Alex Bregman and the Red Sox have been linked together for much of the offseason, and multiple reports have indicated that the Sox have indeed showed some level of interest in Bregman. This interest is apparently in a somewhat limited capacity, however, as the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, writes that the Sox have been focusing on shorter-term offers with Bregman, with an eye towards signing him to “a deal of no more than four years” in length.
While four years is a pretty big commitment in the broad sense, it is certainly below the expectations that Bregman and his camp set at the start of the offseason. The Astros are known to have made Bregman a six-year, $156MM offer to stay in Houston, but Bregman was reportedly looking to hit the $200MM plateau in his next deal. It remains to be seen if that asking price is still realistic, but as of last week, Bregman was still looking for longer-term offers rather than considering a pivot to a shorter-term pact with opt-outs included.
In the most recent Bregman developments, KPRC 2’s Ari Alexander reported yesterday that Bregman had received at least three offers of five or more years over the course of the offseason, though it isn’t known which teams made those offers or if they’re still on the table. It would appear as though the Astros’ offer is still in play, as even though Houston signed Christian Walker and seemingly installed Isaac Paredes as their new third baseman, bringing back Bregman would see the Astros move Paredes to the keystone and longtime franchise icon Jose Altuve would move from second base to left field.
Against this backdrop, it would seem like the Red Sox are facing an uphill battle in convincing Bregman to sign for a maximum of four years. It can probably be assumed that such a four-year deal carries a high average annual salary and an opt-out clause or two is attached, fitting the standard model of shorter-term contracts signed by other Scott Boras clients. Such a deal would allow Bregman to re-enter free agency perhaps as early as next offseason, when he would aim to have another big platform season under his belt, and he would no longer be attached to a qualifying offer.
However, this scenario would see Bregman returning to the market in advance of his age-32 season, when teams might have even more misgivings about offering him a longer-term contract. And, as Bregman approaches his 31st birthday in March, he must certainly feel like he has already done enough in his outstanding career to merit a long-term commitment. Speculatively speaking, it could be that Bregman is facing a decision between accepting the Astros’ sixth guaranteed year (and the familiarity of staying with the organization), or perhaps taking a five-year deal that offers less long-term security but more money.
A traditional big spender in free agency, the Red Sox have largely shied away from major free agent commitments in recent years. Trevor Story (six-years, $140MM) and Masataka Yoshida (five years, $90MM) are the only free agents to receive three or more guaranteed years from Sox since October 2019, and the lack of result on those contracts may have only further soured ownership on opening the checkbook for lengthy open-market deals. Boston’s biggest contract of any kind since October 2019 was its ten-year, $313.5MM extension with Rafael Devers, which presents another obstacle in the way of a Bregman deal. The Sox have reportedly given some thought to moving Devers off the hot corner and across the diamond to first base, but Devers’ agent pretty firmly shot down that possibility back in November.
Boras said at the start of November that Bregman was open to a position change himself, and a move to second base instead of his longtime third-base spot. Such flexibility would’ve seemingly expanded the number of suitors that might be interested in Bregman, and it was specifically viewed as a possible nod to the chances of Bregman landing in Boston, if Devers was indeed staying put at third base (though Bregman is a much better fielder). Of course, the issue regarding Bregman anywhere in Boston’s infield is the fact that the Red Sox have star infield prospects Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer both knocking on the door of their big league debuts, so the Sox may not want to lock down second base for the forseeable future.
In a pure baseball sense, Bregman’s right-handed bat is an ideal fit for Boston’s lefty-tilted lineup, and a hitter of his caliber is an upgrade to virtually any team. Bregman is also friendly with manager Alex Cora due to their past time together in Houston when Cora was the Astros’ bench coach, and past reports have indicated that Cora and Red Sox president Sam Kennedy are the chief drivers of Boston’s interest in Bregman, while chief baseball officer Craig Breslow perhaps isn’t quite as on board. This split of opinion in management might perhaps explain why the Red Sox haven’t been as aggressive as others in courting Bregman, or offering him even a fifth guaranteed year.
No surprise
Fenway – The only one with the Red Sox that is really pushing his signing is BFF Cora. I think this is another classic case of the Red Sox not seriously pursuing a free agent, but keeping themselves “in the mix” in case a big discount falls in their lap. And trying to sell more tickets to casual fans by making them believe they will sign a big name like Bregman.
And for the love of God, can they stop with the “Bregman’s right-handed bat is an ideal fit for Boston’s lefty-tilted lineup”.
Bregman’s got major reverse splits each of the past three years, he has sucked against LHP each of the past 3 years. Expecting him to suddenly turn that around is beyond foolish.
Well, Kennedy is taking Cora’s side on this one.
I’m totally fine letting Bregman sign elsewhere. He does NOT make sense for the Red Sox on a 5-6 year deal. Even a 4 year deal might be a stretch.
Franklin Arias broke the MLB Pipeline top 100. Currently playing SS, though I could imagine him shifting to 3B in a couple years. Cespedes is another “shortstop” who isn’t going to last at the position.
Wait – Kennedy is the President and CEO, he isn’t as involved in baseball operations as Breslow/Cora are. Kennedy is just doing P.R. as usual, trying to keep fans excited.
BTW – It’s been reported by multiple sources the Sox haven’t made an offer to Bregman yet.
Mayer is also definitely a 3B candidate down the road.
I suspect Kennedy is a lot more involved than you think — having a non-baseball person meddling with baseball operations explains a lot of what has happened over the last few years.
Wait – Well one of my concerns is that Breslow doesn’t have as much clout in player decisionmaking as he should, so Kennedy meddling (along with Henry) wouldn’t be a surprise. But ultimately the decision should be made by Breslow as long as it falls within the budget he was given.
As a Cubs fan, I wish the Red Sox great success in their pursuit of Bregman. Go get him!
And this off-season again, we see the smoke that Borass blows up there guys gut – seems to have exposed Borass’ b s.
Fever, I don’t think they have a set budget, and I don’t think Kennedy is allowing Breslow the control he needs to do the job right. My guess is that Breslow has already spent all that he is permitted, but that Kennedy might make an “exception” for Bregman. Lousy way to run an organization.
Wait – So you think no extensions over the next 3 months? I strongly disagree, there will be at least one and probably two with Crochet, Anthony and Campbell being top candidates (Roman will be hard though).
Agree Fever on Mayer but if a deal could be made, I’d prefer Arenado despite others not wanting him due to his “decline”.
Breslow would have been a fool to not gain more clout than Bloom had and one thing about him is he’s pretty much always the smartest one in the room.
dewey – Cora has stated if they acquire Arenado it would be for third base only, so obviously that would be contingent on Devers moving.
I know Cora lies often, but on this I believe him.
dewey – Breslow was in the exact same position as Bloom, he had zero experience as the head of baseball ops when he took the job.
So it’s understandable that he would not have much clout while learning on the job.
No, I think they’ll find a budget for extensions, but I believe their FA budget is spent.
Note that long term extensions don’t impact the actual payroll for 2025 by much. The AAV may count towards the luxury tax, but we are nowhere near that yet. Might as well structure things to utilize that luxury tax space that we haven’t spent.
Not sure why you put decline in quotes commenting about Arenado. He’s been in clear decline both offensively and defensively for a few years now, and isn’t likely to reverse course on either.
Fever, Merloni said that they had made him an offer but were far apart in years.
Fever, that is a no-brainer. Arenado has no value at 1B and Devers hurts the team by playing 3B. The Red Sox need a 3B now, not a possibility down the road, so waiting for prospects to maybe take over that position in a year or two when you have a good team now is not the smartest move.
If the FA budget is spent they were certainly deceptive in being in on all of the high dollar free agents. Considering they were supposed to be in on Soto for $700 million, they are not coming close to the all in claim they were making. I was buying into them doing everything needed to be competitive for the playoffs. They may actually be able to do it, but not by getting any of the top free agents. If they don’t make any other moves, I will have very little trust in anything they say in the future.
Dog – So true. Notice the Boras players get all the publicity, the players with other agents get virtually none … like Povetta.
Pads – Thanks, Loomer I trust.
Pads – There’s a lot involved in moving the face of the franchise with that much money remaining on his contract. And other players would be impacted.Gotta look at the big picture.
Uncle – It was confirmed Soto was offered 15 years @ $40M. That 2025 money was spent on Buehler, Sandoval, Chapman.
They had said they were going for pitching as well as the bat of Soto, so there should have been more than just the money they would have put into Soto as they really did not have the pitching needed to compete. Now they have improved the pitching but not the bat.
Uncle – I always say actions speak louder than words. Once again they proved to be full of crap. No Sox fans trust them, and rightfully so.
Looks like Bregman will be heading back to the Astros after they just traded Pressly to free up some money.
Uncle – That’s a good thing for the Red Sox, and I’m happy for the Astros. I know he means a lot to Altuve and the others there.
I know Bregman was not a great fit, but was hoping to see someone added to the offense. I think some of the other options were probably better, but at this point I assume we will be waiting until 2026 for them to bring in offense because there is not much left.
Fever, here’s an interesting read (although I majored in Finance, I long for the days when fans could be just fans…).
……….
Jarren Duran’s contract, the Red Sox, the luxury tax, and Alex Bregman – Over the Monster search.app/RyDg9tZz9BZBzNpM9
Yeah, that’s an added benefit of getting long term deals done early, keeps the AAV lower.
Wait, too complicated for most of us fans who just want the roster constructed.
Like he’s had in Houston. That said, his versatility with the glove is what makes him more valuable (but I’d still prefer Arenado).
At Fan Fest on the 11th when asked by Lou Merloni Kennedy spoke about several players that would be a “perfect fit” and one of those was Bregman. There is a video of him on NESN talking with Lou Merloni and Tom whatever his last name is..
Pads – I believe Sam said it, but I’m guessing it was in response to being asked about Bregman because Kennedy is the only Sox owner who talks now and he wants to excite the fanbase with deception. He is not part of baseball ops.
Dewey – Bregman just won a GG. He’s a lot better defensively than Arenado at this point.
Bregman had to decide what his goal is. If it’s to get every last dollar he should find a one year deal and show that his relative down year was a fluke. If he just wants to sign a long term deal he needs to choose one and get ready for the season.
Cal – Pretty sure he wants the most money AND to stay with Houston. No different than Teo w/ LAD.
Henry: See? We tried. Just like with Soto. (puts checkbook back in pocket, walks away whistling)
Lol. Like I once did when my parents said they couldn’t afford my birthday present and I found it in the trunk on my way to school. Seriously, I have no problem with putting a line in the sand with Bregman. I also believe they gave up too much for Crochet but will extend him. Hopefully I’m wrong on the first part.
Dewey- You don’t hope you’re wrong on Crochet?
