Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson doubled in his first at-bat of 2021 on Thursday, but the club then pulled him out of the game as a result of right hamstring tightness. The Twins will re-evaluate Donaldson on Friday, manager Rocco Baldelli told Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com and other reporters. While this fortunately doesn’t appear to be a calf problem for Donaldson, who has dealt with those in previous seasons, it’s nonetheless disheartening for Minnesota to see him deal with yet another health problem at the outset of the campaign. The former AL MVP only played in 165 regular-season games from 2017-18 as a Blue Jay and Indian, and after a healthy 2019 with the Braves, the Twins signed him to a four-year, $92MM contract. Donaldson appeared in just 28 of a possible 60 games in the first year of the deal, though.
- The Red Sox and right-handed reliever Matt Barnes discussed a contract extension during the spring, but there’s little optimism about a deal coming together, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com writes. That leaves the 30-year-old on track to reach free agency next winter, and in the meantime, he’ll earn $4.5MM this season. The hard-throwing Barnes, a career-long member of the Red Sox, has pitched to a 4.08 ERA with a 29.9 percent strikeout rate in 337 1/3 innings since debuting in 2014. He amassed 60-plus innings in each season from 2016-19.
- Free-agent right-hander Brad Peacock is healthy after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery last October and will hold a showcase for interested teams Friday in Florida, MLBTR has learned. The 33-year-old Peacock’s shoulder troubles limited him to a mere three appearances in 2020, his last season as an Astro, but he was an effective swingman for the club during the few preceding campaigns. Between 2016-19, Peacock recorded a 3.48 ERA and a 28.7 percent strikeout rate across 128 appearances (42 starts) and 320 1/3 innings.
- Catcher Curt Casali earned a $500K bonus when he landed a spot on the Giants’ season-opening roster, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Casali, whom the Giants signed to a $1.5MM contract in free agency, will back up Buster Posey. He earned that deal after a three-year stretch with the Reds in which he hit a respectable .260/.345/.440 with 18 home runs in 485 plate appearances.
I know this is off topic, but is there/will there be a final leaderboard for the Free Agent Prediction contest?
mlbtraderumors.com/mlb-free-agent-prediction-conte…
Donaldson Hamstring.. put him on the DL.. don’t play short… and check his knee.. if he has a soft tissue injury in the Knee.. it can result is secondary injuries .. like in the calf and hamstrings.. because a hitch in the giddy-up will cause the muscles that move the joint to misfire..
In all seriousness, does it really matter? He’ll get hurt as soon as he comes back anyhow. Might as well play him until his legs fall off …
This is getting old with him. He will probably break a finger nail next moving luggage that will land him on the 60 day DL. He’s a wimp
But of course he was able to stay nice and healthy during his contract year. We’ve seen this so many times with injury-prone guys. Watch Carlos Correa go out there and have a great 155-game season this year. It wouldn’t surprise me.
The Minnesota Twins thank you for your medical consultation while their staff is unavailable. Your check is in the mail. >=}
isn’t the term out to lunch.. That medical staff Played Sano on a broken leg claiming it was a bone bruise… and worse.. Pitched Perkins with a torn Labrum.. the list of them being ” out to lunch” is endless…
Happy they couldn’t come to an agreement with Barnes. No lead is safe with him.
Barnes’ agent: $25m fir the next three years.
Bloom:. No, to keep him in a Red Sox uniform for three more years will require a higher payment than that to Sox fans.
Oh my goodness yes. Let this guy out of town. In fact I’ll drive him to the airport. Here’s hoping his contract year produces adequate results.
A good GM deals him to the Yankees!! That way the next time he bounces a pitch to Sanchez a Red Sox runner scores!!
Yes !!
Barnes is overrated and replaceable.
How is Shane green still a FA?
How is Rick Porcello still a FA?
How am I still a FA?
I feel ya, rogue. Been waiting for months to get that phone call from a major league team. I mean there’s 30 of them. You’d think at least ONE of them would have been interested.
