The Red Sox have outperformed most expectations and carry a 43-37 record. They’re percentage points ahead of the Royals for the final Wild Card spot in the American League. Boston doesn’t look like a prototypical seller, yet that hasn’t completely silenced trade speculation regarding their closer.
Kenley Jansen has found his name in trade rumors going back to the offseason. It seemed like Boston wanted to offload his $16MM salary over the winter. Nothing came together before the season got underway. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote as recently as late May that the Sox were likely to trade Jansen at the deadline. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden wrote this morning that some rival executives believe the Red Sox could still look to move the four-time All-Star in a deal that nets Boston help in another area of the MLB roster.
Alex Speier of the Boston Globe spoke with Jansen about the trade chatter last night. The right-hander indicated he’s happy in Boston, though he noted that whether he’s traded is beyond his control. “Listen, I can’t control my destiny. What I can tell you is, I signed here to win championships. Yes, we are a few pieces away. But I think it’s a great ball club and I’m going to continue to be a leader,” Jansen told Speier. “If I’m not here, I hope the best for them. But I will focus every single day on coming out here and helping my young guys to be better because I want to see this organization win another championship.”
Jansen has held up his end of the bargain since signing a two-year deal over the 2022-23 offseason. The 15-year veteran turned in a 3.63 ERA across 44 2/3 innings during his first season. He has been excellent this year, working to a 2.30 earned run average through 27 1/3 frames. Jansen has locked down 15 of 16 save chances while striking out 29.1% of batters faced. He hasn’t allowed a home run all season.
While he doesn’t have the velocity or pristine command he brandished during his peak days with the Dodgers, the 36-year-old remains an effective closer. Jansen pointed to those results when Speier asked him whether he’d be willing to vacate the ninth inning if he were traded to another team with an established closer.
“My question is, what did I do that I can’t close? You know what I do the best,” he replied. “I close ballgames, man. That’s what I’ve got to tell you. I’m getting close to another milestone. I’m closing down, trying to get to 500 saves. That’s still very important to me. … At the end of the day, if the situation comes, we’ll figure it out. But I think I’ve been doing this for so long. And also, my body has been more battle-tested season-wise and playoff-wise as a closer. I don’t know how to deal with the mix-and-match situation. Like, no.”
Jansen is fifth on the all-time leaderboard with 435 saves. He’ll pass Francisco Rodríguez (437) for fourth place within the next few weeks. (Craig Kimbrel is narrowly behind him with 433 saves.) If Jansen holds down a ninth inning job for another season or two, he could finish behind only Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman when all is said and done.
For the time being, he’ll continue trying to add to that tally at Fenway Park. WEEI’s Rob Bradford tweeted last night that opposing teams find the Sox’s asking price in trade talks to be “currently unrealistic.” With more than a month until the deadline and the team still squarely in contention, that’s not all that surprising. Even if first-year chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and his staff aren’t interested in retaining Jansen beyond this season, there’s a straightforward argument for playing out the year and letting him walk in free agency.
Boston’s bullpen has been a strength. They entered play Wednesday ranked ninth in the majors with a 3.45 ERA from their relief corps. Sox relievers are seventh in innings pitched and 11th with a 23.6% strikeout rate. Rule 5 pick Justin Slaten has been a great find, while the Sox have gotten solid work from their unheralded left-handed duo of Cam Booser and Brennan Bernardino. Top setup man Chris Martin has a 3.70 ERA with 27 strikeouts and only two walks in 24 1/3 innings around a brief injured list stint for anxiety. Greg Weissert, acquired from the Yankees in the Alex Verdugo trade, has contributed a 2.65 mark with impressive strikeout and walk numbers over 34 frames of his own.
hendriks is on track to return late 2024
are sox planning to install him as full time CL next yr?
Yep but for this season, if the team is close, you work Hendricks in slowly. I’ve been amazed by Jansen who certainly does not look like what he was yet he keeps getting the job done, imagine getting in to the playoffs and having Jansen, Hendricks and Martin? A three headed monster that together will be able to cover tgev8yh and 9th inning of EVERY playoff game.
dewey – When has Cora worked in any reliever slowly? He has no common sense. Slaten’s MLB debut was bottom of the 10th inning, tie game, runners on the corners with JRod at the plate. Absolutely ridiculous way to make your MLB debut, and Red Sox Nation knows how that game ended.
Monday night Cora brings in Campbell, who hadn’t pitched in the majors since April 11, Sox leading 2-1 in the 8th. First three batters he faces, single-single-471 foot homerun.
As I’ve been saying, if the Sox are still in the WC at the trade deadline I wouldn’t be surprised if they still trade guys like Jansen, Martin, Pivetta and O’Neill.
And I wouldn’t be surprised if Hendriks immediately gets put into high leverage situations because Cora is a moron who always thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room.
Fever, hopefully some decisions won’t be his. Henry looking at the bottom line might hope for a surprising run with home games. Doubtful I know but since he no longer cares about the true fans, I have to find something to hang on to. That said I crack up hearing how Cora is so respected.
Fever, please explain why Campbell is even on that roster. Booser was a perfectly decent reliever and they replace him with a guy not only fresh off the DL, but he stunk up the place before he went on there.
dewey – Agreed! Unfortunately the NESN guys recently confirmed that Cora has the freedom to make his own decisions, he doesn’t receive direction from the front office as is the case with some other teams.
let – I hear ya!!!
I’m guessing the Sox wanted to evaluate Campbell by seeing how he does in the majors, and since he is *supposedly* effective against LHB they felt there was no need to have two lefty relievers in the pen.
Personally I’d have kept Booser up and sent down Anderson.
They wore out the bullpen on Sunday, and Booser in particular had pitched in three straight. Needed some fresh arms, and you can see the impact of the move in what Winckowski did on Tuesday.
Obviously they (and I) hoped for better from Campbell, rather than the complete meltdown he delivered. But this was about bullpen availability rather than performance, and I fully expect Booser will be back after light usage at Worcester over the next two weeks.
I’m not a fan of bullpen games for this reason. Even if you win that game, the stress on the bullpen can easily cost you others.
Anderson doesn’t have options remaining and could not be optioned down even if he were to give permission. He would need to removed from the 40 man roster (DFA) to be assigned to Worcester.
tff – Are you sure about that? My understanding is once you accrue the 5 years of service time, you can be optioned any time if you consent to it …. without being DFA’d.
When Jose Abreu was about to be sent down, FG showed his options as “N/A” …. and he definitely didn’t get DFA’d.
I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just confused about other sources saying differently.
I am absolutely certain. Among other good work, SoxProspects tracks the 40 man roster, service time, and options status of the players. That really helps in making sense of some of these moves.