If they rush into a 6-figure extension with him and he pulls a Sale/deGrom/Strasburg that would set back the organization in a big way.
Fever, what happens if they drag their feet, sign him to a much bigger deal in a year or two, and THEN he pulls a Sale/deGrom/Strasburg? Are the odds of that worse if they sign him when he is 25 or wait to sign him at 27? Will a year or two of health prove anything?
A team gets six low-risk years of control through the arbitration system. Beyond that, you can’t win if you don’t play. The Red Sox haven’t played in the top-tier market since trading away Betts because they didn’t want to pay him. Second-tier free agents like Story and Yoshida are NOT the equivalent.
Wait – It’s a very unique situation in determining how much to offer him this offseason, I can’t think of any other reliever who had TJS and then converted to a starter for half a season and then converted to an opener for another half season.
First I’ll say under no scenario would I attempt to sign him in two years when he’s a free agent. When players become free agents, they tend to become much more expensive than the year before … we certainly saw that with Xander, Judge, etc.
What do you consider “much bigger deal” in a year? I think worst case scenario, his price goes up 50% which means perhaps from $100M to $150M.
Yes absolutely a year of 180 IP with a sub-3.25 ERA would be conclusive proof that he’s fully healthy and can handle the role of ace starting pitcher. Because as of right now he has proved, zippo, zilch, nada.
Maybe you didn’t see any of my prior posts, there were SEVERAL huge red flags with him last year.
Converted from a starting pitcher to an opener after just 3 months, much earlier than one would expect.
Pitched only 44 innings after June 30th and got absolutely hammered. One would think he would have been even more dominant as an opener because he could air it out in the short outings. But no, the opposite happened.
Insisted on an extension if any contending postseason team were to acquire him. So even HE was clearly concerned about his health. And I pointed this out before, if he HAD gotten traded last summer would he have demanded to pitch only 44 innings in the second half? Obviously all teams stayed away from him, for good reason.
Sorry but as of right now he’s a very high risk pitcher, waiting one year before an extension is as important as getting a professional inspection before buying a house.
And remember, I had the same concerns about Story and Giolito before the Red Sox gave mistake contracts to them.
i saw your earlier posts, just disagree and don’t feel like arguing. You exaggerate the change in his role – he went from 6 and 7 inning starts to 4 inning starts, and ended with just under 150 innings on the season. His velocity and command were intact. His ERA was elevated, partly due to home runs and partly due to playing on a minor league team while facing major league hitters, but his FIP was very solid. No hint of injury or fatigue.
Don’t think I was around here when you were posting on Story, but that was a known injury. Don’t recall what you said about Giolito, though there the warning signs were much clearer and I would have agreed with you.
If Crochet puts up 180 innings with the numbers you suggest – in Fenway – the price tag easily exceeds $200M. He would have no reason to rush to sign a deal that costs him $100M in earnings.
Crochet is neck and neck with Skubal in talent. You aren’t getting Skubal at $150M just one year removed from free agency. If you want that kind of discount then you need to work a deal while there is still some uncertainty.
Wait – I view it as discussions, not arguments. But I presented all facts, so what’s there to disagree with?
If you want to say his 44 innings of 4.84 ERA pitching was because he suddenly went from very lucky to very unlucky, I can’t dispute that because it can’t be proven either way.
However I will say it’s illogical to blame his awful second half performance on the exact same “minor league team” he was on when he put up a 3.02 ERA in the first half …. right?
But I’ll let it go, we will find out soon enough if he is extended this offseason and then we will see how he pitches.
Hopefully if he puts up a 4-ERA on the season you don’t blame it all on Devers ;O)
Just to clarify again, I’m not questioning Crochet’s talent at all …..you don’t need to convince me he’s very talented.
I’m only questioning whether he’s physically able to pitch well for at least 180 innings this season. It’s a justified concern supported with facts.
Yeah I was on an island with both Story and Giolito, my exact words were “any of the Top 5 shortstops except Story” and “any of the Top 5 SP except Giolito”..
It’s almost as if Bloom & Breslow (and Cora) were reading my comments and intentionally got the only players that I didn’t want. LOL!!
BTW – If you’re saying the package that Breslow gave up for Crochet could have gotten Skubal (because you think Crochet is as valuable as Skubal) then that would make the Crochet trade look even worse ;O)
I focus more on the peripherals than on ERA, especially over smaller samples. ERA takes a couple hundred innings for the randomness to average out.
I doubt Skubal was available. The White Sox gave up one of the best pitchers in the majors for a very reasonable cost. Only the Red Sox would be foolish enough not to take full advantage of that by signing him to a multi year deal.
wait – I also am certain Skubal wasn’t available, but if he had been his value would be a lot higher than Crochet despite the fact Skubal is almost 3 years older than Crochet.
You know why?
Because Skubal pitched 192 innings last year with a 2.39 ERA … and that was despite the fact he pitched only 80 innings the prior year.
They are both on the same free agent timeline, it will be very interesting to see who gets extended first and for how much.
Right. So you can extend Crochet relatively cheaply now, or give him a Skubal contract after he proves his talent over a full season. I think you are underestimating what Crochet will command if he turns in a Cy Young season.
Wait – I honestly haven’t thought about what he would command in that scenario, as it would be unfair to have those expectations of anyone who is unproven.
I agree with you, if he does win the Cy this year then he would probably command a $250M-$300M extension.
Let’s hope the Red Sox know a lot more about his health than the public does, and they act accordingly. Believe me I’d love to have another ace comparable to prime Sale, Pedro and Clemens. In fact if that happens, I wouldn’t even care if Teel becomes a HOF’er.
Hard to say exactly how good he is until we see him on a more competitive club. I think he could be Sale. Clemens was a long time ago, tough to compare across eras. And nobody was comparable to Pedro.
Wait-I appreciate the last sentence. I agree I don’t think there ever will be another Pedro. Something about the combination of enthusiasm, incredible talent, and his sense of humor, it really kept you coming back to see what he would do next. It has been a while since we have had someone close to that caliber on the Red Sox. I wish we could have seen more of Sale at his best.
I have not actually watched Crochet pitch, so can only go by the potential he has shown based on his stats. With his age and coming onto a more successful team, hopefully he will continue to get better. Have no idea if he has Cy Young potential, but will be thrilled if he does. I wish the Sox had improved the defense a bit as that was certainly not a strength last year and can impact the success of the pitchers.
He threw a dominant game against the Red Sox in June. The crazy thing is that he wasn’t anywhere near his best and he STILL struck out ten with just three hits in six innings.
If he is healthy, he will reach 180 innings and be among the top three (at least’ for the Cy). Hard to assess his injury risk, though. They leashed him at mid season last year to keep the innings down.
I thought there were at least 5 teams that were offering 5 year deals?
I’m thinking there is no way the Astros 6/$156M is still on the table. If it was, Bregman would jump at that now given what he’s seen on the free agent market to date.
You are saying that even though there are multiple articles quoting Astros execs saying it is still on the table?
I’d be very surprised at this point.
1B-Walker
2B-Altuve
3B-Paredes
DH-Alvarez
They won’t add $156M to their CBT to replace one of those players. I’d bet on that.
Dottie – If they have no intention of pulling the offer before ST then why would he rush to take it now?
I think the Astros offer is still on the table provided they can convince Pressly to waive the no-trade protection and allow himself to be traded somewhere so they can clear the salary and more easily fit Bregman’s dollars into their overall budget. So far there’s been no movement on resolving the Pressly situation.
Supposedly (Alex Speier) the Red Sox are holding the line at 4.
…and as you said, 4 years is generous. I wouldn’t go more than 3.
I would go five, if I really wanted to land him, but that would be with the understanding that the last two years are likely mediocre.
Doesn’t work for the Red Sox unless they are willing to cut bait on Yoshida, though.
Wait – I assume it also doesn’t work unless Devers moves to DH, right?
What did you think about Devers liking a tweet that suggested that exact scenario? Was that really him, or just a hoax?
Yep, same old cheap Red Sox
Why is a four year offer cheap? I am sure it is for a large sum of money and I understand that after a 10 year deal with Devers and a 6 year $144 with Story they may not want to do a six year deal again with an aging 3b.
Because every offer to every free agent is just short. Player wants 5-6 years? Team draws line in the sand at 4. They want the player to assume all the risk when everyone knows if you want to sign a free agent you’re going to have to sacrifice an extra year or two
There is truth that players want 5-6 years, fair or not fair that the Red Sox draw a line in the sand at four, I can see that they have been burned by their T. Story deal and may be reluctant. You are right though, not going past four years may mean they don’t get Bregman.
BigRed – so just because a team was burned by a bad deal once or twice, they should just stop giving them out? That makes no sense.
Maybe they shouldn’t have spent a ton on Story when they had Xander, and I’m not entirely sure why they went after a LH soft hitting DH who can’t play the field and paid him a ton of money.
They need to focus on adding good players.
And if 6 years were so easonable an ask from Bregman he would have been signed by someone already. But every other team sees the same risks the Sox do in giving him a longer deal and aren’t interested in going there. But of course idiot Sox fans will simply cry “they’re being cheap” because that’s all they know what to do recently.
No, I agree, it should not stop a competing team from improving and still making long term offers but I would it matters who you make that offer to, especially positionally, if you have a huge need positionally , say you don’t have a SS or a #1 or #2 starter you have to do it but I don’t see a “must have” need for Bregman, you do have Devers and Casas, Bregman is a good player and lengthens that line-up in every way but i think the Sox need a #1 starter who has a history of durability and staying healthy more than they need Bregman.
While I’ve been so against ownership recently, I too would not sign Bregman for more than four guaranteed years. Maybe a five year deal with an injury kicker like they did before. Make the fifth year guaranteed only if he plays X number of games in year four. Different. Also have opt outs after years two onward.
Joe, X is overpaid. Signing Story in hindsight was stupid but Yoshida was not. The fact that it hasn’t been as successful so far as they hoped, doesn’t change the fact that he was injured last year and is a solid hitter. That said, the majority of the long contracts have not worked out for owners. Free agency is also not good for the fans. I said it two years ago, allow teams to spend more to keep their own players without taxes/penalties. Maybe also instead of just giving small market clubs money, link it to them extending their own players. If they don’t spend, they don’t get.
Mango – Yep the Red Sox want what they view as a bargain, always.
Same reason why they haven’t snagged a stud reliever, they will probably sign whatever is left when all the other teams are done shopping.
If the short term deal includes opt outs the risk is as much on the team
If bregman has a crap year next year and got, say, 4/110 with opt outs every year, he would likely not opt out next year and the team would be stuck with him
On the other hand, if he has a good year, he’ll test the market again and the original team that signed him to a 4 year deal has to look for a 3b yet again
Lalo – And one other negative about Bregman opting out after one year ….. the team that signs him now will be penalized because he’s a QO free agent.
