Who will be CBO?

[Sea Dog 23]

The Guardian's Antonetti is staying put in Cleveland apparently.  So Mike Hazen, who was mentioned last week,  is probably now the favorite for those people who want an old Sox guy, not named Theo.  He is under contract at Arizona through 2024, so he might cost the Sox a trade piece.

John Tomase lists Brandon Gomes (GM Dodgers), Sam Fuld (Philly GM) , Mike Elias (Baltimore), Carter Hawkins (GM Cubs) and James Click of Toronto. Click,  the VP of Baseball Strategy, has a good resume, being with Tampa, Houston and now Toronto.  The problem getting Click, he is good friends with Bloom, who he has known for the last 15 years.  Bloom helped him get the job with the Jays.  With Bloom going out last week and Click may not be the best timing.

[SeaBeachFred]

The Guardian's Antonetti is staying put in Cleveland apparently.  So Mike Hazen, who was mentioned last week,  is probably now the favorite for those people who want an old Sox guy, not named Theo.  He is under contract at Arizona through 2024, so he might cost the Sox a trade piece.

John Tomase lists Brandon Gomes (GM Dodgers), Sam Fuld (Philly GM) , Mike Elias (Baltimore), Carter Hawkins (GM Cubs) and James Click of Toronto. Click,  the VP of Baseball Strategy, has a good resume, being with Tampa, Houston and now Toronto.  The problem getting Click, he is good friends with Bloom, who he has known for the last 15 years.  Bloom helped him get the job with the Jays.  With Bloom going out last week and Click may not be the best timing.

If Click is good friends with Bloom it is a red flag if ever there was one and who knows if he was infected with the same small market mentality as the disgraced Bloom was.  Sorry to hear about Antonetti staying in Cleveland.  I wonder if he was warned that if he was up for the Bosox job he would not be able to have his own manager and coaches which translated means to me that Cora is still part of the bargain.  Whoever gets this job must insist that he has full authority to hire his own manager and not be an appendige of Prune Face or some o ther lower flunkies on this failing and now disreputable club.

[elktonnick]

Many are pushing Mike Hazen. IMO Hazen would be crazy to take any job with Henry without ironclad guarantees. Good bad or indifferent Henry fires his HOBO every 4 years.  The next HOBO must demand certain budget levels.

[SeaBeachFred]

Many are pushing Mike Hazen. IMO Hazen would be crazy to take any job with Henry without ironclad guarantees. Good bad or indifferent Henry fires his HOBO every 4 years.  The next HOBO must demand certain budget levels.

Right again Elk.

[MongoLikeSox]

For better or worse, I think Cora is going nowhere until he totally screws the pooch. If I'm correct, Cora should be involved in the process. There's no way a HOBO and the field Manager should be on two distinct planets like this last pairing was.

That thought alone inspires another. How much better or worse would it have been if Bloom had gotten to choose his own guy? I'm thinking in terms of how badly pure, untethered Bloomball would have looked if Cora was not in the picture. Sort of blows my whole concept of needing a HOBO and Manager to be in a state of well bonded bliss.

[longgame]

They really love Cora for some reason, but it also sounds like he was the voice against the moves and non-moves of Bloom.  I'm hopeful they'll find another role for Cora that opens the door for new field management.  I'm happy they finally realize what we all saw 3 or 4 years ago, but will they get it right now?  I'm not sure they know how bad this organization is right now.

[Sea Dog 23]

It's interesting that O'Halloran has been promoted as an executive (for an unknown title).  Most observers think it is separate from the CBO.  So there are two openings, one the OPS guy and one GM.   Also interesting that Asst GM Eddie Romero's name has not come up.  He is instrumental in knowing the minor league and internationals, and known personally by the Boston players.  Would he be the new GM, or would the CBO want his own man?

My favorite right now would be Brandon Gomes in LA. (We need pitchers, and this guy knows all about how they develop). He is a fast riser.  He pitched for the Rays just 8 years ago (probably played cards with Bloom!).  He was hired as the pitching analyst and development for Dodgers  as starters.  In 2021 he was promoted to GM.  The guy has been around division winners and a WS winner.  And he is a Mass. native (Fall River)  Some of the other guys seem to be just place holders at their teams.  Click has winning experience at Tampa and Houston.

[MongoLikeSox]

Speier was on earlier talking three names. Gomes, Romero and Hazen. He also mentioned something I did not know before. He said that Bloom was the only one the Sox interviewed after firing Dombrowski.

I think he mentioned a Gomes as being big into the analytics. I'm not certain I want that. There's a place for statistics, sure, but I don't want it running the show again.

[Sea Dog 23]

Sam Kennedy interviewed this morning (Thurs).  He goes on and on about "how important this move is and will go through the fall and winter to get the person we need."  I'm just flummoxed.  They should have some guidelines already in place by now, living through this miserable season.  By winter?  A lot of the progress in negotiations for FA's and trades will be done by that point.  What a disorganized bunch of nitwits who claim to know baseball.

