Article: The Red Sox Have Lost the Human Element Under Craig Breslow's Leadership

[notin]

49 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

What specifically about those stats do you not like? 

1. I'm worried about the offense because of the makeup of the roster this year (not long term). 

2. The offense is in a funk, but is being bailed out by the rotation that is balling out. 

3. Without a big bopper at the top of the lineup, it's infinitely harder to see who is going to carry this lineup going forward. 

4. I like Bregman, but his 158 wRC+ is the highest it has been since 2019 and seems like it make regress some as well. 

None of which adds credibility to a SSS argument.

The Yankees activated Giancarlo Stanton 3 games ago and have only scored two runs since.  Is this statistical proof that adding slugging former MVPs can drag down your lineup?  After all, they scored more than that in the previous 3 games…

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

None of which adds credibility to a SSS argument.

The Yankees activated Giancarlo Stanton 3 games ago and have only scored two runs since.  Is this statistical proof that adding slugging former MVPs can drag down your lineup?  After all, they scored more than that in the previous 3 games…

Huh? My point is about a larger sample size wherein Narvaez, Toro, et al see their stats diminish from now until September 30th. The last 8 games are just a preamble to the offensive woes we could see the rest of the summer. Over and over, I've had concerns about running out Spring Training lineups and expecting playoff performances this year. It doesn't seem likely to me. This group will have ups and downs. There will be a learning curve. Take the lumps this year so that they'll be ready to go for next year. 

[dgalehouse]

Anyway, " Human Element " sounds kind of abstract. And, quite frankly, a little soft.  This is a baseball team. Where is the human element when you DFA a guy?  Or when you fire the manager?  It is strictly business.  And John Henry is hardly the epitome of human element, himself.  He is as "cold fish" as it gets.  I think Breslow is on the right track and the team will be better off for it. 

[Bellhorn04]

5 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

Anyway, " Human Element " sounds kind of abstract. And, quite frankly, a little soft.  This is a baseball team. Where is the human element when you DFA a guy?  Or when you fire the manager?  It is strictly business.  And John Henry is hardly the epitome of human element, himself.  He is as "cold fish" as it gets.  I think Breslow is on the right track and the team will be better off for it. 

Yeah, we hear a lot about 'players' managers' like Cora, but we don't hear too much about 'players' CBOs'...

[dgalehouse]

8 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Yeah, we hear a lot about 'players' managers' like Cora, but we don't hear too much about 'players' CBOs'...

Basically, Cora is the players' immediate supervisor. His interaction with them is, and should be, different from that of Breslow. 

[mvp 78]

A lot people fine with Breslow underpeforming and not doing his job I guess. Communication was something HE said he needed to be better about. 🫠

[illinoisredsox]

8 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

Basically, Cora is the players' immediate supervisor. His interaction with them is, and should be, different from that of Breslow. 

A very apt and accurate description.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

With the Yankees, if you can slow down Judge, the rest of the lineup seems very ordinary. 

I think guys like Goldschmidt and Grisham have been exceeding expectations, and their pitching staff has done better than many expected, since Cole missed the whole season. I mean, we knew Fried was real good, but 9-2 1.89 good? Rodon has always been good, but expecting 15 GS and 90 IP was a big if. Schmidt and Yarbrough are doing well- maybe that was a little unexpected, but not really.

I'm surprised they have done this well with a closer at a 5.47 ERA and 1.33 WHIP.

The whole AL looked mediocre to me, in March. That was the major reason I had high hopes for the Sox. I'm not sure my opinion has changed much.

[illinoisredsox]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

This did not happen in my lifetime. 

Breslow most definitely figured out the politics of the organization.  Deflect blame down and CYA.

He and Kennedy are politicians.  When was the last time either gave a straight answer to any question? 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

That's a pretty large number to be tossing around.  You think our runs scored is going to go down by 25%?

No, but Devers did account for over 25% of our runs. I'm not just tossing out a random number.

Add his Runs and RBIs and subtract his HRs, and he accounted for just over 25% of our runs.

An average player should account for 11% of the runs (1/9th.) I'm not sure we can replace Devers with an average bat, as out 7, 8 and 9 best bats have not been at the league average, so why should our 10th guy provide 11% or our runs?

I could see justifying a drop or about 15% in offense. Maybe 12-13%, if we get lucky- maybe less if we make a trade for a bat.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Maxbialystock said:

I seriously doubt that 25%, but agree on an "approachable GM."  

I also like your lineup when Abreu and Bregman return and Yoshida/Ref are the DH.

Raffy was our best hitter, but to what end when the pitching stunk?  The pitching is the thing that will get the brass ring--or at least a postseason stab at it.

Again, tell me why you assume our pitching, which has been up and down, all year, will suddenly continue as it has done over the last 6-7 games, but you also have total faith in Toro at 1B- a guy who has sucked over the last 6-7 games (something like 2 for 17.)

We need guys like Toro to do even better than they were doing before the trade. IMO, that is asking too much from him, Romy and a few others.

I do think Story can do better than his current OPS. I think Abreu and Bregman can make an impact, when they return, but Bregman is not close to returning. We can count on the kids, sure, but we will be seeing Mayer, Anthony and Narvaez- 3 rookies- batting 3-4-5 almost every game and Campbell 7th or 8th almost every game.

