3:35pm: The Red Sox have now made these moves official, recalling Abreu and placing Duran on the injured list. They also reinstated right-hander Tanner Houck from the IL and optioned lefty Chris Murphy.
10:37am: The Red Sox are planning to promote outfield prospect Wilyer Abreu for his Major League debut, as first reported by Augusto Cardenas. Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe hears the same, reporting that Abreu will be called up to replace Jarren Duran, who’s headed to the injured list following this weekend’s toe injury.
Abreu, 24, was one of two prospects acquired in the trade sending catcher Christian Vazquez from Boston to Houston last summer. The Venezuelan-born outfielder has posted impressive numbers in Triple-A Worcester this season, slashing .274/.391/.539 with 22 homers, 11 doubles, a triple and eight stolen bases (in nine tries). Abreu has walked in an immense 16.3% of his plate appearances while striking out at a manageable 20.1% clip.
FanGraphs and MLB.com both currently rank Abreu 17th among Boston farmhands, while Baseball America tabs him 22nd. The 2023 season has seen a pronounced step forward in terms of power production for Abreu, despite garnering only average ratings on his power in most scouting reports. He’s done that while reducing his strikeout rate by six percentage points over last year’s levels, too, which creates some optimism that he could perhaps elevate his status over the generally projected fourth outfielder.
Abreu is regarded as a disciplined hitter at the plate who can be too selective at times. He runs well enough to handle all three outfield spots but posts impressive stolen-base totals more due to his baserunning acumen than standout raw speed. Abreu has spent more time in the corners than in center this year, but he has more than 1200 career innings in center and could certainly step in at the position for Duran.
As for the 26-year-old Duran, he suffered a toe injury when scaling the wall on a Gleyber Torres home run. He was slated to undergo an MRI to evaluate the extent of the injury, and it seems there was enough concern to at least require a 10-day absence.
The injury puts a halt to a breakout season for the former top prospect. Duran has appeared in 102 games for the Sox, slashing .295/.346/.482 with eight homers, 34 doubles, a pair of triples and 24 steals (in 26 tries). He’s dropped his strikeout rate for the third straight year, now sitting at 24.9% — still higher than average but nowhere close to the alarming 30.7% clip he posted in 2021-22. In doing so, he looks to have seized a long-term spot in the Boston outfield; even with some expected regression in his .381 average on balls in play, Duran’s plus speed, average power and penchant for making hard contact should allow him to remain an above-average offensive contributor. The Sox can control him for five more years beyond the current season.
Hopefully Duran is back after minimum stint on IL. Sox have a hard, but not impossible climb. They need everyone right now
DBH – Right you are! Let’s say for instance they go 12-16 in this brutal stretch of games against very good teams, if they go 9-1 in the other 10 games that would put them an additional 4 games above .500 which should be enough to come close to a WC spot.
But obviously their main competitors would have to do some losing despite much easier schedules.
Realistically, 5 of 7 needed against Houston is needed, I think.
If anyone had told me back in the spring that I would be posting that, I would have called them nuts. I predicted a .500 season at best!
Oops
It hasn’t been a bad year, all told.
DBH – Your prediction is still rock solid. They could lose 10 straight games to HOU, LAD and HOU before going to KC and TB for 6 games.
If it wasn’t for the NYY meltdown in 2023 they would be below .500.!! They are 8-1 vs NY and they are 7 games over .500 after winning 9 of 13 against some of the weakest teams in baseball. Now they are running the gauntlet and play HOU, LAD, HOU, KC, TB and BAL over a 19 games stretch. They are 0-1 so far and this skid could be the worst of the season based on quality of the opponents.
Lets check back after the 19 games and see if over .500 is still happening.
So when Red Sox win, its the other teams “meltdown” that was the reason. But, when they lose, its the Red Sox’s own doing.
Too funny.
The sample size v the NYY is noise, so saying that they would be under .500 except for the NYY is meaningless. Every team will do unexpectedly well against a single team, and unexpectedly poorly against someone else.
@Trollfree. Maybe they implode. But unti then I will remain excited about the playoff hunt for now. It is far more than I expected, so it is a delightful treat!
Joe – What you said is meaningless. Sample size is noise? That makes no sense. A team that is now 6 games over .500 who is 7-1 vs NY is not a team that would have been over .600 without the atrocious performance of the Yankees. Those are irrefutable facts whether you like them or not.
I made no mention of any other teams I simply stated a fact. You are seeking out an argument. Why not add meaningful comments rather than posing losing arguments that don’t change the facts?
DBH – I agree Red Sox fans while Bloom has been GM have had to grasp at any glimmer of success since there has been so little. Just like you, I have hopes for the unlikely to happen but that doesn’t change the fact that they are unlikely.
I just hate the fact that for four years we’ve had to constantly hope rather than having a top flight team like when Bloom arrived that we could count on to be highly competitive. Even when EVERYTHING went wrong in 2019 we still had hopes for the playoffs despite needing to win roughly 10 more game because there were less wildcard spots. A Dombrowski disaster year still had more hope in it than a good Bloom year. That’s the tragedy of what has happened in Boston!!.
We are a big market team that won a Championship and 3 division titles so we shouldn’t have experienced the last four years. Accepting being bad is against my nature. I expect after as long as I waited for them to be good that nobody should have interrupted the excellence like they did.
Is being pragmatic really a bad thing when it comes to setting expectations for Bloom’s teams? I don’t think so.
DBH – They are just 6 games over .500 and still have 26 of 36 remaining against very good teams. If they fall much further out of a WC they will wave the white flag and the losses will accumulate quickly, so you could still be right.
Papelbon just shredded Bloom for calling the team underdogs, he has connections to the clubhouse and knows how the players feel right now. Don’t be surprised if the ugly defense and baserunning gets much worse now.
Clown comment bro. Dropping out of contention by labor day is a bad year for big market teams.
What would you call them? They’ve not even been in the WC slot. Been looking up all year. It’s not an insult unless you’re looking to be insulted.
Did you see (and hear) Verlander tell Cora to eff off last night? It was awesome!!!
Meanwhile Cora has given interviews showing how spineless he is, sucking up to JV in his comments saying he took no offense, it wasn’t meant to be an attack on him when it was said, how great a player JV is, so on so forth.
