Red Sox sign Alex Bregman

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Hitch said:

My main worry is that Devers feels disconnected from the game, only getting at bats. I'd HATE to be a DH and not be involved in every play. I can only imagine how a professional of his age and talent feels at the idea of sitting on his ass for most of every game. I hope that doesn't affect his hitting. 

This is one reason I have suggested offering him a try at 1B, but at this point, I'm not sure if that only fans the flames or makes it better.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, jad said:

Yup.  You're making the best possible argument for my case.  Just keep bringing this up and be sure to tell the reporters to keep asking him this.  I'm SURE that will turn him into the team player of your dreams.

(My best colleagues, btw, were often the ones who make the most mistakes.  The worst ones made no waves.)

Agreed, but you do try to get that best employee to make less mistakes, right?

Nobody knows how long Devers will be upset, or to what extreme. I, for one, can't blame him, since the team made promises to him, just a couple years ago.

I will ask, what about the vet that has been around as long as Devers and is really great at one aspect of his job and pretty damn good at the others- Bregman? Just because he seems willing to do what the team asks, and knew going in he may play 2B, does not change the fact that he is may be asked/told to move from his sweet spot. Bregman is a real pro and a great teammate. He's willing to do what is asked, so his stake means nothing in this whole choice thing?

[FredLynn]

16 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I totally understand Raffy being upset, especially in light of hearing him say he had a "really good" defensive season, last year.

I have said the same thing: they should have spoken to him, as soon as they felt Bregman coming to Boston was a real possibility. (Maybe they always felt Bregman was a longshot, so they felt, why upset Raffy over nothing, but waiting a few days after signing him was not wise.

I hope Raffy decides to do what is best for the team. There is one aspect to this situation that is not really pertinent: Devers does not need to stay at 3B to build up value for a big FA payday, ahead. He has his big contract that will pay him the same, whether he's a DH, a 1Bman or a 3Bman.

I hope this does not turn into a long-standing cluster ____.

How do you know that management did NOT speak with Devers before signing Bregman? Regardless, Devers' job is to play baseball, not make management decisions. He gets paid a BUNDLE to do it and IMO needs to shut the hell up and play where the manager thinks is best for the team. If he can't handle that there's plenty of room on the pine for him.

[jad]

22 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

How do you know that management did NOT speak with Devers before signing Bregman? Regardless, Devers' job is to play baseball, not make management decisions. He gets paid a BUNDLE to do it and IMO needs to shut the hell up and play where the manager thinks is best for the team. If he can't handle that there's plenty of room on the pine for him.

Yeah, putting Devers on the bench is surely the way to go.  He won't make any errors or mistakes there, won't ever swing at bad pitches, and shouldn't have injury issues.  Problem solved.

[FredLynn]

Just now, jad said:

Yeah, putting Devers on the bench is surely the way to go.  He won't make any errors or mistakes there, won't ever swing at bad pitches, and shouldn't have injury issues.  Problem solved.

Yeah, putting him on the bench would certainly teach him a valuable lesson. His job is to play baseball wherever the manager tells him to play to the best of his ability. Pouting is not an option. He gets WAY too much money for that BS.

[Bellhorn04]

55 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I think it's a little bit of a stretch to compare it to the Nomar situation. I remember listening to the radio when Nomar's bizarre interview happened in Spring Training. He was really pissed off and showed that he really didn't want to be there at all. Raffy isn't at that spot yet. He came in early to camp and still believes in this team. 

Right, but this is about the team, and whether they did the right thing or the wrong thing waiting until Bregman or Arenado was officially acquired before addressing the 3B situation with Raffy.

[Bellhorn04]

8 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Yeah, putting him on the bench would certainly teach him a valuable lesson. His job is to play baseball wherever the manager tells him to play to the best of his ability. Pouting is not an option. He gets WAY too much money for that BS.

And benching Devers hurts the team, so that ain't a very smart solution IMHO.  The goal is to win as many games as possible, not to mete out discipline based on principle.

It's up to Cora to manage the situation.

 

[Hugh2]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

That's not what Raffy thinks.

Well if I had an employee that was very good at something, and awful at something else but thought they were good at that one thing I'm going to have a conversation with them.  A long, honest conversation highlighting their strengths and how much they mean to this company while simultaneously telling them that I need them to stop doing that one other thing. 

The way Devers acted in the press conference suggests he was very surprised, which suggests no such conversations have been had with Raffy.  

As I've said before, I'm going to wait until more about this situation is known.  But for the most part, while I agree Raffy should move for the good of the team, it appears he may have very good reason to be upset at the way the Sox have gone about it. 

[FredLynn]

3 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

And benching Devers hurts the team, so that ain't a very smart solution IMHO.  The goal is to win as many games as possible, not to mete out discipline based on principle.

It's up to Cora to manage the situation.

 

Benching him is a last resort, but it IS an option if he can't do what is best for the team. Its not his job to make management decisions. He needs to suck it up and try 1B. Where he plays in the field (or DH) is beyond his pay grade.