Brad Peacock might be a Rangers really soon. Today exploited just how little good depth this team really has.
its okay, that happens when your facing the 2021 AL Central champs-to-be.
I saw in the headline “Peacock” and thought for a second MLB Network/MLB At-Bat/mlb.tv was being brought into the premium deal of that streaming service. LOL
Bloom mistakes are really piling up now. Bringing back E-Rod too soon from his heart issue was a very bad move. Six full months of rest beginning in August was the doctors order. Started throwing in December instead. Nice job Bloom. E-Rod was going to be lucky to get 3 months of pitching if he rested properly and you paid the guy a full year’s salary instead of letting him get his rest and paying next to nothing to recover and earn a contract in 2022. BAD MOVE BLOOM.
Did anyone notice that Bloom’s staff first said he had dead arm now he’s on the IL with elbow inflammation? So which is it? Bloom needs to get his story straight. It’s embarrassing that he doesn’t even know what’s wrong with his Opening Day pitcher.
As much as everyone hated to see Houck get sent down so they can get another year of control, now Einstein oops I mean Bloom is bringing him back to replace E-Rod and lose the extra year!!! Brilliant. Couldn’t one of the twenty five utility players pitch instead and keep the extra year of control on Houck? What’s three weeks of not being promoted when you are on a 65 Win team? This contradicts all that everyone has talked about when it comes to Bloom. He’s wrecking the farm system not improving it!! Throwing away the extra year so they can win 68 or even 70 games instead of 65, how does that make ANY sense?
Fire Bloom now and save the embarrassment!!!
Since people like positive comments and I have many about the players here is my take on Spring Training. Duran is better than I thought and I was high on him, Dalbec looks very good, Chavis has improved, Houck deserves to be up but they should wait so they can control is salary an extra year, after all this season is a high draft pick year so it’s irrelevant in the big picture, Ottavino should make for a better closer than Barnes since they never got what they needed, a real closer..
E-Rod, I hope you do the smart thing and take time off to fully recover.
Dude shut up.
Theo Glass – An articulate guy like you dug into your arsenal of comments and came up with “shut up”? It’s not going to happen. Freedom of speech allows me the opportunity to tell it like it is even if you don’t agree with me. Live with it!! After all, your incessant support of ownership pisses off most of Red Sox nation after the Mookie debacle but nobody insists that you should shut up.
Geez mate!
That’s a full on post regarding Bloom…it’s full of resentment and anger and it’s a bit too early to tell how Bloom is going. I personally don’t like they he traded for a prospect called Jeter but I have to get over that and give him a chance,
Did Bloom ask your wife out or something?
Give him a bit more time…
By the way….I think we will be competitive this year…feels like 2013 to me
Funny thing is you would think they wouldn’t of drafted a guy named Mookie after 1986, here’s hoping history repeats itself as I think Jeter looked good in spring training.
What Red Sox fan would put a picture of Babe Ruth on his account?
A Red Sox fan who recognizes him as the greatest of all time and a Red Sox fan reminding other Red Sox fans that ownership screw ups have happened since the Red Sox were formed but it’s been 100 years since one the size of Mookie has occurred!! Thanks for asking.
To each his own. I hope you can see the good as well as the bad.
The good as well as the bad in what? Babe Ruth? The Red Sox? If the question is the Red Sox then yes there is plenty good in Boston. The PLAYERS. Ownership, Bloom and Cora suck but I love the players. Even Devers who I often point out doesn’t belong at 3B, is someone I root for every day. It’s not because I don’t like him that I complain about his defense, it’s because his defense hurts the club’s chances for winning.
I see plenty of good in the Red Sox and have for many, many years. Thanks for your concern.
