The Red Sox are considering a number of position player targets, including a pair of outfielders. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports that the Sox are interested in Lourdes Gurriel Jr., KPRC’s Ari Alexander reports that Michael A. Taylor is another player of interest, and Boston is also looking at help behind the plate in Martin Maldonado, according to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome. (All links to X).
Even after the trade of Alex Verdugo to the Yankees earlier tonight, the Red Sox technically still have a set starting outfield in Jarred Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu, with Masataka Yoshida available for part-time duty in left field when he isn’t a designated hitter, and utilitymen Rob Refsnyder and Pablo Reyes in the mix. That said, the projected starting outfield doesn’t carry much MLB experience, making a veteran addition like Gurriel (for left field) or Taylor (for center) very sensible.
Gurriel will be the priciest of the group, as MLBTR predicted a four-year, $54MM contract for the 30-year-old while ranking Gurriel 14th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents. Over his six Major League seasons with the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks, Gurriel has been a streaky but generally productive bat, hitting .279/.324/.446 for a career 113 wRC+ over 2456 plate appearances. Settling in as a regular left fielder after some poor defensive showings as an infielder at the start of his career, Gurriel’s glovework has been somewhat mixed, yet public metrics were very impressed across the board with his fielding in 2023. It could be that the move to Chase Field from Rogers Centre helped Gurriel’s defense, though dealing with the Green Monster in Fenway Park could be a trickier endeavor.
The Red Sox got a first-hand look at Gurriel during his days in Toronto, and Gurriel has a solid .811 OPS over 180 career PA at Fenway. Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow also crossed paths with Gurriel on a personal level, as Breslow’s last pro season (2018) was spent in the Blue Jays organization when Gurriel spent time at Double-A and Triple-A before making his MLB debut that season.
Since defensive improvements are a stated goal of the Red Sox offseason, signing a former Gold Glover like Taylor would provide immediate help. Taylor’s +5 Defensive Runs Saved, +8 Outs Above Average, and +4.3 UZR/150 over 960 1/3 center field innings with the Twins last season were actually down from some of his elite totals earlier in his career, yet obviously Taylor is still among the best defensive center fielders in the sport. He added to that glovework with one of his better offensive seasons, hitting .220/.278/.442 with 21 home runs in 388 PA for Minnesota in 2023 for a 96 wRC+.
With Byron Buxton unable to play center field due to recurring knee problems, Taylor ended up being very valuable in solidifying Minnesota’s center field situation. The same could be true in Boston, as having Taylor up the middle on even a part-time basis would allow Rafaela to perhaps contribute at second base — another known target area for the Red Sox this winter.
Taylor and Maldonado could come at much lower price tags than Gurriel, and could be had at one-year contracts despite quite a bit of interest in their service. For instance, Maldonado has drawn interest from at least four other teams besides the Red Sox, though a reunion with the Astros now looks to be scuttled given Houston’s signing of Victor Caratini.
Though Maldonado has never contributed much as a hitter, his ability to handle pitchers and call games has been widely praised throughout his career. This allowed Maldonado to continue getting regular at-bats in Houston, and his work with the Astros’ pitchers was seen as a major reason for their development and the peak that was the 2022 World Series title. However, as Yainer Diaz started to break out as a catcher of the future, the Astros ultimately decided to move on from Maldonado, leaving the veteran in search of a new home.
Connor Wong and Reese McGuire already form a catching platoon, so there would seem to be less immediate opportunity for playing time in Boston than Maldonado might find on another team. Signing Maldonado might open the door for the Sox to make a trade, as Kyle Teel could make his MLB debut in 2024 and is seen as Boston’s catcher of the future. If Wong and McGuire are seen as shorter-term placeholders anyway, Maldonado could then become a veteran mentor to Teel as the top prospect gets acclimated to the majors.
Wow, they’re all in. Watch out AL East.
Lmfaooooooo
Starting to think Morosi is actually the main disinformation merchant. Heyman just screws things up and gets mixed around, but Morosi deliberately puts out misleading crap.
“Morosi deliberately puts out misleading crap”..Welcome to America’s MSM it’s pretty much all full of misleading crap, lies and half truths. And believe you me, Morosi is far from the only one doing it.
OK who dosed Breslow so he’s so high he can’t see there’s still elite starters on the market?
It might be easier to list the players the Red Sox were NOT “interested” in.
Gurriel had a nice bounce back year in Arizona but he is not the prototypical slugger this lineup badly needs.
Taylor could be interesting. JBJ only with the ability to hit.
Hard pass on Maldonado. If this is the route they want to take then they might as well bring McGuire back
Disagree on the JBJ with the ability to hit, ability to run however is certainly true.
Bring back JD Martinez!
Labial – The leader of the MLBTR competition has JD returning to the Sox. I laughed when I saw that.