On most teams with any sort of competitive fire, someone tells any of your guys or coaches to f-off benches clear.
That tells you something about how the players regard him.
GASox – What’s been heard for years is Verlander can’t stand Cora ever since he learned Cora was the main guy responsible for tainting Verlander’s first ring.
I can’t say I blame Verlander, he gets lumped in as a cheater along with everyone else on that team even though he legit pitched his butt off that year.
Trollfree
Many pretenders play with Yankees.
Some played with MFY, when Judge was on an IL.
Red Sox met with Yankees and Judge was on an active roster.
I remember your posts at the beginning of season.
You asserted that Red Sox won’t fight and will appear behind all in a division.
Reality is such, that they now to fight after WC.
Are irrefutable facts.
Oops!!!
Trollfree
A tragedy is this your permanent whining about Bloom on this web-site.
Change a plate!!!
Those are irrefutable facts whether you like them or not.
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The point being is that you can say that about any team. Heck, aren’t you the one that tried to predict a 65-win season based on some analysis showing that they couldn’t beat the NYY?
Just to refresh your memory, they went 1-9 v the NYY in 2020, so you mistakenly assumed they would have bad results v the NYY in 2021. I told you that was statistical noise, but you went ahead with your 65-win projection any way.
Papelbon just shredded Bloom for calling the team underdogs, he has connections to the clubhouse
===========================
What type of connections? Paps has played for the RS in 12 years. I doubt he knows a single person in the clubhouse.
It was awesome!!!
=======================
I’m so happy that you’re taking Verlander’s side.. And totally unexpected (sarc).
What did you think of the RS response? Equally awesome???
Joseph – For at least four years Papelbon was a teammate of two current Red Sox clubhouse guys, and the guys weren’t married at the time therefore you are incorrect.
Joseph – I didn’t hear about the Red Sox response, but thank you for not saying “our” response ;O)
So what did the Red Sox say back to Verlander?
“Porcello’s better”?
“Kate Upton is a Sox fan”?
“Nice butt, pretty boy”?
Tonight Moooooookie finally returns! So exciting, one of the greatest all around players of all-time and a sure HOF’er!! Feel the love!!!!
Duran has been scuffling at the plate a bit lately. If Abreu gets off to a hot start he could actually be a plus over what the team has been getting from Duran recently.
@King. I think we seeing Yoshi, Duran, and Casas getting tired. 1st season for all 3
It’s not so much slowing down. Since the first game against Toronto, which was the second consecutive game Duran hit a HR in, his swing has looked more like it did when he was up last year, with him trying to lift the ball and hit it out. He needs to get back to what he was doing when he first came up this year, making good contact and letting his speed play.
And Casas has cooled from his scorching numbers in July but he still has an OPS over .800 for August so I don’t think he’s hitting any sort of wall. Yoshida definitely is.
I think the pitchers are tired as well. Some of the youngsters haven’t endured a big league schedule before. Just another reason I think the playoff teams will be who they are now, maybe not in that order. The schedule is not favorable to the Sox. These are the teams they’d face in the playoffs.
@ Luckyh. True about the young pitchers. But the entire bullpen is tired from half of a season of bullpen games. As for the playoffs, I think the Sox needed to take 6 of 7 from Houston, Toranto had to keep playing .500 ball, and have a really good October. They have lost the first 2 against Houston and Toronto has won 3 in a row.
The season is lost now, just waiting for the ref to finish counting to 10.
What a difference a day makes
There’s literally no chance, at least logically and almost mathematically. Astros have to win one and they’ll be fine and they already did that. We have to basically surpass both Blue Jays and Mariners and that’s not happening, especially with their schedule.
On another note, I didn’t know who this guy was. His stats are not bad, so let’s hope he can contribute.
I think the AL WC will be as the standings are now. I am a Sox fan and they have been fun to watch and then totally frustrating when they lose against losing teams. We’ve seen many positives though, and hope for the future. I’m good with that. And sweeping the Yanks out of it was certainly a highlight.
Every other team has an easier schedule. We also can’t beat the Astros. They seem to always have our number and are winning tonight. We have to beat tough teams while the M’s just have easy teams. It’s just not in our favor and every good streak we follow up with a bad one. I expect us to be slightly above .500 at season’s end, but there’s no way we get wild card.
And honestly, I still say Tampa Bay wins the division. I think they pass the Orioles.
Doom – If the Franco situation didn’t arise I might agree with you but it looks likes Franco could have some significant problems and not be back this year.
I think NY will get beat up by BAL, TB, TOR and BOS, I think BAL will edge out TB head to head, Both TB and BAL will do equally well beating TOR. So for me, it comes down to TEX. If HOU goes on rampage with so many games vs BOS then HOU probably wins the division, TX gets the 1st WC, TB the 2nd WC and SEA the 3rd WC. TOR will be fourth and then either BOS, LAA. BOS is more likely but I keep hoping LAA makes a run with Trout back.
Aaron Judge missed 42 games for the same injury this year. Only 36 games left in the season. We shall see.
Toe injuries always sound minor, but seemingly take players out of action for weeks and even months.
Especially for a speed guy. Hopefully it is nothing big.
Unless it’s his big toe.
This move probably puts the kibosh on any hope that Rafaela is coming up this year. He would be up today if they were going to promote him
T@Oddball
I expect him to arrive during the Sept callups
Not much reason to put that kind of pressure on him. He’s really been driving the ball down there.
Sinister Joe – Agreed, Rafaela is beginning to be more selective at the plate, but a 40% swing rate is not playable in the MLB. Think Jackie Bradley with a higher strikeout rate. Rafaela will make the MLB, but he did start the year in AA, and he has not had that many AAA at bats.
Abreu has a 16% walk rate (nearly double that of the average player). Last year he walked 114 times (think Wade Boggs), strikes out below MLB average, has a much higher OBP, equal to or greater power potential, and can play all three outfield positions.
Abreu may not acquire enough at bats this year to loose his rookie status, so next year Rafaela and Abreu could be the first pair of outfield starting rookies for the Red Sox since Jim Rice (hall of fame) and Fred Lynn (1975 Rookie of the Year and MVP).
