A Realistic View of the 2025 Red Sox: Part II

[mvp 78]

24 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Anthony is not a IF let alone a 1B

Much easier to convert Raffy to 1B than Roman since Raffy has played on the dirt more recently than Little League. Either of those options aren't going to happen though. 

Roman LF

Raffy DH

[dgalehouse]

People forget that baseball is a competition between two teams of major league ballplayers.  They put everything on the Sox' player as if the opponent was irrelevant.  Examples:  Christian Yelich hits a walk off homer off of Hendriks. All you hear is " Hendriks is a bum. What a waste ".  No mention that Yelich, when right, is a very good ballplayer.. Or, Jhoan Duran strikes out Devers to close out the game for the Twins. You hear, " Devers cannot hit in the clutch". No mention that Duran is throwing 102 with movement.  There are many more examples like this.  

[Maxbialystock]

18 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

That I would agree with.

Unless they move ceddanne to the infield to open up an outfield spot for him.

Given that Story's hitting stinks and his range has lessened at SS, that's where Rafaela could go.  Story to 2b, where he was pretty good in 2022 (WAR 1.0).  Christian to 1b.  With Anthony basically replacing Toro in the lineup, the Sox should get a nice uptick in offense/hitting.   Plus Christian just might be better at 1b than at 2b, where his DWAR is -0.7.  

[Old Red]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Much easier to convert Raffy to 1B than Roman since Raffy has played on the dirt more recently than Little League. Either of those options aren't going to happen though. 

Roman LF

Raffy DH

I agree. I’m sure Brez is working on making this happen right now.

[notin]

2 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

People forget that baseball is a competition between two teams of major league ballplayers.  They put everything on the Sox' player as if the opponent was irrelevant.  Examples:  Christian Yelich hits a walk off homer off of Hendriks. All you hear is " Hendriks is a bum. What a waste ".  No mention that Yelich, when right, is a very good ballplayer.. Or, Jhoan Duran strikes out Devers to close out the game for the Twins. You hear, " Devers cannot hit in the clutch". No mention that Duran is throwing 102 with movement.  There are many more examples like this.  

Truth.

Even lesser players are extremely good.  The worst MLB ball player is still better at baseball than any of us are at anything 

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Given that Story's hitting stinks and his range has lessened at SS, that's where Rafaela could go.  Story to 2b, where he was pretty good in 2022 (WAR 1.0).  Christian to 1b.  With Anthony basically replacing Toro in the lineup, the Sox should get a nice uptick in offense/hitting.   Plus Christian just might be better at 1b than at 2b, where his DWAR is -0.7.  

We at least need to see what Kristian looks like at 1B before we can say he's better at 2B or OF. Maybe he really is a good fit for 1B? 

[Maxbialystock]

19 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

It is far too early to give up on this team. I think Breslow is a pretty good judge of baseball talent, and this team does have talent. They do need a nice little winning streak to generate some confidence in themselves and confidence in the disgruntled fan base. And with three wild cards, it doesn't take all that much to get back in the race. Then the mood will swing back again. The gloom and doom will become seashells and balloons. 

Emphatically agree with both of you about not giving up.  While I love Breslow's acquisitions this year, I can't forget that he dumped Sale for Giolito last year.  I also didn't like his bypassing Cora to tell Devers to play 1b and that's mostly because I think DH is the right slot for Devers this season.  

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

9 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Given that Story's hitting stinks and his range has lessened at SS, that's where Rafaela could go.  Story to 2b, where he was pretty good in 2022 (WAR 1.0).  Christian to 1b.  With Anthony basically replacing Toro in the lineup, the Sox should get a nice uptick in offense/hitting.   Plus Christian just might be better at 1b than at 2b, where his DWAR is -0.7.  

I just don't think that campbell has enough bat to be a 1B

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

38 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Anthony is not a IF let alone a 1B, and the Red Sox have already shot that idea down. Anthony is an OF, and should stay an OF, and when he comes up he should have a FT position. Campbell doesn’t really have a position, and now he’s going to try another position. He’s not a ML 2B even though he’s played there, and it showed yesterday, so what the heck if he’s not a ML 1B either. Someone has to do it. Mayer is a SS, and is playing out of position too, because the Red Sox need someone there. Spring training and Instructional League baseball , and it shows.🤭

campbell doesn't have enough of a stick to be a 1B IMO

[Old Red]

8 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Emphatically agree with both of you about not giving up.  While I love Breslow's acquisitions this year, I can't forget that he dumped Sale for Giolito last year.  I also didn't like his bypassing Cora to tell Devers to play 1b and that's mostly because I think DH is the right slot for Devers this season.  

If Brez bypassed Cora on Raffy it was after Cora disagreed with him, and said he wasn’t even going to talk with Raffy about playing 1B and thus JH made an unscheduled appearance to sooth things over.

