Triston Casas, viewed as a future cornerstone at first base in Boston, spoke to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford this weekend and expressed an openness to discussing a long-term contract extension with the Red Sox. Alas, those talks have not actually gotten underway in any form …
“No. None whatsoever,” Casas told Bradford. “I haven’t thought about it. Nobody has approached me about it. And my representatives have never even mentioned it to [Red Sox GM Chaim Bloom] or anyone in the front office. I’m just focused on playing this year and we’ll see where it goes. It it happens, it happens. I would love to stay in Boston the rest of my life. I love the city in the little taste I’ve got of it. I don’t know anywhere else and I don’t want to. We’ll see what happens in a couple of years. Hopefully we get something done, but if we don’t we’ll go from there.”
The idea here would be to secure Casas through all of his pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible years and to likely also buy out at least a couple seasons of free agency. Bradford makes note of the “flurry of deals of seven-or-more years” that the Braves have pulled off with the likes of Spencer Strider, Michael Harris, Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, and Ronald Acuna Jr.
Many of those extensions were — and are — viewed as extremely team-friendly around the industry. And there’s not a natural comparison between any of them and what the Red Sox might be looking to do with Casas. He has appeared in only 27 major league games up to this point and will still carry rookie status into the 2023 campaign. Albies, for example, signed his bargain seven-year, $35MM pact with Atlanta in April 2019, having already logged more than 215 games at baseball’s highest level. Ke’Bryan Hayes, the Pirates’ long-term hope at third base, inked an eight-year, $70MM pact with Pittsburgh last April, exactly 120 games into his MLB career.
Casas flashed good power in his initial taste of big league action down the stretch in 2022, clubbing five home runs with a .766 OPS over 95 plate appearances. Granted, his batting average came in at just .197. Before his promotion on September 4, the 23-year-old consensus top-35 prospect registered a .273/.382/.481 batting line in 317 plate appearances at Triple-A Worcester.
Maybe something can get going on the extension front when Casas arrives at Red Sox camp in the spring. Or the wait could be quite a bit longer than that. But the goal is to ensure that he does not slip away from the organization like Xander Bogaerts did or build up the kind of negotiating power of a Rafael Devers, who commanded ten years, $313.5MM in new money from the Sox earlier this month.
I take it the Red Sox aren’t, though.
Grom – Sorry but Casas does not deserve a longterm extension yet. He’s not a Wander Franco or roided up Tatis. He has to prove himself at the ML level first.
Let’s see how this year goes, THEN explore the possibility of an extension.
That is my point.
Grom – With all due respect, you didn’t make a point. You sarcastically said the Sox aren’t interested in an extension at this time. You never said it was absurd to ask Casas the question.
What’s next, a reporter is gonna ask if the Sox will give Bello a longterm extension this offseason?
The joke was that the Sox don’t want him yet. It’s one-sided and contracts take interest on both sides. They don’t like his output so far.
But he is a guy like Jon Singleton and Jose Tabata. It’s not completely out of left field, but thankfully one that the BoSox aren’t pursuing.
@louwhitakerisnotahofer, there’s also Jarred Kelenic, who turned down an extension, and in the equivalent of a full season of MLB PA’s has slashed .168/.251/.338 for a 66 OPS+. Yikes. The Mariners dodged a bullet there.
Always better to be a underpaided millionaire then high profile bust that turned down 20-40 million pre arb.
That depends on whether you’re the one cashing the checks.
They don’t like his output so far.
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Why wouldn’t they like his output so far? 5 HRs in 76 ABs and a 23/19 K/W is as good as it gets.
The joke is that you’re even arguing at it at this point
Oh yes, that .190 batting average is HOF material as well. Let’s wait and see how he handles MLB pitching for a bit and whether 3 of those hrs were luck as much as BABIP wasn’t, and how he can continue to keep ahead of mlb pitchers finding holes in is good, but not exceptional, 55 graded hit tool.
In today’s world, why wouldn’t the questions be asked? It depends on the amount of course. If he has a good or better season and his price doubles in the off season. That said, imagine if Boston approached Chavis or Dalbec so early. Then again, both probably wish the team offered and they accepted, etc.
pwndroia–why can’t people refrain from the sarcastic remarks on here? They waste people’s time having to read through them and serve no real purpose. I like posting on here to give my views and enjoy the back and forth when it is reasonable. i have no issue with a opinion that disagrees with mine. And PLEASE everyone address your response to the person to intend it to
My troll deGrom Texas Rangers is trying to pick fights again using my name. Get a life.
that .190 batting average is HOF material as well.
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.208 BABIP
Which was covered by the part saying his babip was unlucky, no?
You do realize Kelenic will be entering his age-23 season in 2023, right? He’s also from a cold state which usually takes longer for prospects to develop. By comparison, most guys who are in their age-22 season like Kelenic was last year were in AA the whole year or getting a piece of AAA, with many of them struggling.
Kelenic has had one excellent MLB month (Sept 2021) and has been yo-yo’d between the majors and AAA. He’s produced around a 1.000 OPS at the highest minor leagues level across his age 21 and 22 seasons, improved his approach steadily in 2022 from a guy chasing the fastball to someone who can start to hit breaking balls. He was probably 20 before he saw his first plus breaking ball from a guy who threw 95+ mph, and 19 or 20 before he saw a lefty that threw that hard.
Anyone throwing in the towel on him or calling him a bust is far too premature in making a final analysis. The final point I’ll make is that he’s had only 500 plate appearances in the major leagues over two seasons, fangraphs determined that it takes 2000 plate appearances before you know what kind of hitter a guy will be on the whole. That’s about 2.5 more seasons. And he’ll only be entering his prime at that point.
Edgar Martinez had won two AAA batting titles before getting a regular shot around 26-27 years old, even then it took him a little bit to adapt to the majors. Nelson Cruz failed to hit the ground running until he was close to 30 years old and now he’s had a good enough career that he’ll get some HOF votes when he retires, even if it looks like he’ll fall short of induction.
I will say that the older people on here that remember prospects killing it in the majors before they could drink legally was prior to all the sabermetrics which has exposed more weaknesses than 100 years of baseball history. The younger guys on here have been spoiled by the Harpers, Trouts, Sotos, and Rodriguez of the world.
So he strikes out in one third of his ABs, but you don’t think the league will catchup with him?
I still don’t think that strikeout will make it thru the infield.
Not in an environment where high-end prospects are being rushed to the majors and getting s chance to cut a year of their service time with a rookie-of-the-year performance. Let alone most of them being offered life-changing money before the age of 24. Julio and Harris II were just signed to extensions at 21 years old. Franco was signed the year before around the age of 20, two years before that Tatis at 20-21 years old was extended for over a decade like Franco and Julio. Extensions for star prospects are the norm, not the outlier.
I would love the Mariners to get a big lefty bat and could see a Ty France and pieces for Triston Casas offer making sense for both clubs. Red Sox get an All-Star 1B who’s under control for three years and France helps balance a lineup that leans left-handed (Devers, Verdugo, Yoshida, and McGuire, plus Casas). The only righties are Story?, Hernandez, Arroyo, Turner(38, yikes!), and Duvall (34 & CF? Is Bloom trolling Red Sox nation?!). Add in Taylor Trammell to be a 4th OF and defensive replacement for Duvall, who could either earn a platoon or even the starting job if the fangraphs article on him is right that he’s about to take a huge step forward entering his age-24 season.
I would love to see the Mariners start to rebuild at this point as a Rangers fan by trading away Ty France.
GASoxFan43 mins ago
Which was covered by the part saying his babip was unlucky, no?
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Then he probably should’ve skipped that comment.
Despite the writers whining about service time, he was actually promoted too quickly. His 82/35 K/W in the PCL is weak.
@Randy You’re right, I should have directed it better.
All I’m saying is people are wasting energy arguing over it because we haven’t really even seen the kid play yet. So its basically a moot point.
And I blame the lack of direction on MLB Trade Rumors. Whenever I click updates for replies, it never takes me to the right place anyway. Not all the time.
