The 1B Predicament

[drewski6]

I didnt even know there was a game on right now

[vjcsmoke]

The Red Sox just traded for Ryan Noda. Our 1st base problems are solved!

Hopefully... two seasons ago Noda slugged for .770 OPS which is respectable.

Last year he was not doing so hot with a .465 OPS. Hopefully he turns it around with a change in scenery.

mlb reference noda: Ryan Noda Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

[Hugh2]

5 hours ago, vjcsmoke said:

The Red Sox just traded for Ryan Noda. Our 1st base problems are solved!

Hopefully... two seasons ago Noda slugged for .770 OPS which is respectable.

Last year he was not doing so hot with a .465 OPS. Hopefully he turns it around with a change in scenery.

mlb reference noda: Ryan Noda Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

When you go to woo tell us what you see.

[notin]

21 hours ago, drewski6 said:

And you think this is better than having any of RA, MM, Garcia brother in MLB?  Or do you mean stop gap until Campbell or somebody else internally can get some reps?

I mean his ceiling is a stopgap 1b.  He might never even get that chance.

I don’t think any of Anthony, Mayer or Jhostnyxon will be playing first, unless they do move Campbell there and call up Mayer…

[Hugh2]

Our infield is literally. 
 

AAAA guy, a guy who has fallen off a cliff, AAA guy and an AAAA guy.  
 

Devers at 1B and calling up Mayer would solve a whole lot. 

[Old Red]

30 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Our infield is literally. 
 

AAAA guy, a guy who has fallen off a cliff, AAA guy and an AAAA guy.  
 

Devers at 1B and calling up Mayer would solve a whole lot. 

Having something better than all those A guys you mentioned should have been the easiest thing to do. Learning a new position on the fly isn’t. Playing guys out of position isn’t either. Once again Bad roster construction.

[Hugh2]

32 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Having something better than all those A guys you mentioned should have been the easiest thing to do. Learning a new position on the fly isn’t. Playing guys out of position isn’t either. Once again Bad roster construction.

lol, not really.  Bregman WAS looking like an MVP candidate and Mayer/Campbell were waiting in the waiting in the wings.

i would challenge people to say how they’d have better constructed the roster.

now if you’d be willing to critique your stance to “bad roster management” I’d be inclined to agree.

 

 

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

lol, not really.  Bregman WAS looking like an MVP candidate and Mayer/Campbell were waiting in the waiting in the wings.

i would challenge people to say how they’d have better constructed the roster.

now if you’d be willing to critique your stance to “bad roster management” I’d be inclined to agree.

 

 

How Bregman is looking has nothing to do with what you have for a backup short term, or long term. If you are happy with Sogard, and Toro I guess there is no problem, but there seems to be many complaints about those two, and Romy. Raffy was not in the equation as a backup either.

[Hugh2]

35 minutes ago, Old Red said:

How Bregman is looking has nothing to do with what you have for a backup short term, or long term. If you are happy with Sogard, and Toro I guess there is no problem, but there seems to be many complaints about those two, and Romy. Raffy was not in the equation as a backup either.

No team on earth has great back ups.  Back ups are back ups for a reason. 
 

Every team in the universe has an AAA roster that either has a top prospect OR a guy who isn’t good enough to be an MLB starter.

 

Toro/Sogard isn’t bad roster construction.  And nobody would be talking about that if Story, Cambell, or Rafaela were hitting.  

[notin]

5 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

No team on earth has great back ups.  Back ups are back ups for a reason. 
 

Every team in the universe has an AAA roster that either has a top prospect OR a guy who isn’t good enough to be an MLB starter.

 

Toro/Sogard isn’t bad roster construction.  And nobody would be talking about that if Story, Cambell, or Rafaela were hitting.  