Dewey, I have to disagree on Yoshida.
The fact is he was and remains a *terrible* signing for Boston and is a huge part of the lineup logjam.
The problems with Yoshida are he is a defensive liability who can’t run on the basepaths. And that has nothing to do with any injury, it’s the lack of tools.
He doesn’t have the pop to be a dedicated DH especially at his salary level.
If healthy he can hit from the left side, for average, maybe, and without much pop. But none of those are things the red sox needed, let alone to have tied up so much payroll in at a time Henry got a little tight on the pursestrings.
dewey – What they need is a solid catcher, that should be their top priority. They do not need a 2B except maybe a stopgap for one year. And they do not need a 3B unless they are prepared to move Devers now.
The Sox front office is extremely dysfunctional and isn’t getting better. They should be focusing on their true needs, targeting the best players to fill those needs, and spending the money to fill those needs.
Yoshida is very much a continuation of some of the FO meddling from guys like Kennedy and Warner that has hurt the team over the past decade. His signing was along the lines of the Rusney Castillo debacle. The Sox missed out on Jose Abreu when he came out of Cuba, so jumped at giving a big contract to Castillo, hoping he’d be at worst about 80% the player Abreu was. Turned out he was about 20% the player Abreu was. Then when the Sox missed out on Seiya Suzuki they tossed a large contract at Yoshida, hoping for largely the same thing. One of these days someone with the team may finally realize that if you miss out on a player just move on and don’t try to jump at a “poor man’s” version of them. That never works.
What’s worse about Yoshida is I can almost guarantee there’s a vocal contingent somewhere in the front office/ownership grouping that blames how the recent pursuits of NPB pitching went poorly on Yoshida dissatisfaction with his handling and being stuck in the DH slot because he’s such a bad all-around ballplayer.
It’s not his fault he’s slower than Papi, is an atrocious defender, and lacks the power to hit for impact in the dh slot.
Bloom *knew* what he was, and *knew* boston was stacked with cheap controllable high quality defending OFers knocking on the door who could hit better than Yoshida, but, overpaid him to come to town anyways.
The Red Sox are avoiding bad deals which is part of being a well-run organization.
Ken – That’s a take I haven’t heard before, where is the evidence it was ownership meddling with Yoshida? Everything I’ve seen and heard indicates Bloom was the driving force behind the Yoshida signing. Was he overpaid? Of course, but that’s because Bloom was horrible at valuing players.
Yoshida was highly rated and he was also expected to help lure Yamamoto …. same approach the Dodgers used when Ohtani helped lure Yamamoto.
Suit – they’re also avoiding good deals in the process. That doesn’t make it a well-run organization, just ome that is so risk averse that they hurt themselves
GaSox – Don’t make me defend Bloom! Haha!!
Abreu was acquired only a few months before the Yoshida signing and wasn’t considered a top prospect, Duran was a mess at the time, and Roman was drafted 79th just a few months before the Yoshida signing. There was absolutely no way for Bloom to predict how the OF would play out.
Fever – nobody, EVER, had Yoshida as even an average defender. The universal book on him was slow, weak arm, couldnt chase down balls in the OF.
You had the IF as a mess defensively already as well.
There was no single positive aspect to Yoshida’s game that fit anything boston needed at the time, unless you wanted to cite to ‘warm body’ let alone at that absurd price-point, that couldn’t be bought at a cheaper price for fewer years without going to him.
The only thought was putting him on the left side, behind *Devers* and the black hole that was SS. Which, makes those two positions even worse because you didn’t have someone backing up the missed plays the IF let through. You were just adding to guaranteed hits on the porous left side defense.
Dewey I agree teams that sign their own free agent players should get a discount on the luxury tax calculation.
And last year that strategy worked on Bellinger, Snell, Chapman and Montgomery.
Cubs – That serves no purpose. Teams that can’t afford to extend their own players will trade them to teams that can afford to extend them. We saw that with Soto, Mookie and so many others.
Come talk to us in four years to tell us how great Tanner Scott’s contract panned out over the life of that contract.
Fever do you have an inside seat that forms the basis for your “dysfunctional” observation?
GA. Many knew he couldn’t run but most expected him to at least play a competent left. No one knew when was signed that Duran would suddenly be a stud, that Abreu would be a ROTY candidate or that Anthony would suddenly be the number one prospect in the sport. He was signed to be a lefty who didn’t strike out and would hit .300 with a little pop. If he is healthy, I still believe he can win a batting title with that stroke. So far, I e been proven wrong but let’s see.
Red – I agree with all your points here, I don’t think they need to sign Bregman (especially with Mayer, Campbell, and the wealth of MI guys they have) and wish they actually invested in Fried/Burnes/etc. But hey, it is what it is .
Fever, I’ve been saying Devers needs to be moved off third for a long time. He got his money and now needs to accept it’s best for the team. As for catcher, I thought we had him but obviously that’s changed. I’d settle for a Leon type who could handle the staff and control the running game if I couldn’t find a true hitter. Wong was fine with the bat but he’s too small and wore down. To me, Wong should be developed to be that super utility player.
Dewey – x is overpaid but instead of signing Story they could have used that money to extend Xander at a reasonable price and not let him hit FA.
The Yoshida signing was stupid because of the Sox offer. How often does Scott Boras not try to create a bidding war? You combine that with how left hand heavy the current lineup was and how all the good prospects coming up at the time were LHB and it makes less sense. Go look at the stats for pure DH players. Yoshida is a slightly above average bat but is nowhere near good enough for a full-time DH and his defensive issues were known before he signed.
I agree about free agency, it’s bad for small market teams, and for teams not willing to spend. In theory, teams willing to spend can overpay for guys now and when the contract looks bad they can eat some of the money and trade the player. If the team has success and brings in more money during their tenure, then the team can just rinse and repeat this process.
I kind of like the NBA process where, and this might be incorrect but I like the idea anyways, some players are eligible for bigger contracts with their current team and the contracts pay more to the player than they count for towards the luxury tax. This would give the small market teams a reason to extend their homegrown guys.
Cubs, I’ve been saying it at times for the last three or more years when the deal is four or more years. Such benefits both the team and the player. I don’t think the PL would argue against it and agents like Boras’ would be drooling with the prospect of having the Yankees bid against the Mets for Soto knowing the Yankees’ taxes would be less than normal. Such would theoretically have allowed them to use that savings towards Bregman, etc. The only catch I would add is the player has to play the full year before for his old club. If not, it would be interesting in that The Dodgers or Mets for example could swing a trade for Guerrero at the deadline even if they don’t need him immediately. Why? Just to gain that tax advantage for the following free agency period.
dewey – Great post! There’s no question in my mind if Yoshida can just stay physically healthy and strong for a full season, he could be a batting champion.
His defense is below average, but not a big deal playing LF at Fenway.
Who cares about speed? Was Manny or Ortiz or a bunch of others fast? Nobody expected Yoshida to be Ichiro.
Fever, nothing wrong with that if it’s implemented with other rules like an otherwise hard cap/floor. Theoretically, it will improve the return going to the trading team as well
Dewey – Last year Jansen and Wong were statistically two of the three worst catchers in MLB.
I’d go all out to acquire Raleigh, he would be perfect for the Sox.
Bit of fan experience here with the short term opt out. The risk is minimised.
Rodon. Got a great year out of him. He moved on. They seemed content with replacing him. No biggie. All square.
Snell didn’t work out. Crushed us early with poor performance and then pitched himself to a big contract elsewhere when it was too late for the team. No good but it was a short term burn of $30m.
Stripling was bad. Had to opt in. Got traded before he went around again. Bad but not crippling. Short term burn of 12m or so.
Conforto. Average. Averageness had him opting in and averageness has him moving on to a 1 year contract that is below, but in the range of what the Giants paid him. Not great but not overly detrimental.
Chapman. Impressed on and off the field. One year in and they liked him and he liked them. Both committed long term. Awesome.
Some good, some bad, some average but nothing crushing. The FO just has to put the work in on replacing guys or getting them back.
Red Sox lost Betts, Bogaerts, and several free agents because they drew a line in the sand on contract length.
They have added or extended several players because they would sign for that “magic” number of years the Red Sox drew in the sand like Story, Yoshida, and Bello that have not worked out well.
Its time to rethink that number of years they are willing to go on contracts.
One run to the WS is worth $150 million the way the playoffs are set up today, a little more if the team comes from a WC spot. Get the guy that can get you closer to that goal and being in the playoffs each year early in the deal will pay for those down years at the end of the contract.
Devers hurts the team every game he is still playing 3B. He can hit. There is no argument against that. What he can’t do is play defense. He would have had a 3.9 WAR at DH in 2024 and the positional adjustment is huge between DH and 3B. That is how bad his defense was.
Adding Bregman puts a 4+ WAR at 3B with a guy that can play defense and increases the production at DH by 2+ WAR. The team is better.
Remember, Bregman had a 4.1 WAR last season, better than Devers 3.7 WAR, and that is considered a down year for him. He was better than Devers at 3B in a down year. Devers would have had a higher WAR at DH than 3B. This all clicking for you?
Pay the man. Go win the East.
Signing Yoshida was moronic at best. A guy who had a history of playing bad defense and a large platoon split signed for 5 years and stuck in the OF in Fenway. What could go wrong? 2 seasons of 1.4 WAR is what.
Now he injured his throwing shoulder and had to have labrum surgery, an injury many players never recover fully from, and they are saying he will “play lots of games in the outfield”. Talk about doubling down on stupidity.
Go through contracts of 6+ years on Cots Baseball Contracts. Then look at the value of WAR for free agents. Then tell us how many of them worked out. Its over 60%. If they didn’t work out for the team more often than not then the billionaires and the Ivy League people they have running both baseball ops and the front office would not keep doing those deals.
GASox. Bingo!
GASox, I don’t think the decision to sign Yoshida came from Bloom.
All, Well run organizations are in the playoffs 3 of 5 years, not in last place 3 of 5 years.
Do you think he has no power or a bad shoulder led to his lack of power?
….and the Red Sox fired the guy who led them to the 3 last place finishes (Bloom).
A 60% success rate is not enough for many. It’s why they don’t do it. They can’t afford to cover a 40% chance of failure.
If you never sign a free agent you can totally avoid all risk…that’s not good management. The best management knows when they need to take a risk and when they don’t. With the talent in waiting, they didn’t need to take a risk on Story but did and got burned. Bergman also feels like a nice to have, not a need to have. They should be trading Abreu, Yoshida, and some mid prospects to get pitching at this point.
Yoshida has always historically lacked power in his swing. It wasn’t the labrum issue sapping it.
It’s like ichiro except without the speed, baserunning instincts or defense/fielding ability.
