All good stuff. A few weeks left, changes are coming to the RS the same as all teams. The players speaking out, if I haven't missed any which seems I normally do, are not under contract for next season. Rich Hill? Great story, but he's no longer a big league starter. Eovaldi? They squeezed all the juice possible out of him. Another substantial investment in Nate would be a poor decision. Sox have free agents, but let's not forget there are incredibly dynamic free agents available this offseason as well. The current roster needs some churn - that much is clear. I'm not a Bloom fan, but cutting Plawecki seems like a silly bit to get so much attention. A lot of work needs to be done. Starting a little early is fine. It was nice knowing you Plawdaddy!
Loved the article and I think it points to the fact that something serious is brewing. It’s obvious that Bloom is not a people person and that is not likely to change. To him, a roster is a set of performance statistics. It never occurs to him that there are people behind the numbers. So far, ownership seems okay with the approach. We know it doesn’t sit well with players and coaches and, more importantly, the manager. I have a distinct feeling that we are approaching a him-or-me moment between Cora and Bloom. I’ve read one idea that might prevent this. Maybe ownership can bring a “Theo Epstein” type, one who understands baseball and people to assist/oversee Bloom. Maybe Epstein himself? If not, I believe this is eventually going to come to a head and it may be ugly. Meanwhile, we fans anxiously await the coming off season. Strap in!
"if he’d been dropped out of a plane"😂....welcome back, good old Matthew!🤗 At least, let's enjoy ourselves writing and reading 😉
Really good piece 👍🏻
All good stuff. A few weeks left, changes are coming to the RS the same as all teams. The players speaking out, if I haven't missed any which seems I normally do, are not under contract for next season. Rich Hill? Great story, but he's no longer a big league starter. Eovaldi? They squeezed all the juice possible out of him. Another substantial investment in Nate would be a poor decision. Sox have free agents, but let's not forget there are incredibly dynamic free agents available this offseason as well. The current roster needs some churn - that much is clear. I'm not a Bloom fan, but cutting Plawecki seems like a silly bit to get so much attention. A lot of work needs to be done. Starting a little early is fine. It was nice knowing you Plawdaddy!
Loved the article and I think it points to the fact that something serious is brewing. It’s obvious that Bloom is not a people person and that is not likely to change. To him, a roster is a set of performance statistics. It never occurs to him that there are people behind the numbers. So far, ownership seems okay with the approach. We know it doesn’t sit well with players and coaches and, more importantly, the manager. I have a distinct feeling that we are approaching a him-or-me moment between Cora and Bloom. I’ve read one idea that might prevent this. Maybe ownership can bring a “Theo Epstein” type, one who understands baseball and people to assist/oversee Bloom. Maybe Epstein himself? If not, I believe this is eventually going to come to a head and it may be ugly. Meanwhile, we fans anxiously await the coming off season. Strap in!
Hi, Matt.
Have to disagree here. I think there’s been a tremendous overreaction to this move, both by certain players and especially media observers.
The Sox could surely have handled this better, but there’s no painless way to cut a player.
You failed to mention the biggest reason Plawecki — or another player — had to go.
MLB teams can no longer expand to 40 players in September. Rosters are capped at 28.
The Red Sox needed to add a pitcher and wanted to get a look at Frank German. To promote him, they had to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Plawecki was headed for free agency this winter and clearly was not in Boston’s 2023 plans.
They’re trying to determine if the McGuire-Wong tandem will work behind the plate next and want to give both guys ample starts down the stretch.
If they wanted to, or had more roster spots, they could have kept Plawecki buried on the bench for the final 20 games.
But would that have been a better option for him or the team?
Sounds like he’s already found a new gig.