TODAY: Hernandez and the Red Sox have “been discussing potential contract parameters” but no formal offer has been made, the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes. The team’s “engagement with Hernandez picked up” after Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed with the Dodgers, as the Sox had been one of the other suitors monitoring Yamamoto’s market.
DECEMBER 22: The Red Sox and Angels are both showing interest in outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Hernandez’s market has been fairly quiet since the offseason started last month, as slugger Shohei Ohtani dominated the positional market for much of the offseason to this point while the outfield market has seen most of its activity come from trades, with players like Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, and Jarred Kelenic changing hands.
Hernandez, 31, is coming off a down season at the plate during which he slashed just .258/.305/.435 (105 wRC+) as a member of the Mariners. With that being said, the slugger still managed to crush 26 home runs last season and entered 2023 with a whopping .283/.333/.519 slash line since the start of the 2020 campaign. That slash line is good for a 133 wRC+, tied with Austin Riley for the 20th best figure in the majors across the 2020-22 seasons. With a stable, above-average offensive floor and a tantalizing, All Star-caliber ceiling, Hernandez ranked 12th on MLBTR’s annual Top 50 MLB free agents list, where we projected him for a four-year, $80MM contract.
Either team is a fairly plausible fit for Hernandez. The Angels have a fairly healthy outfield mix that features superstar Mike Trout in center field with Taylor Ward and Mickey Moniak as the club’s top corner options, backed up by the likes of Jo Adell and Luis Rengifo. That being said, Rosenthal also reports that Rengifo, Ward, and Moniak are all garnering trade interest from other clubs. Moving even one of those players could provide an open for Hernandez to take a corner outfield spot on an everyday basis. Even if the club decides not to move on from any of the bats currently in its outfield mix, the addition of Hernandez and his reliable 25 to 30 home run power would go a long way to replacing the 44 dingers Ohtani smacked this past season.
As for Boston, the club shipped Verdugo to the Bronx earlier in the offseason before replacing him with Tyler O’Neill in a trade with the Cardinals. That leaves the club with O’Neill, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Rob Refsnyder to mix-and-match with alongside Masataka Yoshida, who figures to split time between left field and DH on a daily basis next season. While O’Neill and Duran both have everyday potential and a youngster such as Abreu or Ceddanne Rafaela could emerge as a quality option, adding a reliable bat to the outfield could provide a major boost to a Red Sox offense that lost Justin Turner and Adam Duvall to free agency last month. Boston’s hitting corps posted a middle-of-the-pack 99 wRC+ last season and Hernandez’s power potential could be a catalyst for a club that generated just 63 home runs from its outfield mix in 2023, the seventh-worst figure in the majors.
As Rosenthal notes, Boston appears to be focused on acquiring a front-of-the-rotation starter at the moment. The Angels, meanwhile, were connected to reigning NL Cy Young award winner Blake Snell recently and have reportedly been aggressive on the trade market in hopes of upgrading their pitching staff. Even as run prevention appears to be the priority of both clubs headed into 2024, that’s unlikely to preclude either club from adding a bat of Hernandez’s caliber. Roster Resource projects the Angels for a 2024 payroll $62MM lower than their 2023 figure, while the Red Sox project for a payroll $67MM under their all-time high payroll (per Cot’s Baseball Contracts) of just over $236MM. That should leave both organizations with plenty of payroll room for both Hernandez (whose aforementioned contract projection from MLBTR carries an average annual value of $20MM) and a front-end starter such as Snell or Jordan Montgomery, to say nothing of the availability of cheaper options like Dylan Cease and Shane Bieber on the trade market.
Of course, Hernandez is hardly the only right-handed bat of note who either club could look to add this offseason. That being said, other options such as Turner, Jorge Soler, J.D. Martinez, and Rhys Hoskins all seem likely to require regular use of the DH slot. While that doesn’t appear to be a problem for the Angels, who have previously been connected to Martinez this offseason, the Red Sox seem poised to rotate between bat-first players like Yoshida, Rafael Devers, and Triston Casas at DH. The acquisition of any of these alternative bats would likely force Boston to play all three of those players in the field on a nearly everyday basis, complicating their defensive outlook significantly.
When we get our starter pitchers?
Get him to Fenway! He can pull the crap out of the ball. And not much ground for him to cover in right. Put him next to Devers 4-5 or 3-4 they should protect each other well and get some fastballs.
I think it’s a perfect fit
Fenway has one of the hardest RFs in all of MLB defensively. We already have 3 DH’s in the lineup. Adding a 4th scares me.
Trot Nixon made it look so easy!
That’s what I thought. Left field is postage stamped sized but right looks like a headache.
Super short at the foul pole, crazy wall angle to a fairly deep alley, low wall for the bullpen.
Does not look fun.
Yeah I always figured with the short porch and that big gap in center, right was where you wanted to be. But I’m on FanGraphs now checking it out and wow
You really need a nearly CF-grade outfielder to play RF in fenway.
Having said that, you wonder if this is a possible prelude to a controllable SP trade involving some of the young position players. Really that’s the only way it makes much sense.
Anyone who has to go to FanGraphs to learn that right field at Fenway is one of the most difficult positions to play in all of baseball shouldn’t be commenting on baseball in a public forum.
don’t be a jerk… he has every right to be here!
Please allow me to continue talking baseball here, Mr. Gatekeeper!
Pretty please
SODO-
Eh, it’s an online message board. Let it go, and ignore the flak. Those of us with true knowledge understand where you were coming from, and hold nothing against you. don’t let a loudmouth get under your skin.
And have a merry christmas!
I’m currently finishing up my bachelors in psych. I can’t help but be fascinated by people’s behavior!
Merry Christmas to you as well!
GASox – Agreed! Especially considering the timing.
My only concern, this dude’s production has dropped like a rock for 3 straight years.
@sodommojo
There’ some real peaches on the message boards, definitely in need of counseling.
Read what I said. I said he shouldn’t be commenting not that he doesn’t have a right to. Typical knee jerk, ignorant reaction, not uncommon on this forum.
Not even if you put sugar on top.
Someone with “true knowledge”, which you apparently don’t possess, knows how difficult it is to play rf in Fenway. Happy Festivus.
That explains a lot.
cool
You said a lot of words. All you really had to say was:
“I’m a jerk”
The point would have been made.
@Sodomojo
Are you replying to me? I’m a bit confused.
No sir. That is one thing I dislike about this message boards, it gets a bit hard to decipher who’s replying to who.
This. The guy can’t field. He’d be a calamity in right field in Fenway, and not much less of a danger in left. We don’t need another DH.
Why not sign him on a 1 yr deal. He can fill in when the Juicer hits the IL. FULL THROTTLE !!
Who’s the juicer ?
what are you talking about? do you even watch baseball?, Fenway is one of the most spacious and difficult to play right fields in baseball because its dimensions and odd angles, you are obviously just talking out your ass with that comment
Believe it or not, mlb fans can watch more baseball than you and not ever watch a Red Sox game!
Lighten up and realize that a true MLB fan doesn’t have to care about the RSox.
I’m not bashing the RSox – just your mindset.
You have to understand.
Some people don’t have what they call…”da social skills.” Everybody obsesses over being correct all the time, being wrong in discussion is a great way to learn.
Alas, these guys just think I’m a dummy now and don’t deserve to even converse, as I didn’t pass their knowledge test. It’s a rather poor reflection on humanity. The thought that you have to know everything to even try to discuss something you’re interested in.
As you probably already know, baseball is unique by having non-standardized foul areas and outfields. The park is a big factor in the game and it’s interesting. People think of Fenway as a bandbox because of the monster and Pesky’s pole in right. But, left center is still 37 feet tall and its 379 feet. That’s a poke. Sure, the Pesky pole is 302 debatable feet from home, but the fence narrowly parallels what would be the foul line to 365 feet, angles out to 380 where the bullpen ends and angles back to 420 feet. An outfielder can play anything into a triple if he’s not careful.
McGrund – There are two other bandbox factors with Fenway.
First, the foul territory is the smallest in MLB.
Second, it has the shortest outfield wall in MLB (check out the RF wall).
You proved it. You went to Fangraphs to learn something you might have missed and admitted it instead of defending a tough argument. Fenway in RF is a challenge.
Interesting enough, Seattle is known as a tough place to hit and most people wouldn’t think the same about Fenway, but it ranks about the same as T-Mobile park. Makes Ted Williams look even better!
It’s not so much about caring about the Red Sox. Fenway is an icon. If ballparks weren’t interesting aside of the teams that play in them, we wouldn’t have ventured away from the cookie-cutter parks of the 70s and 80s and built throwbacks to the old days where flag poles were in the middle of the outfield and a building next door became synonymous with the park, or even part of the park. I’m not a Sox fan, but I still know the corner of Lansdowne St. and Yawkey Way (now Jersey).
McG – sure the stadium is an icon and the Green Monster is well known.
However, a NL fan that has never ventured into the northeast nor has any reason to care about the AL except for October baseball should not be told how ignorant they are because they don’t know the dimensions of Fenway’s RF corner.
I haven’t seen a RSox game on tv for probably 10 years or more and probably not more than 5-6 ever. Why am I not a “true baseball fan” because I do t care about Fenway’s dimensions?
Maybe you are an AL fan and have watched a bunch of games there? Whatever and good for you but don’t hate on those that have no reason to care about Fenway’s RF.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no gatekeeper for MLB fandom. The game means something different for everyone. For me, ballparks have always been so interesting, regardless of what league. They all have at least one quirk that can play into the outcome of a game.
That is correct. Congratulations to you for pointing that out. 1 million points to Griffindor for knowing every ballpark inside and out
And he can make Mark Reynolds look like Nellie Fox. Too many whiffs. Hard pass.
Streaky hitter that strikes out a ton, but would probably fit at Fenway.
Sink – If that’s the case I’d rather have Duvall.
Fever – I’d just want a guy at a shot contract with a low enough dollar value that someone else of the farm can come up and push him into a 4th OF without the money being a worry.
