Rafael Devers

[Nick]

Devers with opposite field homer.

 

Sure glad he's not wasting hitting home runs in the minors.

[Nick]

Victorino too

 

yep, $39M over 3 years for one year of production.

[moonslav59]

yep, $39M over 3 years for one year of production.

 

True, but no Vic- No ring.

[Larry Cook]

Devers with opposite field homer.

 

Sure glad he's not wasting hitting home runs in the minors.

 

Wow! Is he a breath of fresh air.

 

He provides energy and power. Fun to see the zombies on the bench jump up like that.

[Nick]

3-5, two outs, bottom of ninth with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Devers draws a walk.

 

Yeah, he's cool.

 

Betts pops up to end the game.

 

Got a news for you. 3B is not the problem.

Edited July 30, 2017 by Nick

[Hugh2]

20 years old and they're already pitching around him lol. This kid can play. His power to all fields is very impressive, and with a good plate approach at such a young age.

[notin]

yep, $39M over 3 years for one year of production.

 

 

One amazing year of production that included an extremely impressive post-season.

[a700hitter]

yep, $39M over 3 years for one year of production.

And that might have been his best acquisition. That tells you why he is gone.

[bowman]

Devers seems like more of a cool cat that Moncada. We'll see down the road. Will be interesting to see how there careers compare...

[Hugh2]

Devers seems like more of a cool cat that Moncada. We'll see down the road. Will be interesting to see how there careers compare...

 

I think Moncada has the higher ceiling, but I think Devers has the higher floor, and his ceiling is still really high. From a purely offensive perspective, I don't think Moncada is any better than Devers, it's his athleticism and speed that makes him a true 5 tool player potentially. But I think Devers might actually end up being the better hitter. He has a shot at being a perrenial 30 HR hitter with a high AVG/OBP/SLG line.

[cp176]

I think Moncada has the higher ceiling, but I think Devers has the higher floor, and his ceiling is still really high. From a purely offensive perspective, I don't think Moncada is any better than Devers, it's his athleticism and speed that makes him a true 5 tool player potentially. But I think Devers might actually end up being the better hitter. He has a shot at being a perrenial 30 HR hitter with a high AVG/OBP/SLG line.

 

i love Moncada still because of his incredible athleticism primarily but I'll take Sale over him anyday obviously. i really like Devers and hope he is the hard worker that people have said he is. I also like Benintendi but if anyone thinks that he is 5'!0 and weighing in at 175+ they are still nuts. We aren't talking Yaz. here!

[Larry Cook]

I think Moncada has the higher ceiling, but I think Devers has the higher floor, and his ceiling is still really high. From a purely offensive perspective, I don't think Moncada is any better than Devers, it's his athleticism and speed that makes him a true 5 tool player potentially. But I think Devers might actually end up being the better hitter. He has a shot at being a perrenial 30 HR hitter with a high AVG/OBP/SLG line.

 

Moncada is a tremendous powerful athlete. Like pro football athlete. But he pulls his head off the ball when hitting and will always have big strike out numbers.

 

Devers is not nearly the athlete, but has much better mechanics at the plate.

[moonslav59]

And that might have been his best acquisition. That tells you why he is gone.

 

I still think the Dodger dump trade was one of the best deals any Sox GM ever made. He helped purge Theo's mistakes and make the team able to compete for many years afterwards.

 

Uehara was maybe Ben's best get and re-sign.

 

Also, I'd say the one year deal with bonuses attached for Napoli in 2013 was better than the Vic deal.

 

He also trade Lowrie and Weiland for Mark Melancon.

 

The Cody Ross signing was very good.

 

Other good deals:

 

Lars Anderson for Steven Wright

Signed Rich Hill for dirt- twice.

Acquired Mike Carp for cash.

Signed Int'l FAs: Moncada (C Sale), Manuel Margot & J Guerra (Kimbrel), both Basabes, T-W Lin, and others- many used in trades by DD.

Drafted & signed: Benintendi (7), Marrero (24), M Chavis (26), B Johnson (31), M Kopech (33), S Travis (67) and several others- many used in trades by DD.

[a700hitter]

I still think the Dodger dump trade was one of the best deals any Sox GM ever made. He helped purge Theo's mistakes and make the team able to compete for many years afterwards.

 

Uehara was maybe Ben's best get and re-sign.

 

Also, I'd say the one year deal with bonuses attached for Napoli in 2013 was better than the Vic deal.

 

He also trade Lowrie and Weiland for Mark Melancon.

 

The Cody Ross signing was very good.

 

Other good deals:

 

Lars Anderson for Steven Wright

Signed Rich Hill for dirt- twice.

Acquired Mike Carp for cash.

Signed Int'l FAs: Moncada (C Sale), Manuel Margot & J Guerra (Kimbrel), both Basabes, T-W Lin, and others- many used in trades by DD.

Drafted & signed: Benintendi (7), Marrero (24), M Chavis (26), B Johnson (31), M Kopech (33), S Travis (67) and several others- many used in trades by DD.

All in all a terrible record when you add in Pablo, Hanley, Rusney, and Craig. And re-signing Napoli for 2 years negated the value of the good 1 year deal.

[moonslav59]

All in all a terrible record when you add in Pablo, Hanley, Rusney, and Craig. And re-signing Napoli for 2 years negated the value of the good 1 year deal.