Watch the language used in the transaction. If a player is “optioned” to AAA, that means he is still on the 40-man roster but will be pitching in the minors. Various rules surrounding this (including limits on how soon you can recall somebody who was optioned), but each “option” allows you to send the player down up to five times within a calendar year. Next year requires another option. Players generally begin with 3 options. Some, like Jose Abreu (who came straight to the majors) and Brad Keller (who was never sent down once he was added to the ML roster) never use up any options at all. Others, like Wong, use up all three of their options before they finally land a permanent job.
Players with more than five years of service time can only be optioned with their consent. My understanding is that Keller began the year with 6.000 years of service time, so this must have been the path with him. But players without remaining options cannot be optioned.
Joely Rodriguez is an example of that. Biggest reason he was kept on the roster out of Spring Training, ahead of Bernardino, is that Rodriguez was out of options while Bernardino had options remaining. When they sent Rodriguez down, they had to first DFA him, removing him from the 40-man roster. When nobody claimed him, they “outrighted” him to the minors.
04/28/24 Boston Red Sox designated LHP Joely Rodríguez for assignment.
05/01/24 Boston Red Sox sent LHP Joely Rodríguez outright to Worcester Red Sox.
The contract and roster rules are pretty obscure, you even seen journalists get them wrong at times. Most fans don’t understand them well. But I’ve been doing this a long time.
Jose Abreu was signed out of Cuba, never spent a day in the minors. I don’t have a reference that I can point you to, but I am absolutely certain that this was the first option used.
My guess is that Fangraphs gives options as “N/A” once a player reaches five years of service time. If you look at a player like Joely Rodriguez, you see they report it as 0.
It is a little unusual for a 5+ year player to be optioned, but not wholly unknown. Probably happens a few times a year in MLB, especially when a veteran loses it and everybody agrees that he needs a spell in the minors to try to work through issues. I was a little surprised in the case of Keller, as I didn’t see any huge issues with him (he just isn’t very good). Why would he not insist on a DFA and a chance to play in the majors somewhere else? But I guess he likes it here?
tff – Fantastic, thank you!! I knew all about Joely/Bernardino, I was on top of that (and not happy) when Bernardino was sent down. But Joely is not a good example because he does NOT have at least 5 years service time like Jose Abreu did.
Can you please provide a link to the DFA requirement for players with service time over 5 years, that way when others disagree with me I can support it. Most of my people rely on Fangraphs, which unfortunately doesn’t show what you’ve heard.
tff – But Joely does NOT have 5 years service time.
My understanding is Fangraphs puts N/A because when you reach 5 years service time you don’t need any of the options allocated when you’re a rookie.
Actually there’s a simple solution here. Let’s both see if we can find ANY other players on Fangraphs with 5+ years of service time that show anything other than “N/A” for options ;O)
Yeah, I realize that. Joely is out of options (as is Mata for that matter — he is in the minors on a time-limited rehab).
The rules are all in the CBA, naturally:
mlbplayers.com/_files/ugd/4d23dc_d6dfc2344d2042de9…
This is a common-language summary that might be more readable:
mlb.com/glossary/transactions/minor-league-options
Speaking of options…
Perales was placed on the 40-man roster last December to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, so when he was sent down to Portland this year that was his first option. Next year the club has a choice between optioning him to the minors (in which case he fills a 40-man roster spot but does not accrue ML service time) or putting him on the 60-day DL (which starts his service clock but opens up the 40-man roster space in March). I’m guessing they will option him, as a year of service time for a potential ace pitcher is pretty valuable.
That brings us to 2026, when he will hopefully be pitching again at full strength, but likely not quite ready for the majors. His third and last option — which could leave him in a tough spot if he isn’t ready for a permanent ML spot by Spring Training in 2027.
That said, a player will sometimes be granted a 4th option if he has “less than five full years” as a pro, where a “full year” is defined as 90 days on the active roster. Perales was right around that mark in 2022 (would have to dig into transactions to count precisely), clearly over in 2023, and clearly under in 2024. He’ll likely miss more than half of 2025, which would leave him under in 2025 as well. *So* in the scenario outlined above, he might use up his third option in 2026 while completing just his third (?) full year as a pro. Which if I’m not mistaken would allow the team to petition the central office for a fourth option to be granted.
See what I mean about it getting messy? (FWIW, I’m not confident in the above. It is an unusual situation that I don’t see often.)
My only explanation is we are not far from the dog days of Aug and Sept, and arms are starting to show some ware and tear. Dont agree working him in at that point of the game but that being said, 8 relievers were used on Sunday. I’m just confused why they didnt bring up Winchowski to start on Sun. I guess the point is don’t over use the pen at this point… who knows
Don’t think Anderson has options
Bad – A big reason why pitchers go only one inning for the most part is so they CAN pitch in more games. Most of Sundays relievers threw very few pitches, it shouldn’t affect their availability at all. Especially with Houck going deep in the game as usual.
tff – I finished looking on Fangraphs at 50 different players with more than 5 years service time, they all say “N/A” for options. I can’t imagine Fangraphs being wrong on all of them, they are a fairly reputable site when it comes to factual data. So options do “disappear” after 5 years service time, which makes sense.
Only out of options players with less than 5 years service time are required to be DFA’d, that is why Jose Abreu was never DFA’d when he was sent down.
Remember Anderson is not making the MLB minimum, he is signed to a guaranteed $1.25M contract.
tff – That second link you provided makes it very clear, only players who are out of options need to be DFA’d. I think because you were viewing unused “options” as something that stays with players forever, you were assuming a veteran of more than 5 years who was never optioned before was “out of options” when in fact those unused options no longer matter because, as Fangraphs states, options attached to veteran players are not applicable.
I have a lot of experience working with legal documents, I know how tedious they can be to interpret! LOL!!
Correct, after five years Fangraphs lists it as “not applicable” because the options can only be used with the player permission, and it is a little unusual to get that permission. The options remain, but in most situations cannot be used.
SoxProspects does a pretty good job of tracking options for the Red Sox 40 man roster, including those for players with 5+ years of service.
Henriks could be back in six weeks, potentially, if no setbacks.
Jansen has been great this year, the Sox can surely use both.
tff – Jansen was really bad second half last year, I think it’s a stretch to assume he will continue to pitch well second half of this season.
Other than Campbell and Anderson, I have faith in every current Red Sox reliever. I wouldn’t mind Jansen or Martin being traded if the return is decent which I assume it will be in a seller’s market.
Fever, my thought though is if Hendricks delivers, the need to overuse Jansen is no longer there and that’s why I’d keep both. I’m still not sure the return will be great.
dewey – If you’re saying Jansen was overused second half of last year, he pitched only 14 innings. So $8M for 14 innings is not a very good ROI.
Time will tell on the return, he’s stayed healthy so that definitely helps.
Jansen converted 29 of 33 save opportunities last year and he has converted 15 of 16 this year so far. So, looks like he is doing well and is on pace for the same usage this year.
