiment is the mirror opposite, taking on all the enthusiasm of a cult of loyalty that tests reality. Sometimes, some must be sent to a camp to be reprogrammed. I have fluctuated along the media battlefield between both.
Thankfully, this is where the Bloom train wreck or Unicorn Festival comes to a halt, and if you think this is not good, think about these teams is now front and center. The following make Bloom and John Henry look good.
Where fat contracts go to die
Sometimes, you do more with less, and other times, you do less with more, and it starts with a "pick em," in this instance, I will begin with A.J. Preller and the San Diego Padres as a starter only because I have a certain animosity for Preller.
Preller's track record on trades is mystifying, but let's start with his ethics or lack of ethics that still resonates with Red Sox fans. The Red Sox made a deal to bring Drew Pomeranz to Boston in July 2016. Preller was less than open about medical issues, resulting in a 30-day suspension for Preller.
I will bypass the trades throughout Preller's tenure, but it becomes a litany of youth for players whose youth is a memory or soon will be. There are exceptions, such as Juan Soto, a youthful slugger with a considerable upside. Soto has hit, but it will eventually cost the Pads a substantial contract. As with any GM, there are good, bad, and indifferent deals.
Substantial is just what the SD payroll is. At this point in baseball, the luxury tax bill is over $31 million. As a Red Sox fan, I will toss in a case in point. Preller signed Xander Bogaerts to a short-term deal - wait. What? They signed X-Man for 11 years and $280 million! Bogaerts will collect his salary, social security, and a baseball pension before this deal expires (sarcasm meter off). Bloom and Henry get points for avoiding that deal.
If a free agent is signing for big bucks, players and their agents have Preller on speed dial. The Padres' rap sheet is loaded with pricy talent, and the roster appears to be an excellent puzzle where the pieces must fit and don't. At least they beat the Dodgers a few years back, but otherwise, money doesn't buy baseball happiness.
Bloom has avoided the fiscal craziness of the Padres so far avoiding piling up long term deals that seem to just not work out for SD. Maybe they possibly will in the future, but for spending like a 16-year-old with daddy's AMEX Black Card we bring you to the next in "what were they thinking?"
Not how much you spend but how you spend it
The Padres are stingy compared to the New York Mets and Billy Eppler. Eppler was the former GM of the Angels for five seasons, and they did nothing in his tenure. Eppler signed a four-year contract and is the point guy for owner Steve Cohen. Cohen bought the Mets in 2020, and I can best describe his wealth by saying I have no intention of starting a GoFundMe page for Mr. Cohen.
The Met's philosophy was to win it now and spare no costs. Eppler followed that mantra precisely, and the Mets LT hit $104 million. How do you manage that? Eppler was certainly not an advocate for a "youth movement" and signed Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer for a combined salary of $86 million, or about three times the payroll of the Oakland A's. Both have been dumped for prospects as Cohen's immediate championship gratification went kaboom quickly.
The roster is a wreck with a monstrous payroll, underperforming "stars," and dead money that could end homelessness. Cohen had no patience to wait, and Eppler did his duty and scrapped the "plan" by trading or just dumping the players.
A GM, or whatever the title is, has an advisory responsibility such as "Boss, this is not a good idea." The Mets will battle their city rivals to see who can have a more embarrassing season. I'll root for the Yankees, but they must catch the Mets. If cutting payroll is an owner's prerogative, Bloom will be high on the list as a hire.
"The Boss" is dead, and so is his team
George Steinbrenner set the bar for the Yankees, and it was an expensive bar—a whole new meaning for winning at any cost. George is dead, and the Yankees have been for years. This season, the humiliation is being in last place, having extensive losing streaks, and a high-priced free agent battling arm issues all season.
Brian Cashman has been under fire for years since New York expects the Yankees to win, and when they do, a championship is elusive, and that does not meet the expectations of Yankee fans. And you can go back far enough with Cashman to create a plus and minus list of trades and free-agent signings. A poor signing like Jacoby Ellsbury negates a shrewd signing like Gerrit Cole.
The Yankees have gotten old, and it came quickly. A reasonably productive farm system has helped buffer the big club, but aging vets like Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton will require more work to move. The signing of Aaron Judge may soon also slide into that category.
Cashman also suffers from if it wasn't for bad luck, I would have no luck at all. Injuries and personal issues have plagued the pitching staff, and once promising and youthful players are now fading.
Cashman has attempted to manage payroll, but the old habits have surfaced, with the Bombers second behind the Mets in team payroll. So a case can certainly be made for the spending habits of George emerging but, again, the old how you spend it.
If Cashman and manager Aaron Boone survive this season, it will be firmly in I now believe in miracles. The Yankees the last I checked were wallowing six games under .500, and Yankee fans were collecting an ample supply of tar and feathers.
Making the Bloom connection, we now have three baseball high rollers doing nothing except creating hereditary wealth for many players, with a fourth to follow. Bloom has managed that payroll thing, and the Mets, Padres, and Yankees have not, nor have they won.
No Cowboy Up in LA
The more things change, the more they stay the same is the story of the Angels since singing cowboy Gene Autry opened his wallet years ago. Free Agents' negative timeline started with the death of Lyman Bostock and continues to the present with Anthony Rendon, Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujois, and many others.
Perry Minasian is the latest ringmaster for the disappointing Angels, and his bad luck or poor timing continues in the best Angels tradition. Minasian passed on dealing Shohei Ohtani and went into win-it-now mode.
Minasian emptied a healthy portion of the farm system for Luis Giolito and Reynaldo López, only to witness a death spiral out of contention. Ohtani is out with a bum arm to seal the deal on playoff hope. Then there is Mike Trout, who plays on a schedule of 120 games yearly.
When questions are raised about win it now and farm system be damned, then the Bloom crowd can point their fingers or beaks at the Angels. Now, Minasian is facing a rebuilding situation, especially if Ohtani leaves, and with owner Arte Morino pulling the Angels off the market, Minasian may soon join Eppler as an ex alo's GM.
Los Angeles Angels v Los Angeles Dodgers / Jayne Kamin-Oncea/GettyImages
You can spend - even overspend - and get it right
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves have exceeded the LT but are quite successful. If you wanted to sample what Bloom could do with money, look at his old boss, Andrew Friedman.
Friedman was Executive of The Year in 2008 while running the show for the Tampa Bay Rays. Friedman took over as the president of baseball operations for the Blue in 2015 and has created an impressive resume since then. A World Series win in 2020, MLB Executive of the Year in 2020, and a winning machine team. Intelligent trades, solid farm system, no Mets crazy payroll. This team is now a yearly powerhouse and WS favorite.
The Braves Alex Anthopoulos has created his own powerhouse in Atlanta with judicious trades, free agent signings, and locking up young players to manage payroll. The decisions could have been better - they rarely are - but Anthopoulos gets most of them right.
Like the Dodgers, the Braves are an exciting young team and are proactive when needed. The Braves should be yearly contenders for the rest of this decade, and if Bloom needs a methodology with his burgeoning farm system, it is to lock up players early and take the risk.
