Dinner guests hard to stomach
Cashman, Hinch unsavory reminders
The baseball gods are frowning on the Red Sox.
That’s the only plausible explanation for the presence tonight of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Astros manager A.J. Hinch at the head table of the 79th Boston Baseball Writers Dinner at the Marriott Copley. Tickets are still available. Sure, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and new manager Alex Cora will be there as well. So will team chairman Tom Werner and president/ CEO Sam Kennedy, along with players Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr.
Mookie Betts, the MVP award winner, will not be present but is expected to attend his arbitration hearing with the club later this offseason.
In this, the winter of our disconnect from the Red Sox, the irony of having Cashman and Hinch making the trek to Boston to accept their respective awards for 2017 Executive and Manager of the Year is just about a mile too thick for the Red Sox.
The Astros and Yankees are coming off not only crazily successful 2017 seasons but have fortified themselves with significant additions and separated themselves from the rest of the league.
So, yes, Cashman and Hinch can be excused if they find it a chore to wipe the grins off their faces for most of the night’s festivities.
I’m more interested in seeing the looks on the Red Sox’ faces and hearing what they have to say about where they’re at and what they’ve done. Maybe “Trust us, we’ve got this,” will be the message for prospective ticket buyers. team’s Will somebody crack a joke about this strange and slow offseason? Will someone make light of being stuck in a staredown with Scott Boras?
I’m wondering how attempts at humor about the team’s plight will go over with a crowd that is usually adoring and supportive.
A highlight for some is when the Red Sox head of player ops and the manager head off to a side-stage and engage in a moderator-led fireside chat where they talk about how the new team’s looking.
“So, let’s talk about Mitch Moreland.”
This year, I’m setting the time on that session at 90 seconds. And I’m taking the under.
This is not your normal writers’ dinner.
This dinner is traditionally the warm-and-fuzzy, hope-springs-eternal gathering held in the dead of a New England winter when attendees escape for a couple of hours and turn their thoughts to Fort Myers, the Grapefruit League and Opening Day.
There is plenty to celebrate with the Red Sox. This is not a bad team. Bad teams don’t win 93 games, claim back-toback AL East titles and have Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel, Betts and Xander Bogaerts. Those factoids will get lots of airtime tonight but their shelf life is fast approaching the expiration date.
The Red Sox entered this offseason needing to lock up at least one power bat. Today, their need is unmet. And while it’s premature to assess Judgment Day with so many elite free agents still unsigned, the Red Sox’ curious state of inaction with regard to making an offer that free agent slugger J.D. Martinez or first baseman Eric Hosmer — actually, getting both to sign here remains the preferable tack — can’t say no to ranks as their most notable non-accomplishment.
That’s what makes the presence of Cashman and Hinch so . . . so . . . so awkward.
The Yankees and Astros have had the type of offseason the Red Sox should have had.
They’ve been busy getting better.
They’ve made moves that have filled their needs.
The Yankees managed to trade for the best slugger in the game, Giancarlo Stanton, and still have room to fit in under the luxury tax threshold. Mile-thick irony does not begin to encompass the realization that the Yankees have the two best young sluggers in the game in Aaron Judge and Stanton, plus they have the financial room to re-enter next offseason with the traditional overstuffed Yankees spending power in a drool-worthy free agent class.
The Red Sox are still dealing with this year’s free agent class and do not have a single power hitter.
What else have the Yankees done?
They re-signed CC Sabathia and two of the players they traded for last July will still be around for this year: Sonny Gray in the rotation and Dave Robertson in the bullpen.
None of the three players the Red Sox traded for — reliever Addison Reed, infielder Eduardo Nunez and outfielder Rajai Davis — is back.
The Astros have not been resting on their championship laurels. Justin Verlander, their huge late-season pick-up, is back, and over the weekend they traded for one of the best young starters in the game, Gerrit Cole. And they’ve signed two free agent relievers, Joe Smith and Hector Rondon.
Houston’s rotation and bullpen were weak spots last year. That’s not the case anymore.
Give a nice, warm welcome to Cashman and Hinch tonight, and ask the Red Sox to do better — to do something.