In the 2018 MLB draft, the Red Sox used their first round pick, 26th overall, to select infielder Triston Casas out of American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida. Only 18 years old at the time, Casas was put to work straight away, playing two rookie ball games before thumb surgery forced him to miss the remainder of the year.
In 2019, Casas was sent to A-ball and crushed 19 home runs in 118 games. His overall line was .254/.349/.472, with his 11.8% walk rate helping to create that separation between his batting average and on-base percentage, as well as a wRC+ of 136. His 23.5% strikeout rate could be considered a tad high, but not alarming. He was rewarded for that fine performance with two games at High-A to finish the year.
The pandemic wiped out the minors entirely in 2020, but Casas was added to Boston’s 60-man player pool that year. He might have shown something impressive at the alternate training site, as he was promoted to Double-A to start 2021. In 77 games there, he hit 13 home runs and slashed .284/.395/.484, wRC+ of 142. His walk rate climbed to 14.9% and strikeout rate fell to 19.1%. He also left for a while to represent the United States in the Olympics, helping the team win a silver medal. After a promotion to Triple-A, he got into nine games and hit .242/.381/.485, with even strikeout and walk rates of 19%. He was then sent to the Arizona Fall League, where he continued his excellent year, hitting .372/.495/.487 in 21 games, with a walk rate of 17.5% and strikeout rate of 18.6%. He’s now considered one of the best prospects in baseball, ranked #19 by Baseball America, #18 by MLB Pipeline and #17 by FanGraphs.
Casas just turned 22 and isn’t on the 40-man roster yet, but if he continues this sort of production into 2022, he should be up in Boston before long. Defensively, Casas played exclusively at first base last year. He did play some third base in 2019, but in just eight of his 118 A-ball games. That lack of versatility will narrow his path onto the big league roster.
The Red Sox currently have Bobby Dalbec as their first baseman, as he got the majority of playing time there in 2021. It’s tough to know what to make of him at this point, due to his inconsistency. He had a great debut in 2020, playing 23 games in the pandemic-shortened campaign and hitting .263/.359/.600, wRC+ of 152. In 2021, he had a rough first half but seemingly righted the ship as the season went along. From the start of the season through July, he was hitting just .216/260/.399. But for the remainder of the year, he hit .288/.369/.683. He then slumped in the postseason, going hitless and striking out five times in 12 at-bats. He’s seen some limited action at third base, but the Sox should have Rafael Devers slotted in there most of the time. It’s a small sample, but none of DRS, UZR or OAA looked favorably at Dalbec’s work at the hot corner.
Although he’s capable of playing the field at times, J.D. Martinez is likely to see significant time in the designated hitter slot. In 2021, he played 148 games but only made it onto the grass for 38 of them. However, he’s in the final year of his contract with the club, making this a short-term issue. In the long-term, it’s possible that the Sox could utilize both Dalbec and Casas, alternating them between first base and DH, assuming they both hit well enough.
The long-term picture also has to factor in Rafael Devers, however. His defensive numbers at third base are poor and many have speculated that he will have to move to first base eventually. (In 2021, his DRS was -13, UZR was -5.5 and OAA was -13.) He’s only under club control for two more seasons but has been considered an extension candidate for years.
One way to help with this shuffle would be platooning Dalbec and Casas, as Dalbec hits from the right side and Casas the left. Dalbec has a noticeable platoon split in his big league career so far, putting up a .281/.326/.576 line against lefties and a .218/.297/.466 against righties. Casas, between Double-A and Triple-A last year, hit lefties just .219/.289/.301 while mashing righties to the tune of .298/.424/.540.
There are many questions here that will likely need time to be answered. However it shakes out, Casas seems like he has the right combination of power and a batter’s eye to fit into the puzzle one way or another. The Red Sox had a potent offense in 2021 but have since subtracted Kyle Schwarber and Hunter Renfroe. Although they could certainly go after a big move after the lockout, Casas could also provide them with a boost from within.