“Hard pass on Maldonado”..How many World Series games has Mcguire caught?…How many championship series?….How many big games has he won?…Yes, having catcher Mcguire is clearly the key to “winning” and I’m sure that’s why he’s seemingly on a new team every 2 months, right?
mlb fan – My head was in the same space with you until I looked at how much Maldonado has faded in hitting and throwing out runners in the last few years. Father time caught up with him so all the experience in the world isn’t going to raise his under the Mendoza line batting average during the season and post season.
With this much time, it would be premature to go after such a mediocre to bad catcher to replace our current mediocre to bad catchers.
None of this makes sense. Boston has 5 young outfielders who all have the potential of being all-star quality outfielders. The team needs to let them mature into their roles. The team has a MASSIVE hole at 3B that needs to be fixed and if it’s fixed then Yoshida is expendable to get a 3B, 2B, lefty reliever or to contribute money needed to get Yamamoto and Bieber or some other trade for a SP1/2.
Why is it the rumors always come out as if Bloom thought them up. Nobody else ever suggested getting players like Bloom did. You need a pitcher, he got a 3rd DH. You need a top of the rotation SP and he got a SP 5. Suggesting Boston needs Gurriel is silly. They don’t . They simply have six primary needs this off season:
1 – move Devers to DH (A MUST or another .500 season)
2 – Sign or trade for a SP1 and SP2 (Yamamoto and Bieber are my suggestions)
3 – FA or trade for a good defensive 3B who can hit for power (Chapman/Candalaria)
4 – Add a Left handed reliever who can also close because Kenley is old (Hader is ideal)
5 – Sign or trade for a 2B who can field and hit (Merrifield is my suggestion)
6 – Trade both Verdugo and Yoshida to improve available payroll (half completed)
If you want Yamamoto you can’t trade Yoshida….
Butch – You might be right but Yamamoto hasn’t stated he needed to play with a Japanese player. He does have the track record of Boston being generous with Japanese pitchers in the past so assuming he wants to be on a team with Yoshida seems a bit presumptuous.
I am still a fan of trading Arenado for Devers to solve the money problems down the road and immediately fix the defense but STL might not be as lenient as Boston is letting Devers play 3B. Most teams won’t hesitate to put the Butcher of Boston at DH. Breslow has to put the needs of the team first and move him or this team won’t make the strides towards greatness with a massive hole at 3B>
Trading Devers would allow Yoshida to stay and if that brings us Yamamoto I’d start packing Devers bag and constructing a welcome sign for Arenado.
The RS don’t have money problems they have a confused ownership problem.
Boxscore – BINGO!!! The whole Mookie complaining to ownership about racism event triggered the downfall of the organization and we are now finally trying to fix it. Four brutal years of suffering and we hope Breslow will be the Mesiah.
From the day DD got fired the team has been in a downward spiral. Cora destroyed Sale’s elbow, Bloom destroyed the immediate future by not signing Mookie and the spiral just kept going. There is still a couple of huge problems impacting the future of the Red Sox. Cora needs to go yesterday so Breslow doesn’t have to worry about knives in his back and Devers has to grow up and look in the mirror and see a DH not a 3B. Fix the two issues of Cora and Devers and the team wins 90 games with it’s current roster. Add SPs, 3B, 2B and a lefty closer and it wins 100 games.
Ownership had a brain fart when they over-reactd to Mookie calling them out on racism. This whole debacle is a result of a very generous group of owners suddenly losing their minds and making horrible decisions. At this point, Ownership not firing Cora is yet another horrible decision. It needs immediate attention so Breslow isn’t working with one arm tied behind his back by having a convicted cheater as the face of the clubhouse.
Breslow and ownership —– take out the trash and lets go get both Yamamoto and Burnes.and turn this mediocre team back into a World Champion!!!!
Who are the 5 young outfielders with all star potential?
Chris – From best to worst
1 – Roman Anthony
2 – Cedanne Rafaela
3 – Jarren Duran
4 – Wilyer Abreu
5 – Miguel Bleis
They are all just starting out but they have some excellent upside potential. We’ve already seen Duran show his skills along with Rafaela and Abreu. Anthony to me is the most talented of the five because he looks to be a modern day Tony C as his upside potential and Bleis has had good and bad performances and hasn’t established himself yet. If he bounces back then he has the upside potential, if he doesn’t the list shrinks to four.
That’s a lot of depth to clog with a known commodity like Gurriel. He’s a nice outfielder but his $15MM price tag for a guy who put up .an average OPS+ of roughly 110 over the last 3 years is steep. I really think Duran, Rafaela and Anthony for under $3MM total and under control to 2030 is a great route to go for Boston. It frees up money to find a 3B/2B/Lefty reliever and TWO top shelf SPs.
The five all have big potential but I think only 3 will be all-stars but I’ve been wrong before so maybe more will be or maybe less will be but I think this group of Anthony in left, Duran in Center and Rafaela in right will develop into something similar to Benny, JBJ and Betts.