He has bat to ball skills, but, not much else in his favor.
I just wish they would not hype up that this is going to be such a big offseason and continue to say the top priority is a right handed hitter if they are not going to make a move. If they just said they were going to improve the pitching, they did seem to do that. They lost O’Neill’s bat and did not replace it yet, so someone else is going to have to pick up the offense or that could be what holds them back. Maybe Story will rebound or the young guys will come up blazing, but can’t count on it. Not that Bregman was the ideal solution, but unfortunately these days they have to overpay for everyone so most of the deals are going to be bad.
If they really did make a $700 million offer to Soto, 6 years and under $200 million does not seem nearly as high risk. Not that Bregman is in the same league as Soto based on age and offensive ability, but for a team that is supposedly all in to make the playoffs they are getting outspent by most of the other teams who promised their fans they would make a big splash.
I don’t agree that the Red Sox are being cheap, they’re being smart just like the Tigers, Cubs, Jays because none of them want to give Bregman a long term contract.
The Astros have never pulled their offer off the table. The Tigers, Sox, Cubs are angling for 2nd place in case the Astros can’t trade Pressly or free up a few bucks to make sure their offer is solvent.
The comments here seem to hit on the salient points:
1) the Sox need a talent infusion/upgrade
2) getting a 3B is a square peg for a round hole for 2025
3) you can’t never again stretch an offer out of your comfort zone to a FA if you want to get a star player (not that I think Bregman is that guy)
Here’s my two cents:
Lets keep our powder dry, just in case Vladdy isn’t pulling our chain(I think he is) and it’s clear that the POBO whether it’s Breslow or Bloom, or whomever, isn’t running baseball operations, it’s ownership and Kennedy
The Sox are getting a talent infusion/upgrade with the likes of Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer. Why would they give blank check to a significantly more expensive option who’s clearly on the downswing of his career who doesn’t fit their needs?
Sad, of course Vlade is using the Sox with his mouth as leverage. Only two cities for him. If not Toronto, it will be New York.
Sad – I don’t think Vlad is a good fit. I believe in spending to fill needs, if Casas returns to 2023 form then he and Devers should cover 1B/DH for years to come.
FPG – I don’t believe that you can allow a player that’s 25yo and at the peak of his career just explore free agency without kicking the tires. He’s saying lots of nice things about the Sox (Papi and Pedro connections). I think he’s going to the Mets, but you have to at least be in the conversation.
Now about fit. The Jays are saying that if they don’t sign a 3B this off season that Vladdy could return to his original position and play 3rd. For everyone who wants/expects Devers to become full time DH, this is the ULTIMATE fit. I don’t want Bregman, he’s not a fit.
Going forward an infield of Casas, Campbell, Mayer and Guerrero is pretty enticing.
The game is increasing played by players who are young and play on athletic ability alone. The art of being a baseball player is going the way of the dinosaur (unfortunately in my opinion). Successful teams will follow a dual track of homegrown re cheap talent, and young stars, who are expensive.
It’s time for everyone to let the Story signing go and admit that you need to spend money to make money (so to speak), and perhaps sign a contract that you know may be underwater at the end of it.
We need a right handed power bat, and someone has decided that 3/$80ish is too much for Pete Alonso, but couldn’t see their way to sign Profar.
This idea that having a third of your 26 man roster on one year deals makes you fiscally responsible is idiotic. Maybe the new CBA might bail owners out, and maybe that’s the strategy, but prices aren’t going down….
Devers had Wong behind him most of last year, imagine if he had a real power threat behind him and he actually didn’t have to swing at bad pitches?
This is a long winded way of saying, I don’t have the answers, but, I am unwilling to allow one of the riches teams in the game to tell its fans that mediocrity equals fiscal responsibility and piecing together just enough each year to say “we tried” is the surest way to make me a fan of whatever team Dave Dombrowski works for!
Exactly. I want $35/hour + full benny’s to flip burgers. I’m just waiting on all the cheap restaurants to cave and pay me what I think I’m due.
Kyle, would you settle for $25? That’s what I was paying for help in my home. in addition to the burger flipping though, you would have to clean the kitchen and the bathroom.
Kyle – I’d love to see Bregman sit out the season if he doesn’t get what he wants. Maybe his mom has room in her basement?
Have you even considered they dont need him and only want a deal on thier terms? If he doesnt want thier offer fine he can move on and the sox dont care and have lost nothing..if he takes it grear for the sox…its really that simple imo
Every situation is different. In this case, Bregman is 31 and may be in decline. I don’t really want him, but I wouldn’t be too upset to get him on a 2 or 3 year deal.
Honestly though, they have a 3B and middle Infielders to spare. Bregman only makes sense if they have a taker for Yoshida and Devers is amicable to being a DH. If not than its spending on unnecessary position while likely creating clubhouse issues that don’t need to be there
Bergman makes no sense, imo. We have someone at every position. The only question marks we have is at 2nd and SS, and we have Grissom and Campbell looking at 2nd, and Story and Mayer looking at SS.
Bregman is a better glove and a better fit. But basically, he pushes Yoshida out of the lineup, or better, off the team. It wouldn’t break my heart to see us sign him at maybe $125M/5, but I don’t see position players as our biggest need over the next 5 years.
Rsox – Voice of reason.
Giving up on Grissom now would make the Sale trade an epic disaster.
Fever, you can’t put lipstick on a pig and call it a beauty queen.
Grissom is what he is. He will never amount to anything that lifts that trade out of disaster status.
GASox – I’m all about patience and giving another chance, especially if a player has a bad season because of health reasons. Grissom went through a lot last year, missed all of ST, it was a nightmare season.
But he DID finish the season with .333/.370/.417 for the month of September.
Hey I’m not making any predictions here, and you already know how I feel about the Sale trade. But I don’t count out anybody just because they had health issues. Same with Casas, Yoshida, Devers …. let’s see if they are fully healthy and then see how they do.
Have you been making the drive to Woosta in this winter weather? I’m guessing you didn’t attend FSG Fest ;o)
Fever – Strong no on the FSG Fest. I’m due back up there Wednesday, I need to push that back a week due to a chest infection I’m just not kicking.
My issue with grissom isn’t based on last season. It’s his entire time I saw him with atlanta and with their farm teams. We’re talking 5 underwhelming seasons, not just 1.
Defensively he has the upside of Devers, except he gets worse and worse as you slide him across the diamond – check out his advanced fielding stats over the years.
Realistically he best fits as a part time DH, and emergency depth until someone better gets called up if you have a guy go down. But, like Devers, and, like Yoshida, they should lock his glove behind several layers of steel for the protection of the team. No glove and you’d hope he’s not in the field, he doesn’t know how to use it properly anyways so let’s not have him hurt anyone
So not wanting to give a 30 yr old player on the decline a long term contract is cheap?… Ok. Lol
Bregman only interested in Red Sox on long term deal
Truly Well Written! Be careful of the Athletic trying to sign you to a new contract, Mark Polishuk. Grammar and vocabulary? Top Notch!
Mark “Passive Voice (Consider Revising)” Polishuk strikes again.
I think Bergman’s problem is that he profiles more as a good, dependable player on both sides of the ball looking for a contract that will be pay him for all of his decline years, but doesn’t come with the upside of someone who can maybe put up a couple spectacular years to offset some of that decline.
Dropped – Very well said! He’s still on the market because he’s not as valuable as he thinks, that’s the bottom line.
Exactly. I think teams are concerned that given his age and recent performance that there’s no upside to a deal like the Astros have offered (or better). If you only see risk and loss at the end of the tunnel then it’s a bad contract and not worth it for the team. Bergman at 6/150 numbers is just a bad idea for any team.
Good fit. Devers’ agent is posturing. He’s got his bag and knows he’s gonna have to move soon. Casas can and should be moved for pitching. Sox do this and I have no problem calling them co-favorites in the AL with the Yankees.
They should absolutely not trade Casas to make room for Bregman.
SJK – agreed! I would rather have Casas bat in the lineup than Bregman! Casas is under team control for another 4 years at league minimum then arbitration even if he is not extended.
MLB, it depends on the return. I also love what I saw in Fitts. Such was a very small sample size but is it possible that he’s the young pitcher they’re trying to trade for and don’t realize they already have “their man”? The only reasons to trade Casas are will you replace him with a better defender who also balances out your lefty lineup better, does the return provide a better team fit and/or do you feel his rib injury will limit his future play? Nothing I’ve read suggests the latter.
Casas already had 2 years of service time and will be arbitration eligible after this season. Casas is a 1B who plays bad defense at that position and has the same OPS+ over the last 3 years as Bregman. Bregman plays Gold Glove level defense at the far more important 3B.
It would not be Casas being traded to make room for Bregman, it would be Yoshida being traded. Devers to DH. Bregman at 3B.
They absolutely should not trade Casas. Period.
They absolutely should trade Yoshida to make room for Devers at DH which makes room for Bregman at 3B.
Bregman is better than Devers.
2024: Bregman – 4.1 WAR Devers – 3.7 WAR
Last 3 seasons: Bregman 13.6 WAR Devers 11.6 WAR
Bregman has even been more durable the last 3 seasons.
Devers is making $31.3 million AAV and his defense is so bad that his WAR would go up at DH. .
Pads – In your knee-jerk scenario the Sox would be trading Yoshida at a ridiculously worst time, which means eating nearly $56M of his contract. Does that really sound logical to you? Do you think $56M is peanuts to the Red Sox? And then watching him hit .300 for another team when he’s finally healthy? Hope you don’t invest in the stock market.
Paying Bregman $30M annually who you don’t need, paying Yoshida to play elsewhere, and paying Devers $29M annually to DH. Dear God you have no concept of the value of money! Haha
Fpg, Yoshida had surgery that few ever fully recover from and he was bad before the surgery. That it was his throwing arm makes it 100% that he should never step on the grass again. If we have to eat 100% of his contract to get something in return, getting rid of him and moving Devers to DH will make us a better team and it’s not your money.
We need Bregman or Arenado or another good defensive 3B.
Devers is worth less as a 3B than as a DH because his defense is so bad. Several on here have pointed that out. We will still be paying him whether he is booting and waiving at balls that any good 3B would have made the play on or if he is doing what he does best at DH. Why are you so adamant that he play 3B and cost us wins? Its not your money and the Red Sox have plenty of revenue.
Pads, not sure why you get what so many of us Red Sox fans miss. We are stuck with Devers contract so where he plays doesn’t matter. Whatever it takes we have to get him off 3B. He is a great hitter but one of the very worst defensive IF. He is costing us wins at 3B.
Baseball – Did you know last November Ohtani had the exact same labrum repair surgery that Yoshida had? And the Dodgers not only expect him back for Opening Day, they expect him to pitch this season.