No one is blocking Casas’ path. When the team feels he’s ready and they want to start his big league clock, he’ll be up. JDM could be traded if the next CBA includes an NL DH. Regardless, the team is not through with the 22 roster.
dewey – I agree with you, the only chance of Casas getting blocked is if the Sox sign Freeman … and I’m not one of those people who thinks that could happen.
As for Dalbec, the guy didn’t start slumping until his PT was taken away from him because the genius Cora insisted on playing Schwarber at 1B so that Arroyo could play 2B and Hernandez could play CF. At the very least Cora should have sat Hunter a few times who had been slumping badly since early September, and sat Arroyo a few times who had just a .632 OPS in the postseason. The guy had just 11 PA’s since mid-July!
Look at Dalbec’s PT, only 21 PA’s over the final 12 days of the regular season which clearly cooled him off. Then after starting the first two games of the playoffs, he had only 4 PA’s over the final 15 days of the postseason.
How do you expect a guy to get back into a groove when he hardly played at all for 4 weeks? Just watch, if he gets traded to a team with a manager that knows better, Dalbec will excel again with regular playing time.
Fever Pitch Guy4 hours ago
As for Dalbec, the guy didn’t start slumping until his PT was taken away from him because the genius Cora insisted on playing Schwarber at 1B
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Schwarber’s first start at 1B was Aug 11. As of Aug 10th, Dalbec had an OPS of .655. Since Aug 10, Dalbec’s OPS was 1.114. Dalbec obviously, obviously played better once his position was threatened by Schwarber.
also Schwarber only started 9 games at first base for the Sox after that trade.
Or Dalbec received better pitches to hit as the weak spot in the lineup.
Just pick up another’s teams cast-off in his late 20s with a little over 50 homeruns. Then he will magically hit close to 500 homeruns in 14 years and be a first ballot hof. Oh and will play dh
Babe Ruth only had 49 home runs when the Red Sox got rid of him.
False equivalency. Babe’s PEDS we’re hotdogs and beer
please remove inappropriate post MLBPA.
I don’t think MLBPA will be removing any posts, @dewey.
Also, there was nothing “inappropriate”
When you artificially reduce the sample size by restricting entry you make it easier for outliers to exist. When you allow full participation, the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem bring the results more in line with the mean. So Babe Ruth benefited from restricted entry.
While this is true, we cannot assume that Babe would not perform against Negro League pitching (if they were integrated), while we can also not assume he would perform
To be fair, Ruth played with a baseball 1/2 as juiced as the one used when the leagues were integrated in the 1950s. It seems logical the pitchers would have a similar distribution around the mean with respect to their greatness within their specific ethnic backgrounds. Thus, the integration of players added an equal number of stars and slugs.
There is no reason to expect Ruth would have performed any differently than he did in an all white league. Would the top black pitchers dominate him like the top white pitchers? Absolutely. Would the weak black pitchers get hit severely like the weak white pitchers? Absolutely.
Since HRs are tied to the juice in the baseball and it averaged .402 in the 1920s and averaged .844 in the 1950s, it’s safe to conjecture that Ruth might have hit nearly twice as many home runs if he had played against Aaron and Mays!! That’s a mind blower!!
Ruth hit 60 HRs with the juice at 0.37 and Maris hit 61 at 0.95!!
The two eras are far more separated by the juice in the ball than the Aaron and Mays era versus the Bonds, McGwire era.
1990s averaged 0.953 versus the .844 of the 50s and the .402 of the 20s.
The killer is the fact that when the ball dramatically changed in 1995 the numbers for the 1990s showed what a radical change happened to the baseball. The first half of the 90s juice is at 0.846 and the second half of the 90s after the ball changed was at 1.06! That’s an increase in juice of 25.3%. HRs have always correlated to the juice. Whether it was 1871 or 2021 the juice defines the HRs hit, individually and across the MLB.
