For Chaim Bloom's Red Sox, it could be worse
By Rick McNair
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.