I do think they should let the kids play but I doubt you see Anthony until 2025 so adding another outfield right handed bat isn’t out of the question. I wouldn’t mind seeing them add Duval back at the right price I’m not super excited about paying Gurriel for three years with the youngsters coming.
At some point you just have to let the youngsters play. Troll we disagree on where they should play I think Abreu plays right and Rafaela plays center and Duran plays left. I still think there is a strong chance that Rafaela may start in AAA to continue to work on his approach in which case a right handed power hitter like Duval who can play center makes the most sense.
If I was to rate ceiling of those guys then I would go:
1) Anthony/Bleis
2) Rafaela
3) Duran
4) Abreu
If we’re talking floor
1) Duran/Abreu
2) Rafaela
3) Anthony
4) Bleis
We already saw that Duran needs to play as long as he doesn’t lose any speed he’s a true disrupter on the field he causes chaos on the base paths he brings a lot of energy he really should play left. Center is trickier if Rafaela has a good spring then it’s a no Brainer he’s your starting center fielder. Abreu should start in right he’s an excellent defender with a very strong and accurate arm. He could really break out he has a lot of power and strong plate discipline but he has a pronounced upper cut swing and has swing and miss on fastballs up so hopefully he’s not the next Chavis offensively.
I rated Bleis so high on ceiling because I believe based on what I saw at Greenville before he was injured he has the best tools in the system maybe in the game. His bat speed is off the charts he gets to everything in the outfield with easily plus speed his arm is great the only real question is his approach which ultimately determines his hit tool. Imo he got himself out quite a bit swinging at pitches out of the zone. If he can’t get his hit tool together he has Jackson Churio vibes but I do admit guys like this can completely whiff and it’s possible his hit tool never develops and he busts completely.
I am still eagerly waiting to see what Breslow does. He is obviously going to address pitching probably at both the big league and minor league level. Troll I think the only way you get your dream of Devers off of third this year is if Cora is fired or Breslow trades Devers and both of those are remote possibilities this year.
@Troll, I agree with almost everything you posted. You are spot on about letting the young bulls run. Rookies need their time to play through the rookie learning curve.. Add a veteran OF in this case clogs the pipes. Normally it would be a good idea, but you don’t normally have 3 quality rookie outfielders ready to roll with another 2 or 3 arriving this year and next.
I am afraid that Butch779988 maybe correct though. We both want Yamamoto and he has a desire to play with another Japanese player. And it helps that Masa and Moto where team mates.
So if we get Yamamoto, then we either have to keep Yoshida or sign one of the other Japanese players.
As we discussed before, I was hoping that Devers gets moved off of third at the deadline. Now I think we may be stuck with him there until Blaze arrives.
DBH – Everyone says Yama needs a Japanese teammate so who provided that FACT and when? Sometimes people don’t understand other cultures and they assume they are like our culture so things like Yama needs a Japanese teammate are stated without confirmation from Yama.
If he truly needs Yoshida then do the Arenado for Devers trade and lets get the 2024 season off to a great start with Yama as our #1 SP.
So what is the source of the Yama must have Yoshi statement?
TF – Your prayers have been answered, Dugie is with the Yankees!!
As for Yoshida, you don’t trade him for two reasons:
1) He can help lure Yama to Boston
2) Japanese players tend to excel in their second MLB season after a year of adjustment
Very true about the 2nd year, FPG! The first year, with the travel, new culture, system, better players, and language barrier must be hell! Ichito was the exception lol
DBH – You know what’s funny about Ichiro, he never would have been as popular or gotten as many MVP votes if he played today because he didn’t hit for power. His career OPS was only .757 which is a lot lower than most people assume.
But getting back to my original point, if we look at the current Suzuki his rookie OPS was only .770 and this year it jumped to .842 so clearly he got settled in after his initial year of adjusting.
Fever – Sorry but #2 is horse crap.
All players need a year to adjust to a new environment including guys like Story. This isn’t a Japanese thing and it should go with the territory no matter where the player is coming from. Some don’t need a long adjustment and some do so lets not pretend this is about him being Japanese, that’s just a bias you need to drop, he’s a ballplayer and they often need it.
Document where Yamamoto said he needed a Japanese player on the roster of the team he’s going to. I doubt that documentation exists.
So now take a fresh look at the situation:
1 – We have 2 DHs that cost $47MM a year
2 – One is $18MM and highly tradeable and one is $30MM on an albatross contract
3 – The albatross contract is tied to the worst fielding 3B in history.
4 – The $18MM a year is tied to a terrible fielding OF and the team is loaded with great young outfielders needing playing time.
5 – You can fix EVERYTHING by trading Devers for Arenado because the defense jumps 20 spots, Yoshida goes to DH and the team’s offense is comparable while the defense is significantly better.
6 – You can trade Yoshida and dump the $18MM a year for a guy who can only hit. You can try to fill one of the holes in the trade (3B, 2B, SP1, SP2 or lefty closer) The extra money from trading Yoshida could get you Hader or it could get you Merrifield and Candalaria. Either choice significantly improves the team because Devers doesn’t field.