No. I’m talking about this year. Given his age, he can be productive but needs to be managed carefully. Otherwise trade him now before he wears down. Yes this is a mixed message. I believe with Hendricks you can alternate as closer. it requires an additional roster slot but that’s what I’d consider.
Maybe. It probably depends on how he looks later this season. I suspect, though, that their desire is to have him close and move on from Jansen. Trading Jansen this season now appears dead as the Red Sox are in the thick of the WC race.
Lord – I would not count out the Royals, who are in GFIN mode and play in a weak division.
I would not count out the Astros who have won 8 of their last 10.
And I would not count out the Rays who are 7-3 in their last 10.
A lot can happen over the next month, and the Sox have a really tough schedule.
Weak division? The central is controlling most of the playoff spots.
Mets – The AL Central has the 2nd-fewest wins in MLB.
Obviously the ChiSox are the main reason, by far the worst team in MLB and will likely get worse after they trade off one or two of their best players.
I do agree that strength of schedule comes into play for all teams. There are soft points and hard points in the year.
Red Sox are NOT going to buy anything interesting. Don’t be surprised if they trade Jansen, Martin and O’Neill if they get any decent offers.
Hendriks is going to be the closer next year. They will go with an OF of Abreu, Duran and Rafaela. Mayer will probably be given a shot next year, at some point. Grissom and York will be the 2B. It is a question if they spend ANY money or make any trades next off season to get some starting pitching and a deeper pen.
I think you forget Trevor Story in that mix somewhere
Jub – Most of us intentionally forget Story, likely one of the worst contracts the Sox have ever given.
Ugh. Don’t remind me! Not sure Story is up there with Sandoval, but a mess for sure. And basically stamped Bogaerts’ ticket out of town.
Teel will catch next yr
In fact he might be the sox C by the end of ‘24
Johnny – The chest puffers here want Vazquez back.
He’s currently batting .188 with a .216 OBP and .264 SLG.
So we don’t care who is catching for the Sox this September, as long as it’s not Vazquez.
Vazquez is one of the most over rated catchers the Sox ever had. I don’t understand why there’s no love for Connor Wong. The dude can catch, has a great arm, and is hitting .330 with some power.
“want Vazquez back”
Who does? Who are all these chest puffers you speak of?
Yaz – I totally agree on both!!
Cora and Vazquez are very, very tight …. that’s why Vaz was overhyped.
Wong will get his due, he should make the All-Star Game.
Funny I was more of a Sandy Leon fan but then CV had some clutch hits. He seems to be done though. As for Wong, what is not to love? You find a different position for him if you believe in his bat.
Wong is perfect as the bat-first side of the platoon, picking up enough games at catcher to keep Teel fresh while filling in at other positions. Great if he can start putting some time in at 1B and 3B, at least on the side. He has the athleticism to handle those easily.
Baseball has changed over the last 20 years, and it is tough to stay on the field for more than ~140 games a year. (just 40-50 guys per year once you exclude PH appearances). I know Cora gets a lot of crap for using his bench players regularly, but that’s par for the course in MLB these days. So having decent hitters on the bench who can play multiple positions is absolutely key.
tff – Why not 2B where Wong has played by far the most innings in both the majors and minors?
Between Casas and Devers, there won’t be many opportunities at 1B or 3B anyway unless they are injured.
I still believe it’s better for him to DH when he’s not catching. It’s grueling to be a catcher, the rest from defense will help. And with the recent emphasis on improving the defense, it just doesn’t make sense to stick him in positions where he’s average at best.
Fever – Look at Wong’s stats. He sucks. He may be hot right now but should that reverse all the previous years of being mediocre? He’s a back-up and has been since they included him it the Mookie mistake.
If Teel proves to be a starter then Boston is set with a 120 game catcher in Teel and a 40 game catcher in Wong. If he’s the best option at 2B, then Boston is in big trouble.
@FPG on Wong…
He hasn’t played more than 10 innings in a year at any position other than catcher since coming to the Red Sox, so I’m not sure how much past experience is relevant here? He has a little experience at each of 2B and 3B in the minors, and I don’t doubt that he can figure out 1B.
Second base typically demands a little more range and fluidity, third base requires a stronger arm. Wong definitely has the arm, but his fielding percentage (at either position) was a scary .915 in the minors. That’s roughly twice the league average error rate for a 3B but almost six times the error rate for a 2B. He has a lot to work on either way, but I’m thinking that 3B is a little closer to being within reach.
The other half of it might be a little twisted… I figure that since Casas and Devers more or less have 1B/3B covered, that you don’t want to carry a bench player specifically to back them up. If you can tack those occasional games onto the workload of the #2 catcher, then you can use the three remaining bench spots for an OF (hopefully Refsnyder) and two MI (hopefully complementing the talents of the starters).
I’m sure Wong would also get occasional innings at 2B as well, but worry that his defense is weak enough that we would start to cringe if we were to see him out there regularly.
Totally agree that DH would be his primary second position.
Connor Wong is an interesting case like Troll Free has stated he was really bad offensively in the past but this off-season he made an offensive change that can’t be ignored based on a half season of stats since the change. He had a large leg kick and it appeared to make him vulnerable to sliders away and fastballs up. By quieting his leg kick he is striking out way less in fact it’s one of the biggest drop in k rate in all of baseball. When I see someone who’s numbers are totally different then in the past the first question What if anything are they doing differently? In Wongs case he has a dramatic difference in his plate approach not only has he ditched the leg kick but he is overall quieter in the box imo there is no question he is a much improved hitter. He is quite strong and athletic and very rotational will he be a .330 hitter moving forward that I highly doubt but he might be a much improved say .280 type hitter. In this case the stats and the eye test say he is a much better hitter then in the past.
The reality though is Kyle Teel is going to be the main catcher very soon. The guy falls out of bed hitting line drives he’s a .300 hitting catcher in the making. He is also maturing into power he has 8 homers in one of the toughest environments to hit home runs in Portland. The bottom line I do think Wongs improvements are real at the plate but still Teel is far more talented and really just as athletic. Once Teel arrives he’s your number 1 guy and Wong backs up.
Yup! I was looking into it this morning (was surprised to see him getting mention as a potential All Star).
Ran a couple models that I posted elsewhere, and as best as I can guess his current plate discipline and swing support a line that is somewhere in between .266/.327/.416 and .299/.358/.449. So I’m totally on board with your estimate, and agree that the .330 is a fluke.
If you look at his spray charts, you see a ton of bloops to the opposite field. Part of that is not pulling off those sliders away, not trying to do too much with them, but more are falling in than can reasonably be expected.
My background is in data analysis, not playing or coaching, so I appreciate the feedback from those like you who know the mechanics of the game better than I do. I can see a lot in the data, but it is essential to keep it grounded in reality. Thank you for the insights!
“Once Teel arrives he’s your number 1 guy and Wong backs up.”