[moonslav59]

40 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

How do you know that management did NOT speak with Devers before signing Bregman? 

Didn't Devers say this was the first he heard of it?

[Hugh2]

44 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

How do you know that management did NOT speak with Devers before signing Bregman? Regardless, Devers' job is to play baseball, not make management decisions. He gets paid a BUNDLE to do it and IMO needs to shut the hell up and play where the manager thinks is best for the team. If he can't handle that there's plenty of room on the pine for him.

how do you know they DID? 

Devers acted like someone taken by surprise, so at this moment I believe they have not had a conversation with him.  

Cora did say that Bregman was going to play 2nd, and now they're saying 3rd.  It almost feels like someone was lied to to get everyone on board with Bregman and now they're changing their tunes.  Devers should move, but if he is blindsided by this he has EVERY right to be upset about it. 

 

And FTR, someone who speaks spanish and heard Raffy's tone will tell you it sounded like he was more upset with the media and their line of questioning than he is with the team.  So maybe people should chill with the Devers hate for at least a little while until we know more. 

 

[Hugh2]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Didn't Devers say this was the first he heard of it?

Isn't amazing how people can hate and distrust the front office for 1/2 a decade and then instantaneously take their side on this. 

None of us know anything for 100% certain right now, but it REALLY feels like Raffy has not been talked to about this and he was blindsided in that press conference.  This suggests the Sox have not, or not done a very good job to talking to him about this. 

 

[FredLynn]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Didn't Devers say this was the first he heard of it?

I didn’t hear that. If it’s true then management should have handled it differently. They didn’t have to ask Devers’ permission to sign Bregman nor did they have to mention he might be the 3B to start the season but communication is important. 
Regardless, Devers needs to suck it up, and I think he will.

[moonslav59]

6 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

I didn’t hear that. If it’s true then management should have handled it differently.

Sounds like they did not.

They talked to him on Friday. He said, “It was definitely a surprise,” 

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Regardless, Devers needs to suck it up, and I think he will.

I think he will, too.

Let the anger wear off. Give it time. 

He will hear what others are saying and maybe get more angry, but I think he comes around.

I hope he keeps enjoying the game he seems to really love playing.

[Tedballgame]

Devers is being selfish and is not thinking about the team. Bregman is a superior third baseman. It also holds back youth at second base. Devers should DH and Yoshida should be traded unless, somehow, he can be a 4th or 5th outfielder. 

[FredLynn]

35 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

how do you know they DID? 

Devers acted like someone taken by surprise, so at this moment I believe they have not had a conversation with him.  

Cora did say that Bregman was going to play 2nd, and now they're saying 3rd.  It almost feels like someone was lied to to get everyone on board with Bregman and now they're changing their tunes.  Devers should move, but if he is blindsided by this he has EVERY right to be upset about it. 

 

And FTR, someone who speaks spanish and heard Raffy's tone will tell you it sounded like he was more upset with the media and their line of questioning than he is with the team.  So maybe people should chill with the Devers hate for at least a little while until we know more. 

 

Nobody’s hating Devers. I think he’ll come around. I think he is upset that the team is considering moving him to a position that better suits the needs of the team. 
That said, he didn’t handle it well. Refusing to accept management decisions about where he will play and voicing that emphatically to the media was a mistake. A better way to handle it would have been a “no comment” while this gets worked out internally. From what I hear the team has a bright prospect who is a 2B and three years of Bregman could block him if he has to play 2B.

[mvp 78]

55 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Didn't Devers say this was the first he heard of it?

No, that's not what he said.

[mvp 78]

34 minutes ago, Tedballgame said:

Devers is being selfish and is not thinking about the team. Bregman is a superior third baseman. It also holds back youth at second base. Devers should DH and Yoshida should be traded unless, somehow, he can be a 4th or 5th outfielder. 

 

[mvp 78]

Just like the Nomar and Millar situation! Time is a flat circle! 

[Hugh2]

20 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Nobody’s hating Devers. I think he’ll come around. I think he is upset that the team is considering moving him to a position that better suits the needs of the team. 
That said, he didn’t handle it well. Refusing to accept management decisions about where he will play and voicing that emphatically to the media was a mistake. A better way to handle it would have been a “no comment” while this gets worked out internally. From what I hear the team has a bright prospect who is a 2B and three years of Bregman could block him if he has to play 2B.

Nah, it's not about his acceptance of it.  Everyone agrees he should be moved off of 3rd. 

It's the fact that he was blindsided by it.  Imagine being blindsided with important news with a camera right on you taking your reaction in real. time.  If Devers was being told he would stay at 3rd and then kept on getting told by reporters that's he not playing third when the team didn't tell him he has EVERY right to be upset.  That doesn't mean he shouldn't or wont' do his job and switch.  That interview by the way, as I said before was being misconstrued, you didn't hear Devers speak you heard an interpretation.  It's real time game of telephone and tone gets lost in translation as well.  Devers was more annoyed with the line of questioning, they effectively kept asking him the same questions over and over again and he was genuinely confused and got a little annoyed with them.  I think that's a very human response.  This whole thing is being blown WAY out of proportion. 