Perhaps they will bring Raffaella up after the Houston series unless Abreu’s left-handed bat shows a power surge that would be helpful for this stretch of tough games. Abreu has been doing well with the Wooooos of late.
Anyone else watch this game and say to yourself, “why is he scaling the wall for a ball 3-4 rows deep?” It seemed extra at the time.
I love Duran! Also excited to see what we have in Wilyer. Houston was apparently high on him.
A lot of players do that, I never understood why. 3-4 rows are fine, but I’ve seen outfielders with one hand on the wall, looking like they were going jump, and the ball would be twenty rows deep.
Only thing I can think of is maybe at some point, in the minors maybe, they didn’t jump only to realize they could have caught it.
He got lambasted for not hustling after a ball last year did he not? I’d say the message was sent to him to go all out after everything. Don’t blame him at all for this.
Oh, I forgot about that! Could be
It wasn’t just “a ball” it was an inside the park GRAND SLAM
I think they brought Abreau up for a couple of reasons one he’s a left handed bat to replace Duran’s and two he will probably give a much more professional at bat he doesn’t chase has a great idea of the strike zone. Rafaela May still get a cup of coffee especially if Boston gets smashed in the next 10 games.
I’m excited to see what Abreu can do in the majors. At the beginning of this year, the Red Sox OF prospects looked bleak. Sure they signed Yoshida but reports were that his defense was below average. With Duran having a breakout season, Rafaela playing exceptional defense, Roman Anthony doing well and now Abreu having a breakout season in the minors, I can see the Red Sox OF being a position of strength going forward. I won’t be surprised if they trade Verdugo this offseason for some pitching depth. The Sox have a great pipeline of IFs who should be coming up soon or already have (Casas). If these young outfielders can make their mark in the majors, the Red Sox future looks bright. They just need to invest in more pitching talent as they do not have many promising pitchers down on the farm.
Excellent comment. I always thought the OF pipeline was weak, especially since I wasn’t a Duran fan. Now it is looking like an above-average pipeline. I was hoping they’d sign Lee from SK this off-season. Now I am not so sure.
@Dorothy. I agreed with in the spring, and I agree with you again. The young guns are looking good. I went into the season not really seeing any promise for even next year. Now i can’t wait until 2024! I haven’t been this hopeful for youth since Betts, Bogey, Bendi, and JBJ. Well, JBJ before he accidentally hit a homerun and instantly thought he was the next Papi.
It should have been ceddane Rafaela. But they don’t want to bring him up because it count asa year less to reach arbitration.
Are they really trying to get into the plsyoffs.
Has nothing to do with it.
Service time is based on total days on mlb roster, not if you played at any point during the season on it.
They chose the guy they felt best fit, given the role to be replaced.
CF is having success, yes. But is also working on his bad habit of chasing anything this side of of the pacific. He is moving forward. No need to rush his learning process when he is on fire, he will be upmwhen the rosters expand, I think.
DBH – I think Ceddane stays in AAA for the rest of their AAA season for 2 reasons
1) as you say, he needs to work on the swing and miss tendency a bit more. He’s made strides, but, theres still more to could do.
2) he needs everyday playing opportunities, not to be a bench piece at this point.
If BOS was holding a wildcard and trying to hold other teams off? Maybe they put a bit more weight on him as a bench piece.
But let’s be honest, it’s been 5 more games, and, they still trail TOR by 3. What’s worse, they trail SEA by 4, and, the tiebreakers.go against BOS.
Head-to-head is tied, and, SEA is +4 better in the AL west than BOS is in the AL east for the second level intradivision tiebreaker. As it sits, BOS needs to win 5 more than SEA over the next 37 to overtake them, a tie wont do it (as of now.) Additionally in how well SEA is playing of late, and, it’s likely too tall a hill to climb.
I agree, GA. They would need to sweep the Astro’s from today on. They don’t need to catch Seattle or Toronto if they knock Houston out. Again, almost impossible, agreed. But… lol
Naturally, Cora wasn’t sending Llovera to Worcester as he should have done. But I’m anxious to see how Abreu looks. He seems like he could be a solid piece of the puzzle.
So Abreu is part of the Vazquez dumping (which was part of the bigger “Get rid of DD’s guys” dumping). When fans of Bloom talk about an improved farm system and they are not referencing the draft choices he made because any GM would have gotten those choices, this DEAL becomes an excellent example of whether Bloom added, subtracted or didn’t change the quality of the farm system.
Abreu – Let’s put some criteria on him for evaluation. When you trade a quality asset like Vazquez so you can play a guy like McGuire you are down grading your MLB team in hopes of improving the farm system and the MLB team eventually.
Can Abreu do that?
1 – Will Abreu beat out Yoshida, Duran or Verdugo for a useful spot in the outfield in 2024 or 2025?
2 – Will Abreu hit MLB pitching so his average is .250 or greater or his OBP is .330 or greater?
3 – WIll his OPS+ for his MLB career be 100 or above?
If this player doesn’t start in the future, doesn’t have an OPS+ of 100 or better and doesn’t provide significant depth as a back-up at the MLB level was the farm system improved, left comparable or downgraded?
Bloom fans see a trade and hope for the best in the future. Bloom detractors ask the questions above to determine if the deal ACTUALLY helped the organization.
Everyone has an opinion so answer the questions above and define the trade for him as a win, loss or tie.
In my opinion, based on the loss of a key clubhouse guy, a leader of the pitching staff and a 109 OPS+ in 2022 this player would need to break into the starting line-up to conclude this was a good deal for Boston. If he never becomes a regular fourth outfielder in the future then it’s a bad deal and if he does become a fourth outfielder for depth then I’d call it a draw because we probably had other OFers with as good or maybe better chances of contributing that might now be in another organization!!
More depth in the farm system is NOT an improvement if the depth doesn’t add value eventually to the MLB team. It’s just a game of changing faces and declaring victory even though it’s not a victory for the organization. That’s the Bloom Way!!!
Honestly, if Abreu can prove to be a good 4th OF option, that frees Ceddane Rafaela up to focus on Short or 3rd. If short, Story to 2nd. That’s a very solid middle infield.
If 3rd, Devers to DH.
That’s a win either way in my book!
But, as you said, that’s a big IF.