Joe – You’ve elevated your level of trolling today.
You’ve constantly used WAR to support your “argument” in the past, but NOW you don’t mention at all his 162-game projected 0.6 WAR? Or his 162-game projected -1.2 WAA? Or his 162-game projected -12 RAA?
Priceless!!
Randy – Great post, especially the part about addressing responses. So many times I haven’t a clue which person’s posts are being responded to.
Joe – That’s right, say it Joe … say it!
Casas was excellent last year, he was just ….. “unlucky”.
pedey – I’ve also experienced problems with the “Load New Comments” feature. It used to work much better, not anymore though.
AL– OBP/AVG = 1.28; Devers = 1.82
AL– SLG/AVG = 1.62; Devers = 2.07
How many other .197 hitters will give that production?
ROTFLMAO!!!
You’re using WAR to project 162 games from a 27-game sample? FWIW, if you want to do something that silly, just use FG’s projection of 2.1 in 511 PAs.
@Fever, I don’t if you’re on the app (I am 99% of the time), but I feel like it’s degrading rapidly and one day will cease working all together. Odd, since it was always very stable.
Casas was excellent last year, he was just ….. “unlucky”.
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1-When you’re dealing with extremely small numbers, luck is always a factor. 1-2 shots caught at the warning track, or 1-2 shots that land in the first row, completely warps everything in 76 ABs. Just for the math, one more HR increases his OPS from .766 to .829.
2-I got no dog in this race, so you should just accept my numbers rather than challenge everything. I’m not a Casas fan. Repeat, I am NOT a Casas fan. I don’t like his L/R splits, though not horrible. He’s got good, but not great power. If Miami thinks he is the missing piece, and wants to offer up a chunk of their pitching depth, I’d be glad to listen.
3-That said, I’ve been very happily surprised by Casas’ production in his limited ABs. One might suggest that he’s been selling out power for contact, as indicated by his low LA. But his 5 HRs in 76 ABs might mean he adjusting his swing based on the pitch count.
oot – Your comment is meaningless.
Nobody divides OBP/AVG because OBP = AVG + Walk rate
Nobody divides SLG/AVG because SLG = AVG + Isolated Power
You close by using production when you mean power. None of the numbers suggest a level of production. No runs are ever mentioned.
How many .197 hitters have high walk rates or isolated power? The first guy that comes to mind is Bobby Dalbec. That’s speaks volumes about the situation in Boston at 1B. Similar numbers to begin their careers except Dalbec has had two great half seasons and two terrible half seasons whereas Casas has only been bad so far.
Lord – As Rickey would say, I’m on the app 80% of the time and on my PC the other 60% of the time. LOL
Personally I would love for them to install a private messaging system and a search engine that works with comments, but I don’t see either happening anytime soon.
Joe – I used the same SSS that you used, for a reason.
If you’d simply agree that last year’s 95 PA’s isn’t enough to evaluate him as a player, I’d go along with that.
A long time ago there was a kid who batted .191/.258/.303 in his first 98 PA’s for my Red Sox.
The next year he won ROY.
The year after that he won MVP.
If you prefer to make predictions after less than 100 PA’s because you enjoy it, more power to you.
As for me, I’d rather stick with reality. First 100 PA’s are about as predictive as ST PA’s.
Exactly… really weird someone is asking him about extension so soon.
Did you see the winter weekend footage? Team is grasping at straws, and, their mouthpieces are trying to distract and engage the fan base in something, ANYTHING positive to shift coverage.
Fans PAID money to go heckle ownership and the front office. Let that sink in. Sure, they probable went to see some of the players too, but, they took the time, paid the parking, etc to heckle the heck out of the brass.
wat – It’s just the media stoking a fire to get attention, which Bradford obviously did. And it worked, because people like Drew Silva are writing about it.
I know Bradford, it’s what he does. He knows it would be silly to give Casas a longterm extension now.
GASox – Bradford works for WEEI, not the Globe or NESN. It was not a team-sanctioned question, because it puts pressure on the team to do something they obviously don’t want to do.
Save your bullets for the many other reasons to be unhappy with Sox management. ;O)
Yeah, I know it’s a radio reporter, but, they’ve got a relationship with the front office as the official radio broadcast of the team. It wouldn’t surprise me to hear they were throwing a bone so to speak, if for no other reason to try to generate some kind of positive sox news to carry
People often grasp at straws when two year olds throw temper tantrums. I don’t get all the hostility. The Red Sox may have some problems, but none of them are long-term. People act like something horrendous has happened and the team is ruined for years. I don’t think that is the case.
It’s just the media stoking a fire to get attention, which Bradford obviously did.
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I think l/t contracts can be a positive in some case, but not before you play in the pros.
Bradford is obviously looking for hits here, but it only works when you hook guys like GA.
Fever– I agree but if Casas has a good start I would have no issue with extending him at tht point
GASox – I’ve attended Winter Weekend several years, but not since it was moved to MGM where it’s not nearly as good as before.
The hecklers were quite weak. I’ve been thinking, if I was in the audience Friday what would I have screamed out?
1) To Bloom it would have been “You offered Xander $50M less than you gave Story”
2) To Henry’s “baseball players are expensive” comment I would have screamed “Not as expensive as your ticket prices”.
3) To Bloom saying “we went to the ALCS in 2021” I would have screamed “Mostly Dombrowski’s team, not yours”.
4) To Bloom saying “We replaced Mookie with a lot of great players like Garrett Richards” I would have screamed “You’re bragging about spending $10M for one year of Garrett Richards?”
Randy – I think a really good season is the minimum to justify a long-term contract. If he has a huge season, I’m fine with locking him up right after the WS and before free agents start signing.
But quite honestly, I wouldn’t sign him to an extension until 3-4 years left of team control.
Fever i know you are tight. i just don’t want to see us lose any other homegrown stars
Randy – Me neither. I think the few bucks they would save by signing him at the end of this year wouldn’t be worth the added risk. We’ve all heard of the Sophomore Slump, right? When the scouting reports get around and opposing teams adjust.
Those are pretty good. I’d have had a few of my own but not from 1100 miles or so away, and, I wouldn’t give these clowns one thin dime for the right to do it. Some will, but, I won’t fund their war chest.
When the scouting reports get around and opposing teams adjust.
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And that’s the basis for all of baseball. It takes five minutes for the league to read any player. It takes 5 minutes for the player to adjust. At the end of the day, who ever has the final adjustment will win.
Joe – That’s one of the best comments I’ve seen from you, so very true.
Right. No reason the Red Sox can’t wait until he has at least a full season under the belt to evaluate how he’ll perform against MLB pitching, or even adapt once they adapt to him.
Casas looks good to me at the plate, but I’ve seen the majority of prospects flame out during my years of fandom. He’d have to undervalue himself significantly in order to get the Red Sox to sign him long term right now.
Lord – Who would you say was the biggest flameout that you recall?
Kevin Maas?
Phil Plantier?
Joe Charboneau?
Steve Balboni?
Sam Horn?
Fever, perhaps I’ll pick the safe answer and go with the player from neither of our franchises: Joltin’ Joe Charboneau. He was RoY, a national phenom, had a song, appeared in a movie. Gone from MLB after three seasons. And to make myself feel old, Charboneau is almost 68-years-old!
Ted Cox
I saw Maas launch on deep into the LF bleachers at YS as a rookie. He was already 25 as a rookie, but I am a bit surprised he wasn’t better.
I’m not sure you remember Brandon Wood. He hit 43 HRs in A+, at age 20, as a SS. No matter what you do in the minors, you can’t be 100% sure until guys reach the pros.
My favorite young hitter ever was Kal Daniels. He was always, always injured, but thru 3 seasons (aged 22-24), he had a 154 OPS+. He wasn’t a flash in the pan either. He had a great eye at the plate with a career 493/365 K/W. Had good power with 27 HRs/600 ABs. And great speed before the injuries with a 68/16 SB/CS in his first 1,044 ABs.
He wasn’t a flameout in the traditional sense, but I thought he had HOF talent.