I see. I am seeing more of where you are coming from. I think most Red Sox fans, including myself, are not as down on Bloom and ownership as you are. We will be right there with you if they don’t turn it around in a couple of years. I am hoping their plan is to build up the farm system while their salary cap situation clears up. Some might say the salary cap should never be a concern for the Red Sox, but I am not sure that is the case. I think that is the case for the Yankees and Dodgers.
KD loves attention!!! As the Dodgers newest, biggest fan you will fit right in !!!!!!!
Trot – Seriously, what type of individual thinks jokes about someone’s wife is appropriate here. What’s the matter with you?
Competitive? They just lost to the Baltimore Orioles on opening day. That puts them one game behind the 65 win pace. The worst #1 starter in the division not in a Red Sox uniform and they got shut out. Optimism? Feel free to have it. I’m a realist.
KD,
I don’t like piling on but you sound like the child who took ERod with the first pick in your fantasy pool. I don’t see an MD in your name. Do you have a medical degree? I’ve had my own concerns about ERod’s ability to pitch well in 2021 because we don’t know enough about COVID related symptoms long term and a heart could affect stamina, etc. That said, I also am not a doctor but I assume ERod and the team have consulted with the best.
Considering the direction ownership has gone, Bloom to me has been very good if not even better than that. The last three Sox GMs brought the WS trophy to Boston for a duck boat parade (or two in one instance). Let’s evaluate Bloom after 2022 or 2023 (extra year due to COVID). His revamping of the minor league roster should only get better with less drafted players if he delivers like the Tampa organization has in recent years.
Last years trades during a down year started with getting quality back for one year of a HOF talent when many said it couldn’t be done. Such continued through the deadline where overall his deals seem today like a dream. Which trade once 2020 started would you take back?
He was lights out his first three starts in spring, spare me the hysteria, he’ll be back when he’s ready, hopefully not a moment before
Michael M – Everyone hopes you are right but it was Spring Training so many of us don’t put much faith in the results during Spring Training. When someone relapses because they rushed their recovery, it often makes things harder for them the second time around. Let’s hope Boston’s mistake doesn’t cost E-Rod anything more than extra time recovering.
loole – Never suggested I was an MD, just read what the MD’s said about E-Rod’s condition and how serious it was. I stated many times on this website that I doubted they would follow the doctor’s suggested timeline for recovery and they didn’t. You can hate my comments and try to make it out like I’m a know it all but all I’m doing is the same thing I did months ago, I’m warning fans to be less optimistic related to E-Rod because this front office lacks integrity and I knew they would violate the recommended actions by the doctor.
I wrote back before the December non-tender date that E-Rod wouldn’t be able to pitch more than 3 months in 2021 if he followed the recommended actions of his doctors. He would have rested until February, started conditioning and eventually throwing by the end of March. That meant building up arm strength in April and May as if it was his Spring Training and pitching again in June at the earliest. I’m not saying anything new, this schedule was set last August when the doctors publicly stated he needed to rest 6 full months and start his conditioning after the complete rest. That meant, since Boston was penny pinching, that non tendering E-Rod in 2020 made sense and talking to him about signing a 2021 contract after taking a year off made sense if they were worried about E-Rod the person. None of this is new information from me.
As far as Bloom goes, you can keep pushing his evaluation into the next century for all I care. If he waits long enough the minor league stars that existed before he got here will graduate just like they did the last decade and he’ll take credit for re-building the team just like Friedman did in LA. The WS team had very few Friedman products on the roster, the roster primarily consisted of players who were there before Friedman yet he took full credit for the success. Bloom is his prodigy and will behave in a similar manner. For him to be successful, just like Friedman, he needs some patsie to give him the second best player in baseball. Without Mookie, the Dodgers are just another team that performs well during the regular season but can’t win the big one. .
Last year’s trades during the DOWN YEAR CAUSED BY OWNERSHIP AND BLOOM not COVID is how your last paragraph should begin. I’d take back the Mookie trade back. The rest of the trades are so insignificant they won’t EVER matter. That’s my point. He’s done NOTHING to improve the team and lots to destroy it.
