Red Sox 2024 Spring Training

[mvp 78]

Also, the Eastern League only consists of 12 teams.

[mvp 78]

@tylermilliken_

Just updating Trevor Story’s offensive numbers this spring:

 

13 Games

39 PA

.324/.410/.618/1.028

2 HR, 4 2B

12/4 K/BB

171 wRC+

 

Expectations are low, but a nice bounceback season from the RHB would be great for the middle of the lineup.

[moonslav59]

If he was above average, why are they flirting with pushing him to LF?

 

Who knows?

 

Like we need 10 LF'ers on the 40.

[vegasbob]

Red Sox are 6 days away from breaking camp in Ft. Myers and beginning a 2 week trek through the Western U.S. with exhibitions versus the Rangers , then 10 league games vs mariners, A's and Angels before getting back to Boston to eventually open Fenway with the Orioles.

 

In an off season where the biggest need was starting pitching , virtually nothing was accomplished. The only notable pitching signing, Giolito, quickly eliminated himself via elbow injury. Jansen , as closer, is not ready to pitch . The rotation of Pivetta, Bello, Crawford, Houck, and Whitlock sounds very similar to 2023. So much for priority # 1. Almost no way that group can carry this team for 162 games .

 

Another acquisition , Vaughan Grissom, has not been able to get his sore legs under him at 2B , leaving a weak lineup of mediocre backups of Reyes and Valdez, Hamilton not really in the picture. Tyler O'Neill may be another chronic leg condition from being reliable. Refsnyder will miss several weeks with the toe injury .

 

To a large degree, the initial 26 man roster will be much the same as Chaim Bloom's efforts last year . 78 wins might be an elusive target for the 3rd year running. Good luck Craig Breslow, thinking you may need it to avoid stepping backwards. The initial West Coast tour to start the season could be revelatory and hopeful or show some really bad vibes before ever reaching Boston.

[mvp 78]

O'Neilll is more of an entire body condition than a chronic leg condition.

 

I was constantly disappointed with Bloom's offseasons, this one was even worse but the charge was led by the incompetent ownership group this time.

[mvp 78]

@alexspeier

Cora said Kenley Jansen has just enough time to be ready for the season but no margin for delay. “We’re running out of time.” He’s slated to pitch Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday, and one more in Texas.

 

File under: No s***, Sherlock

[vegasbob]

O'Neilll is more of an entire body condition than a chronic leg condition.

 

I was constantly disappointed with Bloom's offseasons, this one was even worse but the charge was led by the incompetent ownership group this time.

 

When you really look at it , there were effectively no upgrades to the roster at any position on the 26 man that will go on the first road trip. The ownership has spoken and told the FO and Cora to take it or leave it. I'm guessing Alex leaves it after 2024 for a big payday.

[moonslav59]

When you really look at it , there were effectively no upgrades to the roster at any position on the 26 man that will go on the first road trip. The ownership has spoken and told the FO and Cora to take it or leave it. I'm guessing Alex leaves it after 2024 for a big payday.

 

There is hardly any changes, at all.

 

With Grissom out, the only everyday change is O'Neill. ("Upgrade" is questionable)

 

The staff should have a few "new faces" opening day: Slaten, Campbell, Weissert, Criswell. (Doubtful upgrades, unless you comp them to Brasier, Bleier, llovera and Kluber.

 

[Bellhorn04]

Our big upgrade is Andrew Bailey.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Our big upgrade is Andrew Bailey.

 

It was just reported he felt tightness in his forearm from waving at so many guys warming up in the bullpen. MRI and consultation soon with renowned Dr. Pull Aparty.

[notin]

When you really look at it , there were effectively no upgrades to the roster at any position on the 26 man that will go on the first road trip. The ownership has spoken and told the FO and Cora to take it or leave it. I'm guessing Alex leaves it after 2024 for a big payday.

 

I’m going to call replacing Kike with Story an upgrade…

[moonslav59]

Our big upgrade is Andrew Bailey.

 

...or Breslow?

[moonslav59]

I’m going to call replacing Kike with Story an upgrade…

 

Story was on the roster, but it is an upgrade.

 

We can then count full seasons by Abreu, Rafaela & Reyes, but the "upgrade" part is questionable.

 

Reyes> Kike

Abreu + Rafaela > Verdugo & Tapia?

 

[vegasbob]

I’m going to call replacing Kike with Story an upgrade…

 

Much agreed. Trevor is showing some decent bat so far and is a plus factor in the field , possibly on the bases. Devers is hitting well, as is Wong. Casa is having a rough ST but Jarren Duran is carrying his weight so far. The trouble is all these guys were major parts of a 78-84 team a year ago. None of the "rookies" has had a breakthrough ST to show they truly belong at the MLB level yet It would be nice if a couple or three can make the next step over this season. Cedanne Rafaelaa is the closest based on Spring results.

And perennial suspect Bobby Dalbec has bashed some balls but has no real position skills.