[notin]

5 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Emphatically agree with both of you about not giving up.  While I love Breslow's acquisitions this year, I can't forget that he dumped Sale for Giolito last year.  I also didn't like his bypassing Cora to tell Devers to play 1b and that's mostly because I think DH is the right slot for Devers this season.  

Get over Sale.  From 2019 thru 2023 (ages 30-34), Sale was worth a total of 4.6 bWAR.  Are you really upset at Breslow for not for seeing that comeback at age 35?  No one did.  I know at this point, there’s always some smart ass saying “Atlanta did!” No, they didn’t.  They knew they got lucky.  If they thought Sale was due for that level of comeback, they wouldn’t have risked losing him by asking for money, too.

And we really don’t know what Breslow ran by Cora.  Since Cora wasn’t so keen on moving Devers off third to begin with, it’s not hard to believe he backed away from a second attempt to move Devers.  And I get why; unlike Breslow, Cora has to work with Devers every day…

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

I just don't think that campbell has enough bat to be a 1B

Average 1B has a 760 OPS. That was his OPS two weeks ago. He can get back there. 

[Old Red]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Get over Sale.  From 2019 thru 2023 (ages 30-34), Sale was worth a total of 4.6 bWAR.  Are you really upset at Breslow for not for seeing that comeback at age 35?  No one did.  I know at this point, there’s always some smart ass saying “Atlanta did!” No, they didn’t.  They knew they got lucky.  If they thought Sale was due for that level of comeback, they wouldn’t have risked losing him by asking for money, too.

And we really don’t know what Breslow ran by Cora.  Since Cora wasn’t so keen on moving Devers off third to begin with, it’s not hard to believe he backed away from a second attempt to move Devers.  And I get why; unlike Breslow, Cora has to work with Devers every day…

We all agree on Sale. Brez paid Atlanta $17M to win a CY Young for them. You could see that coming from a country mile. As I remember someone on here predicted Sale would stay healthy, and have a good year for Atlanta when the trade was made. That’s an Undisputed fact.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Average 1B has a 760 OPS. That was his OPS two weeks ago. He can get back there. 

His OPS over the last 15 games is .353, over his last 30 it's .549

[Larry Cook]

2 hours ago, Nick said:

Say what you will, winning the season starts with starting pitching and we're lacking.

 

Think of what has happened to Tanner. He was possibly be starter 1A.  He is now not pitching. God only knows what he will be like when he comes back.

 

What happened to Kutter? When did he exactly get hurt?

Both Buehler and Giolito have been hurt.

 

Its a mess.

If I own a major league team, the success. starts with having bona fide starting pitching staff.

We need more Crochet.

I think this is 100 percent correct!!  It all starts with starting pitching. 
crochet is a stud and a legitimate number 1. 
after that, we got a bunch of maybe. Maybe bello learns how to pitch 5 innings!!! Or maybe bello should be a closer!!!   Maybe the two rookies continue to pitch like veterans until they hit the innings wall!!!!   Maybe beaulher and/or kutter get fully healthy???  Maybe giolita and houck are not a dumpster fires!!!!! 
 

it is time to call Pittsburgh and let’s see if we can play let’s make a deal!!!  Offense for pitching !!!!!  

[Bellhorn04]

26 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

People forget that baseball is a competition between two teams of major league ballplayers.  They put everything on the Sox' player as if the opponent was irrelevant.  Examples:  Christian Yelich hits a walk off homer off of Hendriks. All you hear is " Hendriks is a bum. What a waste ".  No mention that Yelich, when right, is a very good ballplayer.. Or, Jhoan Duran strikes out Devers to close out the game for the Twins. You hear, " Devers cannot hit in the clutch". No mention that Duran is throwing 102 with movement.  There are many more examples like this.  

I certainly agree with you there.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

23 minutes ago, notin said:

Get over Sale.  From 2019 thru 2023 (ages 30-34), Sale was worth a total of 4.6 bWAR.  Are you really upset at Breslow for not for seeing that comeback at age 35?  No one did.  I know at this point, there’s always some smart ass saying “Atlanta did!” No, they didn’t.  They knew they got lucky.  If they thought Sale was due for that level of comeback, they wouldn’t have risked losing him by asking for money, too.

And we really don’t know what Breslow ran by Cora.  Since Cora wasn’t so keen on moving Devers off third to begin with, it’s not hard to believe he backed away from a second attempt to move Devers.  And I get why; unlike Breslow, Cora has to work with Devers every day…

I agree with your first paragraph.

Not the 2nd one though. I think cora is afraid of devers.

[jdc69]

1 hour ago, notin said:

And we really don’t know what Breslow ran by Cora.  Since Cora wasn’t so keen on moving Devers off third to begin with, it’s not hard to believe he backed away from a second attempt to move Devers.  And I get why; unlike Breslow, Cora has to work with Devers every day…

I didn't know that about Cora wanting Devers to be 3rd. In terms of having a smooth clubhouse, that may have been better. Still have some problems with his coaching style though.