This! He’s better defensively too. That’s why I’m thinking Wong can pick up additional PT at DH/1B/3B, since Teel ought to be getting 2/3 of the time at catcher.
tff – What I want and what Cora wants are two entirely different things. LOL!!
I want to lose the 13th pitcher and have two bench guys capable of playing infield solidly and two bench guys capable of playing outfield solidly. Right now Ref & O’Neill are capable backup outfielders, Valdez not so much for infield.
I know it will never happen though. LOL!!!
Wondering, how many teams go with a five man bench these days? I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to other clubs, but there is a definite advantage to that 8th arm in the pen. Keeps the workload lighter for the others.
There would be some teams carrying 14 pitchers if the rules permitted it…
Bruin1012 – Thanks for pointing out the change to everyone. If the sample size wasn’t so small I could get behind him being an adequate stop gap until Teel arrives. I want to see how the teams in the second half adjust to the new data about his swing. Leg kick vs non leg kick typically creates a new need for how you pitch a hitter. I’m not sure he had enough history to have moved him up the pecking order of the scouting teams to develop a new approach for him but now that it’s been a couple of months, maybe they will. If they do, it will be fun to see if he can then make the necessary adjustments to counter act their changes. If he can, his hitting might be sustainable at a higher level than prior to this season. If he can’t, then the second half could get pretty ugly and we might see the OPS+ drop back to his normal range.
Any updates on Anthony? He never did great at A ball but HI-A and AA in 2023 was excellent. But AA was only 10 games. His slow start in AA probably comes from the off season preparation by opponents. Has he made his adjustments yet based on what you’ve seen?
Bruin – I totally agree. Just because somebody has performed poorly in the past, if they make radical changes there’s no reason they can’t become much better.
I remember a Sox outfielder long ago, Dewey Evans, who was a poor hitter for many years. He changed his stance after several years and became a very good hitter.
As they say on Wall Street, past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Troll the thing about Anthony he’s going through a change in swing philosophy. If you watched a lot of his games last year you would notice he hits a lot of balls on the ground and that is fine if you are a true burner like Duran but he isn’t. This year he seems to have a little bit more uppercut in his swing and his fly ball percentages are up his ground ball percentages are down. There are two constants he has excellent plate discipline and he hits the ball really hard. I remember him hitting a home run in a game in Portland the announcers were astounded anyone could hit it out the wind was howling in and it was cold. I am not concerned about Roman Anthony at he was drilled on the elbow earlier in June before that he was on fire seemed to be squaring every ball up he’s struggled since coming back some but I expect him to take off soon. The kid oozes offensive talent and his centerfield is much better than most experts expected.
Troll another guy to watch is Kristian Campbell he came out of Georgia Tech and immediately made a splash last year making it to high A. He was really good in and instrumental in the High A post season and helped Greenville win the championship. The guy is a 6’ 3 200 pounds and athletic. The problem before this year he was a contact before power guy but they made some swing changes and he has become very aggressive in the zone. The eye test says he a different hitter he is impacting the ball much harder this season and he is lifting the ball more while maintaining a high line drive rate. If the experts are paying attention he will soar into the top 100 prospects.
Good catch, Bruin, I’ve been talking up Campbell for a couple weeks now. Some scouts are saying that he is “cheating” a little and will be exposed by elite fastballs, but he has incredible bat speed, good swing decisions, and hits the ball HARD. I’m not going to bet against him making the necessary adjustments to succeed in the majors.
Beyond Mayer, Anthony, and Teel (and Speier is hinting that Mayer moves up this week), the Red Sox have three more high-end talents in Bleis, Cespedes (moved up to Salem but is sitting out with a minor hand injury), and Campbell. And of course that is on top of Devers, Casas, Duran, and Rafaela at the major league level.
They aren’t all going to succeed, but that’s a nice list of high-end talent. And most of it will be in the majors by the end of 2025. So many outfielders though, I’m warming up to TF’s suggestion that Rafaela move back to shortstop. He has the tools for sure, just needs experience at the position to cut down on the errors.
tiff it’s also hard to ignore what Yorke is doing in AAA. He has stoped trying to pull the ball and using all fields with a line drive approach he’s looked really good since he’s got out of that mausoleum in Portland. His value is going up daily. Lugo has also looked good another guy with a swing change to take advantage of his natural power. He has more swing and miss but he is absolutely punishing mistakes. The future looks pretty bright on the position side.
I saw that, Bruin, Can you see why I get Yorke confused with Jed Lowrie?
It has been such a roller coaster with Yorke. Looked great in 2021, then fought through injuries in 2022 that really hurt his stock. Nice rebound in April/May last year, then his plate discipline disappeared and he started trying to jack everything.
Do you think he will be able to stay grounded this time? Playing as he is right now, he has the potential to be a good ML player. Better than Valdez (and easily a better defender). Meidroth has better contact, but Yorke has that sweet line-drive power and a better chance to stick as a starter.
We have a 2B problem right now that people aren’t talking about much, and I’m very hopeful that one of the two can step up and solve it.
I’m skeptical on Lugo. Great power when he connects, but ML pitchers would eat him alive. He needs to take a couple more large steps forward to have a future.
Second base production: .183/.235/.291, negative baserunning value, and defense that’s #29 in the majors. One of the five worst team/position splits in all of the majors.
Shortstop gets more attention, and isn’t the greatest defensively, but Hamilton/Gonzalez/Rafaela have been surprisingly strong there.
How’s that Bogaerts contract coming along, Fever?
Very well – for Bogaerts. The Red Sox got the bulk of his career production, the Padres pay the bulk of the bill.
Never understood the people who wanted to pay him $180M or $200M for his decline.
I just googled ‘Bogaerts signs with Padres MLBTR’.
FPG’s comments did NOT age well. “Chest Puffing” times 10. Even at the $180M he claims Bogaerts wouldve re-signed for, that would still have been a terrible deal.
While he was never so crass as to publicly put a dollar figure on the table, I was hearing that he wanted $200M+ from the Red Sox. Maybe that was just the “ask” and he would have come down to $180M, but I suspect that number came from the journalists without any basis in reality. And once it got going, everybody started taking it as fact.
My own numbers were coming up around $150M, and that was making several optimistic assumptions. The $180M would have been an overpay just to keep some continuity and to placate the fan base.
Turns out he hasn’t aged all that well. In 2021 his exit velocities averaged 89.6, which is above average and not THAT far off his prime. That fell to 88.1 in 2022, a red flag that he was losing bat speed. His strong offensive line that year was supported by a .362 BABIP, 30 points above his career average.
His EVs have continued to fall, down to 86.2 this year. Keep in mind that the knock on Meidroth is that you can’t reasonably hope to succeed in the majors if you can’t average better than an 88 EV. Even Story is still averaging 88+, and he isn’t really a power hitter these days.
Since story signed with boston he has 3.5 bwar and Xander has 10.2 bwar during same time so Xander wins by Mile what kind of fan bashes red sox icon like Xander mookie sale
All insults, all the time? Guess that works for you, enjoy the day!