DBH – Rafaela is in a bad place because Mayer is the expected SS of the future so if the Boston front office doesn’t change over soon, Rafaela will need to slot in at a different position. That stinks for Rafaela but it’s no different than guys like Chavis, Dalbec and Casas all being better 3Bs than Devers but never getting a shot to win the position. Rafaela won’t ever get slotted at SS while Bloom is the GM.
Getting Devers off 3B would be a huge win for Boston but it’s never going to happen. When you pay scorekeepers to cover up his errors, the hand writing is on the wall, he’s going to stay at 3B no matter how bad he is and he’s the worst in history by far!!
Rafaela plays the majority of his games at CF where he is also elite defensively
Apparently, he didn’t know that?
@Acell10. He is also elite at short. Catch some clips of him if can playing short.
Rafaela is not elite defensively at SS he makes to many careless errors to be elite defensively at short. He can play SS, 3B, 2B but not elite defensively. He is elite defensively as an outfielder. He has extra utility because he can play those other positions in a pinch. He’s really spectacular in center though and has only played there a few years very instinctual.
In that case, Raf to center, Duran to right, Abreu 4th OF, and Dugey to the highway if they bring both up next year.
I would prefer to see Raf start next year at Worchester.
Trollfree14 hours ago
DBH – Rafaela is in a bad place because Mayer is the expected SS of the future so if the Boston front office doesn’t change over soon, Rafaela will need to slot in at a different position. That stinks for Rafaela but it’s no different than guys like Chavis, Dalbec and Casas all being better 3Bs than Devers but never getting a shot to win the position. Rafaela won’t ever get slotted at SS while Bloom is the GM.
_______________________________________
God!!!!
Rafaela 3rd season in succession most matches play in CF ( 224 games for 3 seasons in minor leagues ) because he is an elite defender on this position.
Don’t write nonsense about that him someone blocks.
Rafaela will be CF in 2024.
Mayer got a injury and his development slowed down, think, that 2024 a year he will begin in АА and maybe will get the cup of coffee at year’s end.
Bogie – Take some reading comprehension courses.
Duran is the established CF as of today and someone suggested SS and I pointed out that spot has already been given away.
Seriously, read, comprehend then respond!!
DH: I’ve seen plenty of clips of him at SS. Regardless he’s still an elite center fielder and will be playing there.
Trollfree1 day ago
DBH – Rafaela is in a bad place because Mayer is the expected SS of the future so if the Boston front office doesn’t change over soon, Rafaela will need to slot in at a different position. That stinks for Rafaela but it’s no different than guys like Chavis, Dalbec and Casas all being better 3Bs than Devers but never getting a shot to win the position. Rafaela won’t ever get slotted at SS while Bloom is the GM.
Getting Devers off 3B would be a huge win for Boston but it’s never going to happen. When you pay scorekeepers to cover up his errors, the hand writing is on the wall, he’s going to stay at 3B no matter how bad he is and he’s the worst in history by far!!
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It is you complete post.
_________________________________________________________
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You assert in him, that Rafaela of this front-office blocked on SS by M.Mayer and Ceddane must change position.
I marked that him nobody blocks because :
1) Rafaela doesn’t play in SS constantly (of necessity).
2) Rafaela plays constantly in CF because he is an elite player on this position.
3) Rafaela played 52 games in CF (2021), 16 games in SS (2021) till Mayer was chosen; 92 games in CF (2022), 21 games in SS (2022); 81 games is in CF (2023), 21 games in SS (2023).
It talks about that Ceddanne win in a game in CF purposefully because this his best position.
4) Rafaela Arm 60, Field 70 – Duran Arm 45, Field 50.
Duran has a weak hand.If you look matches must see it.
5) He is the prepared defender in CF for Major League.
Rafaela CF 2024; Duran LF 2024, if won’t exchange for a SP, Verdugo RF 2024, if won’t exchange for a SP, Abreu LF or RF 2024 in dependence who will be exchanged for SP.
Trollfree
Take some publishing comprehension courses.
DBH1969
Story perfectly looks on SS and can do plays.
Story (SS) 2023 – 9g, 80ip, +0.4dwar, +4rdrs, +2 OAA.
I give a small prompt to you.
Whether a player can with 6384.2 inn., +73rdrs, +12dwar, +19 OAA to be bad of defensive SS for a career?
@Bogie. I think you are mistaken my post. I am not throwing shade on Story at all. Rafaela doesn’t play 2nd, so he took an IF position, I would think it is SS. And let’s be honest, Story was awesome at 2nd. Besides, it would be less pressure on his arm.
I think it would be a great middle IF until Mayer arrives in ’25.
DBH1969
Ok.
No problem.
Story was magnificent on the second base in a past season, he perfectly plays on SS in this season – it then what wasn’t enough Red Sox at the beginning of season.
I don’t see problems with the hand of Story and his playing on SS.
I think that to use such resource on SS as Rafaela that plays elite defence in CF not reasonably.
Considering Verdugo is a FA after ’24, and Abreu is under control through at least ’29, as of right now Abreu would have a better shot at Starting in the OF in BOS over Verdugo in ’25, yes.
GASoxFan – You seem very high on this guy. I looked at his numbers and he didn’t come across as a MLB regular in the future.
His best season is in 2023 after six years of not doing anything impressive. Could he suddenly have blossomed? Sure but since he was bad at ROK and Low A, slightly better at A and Hi-A then fell off badly at AA when HOU dumped him and finished AA badly for Boston it is a bit of a surprise that he did well this season at AAA. His .274 average is the best of his minor league career.
Does that project to an every day starter? He better have mad skills at fielding which is questionable and his speed seems to be his one redeeming skill so his AAA focus on power and not speed needs to revert back to AA where he was more of a base stealer. To me he projects to be a JBJ type player with less defensive skills and more stolen base potential.
Just one person’s interpretation of his numbers!!
Also, Verdugo is now the weak link in the outfield since Yoshida can hit and Duran has more skills it’s perfectly fine to me that we lose a league average right fielder after 2024. It’s unfortunate nobody is going to replace him prior to 2025. He’s not a keeper unless he’s willing to take low pay for his league average skills but that seems unlikely with Verdugo’s ego.
I’m neither high nor low on this guy.