GASox – I think the goal is to get an experienced veteran on a reasonable 2-year contract, and then have a good prospect push him off the team in a trade. Problem is most players want the ability to get out of the 2-year contract after the first season, like Turner did.
Money should NOT be a factor for the team with the 3rd-highest revenue in MLB. At the very least, Breslow should be allowed to spend up to the CBT threshold each and every year. That would place them Top Ten every year, which they absolutely should be.
Henry and Werner and LeBron are rich enough, they don’t need to pocket any more money from payroll savings than they already do.
Fever – spending isn’t, amd hasn’t, been a problem, allocation has. Last year was so badly mismanaged as an offseason there was a shortage of targets to pivot to, depressing spending somewhat but still not low.
The problem is that what used to be a team owned by a person is, for all intents and purposes, functionally owned by a company at this point.
I never saw the paperwork on it, but, my understanding is that FSG somehow took ownership of the redsox before Henry used that as a vehicle to buy a bunch of other franchises. Unwittingly, mlb allowed Henry to do what they were always resistant to and fearful of – having a mlb club be a sort of guarantor and leverage for other sports ventures.
These days, teams like NY or LA have the luxury of dollar in could be dollar out, if they’re willing to fund the penalties. Boston doesn’t have that luxury, since it’s ownership includes venture capital groups, too many investors to list, and who knows what commitments by the parent company in its other ventures that are funded by red sox revenues.
Hope it’s a Merry Christmas out your way. Still winding down from Christmas Eve here with a drink. Have one more stocking to fill. But tonight’s party has always been the bigger ofnthe two in our family. Christmas was just normal to what other families seem to do, but the night before is a biggie.
GASoxFan8 hours ago
Fever – spending isn’t, amd hasn’t, been a problem,
====================
It has been recently. How many teams besides the RS have had their spending cut by close to $20M over the past four years.
Compare the Jays and the NYY increases, compared to the RS decreases. This is why they are bring in top FAs and we aren’t.
Joe – those other teams weren’t #1 in MLB spending, busted by the cbt penalty levels, from the baseline you’re choosing.
The red sox were the #1 spending team in the year you cite to, 2019, the first level payor status was $206m, and second level penalties kicked in at $226m.
Boston had a payroll of roughly $246m that season.
Are you advocating that the team should’ve remained not only as a 2nd level payor through those years, but INCREASED spending as well? Bear in mind 2020 would only see a $208m cbt first level and 2021 a $210m first level.
Add in the draft penalties and other punitive measures as well if the team hadn’t moved backwards from that spending level.
Also helpful would be any evidence that bloom sought money to use responsibly on top talent and he was denied access to funds.
Joe – Yes!!!!
Sox were 13th in spending this year, $32M less than the Jays who did NOT exceed the CBT threshold.
In fact the Sox finished $50M below the CBT threshold. That should never, EVER happen with a Red Sox team coming off a last place finish.
GASox – No question Bloom badly mismanaged last offseason, but the spending is certainly a concern. Even if we ignore 2020-2022, it was absolutely inexcusable for the third-biggest revenue team in MLB coming off an embarrassing 2022 season to be 13th in spending a full $50M below the CBT threshold.
If there’s one word you remember for the next decade, this should be it: CORNERS
John Henry is 100% focused on Fenway Corners, which will be a huge game changer when it’s completed. The good news, when it’s done the Red Sox will have a huge new revenue stream that will rival the Dodgers.
The bad news? Until it’s completed, Henry will spend just enough to keep the Sox contending for one of the dozen playoff spots each year. He won’t be focused on winning championships, but he won’t sit back and tolerate last place finishes year after year either.
And I do believe FSG will own an NBA team someday …. shortly after LeBron retires.
Merry Christmas to you and yours, my friend. Hope you are doing well. I can relate with Eve being bigger than Day, same here.
Hernandez is going to the Angels and so is Snell. They’ll still have room to add Marintez and another starter– most likely through trade. Angels are going to be much better overall despite losing Ohtani. O’Hoppe is a stud behind the plate and Neto will elevate to star status. if Trout stays healthy that will pick up the offensive slack lost by Ohtani and adding bats gives better balance throughout the lineup.
Wow, I didn’t know that losing Ohtani would result in them being much better overall. Oh, it’s because the lineup will have better balance now. Lol
Mariners didn’t want him at 1/$20M, is 4/80 practical from the chronically poor Red Sox? Doesn’t pass the sniff test.
I don’t think he will get more than Gurriel in either dollars or years. I’m fond of Teo but I’m glad the M’s didnt QO
20 per is pricey for a dude that hits bombs, strikes out a ton, and is a bit shaky in RF…
… and was traded for a setup man last year
That being said…
Oh, signing free agent, Teoscar Hernández it’s between the Angels and Red Sox congratulations to the Red Sox’s
Arte Moreno likes to shop at the 99 Cents store
So does John Henry… the fans are the only one getting throttled!
Let’s see some stocking stuffers by Monday
Don’t forget Arte Moreno lowered beer prices 2002
Happy holiday angel fans
Arte Moreno
In 2002 we drank out of joy.
Arte bought the team after that season and dropped beer prices.
Now we drink to drown our sorrows.
Trust me when I say atleast u guys still have trout too build around the redsox forget it man .. this team is in complete disarray .. lost mookie, and Xander for nothing legitimately traded ur star for three packs of bubble gum … And threw two of them in the trash … Xander left for nothing in a year where they finished last and had one of the highest payrolls .. could have traded JD and got something … Could have traded turner … We have no pitching meanwhile kenley will b leaving next year and we have no backup ready for closer… 2B is a mess and has been .. the SS they thought was gonna be the future has fallen on his face and can’t stay healthy .. meanwhile the stadium is the oldest in MLB and they put next to no money into it can’t do upgrades … Have the highest ticket prices and if not the highest pretty close to the highest… And than the Starting rotation .. we haven’t had a great pitcher come out of the minors since Lester . Bello is still a big question mark and walks alot of guys .. other than him this rotation and bullpen are horrid and meanwhile ownership is sucking up all this money for less than mediocre team … And it’s pathetic and sad .. I wish we had Trout too build around .. art just needs to hire better baseball minded people and get his head out of his butt
Bs85..first of all not sure what angels team you watch but mike trout is 32 now and hasnt played a full season since 2019..how exactly would you successfully build around that? ..the red sox have a star in devers and a ton of young talented hitters coming or already arrived like casas. The bullpen had the 6th best era in mlb last year and a lockdown closer so what is the problem? ..we need starting pitching and better defense…do your homework before ranting
@ BostonSports
The Angels are better off than the Red Sox player wise but Arte always finds a way to shoot himself in the foot. If they DFA Rendon and refuse to pay the remainder of his contract I’d be 100% supportive of the Angels.
And it still doesn’t matter open ur eyes ur blind like the rest of idiots … Ur one of the reasons why OWNERSHIP does what they do … For u too think that it’s ok too let ur team go like this than ur most definitely an idiot and blind … And clearly u don’t read … Once kenley is gone we have no closer in place and that’s a problem .. this 6th in ERA means nothingggggggg lmfao just another static that means nothing anymore … We have casas and Rafaela and ever them are questions marks .. let’s see how casas does sophomore year ..Rafaela hasn’t had a full season yet … And Mike trout maybe 32 and hasn’t had a full season since 2019 and yet he still has had some awesome stats for being injured so just imagine u DH him and CF or LF too preserve him.. his impact on and off the field is unreal…. And stills sells tickets as well and jerseys and everything else .. so u get him the right medical staff like Boston and DH him and u can get a lot out of him .. so 3 out of 4 last places finishes is ok with u?? And Sorry too tell u I don’t expect too win every year or even every 10 years but what I expect is for management too put a winning team on the field every year too compete with one of the hardest divisions… Look at the dodgers they have mixed their home grown talent with the right free agents may not win every year but their competing and giving the fans their money’s worth unlike Boston and it’s not acceptable anymore 3/4 years at the bottom enough is enough .. letting mookie walk for three packs of gum was bad enough .. letting Xander walk for nothing was strike two and now 3/4 at the bottom and no one wants to play for Boston because of those three strikes is more than enough now and as a fan u shouldn’t accept this .. and oh well we can’t do nothing about it we definitely can it’s called not watching the team not going to games not buying any of the crap they sell u hurt them in their pockets and it fixes that …
I don’t think that the refusal to pay him his contract thing is an option legally.
Martin or Schroeder could close games out just fine.
So I’m the blind idiot? LOL!! You’re projecting.
All that regurgitated spew you just wrote but
not a word about how stupid it was to extend Devers??
It would be if he’s using drugs or sitting at home drunk.
It’s an iron clad contract, not paying him would lead to a lawsuit which would detract from the team.
must have been 2003 cause Moreno didn’t own the 2002 champs.
I’d prefer this to signing a straight DH. Let Moniak run around in the grass and give Trout at least 2 DH days a week.
Hernandez can take another one or two.
Rendon needs to DH or slide across the diamond over to 1B. Anything to try to squeeze any production out of a contract that will never be anything but under water
Rsox, most Angel fans wish that Rendon would slide right into the Pacific Ocean.
2 Bags is still a superstar! He will play wherever he deems fit!
Trumbo – I’ve never considered Mitch Moreland to be a superstar! And isn’t he retired?
Angels will need more bats and he can split time in DH/OF easier in Anaheim compared to Boston.
Hoping the Sox pass on Teoscar and put that money towards upgrading the rotation while there are still a few SP left on the market. It’s a much more dire need, and the last thing they need is to further weaken their defense.
I would gladly trade Stanton to Anaheim or San Francisco for a half eaten hot dog if they need a DH
How about Stanton for Rendon?
I’d take Stanton over Rendon 8 days a week.
Stanton for Rendon. NYY throws in Luis Gil and LAA pays the rest of the Stanton contract thru 2027 (no money exchanged).
Deal!
The Sox aren’t going to sign Snell, we haven’t heard anything about them being interested in Imanga and likely Montgomery or Giolito is the best they are going to do.
