Red Sox sign Alex Bregman

[mvp 78]

23 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

That has been shortened, too.  Now, it's just "You can't have your cake."

I know, that's why I posted the seldom used version which was part of the reason the unabomber was even found.

[mvp 78]

Much ado about nothing, I guess! I'm shocked that Devers isn't absolutely stewing over 3B!!!! 😎

[Jasonbay44]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Much ado about nothing, I guess! I'm shocked that Devers isn't absolutely stewing over 3B!!!! 😎

I figured that would be the outcome. It was always a media thing more than an actual clubhouse issue.

[mvp 78]

When the media makes Raffy feel bad... 🔫

[Bellhorn04]

I don't think it was all a media creation.  There was some bad messaging all around, and Devers contributed to it.  

[mvp 78]

“Alex is going to play third,” said Cora. “Raffy’s going to DH. We all are in the winning business. He understands that.”

Pumped and jacked is back on the menu, boys.

[win red sox]

This could turn out to be a disaster if Devers starts out slow.

[moonslav59]

It was the obvious choice- Day one.

Nothing changed.

[win red sox]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It was the obvious choice- Day one.

Nothing changed.

Don't think it was obvious to Devers. The organization either lied to him or at the least mislead him. Hell of a way to treat your franchise player.

[moonslav59]

“Raffy’s going to DH. We all are in the winning business. He understands that.”

-Cora

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, win red sox said:

Don't think it was obvious to Devers. The organization either lied to him or at the least mislead him. Hell of a way to treat your franchise player.

It's not lying or misleading, if Bloom meant what he said to Devers about being the longtime 3Bman.

We switched GMs.

Did they handle it well, maybe not.

Bregman at 3B and devers at DH (maybe 1B, someday) is the best alignment. It was obvious to me- day one.

 

[win red sox]

Wasn't Cora the one saying that he saw Bregman as a Gold 2B,  and while Bloom is no longer with the org, Cora was involved with extension.  I'm pretty sure if they didn't sign Bregman then they would have traded for Arrenado, but the way they handled this was piss poor. I wouldn't be shocked if Devers is not on the team at this time next year.

[notin]

On 3/13/2025 at 3:04 PM, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't think it was all a media creation.  There was some bad messaging all around, and Devers contributed to it.  

It was overblown, as usual.  I’m surprised no one wrote that Devers and Yoshida will spend their time between innings with chicken and beer…

[notin]

10 minutes ago, win red sox said:

Wasn't Cora the one saying that he saw Bregman as a Gold 2B,  and while Bloom is no longer with the org, Cora was involved with extension.  I'm pretty sure if they didn't sign Bregman then they would have traded for Arrenado, but the way they handled this was piss poor. I wouldn't be shocked if Devers is not on the team at this time next year.

Devers will be back.  Big contract.  Small Glove.  Bad combo…

[Bellhorn04]

Do we think Devers will play any 3B at all this year?

[Maxbialystock]

On 3/13/2025 at 3:06 PM, Jasonbay44 said:

I figured that would be the outcome. It was always a media thing more than an actual clubhouse issue.

Early on Devers made it quite clear he wanted to play 3b.  He changed his tune when he realized his expectations were unrealistic.  I personally was OK with Devers at 3b, errors and all, but that makes no sense with Bregman on the team.   Devers gets the same salary at DH he was getting at 3b.  

[notin]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Do we think Devers will play any 3B at all this year?

Absolutely.

Cora will give Bregman days off.  Plus if Bregman gets hurt, I doubt we see Romy full time at 3b…

[moonslav59]

Yes, Devers will play 3B, when Bregman sits.

I might be the only one hoping Devers picks up a 1BMan's mitt, and give it a go. He could rotate with Casas at 1B and DH, and both could play 160 games.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Absolutely.

Cora will give Bregman days off.  Plus if Bregman gets hurt, I doubt we see Romy full time at 3b…

If Bregman gets hurt, it opens the door for Mayer.

It may already be the planned transition (especially if Bregman opts out), because Mayer won't be replacing Raffy, he'll be replacing AB. 

By the time Bregman gets back in the line-up, Story will probably be hurt. Either way, when Mayer comes up, he's here to stay... even if Campbell has to move to the outfield. Options are good.

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

If Bregman gets hurt, it opens the door for Mayer.

It may already be the planned transition (especially if Bregman opts out), because Mayer won't be replacing Raffy, he'll be replacing AB. 

By the time Bregman gets back in the line-up, Story will probably be hurt. Either way, when Mayer comes up, he's here to stay... even if Campbell has to move to the outfield. Options are good.

Cora did say, Mayer will be the first infielder called up. He won't be called up to ride the bench.

[vegasbob]

3 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Do we think Devers will play any 3B at all this year?

yes, because Bregman will get his "Cora" rest days,   Devers needs  to keep his glove and head still in the game, they will need to get Yoshida some AB's other than PH's .   I am sure an injury or two will come about to cause some shuffling. 