For me, that makes Ruth the greatest HR hitter of all time. Also, a bit of trivia. In 1971 when Aaron hit 47 HRs at age 37 if he had used the baseball that Bonds used in 2001 at age 36 when he hit 73 HRs, Aaron would have hit 71 HRs!! Bonds and Aaron were simply outliers not cheaters.
So much for the impact of steroids. It’s all the baseball!!
Babe Ruth would be a great player in any era. But he definitely benefitted from the exclusion of players. Also, he benefited from being the first home run hitter. Pitchers evolved without having to give up home runs very much until Ruth came along. So what worked against almost everybody else was not going to be abandoned because one guy was hitting those pitches out of the park. Regardless, he was a unique circumstance in his time who changed the game.
But he definitely benefitted from the exclusion of players.
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He did, but one of the things that is often overlooked is the fact that baseball drew all the best athletes. There was some club football or company football, where you didn’t earn much. And I’m not sure there was any professional basketball or hockey in the states.at that point.
Now you have a lot more international players, but lose a lot of other good athletes to the other three majors.
JoeBrady, it’s a good point, but I’m not sure of the end result. Sports were much different in the past. I agree on the popularity of baseball but I think athletes were participating in other activities at a greater level than they are today.
When you are allowing more pitchers onto major league rosters, which are not changing numerically, you will necessarily get more better pitchers and less worse pitchers.
While the ball certainly has an impact, you cannot say other things remain equal when you are talking about performance enhancement. The ball forms one side, the bat the other. Anything that makes the bat more capable of sending the ball a further distance changes the outcomes. And PED’s most certainly have an impact or no one would use them, ever.
Shoo away. if everyone’s numbers were similar, you’d have a point. Given how far and above Ruth’s numbers were, he would have been at the top of every list. Same thing probably applies to the Josh Gibson’s if the world as well. Great is great.
Quoting myself, “Babe Ruth would be a great player in any era.”
Ortiz had an OPS of 0.839 in 125 games for the Twins in 2002. It was a huge mistake to cast him off at age 26.
Many of us believe he cheated like so many of his contemporaries. What is so hard to understand about that? I just look at so many others who I never thought cheated who aren’t in who I feel should be that makes the hall no longer feel like that magical career ending shrine I grew up believing it was. Again, the hall could end all discussion by requiring lie detector tests for admission. As a private organization it can I believe so this and while not being admissible in court, it would end the discussion about most individuals.
Dewey – you vastly over rate the importance of the HOF. It is not a cathedral, and the commissioner is not God.
Lie detectors are a pseudo-science and not admissible in any court so why the hell would they use it? It would be pointless and meaningless and open themselves to lawsuits.
“many of us believe he cheated” Yet you have zero proof. Give it up. It just makes you look petty
well ortiz did cheat
Why? Because you say so not good enough to keep him out of the hall of fame.
The Hall has been important to fans but more so to the players enshrined because it’s a permanent stamp on their career and yields big time financial benefits when their playing contracts ended many years earlier.
No it’s not petty. Illegal cheating for monetary gain is fraud. Thus nonsense would stop if criminal charges were filed. People have lost jobs due to inflated resumes and here contracts were signed with teams in some cases relying on stars to project future years that were tainted.
I said their not used in court but they are often used. Why is that? B…
Why did the Red Sox change their rules and retire his number before he was elected into the HOF? They didn’t do it for anyone else. Perhaps they were afraid they couldn’t do it if what they already likely know was confirmed publicly. That he cheated.
You keep saying this, despite having no evidence. Also, the Red Sox have broken their number retirement rules in the past, so again you’re talking about things you obviously have no clue about. Johnny Pesky’s number 6 is retired despite not being in the MLB Hall of Fame. Pedro, Fisk and Boggs all had their numbers retired despite the fact they didn’t finish their careers with the Sox. Pedro didn’t make it to the 10 season minimum they required and Fisk only gets there if you include the first two seasons in which he played 16 games combined. The Red Sox have clearly been relaxing their rules in the past several years, but you only know that if you pay attention and don’t talk out your rear.