You would have gotten a draft pick if you took back the Betts’ trade. He didn’t want to stay in Boston. What you’re forgetting KD (or choosing to ignore) is medical science is constantly changing and what was said last August or even last month might not apply with COVID aftercare. ERod would not have been in Fort Myers without medical clearance. Finally, when a new GM takes over, there’s always players in the pipeline. I wanted Bloom to keep Holt last year and JBJ this year but I’m willing to give him the benefit since I have no say in the matter. Sometimes the trades you don’t make are the winners but so far Bloom has built up depth so when the team is ready to win again, they won’t have as many bloated deals and will have trade-able assets. Doesn’t make much sense to pay for a guy who might not still be in his prime when the team is ready to compete.
loole – Mookie wanted out. I agree. Trading him when demand is greatest should be the goal of the GM. If Bloom thought January was the peak time he knows less about baseball than most fans give him credit for. July would have been a bidding war especially with SD starting out hot and LA worrying about getting back to the World Series. Atlanta may have joined in the bidding because from most peoples perspective, whoever got Mookie was going to win the NL.. January was premature resulting in 3 back-ups rather than a top SP prospect. If the timing was right, Ian Anderson might have been the Braves offer so they could win a ring again. Anderson had not premiered well in 2019 and his hot streak started in August. Ian Anderson or Moe, Larry and Curly? I’ll take Anderson.
I agree about Holt because of chemistry. JBJ was grossly over-paid. In fact, Mookie’s bump to go to $35M or even $36M was less than what Boston paid JBJ. Mookie or JBJ? I’ll take Mookie even at a high price.
The depth you reference isn’t worth the money it costs because the team isn’t competitive. The MLB depth is straddling the fence. Too expensive to be paid for by a team winning less than 70 games and too cheap to actually raise the number to 90 wins. The minor league depth was simply Bloom doing what any GM would do when you are on a 65 win pace in 2020. Dumping guys for Pivetta and Potts was BAU. Any GM would have done that. Not one impact player has been acquired but two impact players were lost. I hope some day if he stays with the Red Sox that Verdugo becomes an impact player but his controllable years will be over before the team will be competitive unless someone procures an impact player and Bloom isn’t doing that. So I can’t get excited about adding Verdugo and losing Mookie. I see Downs as a future bust because his minor league career suggests he can’t make contact regularly against good pitching. Wong was 5th or 6th on the LAD catcher depth chart and should turn out to be a guy that plays 50 games a year in a back-up catcher role. Couldn’t we have gotten one of those for something other than Mookie? Same with Downs! Same with Verdugo.
A controllable Ian Anderson or something equivalent for the inside track to the 2nd best player in the game seems like a much more equitable trade. LAD got one year of service but the key factor in the trade wasn’t the one year, it was the inside track on signing him long term and that benefited them far beyond a few years of controllable play by Verdugo, Downs and Wong. Their new ring proves it.
Ask yourself what the Red Sox need to be competitive with the NYY, TOR and TB. The answer is talent comparable to Mookie and Price at a minimum. Yes, Houck has arrived which was in DD’s plans. That’s why Porcello was not resigned. Mata was to be next but has been delayed. Duran was to follow Dalbec. The DD plan would have kept them competitive. Now, after 20 years of being competitive , it sucks to be at the bottom of the barrel. Fans can deny it but it truly is that bad. The Red Sox breaking .500 is less likely than UCLA making the final four!!