Just pointing out that in your analysis you said he needed to be more likely than one of Duran, Yoshida, or Verdugo to start in 2025 if not 2024.
The answer to that is mere control states yes.
To expound further, Boston needs to spend for SP in FA, as bloom is unlikely to pay the prospect cost to trade for it. Extending an OF like Verdugo is not in the cards IMO compared to the SP needs, and, even the RP needs as their recent aging acquisions will also be FAs. There are some young guys who would hopefully continue to thrive in a RP role, but, that only makes the SP needs more glaring.
Trollfree
His best season is in 2023 after six years of not doing anything impressive. Could he suddenly have blossomed? Sure but since he was bad at ROK and Low A, slightly better at A and Hi-A then fell off badly at AA when HOU dumped him and finished AA badly for Boston it is a bit of a surprise that he did well this season at AAA. His .274 average is the best of his minor league career.
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W.Abreu
2019 – .691 Ops 2HR
2021 – .858 Ops 16HR
2022 – .834 Ops 19HR
2023 – .929 Ops 22HR
W.Abreu in 2021 changed going near a dish in behalf on force, that resulted in the greater amount of HR, but this fact did not affect his discipline, he has .360 OBP for the last three seasons.
Also in this season he accomplished 10 assists, that talks about his missile hand.
Interestingly, you when the posts does publish check up information?
Troll-Bogie – Thank you for proving exactly what I said. 2023 was his best year!!
Also you cherry picked the data.
Since arriving in Boston after Houston dumped him he’s done the following:
40 games at AA – .244 (bad) average which indicates he’s not good at putting the ball in play to get on base, .399 OBP (excellent) which means he’s a good walker so he may need to steal first base to get on when he doesn’t walk!!
Four HRs in 40 games translates to 16 over an entire season so power is weak, 8 for 10 on SBs so just as I mentioned, it’s his main strength.stealing bases.
In Portland AA he caught 30 fly balls playing CF, 23 playing LF and 9 in RF where he threw out a runner. Yes 1 runner.
In the Arizona Fall League he caught 13 fly outs made 1 assist and 1 error
His 10 assists you mention in 2023 were mostly from RF (8) like in previous years. So were his 8 errors in RF in the minors on 257 chances so roughly the equivalent of a bad infielder except he’s in the outfield with a fielding percentage of .969!! So he has a strong arm but not much of a defender. He proved that in his first game by creating an error already at the MLB level. But hey he was 1 for 2. If that was a batting average that would be good. Fielding, however, not so much!!
So when you thoroughly reviewed his stats and chose to only mention a good arm but not his bad defense was it an oversight or cherry picking?
So tell me again what was wrong with what I wrote?
1 – 2023 Best Season – YEP that was correct
2 – Bad at ROK and Low A = YEP that was correct
3 – Slightly better A and Hi-A – YEP that was correct
4 – Fell off at AA – YEP that was correct
5 – Bit of surprise he did well at AAA – YEP that was correct
How does listing his OPS without context to which levels it was achieved at prove anything as a rebuttal to what I said? See this is why you simply shouldn’t respond. Innocuous, out of context data does not make any sense. It is meaningless without context. You didn’t even list how many at bats for each year to give the HRs context.
The 2019 OPS proves my point that his ROK and Low A was bad. The .857 which you listed at .858 in 2021 was at Hi-A for Houston. It was better than the previous number just as I stated but it wasn’t good. The .834 for 2022 was comprised of a HOU value of .858 and a BOS value of .774 and it didn’t include the AFL number of .479 which was horrible. That’s why my comment about 2023 being a surprise was in context. Based on what he did in Boston in 2022 he wasn’t looking good so the 2023 higher than usual numbers are a surprise and may not be reflective of a guy who never achieved numbers similar to them prior to 2023.
Players can suddenly blossom and play much higher than they have throughout their careers OR they can have a career year and revert back to their norm. Assuming it’s his new permanent level is very naive.
Time will tell. Again, not sure why you provided such out of context data to refute the FACTS I wrote but clearly they didn’t contradict anything I said.
Trollfree
The same nonsense, I hear whole year, that Wong he can’t be basic catcher.
Wong turns out can be basic catcher. Oops!!!
You are such salt.
GASoxFan
I think that if Abreu well will prove on the field and in a dish, for that time Duran is injury while, then Verdugo rather all will be exchanged in an offseason.
We have a book on Verdugo.
He is a player 106 Wrc+ without force with the improved defence in this season.
I like Dugie, but we need starting rotation and we can develop outfielders.
Therefore trade of Verdugo would be logical.
Trollfree
W.Abreu (OF) AAA 2023 – 80G, 2E, .985 Field %.
I’m not a Bloom fan but Vasquez is having an absolutely brutal year., far worse of a year than Wong or McGuire. HIs OPS+ for Houston last year was 68, this year it’s 66. He has an OPS of .600.
Yuck.
Typical Bloom supporter. Completely unwilling to acknowledge all a player did for DD and the championship teams we enjoyed before Bloom.
Kick a DD guy when he’s down. It’s a Bloom supporter mantra!!
You used to be a lot better at this.
You’re shtick is much more obvious now
Trollfree
Typical Bloom supporter. Completely unwilling to acknowledge all a player did for DD and the championship teams we enjoyed before Bloom.
Kick a DD guy when he’s down. It’s a Bloom supporter mantra!!
__________________________________________________________
Mantra – to give away to all players expensive contracts because they won World Series.
I understand why you protect of Mookie and Bogie, I will agree.
But not sense to protect of Vazquez – he is a washed-up player, 33 Age.
He even in Minnesota of not basic catcher and gets $10 million in a year.
Sinester joe: He was better before. He’s just a bit more unhinged
Kick a DD guy when he’s down.
================================
ROTFLMAO!!!
Vazquez was a Theo guy. He was drafted in 2008. He is not remotely a DD guy.
pretty funny that the guy with name troll free (for now) pretty much does nothing but troll
Acell10 – You really can’t stick with an agreement. WOW!!
Are you Sinister Joe? I apologize I didn’t know that. Unlike you I will honor our agreement to stop commenting on each others comments.
So Acell10 and Sinister Joe are the same person. Got it.
Yes, actually all of the accounts on here other than you are all me.
I was wondering when you’d figure that out.