7 – We can keep the $47MM a year two DHs and have terrible defense yet again and play for a .500 season and watch the pitchers stay away from Boston despite having a Japanese player because the defense is so horrendous they won’t be successful with it.
This is life as it exists this off season. If you want to say they won’t move Devers than accept the destiny of a .500 season and a lowered chance of signing quality starting pitchers.
You want to say Yoshida can’t be traded because it’s the only way we get Yamamoto then you are paying Yamamoto a record salary plus $18MM. That’s not a good long-term solution.
You want to see Breslow earn his money? Let him fix the Cora situation, fix the Devers situation, fix the Yoshida situation and land 2 top of the rotation guys and a quality 3B to turn this team into a 95 win team.
I’m tired of HOPING for everything. When DD was here we knew what we had and it was great. Bloom tore it down and it’s Breslow’s job to build it back. You can’t do that if you put Devers desires ahead of what’s best for the team. You can’t do that if you can’t bring top quality SPs to Boston because the defense is so bad. We need immediate changes to make this happen so it’s on Breslow to do the right thing for the club and hurt some player feelings to get it done.
TF – You said #2 is crap …. love it!! You’re right, it is!! Hahaha!!!
Awesome news♂️♂️♂️honestly, the Sox trade a outfielder, and are now linked to several others, including a catcher at the tail end of his career. When we should be reading about the premier pitchers they are about to acquire / need badly. No excuses this year, multiple aces ARE available! Just a matter of writing the biggest check. Some don’t even have a qualifying offer attached. Watching Bloom basically sit on his hands for the last four years was painful enough. Did ownership really hire a new GM only to tell him to go bargain basement shopping too? Really???
SeanC – Actually I don’t think Breslow is bargain basement hunting. I think the rumors are mostly false so lets just talk about what’s needed.
At C Wong is a back-up at best and Teel won’t be ready for a year or two so getting a reliable catcher to share time with Wong is a smart filler move until Teel is the number one and maybe Wong sticks around as his back-up.
Two players that needed to be traded were Verdugo because of his high salary and either Devers or Yoshida and their high salaries. Since the Yankees took Verdugo and his high salary I have renewed hope Breslow might be able to dump the Devers contract. $30MM for a guy who puts up a 126 OPS+ is a huge over pay. Devers kills the defense and refuses to move to DH. Keeping him at 3B is killing the pitching staff so something has to give. Two DHs (Devers and Yoshida) costing $48MM a year for 5 years isn’t going to cut it. Breslow needs to shed one of them and use the money to fix the broken pieces like 3B/2B/lefty closer and SP1 and SP2.
It sounds like he’s trying to outbid everyone for Yamamoto and that’s exactly what he needs to do even if he pays too much. Then he needs to consider trading for another SP1/SP2 type pitcher like Bieber or Burnes. With Story sighed for four more years he can move Mayer to get a guy like Burnes and if he includes Yoshida in the deal then Burnes is only about a $10MM a year add. That just leaves 3B where he can fix the defense by signing Chapman or he can improve the defense by signing Candalaria.. Last fix is Merrifield at 2B for $5MM.
Breslow has the money to make it all happen but he needs to win the contest for Yamamoto first. Then he can work on the rest of the dominoes. Personally, I want Devers to realign his thinking with playing DH immediately so that problem is off the table before Christmas..
Troll I just don’t think YY is coming to Boston. I hope I’m wrong but with Cohen and the Mets making him the highest priority target then I can’t see FSG and Boston outbidding him. The Dodgers and the Giants are also huge on this guy not to mention the Yankees. Ultimately he’s going to get a huge contract and I just can’t see Boston winning that battle unless he really wants to come to Boston. I think it’s more likely Boston lands Monty but I view that as also a longshot. They are more likely to land Shota or someone else from that second tier and it’s not because Breslow won’t try to get a tor guy I think he will but ultimately I don’t see ownership winning the all out bidding wars that seem to be materializing.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the old posting system where the highest offer gets the rights. The player has their own free will.
Who knows what ‘moto really wants in a deal, the biggest check may not be the deciding factor.
All you can do is wait and see, hoping the front office puts their best effort out there.
Meanwhile, TF, aren’t you glad Verdugo was tendered an offer so he could be traded?
GA – It’s a wash as of today.
Think about this:
1 – If he is non-tendered then $9.2MM is off the books and we have nothing for it.
2 – With this deal the $9.2MM is off the books and we don’t know if there is any more value in the three SPs than there was in Verdugo, Downs and Wong.
Not one player in the Mookie deal provided more value than his cost. The same could be true for the three SPs we just got so the jury is out BUT if they do provide value then NOT non-tendering him was the right move.