The Sox need power and Hernandez likes hitting in Fenway. In 45 career games Hernandez has hit 14 Home Runs, his most as a visiting player in any ballpark. If defense is an issue put him in LF with Duran in CF and O’Neill in RF, or put O’Neill in CF with Duran in RF. Let Rafaela play 2B and the lineup will be set
Rsox, you’re leaving out Yoshida in your lineup expectations. It’s easy to say ‘DH him’ except when you look at his numbers, he underperformed, by a LOT, out of the DH position. Some guys don’t do as well coming off the bench just to hit and sitting the rest of the game out. He’s looking to be one of them.
As for the 3 SP names you mention, I only hope they avoid Snell like the plague. Montgomery should sign elsewhere. I say SHOULD because I only hope this front office doesn’t overpay for him. He’s going to be 31 in a couple days. You don’t overpay for declining years on a guy like him. The TOP dollar I’d be comfortable at is maybe a 5 year deal, and around $115m or so – 25m/yr for 2024-26, then 20m/yr in 2027-28. And I think someone will be fleeced into a 6 or 7 year deal of 160-175m at this point. As for Imanga, that may be their best bet, if he doesn’t mind playing with yoshida….
ONeill really doesn’t belong in center. Yes he’s played there in the past but he’s not a center fielder at all. He could probably play right he hasn’t in a while but he was originally a right fielder in the minors. ONeill is my favorite player I really want him to do well for the Red Sox but he needs to be handled correctly. He wasn’t in St Louis.
Montgomery and Giolito are not remotely in the same category
Rsox – Plenty of reports linking Shota to Sox, here’s one :
twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1732783117813830084
There not going to and they probably never were in on Yamamoto he didn’t even visit Boston … That goes too show u a lot.. I get $325 mill is a lot for a player too never have thrown a pitch in MLB but u can’t ignore the facts and numbers if people really want too get into numbers and it does say he’s a stud .. we r all hoping he falls on his face but I just don’t think it’s gonna happen especially with him and ohtani together …
Bounce back candidate!
Unfortunately, the dodgers have f’d things up so it will probably cost 5×20 for him ♂️
But if the sox could snag him, he will rake! Loves the east parks.
I could see Teo going back to Toronto. He would be reunited with his old buddy Vladdy and maybe that would motivate Vladdy to get his bat back in gear. Those two love throwing seeds!!!
Yes, he’s a fan favourite in Jaysville. The problem is that for some reason, someone decided the team needed to be more serious. They ditched the home run jacket, and sent their fun guys packing.
Maybe the serious guys are now free agents this year? Dunno.
Let’s hope that he comes back to Toronto. Analytics don’t seem to include how a team gels with their teammates, and they do raise each other’s effectiveness!
Seemed like Vladdy really missed his buddies last year. Clubhouse dynamics can play a role in production I do believe. Also when everybody is serious all the time, it makes pressure situations all the more harder to execute well.
Vlad missed having real protection around him in the order. Jays forgot to replenish what they gave away in offensive spark.
Ignorant – Great point about pressure situations! The legendary Sox teams of the 2000’s were all about guys like Ortiz, Ramirez and Damon staying loose and not letting anything get to them.
Before the games they were downing shots and partying with dwarfs and doing naked pullups, and we all remember when they were down 3-1 in the ALCS to Cleveland it was Manny who said “If we lose it’s not the end of the world”.
The Red Sox have Devers, Casas, Duran and Yoshida as a core to build around. Wong has started to become a decent catcher and Mayer should be a part of the team this year, the shortstop in waiting. He will make a huge difference in the middle of the infield and Story can rotate with Rafaela at 2nd base and whoever plays best in the field, hits the for the highest average and hits for more production gets to play more. Hernandez, I hope the Red Sox pick him up, his home run total will go up playing at Fenway and being in the lineup with Devers and Casas.
1B Casas, 3B Devers SS Mayer 2B Rafaela/Story Catcher Wong/McGuire
RF O’Neill CF Duran LF Yoshida DH Hernández
I would put Sale in the bullpen as a closer if the new pitching coach can’t get him under control pitching wise and back to his all star form. Just think a minute if they can fix Sale and get him back to form. Go out and get 2 starters Montgomery and Cease and the kid Bello is 4 starters. Nick Pivetta, Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford makes 6 starters and they still need 2 more just in case. A couple of guys you sign and stash in the minors. I hope this pitching guru can get the pitchers to pitch like professional pitchers and be aggressive. If these 3 young pitchers get someone that can teach them, for example Houck, if they can teach him 2 or 3 more pitches, a really good 2 and one more. This way he’s not trying to use just two. Pivetta is close to becoming a really good pitcher he needs somebody to show him the finer ways of pitching. Crawford needs the same thing. The pitching coach is supposed to be one of the best in the League. So Front Office untie the guys hands and spend some money on pitching and the outfield.
BruinsFan4Life – You might want to stick to hockey!!
Wong sucks and will never be more than a back-up catcher.
Devers sucks at fielding and is not a guy you build around since he plays for himself not the team and is limited to hitting only. We shall see if he’s going to be better than a 126 OPS+ going forward without JD and Bogey surrounding him. Rafaela should play 3B if the team isn’t going to get a legitimate 3B so Devers can move to DH. The team doesn’t build around a DH like Yoshida, they should trade him. He was a huge mistake by Bloom. As long as a team has Devers, Yoshida is worthless. He has no position to play.
The team had lots of experienced pitchers until Bloom got rid of them. Eovaldi was a great guy, a mentor and a top flight pitcher. He’s gone now. Sale can mentor but he needs to focus on dealing with the moron Cora. He needs to figure out how to be successful as a pitcher with Cora as the manager. He had nearly a decade of success before Cora and none since. Either he bounces back to prove he can pitch elsewhere in 2024 or his career may be over. TWO SPS are needed to go with Houck, Bello and Crawford with Sale making one of the three spots if he’s healthy and looking like Sale. We need a lefty reliever. We need a 2B. We need a 3B if Rafaela is used in right field where he belongs.
Certainly hope the Angels aren’t serious about Hernandez. Maybe the Rockies can sign him❓
Interested. That word has become such a disappointment over the last several years. The holes are pitching, pitching, pitching, second base. There was nothing preventing the Sox from being aggressive on the lefty relief market, mid level starter market for a number 3 type and second base market. None would have been effected by a team claiming to be going full throttle to fill those glaring holes that have made us a now perennial last place team. Teoscar? Ok. Throttle away.
How is that rotation coming along, Chaim Bloom?
Road numbers suggest he needs to leave Seattle.
I think if the Sox sign him, a trade is next. They have enough young talent to tempt a team into sending them a starting pitcher. Cleveland less likely than Chicago. I can see it happening.
Agreed. If this move happens, that really seems like precursor for Shane Bieber trade
I can’t predict or fathom anymore. This team is so backwards in how they are doing things in the front office.
As a Yankees fan this line amazes me:
“The team’s “engagement with Hernandez picked up” after Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed with the Dodgers”.
The Red Sox of old would’ve signed Teoscar regardless and probably had a deal lined up with Imanaga or J-Mont incase they missed out on Yoshi. The last half decade, the Red Sox have just been an oddly run organization.
guilder – That’s the difference between experienced men (Lucchino, Dombrowski, Duquette) running the show and inexperienced boys (Bloom, Breslow).
Not a knock against Breslow, but he’s basically 2003 Theo except without the supporting cast that Theo had. He will need time, and will likely learn the most from his own mistakes.
I like the idea of moving Sale back to the pen. I would also move Whitlock and Houck back there as well. I would start Pivetta, he eats innings. Jordan would be great addition, I would like to see them bring Turner or J.D. to tutor all the young kids coming up! The Sox are two years away from really being good! I told you it would take 350 million to sign Yamamoto, John Henry has a hard time being a closer and that might hurt us later on. Boston is not a place where the top FA’S want to play, could it be with all the turn over or the fact that we treated Xander and Mookie with disrespect, who knows. Xander could have been here for a long time right! Our weakness is 2B and needs to be addressed and I make a very serious offer for Torres of the Yankees, they can’t keep everyone! As much as I wanted the Sox to go all in on the top FA ‘s I figured Breslow is a Bloom 2.0. The GM’s that go for it and know talent win the ones that don’t eventually get fired! Friedman, Cashman and company know how to seal a deal and win or be competitive. We still have a couple of long years because no one in our organization has the guts to seal a deal!
I think Breslow will be a better assessor of pitching talent than Bloom. That is important.
I also think we are headed towards a six man rotation in baseball with a six or seven man bullpen. Maybe two or three multi inning guys out of the bullpen.
I see starters being stretched a little bit, but capped at 180 innings. One inning relievers capped at 60 innings, multi inning relievers capped at 90 innings. Throw in a bunch of minor league guys to throw meaningless innings over the course of the season.
The problem is you need a lot of postseason innings to win a championship unless you practically sweep every series. You can’t wear your pitchers out before the postseason.
I think Breslow is the right guy to navigate this potential new normal with respect to pitching.
When in 2025? They blew it on Yamamoto big time.
whyhayzee – Lets be fair. You are a better assessor of pitching talent than Bloom!!! Breslow couldn’t be worse than Bloom.
Your new normal offends old normal pitchers. There is no reason any pitcher can’t throw 250 innings and be great in the post season. It all comes back to techniques in preparing your arm, shoulder and legs for the length of a season. Pushing parts of your body to extremes like pitchers do today is the issue. Would you rather have a guy who can pitch 250 innings and not throw 100 mph or a guy who hits 100 a lot and throws 150 to 180 innings? That decision determines the fate of pitchers on each team. Somebody needs to stop looking at topping out old numbers and start looking at what can be done to return pitchers to throwing 250 innings.
It’s no different than hitting. The old BS about launch angle and exit velocity creates so many of the physical injuries that hitters experience today. Give me a guy who can bat 660 times without having to measure his exit velocity because his average is so high and I’ll give you an extremely valuable player. Arraez proved that in 2023.