You have an agreement with people not to comment on each others comments?
You’re very sensitive. Don’t get so wound up.
Nice diversion. Didn’t work!!
you trolls are getting worse if A) you think we came to any kind of agreement regarding posting and B) you think Sinister and I are the sam person.
Icon – I ignored the first 1000 erroneous comments. Now I try to get deals with the trolls to reduce the wasted space on each article but they are relentless.
It has nothing to do with sensitivity. Is hating gnats a sensitivity issue? NOPE.
Acell10 – Trolls have no honor so keeping agreements shouldn’t be expected from you. You have the freedom to be as immature as you choose to be and you choose to be very immature not addressing baseball issues just addressing the writer instead. Anonymity makes people like you far braver than you are in real life!!!
What do you mean “they”?
We’re all the same person.
I wasn’t responding to you in the first place trolled. I was responding to sinister. Further I’m not a childish coward that had to change his name several times just because no one would agree with me. And if you just stuck to your own standards by not being a and only commented on baseball I’m sure you’d be sightly less miserable.
As far as agreements go I don’t make them with cowardly, childish, hypocrites who can’t hold themselves to their own standard.
Icon: no one made any agreements. he just made it up.
Sinister_joe
You hurt feelings Trollfree.
Don’t offend his favourite catcher that aspires to HOF!!!
Lol!!!
Trollfree
_So Abreu is part of the Vazquez dumping (which was part of the bigger “Get rid of DD’s guys” dumping). When fans of Bloom talk about an improved farm system and they are not referencing the draft choices he made because any GM would have gotten those choices, this DEAL becomes an excellent example of whether Bloom added, subtracted or didn’t change the quality of the farm system.
____________________________________________________________________
Wilyer begins to add a value – compared an count in 5th inn. 4:4 and caught a not simple ball at the beginning of 9th inn. in a yesterday’s game. Oops!!!
WOW – The Pied Piper of the TROLLS did it again!!! Even JoeB who I thought matured past that type of childish BS chimed in. The Red Sox must have won because that brings out the Bloom apologists EVERY TIME!! hahaha.
Bogie you should end all your comments with OOPS!!! hahahahaha
Trollfree
Very ironically that an user with the nickname of Trollfree names other users trolls.
Joe Brady specified to you on a mistake, when you wrote that Vazquez is a fellow of Dombrowski.
Also, I before specified to you on a mistake, when you wrote that Duran was drafted in the 1 Round.
You in any way didn’t react is once again confirms a that fact that you don’t acknowledge the mistakes.
P.s.
W.Abreu yesterday followed by the count of 4 for 5, HR, 2B, Walk, 4RBI.
С.Wong 4 for 6, HR, 2B, 2RBI.
A.Verdugo 4 for 7, HR, 2RBI.
Excellent game of fellows of Bloom.
I know that very angers you when the fellows of Bloom achieve success.
Lol!!!!
Bogie – This is why you and JoeB take so much flack in responding to comments. You don’t read them carefully. I called Vazquez a DD guy meaning he was on the team when DD stepped down and the GM spot was given to the guy who destroyed the team. I never suggested he drafted him that was all in JoeB’s head because that’s his bizarre interpretation of what was said and of course you completely agreed so that speaks volumes to why you two get along so well.
Point 2 – I never said Duran was drafted in the first round. Was that from a different article and another misread comment? The subject of this article is a Bloom pick-up and whether he’s any good or not.
This goes back to your reading comprehension issues. I said Casas and Houck were first round picks. So that’s 2 mistakes that didn’t happen.
The rest of your ramble is incomprehensible. Try a writing class so we can understand why you list data about Wong and Verdugo that is completely out of context and write “Excellent game of fellows of Bloom”.
What game? When? Fellows of Bloom? Is that a new group?
“I know that very angers you when the fellows of Bloom achieve success”
In English the sentence should have been
“it is my misguided belief as Bogie that you get angry when guys acquired by Bloom have success”
See that I would have understood because it’s written in proper English.
Bogie – your trolling ways don’t bother me, they just give me an unending opportunity to make fun of how poorly you write, how poorly you understand the game of baseball and how incredibly immature you are. Thank you for the entertainment!!! hahaha
Trollfree
Trollfree3 days ago
Typical Bloom supporter. Completely unwilling to acknowledge all a player did for DD and the championship teams we enjoyed before Bloom.
Kick a DD guy when he’s down. It’s a Bloom supporter mantra!!
_____________________________________________________
Godness!!!
It is your post word for word.
Where here does speech go about other manager?
That with you not so?
Trollfree
Point 2 – I never said Duran was drafted in the first round. Was that from a different article and another misread comment? The subject of this article is a Bloom pick-up and whether he’s any good or not.
This goes back to your reading comprehension issues. I said Casas and Houck were first round picks. So that’s 2 mistakes that didn’t happen.
_______________________________________________________________
It is your post word for word.
Pay attention to the second indention.
_____________________________________________________________
Trollfree2 weeks ago
Bogie – I guess I missed the context yet again. Normally, people list their point and back it with data. Your data suggests next to nothing spent on draft picks that haven’t panned out yet but overlooks all the ones that have.
Check EVERY TEAM during the 2010s and how many hits like Casas, Duran and Houck have been made by GMs selecting at the end of the first round. Sure Houston did great with a bunch of early picks created from tanking but check the other teams and show me someone whose had more picks that turned into all-stars during the 2010s or narrow it down to Dombrowski’s four drafts if you only want to rag on DD.
Here are the first picks of the DD years:
2016 –
BOS – 12th pick HS SP Jason Groome (often injured)
TB – 13th pick HS 3B Justin Lowe
HOU – 17th pick HS SP Forest Whitley (often injured)
NYY – 18th pick HS OF Blake Rutherford
TOR – 21st pick – College SP TJ Zeuch
BAL – 27th pick – College SP Cody Zedlock
The first round of the 2016 draft produced no perennial all-stars. TB arguably got the best player of the six teams listed.