Frankly, I didn’t think there was a dumb enough GM in baseball to trade for Verdugo and his $9.2MM salary but Cashman proved me wrong. He really is at Bloom’s level. A complete moron.
Breslow did the right thing but we won’t know for years if it actually was a better move than a simple non-tender.
I can see the others but with so many catchers, I’m not sure I see why Maldonado is a target.
Yeah a catcher whom pitchers seem to love and whose teams keep winning the World Series and going to the championship round literally every year; what team would want that?…
It’s not that we don’t want him, but what are we going to do with the two catchers we have? It’s not a Maldonado issue, it’s a roster issue, unless Breslow has something else cooking.
I’m starting to miss Bloom
I’d offer Gurriel 2 years, 24 mil, with another mil tacked on if he gets rid of his purple hair.
Hardly – Breslow makes one deal so far and gets three potential arms for one Alex Verdugo and you’re calling him Bloom 2.0? I am sure the Red Sox aren’t running their off season strategy by you for your input. In fact, judging by your comment, I wouldn’t even run T-ball strategy by you. You don’t know as much about baseball as you think you do.
Why no talk about giving Adam Duvall another chance?
I think his power would fit well with this team and being right handed is just a bonus. He would also be a guy who can play center if Rafaela can’t hack it offensively.
Bruin1012 –
Use some simple baseball logic.
2 fast guys and a not so fast guy in the outfield at Fenway. You want the fastest guy to play LF, the second fastest to play center field but he has the strongest arm and the third fastest to play right field with the second strongest arm and that makes sense to you!!!
Simple baseball logic says if you have 2 CFers with speed in Fenway they must cover CF and RF the odd man out with far less speed plays left field. Now to decide which of the two speedster play right field you compare arms and the better arm goes to right field. It’s really that elementary.
Abreu in LF, Duran in CF and Rafaela in RF.
Duran will be 27 in 2024 and is the most experienced, Abreu will be 25 in 2024 so he’s the second most experienced and Rafaela will be 23 in 2024 and played at three levels in 2023 AA, AAA and MLB and his games played equalled 136 across the three levels. That’s a lot for a 22 year old so his late season slide may can be explained with his games played. Abreu as a 24 year old played at AAA and MLB and played only 114 games which was down from the previous year so it’s hard to guage who will be able to handle 150 games in 2024 better than the other.
Is there reason to think Rafaela can’t back it offensively? Absolutely not. He’s younger and played more games and in the end his batting average dropped from .294 to .241 in the last five games of the season. That’s how small the sample was. He needs to start the year in the MLB and prove his minor league stats weren’t a fluke. He has star potential with great speed, a great glove and the best outfield arm in the organization. The real question should be can we take Devers to DH and backfill him with Rafaela since he did an excellent job when he was asked to play the infield
So the cheap shot at Rafaela was really uncalled for. I’m sorry Rafaela is so much better and younger than your man Abreu but he is. Abreu can stay in the majors if he can continue to have a great eye and draw walks and hit the home runs since he has no speed. In the meantime, Duran and Rafaela will disrupt the defenses with their speed and whether Rafaela plays RF or the infield his skills provide a needed upgrade at any position.
I’m not taking a shot at Rafaela I like him but he has chase issues that big league pitchers will probably take advantage of I hope I’m wrong would love to see Rafaela man center field where his defense belongs.
Troll you obviously haven’t watched Abreu play much. He’s a very good defensive player who gets excellent jumps despite lack of raw speed. He’s the opposite of Duran who gets terrible jumps but makes up for it with raw speed. Abreu also has the best most accurate arm suited for right field.
Just so you are aware the very respected BA came out with their top 10 Red Sox prospects just the other day. It’s interesting they have moved Abreu up to 6th on the Red Sox prospect list and rate his arm better then Rafaela overall his accuracy is 80 grade along with being very strong they see him in right field moving forward. If you watched him at all in AAA you would see his defensive prowess so no like most people that actually watch the players in the minors I have Duran in left, Rafaela in center, and Abreu in right with his superior arm excellent reads and jumps. Honestly I’m more concerned if Abreu is going to have to much in zone swing and miss especially on high fastballs. I’m not concerned about his defense in right at all.
Bruin1012 – Did you happen to find the original copy of the scouting report on both Abreu and Rafaela? You stated BA is a reliable source and normally I would agree with that but the scouting reports they published are from a local bad beat writer not expert scout. Alex Speier did your dirty work and changed the 2023 arm rating significantly without Abreu making a throw from center field or right field. Seems odd that should happen under the circumstances. Looks like Abreu has two fans that are willing to exaggerate things for his benefit!!! hahaha
Also, you told me Abreu was a right fielder. That’s not true he played left field by far the most of the three fields in his last 3 years in the minors. Funny how that key tidbit that totally undermined your entire argument about him being a right fielder got passed over!!! Are you related to Cora the way you spin things?