“During the same time”
What kind of messed up logic is that to use for a free agent.
Bogaerts has 4.3 WAR since the contract signing and the padres are on the hook for another $230M. Thats a terrible contract.
But whatever, I bashed the contract not the player. Thats the same kind of logic FPG uses.
Insults were in the first comment of this thread, just saying.
Agreed, I love Bogaerts, he had a great career with the Red Sox. But I believe that he is on the downside of his career, not because I *want* him to fail but because that is what my eyes are telling me. And the warning signs were there in 2022 for those who were paying attention.
I’m thrilled that Bogaerts got a massive deal, because he’s a great guy who deserves his big payout. Certainly as much as any of the billionaire owners. But that’s the kind of deal that can hamstring a team for years. Imagine if the Red Sox were eating that one on top of the bad contracts to Story and Yoshida?
Agreed. I liked the Devers signing more than Bogaerts, at that time Devers was a bit younger and Bogaerts power decline was alarming (Slg: .555, .502, .493, .456).
I wasnt crazy about signing either player. And wouldve been fine if they let both, Bogaerts and Devers walk. The Red Sox have not had a good track record of signing big contracts lately: H Ramirez, Panda, Price, Sale, Story, Yoshida. They seem to do better when they get those Mid Contracts (Eovaldi, Moreland, Napoli, Peavy, Victorino).
I’d love to see a big name FA, next year, but it seems the Red Sox dont get the cream of the crop in FA players and they end up being a detriment more often than not. Homegrown is the route to the next championship and young players are funner to watch/follow, as this year shows.
If u don’t know the difference between 2022-2024 and 2023-2024 then your beyond help war is cumulative try harder next time
Totally with you on that, Kyle. These days players are over the hill at 31. They need to bring back steroids and greenies if they want those old men in their mid-30s to be able to keep up.
Building through free agency is a losing battle. You build from within, then try to add select pieces as free agents to complete the roster. Hopefully without eating too much dead money in the process.
Even FA who work out well, like Gausman, start to look scary by the time they are half way through their deal. Check out his numbers, velocity is down and hitters are lining him up. His weakest numbers since he was with the Braves, and he still has $55M to go. And that makes him one of the *better* signings.
Mi Casas: “then your beyond help”
What? You’ve got the most bizarre take on how FA contracts are valued.
If you think when you sign a Free Agent, youre allowed to take the previous years WAR with you (“Xander has 10.2 bwar during same”), and it counts towards the new team’s FA signing, not to the previous team, then you should seek help.
———————–
I’ll repeat my position:
Bogaerts was a super nice guy and played great for the Red Sox. But the contract he signed with the Padres, or any contract he may have signed with the Red Sox, was a TERRIBLE financial deal from the team’s standpoint.
tff17…. EXACTLY!
Thank God Bogey opted out…. he was not even worth the remaining 3 years of the contract he opted out of.
The Red Sox are well over $200M in CBT payroll again. They are spending enough to field a very competitive team if spent well in my opinion. It looks like they are building a young team from within rather than signing older free agents to long, expensive contracts that often to bad. The Red Sox are doing quite well with their pitching. They have the 6th lowest team ERA in MLB at 3.54.
@siut. I agree with you. Sox look great moving forward.
They have another good bumper crop of prospects right over the horizon. I would like to see them in Fenway by the trade deadline for some on the job training. Then use money wisely in the offseaon to fill in the gaps
They have a lot of CBT payroll that isn’t on the roster, and much of the payroll that IS on the roster is not contributing (beginning with Story and Giolito). So what you see on the field this year is a lot cheaper than that CBT figure,
Nice crop of young players, with a solid wave of prospects behind them. Biggest concern is that the starting pitching is a little thin. You need a depth chart that is at least 8 deep to get through a season these days, and the Red Sox are scraping the bottom of that. Hoping that Fitts will be ready soon.
Would also love to see an elite RHH power bat, as they don’t really have that in the majors or upper minors. O’Neill is more of a 5/6 guy.
I’ll add to that the fact that if ownership had OKed a number of the moves many people who post comments here wanted this past winter it would have negated a number of the positive contributions that have the team currently in playoff position right now.
For instance many clamored for the Sox to sign more starting pitchers over the off-season. Let’s say they did and in addition to Giolito (who unfortunately didn’t work out) they signed someone like Michael Lorenzen. He’s pitched decently for Texas, but had the Sox done that the result would have been Tanner Houck pitching out of the bullpen all year. Hard to see that being a net plus for the team.
Another example was people having a fit when the Sox didn’t sign Teoscar Hernandez and he went to LA. Well if they had done that yes they’d have a very good right handed batter in their lineup playing LF for them, but we certainly wouldn’t have had Jarren Duran in the lineup every day.
So while many want to pretend it’s a certainty that the team would be in even better shape right now if only ownership had spent on free agent players last winter that’s not the certainty they think it is.
Possibly! It all depends on whether you replace Houck or Whitlock in the rotation, whether Hernandez takes the playing time away from Duran or Yoshida. In general, adding depth is a positive, just not if you take the playing time away from your best players.
For what it’s worth, I think they could still use a RHH with power and another mid-rotation starting pitcher. If you were trying to improve this team, what would you focus on?
I admit, I was hoping they might land this guy for Alex Verdugo:
fangraphs.com/players/gleyber-torres/16997/stats?p…
Weissert and Fitts is the better return, though. Gotta trust Breslow, he knows his job. Just wish ownership gave him a bigger budget to work with.
KingKen – Great points about how not picking up the constantly suggested players was a good thing. Holes have to be filled and with the great young players DD left, the holes were at the top of the starting rotation, 3B, and 2B.
Giving up on Sale to get a mediocre arb 1 2B was a mistake if you want to be competitive in 2024 not 2030. Not getting a REAL SP 1 like Burnes was a mistake. Not moving Devers to DH, trading Yoshida and finding a quality offensive AND defensive 3B was the biggest mistake other than not firing Cora.
The 2024 growth year worked out well for the most part. Boston has tons of money to waste so deals like Giolito simply took money out of Henry’s pockets. Signing a risky guy like O’Neill worked out to offset the Giolito mistake.
The biggest thing is not addressing the errors or whatever score keepers call the plays where the 3B should catch the ball and throw out the hitter but doesn’t due to clumsiness, hands of stone, poor footwork, a scatter arm or just bad decision making on what balls to go after. Fix that ONE problem and this team could be in the playoffs. Remove CORA and they are a lock for the playoffs if Breslow gets to pick the new manager and it’s not a political choice like Cora.
Point of fact, Grissom had just 94 days service time at the start of the season. He is accumulating service time this year, because his minor league time is while on the DL, but he is not eligible for arbitration until 2027. (You can confirm service time and arbitration eligibility at Fangraphs or SoxProspects if you care.)
