Hilarious Red Sox column hints at Boston becoming 'Dodgers East' with recent signings

Time for a reality check, Boston fans! Just because the Red Sox managed to get their hands on a number of former Los Angeles Dodgers players doesn't mean they're going to be able to usher in a new, ironclad championship culture overnight.

Apparently, that's what the Boston media thinks ... because of the ever so distant connection between former Tampa Bay Rays executives Andrew Friedman (successful) and Chaim Bloom (not successful). The Dodgers have been implementing their philosophy under Friedman since the 2014 offseason. The Red Sox hired Bloom after their failure of a 2019 season, which rolled right into a disastrous 2020 season.

Friedman's vision was put into practice thanks to astute scouting, development and shrewd big-market spending. The turnaround was fairly fast because the Dodgers had a decent foundation. The Red Sox weren't afforded the same luxury.

They inexplicably gutted their 2018 World Series roster. They refused to spend like a $4 billion franchise in free agency. Their draft picks, trade returns, and prospect development up until now have been suspect at best.

Those problems don't go away by signing Kiké Hernandez, Justin Turner, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen. Sorry.

The Red Sox will never be "Dodgers East" with the way they're building

"If Chaim Bloom's Red Sox develop according to plan, they'll one day be the Dodgers of the American League. In the meantime, a little L.A. flavor might be their best hopes of contending in 2023. There's a strong chance that 25 percent of the Opening Day roster will feature direct Dodgers ties, with most of those players in prominent roles."

John Tomase of NBC Sports Boston

If anything, the Dodgers are Red Sox West! Mookie Betts and Joe Kelly helped them win the 2020 World Series. David Price was there from 2020-2022. Since the WS win, they've imported Craig Kimbrel and JD Martinez.

The Red Sox, whose core was decimated once Betts was traded to LA (they've since lost Xander Bogaerts, Christian Vazquez, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Benintendi, among others), can't possibly think the short-term additions of Martin (37, and a Dodger for two months), Turner (38, and signed for one year), Hernandez (31, and signed for one year) and Jansen (35, and signed for two years) will turn their fortunes around.

Is this what the news cycle is now? Find a faint link and make a broad assumption about something as difficult as building a championship contender?

How the mighty have fallen. The Dodgers may have been the victims in their 2018 World Series loss to Boston, but at least they're not stooping this low.

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