[notin]

Much agreed. Trevor is showing some decent bat so far and is a plus factor in the field , possibly on the bases. Devers is hitting well, as is Wong. Casa is having a rough ST but Jarren Duran is carrying his weight so far. The trouble is all these guys were major parts of a 78-84 team a year ago. None of the "rookies" has had a breakthrough ST to show they truly belong at the MLB level yet It would be nice if a couple or three can make the next step over this season. Cedanne Rafaelaa is the closest based on Spring results.

And perennial suspect Bobby Dalbec has bashed some balls but has no real position skills.

 

This is Trevor’s first spring training with Boston. Maybe for once he can hit the ground running…

[moonslav59]

This is Trevor’s first spring training with Boston. Maybe for once he can hit the ground running…

 

Just don't HIT the ground too hard!

[moonslav59]

Wong's OPS is over 1.300, this spring, after today's 2 hit (w HR) day.

[notin]

Story was on the roster, but it is an upgrade.

 

We can then count full seasons by Abreu, Rafaela & Reyes, but the "upgrade" part is questionable.

 

Reyes> Kike

Abreu + Rafaela > Verdugo & Tapia?

 

 

On opening day, Story was not on the roster.

 

Gone from last year’s opening day roster:

 

Duvall, Verdugo, Turner, Arroyo, Hernandez, Chang, Tapia, Kluber, Sale, Schreiber, Bleier, Ort

 

Not sure who the newcomers are, but it looks like this off-season the Sox added to the opening day roster:

 

Campbell, Slaten, Weissert, Cron and Romy Gonzalez (Source: Roster Resource)

 

That’s it for the off-season. Although a lot of players have been added from the minors or are hopefully not on the IL. And Grissom will debut this season at some point in the near future…

[moonslav59]

On opening day, Story was not on the roster.

 

Gone from last year’s opening day roster:

 

Duvall, Verdugo, Turner, Arroyo, Hernandez, Chang, Tapia, Kluber, Sale, Schreiber, Bleier, Ort

 

Not sure who the newcomers are, but it looks like this off-season the Sox added to the opening day roster:

 

Campbell, Slaten, Weissert, Cron and Romy Gonzalez (Source: Roster Resource)

 

That’s it for the off-season. Although a lot of players have been added from the minors or are hopefully not on the IL. And Grissom will debut this season at some point in the near future…

 

If we are talking upgrades from opening day to opening day, then we might look better, now.

 

We had no Bello, Paxton, Sale, Whitlock, Story and some others, too, for 2023's opening day roster.

[vegasbob]

On opening day, Story was not on the roster.

 

Gone from last year’s opening day roster:

 

Duvall, Verdugo, Turner, Arroyo, Hernandez, Chang, Tapia, Kluber, Sale, Schreiber, Bleier, Ort

 

Not sure who the newcomers are, but it looks like this off-season the Sox added to the opening day roster:

 

Campbell, Slaten, Weissert, Cron and Romy Gonzalez (Source: Roster Resource)

 

That’s it for the off-season. Although a lot of players have been added from the minors or are hopefully not on the IL. And Grissom will debut this season at some point in the near future…

 

Although a team with Verdugo, Turner, Duvall and Sale among others may sound like a stronger bunch, that group and many others only got to 78 wins over the full season .

[notin]

If we are talking upgrades from opening day to opening day, then we might look better, now.

 

We had no Bello, Paxton, Sale, Whitlock, Story and some others, too, for 2023's opening day roster.

 

 

Now do we need to do a position by position comp?

[moonslav59]

Now do we need to do a position by position comp?

 

Well, I was not thinking of going opening day to opening day, until you brought up the Story example.

 

I was looking at the discussion in terms of who we have that is totally new, and if they project as upgrades or not.

 

In system players improving or playing more is certainly another major factor, but I viewed that as a separate issue. I see a lot of room for "upgrades" from 2023 to 2024 on returning and advancing players. I also think guys like Devers could very well have a career year that blows away his previous best.

 

Unlike others, I think our defense might very well go from 30th to 15th or 16th. I think our O will be top 10 with minimal injuries or top 12, otherwise. I think the same with our pen, but that will likely depend on how many pitchers are poached by rotation needs.

 

The rotation will make or break this team, and right now, I'm not high on this rotation. I wasn't all that high, even with Gio. It certainly has a lot of potential, and I think our 6th and 7th SP'ers are not all that bad.

 

I'm looking forward to watching this team. We have a lot of pre-prime and early prime players, in fact it is almost the whole 40 man roster, minus 3-4 guys with only Martin and Jansen holding key roles- post prime. I know it's not fun watching my team lose, but with expectations so low, maybe that will be an easier pill to swallow. Who knows? Maybe we can suprise, or at least stay in the race until mid August or September.

 

[mvp 78]

When you really look at it , there were effectively no upgrades to the roster at any position on the 26 man that will go on the first road trip. The ownership has spoken and told the FO and Cora to take it or leave it. I'm guessing Alex leaves it after 2024 for a big payday.

 

I agree about Alex. He deserves the payday. Henry will throw him under the bus in the paper.