Certainly not disagreeing with any of the rest, just know we are best off if we don’t engage with each other. Merely wanted to correct the one point. Enjoy your evening!
There was nothing wrong with the Giolito signing given his track record of durability. Trying to claim that was a bad move is so much after the fact nonsense.
KingKen – Without getting hurt it was a horrible move. The guy simply isn’t that good. Use ERA+ and track his complete inconsistency:
2016 – 64
2017 – 181
2018 – 69
2019 – 134
2020 (short season) – 128
2021 – 124
2022 – 81
2023 – 90
He’s played 8 years and consistency has fluctuated from good year or years to bad year or years. He’s coming off two bad years so buying low would have been smart but the $7MM a year SP got $19MM and then got injured. There was no way to know if he would be above 100 or below and we wasted roughly $20MM to find out.
Sorry KingKen, Giolito needed a comeback prior to getting offered that much money.
Yes, Grissom is in his first pre-arb season and will reach one full year of service time by the end of the season, so we agree on that now. In the message above you stated that he was “arb 1” which in the normal course of events will be 2027.
Hope you have a nice day too!
TF…. think about what the Orioles gave up for Burns….. The equivalent of Yorke, Winkowski, Lugo and one more low level prospect could have got that done.
That same offer needs to be out there for Garrett Crochet..
I know, I was amazed at how cheaply they got Burnes. None of their top prospects. I’d be on board with your package.
“The equivalent of Yorke, Winkowski, Lugo and one more low level”
Joey Ortiz was the 63rd ranked prospect in baseball, when the trade happened. DL Hall was a top 100 prospect, previously. Plus, an end of the First Round draft pick. Hall was expected to be the closer and will be when he gets healthy, and Ortiz has a 134 OPS+ right now.
Your package of Yorke, Wink, Lugo, plus 1, is no where near that level.
Ortiz was Baltimore’s 6th ranked prospect, Hall was a Relief Pitcher that was to be converted to a starter. My point was that the O’s traded their B level prospects to get that deal done. The Red Sox should do the similar thing for Crochet. Heck, sub in Grissom instead of Yorke if that is what it takes to get it done.
Coop – I agree. They are two month behind on that offer. Think about how over-rated prospects are in most cases. Losing Yorke is nothing, Winkowski is a small role player, Lugo the same. The are the pretenders in the farm system and we have a boat load just like all teams.
Breslow, if he can evaluate like DD, should weed out the pretenders and move them for something of value. I still hope he figures out that Mayer is likely a second coming of Moncada. Great ranking but nothing special in the MLB. His value will keep falling once he doesn’t live up to his hype so if I was Breslow, I would beef up our pitching or find a permanent solution at 3B with Mayer. Story will be coming back and probably won’t be tradeable and is an adequate SS and defense/pitching makes for winners so move Yoshida for the same thing you move Mayers for. Fix the weaknesses and make this a 90 to 100 win team again. The core left by DD in the farm system is so much better than anything since Mookie and Bogaerts graduated so the supplemental players needed aren’t that many in order to make this an excellent team.
I like the way you think with regard to the farm system. Every player has value but most in the farm system have trade value not MLB potential. Only a small percentage make a difference at the MLB level like Mookie, Bogey and Devers. It looks like Duran, Casas, Rafaela and possibly Abreu along with Houck, Crawford and Bello. That speaks volumes to the legacy of DD because that is more talent than Theo generated during his tenure.
KyleT – You are speaking to a deal that is still so recent that nothing has been established related to the actual value of the prospects BAL gave up.
Maybe DL Hall will become a great closer in 5 years or even 3 years but that’s three years when BAL has Burnes leading a team that needed a top flight SP#1 which is nearly impossible to find. Joey Ortiz was the 63rd ranked prospect and should do good things for MIL BUT think about his value to BAL. They are 3 deep at 2nd, SS and 3B. He may have waited years to get an opportunity to play with Henderson, Jackson, Westburg, Urias and Norby. He was expendable so while his skill his high his value to BAL was much lower which is why he was included. Is he excellent? We don’t know yet but has potential. Is he better than Yorke, Wink and Lugo? Absolutely but Burnes is better than Crochet. Burnes is a tier 1 SP and commands a lot more than Crochet. I think Coop is in a fair range for trading for Crochet but I’m not a fan of Yorke so putting in the $17MM man Grissom would give the appearance of an improved offer. I don’t think much of Grissom either but he is a bigger pretender than Yorke. Folks have already figured out he’s very average but many still think Grissom is special, even though hasn’t proved it nor has he don’t anything that would suggest it.
I think you both make correct points about the deal. Crochet needs an offer ratcheted down for the difference between Burnes vs Crochet and MIL got a great player thanks to the depth of the BAL infield. I’d frankly take Ortiz in a deal so we could move Devers to DH. Great trade for both sides.
Jansen saying he has to be the closer if he’s traded somewhere, that’s pathetic and selfish. If he gets traded to a team that sees his as a valuable arm, but not the closer on the team, go help them win. Who cares about your little personal accolades.
He never said he has to be the closer. He wants to be a closer.
Ryan – For most pitchers I’d agree with you, but Jansen has earned the right to continue closing games. He’s a future HOF’er and like he said, what has he done wrong this season that warrants being demoted to middle reliever? It’s about respect.
Let’s say the Guardians went after him bc he was the best relief arm available at a reasonable trade value – they should move Clase to the setup role in favor of Jansen?
Ryan – It would be a mistake for the Guards to acquire Jansen. History has shown acquiring closers midseason and converting them to middle relievers doesn’t work very often, because they’ve been mentally conditioned to starting the 9th.
What’s interesting, the analytics crowd has always maintained your best reliever should be used based on game situation rather than inning. According to analytics, if you’ve got a tie game or a slim lead with the opponent’s three best hitters coming up in the 7th or 8th, you bring in your best reliever to face them. It does make sense. However these analytics-heavy teams still insist on using their best reliever only in the 9th and sometimes in the middle of the 8th. Why? Because of the mental aspect.
RE RyanD
Venn diagram: people who say stuff like “play for the name on the front of the jersey and not the back” and people who go home and sulk if Jim at work gets credit for something they did
Don’t mess with success. If they’re aiming for the playoffs, they’re gonna need every capable arm they can find. His kind of experience is invaluable in a pennant race. That bullpen is pitching great, leave well enough alone.
JL – The fact that most of the bullpen has been pitching great, as you say, makes Jansen even more expendable.
But do you trust that that would continue without the big guy to pitch the 9th? We don’t need a repeat of the Matt Barnes/throw s*** at the wall and see what sticks that we had from 2019-’22
Rsox – Maybe it’s the eternal optimist in me, but I’m a big believer in Kelly, Bernardino and Slaten. If they don’t trade Martin, he would likely also help bridge the gap between Jansen and Hendriks. .