Exactly.  Guys like Toro and Sogard are meant for short term replacements, and teams can’t control which MLB starters will get hurt and which prospects behind them will pan out.  But that’s the criticism because blaming management is more preferable than blaming a star player who is suddenly inflexible when the team has injury problems…

[cp176]

So in the first game today, which yes we did win, we started a journeyman aaa player at first (who did hit a HR), a utility player at both second and third, and a ss who hasn’t hit a lick.  You have a young Grissom who hasn’t been playing first in Worcester.  What is the plan for him?

 And this team under Cora’s leadership is renowned for playing people out of position. Wong has played second and first as well.  When someone tries to convince me that an infielder by trade needs 2 weeks to learn how to play first base, I ain’t buying it.  If you aren’t going to use Campbell at first until someone thinks he is ready, what do you suppose the plan is for one of our best potential hitters in Roman Anthony might be?  I’m a reasonably frustrated fan.

[moonslav59]

On 5/23/2025 at 7:48 AM, Old Red said:

Casas went down on May 2nd. There has been No urgency whatsoever to fix the problem at 1B just like in past years.

We traded for a 1Bman and have KC working out at 1B.

It may be little, but it's not none.

[Hugh2]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

We traded for a 1Bman and have KC working out at 1B.

It may be little, but it's not none.

Unfortunately there’s no much to be done this time of year.  It’s like being mad you can’t go to the store to pick up milk.  They open at 6 and it’s 4 am.

teams that will stop at the deadline aren’t selling yet.  This is why teams typically go with in house solutions.  Like Toro or Devers….or you know Toro.

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Unfortunately there’s no much to be done this time of year.  It’s like being mad you can’t go to the store to pick up milk.  They open at 6 and it’s 4 am.

teams that will stop at the deadline aren’t selling yet.  This is why teams typically go with in house solutions.  Like Toro or Devers….or you know Toro.

We kinda got lucky with Dom Smith, last year. The Garrett Coopers are more like norm for May additions.

[notin]

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

We kinda got lucky with Dom Smith, last year. The Garrett Coopers are more like norm for May additions.

Garrett Cooper was the worse of the two last year, but it’s not normal to see a player who was an All Star two years prior get released early in the year when you need his position.  
 

But anyone saying there has been no urgency Must think no this is like fantasy baseball.  If you’re not excited by Ryan Noda (and why would you be), then at least try to realize this are the type of players you can trade for in May…

[notin]

16 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

We traded for a 1Bman and have KC working out at 1B.

It may be little, but it's not none.

We also have an All Star 3b on the roster who could also try 1b, but is acting selfish and childish about it…

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, notin said:

We also have an All Star 1b on the roster who could also try 1b, but is acting selfish and childish about it…

And the beat goes on.🤭😂🤮

[vegasbob]

On 5/23/2025 at 8:13 AM, notin said:

But also he’s 25, will only be first year arb, already here, not exactly tradable, willing to play first (which is a bigger deal in Boston than on most teams), and not threatened from behind by anyone in the system.

Get a stopgap for this year, and give Triston another shot next year.  What are the other options?  

If Triston's rehab progresses normally from a difficult but not terminal injury ( he couldn't run well anyway), he will be in Ft. Myers next ST trying to get his position back.   He could also be a throw-in in a winter deal but to what purpose, he costs almost nothing .      The biggest holdback on Triston's value is that he can only play 1B, unlike Gonzalez and Hamilton and Wong,  so on a 3 man bench plus #2 catcher , there are no seats for a 1Bman only player.

Also , if beyond my imagination, this team catches fire and is in the mix come late July, a trade could be in the works for a "real" 1Bman ( Pearce/Schwarber type )  , although the true needs will be starting and/or relief pitching.   1B will be low on Brez's list of needs

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, notin said:

Garrett Cooper was the worse of the two last year, but it’s not normal to see a player who was an All Star two years prior get released early in the year when you need his position.  
 

But anyone saying there has been no urgency Must think no this is like fantasy baseball.  If you’re not excited by Ryan Noda (and why would you be), then at least try to realize this are the type of players you can trade for in May…

Exactly! Noda shows just how urgent things are and the extent a team can go to try and fix an issue.

