Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

The floundering Boston Red Sox have replaced beleaguered GM Ben Cherington with Dave Dombrowski and named Dombrowski President of Baseball Operations. While Cherington did make moves to help the Sox win the Series in 2013, most of his moves since then have both failed and burdened the Sox with bad and expensive multi-year contracts. I previously analyzed those in my earlier analysis of the team:

l.strether wrote:Two years later, the BoSox are 7 games under .500 and languishing in last place. Cherington's three expensive major signings: 3b Pablo Sandoval, Lf Hanley Ramirez, and Cf Rusney Castillo--have been relative disasters. Like always, Sandoval has played the season overweight, produced a woeful .267/.309/.387 line, and gained notoriety for instagramming a female fan from the can during a game. Ramirez has been as god-awful defensively as he has been outstanding offensively. He's turned left-field play into a regular horror show for Red Sox pitchers, leaving them with grimaces at every ball hit his way. He has also alienated his teammates with his same laissez-faire attitude that alienated his past Dodger and Marlin teammates. And the supposed 5-tool Castillo has looked like a no-tool fraud whose non-production has led to a recent demotion.

To augment those bad decisions, he bewilderingly gave Rick Porcello a 4-year 82.5m contract after giving John Lackey away to the Cardinals for the demoted Allan Craig and Joe Kelly. So, Cherington smartly and rightly has not griped.

As to Dombrowski, he has significantly landed on his feet after being replaced in Detroit by Alex Avila. Dombrowski is not an analytic and asset assessing genius like Andrew Friedman or a visionary team-builder like Beane, Sabean, or Epstein, but he is one of the best all-around baseball men of the last 25 years. He built successful and winning teams in Montreal and Miami, and drafted and acquired important players like Cabrera, Scherzer, Kinsler, Fister, and Verlander for Detroit. And he masterfully acquired top talent at the trading deadline, acquiring top pitching talent like Daniel Norris, Micheal Fulmer, Matthew Boyd, Jairo Labourt, and Jacoby Jones for players who were going to leave in the winter.

He should bring plenty of successful team-running experience and wisdom to the Red Sox, and he has a lot to work with. Swihart has future GG potential at C, Shaw looks strong at 1b, Pedroia is still a plus player at 2b, Bogaerts is one of baseball's best young shortstops, and Mookie Betts is Ben Zobrist with speed. As for pitching, Bucholz and Rodriguez are locks, hard-throwing lefty Henry Owens has already impressed, and lefty Brian Johnson and rh Matt Barnes also have impressive arms. They also have impressive prospects with bright futures:

1. Rafael Devers, 3b. Sandoval's eventual replacement, Devers is a solid hitter with raw power potential and is the #13 prospect in MLB
2. Manuel Margot, Cf. He is a true 5-tool talent and already a defensive force, if raw offensively. He could be a disruptive lead-off man.
3. Andrew Benintendi, Lf 2015 Golden Spikes winner and best pure hitter in the draft, the Green Monster is waiting for his likely arrival there by 2017.
4. Yoan Moncada, 2b-3b This toolsy Cuban infielder could threaten Sandoval's playing time, as well as replace Betts as super-sub. The Red Sox certainly aren't paying him the big bucks to languish on the bench or in the minors.

So, don't be surprised if Dombrowski has the Red Sox back in contention next year. He's that good at building teams, and the Red Sox are much more talented than their record. Considering their stocked farm system and Dombrowski's ability to steer a ship, he should have Boston in contention for years to come.

Why would anyone call Betts a supersub? I think he has earned his starting CF job.

Agreed, Betts is their regular CF...Brock Holt is their primary utility player.

keyzick wrote:Agreed, Betts is their regular CF...Brock Holt is their primary utility player.

After all I wrote, did Bombers only complain about my saying Betts was "Ben Zobrist with speed"? If so, I'm not surprised.

Saying Betts is "Ben Zobrist with speed" is hardly saying he is a "utility player." Zobrist was (and is) a regular player who has almost always had a primary position--usually 2b, and sometimes Rf--who has helped his team by playing regularly at many different positions. That's exactly what Betts will be, particularly if Castillo rebounds. Even if he does see the most playing time at Cf, he will still also likely see playing time at 3b, 2b, Rf, and maybe even Ss. That would make him a super-sub, not a utility player like Holt, who will not be a regular and will see considerable time on the bench.

So, what were your views on the rest of my post, Keyzick? Did you agree or disagree with any of my assessments of the Dombrowski hire?

l.strether wrote:4. Yoan Moncada, 2b-3b This toolsy Cuban infielder could threaten Sandoval's playing time, as well as replace Betts as super-sub.

In case you don't know what you wrote here it is for you.

LMBombers wrote:

l.strether wrote:4. Yoan Moncada, 2b-3b This toolsy Cuban infielder could threaten Sandoval's playing time, as well as replace Betts as super-sub.

In case you don't know what you wrote here it is for you.

All that cutting and pasting from other writers baseball blogs is hard to keep track of...

ROBERTLATORRE wrote:All that cutting and pasting from other writers baseball blogs is hard to keep track of...

What a nasty troll LaTorre is. Instead of contributing to the thread, he takes an erroneous personal shot at me and my well-thought-out post.

My writing and my opinions are my own. If he (or anyone else) wants to back up his banal venom and show where I "cut or pasted" from someone else, he is free to do so. Considering I wrote my post, and he can't back anything up, there's no chance of that...

Now, I wrote about Dombrowski and the Red Sox. It would be nice if people actually discussed that instead of childishly trolling.

Why?

Either someone posts and agrees with you and you haughtily thank them for telling you that you are correct, or they give a different opinion and you tell them why they are wrong. What's the point of having a conversation with you?

As far as the rest of your post...Dombrowski was not brought in to replace Cherington, Cherington chose to leave once Dombrowski was named president of baseball ops. Dombrowski actually asked Cherington to stay on as GM, but Ben declined. Dombrowski has said he will be hiring a new GM now, and Cherington will assist in that transition.

keyzick wrote:As far as the rest of your post...Dombrowski was not brought in to replace Cherington, Cherington chose to leave once Dombrowski was named president of baseball ops. Dombrowski actually asked Cherington to stay on as GM, but Ben declined. Dombrowski has said he will be hiring a new GM now, and Cherington will assist in that transition.

Yes, I know he wasn't literally brought in to replace Cherington. That's why I said he was made President of Baseball Operations, not GM. However, he will be replacing Cherington as the team's authority on baseball matters. That's why I said he was replacing him, and why Cherington refused to stay on as GM, with the job likely going to Frank Wren.

However, you still didn't address my actual analysis of the Dombrowski hire and it's likely effect on the Red Sox' future. Do you have any agreements or disagreements with it?