Absolutely! If you look at bullpen usage, Jansen and Martin are taking high leverage situations, but so is Bernardino. And he is steadily working Kelly and Slaten into more important situations as well. Those five are the premier relievers in the pen, the guys you can throw in any situation and not worry about the results.
Weissert and Booser have good numbers, but that is in part because they have been sheltered. If you throw them into the pressure situations (bases loaded against the Yankees with 0 out?) they are going to have more difficulty. It is great to have a couple guys like this who can pick up quality innings when the game isn’t on the line, but you go to one of the five prime arms in a key situation. Campbell *could* be one of these guys, but he isn’t somebody I want to protect a one-run lead in the 7th or 8th. Only reason he was out there was that the elite arms were toast.
Winckowski could add to the top arms in the pen, now that he has his arsenal tuned up, but it appears the plan is to keep him in the rotation. We need that!!!
Anderson and Keller are only good for slop time. There is value to being able to throw 2-3 relatively clean innings in a blowout, without adding to the workload of the better arms in the pen, but if they are in a meaningful situation it is a sign that Cora is desperate.
I hope he stays I like his hair
Sounds like a recent Red Sox thing to do if they trade their closer while in the wild card race
sad – You mean like the Mariners trading Graveman in the middle of their 2021 playoff run?
Graveman and Sewald is a mariners thing to do, but we are talking about the Red Sox here that used to go for championships
sad – Yeah those days are long over, Red Sox owners need to save every penny to fund their other investments.
Spoiled Red Sox Fans should apologize to the GM
Steve – Why are you here making nonsensical posts?
How are the Red Sox fans spoiled, from no playoffs in 4 of the past 5 years including 3 last place finishes? That’s your definition of spoiled?
And there is no GM in the Red Sox organization.
Other than those two huge mistakes, great one-sentence post!
How many teams have won more than 1 WS since 2000? Go complain about your 2022 Ford Explorer that your dad bought you for your 16th birthday. Be quiet, punk
Stevie – I am quiet, because unlike you I can type without saying the words out loud. But you’re a mouth breather so you probably don’t even realize you do it, right?
I’m not surprised you live in the past. You probably think you’re a great football player because you scored 4 touchdowns in a single game for Polk High 30 years ago …. am I right? Yes I am, and you know it!
Lol. Sox fans who pay a ton to support the club be it overpriced seating, food and merchandise or the cost of watching at home earned the right to expect the team to be competitive each season. Ownership could have done more while still rebuilding. Steve, you sound more like one with stock in the the Fenway group instead of being a fan. We grew up listening/watching and praying each year to be that magical season. The fact that the team has won under current ownership is not the issue.
dewey – He’s just trying to get a rise out of us, he does it all the time. The other day he was posting the exact opposite of what you’d expect from his handle, it was a dead giveaway.
Bottom line, Boston is a baseball-obsessed town and winning is very important to Red Sox Nation, especially because it’s one of the most expensive teams to follow. When your team is Top 4 in revenue, there are expectations.
If the Sox are serious about a playoff push they need Jansen at the back of the bullpen. This team needs starting pitching help badly and won’t get that in return for a Closer.
Steve Phillips brought up an idea that would make sense for the Sox (or any other team not sure where they really stand) and that’s trade for a guy like Jack Flaherty right now. Flaherty’s pitched better than some of his numbers would suggest, wouldn’t cost a lot in trade captial and could be flipped a second time if at the deadline the team takes a turn for the worst
Rsox – A package deal of O’Neill & Jansen would get a decent starting pitcher in return from a team like the Pirates, Cubs or Tigers. But that’s under the assumption the Sox will shift into GFIN mode which seems highly unlikely.
But before that, I’d give Cooper and Winck a chance at the rotation.
While the Cubs are in the mix, the Pirates and Tigers sort of aren’t so not sure why the would want either O’Neill or Jansen let alone both.
Rsox – Bucs are only 2 under .500 and have the same number of losses as the current 3rd WC team (Padres).
Tigers have slumped recently, but 6 games back could easily get cut down to 2 or so by the deadline.
All three teams have plenty of good starting pitching, ranked 7th-8th-10th.
Tigers are done meow
Although Detroit is clearly fading from playoff contention, I can’t see them trading Flaherty for anything Boston is likely to offer in return (i.e., Dalbec, Zack Kelly). Boston has a long habit of (over)-retaining even marginal prospects – for example, how many times could they have moved Chavis for someone of value when they had the chance – and I’m sure some other contending team would offer much more in return. Perhaps San Diego, Atlanta, or even St. Louis (!), would be more likely destinations..
I think the Sox are in the very rare situation of being able to sell off some pieces and still compete for the playoffs.
Jansen is doing okay, but there are some red flags there. I question his ability to maintain in the 2nd half, hense other teams not wanting to risk an over pay on him.
Miller is good one day, bad the next. Sox pen is deep enough to not miss him, and anyone promoted wouldn’t be that much worse.
Yoshi has to go. No room for him on this roster. O’Neill can be traded. Ya, he can rake, but he will get hurt again.
Sox have 3 or 4 very good 2b prospects. They should trade Yorke before he devols to norm. Maybe another 2b prospect for a 3b prospect.
I would sell. I don’t believe they will make a deep run either way, so build for next year. The young guns slinging in our rotation are all nearing max innings pitched in a season, so they will begin to show some weariness.
Also, for Sox to move up, you have to believe that the teams ahead of them, or just behind them are not going to improve their rosters at the deadline.
This year they are a maybe playoff team, but next year I see a world series contender.
I hope Breslow continues to be smart.
In my opinion, MLB Pipeline is overrating Yorke. Other teams looking at him are going to see a player closer to Meidroth than to Mayer. But I hope I’m wrong….
Definitely agree that there are too many “B” prospects at 2b and nobody yet really stepping forward. Grissom, Valdez, Yorke, Meidroth… I like your idea of trading one of them for a 3B prospect as the organization doesn’t really have anybody behind Devers. Though Meidroth or Romy is okay there for a game or three.
Nice insight on the innings load. If they can acquire a veteran starter to extend the rotation, that would make a huge difference. If they keep running these guys out on a five day schedule then they are likely to fade in August.
Miller? Martin?
DBH – Okay, ya got me …. who is Miller? Andrew is a bit old to be a reclamation project, isn’t he? ;O)
Maybe this is the eternal optimist in me talking, but I still think they should try to compete this year if they are within 5 games of a WC spot at the deadline.
I also think having the young’uns involved in a playoff race is highly beneficial to their development. Nothing beats experience, it’s the reason why teams like the Astros and the pre-Bloom Red Sox did so well whenever they didn’t suck.
I agree that it would be nice to “blood” the young talent in a playoff race and hopefully a playoff game. Even good players can get nervous the first time they hit the big stage, and you want to get past that before you are going for it all.