The old game was just fine. 5 man pitching rotations where each pitcher was expected to throw at least 150 innings. Hitters that didn’t come down with oblique strains because they didn’t have to swing as hard as they possibly can on every pitch. Go back to making contract and scoring runs to win games. Home runs are fine as long as they aren’t at the cost of your batting average. The game is about hitting not hitting home runs. Success comes from scoring and you need runners to score and runner happen when hitters make good choices as to which pitches to swing at, not how hard they swing. if you do both great but make hitting the ball the priority not your exit velocity.
hayzee – Being good at evaluating pitching talent is only a small part of his job.
If it was all about evaluating pitchers, Joe Kerrigan would have been an excellent manager instead of a horrible one.
We never hang onto our players which is bad. They let Mookie go, Benintendi go, Xander go, Eovaldi go, Christian Vazquez go. They do not treat their players well.
out of those players the only ones they should have hung out to were Moookie and Xander.
Benny stinks.
Vazquez stinks.
X is overpaid by $100M.
Joe – You’re being way too hard on the guy with the 3.2 WAR last year, but you’re spot on with the other two guys!
Of course Xander could have been signed by Bloom for just $160M, so that still counts as a major Bloom blunder.
Joe – Facts? You need to consider them when forming opinions!!! hahaha
Benny does NOT stink? Benny was fine as a Red Sox player, he did well in KC. His 33 games in NY were fine and his season with the horrible White Sox was bad just like his team that year.
Career highights:
finished 2nd to Judge in the ROY voting
GG in 2021
All-Star in 2022
Facts matter. Your opinion doesn’t. It’s biased.
Vazquez in Boston put up a .262 BA and .311 OBP for 8 years
That’s an average catcher. He didn’t stink but he wasn’t an all-star. He was an adequate catcher who was priced well for his skills.
Bogaerts is over paid by $100MM. What an absurd thing to write. He won’t make $100MM in any season of his career!!!
Bogaerts played 11 years with Boston and was paid, including bonuses, $73,190,366 which is an AAV of $6.654MM per year for his services. OVERPAID hahaha again your facts are not even close to accurate.
He never made $100MM for Boston if you total his 11 seasons!! If you are writing about Bogaerts the Padre then once again he never makes $100MM in a season. He is making $25.45MM per year in San Diego. He is a 4 time all-star, a top 20 finisher in the MVP voting 5 of the last 6 years all of which were in Boston, he has 6 silver slugger awards and his career numbers are .291/.355/.456/.812 with an OPS+ of 117. well above league average. By comparison, Story makes $23.3MM which is $2.1MM less and his career numbers and has only played 8 seasons with far less accomplishments and a career line of .265/.332/.504/.836.
BUT in Boston where he received the $23.3MM he has the following line .227/.287/.398/.695!!! His Boston OPS+ is 86 while his career OPS+ is 108.
If you said Story was over-paid I would agree. If you said Devers is over-paid I would agree. If you said Yoshida is over-paid I would agree. NOT BOGAERTS. He’s been under paid for his career and now he is catching up with his contract in SD. Much like Sale was under paid until his most recent contract so now his career earning match more closely with his career pay.
last line should have ended with performance not pay.
TF – Maybe Joe meant they literally smell?
I know I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near Vazquez after he’s hit the postgame buffet.
TF – Merry Christmas to you!
I was checking out ticket prices for the March Red Sox series in Arlington, behind home plate is over $300!!! That is absolutely insane for a ST game.
I think he would be awesome in Fenway, but he would not fit the parameters of Boston losing draft positions that they have expressed to stay away from him and players like Snell. I guess it all depends just how desperate they get. They do have a big power shortage now and it affects the middle of there lineup. I think they also want a righthanded DH, first base type to go there also.
Seattle did not extend Hernandez the qualifying offer so the team that signs him will not lose a draft pick
Bloom loved hoarding infielders. Now we seem to have Breslow hoarding outfielders.
‘Tis the season to say, “Good grief, Charlie Brown!!!
Your comment and frustration is based on something that hasht hsppened and likely wont..relax
Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Tyler O’Neil, Ceddanne Rafaela, Rob Refsnyder, Masataka Yoshida, and Bobby Dalbec are on the active roster.
7 outfielders plus this article says they’re looking for more…
Plus, Mark Contreras as a non-roster outfielder.
Won’t or has’t happened?
It has already happened.
I’ll relax. You wake up.
You said breslow hoarded ,last time i looked he hasnt added anyone in the 2 months hes been there ..bloom sure he hoarded breslow hasnt ..he only held serve thus far so yes
.relax ..im awake ..you think breslows made moves to add to the mix
.we have the same number and its december not opening day
Also bobby dalbec is not an outfielder and if you mark contreras has a shotvat making this team lets just punt and shoot for 2025
He added O’Neil and, Dalbec does play OF and is on the roster as such, and I agree… 2025 is now the target. Well, until it is 2025, then it will be 2026.
Strap in. It is the Yawkee years all over agian
DBH – Your point is well taken. There is NO NEED for outfielders when you don’t have a SP1 or SP2 or 3B or 2B or a lefty reliever.
Breslow isn’t focusing on what’s needed and he’s not doing what it takes to instantly improve. Until he fires Cora and move Devers to DH. He might as well be Bloom. Nothing is getting better and it’s Christmas already.
DBH – I count 4 outfielders. Rafaela plays a solid mid-infield and Dalbec won’t be around IMO. Yoshida will DH a lot.
Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Tyler O’Neil, Ceddanne Rafaela, Rob Refsnyder, Masataka Yoshida, and Bobby Dalbec
============================
That includes two one-year guys, one guy who likely starts in AAA, a rookie, and one guy that isn’t an outfielder.
I wouldn’t sign Teo, but we don’t have a glut of of outfielders either.
Joe – Sorry but you need to think about the 26 man roster. Each team carries 4 outfielders. The rest are in AAA or below.
Rafaela and Duran are our best outfielders and both are controllable for many years. They need to start the season in the outfield. We now have O’Neill who is a long shot gamble and he can start if he has a good spring, otherwise, Abreu earned that 3rd spot for now. We also have Anthony who is the only minor league player who has performed like he was a first round pick. He has huge potential and if he progresses as he has the last two years he will be the 3rd OFer by mid season. That means either Abreu or O’Neill need to go down to make room for him.
Injuries occur so having four on the 26 man roster always makes sense. The back fill if one of the three mentioned above get hurt is Refsnyder who has performed adequately in the past as the 5th outfielder. That’ is plenty of depth in the outfield and in the event something dramatic happens like 2 or 3 hurt OFers you still have Dalbec who can play corner outfield far better than Devers plays 3B and worst case you still have Yoshida.
There is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED FOR HERNANDEZ!!! With all the other holes, why would anyone in their right mind add to the one position you have depth rather than the 8 you don’t? That’s Bloom thinking and you and he often thought alike.
rollfree9 hours ago
Joe – Sorry but you need to think about the 26 man roster. Each team carries 4 outfielders. The rest are in AAA or below.
Refsnyder who has performed adequately in the past as the 5th outfielder.
There is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED FOR HERNANDEZ!!!
==========================================
Teams generally carry five outfielders, not four. Hence your acknowledgement of Ref as out #5,
Like I said, I wouldn’t sign Teo, but our OF should be Yoshida, Duran, O’Neill/Abreu in RF, and Ref as the #5. That’s not a glut.
Joe – Exactly!!!
I say re-sign Duvall and have him rotate between LF and DH with Yoshida.
Joe – Precisely!!
This year it was basically Duran, Dugie, Yoshida, Ref and Duvall with Kike, Tapia, Rafaela and Abreu filling in when injuries hit.
I’m fine with the Sox going with one rookie OF’er (Abreu) but not two, there’s no Lynn & Rice on the roster.
I think Rafaela could use more time in AAA, but if they want him to work out his issues in the majors I’d say put him at middle infield.
Fever – Your opinions are really unfounded. Rafaela, is rated far better than Abreu and to watch them he’s clearly more talented and has been throughout the minors.
With two SPs missing, a horrendous fielding 3B that needs to be moved, a missing starting 2B, no lefty set-up man to get big lefty hitters out you want to focus on OUTFIELD?
You and Joe think alike now and that says volumes about how facts are no longer important to you.
Fact – Duran, Rafaela and O’Neill/Abreu are the starting outfield in a sane man’s world. Team DON’T keep 5 OFers on the MLB roster because they ONLY HAVE 13 SPOTS for hitters and need back-ups at Catcher, CI and MI along with OF.
Without any all-star adds to this team, the team is heading to another .500 or lower season. Using 3 young outfielders makes sense since guys like Duval and Ref are not the future of the team but Rafaela, Anthony and Duran are. Abreu is a cheap 4th outfielder who over performed in 2023 and avoided most of the great pitchers Rafaela faced in September so his average was artificially inflated. EVERY EXPERT rates Rafaela as the better outfield with the better arm so if anyone should start in the minors it would be Abreu but that’s counter productive. He needs to play just like Rafaela and Duran. They are the future so get them experience while the team is transitioning to be competitive again. FYI…. Anthony and Rafaela could be the next Rice and Lynn or Mookie and Benny. Don’t under estimate them.
Rafaela has no issues. That’s bull crap. Go back and look at who he faced during his late September cold streak. He faced some of the best pitchers in baseball batting lead-off as a 22 year old. Criticizing him is pure stupidity.
Any time you agree with Joe I know something is wrong with you. I hope things improve.. Nobody has more unfounded opinions than Joe.
TF – I completely understand Rafaela is the higher rated prospect, but he didn’t look very good in a Sox uniform this year while Abreu did. Like I said, I’m fine with sticking Rafaela at SS or 2B to start 2024.
I think you agree Yoshida should DH a lot more, so who are your corner OF’ers flanking Duran? You think O’Neill will rebound from two horrible offensive years?
