A Realistic View of the 2025 Red Sox: Part I

[jad]

11 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Rafaela doesn’t have a bat. Unless he can stop chasing so many bad pitches he should be a defensive replacement like Bradley should have been.

And now it seems that Devers is indeed having a tantrum about moving off 3B for the good of the team. He claimed that “third base is where I play”. Nice attitude Raffy. It’s not all about HIM. It’s a team sport. He should be penciled in wherever Cora wants him to play and if he continues to pout I’d sit him on the pine. 

Yeah, that's the spirit; get TOUGH on these guys.  After all, we go to see the 'team,' not the players.  No one remembers Ted, Yaz, Boggs, or Ortiz.  Just bench them, or (as with that egomaniacal deadbeat Betts) trade them away. 

[notin]

7 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

There is room for Ref, Campbell and Anthony vs LHPs:

2B: Campbell

LF: Refsnyder

CF: Duran

RF: Anthony

(Abreu and Rafaela sit vs LHPs.)

Bregman at 3B and Devers/Casas share 1B/DH.

No squeeze needed.

If Devers insists and Cora caves in, just keep Bregman at 2b and DH Campbell.  
 

I have my doubts Campbell breaks camp in Boston if everyone is healthy.  But one of the infielders will probably go down at some point and clear a path for him..

[notin]

14 minutes ago, jad said:

Yeah, that's the spirit; get TOUGH on these guys.  After all, we go to see the 'team,' not the players.  No one remembers Ted, Yaz, Boggs, or Ortiz.  Just bench them, or (as with that egomaniacal deadbeat Betts) trade them away. 

Devers will be on bread and water until he concedes.

And we’re not talking about good bread and water either.  No fancy European breads with names that sound like expensive sports cars, like Focaccia or Ciabatta.  He gets Pepperidge Farm raisin bread and Aquafina until he comes around.

May at the latest…

[moonslav59]

Sox OPS vs LHPs

2024

1.179 O'Neall (156 PAs) GONE

.941 Refsnyder (145) Some think he should/might be bumped.

.897 Romy (130) Mayb not get a chance in '25

.877 Wong (152)  May not repeat this in '25

.772 Jansen (43) GONE

.758 Casas (61) Should see more time in '25

(Bregman .712 w HOU)

.686 Devers (230) Seems like an outlier

.665 Duran (230) Stilla FT'er

.603 Raafela (152) Reverse splits

.565 Yoshida (108) Was okay in '23

.532 Abreu (67) May not get a chance to play FT

.532 DHam (50) Should not start vs LHPs

 

2023-2024 Returning Players Only:

.886 Refsnyder

.879 Romy

.794 Casas

.749 Devers

.721 Wong

(Bregman .704)

.680 Duran

.669 Yoshida

.619 Grissom

.610 Rafaela

.573 Story

.539 DHam

.494 Abreu

 

2022-2024

.910 Ref

.879 Romy

.772 Casas

.746 Devers

.743 Story

(Bregman .704)

.694 Wong

.669 Yoshida

.650 Duran

.539 DHam

.514 Abreu

 

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, jad said:

Yeah, that's the spirit; get TOUGH on these guys.  After all, we go to see the 'team,' not the players.  No one remembers Ted, Yaz, Boggs, or Ortiz.  Just bench them, or (as with that egomaniacal deadbeat Betts) trade them away. 

It’s a TEAM sport. You don’t win putting one player on the field. Each player must do what’s best for the TEAM. If they can’t do that they shouldn’t play. They can sell used cars instead.

[moonslav59]

Maybe, after a few days, we'll hear a new position from Raffy.

[Larry Cook]

21 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

If he was hurt, back then, these types of things really irk me.

We knew we'd have some injuries, but for us, they seem to come before the players even take the field- like Giolito.

He says he hurt it in his 3rd start of 2024! 

[jdc69]

Devers said, "I'm someone that believes in people's word," concerning what he says the Red Sox said about him playing 3rd base. Does anyone know what he's talking about, or is he assuming that hes supposed to be 3rd base because he's the best hitter?

[mvp 78]

10 hours ago, jdc69 said:

Devers said, "I'm someone that believes in people's word," concerning what he says the Red Sox said about him playing 3rd base. Does anyone know what he's talking about, or is he assuming that hes supposed to be 3rd base because he's the best hitter?

When they were negotiating the extension, Bloom told him that signing the extension would ensure that Devers would be their 3b for a long time going forward. It hasn't been reported what the specific wording was, but Devers referenced that conversation and Cora's stance was "well that was under the old management." 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

10 hours ago, jdc69 said:

Devers said, "I'm someone that believes in people's word," concerning what he says the Red Sox said about him playing 3rd base. Does anyone know what he's talking about, or is he assuming that hes supposed to be 3rd base because he's the best hitter?

The word he was referring to maybe was "altruista" which means "thinking of others rather than yourself."

It's so close to altruistic in English that Raffy doesn't even need a translator to lose his inflection when he's just giving a simple answer to a simple question that everyone wants to make more complicated than it can possibly be in a team sport where players get paid to follow directives of their manager.