2017 –
TB – 4th pick College SP/1B Brendan McKay
HOU – 15th pick College SP JB Bukauskas
NYY – 16th pick College SP Clarke Schmidt
BAL – 21st pick HS SP DL Hall
TOR – 22nd pick – College SS Logan Warmoth
BOS – 24rd pick – College SP Tanner Houck
Hunter Greene and Mackenzie Gore went on the 2nd and 3rd picks and may be the best two players in the 2017 first round. Rasmussen was taken as a supplemental pick by TB late in the round and is probably the best player.
Please note Houck was the best of the six team being compared.
2018 –
BAL – 11th pick – HS SP Grayson Rodriguez
TOR – 12th pick – HS SS Jordan Groshans
TB – 16th pick – HS SP Matthew Libertore
NYY – 23rd pick – HS C Anthony Siegler
BOS – 26th pick – HS 3B Tristan Casas
HOU – 28th pick – College OF Seth Beer
Casey Mize, Alec Bohm and Logan Gilbert are three of the best players in the first round of this draft and Casas is right there with them. As per usual, TB had supplemental picks and chose Shane McClanahan the best of all the first round picks.
2019 –
BAL – 1st pick – College C Adley Rutschman
TOR – 11th pick – College SP Alek Manoah
TB – 22nd pick – College SS Greg Jones
NYY – 3oth pick – HS SS Anthony Volpe
HOU and BOS had no first round picks.
This was one of the deepest drafts and BAL and TOR did extremely well with their early picks. The Yankees did well at 30th with Volpe.
So look at the data above and you will see Dombrowski outdrafted the 5 key competitors during the first round of the drafts he participated in for Boston.
Listing fliers after the first round as examples of his draft is silly. Their money was incosequential as was their contribution just like EVERY other team. Your point was pointless but nice job on the research!!
________________________________________________
Check EVERY TEAM during the 2010s and how many hits like Casas, Duran and Houck have been made by GMs selecting at the end of the first round.
Great job by Llovera against the Astros. Nice move, Alex. Keep your boy and send down a far better pitcher.
Ya nice error lol
There needs to be serious thought to the Red Sox defense this off-season.
The reality is the left side of the defense is manned by DH’s. Those guys are costing games defensively. I don’t know what you do one of those guys has to play a position defensively and there both really bad. The problem is one of them you are going to pay 30 million a year to starting next year and the other was your splashy signing this last offseason. I just don’t see a way you can be a truly elite team with those guys butchering it so bad defensively on the left side.
It is time to move Devers to DH. Instead of thinking that he’d be getting 30 mils to play DH, think of as 15 mil to DH and another 15mil NOT to play 3rd!
DBH – OUTSTANDING!!! The albatross contract is already around the neck of all future GMs so unless some foolish team is will to pay over $30MM for a DH Boston will be stuck with him for a decade or DFAing him after about 5 or 6 years and eating the money.
Trollfree
Goodness, give an interruption!!!
To name 26- summer player by an albatross that stably proposes 130 Wrc+ every year.
Have a drink pills from the silliness
@Trollfree. I honestly have no problem paying Dever 30 a year. I support saving big money for home grown talent. I think players playing for 1 organization for an entire career is a good thing, for play e rs, fans, and mlb in general.
Devers is going to give us 30+ homers and 100+ RBI for the next decade. I am good with that.
DBH – I have a problem with it, and I’ll tell you what it is:
Mookie is getting paid $25M this year and $30M each of the next 4 years.
Now compare Mookie’s all-around stellar production and elite multi-position glove to Devers, who is strictly a good hitter and nothing more.
I think there will be a few not-so-nice chants directed at Bloom and Henry this weekend, and rightfully so!!!!
Bogie – This is the problem you create on this site. Bruin1012 makes a great comment that leads to another great comment by DBH and then I respond applauding both comments and you come along and write a comment that is neither proper English nor providing any context to your thought.
You throw in a 130 Wrc+ that you can’t explain because it’s an estimation not a fact and here is the formula that is supposed to mean something to baseball fans:
wRC+ = (wRAA/P A) + (LgR/P A) + (LgR/P A – (Park Factor * LgR/P A))
divided by
(AL or NL wRC/P A excluding Pitchers)
MULTIPLIED BY 100!!! hahaha
Crystal clear and meaningful to a guy who can’t write accurately in English.
Want me to actually translate this so you can understand what it means?
Its an estimation of player value based on many inaccurate assumptions.
Bad assumptions include:
1 – The estimate that attributes how many runs a player is worth to his team
2 – Park normalization
3 – Weighted on Base Average
4 – Weighted on Base Average Scale
5 – Who to exclude in the calculation (only pitchers chosen)
An individual or a company makes all these assumptions and they are guesses not facts. The actual number would change if any of the assumptions were reviewed by another party who has different insights into what is happening in baseball that year.
Any time you weight numbers you build in assumptions which turns a fact into an estimation.
So Devers can have 130 wRC not Wrc every year and it might be calculated differently each year as the metrics people fine tune their formulas and estimates. Tell me, Is that meaningful?
Nope it’s just an estimate after the fact.
The irony of using fake stats like wRC is that real numbers like BA, OBP, SLG all exist as true facts. So if you are suggesting Devers will have a OBP of .350 every year or a SLG of .500 every year then we could track it easily. As of now, wRC is an evolving estimate and tracking something that might vary going forward makes it seem like you are trying to hit a moving target!
OPS+, wRC+ and many other estimates are used frequently by people who don’t comprehend what they are – GROSS ESTIMATES. They are not facts like batting average or on base percentage but it is cool for the unknolwedgeable fan to throw them about as if they know what they are talking about.
How about using simple concepts? Will Devers average the following for the next 10 years:(2024 thru 2033)
100 Runs scored
100 RBIs
35 HRs
.280 or better BA
.350 or better OBP
.500 or better SLG
Those numbers can justify $31MM per year but he would also have to field at a league average level to not subtract money for his inabilities with the glove.
Devers won’t match those numbers until 2033!! He’ll be lucky to make those numbers until 2030 when he is 33 years old!!
FYI….