Incorrect Dewey.. They did it for Pesky, for whatever reason fans not associated with boston will point to, so that rule to them will always be null and void about having to be a MLB HOF player now.
Major League Fishing requires polygraph testing of its contestants. If you fail you can’t compete until you pass. Your “pointless and meaningless” comment shows your incompetence.
For those that insist on ignoring the facts about the juice in the baseball then maybe consider a few other facts:
2004 – Steroids were officially banned from baseball so Bond’s 2001 record broke no rules and can’t be considered cheating by the letter of the law
2004 – Also marked the date for taking steroids as an illegal act. Prior to that only the distribution of steroids was against the law from 1991.
Oh yeah and the thing that baffles me most by all the people that think steroids impacted home runs. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE!!!
You can measure head size, chest size and arm size and conclude it made a difference BUT THE DATA PROVES THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE. Look up in baseball reference how many home runs were hit per game per year and you’ll find that they fluctuated up and down like the previous 100 years.
Only four plateaus happened since 1871.
1920 – live ball era
1950 – post WWII baseball
1990 = the 1995 Selig ball (he used the 1987 ball – jumped HRs by 26%)
2015 – the Launch Angle ball that jumped juice by 20% overnight and people justified it as a result of Launch Angle!!
Blame steroids to make yourself happy. Call them cheaters when they weren’t but the wrongfully named steroid era was about taking a drug that had dangerous side effects like Cocaine. Fay Vincent attempted to ban it for it’s hazardous properties not it’s impact on HRs.
The cheating is inaccurate for two reasons: 1=it wasn’t against the rules at the time and 2-There was no net impact on HRs.
If you actually played in the 70s or 80s you would know steroids existed throughout those years and NO JUMP IN HRS HAPPENED!! Why? Because the HRs didn’t jump until the new ball was used in 1987 and then again from 1995 through 2009.
Dalbec will play 1st until proven otherwise.
Agree. Looks like Casas has not played in the OF so far, but I think he might be able to play a passable LF if necessary to get all the best bats in the lineup. What do you think?
He’s a 30 grade runner who already rates as a plus defender at first. It’d be best to not have him learn how to play balls off the Monster on the fly
Remember Sweihart?
And Hanley who had 10 HR’s in April until he ran into the side wall in the LF corner. His shoulder never recovered.
Casas is NOT moving to outfield. He’ll make the Major Leagues for his bat, not for his versatility. No one is going to shift his position right before he arrives at ML level and have to learn another level of pitchers.
Agreed Denny no way they move Casas to the outfield for “versatility”. He is already a plus defender at first he is the Red Sox first baseman of the future.
I don’t think they will move Casas to OF now. I was just thinking about years down the road, if it was needed to fit a really good bat in the lineup.
If they need to fit a really good bat in the lineup it will be that player that switches positions most likely and not Casas
It’s to the Red Sox advantage to figure out exactly who Dalbec is as a hitter. They need to find out if August/September Dalbec is someone he can be moving forward, or if that’s SSS data from a highly streaky hitter. My guess is he’s the totality of what he’s shown over 2020-2021 seasons, which conveniently approximates one season. A .243/.308/.511 slash with 33 HRs over 156 games. There could be some upside if he can improve on the 38/195 BB/K%, particularly the latter number. Dropping his K rate from 36% to 30% would make for a huge difference. He’s still produced less than 1 rWAR, not enough to block Casas, but worth at least another half-season look. At worst, he might make an interesting trade option for an NL team needing a DH.
Lord:. Bloom will assess and move him if he doesn’t believe in his upside. Pitchers tend to eventually learn how to pitch to hitters who eventually need to learn how to hit a fastball. While his early numbers are encouraging, Dalbec needs to make contact more, adjust to the fastball and learn to hit righties if he’s going to become a permanent everyday player for Boston.
