* Sometimes, it’s not that complicated.
Money can’t buy everything in baseball. Just as the Padres, Mets and Yankees, ranked first, second and third in payroll this past season, though none qualified for the postseason. Throwing money around indiscriminately isn’t the solution for the long-term, and can create more problems than it solves.
But money sure can help. The Red Sox desperately need to improve their starting rotation, which ranked 22nd in all of baseball last season. Fortunately for them, there are a number of front-line starters available in a pitching top-heavy free agent market: Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Jordan Montgomery.
Will signing one (or more) constitute an overpay? Probably. Is it the most efficient way to acquire pitching? No. Is there risk involved? Certainly.
But this is where the Red Sox find themselves. Their track record when it comes to developing homegrown starters has been abysmal. The hope is that over time, together Craig Breslow and Andrew Bailey can fix that.
For now, however, the simple solution is to spend their way out of the mess they’ve created. Signing any one of the pitchers mentioned above makes the Red Sox competitive for 2024; signing one and trading for another starter very likely makes them a playoff team.
For the first 18 full-length seasons under the current ownership, the Red Sox were in the Top 5 in spending every year — frequently second or third, occasionally first. But in recent years, the Red Sox have taken a step backward in spending, falling out of the Top 5 in each of the last three seasons, including dropping out of the Top 10 in 2023.
Was this a brief retrenchment, designed to re-set the tax rate? Or a sign that the days of spending like a big-market team are over?
We’re about to find out.
* Nobody does disingenuous better than Bill Belichick, steadfastly refusing to reveal his choice at quarterback. He’d like to tell you, you understand, but then he’d be forced to announce starters for every position, and well, where would that take us?
Meanwhile, because Belichick played his silly game this past week, his players were constantly being asked who the starter would be. For a guy who preaches against distractions, he invited many more upon his team with his song-and-dance routine.
The last time Belichick was this cute about the identity of his starting quarterback, the Pats were smoked at home by a lousy Chicago Bears team.
What’s the end-game here? To make sure the Giants, who have plenty of problems of their own, can’t focus their preparation on any one quarterback?
Once more: some of this stuff was mildly amusing when the Patriots were terrorizing the rest of the league. Now, it’s just a tired act.
* The NHL can’t stop shooting itself in the foot. In its effort to avoid controversy and protect a handful of close-minded players, the league has banned any self-expression on equipment, including during warm-ups. The league has threatened players (and the teams for whom they play) with big fines for anyone in violation. So, no attention can be brought to charities or other philanthropic organizations.
The latest kerfuffle came when the league warned Minnesota goalie Marc-Andre Fleury about wearing a specially designed mask on Native American Heritage Night, to honor his wife, who is Native Canadian.
The NHL is so free of other issues that this is what it’s focused on? As the old saying goes: Best sport, worst league.
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* Only the great NFL marketing machine could make a mid-afternoon football game on a day otherwise known for shopping out to be some great cultural event.
But credit where credit’s due, I suppose: any league than can attract 41 million viewers for a blowout game late on Thanksgiving Day has got the marketing stuff down cold.
* Watching the dads of the Bruins players on the recent road trip to Florida was a delight. What a great idea. And when they got to watch Wednesday’s game in Sunrise in a suite with Bobby Orr, they turned into kids themselves.
Now, if someone could just get John Grzelcyk his own NESN series….
* Happy (belated) 83rd birthday to the great El Tiante, the ageless Luis Tiant.
* Seriously, you couldn’t make up the Jets. There’s something about them and Thanksgiving weekend, too. First, it was the Butt Fumble; now we have the ultimate Fail Mary.
* Will he or won’t he? The suspense surrounding the great Sports Story of Our Time — the potential return of Aaron Rodgers — is almost too much. Never before have we held our collective breath about an over-the-hill 40-year-old joining his out-of-contention team for the final few meaningless games.
* It’s difficult to nitpick when they’re off to a 12-4 start, but the Celtics’ habit of nearly blowing big fourth-quarter leads remains something to monitor.
* So, not Will Grier then?
* After a highly disappointing fourth season, Fargo looks to be back on track with Season 5, you betcha.
* Trent Brown, puffing out his sizable chest to praise his own play for a team that’s 2-8 was…something.
* There are a few worthy contenders, but let’s not kid ourselves, shall we? When we’re talking about best Thanksgiving movies of all time, we’re talking The Last Waltz. End of story.
* Somehow, Adrian Gonzalez was a finalist to become manager of the San Diego Padres, but lost out to Mike Shildt. And now we’ve lost the opportunity to hear, anywhere from 60-to-100 timer per season, that the Padres lost because of “God’s will.”
* As I understand it, the Celtics now have to win five consecutive games of H-O-R-S-E — while shooting lefthanded — to make up for their poor point differential in the NBA’s in-season tournament standings.