Career Numbers for Devers for years 2017 to 2022 (6 year career)
R – 34, 59, 129, 32, 101 and 84
RBI – 30, 66, 115, 43, 113, 88 and 88
HR – 10, 21, 32, 11, 38 and 27
BA – .284, .240, 311, .263, 279 and .295
OBP – .338, .298, 361, .310, .352 and .358
SLG – .482, 433, .555, .483, .538 and .521
So far in his career he’s met the threshold for earning $31MM per year as follows:
Runs Scored – 2 of 6 years
RBIs – 2 of 6 years
HRs – 1 of 6 years
BA – 3 of 6 years
OBP – 3 of 6 years
SLG – 3 of 6 years
Since 2020 only consisted of 60 games the above cumulative numbers should be based on 5 years but the BA, OBP and SLG stay at 6.
So far in 2023 with roughly 40 games left (1/4 of season) Devers has
R – 72 (projects to 96) needs 28 Runs to meet the criterion so it’s possible
RBI – 88 (projects to around 120( needs 12 RBIs – should exceed criterion
HR – 29 (projects to around 40) needs 6 – should exceed criterion
BA – .272 (needs to raise average 8 points to meet criterion)
OBP – .345 (needs to raise OBP by 15 points to meet criterion)
SLG – .519 (currently above criterion needs to stay above)
So here is the good news. Boston’s OVERPAY starts in 2024 so the criteria I presented doesn’t need to be met in 2023. Devers is only costing Boston $17.5 MM versus the CAP in 2023. That is a fair price for him even if you subtract money for his horrific defense!!! (16 errors counted and at least 32 misplays not counted as errors!!)
The contract should have been 6 years at $25MM totaling $150MM not 10 years for $31 MM per year. MASSIVE, MASSIVE albatross contract. It will make Bogaerts look like a good one in SD!!
Trollfree
Bla bla bla bla …..
R.Devers
2021 – 134Wrc+
2022 – 141Wrc+
2023 – 130Wrc+
You name a player by albatross, that the last three years proposes numbers on 30 percents higher than middle player.
You can’t be so salt.
@@ Fever, you are Linda making my point. I would have gladly paid Betts, and Devers, and Bogey (not 400 mils Bogey, but 300 mils Bogey).
The biggest difference in these rates is when they went to FA. Like I said, bro. Save the big money for home grown talent.
@at Troll, you may end up being right. My point of view is coming from the near hyper inflation in contracts we are seeing. 50mils for Otani still on the table with an effing TJ surgery on the horizon. Heck, 20 mils may be league min I. 5 years lol
Where the heck did “linda” come from???? I didn’t type that
DBH – I completely agree with you! Mookie basically replaced Ortiz as the face of the franchise, a New England icon that should have spent his entire career in Boston just like Larry Bird and Bill Russell and Tom Brady (I know he left, but not until his 40’s).
I get the Sox felt they had no choice but to sign Devers after Mookie and Xander were forced out, but it never should have come to that. Sox were cheap in not extending a counteroffer to Mookie, and as it turns out they are paying almost as much for a player who is inferior to Mookie. It’s just frustrating. Mookie is a revenue generating machine, something Devers is not. People come to watch Mookie not only hit, but play the field and run the bases. Nobody comes to watch Devers play 3B and run the bases, except for the few people involved in making instructional videos on what NOT to do when playing the field and running the bases.
DBH – If I was really Linda Pizzuti, trust me I’d be doing a lot better things with my time than posting on a baseball board. LOL!!!
I’m pretty sure you meant to type “kinda” ;O)
There needs to be serious thought to the Red Sox defense this off-season.
==========================
Yup, it is not good. But the alignment makes it difficult to change much right now. My guess is that Ceddanne forces Duran to LF, which forces Yoshida to DH. And Mayer forces Story back to 2nd. It won’t make us good, but it will make us better.
In 2024 everyone is back except Duvall , Paxton and maybe Turner if they don’t work out his option. So unless they can make some creative trades the “D’ will be the problem. They will need to sign Paxton or another solid SP. Urias is a possible non-tender. Duvall, Kluber & Mondesi free up about 19MM.
Joe – For once I agree with you, the team was very poorly constructed by Bloom with no consideration for fundamentals such as defense and baserunning.
By acknowledging Bloom’s poor judgement and Cora’s awful managing, you are making great strides. I am very happy to see that my friend.
i can’t remember a team defense this bad. devers and yoshida are killing you guys in the field
dasit – Haven’t seen Casas play first base, have you?
A could of points here:
1) Trevor Story is still an above average SS, so if Mayer takes another full season to develop, the Sox are good @ SS so long as Story can remain healthy in 2024.
2) Raffy will eventually be moved off of 3B, but it won’t be in 2024. Playing next to Story will be helpful for Raffy since Story can get to balls in the gap that their former SS’s couldn’t reach. He will call Raffy off and make these tough plays rather than having Raffy try to extend his range and throw on the run, resulting in an error.
3) if Rafaela can play a full season in 2024, it will improve their defensive ratings a lot. Casas will get better at 1st base (he was an adequate 3B, just didn’t have a lot of range). The key position for next year will be 2B. If they can find someone to play slightly above average D at the keystone can hit over 100 OPS, this team has a real chance to improve its team DEF significantly and it’s overall play.
4) The Red Sox need to add at least 2 legitimate starting pitchers this offseason. If they are going to spend money in free agency, it has to be on starting pitchers. Both Martin & Jansen are signed through 2024 and they already have some young pieces in the bullpen who are doing well, so while they may add a reliever or two, the bulk of their spending has to be on starting pitching.
5) DH/Bench – Even if Rafaela makes the team
And Abreu makes the team as a 4th OF, I still think it’s important for Boston to re-sign one of Justin Turner or Adam Duvall for next season. My preference would be JT but he’ll be 39 next season and may be looking for a 2+ year deal. That could be too much, but Duvall should take another 1 year deal at a reasonable price.
The bottom line is this. If Boston can significantly improve its pitching, they have a real shot of winning 90-96 games next season. That will get them in the playoffs for sure and possibly a division title. I’d like to see Bloom get one more season (2024) to complete his ‘rebuild’. There is a lot of positive momentum with this team right now, even if they miss the playoffs this season.
Dorothy_Mantooth
Agree with you, good plan.
I would exchange of Duran for SP while he has a value maybe would fasten on the transaction of Dalbec, some prospect from top -10 and lottery ticket.
Would do suggestion of Verdugo – 3/$12m or 4/$12m with a refuse after 3th year.
2024:
Yoshi/Abreu LF Rafaela CF Verdugo RF