I agree on the need for Dalbec to reduce his Ks. But almost as important, I’d like to see him put in the work to improve his glove work
Life?
Carlos Quintana
Nick Esasky, too.
Dave Stapleton.
Stapleton came up a second baseman who was just average in the field at any position. He became a “defensive replacement” at first by default as he was a better option compared to an injured Buckner and an old Baylor (who was usually already in the game as a DH). Boy did I love those two. Baylor would take one for the team and get hit by the pitch and Buckner would do anything to stay on the field (his pre and post game rituals are legendary). Both were clutch.
Stapleton always got me. Remembered him from his old Hasox days and it was like.. nothing to see here. The guy just didn’t show anything, even other fringy guys who eventfully made it, like Bo Diaz ( a catcher) had moments, but Stapleton was always a “blah” player for them.
Didn’t stapleton tie some kind of record at the time for receding 5 straight years as a regular at the MLB level?
Dave Stapleton played 7 seasons and each year his batting average was lower than the year before. A little known fact is that his OPS dropped all but one year also.
In the 1986 World Series he would have been a good defensive replacement for Buckner at 1B though considering the Red Sox had a 2 run lead going into the 9th inning. O well
Talk about a blast from the past!
He’s a great trivia question though, who replaced Bill Buckner and was replaced by Mo Vaughn.
Sox dodged a bullet by letting Esasky walk.
Nick E. only played 1 yr in Bos. They got him cheap in 1989 because Pete Rose wanted him to be more of a contact hitter. (sort of like Ortiz in Minn) In 1989 he led the Sox with 30 Hr & 108 rbi but a ton of K’s. The Sox led the AL in runs that yr., but they let him go as a FA to Atl. He only played 9 more games due to a vertigo condition despite having a big 3 yr contract.
Holy crap, Monty is back. Been a while.
Freddie Freeman?
They’ve gotta pay the left side of their infield and have cheap options at first. They also need pitching. Freeman isn’t an option unless his market craters, which isn’t going to happen.
Agreed. Even the high-revenue, big-market teams have to decide where they they need to spend their money based on needs and the prospect pipeline. With Dalbec, Casas and potentially Devers covering 1B, they’re not going to spend big on Freeman.
I love these articles. Great job, boys; filling in with content has to be hard. This stuff is fantastic!
Yes, these articles are great!
Count me in as well!!!!!!
It pi$$es me off when the first or second comment is by some negative keyboarder whining about content…
Keep at it gents!
Casas is the next star player for Boston. By all accounts, his work ethic is second to none and he continues to show improvement in every level he’s promoted to. The last piece of the puzzle is for his power to show in games. He’s 6’ 5” and about 250lbs with excellent contact skills and bat speed. It’s only a matter of time before he puts it altogether and becomes a 30 2B, 30 HR player. They won’t let Dalbec block his path; there’s a good chance Dalbec could be traded next season to open up a full time spot for Casas. The other option would be for Dalbec to play 3B and open up the DH spot for Devers. Casas’ defensive at first base has been above average so far too.
The Red Sox are quietly developing quite a few rookies in their minor leagues who should help remake this team over the next 1-2 seasons. Casas is front and center in that group.
Dalbec is a tremendous athlete. I hope he can transition to third. That would be helpful.
he came up as a third baseman which is why I was surprised the transition to 1B was a challenge for him this year.
When I read the L/R splits for both Casas and Dalbec, the path forward seems clear, at least for 2022. Platoon both at first and see what’s happening at mid-season. You may want to trade one or both depending on what you do with Devers and/or the needs on the roster. Don’t forget, the off-season isn’t over and the Sox could make a play for Correa or Story or Bryant, who knows?
No way the trade Casas .. meabe Dalbec or JD!! Devers DH, Triston 3B and Dalbec 1B
Casas from most accounts seems like the real deal but all of a sudden, Bloom has developed a nice farm and if the team decides to trade for a superstar, no one is off limits. While doing such a thing is not what Bloom is known for, neither was working for a big budget club untile he came to Boston. Very few minor league players are truly can’t miss. I’m not suggesting he should be traded, I just wouldn’t say he should be 100% protected.
