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I just cannot write about the 2022 Red Sox. It is painful even to check their scores on ESPN. So, instead of looking at their MLB roster, I will look at their farm system! I am comparing their current GM, Chaim Bloom, to their previous one, Dave Dombrowski. The way this will work will be by comparing their top 5 prospects for each year and how they got better/worse and what happened to them. The point system will work like this; 1pt - Homegrown (aka drafted/signed/traded for by the GM), WS ring, 2pts - Top-100 prospect, 3pts - still with Boston, 4pts - 1 All-Star, 5pts - multiple ASG. One gray area is that this is Bloom’s 3rd year and Dave had 5. I will use the rest of the team's top-30 prospects to assess how many points the GM should gain/lose. Here we go!
Photo: Chris O’Meara / AP
The Dombrowski Half-Decade (2015-2019)
Photo: Andy Cowell / AP
2015
#1 - Yoan Moncada, 2B/3B - Top-100
#2 - Blake Swihart, C - Top-100, 1 WS
#3 - Henry Owens, LHP - Top-100
#4 - Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP - Top-100, 1 WS
#5 - Rafael Devers, 3B - Top-100, Still with BOS, 2 ASG, 1 WS
This group is weird, as Moncada was part of the Chris Sale trade before the 2017 season, while Swihart and Owens never panned out to be anything, but E-Rod and Devers both helped the team win the title in 2018. One knock to this year is the lack of depth, as many of the top-30 have flamed out of the league, or are backups or still stuck in the minors… -3 Total Points: 18
Photo: Rob Carr / Getty Images
2016
#1 - Yoan Moncada, 2B/3B - Top-100
#2 - Rafael Devers, 3B - Top-100, Still with BOS, 2 ASG, 1 WS
#3 - Andrew Benintendi, OF - Homegrown, Top-100, 1 ASG, 1 WS
#4 - Anderson Espinoza, RHP - Top-100
#5 - Michael Kopech, RHP - NONE
This class was interesting as well, with Moncada and Kopech being part of the Sale trade, and Devers and Benny Baseball helping the team win it all in 2018, but Espinoza was the only bust as injuries diminished his potential. The rest of the farm was not good though, as many are still in the minors, out of baseball, or not with Boston… -5 Total Points: 17
Photo: Denis Poroy / Getty Images
2017
#1 - Andrew Benintendi, OF - Homegrown, Top-100, 1 ASG, 1 WS
#2 - Rafael Devers, 3B - Top-100, Still with BOS, 2 ASG, 1 WS
#3 - Jay Groome, LHP - Homegrown, Top-100
#4 - Sam Travis, 1B - NONE
#5 - Bobby Dalbec, 3B/1B - Homegrown, Still with BOS
This group is bad….. They are carried by Benintendi, and Devers and that's it. Groome was recently traded for Eric Hosmer and prospects, but is still in AAA, while Travis is out of the league. And don’t even get me started about Bobby D. Do I love him? Yes… Is he a bad MLB-level baseball player? Also yes. While you are at it, follow @dalbecsupremacy on Instagram, a great page with great content on it, run by yours truly… Anyways the rest of the farm isn’t any better either. Many are stuck in other teams' minor league systems… -4 Total Points: 17
Photo: Kevin Pataky / MiLB
2018
#1 - Michael Chavis, 3B,1B,2B - Top-100
#2 - Jay Groom, LHP - Homegrown, Top-100
#3 - Tanner Houck, RHP - Homegrown, Still with BOS
#4 - Bryan Mata, RHP - Homegrown, Still with BOS
#5 - Sam Travis, 1B - NONE
This year we may have won it all, but man oh man, it's the reason why 2019 and 2020 were so bad. 2 top-100’s, who aren’t even with the team, and like I said before Travis is out of the league. But Houck has shown potential, and Bryan Mata is doing well post-Tommy John, and both will help in the coming years. As for the rest of the MiLB system, it gets a little better than in the past years, but not by much… -1 Total Points: 9
Photo: Katie Morrison / MassLive
2019
#1 - Michael Chavis, 3B,1B,2B - Top-100
#2 - Triston Casas, 1B/3B - Homegrown, Still with BOS
#3 - Bobby Dalbec, 3B/1B - Homegrown, Still with BOS
#4 - Darwinzon Hernandez, LHP - Still with BOS
#5 - Jay Groom, LHP - Homegrown
The 2019 class was interesting to say the least. It had only one top-100, in Chavis and a former top-100, in Groome, but it had talent in Bobby D, and future star Triston Casas, who was drafted the previous summer. Hernandez is a solid lefty out of the pen, but is raw and still needs work. The rest of the system was much improved, with many talented players in the lower levels… +2 Total Points: 16
Final Total for Dombrowski: 92 points, high score of 17(x2), low of 9
Dombrowski inherited a solid farm, but traded many prospects for assets that ended up helping the team win in 2018. I’m not criticizing this decision to sell the farm, but it made the title window much smaller, and was the reason why 2019, and 2020 were so bad. He left 2019 with a decent system, but it wasn’t as good as the one that was handed to him in 2015.