How can it be fixed? Deal JD, Eovaldi and re-negotiate an upfront payment of the remaining Price money in 2021 clearing the books for 2022. Then, go into free agency and get the key hitters you need that have loads of talent. Sale and Bogaerts will be the only contracts over $10M a year and they will cost $46.5M leaving roughly $150M for the rest of the team. Your keepers going into 2020 are:
DH – Devers
C – Vasquez
1B – Casas or Gonzalez
2B – Kiki Hernandez
SS – Bogey
3B – Dalbec
LF – NEW power hitter
CF – Duran
RF – NEW speed/power combo guy like Mookie
SP1 – Sale
SP2 – Houck
SP3 – NEW
SP4 – Perez
SP5 – Pivetta
SETUP Relievers – Taylor, Hernandez, Ottavino and Valdez
CLOSER – NEW
With $150M for all the other positions at least TWO star players can be signed for hitting and one star SP can be signed and money will be left for a closer. That’s how you fix the Red Sox by 2022 rather than 2030 which is the Bloom (lack of) action plan.
You said alot KD. in brief, there is no crystal ball but I believe Bloom got more than expected for Betts. Without fans at home, no one in my view was matching what he got and what if Betts got injured? Expect XB to at least trigger his option to renegotiate if not leave after 22. The Sox have their impact bat I. 22 in JDM. if he doesn’t produce, the team has zero chance. if he performs but the team sucks, he’ll have some trading value although his glove diminishes a super return. The team will be trash if they don’t pitch consistently well.
Dewey – I agree with everything except Bloom getting more than expected. What a great bidding war would have occurred if he had kept Mookie until July and the Dodgers were behind SD at that point. Definitely would have motivated a higher bid and with ATL wanting to win a ring they had to think getting Mookie instead of LAD or SD could win them a ring. The dreaded Yankees figured out how to leverage the situation when they traded Chapman too bad Bloom doesn’t have that level of smarts.
I love JD so I really don’t want him to leave but ownership can’t turn the ship if they won’t spend money to get QUALITY players. Verdugo hasn’t been terrible but he’s not close to Mookie. The Red Sox need another superstar like Mookie to regain the strength in the batting order. They need Sale to get back because that makes everyone better by moving one spot down in the rotation and they need a closer that is effective once they add the pieces to start winning consistently. Until they get that next BIG piece, high draft picks will continue.
They just beat TB and yet they are still one game behind the predicted 65 win season. So many people think Cora makes a difference and if it’s not clear by now it will be by year’s end that had absolutely NOTHING to do with winning in 2018 and everything to do with losing in 2019. 2018 was all about the players having career years. Now the talent level is so much lower that career years wouldn’t make Cora look good. Cora is back yet Devers isn’t hitting and Bogey isn’t taking it to the next level as predicted with the return of Cora. So what added value is there? NONE.
JD is hitting because they finally returned him to the 3 hole. I’ve complained about Cora moving him to 4 on July 31, 2018 and in 2019 after he moved him to 3 and they won 18 of 22 after their miserable start and then they stopped winning again in 2019 after he went to 4. They batted him 4 last year. It’s a very simple concept that he does best at 3 but Cora and the analytics guys can’t seem to figure it out. If they start winning, just watch, they’ll move him to 4 again and they will stop winning, the trend has been established in 2018, 2019 and 2020..
Latest news is that they brought Houck back and will lose the year of control but E-Rod supposedly will be ready soon so they are going to lose the extra year for Houck so he can be a reliever. How insane is that? Bloom continues to screw up, just like Cora, NOBODY cares. Both guys are unqualified to have their jobs and both guys prove it daily.
I’ll keep watching simply because I love so many of the players but the front office and ownership are an embarrassment to a historic organization.
Doesn’t matter when you bring back ERod, the guy lives on the DL. And honestly, he’s had one good season. It’s not like he’s our ace.
Too early to evaluate Bloom. I like the trades he’s made to some degree but not the FA market signings.