[cp176]

4 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Good point.  The current MLB pitching dictum is not to let a starter go through the opposing lineup a 3d time because the stats say the other team will hit your starter hard.   I say that depends on the starter.  Crochet seems fine the 3d time through.  Last year Houck was fine the 3d time through.  In 30 starts he averaged 6 IP per game and had 19 quality starts.   

Another key factor of course is "how good is your bullpen?"  Ours ain't that good, plus I think they are being overworked.  

Another factor has to be the pitching coach.  Two no doubt insignificant factoids:  last year Houck was great and this year he stinks; last year Pivetta stunk and this year he's the Padres' ace.   What did our pitching coach say about 18 months ago when Bregman wanted to dump Sale and get Giolito?  

I think that we have plenty of starting pitching.  We have to let them pitch.  Dobbins, Fitts, Giolito, Bello, Crochette, etc.  Let them pitch.  Pitch count phobia will drive you crazy.  Or the alternative which would be a strict pitch count limit that will take them right to last place.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

8 minutes ago, cp176 said:

I think that we have plenty of starting pitching.  

The sox starter's ERA ranks #21 in the majors.

[moonslav59]

5 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Much easier to convert Raffy to 1B than Roman since Raffy has played on the dirt more recently than Little League. Either of those options aren't going to happen though. 

Roman LF

Raffy DH

Or, Raffy 1B and Roman DH.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

12 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Or, Raffy 1B and Roman DH.

The problem is the assistant GM, raffy devers, has said no to 1B

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

The problem is the assistant GM, raffy devers, has said no to 1B

No, the Manager in this case who had more say than the HOBO said no, and it appears JH backed the manager up. 👏

[notin]

5 hours ago, Old Red said:

We all agree on Sale. Brez paid Atlanta $17M to win a CY Young for them. You could see that coming from a country mile. As I remember someone on here predicted Sale would stay healthy, and have a good year for Atlanta when the trade was made. That’s an Undisputed fact.

There’s a big difference between a prediction and sarcastically expressing bad luck.

sale was worth more bWAR at age 35 than he was worth from ages 30-34 combined.  That’s a very, very short list.  And THAT is an undisputed fact. I’d be surprised if anyone else was on it period.  Most people who said his comeback was obvious had that astute observation around June.  There were some who objected, but their grounds at the time were universally “the Sox need pitching.  Dont trade it away.”  Not that Sale was clearly going to be healthy for the first time in seven years.  And that is also a fact.

It was a bad trade, but not one as easily foreseen as critics claim now some 17 months later.  Theres probably some overlap between fans who said Sale’s comeback was obvious and fans expressing disappointment Bloom didn’t unloaded him on Texas a for nothing year earlier.

Food for thought - in his last 4 years with Boston, Sale was worth 2.5 bWAR.  In his first 3 injury-plagued seasons with Boston, Trevor Story was worth 4.0 bWAR.  Think the younger Story is primed for an equivalent comeback?

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

4 minutes ago, Old Red said:

No, the Manager in this case who had more say than the HOBO said no, and it appears JH backed the manager up. 👏

jh may or may not have, but it appears that cora has no balls and is being pushed around by devers.

[moonslav59]

46 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

The problem is the assistant GM, raffy devers, has said no to 1B

I fully realize the dilemma.

[notin]

5 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

I agree with your first paragraph.

Not the 2nd one though. I think cora is afraid of devers.

That’s essentially what I said…

[notin]

53 minutes ago, Old Red said:

No, the Manager in this case who had more say than the HOBO said no, and it appears JH backed the manager up. 👏

Well, Cora said they are going to continue having conversations, and Henry refused to comment in every story I read.  Sounds a lot less resolved than in your interpretation…

[notin]

1 hour ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

The problem is the assistant GM, raffy devers, has said no to 1B

Devers got demoted?

If he wasn’t putting up MVP caliber numbers at the plate - especially after a crazy slow start - no one would be siding with him.

I mean, imagine if Rafaela pouted about being replaced  in the OF by Roman Anthony.  Who’d take C-Note’s side?  Obviously none of the people recommending the move.  Would anyone?  Maybe his mom.  Maybe…

[Old Red]

9 minutes ago, notin said:

Devers got demoted?

If he wasn’t putting up MVP caliber numbers at the plate - especially after a crazy slow start - no one would be siding with him.

I mean, imagine if Rafaela pouted about being replaced  in the OF by Roman Anthony.  Who’d take C-Note’s side?  Obviously none of the people recommending the move.  Would anyone?  Maybe his mom.  Maybe…

Even though I’m far from a Devers Forevers guy I’ve have been siding with Raffy since day 1 of spring training. You’re comparing an Allstar like Raffy who’s been in the league for 9 years, and won a WS with a two year man that really hasn’t established himself yet? 🤭🙈