Brandon Wood came up in Joey Gallo trivia. They were teenagers who hit 40+ homeruns in a minor-league season.
Sadly, I recently looked him up and learned he had passed. I choose Super Joe for the reasons previously stated. Cox came out of nowhere but really only had that initial September success.
*Actually, that was probably before age 20. Gallo had back to back 40+ homerun seasons at at 19 and 20. Wood had 1.
Joe, Horn hit the old YS signage beyond the right field stands
FPG – Hey, hey, hey! Balboni won a World Championship and was a big part of that team. So he was definitely NOT a flameout. No how, no way.
Jeff Ledbetter.
sabr.org/journal/article/joe-charboneau-far-out-ph…
“The Indians closed their eyes to Joe’s eccentricities, preferring to see in him the second coming of Rocky Colavito. And what eccentricities! Writers told about such off-field activities as pulling out his own tooth with a pair of pliers, opening beer bottles with his eye socket, and removing an unwanted tattoo with a razor blade. Not to mention winning bets by eating lighted cigarettes, swallowing eggs in their shells, and downing glasses of beer through his nose.”
Lord – I didn’t even know Charboneau was in that movie! Everything else I remembered from memory.
I have one more that might be even better: The Bird aka Mark Fidrych!! In his first season he was ROY, came in 2nd for Cy, and 11th in MVP.
4 years later he was done. I remember him attempting a comeback with the Sox.
hayzee – He was okay, just didn’t live up to the massive hype.
I remember when the Rangers brought David Clyde up as a publicity stunt. I almost wrote ‘promoted’, but he went straight from high school to the pros. It ruined him.
Joe??? ROY…… and can open bottles with eye socket…
Lord… met him as he coached the Windy City thunderbolts in suburb of Chicago.. was a big fan of his.. nice enough to sign a ball… nobody had a clue who he was and asked me why I would want his autograph…
Oh man fever… Phil planter and my man Sam horn… planters crouching is making my back flair up just thinking about…. Kevin Mass.. another one… but I’ll also give you Ken Phelps!!!
As stated above met him coaching a independent league team… one of my all time favorite non Redsox players… remember this week in baseball doing a story on him… he was a good guy and very gracious to sign ball and get a picture with…
olmtiant – My baseball people loved Ken Phelps’ bat. They kept saying “Ken Phelps, Ken Phelps.”
olmtiant – Plantier’s black hightops were amazing!
I don’t think a Franco or Tatis contract is the only option. Maybe an Albies contract would work for both sides.
Ketch – Red Sox fans are still reeling from the Rusney contract,
$73M for 99 games … ouch!
Fever, in fairness to Rusney, while he did get an initial shot, once he was grandfathered, he became stuck in the minors. He was certainly MLB quality, just not what they hoped for. With a typical deal, he could have been a late bloomer (no pun intended) and had a decent MLB career. We’ll never know.
I agree. IMHO, the RS panicked. They saw he wasn’t the superstar they thought he’d be, saw the luxury tax savings, and demoted him. In time, I think he’d have become a league-average, albeit expensive player.
dewey – If he was that good, why didn’t he latch onto another MLB team after his Red Sox contract was up?
Fever
Tatis will be one of the best in baseball
Manny – Time will tell.
Manny – Tatis Jr.? Best in baseball? Go read his stats and rethink the comment. Do you know anything about the guy?
His name got him promoted ahead of schedule. He was a .273 hitter at ROK and Low A at 17. At 18 he hit .281 in A ball and .246 in the Dominican Winter League. He got promoted late in the year to AA and hit .255. So by 18 he was not impressive but his last name was Tatis.
At 19, he hit .286 in AA and .263 in the DOWL. At age 20, he went 2 for 5 at AA and that earned him a promotion to the MAJORS!!!! Why? Ahhh, yes, his last name is Tatis. He went on to hit .317 in the majors at age 20 which makes absolutely no sense considering his minor league history. One must ask what changed? Some think steroids and HGH others who support him say it was hard work. What makes more sense to you?
In 2020, he hits .277 which was much more in line with his history but is still impressive for a 21 yr old. In 2021 he hits .282 and hits 42 HRs when his previous high was 22. Suspicious jump? You bet!!
Is it shocking he got caught taking PEDs? Tatis is Sammy Sosa Jr. He didn’t have the talent so he cheated to live up to his name. This is not a super star of the future because he needs PEDs to be anything but a .270 hitter with little power. Add that he’s injury prone and you can have him. Nobody gave steroids a worse name than Sammy Sosa or AROD because both jumped from average to great the second they started taking them. Sosa when he moved to the Cubs and AROD sophomore year in HS. Tatis is just another guy who took a short cut to building his size and strength.
Should SD be allowed to rescind his contract? I say yes!!
I completely agree with Fever on this one unless it’s a cheap deal that locks him up. Even then, there’s no promises until we see him play.
pedey – I’m gonna take a screenshot of you agreeing with me!
I’d be willing to do an extension too if I hadn’t proven anything yet.
Why should they he hasn’t showed he can hit the ball consistently like Franco or Acuna!
LOL seems a bit premature. Might wanna hit above the Mendoza line first.
Even as someone who hates using batting average, I agree here. He isn’t Mark McGwire or Carlos Pena yet, so yeah.
Which stat do you prefer? One advantage of the BA stat is that the average fan can not only understand it, but he can calculate himself. Try that with fWAR. Beyond that, I’m wondering if you think analytics have improved the quality of play over the last 15 years or so. I’d be interested to read what you have to say.
I prefer OPS+ for offense. Stolen bases/attempts matter too. I love Ian Kinsler. He had a 89/71 BB/K ratio and 2 30-30 seasons. I’d say OPS+, triple slash, BBs, KS, HR, Runs, and then defensive metrics like fielding percentage, outfield assists, and range. Defensive valuations are often in opposite directions, so I don’t put too much weight, but for guys like Andruw Jones, it’s obvious he was a superstar. WAR is a secondary stat for me, though I cut defensive runs above replacement by 2 unless it’s an obvious gold glover. Analytics has mostly ruined the game, IMO, as shifts have taken over and probably will still last to an extent with the new rules. I get playing with probabilities, but some teams tend to think a lower expected BA against a shift is worth giving Robinson Cano a bunt double or more extra base hits. I do like the change in plaher evaluationto mlre impactful numbers, but Andrelton Simmons getting paid just for defense is a major downside.
@degrom Don’t forget that BA is a factor in both SLG and OPS+
Yes. Look up Dee Grodon’s Strange season last year. He hit over .300 and had a below-average OPS. My point is that batting average may contribute to ut, but that alone doesn’t make a player good. Even the Nats got rid of him.
realsox, yes, analytics has massively improved the individual player quality of play. Players are making more valuable contact, and pitchers are doing better at avoiding it. That doesn’t mean the overall game is more appealing; remember, progress is a zero sum game – the better pitchers get, the worse hitters get, and vice versa. It’s impossible to improve the quality of play overall. So, the better the typical hitter gets, and the better the typical pitcher gets, the more “ordinary” the game will become as the spread of quality among players tightens.
For example, as hitters have gotten better pitchers have had to focus more and more on velocity and stuff in order to reduce contact. This has meant that hitters have further needed to focus on each piece of contact being better, as no amount of focus on avoiding strikeouts would avoid all of them, not to mention that a contact approach with improved pitchers would yield poorer results when contact occurs. This approach has also meant that pitchers go shorter into games, but the improved identification and development of pitching talent means the typical bullpen arm is so much more talented than it used to be. It’s a feedback loop of improvement and counters that is driving the way pitchers and hitters approach the game towards extremes, so that one doesn’t fall behind the other.
All this actually reduces the overall quality of the game, as it has greatly undercut the variety among players. However, the actual individual quality of the average hitter or pitcher is getting more remarkable by the year – it just doesn’t seem like it, due to that cycle I’ve described.
redsoxu571 – Great comment if only there was a bit more validity to it. The new metrics do ruin the game but not only for the reasons you suggest. Example – Devers isn’t a bad fielder under new metrics which allows him to stay at 3B and hurt the team for a 7th straight season. Do we care if he has a great launch angle or velocity off the bat? No. Because placing the ball is now a lost art and naive statistical nuts think that a faster hit ball is better than a better placed slower hit ball. It’s a travesty how misguided modern metrics are.