Bloom’s mistakes? Or, John Henry’s erratic guidance? Henry insists on these belt-tightening, trend following roster moves from time-to-time (eg. Jon Lester). Too soon to gauge Bloom’s reliability, but certainly within range to question Henry’s recent motivation. I think Rodriguez will be just fine after building up his arm strength and, although I was opposed to Cora’s return, I think Cora will foremost have a positive impact on two players – Rodriguez & Devers. Sox are caught in-between, they’re a 78-win team with no defined plan at present, in my opinion. Frankly, John Henry’s ideas are more concerning than Bloom’s. Time will tell.
ps. all hail Christopher Trotman Nixon
30 Parks – Excellent analysis. Henry is the biggest problem. Bloom is a reflection of Henry but we have no idea if he proposed countless moves that have been rejected or hasn’t had the nerve to suggest bold moves to actually fix the team. If he feels he can blame Henry for breaking it and plans on telling everyone his hands were tied then he fits in perfectly with the weasel known as Cora.
As far as E-Rod goes, I’m not worried about his arm strength, I’m worried about relapse from rushing the process. His arm should be fine but he had a severe heart condition and that’s far more important than his arm to me. I think we all should be concerned about his health at this point. Believing the Red Sox will do the right thing with respect to his health is a leap of faith I can’t take after the events of the last year and a half.
Hey moron, “dead arm” isn’t a medical designation, and to put someone on the IL in baseball you need to specify an actual medical issue, hence the “elbow inflammation” diagnosis.
Dead Arm Syndrome is a real thing, and is a shoulder issue.
Which is different from what MLB pitchers frequently go through in ST that they refer to as “dead arm” which is why that was not what was specified for his reason to go on the IL.
kingken67 – Roguesaw is right. It is a legitimate condition and you can go back to the days of when Sale was with the White Sox, he was put on the DL for dead arm. It is a syndrome that hits many pitchers and is temporary. The recommended solution is rest. If you have ever pitched, you feel like your arm lacks energy and as hard as you try to fight through it you simply can’t put any life on the ball due to arm fatigue. Hopefully, new technology will help solve the problem by giving pitchers ways to avoid it or ways to recover from it faster.
Dude a) when they send him down for 20 days he’s getting the extra year a.k.a. Jackie Bradley 6 yes ago when he broke w the team b) there isn’t a medical term for “dead arm” so they say something and c) I agree—- stfu
Steve7seven –
A) You really don’t understand how the sending him down part works. He wasn’t sent down for 20 days he was sent down for 1 day because the clock starts when the season starts and he pitched the second game of the season. He will not get the extra year based on Bloom’s decision to bring him up.
B) Dead arm is the medical description for dead arm. Check the number of times Sale went on the DL with Chicago with dead arm as the reason If you prefer arm fatigue that’s fine too but it’s not a Spring Training thing, it can happen any time of the year.
C) For the astute censors on this website Steve7seven just maturely expressed his sentiments with stfu – that means shut the ____ up. Clearly, he’s got issues with expressing himself but as guardians of the bad language on the website you might want to bone up on acronyms that are inappropriate.
Matt Barnes and I are from the same town, Bethel, Connecticut. I hope he stays. Three of my siblings went to Bethel High School. What’s not to root for.
I’m also from CT. But way on the other side.
I was in kindergarten when we moved. I met my brother there when he had his 50th HS reunion. It’s still pretty rural but there are more houses now.
I went to the same high school as AJ Pollock, he graduated my first year there.
KD right on. Bloom is over his head
Hate to say it, but saw that coming with Donaldson. He isn’t aging well for the game.
I like Falvey/Levine but what an asinine signing. Small and mid-market teams signing injury-prone, well past prime players to high dollar, long term FA contracts is just dumb. And that team needs relief help too.
Twins might want to DH Donaldson when he returns. Wait they can’t.
Good thing for the Yankees Astros and white sox twins signed Donaldson instead of taking those funds and krilloff and turning that into arenado. Instead of being title contenders – they have an old busted man and a slew of busted prospects. Way to go
Baldelli had a rare energy sapping mitochondrial disorder ruin his career and has to look on as Donaldson can’t be bothered to improve his pliability and get his electrolytes balanced.
If he goes out for career and rest of his contract is paid by an insurance policy- that’s best case scenario for twins
Rocco’s story is nothing short of amazing. No wonder he’s a good manager. Definitely root for that guy.