That’s not how players are valued. If a player is so bad that he can’t field a position, he is valued far less as a DH because literally anybody on the team can DH since they all swing the bat already (except for nearly all the pitchers).
You know Devers was the primary 3B on the 2018 World Champions, right? And he was the primary 3B on the 2021 team that went to the ALCS.
You’ve been missing my point. I’ve said many times Devers is bad at 3B and should be moved, That’s common knowledge, everyone knows it.
Where I disagree is with those who believe he should go directly to DH this year. I believe he should be tried at 1B to see how he handles it, or make him part of a platoon at 3B.
You want analytics to back up my stance? Okay, in Devers last healthy season (2023) he cost the team literally 9 runs based on DRS. How many games do you think those 9 runs resulted in them losing?
BTW – JD Davis and Bohm were both statistically worse at 3B than Devers.
And now we know why the Red Sox don’t sign anyone. Bregman will sign somewhere else and the Red Sox will say they tried, again.
Bregman just turned 30. You would think they would go to 5 years and be competitive with the other offers he has been getting, at a minimium. Offer 5 with a vesting option on the 6th and see if that gets it done. It isn’t like a contract that is carrying him into his late 30’s/early 40’s.
No, Bregman will be 31 in March. He didn’t “just turn 30” at all. And with the Sox competitive window just opening with all the young talent just breaking in or on the verge those later years are as important as the next couple are to their consideration. Locking into operatives lean years from Bregman as some of these younger guys are getting to their arb years and costing more will tie the Sox hands for making impact moves then. But it’s far easier to simply cry “cheap” and not understand all that.
He’s truly a terrible fit for the Sox given the guys on their way to the bigs. Paying bregman big money to block your prospects while the big money player enters his decline is a way to guarantee organizational futility.
Exactly. I’d rather just go into ST with the team as currently constructed and see a spirited competition between Grissom and Campbell to win the starting 2B job.
You’re expecting all the prospects to be like Rice and Lynn or Ellabury and Predroia. Bregman or Arenado could be that missing piece for 25 or 26. Deals need to be paid based on expected performance. Pay less in the later years.
Why do you have multiple accounts coming from the same IP?
He turns 31 in March. I see why clubs are hesitant on longer guaranteed money. He’d be wise to see if Houston will still take him at 6/156.
Houston would be wise to not do that deal.
According to what’s written, while the Astros have offered six years, the five year offers are for more money. Unless he’s completely done at the end of five years, any money on a new contract would be even more. Seems like a five year is the way to go.
Still, someone’s definitely blowing smoke. If the Astros have offered six, than why would Boston think a 4 would even be an option? If Devers isn’t moving off 3B, than there is no shortage of players for positions in the Boston IF (Though he does need to be moved off 3B). It wouldn’t surprise me if Boras simply asked Houston to say the deal for six was still on the table to try to restart talks with viable teams, as a favor for past service. Not really believing any of it.
Now can we get back to some Alonso rumors?
Using 4.1 WAR as the baseline and adjusting for average MLB decline for their age 31 to 36 seasons, Bregman would provide $182-184 million in value at the current value of WAR in FA. That is a substantial surplus value on a 6/156 deal.
That does not take into account that player salaries will go up and in 5 years the value of WAR in FA will be higher.
A single run to the WS, even without winning, would pay the entire contract. 3 playoff appearances in 6 seasons, even without making it to the WS, would pay the entire contract.
If that is all it would take to sign him, every team with a need at 3B should be in the bidding. Considering his consistency and durability, he has played the most games at 3B in MLB over last 3 seasons, that is about as much of a sure thing as you can get which is why the Astros offered that.
That he is not signed yet is a clear indication that he wanted more than 6/156.
Just take Houston’s offer Bregman. It’s a solid deal so we can all move on
Thought he had “multiple 5 year offers”.
That would be an odd defensive alignment in Houston.
Bregman at third moving Devers to first is a solid defensive upgrade.
Devers to DH is the solid upgrade. He’s to my knowledge never played the position
Just moving Devers off 3B is a solid defensive upgrade. Play anyone else at 3B.
Cheater
Why splurge in Bregman when there are so many answers to the infield question. They should have splurged in adding established SP.
I am 100% ok with not adding Bregman.
Four years, $120m, with player options for years five and six valued at $18mm per year. That makes him tradable if he opts in, but also lets him opt out and seek a bigger payday. It’s also decent guaranteed money for all six years. $156mm if he doesn’t opt out.
Glad to hear of discipline by Sox on this. Rather see the youngsters given a chance at 2nd base and leave our corner infielders alone to rake in this lineup.
Yeh….can’t wait to see Devers throw the ball into the right field stands…some defense…but he makes which I do agree with…but a liability defensively and Casas isn’t exactly Gold Glove either and don’t think you can put him into the “raking” catagory.
Is it me
Or are the redsox & bluejays always “interested” in every player
But never actually sign anyone
Blue Jays are making big offers left and right though. Players are just turning them down. I guess they don’t want to play in Toronto? Tax rate? State of the country? Canadian economy? I dunno but it seems like a stigma bc they are offering some serious cash.
And they both always want the player to change positions while trying to improve offensively/defensively…..
Writers throwing $hit on the internet for clicks and compensation. Most of the articles I see are team X should trade for, team Y sign so-n-so, team Z interested in with NO credibility source. Teams ‘check in’ on everyone even if they are not interested to gage industry prices of other players…. Most of the offseason articles and post are BS.
But never actually sign anyone
========================
The BJs acquired Gimenez, Hoffman and Santander.
The RS acquired Crocket, Chapman and Buehler.
So aren’t going to acquire every player that they are interested in.
shockah
Same old Boras.
Ignore fair offer with current team. Check
Drag free agency out until late February. Check
Drop all kinds of rumours to try to establish a stronger market for his player. Check
Actually get a good contract for his client. TBD
Bregman might make sense if they actually had a hole to fill at 2b or 3B. But they don’t. Devers is staying at 3B for the foreseeable future and Campbell (or Grissom) will be at 2b – and will probably outperform Bregman over the next several years. If Astros offer is still on the table he should take it.
SJ – Exactly, and if Mayer gets promoted and shines then Story could move to 2B as well.
I’d love that Fever. Mayer being healthy takes the SS job and if Story is healthy, he’s as good defensively as anyone at second.
You guys have tremendous confidence that Campbell and Grissom will perform at a high level from the day their cleats hit the dirt. Having watched Jackson Holliday scuffle last year, how can you be so sure?
stel – Speaking just for myself, my position is at least ONE OF Grissom, Campbell and Mayer should be able to play middle infield fulltime with the Red Sox. That’s why I don’t feel the need to sign Bregman. And worse comes to worse, Story/Rafaela covers middle infield.
Trust me, I’m not usually one to be against signing big names.
By the averages just 1 of 5 top prospects like those will turn out to be a MLB average player. Just one. Red Sox fans are acting like all 3 of those you mentioned will be All Stars like Bregman. An average MLB player is what Rafaela has turned out to be. An average MLB player is what Casas has turned out to be. Temper your enthusiasm with a little reality. Not all or even most of the Red Sox top prospects will turn out to be average, let alone an All Star level player like Bregman.
A little early to declare what Rafaela or Casas will be. Bergman isn’t a need, why overpay for him instead of taking a chance on the young guys and keeping money open for actual needs?
I thought Moncada was a pretty good example as well. Prospects are a hope.
Grissom = Bob Heise or Stan Papi. One of Boston’s worst trades ever.
Grissom is a lost cause for consistant MLB play on offence – very poor – and defence – adequate at best. Despie great AAAv in 2023, Campbell may flame out in 1st month MLB Red Sox and would be sent back to AAA. Good point steldar how Jackson flamed out with Orioles after call up .189 BA in 60 games.
Give Bregman his 4 years Red Sox WITH 4TH YEAR TEAM OPTION. He will rake offensively with Green Monster, play 2nd base and take AB’s vs. LH stasrting piyching over Yoshida.
Also in what MLB world id 12 errors in 1138 inninings in 2024 makes Devers a poor fielder so shake your head to clear cobwebs and see how solid Devers is defensively. Bregman just 10 errors at same position as Devers and won 1st Golden Glove in 2024.
Bregnan 2B and DH for a few years and much needed RH bat in lineuo perfect fix for Red Sox. – go get A.B.
While Devers has shown some occasional ability to turn a nice play defensively it’s baseless to call him solid. He averages 17 errors per season – 19 as recently as 2023 – with a .944 career fielding percentage. That currently ranks 201 among career third basemen. Even Bill Madlock was a better defender and he at least won some batting titles. Bregman is far and away the better defender. If the Sox sign him (which I doubt) and they’re serious about improving defensively then he will play 3rd and Devers will DH – because they’re paying him for his bat, not his glove.
No one in history has ever said that every prospect is a lock to succeed. Of course they could fail. You know who else could fail? Bregman.
The worst mistakes in BB are always the ones that assume players don’t age.
Devers would have had a higher WAR, the value he provides for the team in terms of contributing to wins, at DH than at 3B in 2024. Same goes for 2023 and 2022.
Bregman is better than Devers. Even in a down year for him Bregman was 10% better than Devers.
Bregman will be cheaper than Devers.
If Devers stays at 3B and Yoshida is on the team at all clogging up the roster, the Red Sox can count on playing 3rd fiddle in the East.
Resigning with Houston pays off much bigger dividends in the long run, especially if the known high-water offer is still on the table. Outside of Houston, he still has to deal with the stigma of the sign-stealing, he’s still a very good player overall while not elite, and frankly, it’s a “what have you done for me lately?” business – his 2018-19 seasons don’t count.
Nominally he has as good of a chance as anyone to produce at high level in his decline phase. If he’s still performing in years 4, 5, 6, the Stros will extend him generously.
He gets to stay a bigger part of the Golden Era than Correa and Springer even though they were better players overall.
Ok, so if Boston is maxed at 4 years, who are the FIVE other teams w 5 year offers? Such bs reporting.
And besides that point, I think 4 years is about right for Bregman. He should sign.
As an (AL) Redsox fan from the ’70’s Fisk/Burelson/Remy/Lynn/Scott days…and well …Yaz….
Would a 4 / 120 deal work? Caveat, asking as a Phillies fan…but went to Ted Williams baseball camp in Lakeville Mass for 4 summers.
$30M per year seems a bit high for what Bregman brings to the table. His current team who knows him best doesn’t even value him at that price, given their 6/$156 offer.
Sure I get that, but his expectations outpaced the market I guess.
Would a Redsox fan be ok w/ a 4/120 is my Q…
As a Phillies fan w/ Bohm (2yrs) and Miller in the pipeline I’d say no.