I agree the quality of the game has been impacted by the new emphasis in hitting and pitching. The strike zone has dramatically changed the game. Umpires call much higher strikes than they did historically. Advantage pitcher.
You can lower the mound like the idiots did in the 60s but the other key factor that is never considered which most significantly impacted the game in every decade including the 60s was the design of the baseball.
During the 1960s the “juice” in the baseball was as low as the era when Ruth was ending his career. In the 50s, the ball was juiced because baseball got a new source for the baseballs after WWII. Mays and Mantle and entire baseball world saw double the juice in the ball during the 1950s. That’s why so many of them exceeded previous HR records. The juice in 1961 for the Mantle and Maris run at Babe Ruth’s record was 0.95 as opposed to 0.37 when Ruth set the record.
The impact of modern metrics is completely skewed by the ever changing juice in the baseball. It compounds the problems you identified. Should the ball vary from 0.86 in 2014 to 1.39 in 2019? No, but it did. Does that change the focus of hitters from getting on base to hitting home runs? Absolutely.
Launch angle took credit for the changing baseball Velocity off the bat became more important than placement of the ball thanks to the juice in the baseball.
Are the hitters more remarkable? Actually no. The Bonds era saw a ball about 10 to 15 percent less juiced yet home runs were more prevalent. Why? 1 – Because the hitters were better from a power/handeye coordination stand point 2- Pitchers had not discovered some of the many ways to cheat and add spin rotation to the baseball.
The game is about adjustments so pitchers find ways to improve their chances and hitters try to do the same. The key unknown factor that has helped the hitters since 2014 is the bounce in the baseball.
In 2022 the juice in the ball fell to 1.07 from the previous 3 years of 1.22, 1.28 and 1.39 in 2019. The 1.07 is exactly the same as 2003.
In 2003 10 players hit over 40 home runs in baseball with the ball at 1.07.
In 2022 4 players hit over 40 home runs in baseball with the ball at 1.07.
In 2022 Judge led baseball with 62 and Schwarber was second at 46
In 2003 Thome and AROD tied with 47 HRs each
Judge’s year was extraordinary considering what everyone else did.
The baseball had a lot to do with Judge’s success but if you are looking for the most aided year for HRs you must go to 2019.
With the 1.39 juiced ball Alonso hit 53, Suarez hit 49, Soler hit 48, Bellinger hit 47 and Trout hit 45. Lots of guys who didn’t belong thanks to the juiced baseball. It was that season that created the issues that baseball are trying to deal with. That’s when someone finally took notice of the game and how HRs and Ks were too prevalent. Yet, nobody gave the baseball any credit!!
The juice in the ball tracks HRs back to 1871. It’s the single most influential component in hitting HRs. It’s not the size of the stadiums, it’s not the number of non-white players in baseball, it’s not the height of the mound it’s the juice in the baseball that has created the four great peaks in HRs over the last 140 years. The 1920s and the live ball was peak ONE, the post WWII baseball was peak TWO, the 1995 change Selig implemented to bring back the game after the strike year is peak THREE and the 2015 change that ended the early drought of HRs in the early 2010s is peak FOUR.
If you want to compare HR hitters make sure you identify the juice in the ball!!
Ruth – 1927 – Juice 0.37 – 60 HRs
Maris – 1961 – Juice 0.95 – 61 HRs
Bonds – 2001 – Juice 1..12 – 73 HRs
Judge – 2022 – Juice 1.07 – 62 HRs
Bonds – 1993 – Juice 0.89 – 46 HRs
Kiner – 1949 – Juice 0.69 – 54 HRs
Foxx – 1932 – Juice 0.55 – 58 HRs
Ruth – 1921 – Juice 0.38 – 59 HRs
Ruth – 1920 – Juice 0.26 – 54 HRs
Ruth – 1919 – Juice 0.20 – 29 HRs
Ruth – 1918 – Juice 0.12 – 11 HRs
As the live ball era began Ruth changed the game by using the extra juice in the ball to become the most prolific HR hitter of all time. Others have hit more but if you weigh the juice factor it’s not close. He was by far the greatest HR hitter of all time.
I was thinking the same thing, same quote and all Doc.
When Dan McCann was hitting better than those numbers he got forced out of a full-time gig and eventually retired.
For those who wonder, if you extrapolated his numbers out over 162 games, you’d have had a .6 war player. Add to that he strikes out a lot (yes, much of mlb does these days, but, a k is a k and they aren’t positive.)
The league is over-infatuated with the home run. Let’s see a full year played, hitting about .260, and, 32hrs in a full season. Then let’s *think* about extension. Otherwise might as well have extended Chavis and dalbec….
Dude has played in 27 games.
The media remembers players like Albies and Acuña Jr, but forgets players like Scott Kingery or Jon Singleton. Signing players early is a crapshoot; you’re assuming big league performance and positive health from very young inexperienced players.
Just because a clueless reporter asked a premature question doesn’t make this news.
He had 19 walks though so he’s a future superstar
That walk to k ratio is pretty good, but I assume this is sarcasm. I know guys have to prove it at the MLB level to be worth an extension, but he was above average in terms of OPS+. Wait and see.
His OPS is skewed though degrom… he has so relatively few hits that his HRs inflate via the slugging component.
He only had 15 hits, 5 of which were HRs.
Of those, one barely poked out in the rf corner of yankee stadium by the pole to 328 ft. Another just cleared the lf wall at 375ft, low enough and far enough towards cf it could’ve been off the wall, barely, or, was another long out. In many, many parks those would be outs.
He also pokes one to 371 ft in rf that would’ve been an out at fenway or many other parks, but lucked out in the trop.
You only play so many games where you get that kind of perk, especially in the new schedule.
I think there’s a chance that power is overrated. He’s young, so, it may grow some still, but, couple that with balls barely making it out at yankee stadium, and, the ‘juiced ball’ they used in NYY home games based on that study and mlb admitting some 2021 balls were sent out….
Yeah, I’d way to see at least 170 more games before an extension.
GASox – Just curious, why 170 more games? Why not 162 or 150 games?
Well, i dont mean 170 season games, i mean 170 starts or ‘games played’… Maybe that wouldve been a better distinction to use. So, going off that clarification between whats in my head and how it might read… it let’s you see 2 spring trainings. Parts of how they prepare, get ready, react to coaching adjustments after teams get a good chance to really prepare for you.
Let’s face it, last year was NOT trustworthy. I didn’t see much I liked, but I wouldn’t decide anything other than let him keep playing on league renewal minimum salary based on what I saw.
So, then I want to see a full season. 162 games. How does he hold up. How does he respond to pitchers making adjustments.
Then I want another spring training. Get a second look under the ‘Cora ST mixed bag’…. once the season starts, again, get a look at how he starts against the sophomore slump. My bet is he won’t play more than 130 games this year, maybe 145 if need be but he’s going to be shuffling with others.
So you’ll see April, maybe part of May the following year (2024), and somewhere around 200 starts/games you should have a good idea who the player is, at least enough to know if you want to buy out some years early. There’s still 4.5yrs control left, so, plenty of room to spread an extension out for CBT purposes, if you bought out 2 FA years that’s a 7 year pact.
Basing any evaluation on 27 MLB games is silly. Basing it on his BA over that stretch is even sillier.
Putting an awful lot of stock in a BA that paired up with a .208 BABIP. One doesn’t need much analytics knowledge to understand the implication there, especially in a small sample size.
And he had a .358 OBP, and while some are dismissive of walks, the currency of baseball is runs and outs, and avoiding outs is quite valuable.
But again, it’s 27 games. His minor league track record is much more informative.
If they think he is going to be a star and can get him to sign for 7/50 then they should do it. You can’t let your homegrown superstars leave and then turn around and say we don’t know if our top prospects are any good. This is why all the people hate Henry and Bloom.