In the end, Rafaela is ranked higher everywhere than Abreu because he has far more talent. He gives Boston a dimension that Abreu can’t and that’s speed in the outfield and on the bases. He’s also far more versatile because he is probably the top defensive infielder at each position other than 1B and C and he’s only going to be 23 in 2024!!!
One more thing. Rafaela was batting lead-off at age 22 and was hitting .368 and slugging .632 with an OPS of 1.032 on Sept 14th as Boston closed out the Yankee series.. Abreu was hitting 6th at that time and doing well but not quite as well as Rafaela who is 2 years younger (a reference to all your Devers age debates).
Boston dropped 3 out of 3 to TOR after the Yankee series and Rafaela went 2 for 12 dropping his average to .320 while Abreu sat when lefties started for Toronto so he went 2 for 6 against righties while batting down in the order. Then against TEX Rafaela went 2 for 9 and dropped his average to .302 as the lead off hitter and Abreu did not have to face Gray or Montgomery saving him from having his average drop. Then he sat two more games against the CWS and avoiding hitting against Touissant and Cease who both pitched great and Rafaela like the rest of the team hit badly going 1 for 12 while Abreu dodged a couple of bullets and only faced Clevinger in game 3 of the series and like Rafaela he went 1 for 3 but at this point Rafaela’s batting average had fallen from .368 to .294 in just 8 games most of which Abreu took off or was benched due to a lefty pitcher. The two game series with TB saw Abreu go 2 for 8 and Rafaela got a rest in one of the games vs Eflin who had a rough start but won. Both players hit at the top of the order for the last TB game against Glasnow. Each went 0 for 4. Not surprising considering it was Glasnow. Rafaela is now hitting .278 and dodging so many bullets Abreu was batting .348. Since it’s a small sample it was very fortunate for Abreu to miss that many games against excellent pitchers and is a very good reason his average didn’t fall like Rafaela. All that crap about him not being patient is from Speier the idiot.
Boston ended with four against BAL. Rafaela went 0 for 12 and Abreu went 1 for 10 because he sat one game to give Refsnyder a start. He missed an opportunity to face Means in a game where he only gave up 3 hits but one was a homer to Story and Pivetta and Whitlock threw a 3 hitter for the win.
To suggest Abreu is more ready than Rafaela when Rafaela was treated as one of the stars of the future and Abreu’s history left him batting at the bottom of the order is ridiculous.
Abreu will make a fine 4th outfielder when Anthony is ready and he should pray that Rafaela gets asked to play 3B so he can actually start in the Boston outfield going forward.
Troll well one things for sure you haven’t watched any games at Polar Park.
Of course he’s played more games in left because left field at Polar Park is like Right Field at Fenway. Wow I thought you actually watched games but obviously not a AAA game. Left field in Polar Park is the much tougher field to play it’s far more spacious. Right field has a 22 foot replica of the Monster complete with seats on the wall.
Honestly I don’t really care what you think Rafaela plays center that’s the position he’s best suited for. Abreu plays right if he hits hell Abreu unleashed a 94.7 mph throw in limited time his arm would have put him in the top 5% of arms in the big leagues if he played enough to qualify.
Let’s just see who’s right I guarantee you if Rafaela does start in the outfield he starts in center. If Abreu does hit and makes it as a starting outfielder it’s going to be in right. If they DH Masa mostly then Duran will play left. I can’t believe we’re even arguing about this. Do you know who played the most games in right field in 2004 for Boston it was Gabe Kapler, in 2007 it was JD Drew. It’s not like they always have the best athlete in right Abreu is plenty good enough to play right field in Fenway. I mean even Mookie would have been a centerfielder, the position he played the most in the minors, if it wasn’t for JBJ.
I’m not convinced that Abreu might ever be anything more than a 4th outfielder because I’m not really sure he hits in the bigs. I think he will I think he will hit for power and walk quite a bit just like I’m not sure Rafaela will ever be effective offensively enough to be anything other then a defensive replacement outfielder in the bigs. Once again I think he will but he swings at so many pitches off the plate that maybe big league pitchers just take advantage of that he wouldn’t be the first guy to stall out with the amount of chase that Rafaela has. We don’t know yet but what I do know is Rafaela plays center field and Abreu if he hits plays right.
Troll you are right about one thing Abreu can play left he can also play center he’s a fine defensive outfielder. I think you should go watch some highlights of his outfield defense watch the jumps he gets watch his routes what he lacks in pure speed he makes up for in instincts. I also guarantee you another thing teams in the bigs will quickly learn not to run on him in right field.
Bruin1012 – I guess you haven’t followed my writings over the years but I live in the Dallas area. Not terribly close to Polar Park. I see teams that visit Frisco but no I am not an everyday Bostonian right now. I have a son that is and I hope in a couple of years I will be but for right now, I see the Ranger franchise up close and personal. I do subscribe to many services to watch games of interest. But you can say all you want about what you see at Polar Park because I can’t confirm nor deny it. All I can do is use my 60 years of baseball playing, managing, coaching, helping players get recruited and personal instruction about the game along with the stats generated to form my opinions. You rely heavily on your personal observations. I simply do my homework. I was all over Harper as a future star when he was in High School and got his GED early to play JUCO ball. I never once saw him in person but I knew from his stats and the people inquiring about him that he must be something veyr special and he was and still is.