If he repeated 2024, what is considered a down season for him, in 2025 and then began the 7% decline per season that is typical of players after their age 31 season Bregman would provide $133 million in value to the team that signed him to that 4/120 deal.
For the Red Sox you would add in the additional value of being able to move Devers off 3B and you should be able to add another $10-12 million to that value of signing Bregman.
Bregman with the Sawks make that lineup wicked hahd.
I personally don’t think Bregman makes sense in the long term but his Fenway numbers are incredible and his clubhouse presence would probably help a young team moving forward. That said they should just pony up the dough. 4 years/152 million with 2 additional performance based vesting options.
$38M per year for Bregman? You’re nuts.
I’d love to see a pie chart featuring the following slices:
1) ego
2) boras
3) what he secretly thinks he’s worth
If the Sox want a short term 3B they should trade for Arenado. Why spend 4/120 on very good when you can get good for 3/50 and a 10-15 prospect, in all probability (as the Cards and Arenado get increasingly keen to deal)?
Win-win.
Moving Devers to DH would improve their WAR total by a win or more over the 2 seasons left on Arenado’s deal.
Then add the 4-5 WAR total Arenado would bring for those two seasons and now the Red Sox are up 5-6 wins without any difference in performance by those two players.
They would be losing 2.8 WAR over those two seasons from not playing Yoshida, but that is replaceable far more easily. Trade Yoshida + half his remaining salary so they get something in return and then play some of those young guys like Anthony in the OF instead.
Pads – Great thinking. I believe the actual WINS gained by moving Devers to DH and using Arenado would be closer to 10!!!
Take over 50 misplays and replace it with approximately 15 or less than 1/3 the misplays, then take the differential between Arenado’s offense and Yoshida’s!!! It’s a very big number when you add them together. Too bad Breslow is a rookie and has no clue like Cora as manager. It’s truly the blind leading the blind for the Red Sox players.
All their issues are easily fixed but ownership has no motivation as they keep raking in the money and moving it to other areas of the conglomerate.
As a Tigers fan, part of me wants to see Boston sign Bregman so that Detroit isn’t stuck with him for 7 years. Bregman would definitely make Detroit better, but Matt Vierling is fairly competent at 3B and he costs league minimum. It seems doubtful that Chris Illitch is going to dip into the Little Caesars fund, so Scott Harris has to pick his spots or risk handicapping the roster long term. Even tho Detroit can definitely afford Bregman right now, he’s probably not the ideal basket to throw all your eggs in.
The Tigers have one of the lower payrolls in baseball. I don’t think they would be dipping into the Little Caesar’s Fund. Their attendance was really good and with the payroll on the low end they are still doing really well. Bregman hits around .260 with low 20s homers. I think those numbers drop a bit at Comerica. I would not overpay for the guy as he enters his mid 30s years. Great comment about Matt Veirling.
Given the current roster, Kreidler is probably their best defensive 3B, but the bat is a huge question mark. Its looking like a Vierling/Jung platoon, but again, the defense is only so-so. Both would be better fits at other positions. Vierling is an incredible OF, so playing him at 3B isn’t maximizing his value. Jung just adds one too many LH hitters to the lineup to be a full time option. To think that a few years ago the Tigers lacked LH bats. If Guerrero and Devers can get by at 3B, maybe giving Torkelson another shot couldn’t hurt. I’d take his 2023 numbers all day.
I wonder how much the advice to slow-play this is costing/going to cost Bregman?
Bregman will sign with the Red Sox for 3yrs $90m with a $10m signing bonus, opt outs after year 1 & 2 and open the season as the 2B.
No he wont..allowing a player with a draft pick attached to opt out after 1 year is a terrible deal for any team signing him
Let’s face it, the Sox are being cheap again! John Henry has got to sell the team to a full time owner! Don’t believe the hype and quit buying the tickets!
They are only being cheap if you assume they need the player…i would argue they are being wise in this case as locking up this guy for 5 or 6 years is a total waste based on his apparent decline…hopefully henry stays the course and isnt swayed by people thinking hes cheap..he didnt become a billionaire by making too many crappy deals..and the sox already have several..no need to compound a problem by giving in to a player you dont need
Pool – No offense but he’s made nothing but crappy deals since he fired Dombrowski. The count is well over a dozen so I think your theory has a big hole in it.
He has financial advisors that make him smarter but his baseball folks have fallen on the faces since Bloom was hired.
Thec is spot on correct and you are terribly wrong.
Sag…in this case are you suggesting signing bregman to a 5+ year contract exceeding what houston has alledgedly offered is a smart move for this particular sox team? Baseball wise or financially?
Pool, to me the answer is yes to both. One playoff home game is worth nearly as much as Bregman would make in a year so financially it makes sense.
On the baseball side it improves the team in two ways. #1 Bregman is better that Devers. 4.1 WAR vs 3.7 WAR. #2 Devers would be a more valuable DH than he is a 3B. Bregman at 3B and Devers at DH is 8 WAR or more. Devers at 3B and Yoshida at DH is 5 WAR. That difference alone would have put us in the hunt for the playoffs with KC and the Tigers last season.
Personally I think the difference is much larger than that after watching Devers not even move to go after balls in play that Bregman or Arenado would have easily turned into outs.
Base* ..while i understand your point devers is not moving off 3b..its literally in his contract that he will stay at 3b for the next several seasons
Thec, won’t happen. The Red Sox are the Fenway Groups cash cow. We pay for all their other toys.
The Red Sox need another Refsnyder but of the inf/1b/c variety. Start integrating the young guys into the lineup, but on those days when the opponent is starting a left hander, they need a couple RH bats to plug in. Please no band aid Bregman or Alonso signing.
Like Sabol?
Bregman isn’t going to get the $2ooM he allegedly is asking. My guess is that both the Tigers and Red Sox have been offering shorter term deals. IF Houston’s offer of 6yrs and $156M is still on the table, then I think he’ll eventually end up signing there. Houston might sweeten the pot a bit and while they will probably deal Pressly to help free up some room, they will have to exceed the CBT this year to do it. But they have plenty of money coming off the books after this season and should be able to dip below the CBT next year. IF I were Scott Harris, I’d be more than willing to help them out. Go get Pressly and Parades (they won’t need him if they do sign Bregman) in exchange for one of their young controllable pitchers not named Jobe.
I think if the Astros 6Y deal for $156M was still on the table he would probably be excepting it right now. I don’t believe that he has several 5 and 6 year deals on the table when these ‘interested teams’ are talking about shorter term deals. The original asking price of $200M for a player in his 30s years that will bat around .260 and hit low 20s homers is way too much even if he is a gold glove.
Or let’s get Flaherty and Alonzo for 2-3 yrs.
toble – I like the out of the box thinking. Alonzo can play 3B. He obviously wouldn’t be as bad as Devers so that’s a plus. His power is a huge plus and Casas stays put which is another huge plus. Add to that another excellent starting pitcher and it makes perfect sense and it would be fun to watch Alonzo rocket the HRs.
Great job with coming up with that idea!!
Thank you Saga.. I goofed though. I meant it from a Tigers perspective. My bad.
Everyone think’s Redsox are being cheap. Absolutely not. Smart and wise. Organization haven’t won 20% of world series by fluke. Cmon people. Long contracts hamstring teams. Arenado. Sox are playing chess. They will be dominate next 8 years
they finished last in 2022, last in 2023 and 3rd in 2024. bloom oversaw a “tank-lite” strategy as directed by ownership. we’ll see if it pays off but those lost seasons were no fun for their fan base
.508 over the past 4 seasons with one trip to the ACLS. It’s not as bad as you think.
3 of the last 5 seasons the Red Sox have been in last place in the East.
Yes and the 3 last place finishes were under Chaim Bloom who was fired. Breslow took over for Bloom 15 months ago. Time will tell how good he does, but I like what is he is doing so far.
You like 3rd place and mediocre?
I like being fair-minded. Breslow took over a team that finished in last place in 2023. What did you expect in 2024? They should show improvement each year and going from last place to third place is certainly an improvement. Breslow can’t turn a whole organization around in one season.
bloom did exactly what he was asked to do: rebuild the farm and set the red sox up to succeed at a lower payroll level. bloom was never going to be the guy to see it through because that’s not his skill set but the wave of prospects knocking on the door is a pretty impressive legacy. breslow is a smart guy but he’s not who i would have picked to maximize the coming window. this is the stage where you need a dombrowski-type. nevertheless 2025-2028 could be really fun for red sox fans
dasit: Agreed except I think Breslow will do fine. He is emphasizing pitching and they have been drafting well and having good international signings. So, I think the future is bright. Breslow has been pretty disciplined with free agent signings which I like. I think avoiding bad deals is just as important as getting good deals. I don’t think they are set on a lower payroll. I think they will likely spend more as needed when they have a better team when their younger prospects are up on the Sox.
All – Why? He hasn’t fired Cora. He hasn’t moved Devers to DH and those are the two most critical and decisive actions he could take to improve the number of wins per year.
All – Is the place they finished have more to do with the failures of the TOR and TB franchises than the success of the Boston franchise? Be fair, you know they tailed off we didn’t get better.
dasit – Wow it’s like you are at the circus in the room with all the mirrors that distort your vision!!! WOW!!
Bloom crushed a world championship roster by immediately giving away the franchise player so Devers could pretend he was the best player on the team, but he wasn’t in the top 3.
Bloom took a franchise that had won 3 unprecedented Division Titles from the Yankees and blew it up like a henchman. There are NO redeeming values when it comes to Bloom.
The STAR prospects the Red Sox have graduated are Duran, Houck and Casas. Three Dombrowski picks that came after winning the division each year so much lower picks with much better results than Bloom will ever have with his early round picks. Breslow chose to throw most of the good choices by Bloom to the CWS for two years of a pitcher who had never started prior to 2024. So you have dumb and dumber taking the Red Sox in the losing position they have been in since 2020.
Breslow, not a smart guy, a blooming idiot is a better description based on his actions so far. You always need a Dombrowski type because he’s the lone quality GM since Theo.
You also need owners who aren’t racist. The hiring of an idiot cheater to be more diverse was incredibly stupid. The guy is an embarrassment to baseball for what he did and on top of that he can’t manage his way out of a paper bag. He’s untrustworthy, sets a horrible example for kids associated with the Red Sox and he continues to lie when he talks to the media. There is no positive attribute associated with Cora. He’s scum from the bottom of the barrel.
The destruction of the Red Sox will probably be a best seller in a few years describing how a powerful dynasty of a team was dismantled for no apparent reason by three totally unqualified people who got their jobs for the wrong reasons.
There is no spinning what happened to the the Red Sox into a positive. It’s a travesty that should never happen in sports and the day they gave away Mookie and David (our two best black players) I pointed out if would set back the franchise 5 to 10 years. It’s five years later and there is no salvaging the franchise in sight. Just a bunch of fans HOPING for the best and even some declare the team will be much better this year but they’ve done that every year since 2019 and have been wrong just as they will be in 2025.