If Rafaela’s .666 OPS isn’t bad enough, how about his defense? Here is what he himself had to say about his inexcusable error in Toronto:
nesn.com/2023/09/red-soxs-ceddanne-rafaela-makes-n…
“I thought it was hit softer but it was well hit so it’s just (a) misread. Gotta learn from it and keep playing hard,” Rafaela told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I think it was just misread. I thought it was in front of me. Did a couple of steps in, went over my head and just learn from it and keep working hard. There’s no excuses, just misread.”
As for the offense, I agree with you that a lot is lost without both Turner and Duvall. I’d rather stick with Duvall for another year than go with someone like Teo.
And I totally agree with you on the pitching, they need a stud starter and a #2 starter. Better to spend the money than trade valuable young talent!
I’d like to hear from Sox fans who have seen Mayer play SS. Is he that good that you are willing to bank on him as a ‘Boggie-type’ SS? He showed enough to get to Portland early but injuries de-railed him along with opposition pitching. I like Ceddanne’s speed but he may need more seasoning. Always liked Merrifield as a 2B and an OF’der, in a pinch. Deceptive base-stealing speed. Smart player.
If Mayer is 2 years away consider moving him to the White Sox with a starting pitcher in return. Teel may need til the All-Star break to make it to Boston.
Things will look up hopefully by then.
Mayer and Anthony might be seen in September.
You are right about Mayer being delayed a year due to injury, He has pretty good range and a cannon for an arm. Hit hits for average, has some decent pop, and is a doubles machine. I actually would compare him to young Nomar.
DBH – Mayer hasn’t faced good pitching yet. It’s really not clear what his upside is based on his performance in the minors. All that is certain is that he hasn’t lived up to his status as the fourth pick in the draft. Those players blow through the low minors and Mayer didn’t do that. He was quite average for a guy who got picked 4th.
Lets hope we haven’t seen his full potential but how many years should we wait before he has a break out season? Definitely one more, but if he flops in 2024 his trade value plummets like Downs’ did. So maybe a Mayer trade for a pitcher makes sense. I bet there are plenty of teams that would be interested based on his reputation.
I wouldn’t trade him yet, bro. He only has like 40 games in AA because he got hurt. I actually don’t want to trade any of our position prosects or rookies. It is the only strength this team has lol
he’s trying to say that Mayer hasn’t lived up to expectations even though he made it to AA as a 20 year old and got hurt. Suddenly half a bad season equates to him being failure. it’s silly. Craping on Mayer because he was a “Bloom guy” is foolish. .
acell10 – Let the facts speak for themselves.
18 yr old – ROK – Only 26 games .275/.377/.440/.817
19 yr old – A – 66 games .286/.406/.504/.910
Hi-A – 25 games ..265/.379/.449/.828
20 yr old – Hi-A – 35 games .290/.366/.524/.890
AA – 43 games .189/.254/.355/.609
In 2019, the year prior to Mayer being drafted there were two SS drafted in the top 6 spots. Bobby Witt Jr at #2 and CJ Abrams at #6.
Witt was a 19 yr old in ROK due to his June birthday instead of December like Mayer. They both got drafted out of High School and went straight to rookie ball:
Witt ROK – 37 games .262/.317/.354/.670
2020 was a COVID year so he missed out on playing
so he had no 20 year old season.
2021 – 21 yr old season 61 games at AA .295/.369/.570/.939
AAA – 63 games .285/.352/.581/.933
Thanks to COVID Witt only had two seasons in the minors and his 3rd year but only his second season got him promoted to the majors the following year.
Mayer has played 3 seasons in the minors and failed at AA. We can blame the injury but in the end, Witt reflects what an early 1st round pick that plays SS in HS looks like. His numbers far surpass what Mayer has done to date so it’s fair to be disappointed in Mayer whether Bloom drafted him or not.
CJ Abrams is another example of what an early round SS from HS does to prove his worth in the minors.
2019 – 18 yr old – ROK 32 games .401/.442/.662/1.104
A ball – 2 games .250/.333/.374/.708
2020 MISSED DUE TO COVID
2021 20 yr old – AA – 42 games .296/.363/.420/.782
2022 21 yr old – AAA – 30 games .314/.364/.507/.871
MLB with SD 46 games – .232/.285/.320/.605
Traded from SD to WAS mid year
2022 with WAS AAA – 8 games .290/343/.355/.698
MLB with WAS 44 games .258/.276/.327/.603
22 yr old in 2023 FULL TIME STARTER
To summarize, Mayer had a bad 20 yr old season at AA after being the 4th pick in the draft in 2020. Witt was the 2nd pick a year earlier and lost a year to COVID and has now played in 308 MLB games after being drafted just ONE YEAR ahead of Mayer. CJ Abrams like Witt was drafted one year prior to Mayer as the 6th pick in the draft and also missed 2020 due to COVID and he has played in 241 MLB games compared to the bad AA season Mayer had.
When you look at how well a player is doing you must look at comps. Mayer is NOT performing like HS SSs from the top of the drafting order in 2019. Therefore, I have stated that he has under performed so far. Bloom picking him should make anyone leary based on Bloom’s performance but the FACTS still remain that his numbers are significantly less than players who are comparable that got drafted a year earlier when Yorke (another under performer) was taken by Boston.
It’s about facts not who picked him.
TF – Awesome post!!
Bloom probably doesn’t want to take “credit” for Mayer anyway, because the only reason he was able to draft Mayer was because he put together a horrible team in 2020.
I haven’t seen him live, I wouldn’t trade him straight-up for Cease , but he also has a few strikeouts on his resume, so he is no lock.
I’d be inclined to trade Rafael. He’s been consistently carrying a 4:1 K/W. But I also wouldn’t disagree with DBH and hang on to all our prospects for another year.
We have five guys that could slot in as starters in 2025.
I’ve seen live but it was post injury. He looked like he was pressing a bit but again it was like 3 games. From what others who are paid to evaluate talent say and based on his numbers before he got hurt his ceiling is still intact despite what other commenters would have you believe on this site.
Best case – Mayer is slightly above league average. He’s clearly no Bogaerts. He’s probably closer to Verdugo. A 110 OPS+ guy normally with a ceiling of 130 and a floor below 100.
They need to trade for and extend Willie Adames. Then sign 2 Arms, Montgomery or Snell and Stroman. Trading for any pitcher without an extension (Burns, Cease, Beiber) is unwise. They should look into trading Yoshida and/or Refsnyder and then play Duran, Oneill, Abreu, Rafaela and T. Hernandez. Use Bobby D as a UT INF spot OF. Pick up a 2nd Ace in winter 2024 amoung those available. By then 2025 Mayer, Anthony, Teel should all be up in 25 which should afford a Trade for more arms with what’s left Yorke, Bleis, and the excess OF they dismiss from trades and promotions to mlb team etc
Leave Dalbac in the minors where his value is higher. When you bring him up and he struggles his value goes down. Except for maybe three or 4 players there is not a lot of overwhelming talent down in the monors
Dalbec has more value to us than he would in a trade. He’s 28.5 y.o., and had 169 Ks in 413 ABs in AAA. He’s probably done. Even a 1B/3B slot for us is probably a long shot.
Joe – In AAA Dalbec had a .381 OBP. The K crap is just that, BS guys like you way over-use because you don’t understand the game!! You live on Statcast and Fangraphs where nothing makes sense from a baseball perspective, it’s all simulation numbers that are poorly constructed estimates.
33 HRs in 114 games .269/.381/.557/.938 These are stats not estimates. They have great meaning when evaluating players.
You can stick the Ks in your ear!! This guy isn’t done.
I hope you right, but I doubt it. His AAA stats, at age 28, projects to 246/99 in 600 ABs. In the pros, that’s closer to 275/85.
There is a reason why he is 28 and still hasn’t hit.
Joe – Each year he is left in the minors he doesn’t get to hit so his age is 28 but his opportunities have faded due to Bloom. If Breslow gives him a shot at the CI back-up spot on the team great, if not, then deal him to someone who will want a power hitter who strikes out a lot.
Big K guys have been part of baseball and as long as the power numbers are present and the OBP is high enough there is NOTHING wrong with a high K hitter especially if they are a pinch hitter/back-up not a starter. Every plate appearance is a shot at a homer or a strike out. That’s not a bad thing for a pinch hitter. Put a guy on third and his long fly out becomes productive. Put a runner on 1B and his strike out is better than a GDP like a non-K guy might do.
I think Dalbec will never be a star but he is a useful tool to have in your system. Not that many guys hit with his type of power. The key as always is making the contact when it matters most. For a big man, he’s also more flexible than one might expect from a defensive perspective.
Don’t get your hopes high on this guy. We are in Cheap Bloom mode still. I read that people say that we are two years away. What have the last 4 years been under Bloom? I thought that was a rebuild.
Bloom was a f***-up. Plain and simple. And he got fired for it.
Look, you cant expect a new guy to some in and sort out this dumpster fire in a single year. Normal teams sign SP one or two at a time, staggered terms. Same with your position players.
Bloom neglected the mlb roster in spectacular fashion. In turn he took high draft picks from finishing poorly, and said, hey, I built the farm, look at these prospects I got with our high draft picks.
So, you’ve got a pile of prospects, mostly not ready for the mlb jump, and, no guarantee they hit. Your mlb roster is a MESS.
That takes time.
Or, let’s give you an analogy or two. You hire a guy to build a deck. He does bad work, not up to building code. You fire him and hire a new guy. The new guy needs the time it takes to evaluate what is salvageable from the prior work, then to actually build the thing. But, youre doing the equivalent of immediately complaining why isn’t the deck done yet, the other guy spent time on it.
The Bloom years were a waste for the ballclub. Give the new guy 2 years or so to see what he can salvage and try to remake things. If nothing else, certainly give him more than two months.
GA – You didn’t learn a lesson from the Bloom debacle. Bad is bad and it’s noticable immediately. In FEB of 2020 I called for Bloom’s head and got the old give him 3 years to turn things around. I knew the idiot that made the comment was clueless since there was nothing to turn around. Now we have a new guy who just walked into a bombed out city in Europe after Blitzkrieg Bloom and all we are asking him to do are the simple things that make huge improvements:
1 – Fire Cora
2 – Move Devers to DH
I could live without any other changes and know the team would be over .500 in 2024. Trading Yoshida would be necessary too but he has value. Japanese players are a hot commodity.