Photo: Billie Weiss / Boston Red Sox / Getty Images
Blooms Bunch (2020-present)
Photo: Katie Morrison / MassLive
2020
#1 - Jeter Downs, 2B/SS - Homegrown, Top-100, Still with BOS
#2 - Triston Casas, 1B/3B - Top-100, Still with BOS
#3 - Bobby Dalbec, 3B/1B - Top-100, Still with BOS
#4 - Bryan Mata, RHP - Still with BOS
#5 - Gilberto Jimenez, OF - Still with BOS
While Bloom’s first group doesn’t have many points, it has talent and potential, with Downs being a solid MIF, and Casas being a monster at first. Like I stated earlier Mata is rehabbing, and has great potential. Jimenez is a speedy switch hitter, who needs work, but could be a star. And Bob D is Bob D, I don’t wanna go into his case, but there is still some hope for him. As for the rest of the farm, 27 of the 30 are still in the Red Sox organization, with many developing well… +4 Total Points: 26
Photo: John Tlumacki / Boston Globe Staff
2021
#1 - Marcelo Mayer, SS - Homegrown, Top-100 Still with BOS
#2 - Triston Casas, 1B/3B - Top-100, Still with BOS
#3 - Jarren Duran, OF - Top-100, Still with BOS
#4 - Nick Yorke, 2B - Homegrown, Top-100, Still with BOS
#5 - Jeter Downs, 2B/SS - Homegrown, Still with BOS
There is a lot of talent in this group to say the least. Mayer is 19 and a top-20 overall in the MLB, which is very impressive, while Casas expects to be in the bigs next year. Duran has struggled early, but has shown flashes of greatness, with his impressive speed. Downs still has hope, and did alright in his first assignment with the big club, scoring the winning run against the Yankees one game, and playing 3B, too. The lower level of the top-30 is very good as well, with many young players developing well, and having 29 of the total 30 with the BoSox… +5 Total Points: 31
Photo: Jim Davis / The Boston Globe via Getty Images
2022
#1 - Marcelo Mayer, SS - Homegrown, Top-100 Still with BOS
#2 - Triston Casas, 1B/3B - Top-100, Still with BOS
#3 - Brayan Bello, RHP - Top-100, Still with BOS
#4 - Nick Yorke, 2B - Homegrown, Top-100, Still with BOS
#5 - Jeter Downs, 2B/SS - Homegrown, Still with BOS
Basically the same group as 2021, but Bello is added in for Duran. Bello is a hard thrower with the ceiling to be an ace, or number 2, with the floor of a number 4, or setup man out of the bullpen. I’m not going to explain the other 4, since I already did, but I do want to mention the rest of the farm this year. They have many future stars, and Chiam has finally solved the catcher problem, with 3 good options in, Nathan Hickey, Ronaldo Hernadez, and Conner Wong… +7 Total Points: 33
Final Total for Bloom: 90 points, high score of 33, low of 26
Dombrowski won the point total, but Bloom had an average of 30 a year, while Dave had 18.4 a year. Bloom has set the Red Sox up for a good future, with a title window of more than 2-3 years, which Dombrowski had. I know many people don’t like what he did at the trade deadline, but the next 4-5 years are going to be good. Obviously, if Chaim doesn’t extend Devers and Xander Bogaerts things will change, but for now, I give him the edge, as he has set us up for success with young talent in a loaded A.L. East for years to come…
WINNER: Chaim Bloom
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