I would not be surprised if JD is traded before or during the season if the NL gets the DH. Bloom likes controllable players, and if JD is traded then Casas would be at 1B, and Dalbec and Devers split 3B and DH.
Interestingly, the Sox had Casas taking some reps at 3B during their winter training camp for their non-40-man prospects. I doubt they’d put him at third as they also updated his measurements to 6’5″ , 265 lbs. I can’t think of any successful 3B who was larger than that
Scott Rolen is close he was a pretty big 3B.
Rolen was like 6’4″ 225 when played for Phillies, after he went to “baseball heaven” was when he slowly gained the weight….
Bryant is 6’5” 230
Casas most likely won’t be ready until mid season which is allows time to figure out whether the last 6 weeks of the season last year were more indicative of the type of hitter Dalbec is vs the first half and the playoffs. Dalbec has historically been a .240-.255 hitter with a really high strike out percentage but he earned some more time to figure out things.
Dalbec was a .261 hitter with an .867 OPS during his 4 minor league years.
For what he’s making I’ll take that any day of the week.
those numbers were skewed by his one season in Lowell where he hit .386. outside of that he never batted more .257 and his average and K% got worse as he climbed through the system.
A .250 hitter who can hit bombs and not cost us much is still a good deal.
If the Red Sox miss out on Seiya Suzuki and if Casas looks ready early than J.D. Martinez would get more time in the OF allowing Casas/Dalbec to play 1B/DH. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of both players getting some reps in the OF in spring training either
Rsox – Depending on how the remainder of the offseason plays out, I can see them possibly platooning Devers at 1B for a while to see how he looks.
I think there’s zero chance the Sox will start the regular season relying on Dugie/JBJ/JD as their everyday outfield. Maybe the Sox do get a shortstop and try to slide Xander over to 2B, keeping Hernandez in CF. That could actually benefit Xander if he does go into free agency next winter.
One mashes lefties, the other righties. Looks like a natural platoon. Might be wise to give Casas more than 9 games at AAA, first.
I saw him at the Arizona Fall League, he’s huge and he’s very good
Casas is the future star Boston has needed since Mookie wanted the money His future is bright. Love Bobby Dalbec, I’ve followed him all the way to the majors. This is his time to shine, If Casas stays on course I wouldn’t be shocked to see him up by the All star break..
I would keep casas down at AAA until about super two (june or so) and give dalbec a chance to play every day until then. Then you call up casas and maybe trade dalbec for a pitcher or keep him as a Platoon player.
No need to start casas service time before that as long you have enough other options
Question: if Casas is not on the 40-man roster, couldn’t he be picked up in the Rule 5 draft?
Don’t know the exact rule, but a player has to be in the organization for so long before they are eligible to be exposed to rule 5…..Something like 4 or 5 years w/ organization w/o being put on 40 man roster…..
No, he isn’t rule 5 eligible.
Casas is rule 5 eligible in December 22 so they don’t need to put him on the 40 man at all this season if they don’t want to
His weight
If Triston Casas’ performance breakout has started based on his AFL stats then he should master AAA quickly and be ready for promotion. If, however, he struggles in AAA then it may take until 2023 to see him in the majors.
Room for him? With Bloom, that’s never an issue. He acquired a 3rd DH without any consideration for room. He screwed up CF so he used a 2B. Room is never the issue with Bloom as GM.
Where should he logically play? The Red Sox have two excellent prospect corner infielders with great power and hitting ability. Nobody can possibly be as bad as Devers so the question is simply how will the corner infield spots align for the next decade? Casas at 1B and Dalbec at 3B or vica versa.?