I watched Rafaela and Abreu in the major leagues and I was more impressed by Rafaela then Abreu. I liked that young players were emerging from the farm system and I hated that Bloom mishandled Duran initially. Duran got a bad rap on his defense and it wasn’t fair. He’s a great athlete and if he had played 1/2 as many games in CF as Devers has played at 3B I am confident he would become a gold glove fielder. The difference between Duran and Verdugo is their ability to field fly balls over their shoulder. Verdugo’s hand/eye coordination is not good so he reached to the wrong location and misses the ball. Duran has better hand/eye coordination and follows the ball to the glove. Duran simply needs more games to figure out all the nuances of playing CF in Fenway. Verdugo for a left handed outfielder went to his left for balls in front of him extremely well. I thought when he went to the right in front of him his ego made him think he could get to balls he couldn’t get to. That’s why I don’t consider Verdugo a candidate for a gold glove. Flashy is his style and flashy gets recognition but like Beltre his myth is far greater than his skills.
Mookie Betts was a second baseman but Pedroia blocked his way so they experimented with a great athlete with outstanding hand/eye coordination and it paid off. I believe as a 22 year old in the majors Rafaela showed the same athleticism and hand eye coordination Mookie showed and based on watching his throws across the infield he had great arm strength. We all know Duran is not a right fielder and Rafaela has the ability to cover the vast right field area like Duran does in center field but Rafaela can limit players going from 1st to 3rd on hits to right field unlike Duran. If you believe Abreu can do the same then there is depth at the position.
I haven’t seen enough of Bleis to draw any conclusions but he seems to be very similar to Yorke and Mayer. He had a great year followed by a not so great year. So the jury is out as to his true upside. Add in Anthony who looks to me to be the best of the bunch as an all around threat. I only saw one of his games and it impressed me greatly. His stats backed up what I saw so he seems like a future star. Having potentially 5 stars that are controllable until 2028 for Duran and 2030 or later for the rest seems like a very bright future and inexpensive future for the Boston outfield. That’s why adding guys like O’Neill for a year in hopes he is healthy and can play is not what I would do first if I was Breslow but since Verdugo is gone the experience level of the outfield is low.
The question I keep asking myself is whether the time up in the majors for Rafaela and Abreu convinced opposing team to do full work=ups on how to pitch them or whether they fell more into a bench player who gets less attention. Devers drew attention and his 2018 was miserable. Then he adjusted and became a star. Will the new coaching staff work with both Rafaela and Abreu on prepping for the ocming season by addressing the ways other teams approached them or are they too minor of resources for the staff to dig that deep into their at bats in 2023. Afterall, it’s far more important to fix Story and Devers than Rafaela and Abreu.
About your last point. Three young stars are now in the majors. Duran had a breakout season and is a center fielder. Do you want to risk regression if he is demoted to left field? Isn’t that like moving Devers to DH from an emotional standpoint? Duran does not hurt the team in center field so there is no reason to move the incumbent center fielder. If O’Neill is going to push out Rafaela and/or Abreu he better be outstanding because it’s hard to see him as a regular in 2025 when he will want far more money as a free agent. Do we really want a rental to take time from the inexpensive future stars of the team.
If Breslow is a big fan of O’Neill then he needs to package and outfielder like Rafaela, Anthony or Abreu with an infielder like Mayer or Yorke to get a guy like Burnes. In the end, bad defense and bad pitching will limit the success of the 2024 Red Sox.
Bruin1012 – Send me links to see his defense. I looked on the internet for his defense but there wasn’t much. I did look up 2024 prospects who could win gold gloves and one of the MLB pipeline guys had Rafaela as a top candidate. I saw his catch in Fenway off the center field wall but truly didn’t find much on Abreu in the minors. I believe one video said he put on a clinic and he made two sliding catches but didn’t throw out anyone. I really would like to watch video on his defense so please reply with a link.
Abreu made it into a Rafaela highlight when he drove in four and on his third hit Abreu was thrown out a 3B. His build suggests he will be more power than speed similar to Anthony.
Rafaela made some really nice plays at SS and is extremely versatile so I really want Breslow to tell Cora to play him at 3B and move Devers to DH. That forces Yoshida into LF but Yoshida in left has far less impact on the pitchers than Devers at 3B. I know it won’t happen but I think Boston jumps 10 games at a minimum if Devers goes to DH. I watch Jung in Texas and his defense is so good in comparison to Devers. He dives and back-hands balls regularly and makes perfect throws. In 7 years I can only think of a time or two when Devers actually got somebody out on a diving to his right play.