That said, 5 games out is pretty deep. Last year at the deadline the teams in position were the Orioles, Rays, Rangers, Astros, Jays, and Twins. The Red Sox, Angels, Yankees, and Mariners were all within 3.5 games of the Jays for that last Wild Card spot. The Mariners (a young team with an aggressive GM and great pitching) made it close, but none of those four teams were able to close that gap.
If you listen to Cora’s comments, he explains why. The teams you are competing with aren’t standing still, so if you are five out you need to not merely improve by five wins (which is roughly the equivalent of adding two or three All Stars over 1/3 of a season), you need to improve by five wins MORE than the team you are chasing. And more than the other teams that are also chasing that leader.
Breslow mentioned looking at the playoff odds. The third Wild Card team at the deadline last year was the Jays, with a 73% chance of making the playoffs (using the Fangraphs model). In that situation you add. The Red Sox at the deadline had just a 25% chance. In that situation you should sell. My criticism of the Red Sox deadline moves the last two years wasn’t that they didn’t add talent — it is that they didn’t sell off expiring contracts when they had the chance. The one meaningful trade they DID make was panned by fans in the moment, but brought us Abreu and Valdez.
tff – I totally agree! I use 5 as a threshold only because in prior years they have publicly stated they are GFIN despite being 5 out in August and September. Last year they didn’t officially give up until they were 6 games back shortly after Labor Day.
Also how would the players, especially the ones who weren’t on the team a year ago, react to ownership once again showing they don’t believe in them? I think lack of support from the front office would have a devastating effect on many of the players … not to mention the fanbase as well.
BTW – Did you see Rosenthal trash John Henry yesterday? Here’s his quote which was directed at Henry … I LOVE IT!!!:
“The Red Sox are better than you deserve them to be – and I’m talking about ownership right now. At this stage I expect they will buy. If they don’t honor what their players, manager and coaching staff have done here – and ‘they’ is ownership – well then shame on them.”
You’ve seen lots of nonsense coming out of the front office the last few years. And if you aren’t honest with others, you can’t really be honest with yourself. I get the impression that the Chief Weasel actually believes his lies?!?
Listen to guys like Theo, DD, and Breslow. They won’t always tell you what you want to hear, but they’ll give it to you straight. Google “Breslow” and “mensch” some time. He’s highly intelligent, a very humble guy, and somebody I hugely respect.
Solid quote from Rosenthal. There are a lot of people around the game saying exactly that, and with excellent reason. Takes guts for him to put it in print though.
…I should have added LL to that list. Great guy, RIP.
tff – Totally agree!!!
John Henry has a well-deserved very bad reputation, which is why people don’t trust him.
Breslow is fantastic, such a great guy. Highly intelligent people tend to be very honest and straightforward. You ever watch Big Bang Theory? Breslow reminds me of Sheldon, he critical thinks and then says what he concludes. He is brutally honest.
You know who else is like that? Alex Speier, that guy is freakin’ awesome!! I’ve known him since his days with WEEI, he’s highly intelligent and a great guy.
Yes my eyebrows were raised when I heard Rosenthal’s quote, normally writers/analysts don’t say anything negative about ownership. Guts indeed.
tff – Absolutely, and I am still disgusted with the two King Carpetbaggers blowing off Larry’s funeral.
Even Theo had the class and decency to show up!!
You know Theo was an LL protege, right? And has passed the torch to Breslow. Good people attract good talent and help them get a leg up.
tff – I’ve written extensively about the Lucky/Theo era. Unfortunately it didn’t end well between the two, that’s why I am impressed with Theo showing up. He’s matured, which one would expect going from early 30’s to almost 50.
@ FPG and ttf17… bite me, that ‘Miller’ was typed during my first sips of coffee this morning! And I am somebody who firmly believes morning shouldn’t start until noon.
Yes… MARTIN!
DBH – Ya know the best way to avoid hangovers is to never stop drinking ….. and I speak from experience. LOL!
Just kidding of course :O)
Totally understand, just wanted to make sure I was reading it right. I’m hardly one to speak, I still find myself calling Yorke “Lowrie” for some reason. (Three of the letters match?)
Breslow is a young kid, trails me by a decade-mumble-mumble, but hails from south-central CT, where I grew up. And a fellow Yalie, so i have a soft spot for him.
Speier is one of the best. He’s my go-to source for up to date info.
tff – Lucky was a nickname of Larry, for multiple reasons but I think primarily as homage to Lucky Luciano.
If you ever go back to CT, check out a place called Pepe’s Pizza … they make the best tomato pies!! Mystic Pizza, not so much …. very disappointing pizza.
I have fond memories of gambling with Ramiro Mendoza at Foxwoods, which is a casino resort in CT. This was during his Red Sox days.
I was more of a Sally’s fan, at least when I wasn’t hanging at Wall Street Pizza. Can’t get good pizza in Boston, sadly.
tff – You don’t care for Regina?
For large chains I really like Bertucci’s.
Bertucci’s was good back in the 1990s. Then they went corporate, switched to discount ingredients, and tried to cover it up with extra salt. I like Stone L’Oven better.
tff – Maybe it depends on the Bertucci location. I went to the one in Chestnut Hill last year and it was still as I remembered. I always get the Sporkie, it’s unique in that it isn’t greasy like so many other pizza joints.
Never heard of Stone L’Oven but it’s a cool name, I will have to look it up.
Does anyone really think that Jansen will get to 500 saves? He has 435 and needs 65 more to reach 500.
He already has 15 saves this season so IF he ended up with another 20 saves this year he would have 455 and still 45 saves short.
Would he or could he get to 500 with the Red Sox?
I don’t think he has another 65 saves in his but would like to hear what Red Sox fans think
finger – Absolutely! He’s got at least 3 years left after this season, he should certainly be able to get 50 more after this year.
Won’t be with the Red Sox though. Maybe with the Dodgers to close out his career, like Eck did with the Red Sox?
We can hope, but no man knows the number of his days. A college friend passed away suddenly in his sleep last year, no health issues, no warning.
Jansen needs to get those saves while the getting is good! Rooting for him to make it.
In fairness to Jansen, he should be much closer right now. Sox promised they would contend. When they signed him, then crawfished.
Given all that, he should still get there. I would bet after this last contract, his next will have a release clause if he isn’t the regular closer on a team in contention lol
DBH – I think you are right. With both Texas and Philly floundering at times you would think they might consider him for a partial year test to see if he can improve things. If he does, he should make it. If he looks like he does during some bad stretches then he’ll struggle to find a competitive team in 2025.
Jansen is gone at the deadline or after the season. There is a zero percent chance he is with the Red Sox in 2025 (although he has been effective so far in 2024).
@FPG, you’ll enjoy this interview with Houck. Love hearing guys talk their craft. You’ll appreciate his comment on analytics as well. 🙂
blogs.fangraphs.com/an-east-to-west-slider-is-tann…