I’m just looking forward to the Twins facing the White Sox this year. It’s too bad Eloy can’t be healthy for those games. If Donaldson is healthy, it will be even more of a fierce battle.
Injured a couple innings into the new season. That’s the Josh Donaldson we all love and know.?
I lot of Baby Bloomers here. He’s no good. Waaah.
Why don’t you get your diapers changed and be a little more patient before you poop your pants over the guy.
Maybe AA was on to something when bringing in trainer George Poulis and staff from TOR to ATL before getting Donaldson for 2019.
I was one of the people that was upset when AA didn’t bring back Donaldson. I’ll be the first to eat crow as it looks like the braves might have dodged a bullet. I have come to love Marcell Ozuna too, it always looks like he’s having fun.
I would only extend Barnes on a team friendly deal. His best days may be behind him.
I wouldn’t extend Barnes unless it’s very team friendly. Beyond that, it is far too soon to go into crisis mode over Bloom considering they haven’t played a game yet. This may not be the prettiest Roster the Red Sox have ever had but its not the worst either. Lets see how this season plays out before throwing Bloom to the Wolves
@rsox
I like your analysis, the thing I liked about there off-season is that they added interchangeable parts like Marwin, and Kike. I appreciate players that can move around the diamond.
Mrtwotone – I agree if you aren’t going to spend any money to replace the huge divot you made in your roster in 2020 then interchangeable players is economical. Should a big market team think economical or should they try to replace their divot? (golfing season influenced the analogy!)
I’d like to see Josh Donaldson face Joe Crede in a boxing match.
There’d be good money that one (or both) injures himself while putting on the gloves.
LOL! That would be the world’s most boo’d boxing match. Don’t even bother ringing the bell. The fighters are already heading back the lockers, one fighter with a sprained wrist and the other knocked themselves out while trying to put one of the gloves on and accidentally punched himself in the face.
I almost regretted drafting him in my fantasy league. The fact that it literally happened on his very first AB is even more disheartening.
Dink Donaldson hurt again. I guess he’ll blame the Jays for this one as well?
The Casali bonus of 500K is strange. He was signed to be Buster’s backup since they wanted Bart in the minors. It was always assumed he would make the roster. Seems like the bonus was based on him not getting hurt.
Peacock is proud to announce he’s healthy.
Houck looked great today. If the Red Sox had better left side infield defense he might have not given up a run. Just like every inning since Devers showed up in Boston, Red Sox pitchers need to try and keep the ball away from the error machine at 3B. Houck needs to learn that early in his career. Nothing low and inside to right handed batters or a base runner will happen. It’s 50/50 whether the score keeper will call it an error but you can be certain you will see bad footwork, a slow lethargic movement to the ball with a complete lack of balance, an inability to bend and put the glove in front of the ball and a throw that is just as likely to end in the stands or in right field depending on the base he is throwing to than his team mate;s glove.
Such is the life of a Red Sox pitcher! And why you ask? Because they don’t want to upset the primadona. They brought back a cheating manager to coddle the immature ball player and they don’t want him to throw a temper tantrum because he doesn’t get to play 3B anymore despite leading the league in errors ALL FOUR YEARS he has been in the majors. FYI, he was terrible 3 years in the minors too!!.
It’s completely unfair to the pitching staff. Heck, with Sale out and E-Rod out the last thing they need is to not get support because the butcher is at 3B. Let JD play outfield. The utility guys aren’t that good so the step down to JD is much smaller than ANY step-up by replacing Devers. Let him DH since that’s what his skill set dictates for his future. Help save the Red Sox pitching staff and give the team a fighting chance to win against teams like Baltimore.
The Red Sox are awful and Bloom should be real proud. Loosing the first three games of the season to the Orioles! Great team you put together Bloom!!! I am so glad I canceled my MLB package before the season started in addition to the crap MLB is doing with the Allstar Game. This is going to be the last year of Bloom too. He traded the whole outfield for garbage.