If the owner’s racism caused the program to be turned on it’s head by Bloom then they should step up and take the blame. I think they listened to his incredibly horrible ideas and philosophies on building a winner and cringed and said you can have the job if you promise to run Mookie and Price out of town for being traitors because Mookie confronted them on the Eckersley/Price issue when ownership made disparaging comments about Price. Mookie did exactly what he should have as the captain and franchise player, he stuck up for his team mate who was treated poorly by a racist owner who spoke as if it was 1960 in Boston with respect to Price. I applaud his actions and always will. There is no place in sports for the behavior exhibited by the owners.
That’s the linchpin of this entire destruction of the Red Sox. Again, can’t wait until the book is written so the masses better understand why the Red Sox organization was dismantled at the end of 2019.
Quite frankly, I think we are in very good position. Our under/over is 85.5, we still have some spending money left, and FG ranks our farm as #3, and most of the current team is fairly young.
…and you will probably say they got lucky when they win their next World Series.
Dasit, that is exactly right. Bloom did his job and did it well. What we needed instead of Breslow was another Dombrowski that understood that rings are more valuable than prospects. That prospects are most valuable when used as capital spent on players that have proven they can compete at the major league level and who contribute to playoff runs.
At the $22.7 million dollars per home game that playoff teams made last year between local revenue and their share of national TV revenue plus the playoff shares for participation in the WS, just getting to the WS would pay for most of the Red Sox salaries. That is something the Dodgers understand. Get to the playoffs every year and you have more money to spend on players whether you win the WS or not.
All – I hope I’m alive when they win their next World Series. For that matter, I hope you are alive too!!
This year they have a tough schedule that suggests 79 wins unless they upgrade their team again, and that’s if all the iffy pitchers are healthy.
You’ve been here the whole time and argued with me when I said the Mookie deal would cost the franchise 5 to 10 years. I’ve already hit on the 5 and the 10 is just around the corner.
Success comes from knowledgeable talent building. Bloom only focused on talent destruction. Breslow is only working on temporary fixes that won’t create continued success if he ever has a successful year. The 2027 roster is a disaster as of today and if your planning cycle is so short that 2027 doesn’t have a sound foundation, you don’t have a GM you have a guy who has no idea what he’s doing because he never has done it before.
You tell me, with all the talent on other teams like the Dodgers, the Yankees, Houston and Philly, can you honestly say that if Boston won the WS in 2025 it wasn’t lucky? Seriously? So would I be so wrong if I did say that would be lucky? How about 2026? Are we as good as the Dodgers, Yankees etc in 2026? Nope. If we won, would it be lots of luck? Yes. So it could happen but not based on talent as of today.
You keep making it sound like I am being negative when it’s just me dealing with reality and you being the consummate optimist.
Rick – Thanks for the morning laugh!
Sox won 4 championships by spending big, look it up.
Prove it.
Front offices using one player as an excuse for not pursuing all avenues of success are not good Front offices, like the Dodgers are.
They are not honest Front offices, like wise Dodgers are.
The owners of these teams do not treat their fans with love and respect, like the Dodgers do.
Owners who do this have little to no social consciousness, like the Dodgers do.
Not buying pizza today. Some poor schmuck franchise owner, struggling to make it….not getting my business today…..
Thank you sonny and Mrs Billionaire….
Like you care about any of it……
The Illiches are lucky Dodgers fans and members the Dodger front offices still buy Hot-n-Readys….. (when not eating sushi)
Tiger fans have reconsidered….
everyone knows he turned down 6/156 from the astros so the trick is to sign a shorter deal and somehow spin it as better
Don’t want him and he ain’t coming . They are too cheap . So that’s a plus in this situation. I still think they should try for Arenado
Because a 2 WAR player is better than a 4 WAR player?
Baseball. You want to lock up Bregman for 6 years at big $? Arenado is 3 years at less $. Don’t they have two middle infield prospects ( Mayer , Campbell) ? They also have story . I am thinking that might create a log jam. Bring him in with Cora and maybe we can get Beltran as a coach. Let’s bang some trash cans again
B dog 351 – You can’t live in the past. They use much more inventive ways to cheat now. Ask Cora. He’s the expert. Who knows what he’s doing that we aren’t aware of to help this below average team look better. He had no issues with cheating in Houston, he had no issues with cheating in Boston, why in the world would anyone believe he’s quit cheating after it’s been such a big part of his baseball career. I believe it’s just no public yet.
At this point, hearing Bregman’s name is almost as annoying as TSwizz’s. What’s next, he’s going to start showing up at football games? Please sign somewhere Breg.
I still believe the best use of Sox resources is to trade for a closer like Doran, Helsey, or Sanchez, another starting pitcher like Alcantara, Lopez, or Cease, and a catcher who could become better than Wong. The hitting prospects will take care of the rest of the lineup.
Bevan – Seriously? Hendrik is great and will prove it this season. The closer role is covered with multiple back-ups. Trading for the guys you suggested is a waste of resources. I would love to see Mayer go to SD for Cease but Breslow doesn’t understand his current talent. He’d probably give away Anthony or Campbell or both he’s such a moron.
I hope you are right about Hendricks. Old Hendricks would be great; an injured one not so much. Anthony and Campbell are the only untouchables in my book.
Bevan – The injury was TJ surgery which many, many pitchers have come back from. This guy fought cancer and won. He’s got the mental make-up to come back from TJ Surgery. You’ll see.
There should have been three with Teel and maybe even four with Montgomery. I really like Montgomery’s upside and when we got him in the draft thanks to an ankle injury, it was a huge break. Then we tossed him without truly realizing his upside. That’s a huge mark against Breslow.
It’s not always about the money and not wanting to pay a player. Sometimes it’s common sense saying we don’t want this player for x amount of years at his age and stats decreasing steadily for the past x seasons.
Bregman for 4/98 is ok for the Sox, and it’s where Breslow/Henry should draw the line.
No no-trade clause, no pages and pages of incentives.
Tell him to take it or leave it.
It seems like there are some players who actually want to play for the Red Sox. They have an impressive track of success over the past 25 years and right now have a plethora of young talent in the majors and on the way. I feel that the Red Sox are now trying to be diligent with contracts so that they can afford to keep the next group of high level players after losing out on Betts and others. If Bregman wants in on the next powerhouse team, he has to make a compromise in his demands. This team is poised for their next run at excellence. The days of losing the seventh game of the World Series are past, heck, the other team doesn’t even sniff a seventh game anymore. Go Red Sox!
Why: I really like your enthusiasm. This ownership is not keeping any talented guys for any length of time unless they take team friendly deals early on. Besides Devers who else can you remember? They were doing short term with Ortiz .
Whyhayzee – To be precise, Boston sucked for 86 years, then had 15 good years, then fired Dombrowski and have sucked since. Losing Mookie cost the team 5 to 10 years of being competitive. The 2021 aberration was pure luck and the last hurrah for the 2018 WS CHAMP’s roster. They had no chance vs Houston and were fortunate that both TB and NYY hiccuped that year.
Contracts are impacted most by bad managers. Cora ruined both Price and Sale and turned great contracts into ones that looked like crap. Normally, that gets the manager fired. Cora is made of Teflon. Nothing sticks to him – not the biggest cheating scandal in baseball history, not his reworking Sale’s mechanics mid-season and destroying his elbow and not even telling his pitchers to report two weeks late to Spring Training in 2019 because they need more rest since they played in November!!! (what an idiot!!) Nope this guy is like the DR mafia. Whoever is backing the guy has the clout to keep him in his job when he has no talent and no integrity. It’s sad for Boston fans and pathetic for the owners who have supported this travesty of a manager.
Saga, your first paragraph was on the money and then you went off the rails in the second. Stop when you are ahead.
Baseball – Were you not watching the post game interview with Cora that detailed how he was going to fix Sale’s mechanics mid season? I specifically remember that interview and the one after the 2018 first game after Sale’s all-star start. Sale’s face was worth a thousand words. I believe he thought he was off camera. Rolling your eyes when your manager outright lies to the public or says something so incredibly off as he did about his mechanics is laughable. He was right. The fake IL trip in 2018 and the mechanics fix in 2019 destroyed Sale’s time in Boston. The Spring Training situation is well documented and the results of his mistake are well documented too. 10 games back before we hit May.
OK the DR mafia comment may have been over the top but you have to ask yourself how and why this guy got his job, got fired for cheating and rehired and later renewed after several horrible years of managing. You don’t have to agree with me but you should at least ask the question as to how that happens. Someone very powerful is backing this guy. That to me is very scary for the Red Sox future.
Thanks for the feedback. I think the second paragraph was important to detail so folks are constantly reminded of what an unqualified manager we have. Complacency when dealing with Cora’s mistakes is like the complacency we see with Devers’ defense. It’s hurting the franchise every day that Cora manages and Devers plays 3B.
Hayzee – Until the player puts pen to paper by signing a non-overpay contract with the Sox, you should take back your unjustified statement :o)
So if Bregman and Boras stick to their plan that means it’s Detroit or Houston and Bostons out. My money’s on Stros.
There were 3 teams that had made offers of 5 years or more. Boston was not one of them, but are obviously interested in Bregman.
Pads – Just like they were obviously interested in Monty last year … Until they revealed they never were.
I mean, outside of the trashcan years, the dudes pretty mid
Bra – Clearly Arenado with his short-term and low cost contract is the 3B we need but it’s a moot point if Devers stays at 3B and continues to ruin the Red Sox shot at the post season. He’s a human sieve. The Butcher of Boston must go to DH or to another team (not that anyone would find his contract even close to being good) So throw in Mayer and dump two massive deterrents to winning and gain one star player in return who rolls off the books in 3 years.. It’s not Breslow’s style to actually win a trade but one can always hope.
Saga, Arenado is the perfect fit. Just 3 years commitment and still exceptional defense. Get the Cardinals to eat $21 million total and send them a couple of 45-50 FV prospects and that should be a done deal.
An alternative would be the Sox taking on all of Arenado’s contract and sending Yoshida to the Cardinals. Add a lower level prospects to the deal to square up the value, some from each team.
There is no way that we should trade Mayer for Arenado. Not unless Helsley or Fedde is coming with Arenado.
Baseball – Are you aware Arenado is owed $52 Million over the next 3 years? That’s $17.33 Million a year. That’s an incredibly low cost to adding him for 3 years. The AAV is much, much higher but the cash flow is VERY VERY LOW. The AAV won’t be an issue because they won’t spend to the CAP as they have proven the last several years since bonehead Bloom went over.