[Hugh2]

It just amazes me whole the front office and ownership is apparently absolved from any wrong doing in this when at the surface it looks like they may have misled Devers.  

 

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

It just amazes me whole the front office and ownership is apparently absolved from any wrong doing in this when at the surface it looks like they may have misled Devers.  

 

I agree. JH down to CORA.

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Nah, it's not about his acceptance of it.  Everyone agrees he should be moved off of 3rd. 

It's the fact that he was blindsided by it.  Imagine being blindsided with important news with a camera right on you taking your reaction in real. time.  If Devers was being told he would stay at 3rd and then kept on getting told by reporters that's he not playing third when the team didn't tell him he has EVERY right to be upset.  That doesn't mean he shouldn't or wont' do his job and switch.  That interview by the way, as I said before was being misconstrued, you didn't hear Devers speak you heard an interpretation.  It's real time game of telephone and tone gets lost in translation as well.  Devers was more annoyed with the line of questioning, they effectively kept asking him the same questions over and over again and he was genuinely confused and got a little annoyed with them.  I think that's a very human response.  This whole thing is being blown WAY out of proportion. 

And now reading through people's posts, we're continuing an annoying telephone game where some of us are even assuming future actions from Raffy that may never even happen. We just love to get worked up on here. 

[FredLynn]

13 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Nah, it's not about his acceptance of it.  Everyone agrees he should be moved off of 3rd. 

It's the fact that he was blindsided by it.  Imagine being blindsided with important news with a camera right on you taking your reaction in real. time.  If Devers was being told he would stay at 3rd and then kept on getting told by reporters that's he not playing third when the team didn't tell him he has EVERY right to be upset.  That doesn't mean he shouldn't or wont' do his job and switch.  That interview by the way, as I said before was being misconstrued, you didn't hear Devers speak you heard an interpretation.  It's real time game of telephone and tone gets lost in translation as well.  Devers was more annoyed with the line of questioning, they effectively kept asking him the same questions over and over again and he was genuinely confused and got a little annoyed with them.  I think that's a very human response.  This whole thing is being blown WAY out of proportion. 

I haven’t seen any quotes from him indicating that the news conference (or any discussion about it before the deal was done) was the first he heard about a potential move to 1B. Do you have that quote from him? The only quote I read from him is that “we talked about it”. Didn’t specify when. 
if there was no discussion held with Cora before the news conference that’s on management. 

[FredLynn]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

And now reading through people's posts, we're continuing an annoying telephone game where some of us are even assuming future actions from Raffy that may never even happen. We just love to get worked up on here. 

Hey-there are no games to get worked up about so this is all we have!

[Duran Is The Man]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I totally understand Raffy being upset, especially in light of hearing him say he had a "really good" defensive season, last year.

I have said the same thing: they should have spoken to him, as soon as they felt Bregman coming to Boston was a real possibility. (Maybe they always felt Bregman was a longshot, so they felt, why upset Raffy over nothing, but waiting a few days after signing him was not wise.

I hope Raffy decides to do what is best for the team. There is one aspect to this situation that is not really pertinent: Devers does not need to stay at 3B to build up value for a big FA payday, ahead. He has his big contract that will pay him the same, whether he's a DH, a 1Bman or a 3Bman.

I hope this does not turn into a long-standing cluster ____.

there may have been something lost in translation, but if Raffy really meant what was reported, i find this very disappointing. and i can't help but think of Mookie being all too happy to play 2nd or SS or wherever last year for the Dodgers -wanting to do whatever it took to help the team win.

[notin]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

Yeah, putting him on the bench would certainly teach him a valuable lesson. His job is to play baseball wherever the manager tells him to play to the best of his ability. Pouting is not an option. He gets WAY too much money for that BS.

Absolutely.  It would teach him how to expedite a trade demand.

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

Absolutely.  It would teach him how to expedite a trade demand.

Its a last resort, but one I would keep in my pocket. He can "demand" anything he wants, but he isn't going anywhere. He just signed a HUGE contract. If he refuses to play his assigned position then he can be suspended without pay for "conduct detrimental to the team". Lets see how long he lasts in that scenario.

Again, no one wants this to happen, but at the end of the day its a TEAM sport. Personnel decisions are not made by the players. They are made by management. I have confidence that Cora will work this out with him.

[notin]

5 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

there may have been something lost in translation, but if Raffy really meant what was reported, i find this very disappointing. and i can't help but think of Mookie being all too happy to play 2nd or SS or wherever last year for the Dodgers -wanting to do whatever it took to help the team win.

It goes beyond that.  When he first joined the Dodgers, he took infielder practice frequently.  When asked about, he replied “in case they need me there.”

Devers isn’t Mookie, and shouldn’t be held to that standard.  Because he’s not alone.  A few posters on this thread mentioned ARod moving to 3b to accommodate Jeter.  Did anyone mention this happening because Jeter refused to move off shortstop?

I do think Devers will eventually move and Bregman starts his career at 2b.  But at some point, Devers might see where his future is…