The winter was the time to make sure we were set at 1B for depth, especially after we dealt away Gaspar and Meidroth.

They could have also asked Devers about 1B way back when he was complaining about not being on the field while DH'ing.

[notin]

3 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

If Triston's rehab progresses normally from a difficult but not terminal injury ( he couldn't run well anyway), he will be in ft, Myers next ST trying to get his position back.   He could also be a throw-in in a winter deal but to what purpose, he costs almost nothing .      The biggest holdback on Triston's value is that he can only play 1B, unlike Gonzalez and Hamilton and Wong,  so on a 3 man bench plus #2 catcher , there are no seats for a 1Bman only player.

Also , if beyond my imagination, this team catches fire and is in the mix come late July, an trade could be in the works for a "real" 1Bman ( Pearce/Schwarber type )  , although the true needs will be starting and/or relief pitching.   1B will be low on Brez's list of needs

If the Sox wait that long, certainly a “real” 1b should be on the non-pitching radar, and the targets will likely be players like Rhys Hoskins, Josh Bell, Ryan O’Hearn, or 4’9” Andrew Vaughn…
 

[notin]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Exactly! Noda shows just how urgent things are and the extent a team can go to try and fix an issue.

The winter was the time to make sure we were set at 1B for depth, especially after we dealt away Gaspar and Meidroth.

They could have also asked Devers about 1B way back when he was complaining about not being on the field while DH'ing.

I’m not mourning the lack of depth brought about by trading Mickey Gasper and his .488 OPS.  Toro and Noda are both much better options, and I have the faith and patience to  wait out Jovani Moran…

[mvp 78]

 

[mvp 78]

 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

30 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

 

It's almost like cora is afraid of devers.

[vegasbob]

31 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

 

Kristian Campbell, in his current funk at bat, is not an answer at 1B .  He might become one and he may hit again this year, but  sticking him there now reeks of a "Give Up" attitude on the manager and FO. With Mayer up and playing 3B, where do  they go with Romy Gonzalez , after his rehab stint ? 

Would be glad to be wrong.

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

Kristian Campbell, in his current funk at bat, is not an answer at 1B .  He might become one and he may hit again this year, but  sticking him there now reeks of a "Give Up" attitude on the manager and FO. With Mayer up and playing 3B, where do  they go with Romy Gonzalez , after his rehab stint ? 

Would be glad to be wrong.

The ceiling on Romy Gonzalez is a platoon bench guy. The ceiling on Kristian Campbell is every day player who sees a few All Star Games. I'm not worried about where Romy plays going forward. If the Sox miss the playoffs by 4 games or 20 games, it doesn't make a difference to me. 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

On 5/28/2025 at 12:40 PM, vegasbob said:

Kristian Campbell, in his current funk at bat, is not an answer at 1B .  He might become one and he may hit again this year, but  sticking him there now reeks of a "Give Up" attitude on the manager and FO. With Mayer up and playing 3B, where do  they go with Romy Gonzalez , after his rehab stint ? 

Would be glad to be wrong.

I think campbell would be best served by being sent back down and finding his confidence.

[notin]

8 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

I think campbell would be best served by being sent back down and finding his confidence.

Yeah nothing builds confidence faster than a demotion.  He gets a corresponding paycut too? That should bolster his ego into the stratosphere…

[moonslav59]

On 5/25/2025 at 11:45 AM, notin said:

I’m not mourning the lack of depth brought about by trading Mickey Gasper and his .488 OPS.  Toro and Noda are both much better options, and I have the faith and patience to  wait out Jovani Moran…

I'm not "mourning." either- just pointing out that we traded away what little and meager 1B depth we did have.

I'm also wondering why we don't try Grandal. Maybe ebcause Toro has hit pretty well in the SSS.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

2 hours ago, notin said:

Yeah nothing builds confidence faster than a demotion.  He gets a corresponding paycut too? That should bolster his ego into the stratosphere…

Nonsense, many players over the years have been sent down to re-group.

Heck, it even happened to Mickey Mantle.