The need is great for the move to happen. The pitchers will probably go on a bender if they found out Devers glove got retired. So much good can come from it but ONE GUY hurts the whole team because of his EGO. Somebody needs to tell him he sucks at fielding. It’s like he doesn’t understand that simple fact. He’s played 10 less seasons yet is 3rd on the errors list of guys that are still playing. His 129 is 12 behind Donaldson’s 141 and 31 behind Longoria’s 160. He’ll move into 2nd after 2024 his 8th season and should pass Longoria by 2025 his 9th season.
Fun fact – Harmon Killebrew spent 22 seasons at 3B and made two less than Devers has right now!!! Arenado has played 11 seasons and has made 6 less errors than Devers. Tony Perez played 23 seasons and made 6 less errors than Devers. Paul Molitor in 21 seasons made 8 less than Devers in 7 seasons.
How can a GM ignore the facts and allow his team to be hurt by ONE GUY not doing what’s best for the team:? It was disturbing in 2018 when they didn’t send him down to learn a new position but now it’s a travesty no it’s a sham that he gets to pretend he can field like a major league 3B when it’s obvious to the intelligent fan that he’s terrible. As an ex=athlete I would be completely embarrassed by the degree of stink I am producing on defense. I would volunteer to move to DH.
The game has really changed. The peer pressure on Devers in my day would have been so great that he would have feared coming in the locker room after he stunk it up in the field. The clubhouse would have fixed the situation quickly.
I hope this farce gets fixed soon.
I don’t see any interest in Taylor or Maldonado,
Joe – Maldonado was a bad hitting catcher with a decent arm years ago. While I don’t like McGuire or Wong and Teel is on the way I think a better catcher is needed than Maldonado. Good call on Maldonado AND Taylor.
Sadly the top GM choices had no interest in the Red Sox after how they handled Dombroski, Theo, Cherrington. Bloom was okay for the minor league build up. He was shaky on building a major league roster. Bloom rode Andrew Friedman’s shirttails in Tampa. Breslow was not even on the radar for a GM and he looks like he is in way over his head. Everything is going through Henry here. When they strike out on Yamamoto the media is going to be on him. I really hope I am wrong but they dump Verdugo off for minor league pitchers and a guy who is up and down. Now you are depending on Red Sox rookies starting in the outfield.
This team is mediocre at best. They need a lot of help otherwise it is last place in this division in a major market city like Boston. To straighten this mess out that Bloom created they needed a top notch GM which they did not get. No one wanted to come to Boston and now we are watching the Yankees catapult past Boston if they get Soto, Toronto too if they get Ohtani, Tampa has talent and Baltimore is getting better every year. Breslow has to do something big here or this team is destined for last place.
Good grief – Hopefully we are not seeing Chaim Jr. in action. Boston gets a marginal MLB player (pitcher) and 2 minor player wildcards for Verdugo, Saves $9.2M, now $67M under the cap. Leaves two pitchers available for Rule 5 draft with one of them being 19th in the organization pipeline. The likelihood is at least one will be returned which will be the second guy not Drohan. The kickoff of the Boston hot stove eerily seems like the second coming of Chaim. Let’s hope not and they get two stud starting pitchers and a right handed slugger!
Not Full Throttle Not Spending $$$ on Redsox Anything so far in 24…
Cold Stove Update from Redsox Nation
Is this the Gurriel with the moronic dyed hair?
UPDATE from Redsox Nation: Not “Full Throttle” Currently 0$ spending for 2024 on anything Redsox
Waiting to see our Big Market Team get serious again. All spending on hold until further notice!
It won’t just be the Red Seat empty at the moment!
Yup we are in on everything and did nothing but create a hole in right field with the trade of Verdugo for three minor league pitchers. So I guess we will get to see these pitchers come up and learn the league this year with the high ticket prices Boston charges. It is going to be a long year in Boston this year. Yeah we are back baby!!
I just checked the Brelow calendar and he’s got vacation marked in for Dec 10 to Dec 31st.. That’s going to put a lot of pressure on the writers to come up with more stories!!!
2 SPs
1 3B and move Devers to DH
1 Lefty closer/reliever
1 2B
1 Catcher
2 trades – Verdugo and Yoshida
Six items and 1/2 of one is completed as the winter meetings end.
This is eerily similar to the 2019 off season. Lets hope nobody gives away the future of the franchise in February unless it’s Devers then go ahead and lets save the $30MM a year for a DH. Losing Devers and his $30MM 10 year salary would be far less painful than losing Mookie and his $27MM salary that should have jumped to $36MM. $9MM annually destroyed the franchise. JBJ’s non=tender would have brought in $11MM per year and with the $2MM of spare change maybe would could have bought a real Manager!!!
Reviewing the last four years is like watching The Titanic on a big screen and seeing the entire 2018 roster slowing slipping into the ocean. Thanks to all those who suggested that Bloom get 3 years to show what he could do. Great call!!!