All You Booers of Paul Dolan - Listen Closely

 I have never really been on the 'Dolan Is Cheap" train.  Yes, the thought has occurred to me on occasion and I have even written those words a time or two.

But the guy, for being an owner in Cleveland, is not cheap.  He is a good steward of the team's money.  This is not Monopoly money we are talking about here, these are real dollars.

So, I have to ask you how would you have liked him to spend money?

• Would you have liked him to OK a $60 million/3 year deal to Jose Abreu instead of the 2 year deal with Josh Bell?  Well, Abreu is hitting .234 this year with 10 HRs.  Bell actually has much better stats and, even if we kept Bell we would have gotten better production for less money than what Abreu is giving the Astros, who have the spectre of his contract hanging over their heads.  
• Who else would you have gotten: Andrew Benitendi and his .689 WAR for 5 yrs, $75 million? Michael Conforto and his 0.8 WAR for 2 yrs, $36 million? Mitch Haniger and his -0.4 WAR for 3 yrs and $43.5 million?  Trey Mancini and his -1.4 WAR for 2 yrs, $14 million?  Willson Contreras and his 5 yr, 87.5 million when we have Naylor in the wings? Joc Pederson and his 0.6 WAR for $19.5 million?  Now, Brandon Drury and JD Martinez would have made sense but neither position was needed on our team.   Josh Bell made just as much sense as these two.
• It was Dolan who pushed to get a deal done to keep Jose Ramirez here long term.
• It was Dolan who opened his checkbook to the tune of $40 million to sign Bell and Mike Zunnino on the advice of his FO, analytics and scouting staff
• It is Dolan who allowed his scouting department to go over by the max amount on the bonuses he paid 2022 and 2023 draftees.
• Dolan OK'd taking on Laureano's and Kole Calhoun's salaries when the team had already given up on the season AND when we had prospects who could have used those ABs.

If you want to boo anyone you should be booing Chris Antonetti and, to a much lesser extent, Terry Francona.  

Antonetti is responsible for the terrible analytics that led to the signing of Bell and Zunino.  He is also responsible for the terrible analytics that led to picking Will Brennan over Nolan Jones and Will Benson.  He is also responsible for the lopsided trades where we lost Junior Caminero, Benson, Owen Miller, Carlos Vargas, Amed Rosario and, to a lesser extent, Nolan Jones, Aaron Civale and Bell (going out the door) getting much less than equal value back in every one of those trades.  He also has responsibility for two pathetic drafts in a row.  Finally, Antonetti also is responsible for bringing in Laureano and Calhoun and keeping Gallagher when we had already thrown in the towel on the season and should have used every AB and every inning to get younger guys experience going into next year...and making decisions about keeping or trading some of those guys.

Francona is responsible for staying with his veterans too long because it is the easy way to go and for not managing the young players effectively this year.  Most of what he has done, even in this year, has been miraculous but his complicity in the screwups by Antonetti is, IMO, real.  Plus, he is not nurturing with young players, totally favoring veterans, even when they suck, and, despite what the stats say, it appears to me like he is a disaster when it comes to challenges where he always looks flustered and has repeatedly failed to challenge things that other managers have been successful challenging.

SUMMARY

So, when you are booing Dolan, realize that if Antonetti had made good trades, the right FA signings (or come up with a way to be successful W/O expensive FA signings, like playing Rosario mostly at DH), we would be in a much better place now, likely in the thick of the AL Central race.    

Now, if you want an owner who will spend to offset the FO and managerial screwups like they do have in New York. feel free to boo Dolan.  But remember, that is not even a guarantee of success as the Yankees are 60-64 and essentially out of the playoff picture as are the Mets (58-67).  

Look, this was a bad year.  Bad performances, bad injury luck, free agents who sucked.  It is just bad.  The difference between us and, say, the Texas Rangers from 2022, is that we are constantly throwing away assets and not effectively replenishing the farm system like the Reds did through trades and good drafts.    But, like the Rangers this year, we have enough juice to compete for the division championship in 2024.

So, if you want to boo someone, the next time Chris Antonetti's name is announced on the stadium PA system, boo the hell out of him.  While I still love the guy as our leader maybe he will get the idea of how bad he sucked up this season and lose whatever ego he has and actually do something that helps this team now and in the future instead of tearing it down with stupid trades, stupid draft picks and stupid free agent signings.  He isn't bad as our club president, he just needs to be MUCH better than he has been.  

So, feel free to boo Antonetti, but leave Paul Dolan alone...at least for now.