The roster-building techniques of Red Sox baseball chiefs past and present were on display Monday at baseball's Winter Meetings in San Diego.
In one suite at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, Dave Dombrowski talked around Philadelphia's pending 11-year, $300 million agreement with free agent shortstop Trea Turner, telling reporters that he believes in star power.
In another suite, his Red Sox replacement, Chaim Bloom, laid out a plan to acquire anywhere from seven to nine players, "adding a lot of talent to the group we had at the end of '22."
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Phillies' huge reported deal for Turner has Bogaerts implications
It's the star-driven approach vs. the depth-driven approach and is my collar too tight, or the air too thin? Because it's getting a little hard to breathe in here.
The Red Sox haven't technically lost shortstop Xander Bogaerts yet -- an example of star power -- though it sure feels like he's slipping away. They also haven't been legitimately connected to Aaron Judge, or any of the other big-name free agent shortstops, or the top of the starting pitching market, either, and it's fair to fear they're going to once again emphasize value over productivity.
That's getting ahead of the game, of course. The last-place Red Sox haven't made any bold strikes yet, though Bloom told reporters that some of the moves the team makes this winter "are going to be smaller, and some are going to be larger."
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So far they've focused on the bullpen, with lefty Joely Rodriguez signed from the Mets for middle innings and upside and Chris Martin coming aboard as a legit eighth-inning arm. They reportedly pursued right-hander Tommy Kahnle, but the veteran took the Yankees' two-year, $11.5 million deal to return to the Bronx on Tuesday.
If Bloom builds a powerhouse bullpen, the Red Sox will contend for a wild card berth, because that's just how baseball works now. But seriously challenging the Yankees, Rays, Jays, and even Orioles in the AL East is going to take more than that. And that's where Dombrowski's approach makes you wish John Henry could find a happy medium between win-now and win-five-years-from-now.
The Phillies reached the World Series on the strength of their star players, from Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto on offense to the 1-2 punch of Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler atop the rotation. They had a major hole at shortstop, however, and so Dombrowski filled it the best way he knows how, by grabbing the most desirable free agent on the market before anyone else had even unpacked.
The dynamic Turner is as five-tool as a shortstop gets, with off-the-charts athleticism and consistent production. Reuniting him with Harper, his former Nationals teammate, makes Philly one of the favorites in the NL and reflects Dombrowski's foremost approach to roster construction.
"Everyone has different philosophies, but I would say I really believe that you win with star players," he told reporters on Monday, including The Athletic. "Now you can't win with star players alone, but you can build around star players. I've really always had that belief."
The Red Sox are moving in the opposite direction. Since Bloom arrived, they've lost Mookie Betts, David Price, Eduardo Rodriguez, Christian Vazquez, and Andrew Benintendi. Not all stars, but productive everyday players. They may wave goodbye to Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Nathan Eovaldi this winter.
That's a huge talent drain in just three years, especially without top-end talent to replace any of them. When Bloom hints at turning over 35 percent of the roster, it's easy to translate that as nine mid-level players who increase versatility while maintaining financial flexibility and blah, blah, blah. Left unanswered: whom exactly he plans to build around.
Complementary pieces don't work on their own, after all. They need something to complement, and an offseason that sees the Red Sox replace Bogaerts by moving Trevor Story back to short alongside a bargain-basement second baseman won't sell Sox Pax.
The Red Sox opened the offseason with about $100 million to spend, give or take. They didn't see the wisdom in giving nearly half of it to Justin Verlander, who joined the Mets. They don't seem inclined to use a third of it on Carlos Correa, and they weren't engaged with Turner. There's been no news of a Rafael Devers extension, and Bogaerts is ominously taking meetings with other teams.
It makes you wonder if the big-market Red Sox are really going to try to middle-class their way to contention, an approach which runs the risk of creating another job opening next winter -- chief baseball officer.