Three things and Boston rises from the destruction Bloom left. They may not win a ring in year one but the defense immediately jumps 10 or more ranking spots and pitchers might start wanting to come to Boston to pitch if the defense improves that much.
Small and easy steps. Breslow doesn’t have to be a hero year 1 he simply needs to take out the trash and polish the look and feel of the organization. He can improve integrity and defense very quickly.
TF – you’ve got to be realistic.
I’d be all for firing Cora, and moving Devers off 3B. But, you’ve got 2 problems.
1) Henry and ownership are twisted around cora’s pinky. Not only was PBO/GM interviews specifically geared around keeping Cora, but, ownership would NEVER allow him to be fired right now by Breslow. It’s that simple.
2) much like point 1, ownership will NEVER allow Devers to get moved off 3B the very season his $31+ million salary takes effect. It’s a non-starter.
TRYING to force those changes alone gets Breslow, or ANYONE ELSE, fired. You’ve got to work within the constraints you’re given.
GA – You may be right but I’m going to keep suggesting what makes the most sense. I don’t believe ownership is intervening in the Devers to DH situation. If they are then they deserve a .500 or less team.
You see ownership as heavy handed and I see them as a group that puts up money and doesn’t want negative publicity. If Cora is blackmailing them to keep his job because he told them about the cheating scandal in 2018 would ANYONE be surprised? Cora is a low life. It fits and I hope some day it’s exposed and he goes to jail not just being banned from baseball. If ownership is focused on their worldwide organization and not on the Red Sox then there is no excuse for Breslow to not fire Cora or move Devers.
Do our fans and front office completely lack balls to make such an obvious move? What’s the worst that can happen if you fire Cora and move Devers? The GM gets fired according to you. I think that is not true. I think the team wins 10 more games or more even without additional talent. If Devers pouts, trade him to someone who wants the biggest baby in Red Sox history and the worst 3B!!!
TF – If Breslow fires Cora after being instructed by Henry to keep him for at least half of 2024, there’s a word for it …. INSUBORDINATION!!!!
You can’t go against your boss without there being repercussions, I speak from experience! Hahahaha!!!
But you know what? Cora has stated he is fed up with managing a team of low-talent players, and he’s demanded a team of stars like the 2018 squad.
So if Henry doesn’t approve the spending of big money to bring in talent this offseason, Cora will either get kicked upstairs to the front office next year or he will go elsewhere. It’s a win-win situation!!!
Hmm…. I like it Fever.
Cora “promoted” to a new title in the front office – ‘Assistant GM for Player Support Services’
Job duties: collect and hand wash the player ‘support’ devices, aka jock straps, after every game.
Bloom, a guy from the Rays, succeeded in being a guy from the Rays. His main focus was the farm system and he succeeded in taking the Red Sox farm system from bottom of the pack to middle of the pack. Seems pretty obvious. I liked John Henry’s idea of hiring a guy from the Rays and seeing what he could do in Boston with a larger budget. However, the farm system is the basis of how the Rays operate and John Henry did not have the patience to wait for the farm system to get built up to the point of really helping the MLB team.
Suit – which moves can you attribute to savvy trades bringing prospects in, and, which moves were simply the result of high draft slots due to an utter inability to put a winning squad on the field despite inheriting a WS caliber roster?
Point being, I dont recall him making many moves where he added value beyond the slot of the player being taken
GA: I suspect Bloom was stealth tanking. You came to that conclusion too I remember. Tanking is probably the best way to improve your farm system. As along as you add value consistent with the draft slot, you are improving the farm system.
all – Your facts are wrong. Name the players who made the ranking rise under Bloom. You can’t because the ranking jumped ONE time and that was when Bloom tanked 2020 and got Mayer. As Mayer continues to fail the ranking will drop as it has already thanks to guys like Downs. Your whole Bloom fixed the farm system schtick is horse crap. He lessened the talent in the minors because the best players graduated. How good is Mayer or Yorke? Are they playing like first round picks. Bloom tanked for four years and STILL COULDN’T improve the farm system. DD won 3 divisions and a ring and our best farm system guys are from his late first round picks. Bloom blew up this organization and anyone like you who defends him dishonors Red Sox Nation.
Suit: I did mention some ideas to that effect along the way. I think where I, and arguably some of the other sox fans take umbrage with the idea of ‘bloom rebuilt the farm’ ideas is usually that sort of idea would work better if, for example, he had traded players off the mlb roster for prospects that made a noticable improvement, or, he had some bang-up intl free agent classes that brought in guys who were driving the improvement. Bloom let the guys walk for nothing, or, for pretty poor package in the majority (not all) cases.
Relying on drafts that resulted in a guy because you failed to do your job at the mlb level, that doesn’t go well. Neither did busting the cbt, barely, on poorly considered additions that cost you in the comp picks for losing multiple top end mlb talents to FA? It’s an even worse position to take.
In the end, I think the biggest 3 mistakes of the bloom years were these: 1) the soft-tank as you call it, he expected that fans wouldn’t rebel as much as they did if the team finished poorly so long as it didn’t appear the losing was intentional. I think the fans would’ve been more understanding if they blew up the team quickly, reloaded with premier talent in 2 seasons of trading top players for top talent, then were a juggernaut with the new talent. 2) not understanding fan affiliation for team-connected players. In TB the players are a revolving door, and, their fans look at it as life goes on, no big deal. Boston fans don’t look at it like that, which also fueled fan sentiment against him/the club. So as those guys were mismanaged and insulted, it’s a problem. 3) the farm-building didn’t really work. He let so much talent go without working the top end of the FA market, the ‘returns on the farm’ wouldnt plug the holes. Henry and Co looked up, were getting bad press which they hate, looked at the process they got sold on, and realized hey, we lack pitching in the pipeline and this guy neither drafted nor brought in international prospects to tale the place. The IF is a mess, and Mayer looks pretty shaky for all the long-term franchise altering moves made in reliance on him being a future HOFer.
You can point at things the jury is out on – Yoshida was a year 1 flop, maybe he rebounds in year two but the defense was as bad or worse than expected. Overpaying Devers who promptly returned to good, but not great, production and certainly not worth the check he’s getting this coming year. Heck, even more stuff.
seeing what he could do in Boston with a larger budget.
=============================
But he didn’t give him a larger budget. We spent $243M in 2019 and $225M in 2023. While we cut back $18M, the NYY and TO increased by $62M and $127M. Even TB increased by $39M.
GA: I’m guessing it was stealth tanking. When you tank, you field an inferior MLB team on purpose. So, if you believe it was a stealth tank, you can’t really criticize the neglect of the MLB roster. Instead, you would criticize the decision to tank. Assuming it was stealth tanking, that is why they did not always trade a player at the trade deadline that they could have for a good return. Tanking can work well. It worked well for the Cubs as they tanked and then won a World Series. It worked well for the Astros and also worked well for the Orioles. So, I think Bloom neglected the MLB team on purpose and prioritized building the farm system. He did make mistakes along the way as you point out.
Joe: I was trying to say I think John Henry’s idea to was to hire a guy from the Rays and his budget with the Red Sox would then be roughly double what he was working with and succeeding with in Tampa Bay. On paper, I thought it was a great idea. It didn’t work out to John Henry’s liking.
Joe – the only problem with using 2019 as a guide post, is Boston led MLB in payroll in 2019.
So, when people complain that BOS hasn’t ‘increased spending at the rate other teams have’ is because they look back to a time when BOS was the league leader, over the CBT limits.
You can do it a few years, and drop back under for a season to avoid living on the 3-time payor level long term. But at some point you’ve got to pull back a bit…
GA: Maybe a better way of looking at what Bloom was doing is: He would field a flawed team (biggest flaw was pitching) that would have a chance to succeed if everything went rignt, but would likely collapse and give him a good draft pick. Such a team would keep fan attention for awhile. This is basically a stealth tank.
I’m sort of with you Suit, that would be one way to stealth tank, unfortunately it wasn’t properly executed.
You’d want a staff of around three #3 SP ability arms leading your rotation, and, you’d need to keep a decent defense with hit or miss bats behind you so that once you turn the corner, you can bring that squad back up to speed (ie FA desirability).
Bloom let the players necessary to exit a stealth tank walk for nothing or he traded them for low-value reclamations that didn’t work out. At the same time, he didn’t replace any of them in FA.
The mlb roster was in a condition after 2023 needing a full-tank level of Overhaul to return to contention, but the farm lacks the pieces and premier free agents see a mess they don’t want to be a part of waiting to turn around.
suit – You don’t think Casas, Bello, Houck, Crawford or Duran have really helped the MLB team?
Come on now, those are ALL guys who were promoted under Bloom’s watch and have immensely helped the MLB team. And I didn’t even include Wong.
Joe – You really should correct the wording you’re using.
Spent means new contracts, it doesn’t mean inherited contracts.
Those numbers you presented represent the team payroll for that year, not how much was spent that year.
It actually HELPS your argument by stating the largest contract Bloom gave out in his first two years (2020-2021) was Kike’s $14M 2-year contract.
The spending came to a grinding halt after the 2019 season, and really didn’t start again until 2022 after the lockout.
Fever: Yes, they have helped the team. Not sure what your point is regarding that.
Suit – It was in response to what you wrote.
“However, the farm system is the basis of how the Rays operate and John Henry did not have the patience to wait for the farm system to get built up to the point of really helping the MLB team.”
Fever: Thanks. My point is the Rays rely heavily on their farm system to support the MLB team and Bloom was fired before a young core from his draft picks could be promoted to MLB and before he built up enough trade value in the farm system to start trading to fill holes on the MLB team. I am also assuming the Rays have a different philosophy of drafting a building a farm system than other teams which helps make them successful while spending much less money on player payroll than other teams. Bloom did not get a chance to finish building an elite farm system with the Rays model and use it. Four years is not enough time to change an organization and I think that is why the Red Sox had many successful front office executives refuse to interview to replace Bloom.