This has backfired so many times: Evan White, Odor, Pérez, Paul DeJong, and others come to mind. It’s obviously a high-risk move with lots of variance in outcome.
Evan White could never be considered a bad deal, at worst it’s unfortunate. The Angels spent twice as much money as the whole White contract on Gary Matthews Jr coming off his only All-Star season that was fueled by steroids. Now guys like Nelson Cruz get paid close to $10M to DH in their 40s.
White has cost the Mariners around $2.7M to date. He’s owed $3M, $7M, $8M, and $4M in buyouts over the next three years, which is him entering his prime years. If he does anything like what he did at the end of 2022 in Tacoma, he’s a middle-of-the-order bat and one that could impact the roster, if he finally breaks out, the Mariners have three options worth $10M, $11M, and $12.5M, which means the buyouts weren’t triggered and the next three years goes from a $22M/3yrs to a $17M/3yrs.
Considering Bellinger hasn’t been good since before the pandemic and the Cubs signed him for the same $17M over one season, there is still plenty of room to see White bounce back. He was having some of the best exit velos in the minors and last year hit .242/.333/.636 over the last 19 games of the AAA season with 12 R, 5 2B, 7 HR, 15 RBI, 8 BB(10.7%), 12 SO(16%) with a .191 BABIP (unlucky), .394 ISO (Judge level power), and a 127 wRC+.
It’s also worth noting that he’s always been a plus to plus-plus runner and still managed a speed score of 1.4 by fangraphs.com. I suspect White will get some time in the majors this year and expect a big breakout qith his power fully back and his plate discipline better than ever. Plenty of time to make that contract look good.
rmull – While it’s true that some people dislike Henry & Bloom, the dislike stems more from their unwillingness to retain homegrown talent at ANY point in time (among many other reasons).
Devers has to count for something.
Devers counts a little, sort of… personally when you balance the defense, the position played…I hope Devers grows into a better hitter. He’s good, but, is paid more than his HR/2B totals indicate. Then again, as time goes by, contracts will rise so… might be OK.
But the players they should’ve kept they didn’t. I see Betts and Bogey as more likely HOFers than Devers.
Just stay in Georgia. The heat is doing well melting your brain.
One of life’s certain truths – age catches us all. Decades of Berkshire snow clearing, some injuries over the years, both sports and otherwise… you kind of appreciate our 50s temperature here today as opposed to the 6+ inches of snow falling where we used to live.
Devers doesn’t count at all. He’s a political keep not a loyalty keep. Betts was the best of all of the home grown players over the last decade and there have been many that got away and he should be the face of the franchise not the spoiled Dominican brat who has been given everything and earned nothing. The guy is so invested in his team mates he hasn’t learned English!!
Devers is the LONE home town player that should have been traded. He didn’t earn his spot he was given it years ago. That sucks for all the real home grown players who worked hard to be all-stars and shine for Boston..
What an incredible waste of money signing Devers.
Jurassic – How appropriate. Prehistoric ideas about baseball AND ignorance by commenting on others rather than baseball. You’re a double threat!! hahaha
Devers and Betts are both HOF talents, Bogaerts is going to decline fast and probably be a 10-year or committee inclusion if he doesn’t fall short altogether. The length of his deal could do more damage than good if he is putting up negative WARs like Felix Hernandez did in his last two seasons. Betts also didn’t want to be in Boston, regsrdless of what the fans want to believe. Guess Bogaerts wasn’t big on the idea either after they kept offering him $20M/yr deals that were 30-40% below his market value.
Bogaerts is going to decline fast and probably be a 10-year or committee inclusion if he doesn’t fall short altogether.
============================
Bogaerts will be real close. Assuming a 5.3 bWAR this year, and 0.5 declines per year, he will still be a bit over 60 WAR.
TGWAA – Betts has HOF talent and Devers has potential HOF hitting skills. Devers and Betts are nothing alike and are NOT comparable.
Betts is a great defender with speed to steal bases, a golden glove, hits for average and power and runs the bases very well.
Devers is a one-dimensional hitter. He can’t play defense, his baseball IQ is negligible from a base running and fielding stand point, his arm is erratic and he needs more seasons of good hitting to prove his case. He hit well in the partial season in 2017, he stunk in 2018, hit hit well in 2019, he stunk in 2020, he has hit well in 2021 and 2022 and now he has nobody around him so will he continue to hit well? He needs to prove himself in 2023 before his hitting becomes legit rather than just streaky good.
Bogaerts won’t decline quickly but Devers will due to his size, his personality and his work ethic. Both Betts and Bogaerts keep in great shape and Devers is the Pillsbury Dough Boy until he finally started lifting weights to hit more home runs to sooth his huge ego. Far better players than Devers (Pujols and M Cabrera) fell off after their 32 and 33 year old seasons. Why would anyone expect Devers to out perform those two?
The Devers contract is a travesty that will haunt at least the next two GMs.
Bogaerts contract was to be 9 years but to improve the AAV they made it 11. That means they needed him to be valued as a nine year deal for roughly $30MM per year. They need him to have an OPS+ over 130 for at least 5 of the 9 years for this to be a good deal. His defense will contribute to his worth unlike Devers. His defense will detract from his worth as proven by his first 6 seasons. If he goes to DH he is more valuable but his ego won’t allow that and the Dominican connection won’t force him to DH.
Ask yourself how much of that $331MM the Red Sox are paying Devers is actually going to the Dominican Baseball Academy for the improvement of relations between Boston and the Academy? At 16, he was declared the future of the Red Sox by the guru scout that runs the place. I guess his crystal ball was right!!! Haven’t you asked yourself why Boston is so oriented to Dominican players? Yes, it starts with Papi and Pedro but the owners made a commitment years ago. It’s paid off for Devers to the detriment of the ball club and his team mates, especially Mookie, Price, Benny, JD, Bogey and Nate. No money left for the non Dominican players!!
Did you know an entourage flew to the DR to offer Devers his “package”? It’s not the signing that was as key as the other political meetings the owners attended with other Dominican baseball organizations.
Boston will be committed to the Dominican players for the next decade or longer. Free agents will figure this out and avoid signing in Boston. Fair treatment of players is not present in Boston and for the foreseeable future things will not change.
Try winning with that culture!!!
So far, this young man has not shown to have a solid MLB-caliber … He’s just a promising star project, thus Bosox are no giving an extension to someone that could also could turn out to be a ‘Bust, like so many in the past’. … Glad the Marlins got ARRAEZ instead of him.
Boston is where prospects go to die
Pitching prospects degrom, pitching prospects. There’s usually a fairly decent pipeline of hitters.
What they need is a gm like Dave dombrowski to weed out the chaff in the system and turn it into productive players. No need for so many rule 5s, dfas, while open holes are in your depth charts. Do some 4-for-1s and 5-for-1s like the kimbrel deal or some couple-for-ones like pomeranz.
Even preller foresaw he couldn’t hoard forever and needed to trade some since he had too much quantity to protect.
I think he’s asking for a winning lottery ticket in case his career doesn’t pan out.
As it stands he will probably make around $2.45M the next three years, $23.55M through his arbitration seasons, so that’d be 6 years/$26M if things go consistently…. Possibly leading to a 5 year/$100M deal but more likely 3 years/$48M followed by 2 years/$25M etc…. If he doesn’t burn out or not pan out. I realize he’s hoping he breaks out to have a 4-5 WAR season and provides a bunch of 2.5 to 3.5 WAR seasons to justify $35M in arbitration, setting himself up for an 8 year/$280M deal or something…
And so he will happily take an 8 year/$50M early “team friendly” extension…
I don’t think he’s worth an early extension and won’t necessarily become a top tier $20M to $40M AAV free agent.
But nice try, kid!
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I like speculating on deals and extensions. All of that is a best case scenario. But if he’s a .200-ish hitter with 30 HR power at his best, he will wash out and maybe make $2-$5M a year on one year deals as a complimentary piece in his prime earning years, if the league still values raw mediocre power.