 

Those 4 players really hurt us badly.

 

I just pointed out that there was a lot of good Ben did, and he set DD up very well.

 

Let's see how DD ranks after 4 years.

[Kimmi]

That might be a bit far. I think he just figured he had more time to see his plan through.

 

And really, he did. Despite what his critics say, he wasn't fired. Dombrowski wanted him on board, presumably to draft and build the farm, which is something Dombrowski has only had limited success at throughout his career...

 

^^This.

 

Henry should have kept him at the helm for 2016 to see his plan through.

 

I'm willing to bet we would have still made the postseason with Ben as GM, and I think we'd currently have a better equipped farm system.

[Kimmi]

Had HRam and Porcello had their 2016 seasons in 2015, Ben would still be here.

 

^^This too.

[Kimmi]

I can't speak 2012, but in 2014 Ben tried to recreate the magic of 2013, but injuries caught up with the team.

 

In 2015, he then went to with youngsters and a few veterans. Unfortunately he never go a chance to finish.

 

2012 does not count.

 

Bobby V negates everything.

[Kimmi]

The 2013 team was definitely a fluke. A magical fluke , but it still was a fluke. Nothing wrong with that though, it still counts.

 

So many guys had career years out of nowhere. Mike Carp had the only good season of his career in 2013. Daniel Nava broke out, Koji was our what? 3rd? 4th? option as closer and one of most dominant season I've seen from a closer. Shane Victorino who was injury prone and appeared to be declining had the highest WAR season of his career (it was only good season during his Red Sox contract). Jonny Gomes - another mediocre player, was solid for us. So many random guys broke out, and it was a lot of luck and flukiness. Ill happily take the championship but lets be real.

 

Personally, I think 2014 was more of a fluke than 2013.

[a700hitter]

Those 4 players really hurt us badly.

 

I just pointed out that there was a lot of good Ben did, and he set DD up very well.

 

Let's see how DD ranks after 4 years.

I think that Ben was a terrible GM overall. It will not be hard for DD to top him imo.

[a700hitter]

Personally, I think 2014 was more of a fluke than 2013.

He wasn't responsible for 2012 and neither was Theo. 2014 was a fluke and 2015 was ....an enigma? After a while the excuses ring hollow.

[moonslav59]

I think that Ben was a terrible GM overall. It will not be hard for DD to top him imo.

 

The fact that DD has used many of Ben's acquisitions to get us to where we have been since the start of 2016 has to count for something.

 

If Price continues to imitate Buccholz, and we keep seeing injuries like Thornburg and Smith and struggles by Porcello and our whole line-up, DD may end up with no rings and no farm.

[a700hitter]

The fact that DD has used many of Ben's acquisitions to get us to where we have been since the start of 2016 has to count for something.

 

If Price continues to imitate Buccholz, and we keep seeing injuries like Thornburg and Smith and struggles by Porcello and our whole line-up, DD may end up with no rings and no farm.

We will see. The bar has been set very low by Ben.

[moonslav59]

We will see. The bar has been set very low by Ben.

 

Ben inherited a mess. He made some big mistakes. The 4 you mentioned and several more.

 

DD inherited a better overall situation, because he had many top assets to trade- thanks to Ben and to a lesser extent, Theo.

 

When DD's era is over and a comparison is made, these aspects need to be taken into consideration.

[a700hitter]

Ben inherited a mess. He made some big mistakes. The 4 you mentioned and several more.

 

DD inherited a better overall situation, because he had many top assets to trade- thanks to Ben and to a lesser extent, Theo.

 

When DD's era is over and a comparison is made, these aspects need to be taken into consideration.

You can post a book every day extolling the virtues of Ben. It will not put a dent in my opinion that his tenure and team building was horrible.

[notin]

He wasn't responsible for 2012 and neither was Theo. 2014 was a fluke and 2015 was ....an enigma? After a while the excuses ring hollow.

 

The 2015 team did win 78 games, which is a lot for last place team. In any other division in nesrly any other ywar , that record would not finish last

[harmony]

The 2015 team did win 78 games, which is a lot for last place team. In any other division in nesrly any other ywar , that record would not finish last

That's true.

 

The last team to win 78 games and finish last was the 2006 Seattle Mariners.

[iortiz]

Not sure how this thread turned to talk about Ben, but the whole blame and glory goes to Larry Luchino. As I said, Ben was just a puppet. Regarding Theo, he had great years in Boston --but still LL was the boss-- but his final years he left a mess reason why he is not longer here --neither his boss. Now we have a great GM and Theo is applying the good and the bad lessons learned from LL in Chicago.

 

Back to Devers, I love the kid. We have an encouraging bat for the future at 3B.

Edited July 31, 2017 by iortiz

[a700hitter]

The 2015 team did win 78 games, which is a lot for last place team. In any other division in nesrly any other ywar , that record would not finish last

That team was on pace to lose 91 games before Farrell's cancer diagnosis and Lovullo taking over the squad. They really responded to Lovullo, but don't let that record fool you. The 2015 Red Sox were celler dwellers. After bouncing back and forth between 4th place and last place, they hit last place on June 9th and stayed there for good except for 7 days under Lovullo. The season was dead before the All Star break.

.

[Spudboy]

No Sox team under the current ownership should ever win just 78 games.