Jobe Bellingham Transfer | The Desmond Bane Trade | Pochettino's Evolving Thesis | Are the Boston Red Sox a Selling Club? | Marwan Al-Sahafi
Table of Contents
Investment Wisdom from Warren Buffett
The Jobe Bellingham Transfer
The Desmond Bane Trade
Out of Position XI - Mauricio Pochettino
Are the Boston Red Sox a Selling Club?
Marwan Al-Sahafi
Match of the Day
AFC Bournemouth Pathway Content
MK Sports Advisory
Investment Wisdom from Warren Buffett
We Insist on a Margin of Safety in our Purchase Price. If we calculate the value of common stock to be only slightly higher than its price, we’re not interested in buying.
The Jobe Bellingham Transfer
If Premier League Participation is worth somewhere between $150M and $240, is Selling Jobe Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund for 30M Euros a Good Decision? As Scouts or Analysts, We Will Always Believe We Can Find Talent. That We Can Replace a Gem with another Gem. But Over and Over Again, we learn that Replacing Talent is Really Difficult and that the High Churn Transaction Model has severe limitations. Where Some May View the Bellingham Transfer to Dortmund as a Win for Sunderland, My View is Far More Circumspect. For this is a Football Club who was operating in League One Four Years Ago. Without having knowledge of the circumstances around Jobe Bellingham’s Transfer, My Approach as a Director of Football would revolve around Retention so to give Sunderland Football Club the Best Possible Chance to Consolidate its position in the Premier League.
The Desmond Bane Trade
Over the Weekend, the Orlando Magic Acquired Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, Four Unprotected First-Round Picks and One First-Round Pick Swap. My First Reaction when I heard about the trade was, Are the Memphis Grizzlies Resetting? Is Ja Morant Next? Jaren Jackson Jr? My Second Reaction was Desmond Bane makes the Orlando Magic a Better Basketball Team. Unlike Kentavious Caldlwell-Pope, Bane is One of the Better Two-Way Players in the NBA. He’s the Perfect Third Offensive Creator behind Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. My Third Reaction was the Orlando Magic Gave Up a Lot of Assets for a Player who hasn't made All-NBA or Played in an All-Star Game. I Worry About that Because You Make an All-In Move When You Have Some Level of Certainty that the Decision Makes You Something Close to a Finals Contender.
Projected Starting 5
Jalen Suggs
Desmond Bane
Franz Wagner
Paolo Banchero
Wendell Carter Jr.
Out of Position XI - Mauricio Pochettino
It was good to finally see the USMNT Play a Good Game of Soccer. It was also good to see Mauricio Pochettino potentially establish some elements of a Long-Term Thesis. For Example, Malik Tillman and Patrick Agyemang are Clearly Two Elements of a Long-Term Thesis. When I say Long-Term Thesis, that Thesis goes beyond the World Cup that is set to take place less than a year from now. That Said, I am wary of ideas or tactics that lack prospects of Long-Term Sustainability. For Example, a Two-Man Midfield of Sebastian Berhalter and Luca De La Torre Leaves More Questions than Answers. Luca De La Torre as a Primary Holder in a Two-Man Midfield Leaves More Questions than Answers. How Pochettino Uses De La Torre is Going to be interesting once Tyler Adams Returns. One More Thing, I do like the inclusion of Sebastian Berhalter. He’s a High Energy Midfielder, He Has Goal-Scoring Ability, and He Has the Potential to Run a Game from Midfield.
Are the Boston Red Sox a Selling Club?
On February 10, 2020, the Boston Red Sox Traded Former MVP and One of the Best Players in Baseball Mookie Betts for Jeter Downs, Alex Verdugo, and Connor Wong.
On December 9, 2022, the Boston Red Sox Allowed Xander Bogaerts to Walk in Free Agency to the San Diego Padres.
On March 23, 2022, the Boston Red Sox Signed Trevor Story to a 6 Year, $140M Contract.
On January 11, 2023, the Boston Red Sox Signed Rafael Devers to a 10 Year $313.5M Contract.
On February 15, 2025, the Boston Red Sox Signed Alex Bregman to a 3 Year $120M Contract.
On June 16, 2025, the Boston Red Sox Traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants.
The Boston Red Sox Decided not to Sign Mookie Betts Long-Term. They Traded Him and Got Back Nothing of Value in Return. The Red Sox then allowed Xander Bogaerts to Walk in Free Agency and Effectively Replaced him with Trevor Story. In his 4 Years with the Boston Red Sox, Story is yet to play 100 Games. One Can Argue that he hasn’t had a single decent season. The Red Sox then Signed Rafael Devers to a Massive Contract. They Then Signed Alex Bregman. They Signed Bregman without Informing Devers who Played the Same Position. They subsequently asked Devers to become a DH for the Rest of his Career. He’s 28. When Triston Casas Got Injured they asked Devers to move to First Base.
Baseball is Not a Sport that revolves around One Player. The Red Sox can move on from Rafael Devers and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they got better. That Said, the Team-Building Strategy, the Decision-Making Process, the Succession Planning, the Lack of Communication with Players, Player Management, and the Evaluation of Talent on Other Rosters has been Poor to say the least. The Worst Part if you’re a Red Sox Fan is the Decisions Rob You of Enjoying Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell because if the Last 5 Years Tell Us Anything its that they will not be Red Sox Players when they reach the peak of their careers.
One More Thing, Bargaining Power of Suppliers.
Marwan Al-Sahafi
Saudi Arabia Won their First Group Game against Haiti in the Gold Cup. While Saudi Arabia Won, they didn’t play particularly well. One could reasonably argue that Haiti were better and were unlucky to lose. But Watching Saudi Arabia, I was reminded that there is some Real High Quality Saudi Talent even with so many players unavailable because of the Club World Cup. But that Talent Lacks Structure, Organization, and Alignment. For Example, Marwan Al-Sahafi, Saud Abdulhamid, Hammam Mabrouk Al Hammami, Faisal Al-Ghamdi, and Abdulelah Al-Amri are Good Players. You Wouldn’t Know It Because They are Playing the Wrong Style of Football, in the Wrong Formation, and with the Wrong Tactical Structure.
Match of the Day
CWC: Chelsea FC vs LAFC (3:00PM EST)
CWC: Boca Juniors vs Benfica (6:00PM EST)
NBA: Indiana Pacers vs Oklahoma City Thunder (8:30PM EST)
MLC: Texas Super Kings vs Seattle Orcas (9:00PM EST)
MLB: San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles Dodgers (10:10PM EST)
YT Recommendation
MK Sports Advisory
MK Sports Advisory is a Multi-Sport Strategy Group that seeks to simplify the Complex Process of Building Sustainable Championship Teams. We leverage Data and Consilient Insights to develop Qualitative Models that help ensure Aligned Decision-Making across the Team and Organization Building Process.
Key Subjects
Organizational Alignment
Embedded Succession Planning
Talent Identification
Depth Chart Management
Research Process Development
Consilient Sporting Insights
Corporate Access
Sponsorship Development
Ecosystem Development
Sports Investment Advisory
Contact - Mohammad@mksportsadvisory.com