[S5Dewey]

 

I'm looking forward to watching this team. We have a lot of pre-prime and early prime players, in fact it is almost the whole 40 man roster, minus 3-4 guys with only Martin and Jansen holding key roles- post prime. I know it's not fun watching my team lose, but with expectations so low, maybe that will be an easier pill to swallow. Who knows? Maybe we can suprise, or at least stay in the race until mid August or September.

 

 

As bitter as this pill is to swallow I'm now thinking that the FO is on the right track for a change. They realize that signing Montgomery and/or Snell wouldn't put them over the top so they're going to wait a year and build their offense and defense while seeing which of their pitchers are going to develop. In addition this may be the third successive season when the Sox will garner early draft picks (although I hope they're not as high as they've been in the past two years!). Once this season 'irons itself out" the FO will be able to make intelligent decisions as to which few positions they need to improve to be legitimate contenders and make those moves. I believe that having Craig Breslow on board means that for the first time since the pre-DD days they'll have a FO with a long term plan but Breslow can't do it all in a year.

 

Like Moon, I'm looking forward to this year. I like winning and WSC's as well as the next guy but two of my favorite seasons were watching The Three B's develop roaming the outfield qnd I see some of that same kind of talent out there in '24.

 

Call me an unbridled optimist if you like. I don't mind. I just know what I like and I see improvement albeit not as quickly as I hoped.

 

OTOH, I could be wrong!

[moonslav59]

As bitter as this pill is to swallow I'm now thinking that the FO is on the right track for a change. They realize that signing Montgomery and/or Snell wouldn't put them over the top so they're going to wait a year and build their offense and defense while seeing which of their pitchers are going to develop. In addition this may be the third successive season when the Sox will garner early draft picks (although I hope they're not as high as they've been in the past two years!). Once this season 'irons itself out" the FO will be able to make intelligent decisions as to which few positions they need to improve to be legitimate contenders and make those moves. I believe that having Craig Breslow on board means that for the first time since the pre-DD days they'll have a FO with a long term plan but Breslow can't do it all in a year.

 

Like Moon, I'm looking forward to this year. I like winning and WSC's as well as the next guy but two of my favorite seasons were watching The Three B's develop roaming the outfield qnd I see some of that same kind of talent out there in '24.

 

Call me an unbridled optimist if you like. I don't mind. I just know what I like and I see improvement albeit not as quickly as I hoped.

 

OTOH, I could be wrong!

 

It's easy for things to go wrong oir horribly wrong, this season, but we have a lot of players with some serious upside or the potential to have amazing career years. There are various ideas on what years prime is, but a wide range might be 26-31 (maybe 32.) Here is where our top players fit in that range. I'm putting our best players at the top of the list:

 

Pitchers:

24 Bello, 27 Crawford, 31 Pivetta

27 Houck, 27 Whitlock, 29 Giolito (IL), 36 Jansen, 37 Martin

25 Winckowski, 26 Campbell, 32 Bernardino, 35 Hendriks

26 Slaten, 25 Murphy, 27 Criswell

24 Mata, 29 Kelly, 29 Weissert

 

Everyday Players:

27 Devers, 24 Casas

31 Story, 30 Yoshida, 23 Grissom, 27 Duran, 28 O'Neill

27 Wong, 23 Rafaela, 24 Abreu

30 Reyes, 29 McGuire, 25 EValdez, 32 Refsnyder

 

Hendriks might be the only player over 32 on the 2025 roster.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

 

Hendriks might be the only player over 32 on the 2025 roster.

 

... a pitcher in his 30s, acquired to anchor the back end of the bullpen and keep the club competitive while it improves next year -- a key piece of the pitching staff the front office wouldn't add to the starting rotation (unless you want to count Giolito, whose contract basically guaranteed he was gone after this season, if he got good again).

 

The Hendricks signing may reveal they plan on dealing Jansen and Martin, but also that relief is still more of a priority than starting... especially if openers are a cheaper option, which correlates with stockpiling big arms with stuff.

[Hugh2]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39763512/sources-mlbpa-call-majority-players-ask-removal-bruce-meyer

 

Very interesting read.

[notin]

... a pitcher in his 30s, acquired to anchor the back end of the bullpen and keep the club competitive while it improves next year -- a key piece of the pitching staff the front office wouldn't add to the starting rotation (unless you want to count Giolito, whose contract basically guaranteed he was gone after this season, if he got good again).

 

The Hendricks signing may reveal they plan on dealing Jansen and Martin, but also that relief is still more of a priority than starting... especially if openers are a cheaper option, which correlates with stockpiling big arms with stuff.

 

Hendricks signing may have simply been a pre-emotive strike to replace Jansen and/or Martin. It’s possible Jansen (36) and Martin (37) might not be re-signed, especially if they want multiple years.

 

They should have made a similar move Woodruff…

[notin]

And so it goes…

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/03/red-sox-chris-murphy-ligament-damage-elbow-surgery.html

 

 

We knew this was possible. The SP depth was pretty thin even before Murphy…

[mvp 78]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39763512/sources-mlbpa-call-majority-players-ask-removal-bruce-meyer

 

Very interesting read.

 

Not sure it's Meyer's fault that Monty and Snell weren't signed by 3/18. The JD Davis situation is his fault for sure.