Farms are meant to be decimated. Come harvest time , it is time to reap. The crops won't last forever. You keep what you need and take the rest to market to get what you can for them. Then you can plant the seeds anew. That is exactly what Dombrowski has done .
So worst case, after 4 or more playoff years, the cliff actually happens. Sox have to do a rebuild and will suck for a few years. Might even be a 5 year plan. I thought you liked that because you're always praising Ben for doing it. Should be a win-win for you.Originally Posted by Kimmi
At the end of the day, we traded a lot of bodies, but quantity does not equal quality. One issue I have with the "cliff" and "depleted farm" narratives is that they make it sound as if keeping all those guys around would have vastly improved our long-term outlook, which I think is far from evident. If you think we're headed for a rough patch somewhere around 2020-2021, then I doubt still having Manny Margot, Javier Guerra, the Basabe brothers, et. al. would change that much.
Meanwhile, the White Sox trade where we did give up the most quality could end up the biggest win of all, given how incredible Sale has been and the uncertainty that still surrounds Moncada and Kopech.
Speaking as someone who fully admits his own bias towards building through homegrown talent, Dombrowski's trades have by and large been shrewd ones, and as I've said before, he's showed a discretion and patience at times (see his refusal to trade Benintendi or Devers, or putting Bryan Mata off limits in the Sale talks even before he was on the radar as a serious prospect) that has impressed me and really puts the lie to his "Desperate Dave" reputation. It's tough to find a whole lot to go back and quibble with, particularly as we enjoy watching what may well be the first 100-win Red Sox team in most of our lifetimes.
Of course, it seems Dave will ultimately be judged by whether he delivers a title in the next several years, but for the moment, it's hard not to see his body of work in Boston as overwhelmingly positive.
I love this post.
"Hating the Yankees like it's a religion since 94'" RIP Mike.
"It's also a simple and indisputable fact that WAR isn't the be-all end-all in valuations, especially in real life. Wanna know why? Because an ace in run-prevention for 120 innings means more often than not, a sub-standard pitcher covering for the rest of the IP that pitcher fails to provide. You can't see value in a vacuum when a player does not provide full-time production."
If nothing else Kimmi should appreciate your use of math!
"Hating the Yankees like it's a religion since 94'" RIP Mike.
"It's also a simple and indisputable fact that WAR isn't the be-all end-all in valuations, especially in real life. Wanna know why? Because an ace in run-prevention for 120 innings means more often than not, a sub-standard pitcher covering for the rest of the IP that pitcher fails to provide. You can't see value in a vacuum when a player does not provide full-time production."
Another well thought out and well written post.
Good stuff.
"Hating the Yankees like it's a religion since 94'" RIP Mike.
"It's also a simple and indisputable fact that WAR isn't the be-all end-all in valuations, especially in real life. Wanna know why? Because an ace in run-prevention for 120 innings means more often than not, a sub-standard pitcher covering for the rest of the IP that pitcher fails to provide. You can't see value in a vacuum when a player does not provide full-time production."
It's not a longing for Cherington, it's a longing for a strong farm system.
The turnaround would have happened regardless of who was GM in 2016. The time was right for it to happen, not to mention both the 2014 and 2015 teams were better than they performed.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe it's possible to build a contender without decimating the farm. Overpaying for free agents or for players through trade doesn't impress me.
Completely agree.
Throw out 2012 completely. It doesn't count.
Yes, it stinks finishing in last place. However, neither of those teams should have been that bad. They were both projected to be contenders, and the 2014 team was the overwhelming favorite to win the division.
In fact, since Henry bought the team, every team assembled has been projected to be a contender. That's really all you can ask of your GM (and your owner). The GM has done his job. Sometimes, with baseball being the fluky game that it is, things don't go according to plan. I can live with that.
What I don't want happening is to know, going into the season, that your team has no chance. #thecliffisreal
No, they're not meant to be decimated. Yes, they are meant to be used in trade, but that can be done without decimation.
The years in which Ben's teams lost were not cliff years. The teams, on paper, were strong contenders. I realize that the games still need to be played, but the talent was there. There is a difference between having a contending team that doesn't make it for one reason or another versus having a team that has no chance before the season even starts.
The pitching staff Ben assembled for the 2015 season was not his finest work.
People really don't understand that it costs something to get something. The Thornburg trade was a disaster, and he bought high on Pomeranz, but aside from that every trade has, at the very least, been a win-win
yup - me too - an adult is in charge of the fucking hen house. he gets it.
Sorry Slash ( and I like you too) but we finally have a competent GM who will lead us into the future. I'm not buying this crap about decimating the farm at all. I have complete faith that he will stick handle things and this team will compete for as long as he is here. To me personally putting a team in a position to win every year isn't that easy. He has done and will continue to do so. For gawd sake, Ben Cherington was not ready for the big job. If he was, he certainly would be a household name on the big stage by now.
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