The Arenado deal should be a no brainer assuming you can push Devers to DH. Without that, nothing matters. No winning can happen with Devers as the 3B. It’s that simple. The cost to the pitching staff is too much of an obstacle to overcome.
Yoshida’s contract is bad enough that Boston will have to eat it so they should couple him with Mayer and try to get something they actually need like Tyler Stephenson from the Reds to catch because we gave away (like idiots) Teel. Kills two birds with one stone. Mayer won’t have to be DFA’d embarrassing all those folks that thought he was to be a great player and we lose Yoshida’s overblown contract.
So Bleis and Abreu for Arenado and then Mayer and Yoshida for Stephenson. HUGE difference in the line-up and specifically the defense:
C – Stephenson
1B – Casas
2B = Campbell
SS – Story
3B – Arenado
LF – Duran
CF = Rafaela
RF – Anthony
DH – Devers
Huge upgrade in hitting and defense!!.
4 WAR is All Star, not mid. He was better after the 2017 trashcan year so obviously that didn’t help him. I’m not sure if anyone has so succinctly proven their lack of knowledge of baseball as you have in those 11 words.
People need to remember that Bregman is a better player than Devers. Better WAR and higher peak. He is older and was still better in a down season than Devers was last season. Part of that is because Bregman can play good defense.
Devers playing 3B provided less value to the team than if he had played DH last season. Just the move to DH will increase his WAR and make the Red Sox a better team even if they only add a 3B with the same value as Yoshida has provided the last two seasons. Add someone like Bregman and the Red Sox are 2-3 wins better in 2025 from that one move.
Pads – Finally, someone who gets it. This is a no brainer that can’t happen. Go figure!!! No corruption in baseball!! hahaha Not even the dumbest owner, GM and Manager would keep playing a guy who legitimately misses over 50 balls a year and gets credit for over 20 errors per year until the corruption in baseball takes over and lowers his horse crap play to 14 errors. What a joke!!! Score keeping once had integrity but now with the onslaught of gambling in baseball, heck numbers have no sanctity. There just there to get the public to bet more. Sorry Kennisaw I heard you roll over in your grave!!
Offer him a 4-year deal, with a 5th tear team option and a 6th year player option. That way Red Sox get a max 4 year guaranteed, but if he is not slowing down that much, they can give him a boost to try to make up for not giving it guaranteed, whatever his salary was the previous year, add 3 or 5 million to his 4th salary, that way he feels valuable. If he slumps the fourth year, he can use his option to stay and try to stay to rebound, if he has a great fourth year, he can opt-out to try to get another contract with higher per year or whatever. I think this structure protects the Sox and the player both, as long as I explained it right. He gets 4 years, a good increase if he is still producing for the fifth year, and the 6th year is protection for him if he falls off in the 5th to be able to stay for a reduced salary or leave if he is still going strong and wants to test the market. Give him limited trade option, say protected from 8 teams or something.
I like the idea of a 4 year deal with options. 4/120 with two vesting/mutual options. Add in some bonuses for awards.
There are a few things to think about signing Bregman for potentially 4 or 5 years. What is the plan for this guy really? Are you really going to play him at second and leave the inferior defender at third? Kristian Campbell is coming fast do you really want block his potential best position with a guy he’s likely to better within a couple of years. The last three years Bregman has had pretty big reverse platoon splits.
If the plan is to bring in Bregman with the ultimate goal of stealthily moving Devers off of third at some point in the season I’m in. If they intend to really play him the full season at second base I don’t think they should spend the money it’s going to take when Boston has patiently waited for its young core to get close and they are close. There is the caveat that Campbell has a lot of versatility so if he hits they will find spots to play him but still second base looks like his long term home and the position that he says he’s most comfortable with and played in college.
I think the team has improved this offseason and we just don’t know what a lot of these pitchers will look after a full offseason in the Bailey/Willard pitching lab. There’s a really good interview on Sox Prospects with Justin Willard Bostons Director of Pitching. I’m not going to go into everything he talked about but suffice it to say there are a lot of good arms in the minors and they are coming. He had some particularly interesting things to say about Sandlin. He’s also said that a lot of the young arms in the minors are buying into what they need to do to get to the big leagues. It’s a great interview and something any Red Sox fan can get a lot of information about minor league pitching from.
Bruin, If Devers is still at 3B on opening day, Breslow should lose his job.
Willard is talking about guys that could potentially fill the back of the rotation or the bullpen and he makes that pretty clear. There are no frontline starters on the farm.
Baseball – I’m loving everything you are writing!! Also, Campbell is the best SS in the organization and can hitter better than the rest too. Normally, the Minor League Player of the Year commands more respect and would be a lock for SS now and in the future but not with the screwed up front office and manager in Boston these days.
What I like most about the update from Bruin1012 is the fact that the director of pitching spoke highly of his own efforts and sees a big future for the pitching staff. Hahahaha I’m sure he’s not biased about his own work!!! If the pitchers were good in the minors, they would be ranked according to those who believe in the rankings. I say, if the pitchers were good, there numbers would show it. Neither suggests the pitchers are good. Not one standout at this point but obviously the future is unknown so maybe there will be another Houck in the group. Lets just hope he is treated better by Cora and the front office and not bounced back and forth from starting and relieving like Houck has been.
Campbell is the best 2nd baseman in the organization. It’s pretty much a consensus that his arm is too fringy for the left side of the infield. He’s fast and athletic so he could play in the outfield as well. I know your going to argue with me about it but it comes up time and time again BA, Keith Law, MLB you name it and they think his arm to fringy for short or third. He can play there in a pinch but don’t expect him to land at short or third over the long haul. At this point Story is by far the best shortstop defender for Boston and one of the best defenders at short in baseball he’s the shortstop as long as he stays healthy. He’s a difference maker for Boston defensively when he’s on the field.
Bruin1012 – The BS keeps flowing. Campbell the consensus best SS in the organization. See anyone can write something that can’t be proven wrong. Making up crap is your forte and Keith Law is a know nothing twit but you wouldn’t recognize that because he’s just like you, not a clue about baseball.
Story is a bad retread that hasn’t worked in Boston. You are so off base on all your comments it’s laughable. Story will be lucky to play 100 games with his injury history. Difference maker!!!!! hahahaha where do you come up with this crap!!!
Well Saga it seems ignorance is your forte. You would be hard pressed to find any expert that thinks Campbell can stick on the left side of the infield despite being an excellent athlete. His footwork is choppy and he just doesn’t have the arm for short or third. This isn’t me making this stuff up it’s literally anyone who actually watches him. I’m not sure you can find one expert that says he can stick at short his arm just isn’t strong enough for short. It’s not a knock on him it’s just is what it is. He didn’t even play short in college he played second because his arm isn’t a shortstop arm they knew it even in college. Sox prospects who is probably the most glowing on him defensively but also says that his arm is “passable on the left side of the infield, but best suited for second base”. I’m not sure you can ever comment on a guys defense when you have never watched them play which clearly you haven’t.
You also seem to have trouble with reading comprehension I clearly stated the caveat that if healthy Story is a difference maker defensively. Any one with any baseball acumen that watches Story play defense at short know he’s a difference maker defensively I guess accept you. He’s a very good defensive shortstop easily better then Campbell defensively and if healthy, which I concede is a big if, goes a long way to shoring up the infield defense.
I know you don’t put much stock in advanced defensive metrics but you should because literally ever major league team and there brain trust looks at more then just errors they look at advanced statistics to determine defensive viability and Story has outstanding range. I’m really not even sure why we’re arguing about this Story is by far the best defensive shortstop on the Red Sox and most likely at any level including the minors. I’m just not aware of a shortstop in the system that is as good as Story defensively when healthy.
I know you’re going to get all worked up but you’re a classic case of a guy who can dish it but can’t take it. So you should probably ban me because I won’t stop pointing out your utter lack of understanding and ridiculously silly comments.
Baseball I’m wondering if you listened to that interview at all because Willard didn’t say anything about where he thought the pitchers would land. He certainly didn’t make it clear that the guys in the system are mostly back of the rotation or reliever types. That might be your opinion but you didn’t it get that from Willard.
Bruin1012 – This was a discussion driven by an article written by Mark Polishuk. Are you having a senior moment referencing Williard?
Bruin1012 – Now I see, you chose to pull stuff from Williard and embed it the comments of something not related so you can control the topics rather than commenting on the article. The art of fabricating BS. Not a senior moment after all just a misdirection to influence people on topics you know nothing about. Got it.
Why would I care about Willard’s opinion? He’s a mouthpiece for the organization not a valid source for unbiased information. In that way, you two have a lot in common.
You do realize he is paid to say the stuff he says? It’s not that you are gullible it’s simply your way of cherry-picking information to support your points.
Once again Saga reading comprehension not a strong suit I see. I commented that I don’t think signing to play second, which seems to be the idea, is a good idea. I don’t think blocking you likely future second baseman is a good idea. It’s not hard to see Campbell being the better and more valuable player very soon probably within a year or two. If the plan is to DH Devers and move Bregman to third then I’m in but doubtful that happens. I did comment on the article, once again reading comprehension KD.
Boras simply has too many clients . Bregman needs to fire him and get a contract done already.. spring training is in a few weeks
“The Athletic reported the six-year, $156 million offer the Astros made to Bregman earlier this offseason is still on the table,” Alexander wrote. “The Astros are one of at least three teams to have offered Bregman a deal of five years or longer this offseason, four league sources tell KPRC 2 Sports.”
You can tell no one reads the actual article because the words “at least three” and “or longer” are there. That means it could be 4 or 5 or 6 teams and it could be 6 or 7 or 8 years.
1999 = Creative thinking so I like it but there are a couple of issues.
1 – Casas creates a huge hole at 1B so he can’t be in the deal
2 – Lopez is the best player in the deal but Duran is the second best and Correa is the third best so this becomes a quantity for quality trade which normally doesn’t happen.
I like the idea of dealing the borderline guys like Bello, Crawford, Whitlock and Abreu but Casas needs to stay and we already have Devers albatross contract, adding Correa’s would be shooting ourselves in the foot a second time. Getting Pablo Lopez at $18.3Million through 2027 is thinking too long term for Breslow. He prefers to wing it each year with one and two year deals.
You could offer Minnesota Mayer and another mid prospect for Lopez. That saves them $18M and then they have a top rated 2B and SS in their system for the future to go with Royce Lewis at 3B and they could move Correa to 1B when Mayer is ready. Then Lopez would be the SP with the longest contract for a legitimate SP for Boston because he’d be signed through 2027. Yep, 3 years is more than Giolito, Buehler, Crochet, Sandoval and it would be the year Houck is in last arbitration year. That’s how short the pitching staff is from a planning perspective!!! Yipes!!!
When “and” begins the sentence, it shouldn’t have a comma after it.