Sounds like he gave the interviewer a boiler plate politically correct response.
Trill – If making $2M-$5M a year requires nothing more than giving compliments, I’d be happy to fill that position!
“That was a great line drive, Trevor!”
“Way to strike the guy out, Nick!”
“You threw the guy out, awesome job Raffy!”
That last comment wouldn’t need to come out bet for a handful of times a week though Fever…
Of course, these days, 200ish w 30 HR will get you more like 10M a year
As a veteran? Yeah. But there have been a few guys who hit .200-ish with 30 HR power who regularly got like $2M-$6M on a few successive 1 year deals and I don’t think that price point has changed much, as they’ve been devalued in such a way that the raw dollars have remained stagnant.
Anybody that has watched Casas play at all realizes he isn’t a .200 hitter. Could he be a .250 hitter maybe but a .200 hitter over a full season no chance.
Bruin1012 – Your crystal ball is no better than the next guys.
Casas
He hit .254 at 19 in A ball
He hit .284 at 21 in AA ball
He hit .273 at 22 in AAA ball got called up and hit .197
He’s hitting .222 in the Dominican Winter League this off season
Other than his .372 in 21 games in the Arizona Fall League in 2021 Casas has been fairly average. Not bad and not great. League Average.
If watching him will improve his numbers then by all means watch him. He needs the assist to become a legitimate MLB player. Is he really a top prospect or is he simply another over rated prospect?
Betts wasn’t a first round pick but he did the following:
He hit .267 at Low A at age 19
He hit .296 at A at age 20 then moved up to Hi-A and hit .341
He hit .355 at AA at age 21 then moved up to AAA and hit .335
At age 21 Betts was promoted to the majors and hit .291 in 52 games.
That’s significantly better than Casas.
Is Casas a star? No. Is he a potential league average starter? Sure
Could he be in 2023? Sure or maybe 2024.
Is his value as high as so many people like you think? Probably not.
Seeing Mookie’s numbers is just a reminder of what Boston is missing!!
But at least we over-paid for a one-dimensional DH to keep relations with the Dominican strong!!! Who cares if we win if we have great connections to keep filling our farm system with mediocrity!! What a brilliant strategy. Pump up the Dominican connection and let go of all the all-stars from places other than the Dominican. Pretty easy to understand why we are in last and sinking.
Pulled- I am not going to get into a Devers conversation with you again everyone knows you don’t like him we will just leave that alone.
Since you clearly haven’t watched Casas I am just going to give a little education on what I have noticed.
1) He has an incredible eye he simply does not chase off the plate he will always get on base. In Fact I think he will improve in the big leagues with the better umpiring. I cant tell you how many times I watched minor league games that umpires called strikes that were off the plate either to ring him up or he falls behind due to strike zone management. He does not chase pitches and that bode well for him in the bigs.
2) His journey hasn’t been linear in the minors. In 2018 5 games into his Red Sox career he tore a ligament in his thumb season over. He had a mostly uneventful 2019 injury wise but then we all know what happened in 2020 he, like many others, lost a complete year of development. In 2021 he wasn’t injured but he was gone from the minors for the Olympics. In 2022 he had an ankle injury that limited him in 2022. This is my biggest concern for Casas he seems to be injury prone.
3) Casas is a slow starter when he is called up to a new level. A lot of guys are but in Casas case he is learning. He takes even more pitches he is even more selective he is just learning the pitchers the parks and then as seen by nearly all his numbers after an adjustment period he takes off. He hit .309 with 6 homers in 149 at bats after he came back from the ankle injury. In 2021 after he came back from the Olympics he hit .289 with 8 homers in 135 at bats.
Pulled its really important to know all the facts and not just that he hit .254 one year or .273 another year. By the way he 9 at bats in winter ball do really think his .222 is relevant there.
Here’s what I believe based on observation he takes a little time to adjust to a level he’s an intelligent hitter he watches pitchers tendencies and picks up patterns he is passive when he is in that learning process he takes even more pitches then usual but he is learning. I think it may take some time for him to come into his own at the big league level but I think he will for the reasons I have stated above. I don’t think he will get flustered when pitchers in the big leagues make an adjustment and stop trying to get him to chase off the plate and start throwing him strikes. They may even get him out for awhile then he will adjust that’s when the fun will begin.
By the way Pulled you cant even compare Dalbec and Casas one of those guys you don’t have to throw a strike to to get out the other you absolutely do. Its as simple as that.
Hope this helps Pulled on why I believe Casas will be a well above average big league hitter possibly more.
“But nice try, kid!”
Did you read his quotes or the article? This just appears to be a complete media creation. They asked him about an extension and he gave boilerplate responses about wanting to stay in Boston. This is a non-story. He even says Boston hasn’t approached him and his representation hasn’t approached Boston. He’s just ‘open’ to an extension.
He even said “we’ll see what happens in a couple of years” and commenters here are acting like he’s been lobbying for an extension already.
rct – Agreed, it’s amazing how some have misread the article by thinking Casas is the one who brought up an extension. He did not, I think he’s just happy to be a ML’er.
Just an interpretation thought though… so, BEFORE this ‘question’ it’s clear the red sox never used the word extension. And it’s pretty clear Casas’ agent never went to Boston about it.
But.
When Casas says “I would love to stay in Boston the rest of my life. I love the city in the little taste I’ve got of it. I don’t know anywhere else and I don’t want to. We’ll see what happens in a couple of years. Hopefully we get something done”
Doesn’t that mean he would like to receive an extension? I’m not sure if it isn’t a formal request by a player that it isn’t close to it – his saying he wants to stay in BOS the rest of his life and never wants to know anywhere else? I mean, could it be read as a player saying I hope we get an extension done at some point, whenever BOS is ready?
GASox – Yes, of course. However it’s a response to that particular question.
It’s like if you’re walking through a park and a leprechaun jumps out and asks you if you want a million dollars. Of course you’ll say yes, but that doesn’t mean you’re demanding it.
That’s why the whole question is not only moot, but silly. There probably isn’t a single person, in any sport, on the entire planet, that would’ve said no.
If I were a kid, I would definitely take a deal, no matter how good I was. Even from a RS perspective, while I wouldn’t go out of my way to extend him this early, I would also be opening to listening to his agent. There will always be a number that changes my mind.
And for the most part, early extensions are based on attitude as much as aptitude.
So Casas says he’s not thinking about it, and the Red Sox haven’t approached him, so what we have here is a story based upon a reporter asking a question if he’d be open to an extension?
What’s he going to say? No, not interested? Hypothetical post.
@Thomar, yes, agreed. That’s why it was a bit of an odd non-story. I think a reporter could walk up to any prospect and ask that question and get the same response: “Sure!”
Lord – Well according to some people, when Mookie was asked the same question prior to the 2015 season his response was “Hell no I don’t want an extension, I am determined to test free agency”.
Of course those same people who foolishly insist Mookie had no desire to stay with the Red Sox cannot explain why he, ya know, signed an extension with the Dodgers.
who foolishly insist Mookie had no desire to stay with the Red Sox cannot explain why he, ya know, signed an extension with the Dodgers.
===========================
Because he prefers LA over Boston? It is not a particularly tough explanation. There are plenty of players that simply don’t like the city they play, or alternatively, prefer another city.
Joe – That’s one of many excuses the Bloomers give for Mookie being traded.
You can say all you want that Mookie hates Boston or that Mookie thinks the Red Sox are racist, but at the end of the day there’s absolutely nothing that indicates those false claims.
He made a counteroffer, if the Sox had met in the middle it would have been almost exactly what he got from the Dodgers. Actions speak louder than words.
That’s just RS writers being RS writers. Casas is obviously going to say yes, and the RS are obviously going to say no.
Hilarious. Let’s wait until he hits close to his weight before its a thought in anyone’s mind to do something like that.
I hope that Jed Hoyer of Cubs does the same thing with both Infields Nico H and Nick M
I like the enthusiasm, but at the risk of being another Evan White lets maybe play a full season and go from there
He’s trash just like the Sox
I could see a Cubs Infield of the following for next 7 years
2 Base – Nico H
SS – D S
3 Base – Nick M
Madrigal at third? Oft-injured and didn’t have the arm for the position.