AL34 – Great commentary, especially about the crap related to the All-Star Game. Idiots running baseball.
The Red Sox play 27 games in April. I projected them to be 9-18 with a first series against Bal ending at 1-2 so they are already 1 game behind my 9-18 pace and 3 games behind the second worst team in the AL!! We’ll see how they finish the month but the 65 win season seems like a pipe dream now. First pick in the 2022 draft seems far more likely.
What’s sad is that JD, one of the few remnants of the DD administration, is the only guy hitting. Pampered Devers who got his cheating manager to coddle him isn’t hitting AND as always he has already cost Houck a win in the first series of the season.
Boston has 3 home games against TB and being generous I predicted 1 win but based on what I saw in the last 3 games it doesn’t seem likely. Houck won’t pitch again and Eovaldi will face Glasnow so 0 wins seems very likely. Zero and six sounds like grounds for firing the manager and GM, doesn’t it? Oh yeah, we can’t fire the guy because he needs three full years to be evaluated no matter how bad things look!! After all, those utility players are bound to blossom soon and the minor league adds should be promoted any minute. Bloom does know that winning happens with talent not hope, right?
Relax people. While no one likes three losses to any team (especially the O’s), would you feel much different if this club went 3-0? What I want out of 21/is to learn whether Devers will have a role after 21. To me he’s not a third baseman and I don’t understand why they didn’t try him at first. My gut says they already know he can’t play first. We all thought he’d at least be the DH after JDM but his breakout year was in 19, the year of the juiced ball. I just want him to stay healthy and let’s see what his batting stats look like at the end of the season. The worst move us to tie him up long term if his bat is not there as a true big of the order hitter. I’m not saying he can’t do it. I just want to see him do it this season.
loole – Excellent commentary. I agree. Devers’ bat has been assumed by many but in four years his hotness has been defined by the juice in the ball.
The team’s construction can’t be changed thanks to the mistakes of the last couple of years so fans will simply have to endure and smile when guys like Dalbec, Houck and Duran become the next great players to graduate from the consistently great farm system that gets abused by ignorant fans, reporters and supposedly expert baseball minds. (sarcasm in case you didn’t realize it).
Maybe it’s time to move JD while he’s hot and trade him for a legitimate 3B like Bryant except not Bryant because it needs to be an AL team. Maybe Cleveland would be willing to deal Ramirez to Boston for Devers, Downs and Wong, they are considered by many to all be superstars of the future. (haha) That seems fair – one superstar for 3 superstars of the future!! I doubt the Cleveland GM is as dumb as Bloom and would go for it. Maybe we throw in JD and Verdugo and ask for Plesac too. I’d trade Devers, JD and the Mookie threesome for Ramirez and Plesac. It would give the team a better future.
Heck with Ramirez at 3B, Bogey at SS, Kiki at 2B and Dalbec at 1B we might actually field the ball and turn an occasional double play! With Duran in CF, Gonzalez/Cordero in LF and Renfroe in RF the Red Sox are stronger defensively than with Verdugo in CF. The pitching staff gains someone who slots in behind Sale and in front of Eovaldi and E-Rod. The biggest gain is the fact that a Mookie-like talent is brought to Boston to help replace all that is missing with Mookie in LA.
Somebody in the front office or ownership needs to acknowledge their screw up since the world is screaming for transparency in sports and politics so why not admit the enormous mistake and move forward with a deal that gets fans to stop thinking about the mistake and start talking about the new Red Sox, not the Red Sox in the distant future Bloom is promoting.
There won’t be accountability from an executive. They want to keep their job as long as possible without the media coming down on the executive for admitting mistakes or the ballclub. That will force a dismissal.
Many rule changes from the current Commissioner’s office should have been the red flag. They continue to cater to people who will never care about baseball the way you, me and others on this site will care. It is a problem nobody has acknowledged or know how to address our frustrations.