Somebody in Boston, please throw me a lifeline.

[longgame]

They're too busy planning Barbie night at Fenway.  I had to see that promo about 4 times before I believed it wasn't just a joke.  Way to signal priorities - we need Barbie night but we can wait until the season starts to build our team.

[SeaBeachFred]

Sam Kennedy interviewed this morning (Thurs).  He goes on and on about "how important this move is and will go through the fall and winter to get the person we need."  I'm just flummoxed.  They should have some guidelines already in place by now, living through this miserable season.  By winter?  A lot of the progress in negotiations for FA's and trades will be done by that point.  What a disorganized bunch of nitwits who claim to know baseball.

Somebody in Boston, please throw me a lifeline.

Wouldn't do much good for Sam Kennedy.  He'd be better served with a cigarette and a blindfold; then again I can't remember a bigger bunch of incompetent jackasses in any organization that what we have been subjected to with these yo yos running our team.

[MongoLikeSox]

Sam Kennedy interviewed this morning (Thurs).  He goes on and on about "how important this move is and will go through the fall and winter to get the person we need."  I'm just flummoxed.  They should have some guidelines already in place by now, living through this miserable season.  By winter?  A lot of the progress in negotiations for FA's and trades will be done by that point.  What a disorganized bunch of nitwits who claim to know baseball.

Somebody in Boston, please throw me a lifeline.

A line from a Neil Young song just popped into my mind. "I was thinking about what a friend had said, hoping it was a lie." 

The second thing to pop into my head was a thought that maybe Bloom did not stand alone as a long, drawn out thinker type. Perhaps him and Kennedy were two peas in the pod in that trait? Supposing we do sign a good Ops guy. Is he going to be held back by Kennedy dragging his ass to rubber stamp a deal?

The third thing to pop into my aging cranium was that perhaps his existence is a huge red flag for the best candidates. We did see Kennedy take a much more active role last Winter after Bloom was spending his time in the dumpster again, which may or may not have at least helped.

Remember, Kennedy was basically shoved off to the side and out of baseball Ops per the Dombrowski agreement. He was told that he was going to be Dombrowski's right hand man, partner in crime type. Maybe even a co-Ops type of position. Kennedy was informed at the last minute that he was out of the circle. I think this came down just before going to pick Dombrowski up at the airport.

So yeah, I'm getting nothing good from this. I don't even wanna talk about thought #4.

[longgame]

Sam Kennedy interviewed this morning (Thurs).  He goes on and on about "how important this move is and will go through the fall and winter to get the person we need."  I'm just flummoxed.  They should have some guidelines already in place by now, living through this miserable season.  By winter?  A lot of the progress in negotiations for FA's and trades will be done by that point.  What a disorganized bunch of nitwits who claim to know baseball.

Somebody in Boston, please throw me a lifeline.

A line from a Neil Young song just popped into my mind. "I was thinking about what a friend had said, hoping it was a lie." 

The second thing to pop into my head was a thought that maybe Bloom did not stand alone as a long, drawn out thinker type. Perhaps him and Kennedy were two peas in the pod in that trait? Supposing we do sign a good Ops guy. Is he going to be held back by Kennedy dragging his ass to rubber stamp a deal?

The third thing to pop into my aging cranium was that perhaps his existence is a huge red flag for the best candidates. We did see Kennedy take a much more active role last Winter after Bloom was spending his time in the dumpster again, which may or may not have at least helped.

Remember, Kennedy was basically shoved off to the side and out of baseball Ops per the Dombrowski agreement. He was told that he was going to be Dombrowski's right hand man, partner in crime type. Maybe even a co-Ops type of position. Kennedy was informed at the last minute that he was out of the circle. I think this came down just before going to pick Dombrowski up at the airport.

So yeah, I'm getting nothing good from this. I don't even wanna talk about thought #4.

From what I can tell they have a President, a President of Baseball Ops and a GM.  Not sure why you need three guys for that one position. Kennedy seems redundant to me and I don't know what he adds to the club.  It's an interesting thought that all these non-athletes are very risk averse.

[elktonnick]

I thought Kennedy's real job was all the non baseball stuff connected to the Red Sox, like running Fenway Park, non baseball payroll, accounting, sales, promotions and general public relations .  That is a.major job too.much for a HOBO to run as well as baseball.

[Sea Dog 23]

Later news this A.M., that O'Halloran was named "V.P. of Baseball Operations".  then they noted that Raquel Ferreira and Eddie Romero will remain on as assistant GMs.

That seems like a crowded department.  Before you know it, they will bring back Mike Hazen as Chief Ops President, with Cora as Field Manager and un-named "Pres of Baseball Decisions".  Alex  would get the last look on trades and extensions. You can only guess if Kennedy gets the parting shot.