Keep the better player in Morel at third. What does Morel have to do to get some love from Cubs fans?
You want your 3rd baseman hitting 5 home runs a year?
Only if he can field!!!
I’m still surprised Bogaerts left the Red Sox. Seems a tad early to offer Casas a extension since he hasn’t hit much yet. Unless it’s a low ball offer of course.
If he truly desires a long term contract then he would get far more if he had a monster year FIRST. Patience grasshopper, patience
Standard sports reporter question now re extension. Not helpful.
If they sign him now and blossoms the way everybody thinks he will.he got a bargain you can adjust in the coming years.People want this then no can’t do that.If the Sox would have done this for Bogaerts even at this time in his career they would have been happy.Everything is a hope and a dream.Nobody knows what will happen with Casas or any player.Take all the stats you want and you still can’t say with certainty what a player will do each year.
Red sox got 8 full years and part of a 9th from Bogey for about $86m.
In that time, including the short 2020 year, they got 1264games, 1410h, 3082b, 15t, 156hr, .292/.346/.458 good for an .814ops and 117ops+, 5 silver sluggers, 4 all star nods, and 34.9 war.
They got their money’s worth at a bargain. And no early extension would’ve eaten more than those 9 seasons worth of time.
I remember when the Royals won a World Series with Salvador Perez on a ludicrous 5yr/$7m (total, not AAV!) contract, and then ripped it up and negotiated a new extension despite having four more years or bargain basement team control. Hard not to respect that move.
If a given front office had goodwill with the players, maybe it would be easier getting some of the pre arb players locked up, if there is a wink and a nod that if the extension turns out to be *stupid* team friendly, the team is open to renegotiating instead of milking it all the way to the end.
Hey strike while the iron is hot!!
If I were a young player and I didn’t eat up the low minors like Casas didn’t or for that matter Mayer or Yorke didn’t then I would suggest a long term deal too. The problem is most of the long term decisions are made long ago.
Devers was deemed the future of the Red Sox at age 16 while attending the Dominican Academy by the top Dominican scout. The Academy and the Red Sox have had an ongoing relationship every since and that’s why a butcher gets to play 3B when he’s not qualified to. Boston ownership made a commitment to the Dominican Baseball program and that included giving Devers special treatment. They wanted him to be the next Papi but like many have stated, Devers has no personality for it like Papi.
Think about it. Papi was kicked to the curb by Minnesota and fought his way to glory. That’s a sign of character. He moved to the US and felt obliged to learn English to communicate with his team mates rather than forcing his team to get a bi-lingual crap manager.
Devers is selfish in his play, he obviously cares about himself more than the team since he won’t admit he can’t play 3B and his personality is one of a spoiled brat, which he is thanks to the deal with the Dominican Baseball Academy.
Devers’ immaturity will continue to keep him from being a leader but he will be given that position rather than earn it. He’s a spoiled child that has been given everything in his career. When you have score keepers calling balls he misses that hit his glove and he didn’t even have to move a base hit, you ARE the golden child.
Somebody in the front office needs to figure out that the spoiled rich kid isn’t going to have the heart to lead anyone to anything. It’s the guys that have to work for it that become the leaders. I hope a guy like Dalbec suddenly gets hot and becomes the leader of the ballclub because unlike Devers he’s faced enormous adversity. He’s had a guy behind him deemed the starter at his position even though the guy didn’t do much in the minors. He’s had two of the highest half seasons of power in the history of Red Sox baseball but he’s considered a worthless bum by so many. Give me a Dalbec over a Devers any day from a leader standpoint. Maybe he won’t hit well enough to make it but at least fans can see what heart it takes to keep plugging when the politics and manager are against you. While I’m at it a quick shout out to Chavis and Benny as well. Three guys who all got raw deals from Cora.
I’m reminded of a Buck Schowalter ‘ism’.
“When looking for a Rose, don’t overlook an Orchid.”
Dever’s ain’t a Rose…but his Elite offense (at his age) is an Orchid.
O’s – Devers offense will be put to a test this year. None of the DD guys surrounding him could make for a very long year. Since Devers isn’t the most mature young man, lets count the tantrums when things don’t go his way in 2023 when there is no Bogey, JD or even Vazquez to protect him.
If he flourishes in 2023, I’ll admit he’s an all-star level hitter but he’s still a bad HS third baseman defensively.
Did Devers hit on your girl or something?
Rsox – He tried but he misplayed it. The score keepers didn’t give him an error though and he ran far to get her so his range improved!!!
How else do you remind a talented top prospect know he’s expendable? Float his name in trade talks and when it gets leaked, he gets a reality check, even if trade offer isn’t entertained — or possibly even true.
Fast forward a few weeks: Tristan, are you interested in an extension trading off some FA years for more guaranteed cash?
Who loves ya, baby?!
Man you know the hot stove is ice cold when this is all we got. Okay favorite fantasy lineup of players who played on another team besides the one you root for that you’ve watched over the years. Go!
C Yadier Molina
1b Derek Lee
2b Jose Vidro
3b Longoria
SS Barry Larkin
LF Garrett Anderson
CF Edmunds
RF Vlad
UTIL Chone Figgins
SP Mark Buehrle
CL Billy Wagner
I’ve got to think about that one too hard, and, I bet I’m going to forget where this was to give my list.
There’s some guys who had a very short career but were fun to watch just because of how they played. So it’s hard to pick between best career, best average season, or, cherry pick their best 2-3 year window… why do I mention those qualifiers? Grady Sizemore was one of those what-ifs before it was just endless injuries and he never made it back, starting around the groin pull and balky elbow
Please remember this non-committal comment in 3-4 years, when hindsight will make it obvious what the Red Sox shouldve done.
More recently: Jarren Duran-Duran? He will be lucky to make the club heading North.
There’ll be a new moon on Monday.. See how he does then before making any hasty decisions.
Lucky? His main competition for a bench/platoon CF role at this point looks like NRI Raimel Tapia. Maybe Valdez could force his way into the mix, but he is at a disadvantage because he can’t fake it in CF, and also has no prior MLB experience.
They’re not going to break camp without a lefty bat on the bench, and with all three RHB Duvall, Kike, Arroyo starting full time. Duran’s got a pretty decent shot at a roster spot.
Would be fun to your favorite non all stars too. Give me Mike Gallego and Spike Owen man I g my middle infield any day!
C – Yadi
1B/DH – Raffi Palmeiro/Frank Thomas
2B – Mike Young
SS – Trea Turner
3B – Nolan Arenado
LF – Matt Holiday
CF – Byron Buxton
RF – Barry Bonds
UTL – (pass)
SP – Max Scherzer
CP – A. Chapman
C – Buster
1B/DH – John Olerud/Gates Brown
2B – Felix Millan
SS – Mark Belanger
3B – Manny Machado
LF – Boots Day
CF – Kevin Kiermaier
RF – Carmen Fanzone
UTL – Mike Trout
SP – Christy Mathewson
CP – C. .Carroll
C Ivan Rodriguez
1B Mark McGwire
2B Roberto Alomar
3B Chipper Jones
SS Ozzie Smith
LF Rickey Henderson
CF Ken Griffey Jr.
RF Vladimir Guerrero Sr.
DH Edgar Martinez
Util Mark McLemore
SP Randy Johnson
CP Trevor Hoffman
The kid is open to an extension as a Sept. call up. Well done let’s just extend double AA guys while we are at it
Sounds like the Future Face of the Franchise after Devers retires
I’m a Casas fanboy. I get John Olerud vibes about him.
Devers probably retired the day he signed for $331mil.
Let’s see how he’s doing after the All-Star Break and if he makes it physically without being sent back to AAA for more seasoning. He may have been traded by then.
slow news day.
10 years/120 million plus two option years this kid is going to be great! This kid has a strong track record!