GASox – Great post! Bloom not only neglected the MLB team, he also neglected to draft pitchers in his 4 years at the helm.
And he also got prospects by either trading or letting walk several veteran players that he inherited.
Time to evaluate ? He had from October when he was hired until now to evaluate. He did nothing at the trade deadline but pick up a guy who had a good year 3 years ago with the Cardinals. He traded Verdugo for cheap pitchers. I am not getting my hopes high. This team is a last place team again. Now we are supposed to wait again while he rebuilds? Breslow was not a top hire in baseball. He was the third guy in Chicago. He is an amateur. This team evaluated Yamamoto for years and targeted him. They were out of it quickly. This my friend is Bloom 2.0. He is looking for high upside players on the cheap who are looking to resurrect their careers by coming to Boston. The product they are putting on the field in inferior for this prices they are charging up there. Yeah Bloom picked up Story who was damaged goods when he could have had Bogaerts on a much cheaper contract the year before he went free agent. Story was a terrible signing but Bloom thought he was getting a bargain. You needed a top flight starter and missed on that already with the other teams competing hard for what is left in free agency. Sad team at this point
AL – Great points. The destruction of the 2018 team was very thorough by Bloom and now Breslow must fix it. We won three Divisions under DD and a ring and he got fired less than a year later due to politics. Bloom was “new thinking” by ownership and it blew up in their faces. What is Breslow? More “new thinking” or a throwback to the days of DD when winning was important?
Breslow’s inaction answers no questions. He resembles Bloom because of his lack of action but remember Bloom was hired to remove Mookie and did within 3 months thus destroying the future of the team. Breslow may have an unknown charter from ownership. Maybe, they simply wanted to take the heat off for leaving Bloom in charge too long? They never like when the fans are on their cases so maybe he is a placebo.
Red Sox Nation needs a DD type to turn things around. They need a leader who can do the obvious and fire Cora and move Devers to DH without thinking twice. They need someone who will use the $237MM of available money under the CAP to build a group of all-star quality players not dozens of mediocre players that can play multiple positions.
For me, I think they picked the wrong guy simply because he’s done nothing to address the big issues. I was right with respect to saying Bloom was the wrong guy and I believe I will be right about Breslow as well. They need a mover and shaker that understands big market fan mentality. If the owners are going to take home 1/3 of billion in profits annually, they better put a team worthy of their profits on the field. That stopped when they fired DD and it won’t start back up until they find another DD type GM.
You lost whatever credibility you had when you either directly or indirectly imperiled and criticism about the Verdugo trade because it seems like you’re mad hat they traded for pitchers when Verdugo due to his well document attitude problems not to mention overall mediocrity value might not have been all that high to begin with?
Verdugo was a massive DB. The fact that Breslow actually got a good return is a credit to him so far.
Acell10 – I’m assuming the response is to AL34 not me because I NEVER like Verdugo. The only redeemable quality he had was he hated Cora so he can’t be all bad. Bloom pumped up Verdugo’s pay too fast and made him completely expendable just like what happened to JBJ several years ago. As arbitration guys, JBJ and Verdugo costing $1 to $5MM is acceptable. The minute they exceed $5MM you have to ask yourself what their replacement cost is. Abreu outperformed Verdugo as a sub $1MM a year guy. That made Verdugo completely expendable. Glad we got something for him but even if they suck, it’s a win because $9.2MM was saved.
TF – I will vouch for you on your hatred of Dugie!
I think he was somewhere between Devers and Kike on your All-Hate List? Haha!
“Superstar Mike Trout”? Really? Identify his last superstar season.
montanabowers2 – SIMPLE!!! The year before I traded for him in my dynasty league. He’s been an albatross since I got him at the end of 2020.
Trout played less than 300 games over the last 4 seasons. He also had his longest dry spell recently so it was the first time in his career it was smart to sit him. He’s toast. Nice career but now he is like Miggy was after his 33 yr old season, a shadow of his former self. Trout was great through his 28 yr old season then couldn’t stay on the field. The ridiculous part is that in 2022 he finished 8th in the MVP voting and only played in 119 games!!!
Without Ohtani, will he ever be pitched to again? Will he ever play 140 games in a season again?
The adjective superstar does apply to the career but not the current player.
Every team is interested in signing every F.A wether they can afford him or etc is the question. But this same headline about a team being intrested isn’t news.
MLB has turned into a joke. 95% of the time we already know where all the top F.A’s are going, which takes the excitement away when those moves. When are we ever surprised by a signing? Hardly ever. And that makes MLB wack.
Imo MLB needs a cap while still paying the players their worth. That would make MLB more exciting to not know where the big F.A’s are gonna end up.
I’m tired of everything being about who has the most money. Why can’t it just be about who has the most skills, puts in the most work and has the best team Chemistry? Like it should be if money wasn’t involed
For the love of all that is holy, fire this Deeds kid. “Meanwhile” has to come at the start of a sentence; it can’t be in the middle, set off with commas.
AL34
This team evaluated Yamamoto for years and targeted him. They were out of it quickly. This my friend is Bloom 2.0.
_________________________________________
Should the Red Sox have outbid the Dodgers at 12/325 million?
The better question is if it would’ve mattered?
For competitive guys who want to walk in the door with a shot at winning, you need an overpay premium for the dysfunctional losing culture bloom put into place and needs to be exterminated.
My guess is we’re talking a SUBSTANTIAL bump, not just a $10-20m hike over the deal term. Either that, or, paying around a $50-60m signing bonus immediately due, with an opt-out after the first or second season based upon team results. In other words, you’d need to make an insane and really player-friendly concession in the contract.
AL34
He traded Verdugo for cheap pitchers
______________________________________
You’re crying for a slightly above average outfielder with no speed, no power, who never showed his “potential” in 4 seasons in Beantown…
I bet that V. Abreu will surpass Verdugo’s results in 2024 and his defense is at a good level.
Anytime I see the Angels are interested in anyone I immediately think, “why” then I disregard them. Angels would be wise to save as much money as possible.
Zzzzz……slow news this off season. This site continues to recycle old stories.
There seems to be many FA, although a weak bunch.
Surely, some mlb signings soon!
If they are going to sign Teoscar Hernandez, then send a package around Duran, Tanner, or Whitlock and a prospect to the Marlins for Jesus Luzardo and Cabrera. Ceddanna in CF for the Sox.
no way both Cabrera AND Lazardo get moved. One sure but not both.
Of course he is not interested in joining the Angels.
Sure you may be able to depend on him hitting 25-30 hrs a season and also seven times as many K’s.
I know I complained a bit about pitching but I think this guy could be a good fit offensively, we just have trades we need to make if it gets done. Sox have a lot of outfielders and hitters.
Red Sox do not need another outfielder, partially one who whiffs over 200 times a year and is not a good defender. What are they doing loading up on catchers and outfielders
baseballteam – Great point. Someone suggested they are getting guys in the outfield so they can gut their young outfielders in trades for pitchers. It’s a shame if they do that because Anthony and Rafaela are studs of the future. Mayer and Yorke are not. Trade them and get pitching before we end up DFAing them. Bloom was wrong at every turn in his tenure. What makes anyone think his draft picks were good? Mayer and Yorke have been big disappointments so far. Yorke’s ranking has dropped dramatically and if Mayer puts up another 2023 type effort regardless of injuries or not he will drop significantly too. Downs is proof that Bloom has no clue about young talent so why project Mayer and Yorke as if they were picked by DD. They were picked by Bloom the loser not DD the winner so dump them before they are exposed as pretenders. We need pitching and we have a sub $3MM outfield that becomes free agents around 2030. That allows Breslow to spend on pitching and 3B. He needs to go get it done.
Het Trollfree how’s it going. Does it seem to you the Sox should have been able to nab Wacha? What’s up with that?
baseballteam – Wacha…… he’s an enigma. When I look at the rotation I think:
SP1 – Somebody really good like Burnes
SP2 – Somebody really good like Monty if he’s available
SP3 – Bello
SP4 – Houck
SP5 – Crawford
SP6 – Sale (he moves to #3 with a good spring)
Where would I slot Wacha? Do we need him? My answer is no unless Breslow craps out and we have to slot Wacha behind Crawford.
If Breslow avoided Wacha, I’m good with that. We need much, much better pitchers if we want to compete in 2024.
TF – You want a 6-man rotation even without a Japanese starter?
So then you want to shift 150 innings from the bullpen to the starting rotation. Hopefully Breslow and Bailey will teach Cora how to manage a bullpen better!
What are they doing loading up on catchers and outfielders
========================
Loading up on catchers? We currently have two catchers on the team, and a good prospects who might be ready in 2026.
We barely have enough catchers, let alone an abundance.
Wing, McGuire, Roberto Perez, the new guy with seven consonants in his name,and the four out of the top 30 prospects wh are catchers.
team – Red Sox Top 30 means nothing, how many of them are MLB Top 100?
For catchers, only Teel.
Perez has a cumulative 0.1 bWAR over the past four years.
If either Wong or McGuire get hurt, we have no one that qualifies as a major league backup.
Fever – actually, rankings for a prospect don’t matter in the least when talking depth for the MLB club.
Proximity to the majors isn’t really factored into how they rate prospects, just what they thing the tools, floor/ceiling are for the guy.
Speaking generally, guys in A-ball shouldn’t even be considered ranked prospects IMO due to prospect volatility and distance from panning out, but, thats not how it works. In the best world prospects would first be ranked after finishing their first year of AA ball. At least then you could argue they have an ability to impact the MLB-squad.
Fever – Perez is no different than McGuire or Wong in that they have strengths and weaknesses. None of them are good and the future is in Teel’s hands unless we deal for a top 10 catcher and with Teel that makes no sense. He’ll be ready in a year or two.