There are far more compelling questions to ask. Will Bogey opt out? If not, the Red Sox are set at SS since moving Devers should shoot Bogaerts defensive metrics through the roof. Will Yorke be ready to take over 2B soon? If not, can Kiki or a more cost effective player be found to play 2B in the interim. Is Verdugo the left fielder or right fielder until he’s no longer controlled by the team? At the cheap price, he justifies his place in the line-up but his defense isn’t nearly as good as suggested when he was pawned off on Bloom a couple of years ago. For that matter, his hitting is also below expectations created at the time of the deal but like I said as long as he is controllable his price is right. Without Renfroe or Mookie in right field there appears to be a big hole. That hole needs to be filled with a big time power hitting great defender like we used to have. That should be priority 1 in 2023 if Bogey and Sale stay. Center field is another quandary because nobody knows if Duran will be an all-star level player. Hopefully, he is. If not, there is a hole in center field too going into 2023. Devers is set as DH for the foreseeable future and catchers are insignificant enough that they can be worried about last unless a strong hitting young catcher can be drafted or acquired from another team. I’m not talking a slug like Wong, I’m talking a guy with all-star potential. If you can’t find that guy, then it really doesn’t matter much who you get but defense, handling of the pitchers and throwing are more critical than the bat.
Pitching in 2023 will be less of a challenge. With Sale, Houck and Pivetta guaranteed and Whitlock and Barnes in the bullpen, less talent is needed at pitching. 2022 would be a great season to work a trade for another excellent young SP like Means or a few others that could be had without giving up too much but predicting Bloom’s pitching priorities is more difficult than guessing the lotto number.
Would Wacha, Paxton and Hill have been guys you would have thought about first in the off season? Not me. Maybe Hill as #5 or fill-in guy but the other two came out of left field. The team has a decent group of young relievers that could develop and remain valuable going forward but the overall velocity of the bullpen needs to be upgraded to resemble better bullpens around the league. A real closer is needed in my opinion.
2023 will be a real crap shoot. Losing JD, Eovaldi and possibly Bogey and/or Sale is a very scary thought. The star power continues to dwindle and be replaced with interchangeable league average players. If Devers is the only star left on the hitting side in 2023 it should be a very long season. If Sale and Eovaldi are gone, again it will be a very long season. At that point, the walls have been knocked down and removed from the property, the cracks in the foundation will show and the future that has been promised for many years at that point will be upon those fans who stayed loyal to Bloom as he destroyed the franchise. They better win in 2023!!
For me, I just worry about them finishing 5th in 2023, I think they have 4th locked up already.
I fell asleep reading this. Twice.
Whyhayzee – New year same old jack ass!! Nice.
Please just skip my stuff, I hate to have you inconvenienced or challenged by more than one paragraph.
Still can’t play nice in the sandbox! You must be embarrassed.
If you want to talk baseball talk baseball. If you want to talk trash come over to my house!! Oh, that’s right, you are anonymous and that gives you the big stones! hahahaha.
Hopefully the NL gets a DH as I see us trading JD. Then Devers can DH.
On the flipside, I can see Dalbec traded instead.
Pwndroia – I think trading Dalbec would be a huge mistake so it’s fairly likely to happen. The fast start to his career seems to be ignored by most. I sure wish people would have been as critical of Devers when he came up. Maybe we’d have 100 less errors since he arrived. Also, his good 2017 Sept led to nothing, his good 2019 led to nothing and his good 2021 led to nothing. So, having a guy that is great when the team isn’t performing seems like a non-clutch player. One thing is for sure, he’s no Papi and never will be. NOW is the time to trade the guy if money is such a concern for the owners. The under $12M per player rule will be broken soon if Devers is signed to an extension. Bloom could get at least 2 mediocre players for what he’s paying Devers right now.
If Devers doesn’t DH when the players come back then something is terribly wrong in the front office. The pitchers should go on strike!!
Pwndroia- I personally would rather see JD traded as he will be gone after 2022 anyway. With the $19,350,000 saved there would be plenty of room under CBT for another outfielder and bullpen help.