Unless it is a major injury , I do not think the Sox will be in a rush to bring Mayer up and bounce him back and forth to WooSox.

There is also the possibility that Dever's shoulders become chronic issues or that Bregman does not hit for OPS or with power.   

[moonslav59]

23 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

yes, because Bregman will get his "Cora" rest days,   Devers needs  to keep his glove and head still in the game, they will need to get Yoshida some AB's other than PH's .   I am sure an injury or two will come about to cause some shuffling. 

Unless it is a major injury , I do not think the Sox will be in a rush to bring Mayer up and bounce him back and forth to WooSox.

There is also the possibility that Dever's shoulders become chronic issues or that Bregman does not hit for OPS or with power.   

Yes, rest or short term: Devers at 3B

Longer term: Mayer.

[Hitch]

Lining up nicely for Mayer to take over at 3rd if need be later in the year. 

[mvp 78]

15 hours ago, notin said:

It was overblown, as usual.  I’m surprised no one wrote that Devers and Yoshida will spend their time between innings with chicken and beer…

I wouldn't be overly concerned with that since they are just DHs. 

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, Hitch said:

Lining up nicely for Mayer to take over at 3rd if need be later in the year. 

Where would Bregman be heading? With Bregman as the Opening Day starter, it seems like Mayer has a better opportunity at 2B/SS.

[Bellhorn04]

48 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Where would Bregman be heading? With Bregman as the Opening Day starter, it seems like Mayer has a better opportunity at 2B/SS.

I too was puzzled by this statement. 

Hitch?

[Bellhorn04]

16 hours ago, notin said:

It was overblown, as usual.  I’m surprised no one wrote that Devers and Yoshida will spend their time between innings with chicken and beer…

Since you're so determined to keep hauling that skeleton out of the closet...

I don't know exactly what happened at the end of 2011, but it was a horrific collapse and it was followed by the departures of possibly the best GM and best manager the team has ever had.  So I don't find it surprising that there were some ugly rumors.

(And yes, I know it's easy to just look at the numbers and say the pitching fell apart in September.)

[mvp 78]

23 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Since you're so determined to keep hauling that skeleton out of the closet...

I don't know exactly what happened at the end of 2011, but it was a horrific collapse and it was followed by the departures of possibly the best GM and best manager the team has ever had.  So I don't find it surprising that there were some ugly rumors.

(And yes, I know it's easy to just look at the numbers and say the pitching fell apart in September.)

It's not just that the pitching fell apart, the pitching was completely injured and there was no rotation to rely on in September. They needed to drag an ancient Wakefield out there (6.30 ERA last 4 starts of his career). Kyle Weiland had 3 horrible starts (9.26 ERA). They traded for Erik Bedard and it didn't work out (3 starts 5.25 ERA, didn't get out of the 4th inning the last two starts). They had Andrew Miller for two starts (15.63 ERA) before he was sent off to the pen.  Then the C&B crew (Lackey 5 starts/9.13 ERA/4.17 FIP, Beckett 4 starts/5.48 ERA/4.63 FIP, Lester 6 starts/5.40 ERA/3.75 FIP) all pitched poorly at times and got lit up in the last few weeks, but may have been a little bit of bad luck.  

In Septemeber, the Sox were 7th in offensive fWAR and 6th in wRC+. They were 28th in starting pitching fWAR (30th in ERA, 29th in xFIP, 29th in innings thrown) and 15th in reliever fWAR (lead MLB in innings thrown).

[mvp 78]

The Sox punted on the 4th and 5th starters that year once Buchholz went down. Bedard didn't work out. Wakefield should have retired prior to 2011. 

[Bellhorn04]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

It's not just that the pitching fell apart, the pitching was completely injured and there was no rotation to rely on in September. They needed to drag an ancient Wakefield out there (6.30 ERA last 4 starts of his career). Kyle Weiland had 3 horrible starts (9.26 ERA). They traded for Erik Bedard and it didn't work out (3 starts 5.25 ERA, didn't get out of the 4th inning the last two starts). They had Andrew Miller for two starts (15.63 ERA) before he was sent off to the pen.  Then the C&B crew (Lackey 5 starts/9.13 ERA/4.17 FIP, Beckett 4 starts/5.48 ERA/4.63 FIP, Lester 6 starts/5.40 ERA/3.75 FIP) all pitched poorly at times and got lit up in the last few weeks, but may have been a little bit of bad luck.  

In Septemeber, the Sox were 7th in offensive fWAR and 6th in wRC+. They were 28th in starting pitching fWAR (30th in ERA, 29th in xFIP, 29th in innings thrown) and 15th in reliever fWAR (lead MLB in innings thrown).

Sure.  But it was the departure of Epstein and Francona that lent some credence to the idea that there were internal issues beyond the stats.