Agree maybe a tad early but it looks like they learned from Mookie andXman ( or they see how Houston has done it past 5-8 years…) Tampa runner up
Forget it kid, Devers had to beg for 5 years
The MLBPA should be sued for not properly advising players like Acuna and Albies. The money they are losing on these deals is more than most players probably make in their careers. While i get the FA and arb years, i see arb year guys making 20 mill so albies at 35 for 7 is absurdly low. If i were Albies i would never play hurt. Why risk making real money 5 years down the road. Acuna should be a 30 mill a year guy but at least his contract is a little stronge.
There is a big difference between the deals the Braves have made and the situation with Tristan Casas. The braves got a way longer look at their players then the BoSox did with Casas. There is quite a bit more risk with giving Casas an extension this early. If the BoSox do end up offering him one they could possibly get him for even cheaper than the braves deals since he hasn’t proven himself yet. A huge risk but a potential huge return.
If casas wants a deal this year give him something like 6yrs,15m total. He isn’t even hitting .200, and, bloom likes the lowball offer.
Add some team options and it makes sense. Otherwise, there is no point if they don’t buyout free agent years.
Is this a joke? 220 AB’s or so with with very little success and people are throwing extension talk out there. Freaking media
Of course he is open to extension talks. There is no downside for a player in extension talks like this. Even if he “leaves money on the table” all that means is he will have been successful enough in the majors to sign another more lucrative contract later on.
The games I did see him play last year, OOF! Sure he has power but he screams Chris Davis to me. I wouldn’t trust Casas with anything but bridge contracts or move him asap while his value is high.
Whoa big fella. Produce exponentially in your first full season then start talking extension.
Blah blah blah Bloom blah blah blah Cora blah blah blah Astros blah blah blah trash cans blah blah blah OPS blah blah blah WAR blah blah blag defense metrics blah blah blah strikeouts blah blah blah Bogaerts blah blah blah Henry blah blah blah Boston media blah blah blah trolls blah blah blah NFL blah blah blah kurtosis. Kurtosis?
Oh, and the brilliant idea that the Red Sox signed Devers to avoid a fan revolt.
@whyhayzree
Don’t forget blah blah blah Mookie Betts
Of course he is. Why wouldn’t he be open to extension talks. He hasn’t done anything yet.
18 years/$810M
We havent seen more than a month of play from him yet and he wasn’t setting the league on fire that month either. Pump the brakes guys. If he has a full productive season then it would be prudent to discuss something but certainly not this early.
Sox fans: are you guys worried at all about his lack of power numbers in the minors? Any insight on his development?
Sodo, I, for one, am not concerned. I like to look at iso power numbers more then straight home runs. He’s a very patient hitter with a very advanced plate approach including a true two strike approach. Sodo what I think happens is once big league pitchers determine they can’t get him to chase they will come in with more strikes and his power numbers will increase. He wouldn’t be the first guy that his home run numbers blossomed at the big level. He’s a big guy with tons of raw power. The concern I have for Casas is his propensity to get injured he looked a little big to me at the end of the season so losing a few pounds should help him stay healthy.
Come on Bruin102…the guy looked lost at the plate in his appearances vs the Yankees…he played at the end of the season which is no solid positive how he’ll potentially play in a full regular season regardless of his minor league credentials…….he may or may not be the second coming of Yaz….or he may be nothing more than Dalbec……but in 76 at bats we’re actually taking about an extension?
Rocky, we’re talking it for entertainment purposes because A) the rest of the offseason has stunk so badly; B) there isn’t much to get excited for about ST or the season at this point based on what the front office has done (and failed to do); and C) there’s not much going on in baseball land
I seem to remember him hitting a home run in Yankee stadium and walking a ton. He may of not got that many hits but I seem to remember him getting on base a lot hardly lost at the plate he simply will not chase.
Rocky you had me second guessing my memory of those games but looking back he was on in 9 of 16 plate appearances against the Yankees including a home run hardly lost at the plate.
Bruin, I’m not going to say he was lost at the plate, he wasnt, but, remember, last year Yankees stadium was getting those 2021 juiced balls, that won’t happen again. So the hrs you’re thinking of, those were a fly collision in the air from failing to get out of the park with the juiced baseballs. Watch the replays on baseball savant. If it was 2022 baseballs, or, the expected 2023 version those balls would’ve fallen in.
Yea he still walked a ton his obp was huge in that series I will admit he struck out quite a bit as well.
…the guy looked lost at the plate in his appearances vs the Yankees…
==================================
Rocky, I assume that was sarcasm because he absolutely destroyed the Yankees last year.
More worried about his results against lefties than his power.
This is a great article about how neither the player or team have expressed any interest in a long term deal. Nothing at all has transpired. How fascinating.
I read a similar story the other day about how it wasn’t windy.
I mean let’s be real they aren’t going to extend Casas yet he’s playing for the league minimum this year. I am a big fan of Casas. I think he will have a big year this year his profile is the kind that will be better as a big leaguer then he was in the minors. I think he benefits from the better umpiring in the big leagues. I can’t tell you how many times he got rung up in games with his bat on his shoulder on balls that were clearly off the plate. If he has the kind of season I think he will have he will start a little slow as he continues to adjust but by the end of the season he will obviously be an extension candidate. It would be premature at this point remember Bloom has already done an extension with Whitlock buying out his arm years and getting two option year by doing this so maybe after this season we can talk a similar extension. Just enjoy watching him he has a very advanced approach he’s a very cerebral hitter.
“Arb”
Way too soon for extension talks. He needs to show what he’s got this year first.
“No. None whatsoever,” Casas told Bradford. “I haven’t thought about it. Nobody has approached me about it. And my representatives have never even mentioned it to [Red Sox GM Chaim Bloom] or anyone in the front office. I’m just focused on playing this year and we’ll see where it goes. It it happens, it happens. I would love to stay in Boston the rest of my life. I love the city in the little taste I’ve got of it. I don’t know anywhere else and I don’t want to. We’ll see what happens in a couple of years. Hopefully we get something done, but if we don’t we’ll go from there.”
Those of us blessed with reading comprehension can conclude this:
There is absolutely NOTHING about an extension here!
ONLY that he would love to spend his career playing for the Red Sox.
Holy freaking cow, this is embarrassing for every English reading human being on the planet if this cannot be figured out form this quote. Good Lord.
audacy.com/weei/sports/red-sox/triston-casas-hasnt…
Listen to the interview.
Fine, call me out. Nothing like spoiling a good rant. Thanks, by the way.
What kind of news are this? It’s based on a question asked to a prospect, next time it will be such or such player open to stay all year on the roster….it’s not around based on a rumor and a rumor starts when both parties are involved on the creation of that rumor. This site is named mlb trade rumors, this type of column doesn’t belong here, why there are 119+ responses, idk.
Maybe, just maybe, he should show he can actually play at the major league level 1st.
Stupid that we’re at this point. Guys who barely play, no proof of either side working on a deal, and just randomly asking about it, and this is “reporting”. You don’t have to sign everyone long term in a split second.
hole – I don’t view these writers as reporters. They relay what others have reported, that’s it. Drew Silva was not interviewing players at MGM.
Such an idiotic leading statement. He doesn’t deserve a extension
Let him prove himself
It had the intended effect. 168 comments on fake news.
It’s ridiculous how many people comment about nothing on this site.
Curt – Congrats, you’re #170
With all due respect, a nothing conversation about the RS is more intriguing that any conversation about hockey and B-ball.
We don’t agree often but I’m with you on this one!!
There was a shortstop born in the Dominican yesterday who is open to an extension.
and I wanna wake up tomorrow in Dua Lipas arms with 5 million $ in my pockets!
Nah. Hopefully it will be needed after next year.
It’s almost like people don’t realize writers need to write something…anything.
Casas is to expensive for the Red Duds to sign these days…. They running a small market payroll full of AAA players that are washed up 2023 will be a major failure. Letting Bogarts and Betts go basically …….
Fantastic Idea I have been suggesting for years! Lock him up! No opt outs early for his security & the teams benefit should he thrive. Do the same with Marcello Mayer. Great idea! Age 23-36 year on Casas.