The catcher world is really hard to criticize because most are bad. Rutschman, Posey, Realmuto are the unicorns. It’s not like the good old days when guys like Carter, Bench and so many others all played at the same time. The world is deplete of catchers because they are perceived as subject to injury so they get converted.
Perez is needle in a stack of needles. You are hard pressed to distinguish him from Wong, McGuire or any of the other catchers now in the organization. Teel is the only potential stand out. Perez is just as legitimate as McGuire and Wong. When you are below 100 with your OPS+ it’s not all that significant if you are 65 or 80. You suck either way.
Perez is legitimate depth at a terrible position. Seeking better other catchers should not be a priority on a team destined for .500 with Devers at 3B and Cora managing.
GASox – I agree, not even Teel should be included as a “loading up” of catchers because he’s still not expected to arrive in Boston until 2026.
TF – I completely agree on Teel, and I also don’t see a need to upgrade at catcher at this time.
My wish list remains the same, two solid SP and a solid LHR.
Fever – I’d like to add to that list Mondesi. He’s one buy-low I kinda defended bloom on, just not to be relied upon as their fix to the SS hole.
I’d like to see what he could do if healthy, and, he should be both cheap and open to a short term deal to prove health.
The article should have read that the Angels outfield mix includes former superstar Mike Trout.
Nooooooo!
Use the DH to figure things out
Angels need him more than sox i would think
Yoshida actually makes no sense at this point. They need a RH bat that can play the OF/DH and one for 2B.
They have too many LH bats and it’s gonna get worse when Mayer, Anthony, and Teel are up… all LH bats.
Rafaela would seem to be pivotal here if he can hit…
butch – Yoshida had an .870 OPS on July 30th, in his first MLB season.
Only Ohtani, Seager, Diaz and Tucker finished 2023 with an OPS higher than .857 in the AL.
I’m very excited to see what he can do next year, especially if he DH’s a lot more.
Fever – There is another reason why his OPS was high on July 30th and not at the end of the season. Teams built a book on how to get him out. That’s normal in baseball. Now Yoshida needs to make adjustments to off set their adjustments.
Unless Devers is traded Yoshida needs to be traded because $18MM is too much for a league average or slightly above league average outfielder who can’t field.
To win, Boston needs to focus on maximizing value at each position.
C – WEAK
1B – SOLID with good upside
2B – WEAK
SS – WEAK offensively and solid defensively
3B – Solid offensively and horrendous defensively
LF – Yoshida = bad defense average hitter
LF – Abreu – bridge to Anthony – great 4th OF of the future
CF – Duran – break out season needs to be repeated
RF – Rafaela – Best athlete on the team with a cannon for an arm
DH – Needs to be Devers
The team is weak in many places and Yoshida is one of them. If we did not have Devers then Yoshida could be given time to see if he is an $18MM hitter. BUT with Devers, he is a redundant part and needs to be traded.
TF – Question I’ve mulled the pros and cons about in my head.
What we know: Yoshida has been as bad or worse defensively as expected; he hit early, but dropped off as pitchers got a book on him AND as he ran out of steam; whether causation or correlation its too small a sample size to know, but, he hit worse as a DH than as a field position start.
Given that there are 4 years and a big hunk of money left on the deal, and, given that the team is NOT fixing enough holes to be a legit WS contender in ’24, what is there to lose to let Yoshida open the year with the team and see if he can bounce back? Best case and least likely scenario, maybe he’s worth keeping. Worst case scenario, he rebuilds some trade value for a better return right?
I’m not sold on how I feel about it, but, I lean towards letting him start the season with the team unless a clear upgrade falls into their laps, now or in ST one becomes apparent. Either way the money is a sunk cost, and, youre not worried about wasting control costing diminished returns…
TF – You could be right that opposing pitchers learned how to pitch more effectively against Yoshida and he didn’t make adjustments. We will find out in April if that’s the case.
I do think the grueling schedule and travel took a toll on him physically. Remember, he did all that traveling back and forth between the US and Japan for the WBC, he played in 4 different time zones after never playing in more than one, and the guy is only 5’8″ …. a far cry from Ohtani who is 6’4″ 210 lbs.
Fever – Merry Christmas!! Thanks for all the exchanges this year. It makes the website more fun having you contribute.
Japanese pitchers have not translated well to the MLB. Yoshida’s OBP should translate and the new base running rules allowed him to steal more bases than his speed would suggest. If Cora got replaced with a knowledgeable manager I would like to think Duran/Rafaela would lead off with Yoshida batting second, then Casas and then Devers. Batting Devers is as dumb as batting Judge 2nd. When your team struggles to score runs to keep up with runs allowed you must give your alleged best hitter a chance to drive in runs. Since Devers hit poorly in 2023 compared to 2022 when he had great hitters around him, I wonder if he will be a lesser hitter going forward until some big bats are acquired.
Can you see more than a .500 team with Yoshida at DH and Devers at 3B? I can’t. Story can’t have an OPS+ of 100 or less like he has so far. Valdez was a nice surprise but isn’t an above league average 2B at the MLB level. Casas could have a sophomore slump like so many other young players who break out one year and then regress the next.
I loved Rafaela’s skills last year. 22 and batting lead off and doing well until the team hit the buzz saw pitching late in Sept. He dropped more than guys like Devers because he had fewer at bats for the season but for the guys that played the last two weeks, nobody did well. Abreu was fortunate to be injured and platooned. His minor league numbers aren’t as good as Rafaela’s. Also, Duran and Rafaela can put a ton of pressure on pitchers and catchers with their speed. I sure hope the tough pitching match-ups late in September does ruin his great progress at age 22 in both the minors and majors.
Yoshida’s greatest strength is his hand/eye coordination. I have no doubt he can maintain a .350 OBP for his career but he needs to bat prior to the big bats not after them. That’s a Cora screw-up or should I say ANOTHER Cora screw-up.
A Japanese DH has value in the market place. Trading him for a good 3B or 2B or a good Left Handed reliever/closer. It will be a salary dump which will allow Breslow to sign $60MM per year for two SPs. Without the pitchers, this team won’t make the playoffs.
I’m trying to stay positive on Breslow but he’s doing nothing to reassure me. Ownership needs to learn from their mistakes and give Breslow to Opening Day to build a competitive roster than has a chance to make the playoffs and it all starts with Devers at DH. Over 50 misplays a season is simply too much and no team can afford to have that weak of a defense.
GASox – Great post! Let’s not forget he started this year performing poorly, but then made adjustments that resulted in a massive improvement. So if he needs to make further adjustments, he has already proven he can do just that.
Also the Red Sox already have a bad enough reputation from the Mookie/Xander/Bloom/Dombrowski debacles, the last thing they need right now is to send the message that they give up on free agents after just one year.
BTW – No doubt some of the motivation for signing Yoshida was him helping to get Yamamoto, not a bad idea.
GA – I believe you are right that the team will suck and finish last in 2024. I think there are steps to that can be taken to improve them but if we have gotten accustomed to being bad then really what does it matter?
If you play Devers at 3B it’s like shouting out loud that you do not want to compete for a Division Title. If you want to keep the worst Manager in baseball, again, it’s like shouting you simply don’t want to win in 2024. At this point, I agree with you. It doesn’t matter if Yoshida plays defense because the team is going to suck and he’s far better as a left fielder than Devers is at 3B and he will have far less chances to hurt the pitching staff than Devers. In fact, we can sign the worst fielders in baseball but none of them will be as bad as Devers and if you can stomach playing a 126 OPS+ guy at 3B then you aren’t trying to win anything.
It’s always an option to prefer the status quo even if it means 5th place yet again. Who knows maybe lots of guys like O’Neill will play over their heads and give fans the illusion that they will make the playoffs. They won’t but fans don’t care about the truth. They want to be told they are far better than they really are. If the worst fielder since the dead ball era at 3B isn’t motivation to make him a DH, then nothing else really matters. The message is clear. We are not trying to win. So play Yoshida on defense and sit an outstanding young outfielder so a guy like O”Neill can play until he gets hurt. Go ahead and have Sale be the #1 and Bello the #2. At this point, you are right it doesn’t matter. We have a AAA or possibly a AA roster with Wong catching, Devers being allowed to field at 3B, Story not hitting as the SS, no 2B, Casas needing to stay hot at the start of the season, O’Neill in left field until he hits the IL, Duran in center field hoping to repeat 2023 and Abreu mistakenly being played in right field where Rafaela should be our future. I guess that means we’ll need a DH with Yoshida in left field so maybe Refsnyder.
No matter how you cut it, this roster is deficient at C, 3B, SS, 2B, LF, and DH if Devers and Yoshida aren’t the DH. They are deficient at SP1, SP2, Lefty Reliever/Closer and at manager.
The current team projects to win 70 to 80 games and finishes 5th in the AL East yet again. So, you are right. It doesn’t hurt to play Yoshida in Left Field, it simply doesn’t help to play him there. Since improvement is my hope, I need the big ticket items to see improvement. No more Cora. Devers DH, Yoshida traded. 2 Expensive top notch SPs. A new 3B and 2B and a lefty reliever to get out big lefty hitters late in the game.
Setting expectations very, very low is a sound approach to not being disappointed by the 2024 team
FULL Throttle THIS @#$%&? for the foreseeable future J. Henry, Sincerely, Redsox Nation
FULL Throttle THIS @#$%&? for the foreseeable future J. Henry, Sincerely, Redsox Nation!
Dec 26th.
All Breslow has done is sign 2 minor leaguers and wtf major league RP
The basement needle hasn’t moved
ARTE MORENO!
Sign JD Martinez, and get a couple more bats around Trout!!
Typically, I would agree with you, but run prevention and better pitching has been needed for a decade.. needed starting pitching when Rendon was signed.. instead that waste of space will find his 10th doctor to find a new microscopic fracture to put him on the sidelines to collect $38 million for doing nothing.
So other than losing Ohtani the Angels haven’t done Jack yet … except hire 70 year old retread coke sniffer Ron Washington to manage this mess? You’re at least 3 short of a 6-pack here Perry.
Arte, sell the team or bring in some talent!!!