[moonslav59]

11 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

He says he hurt it in his 3rd start of 2024! 

If the medical staff knew about this, checked it out, and determined he did not need surgery, I have no issues.

If not, there's sum 'splainin' to do.

[Hitch]

44 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

When they were negotiating the extension, Bloom told him that signing the extension would ensure that Devers would be their 3b for a long time going forward. It hasn't been reported what the specific wording was, but Devers referenced that conversation and Cora's stance was "well that was under the old management." 

That does feel very much like Cora trying to distance himself/washing his hands/throwing Bloom under the bus somewhat. He would have been involved in those discussions. I get that he needs distance from it now to sell it, but it's a proper eyeroll moment. 

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Hitch said:

That does feel very much like Cora trying to distance himself/washing his hands/throwing Bloom under the bus somewhat. He would have been involved in those discussions. I get that he needs distance from it now to sell it, but it's a proper eyeroll moment. 

Yeah, Cora was certainly part of "the previous management" too. He should have spoken with Devers about the expectations going forward at some point. Maybe he did and Raffy is just frustrated. Who knows...

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

If the medical staff knew about this, checked it out, and determined he did not need surgery, I have no issues.

If not, there's sum 'splainin' to do.

He pitched basically a whole year with it.  It's one of them tricky ones.  

[Bellhorn04]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Yeah, Cora was certainly part of "the previous management" too. He should have spoken with Devers about the expectations going forward at some point. Maybe he did and Raffy is just frustrated. Who knows...

Yeah, who knows is the correct answer.

How Bloom could promise Raffy he'd be third baseman until the contract expires at the end of 2033 is another 'who knows'.

I'm not really blaming anyone here.  I expect the last 2 seasons of horrible defensive numbers for the team as a whole played a huge part in this process, and I think that makes sense.

 

[mvp 78]

16 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

He pitched basically a whole year with it.  It's one of them tricky ones.  

I appreciate having to go back 50 posts to figure out who y'all were talking about (Kutter for anyone else that doesn't want to have to go back to Sunday's posts). 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

21 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Yeah, who knows is the correct answer.

How Bloom could promise Raffy he'd be third baseman until the contract expires at the end of 2033 is another 'who knows'.

Then again, imagine the potential negatives when they were negotiating Devers' contract terms if they told him in a few years he could move to DH or try playing a little 1B. Does anyone think that would help, even if they predicted to Raffy it might mean another World Series title?

It would be like saying, "Hey, Mookie, sign here -- and in a few years when we move you back to 2B or even SS, you'll win another ring."

[moonslav59]

To fire back, "We have new leadership, now" is kinda in your face.

They should have spoken to Raffy while in talks with  Bregman, but I guess if the idea was they were going to move him, no matter what he wants, maybe it's not such a big deal.

I don't see Devers pouting or demanding a trade over this, but stranger things have happened.

[harmony]

24 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

To fire back, "We have new leadership, now" is kinda in your face.

They should have spoken to Raffy while in talks with  Bregman, but I guess if the idea was they were going to move him, no matter what he wants, maybe it's not such a big deal.

I don't see Devers pouting or demanding a trade over this, but stranger things have happened.

The 10-year, $313.5 million contract is long not only in duration but in number of pages or words.

If Rafael Devers wanted a guarantee of playing third base, his agent could have insisted that detail be in the contract. Of course, the Red Sox front office would be unlikely to make that concession.

If it's not in writing ...

[mvp 78]

Getting ready for LF:

 

[Bellhorn04]

28 minutes ago, harmony said:

The 10-year, $313.5 million contract is long not only in duration but in number of pages or words.

If Rafael Devers wanted a guarantee of playing third base, his agent could have insisted that detail be in the contract. Of course, the Red Sox front office would be unlikely to make that concession.

If it's not in writing ...

I'm going to speculate that no player in MLB has a contract that guarantees in writing which position he will play, whenever he plays, for the length of the contract.

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm going to speculate that no player in MLB has a contract that guarantees in writing which position he will play, whenever he plays, for the length of the contract.

Kinda the point, eh?

[mvp 78]

😎

 

[notin]

21 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

😎

 

I’m predicting a Gold Glove.

He will field that position as if his glove was made out of solid gold…

[moonslav59]

25 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

😎

 

It's the only way he plays, if Devers is at DH.

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's the only way he plays, if Devers is at DH.

Rafael Dhevers

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, notin said:

I’m predicting a Gold Glove.

He will field that position as if his glove was made out of solid gold…

He's going to be the first LFer in Fenway history to spidey climb the scoreboard, run up the ladder and steal a HR. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

He's going to be the first LFer in Fenway history to spidey climb the scoreboard, run up the ladder and steal a HR. 

That would be a sight to see!

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

That would be a sight to see!

He'd still have a negative OAA and DRS after that game because of how defensive metrics treat LF at Fenway. 

[moonslav59]

9 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He'd still have a negative OAA and DRS after that game because of how defensive metrics treat LF at Fenway. 

It would be seen as a routine fly out.