Maybe Duran becomes the 2024 Duran, again. That's not far-fetched. I'm not expecting more from Refsnyder. he's already done great. Who else will make up for the loss of a guy who accounted for 25% of our runs- pre trade?

That's a big ask of an iffy pitching staff and a bunch of rookie batters.

[mvp 78]

39 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

Breslow most definitely figured out the politics of the organization.  Deflect blame down and CYA.

He and Kennedy are politicians.  When was the last time either gave a straight answer to any question? 

This must be that ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE that Raffy was disrupting. 

[mvp 78]

41 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

No, but Devers did account for over 25% of our runs. I'm not just tossing out a random number.

Add his Runs and RBIs and subtract his HRs, and he accounted for just over 25% of our runs.

An average player should account for 11% of the runs (1/9th.) I'm not sure we can replace Devers with an average bat, as out 7, 8 and 9 best bats have not been at the league average, so why should our 10th guy provide 11% or our runs?

I could see justifying a drop or about 15% in offense. Maybe 12-13%, if we get lucky- maybe less if we make a trade for a bat.

Losing 12% of their runs takes them from being near Yankee level to near Rays level. Above average, but no longer elite. 

[TedYazPapiMookie]

4 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Controversial Red Sox 12-Time All-Star Slams Organization Over Rafael Devers Fiasco - Newsweek

No offense but this link is absolutely worthless.  The guy who wrote it should find a new day job because it's all over the board and NOTHING is documented properly with sources.  It's mostly inuendo not facts.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

With the Yankees, if you can slow down Judge, the rest of the lineup seems very ordinary. 

Amongst all qualified batters, Goldschmidt, Grisham, Rice, Bellinger, Wells and Volpe all have a higher OPS than anyone on the sox.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

4 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

This did not happen in my lifetime. 

Due to the vagueness of the comment, it's hard to specifically refute something that has no specifics in it.

The three GMs did exactly what I wrote.  There is documentation everywhere.  If you can't come to grips with it, that's fine but it did happen and is still happening. 

DD was great, Bloom was the worst ever, Breslow has worked through the owner's frugality to add two superstar players then the icing on the cake is being able to refund the worst contract in Red Sox history for 8 of the 10 years.  Bullet dodged and now is the time to invest that money to further restock the cupboards with all-star level talent that was disbursed by Bloom.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

7 minutes ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

No offense but this link is absolutely worthless.  The guy who wrote it should find a new day job because it's all over the board and NOTHING is documented properly with sources.  It's mostly inuendo not facts.

So you are saying that manny didn't say what he said?

[dgalehouse]

Manny Ramirez was a great hitter. But other than hitting, I would not be taking anything else he says very seriously.  In fact, he is one of the last ones I would listen to. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Losing 12% of their runs takes them from being near Yankee level to near Rays level. Above average, but no longer elite. 

There is no sugar coating this, and the loss may end up being more like 15% of the offense.

I'm also so damn tired of counting on returning IL players, that never seem to give what we hoped for.

[jad]

I'm guessing that players will be told, directly or indirectly, that they are NOT to show Devers any love tomorrow, in order to keep management's b.s. story alive that he is a bad team-mate.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

The Devers trade also depleted by 85% the Red Sox me-first there-is-an-I-in-my-TIME.

(Casas was the other 15%, because he refused to swing at strikes that he called balls above his zone).

[Bellhorn04]

18 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

There is no sugar coating this, and the loss may end up being more like 15% of the offense.

I'm also so damn tired of counting on returning IL players, that never seem to give what we hoped for.

We're not going to lose 15% of our runs.

In 2024 Devers's RAR per B-R was 37 runs.  Pro-rate that for what's left of 2025, we would lose about 20 runs, or 2 wins, compared to a replacement level DH.

[moonslav59]

55 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Amongst all qualified batters, Goldschmidt, Grisham, Rice, Bellinger, Wells and Volpe all have a higher OPS than anyone on the sox.

Yup. Out of 74 qualifying players in MLB, Duran is 51st at .724. Rafaela is 60th at .681, Campbell is 66th at .664 and Story is 71st at .638.

I think the cutoff is 230 PAs. For what it's worth, if you lower it to 210 PAs, we jump from 5 to 8 players. Here are those rankings:

1. Judge 1.192

3. Bregman .938

(6. Devers .905)

20. Narvaez .814

24. Grisham .798

25. Goldschmidt .797

27. Abreu .792

36. Rice .769

42. Bellinger .763

55. Wells .731

60. Volpe .726

62. Duran .724

66. Dominguez .708

72. Rafaela .681

80. Campbell .664

85. Story .638

We'd have to go down to 90 PAs to get Refsnyder and other Sox players on the top part of the list of 189 players, or about 6 player per team:

7. Refsnyder .900

21. Toro .835

25. Romy .819

28. Narvaez .814

4 in the top 30, looks pretty nice. (nyy HAS 1.)

38. Abreu .792

(NYY has 6 in the top 30 to our 5.)

[king koji]

7 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Last three GMs

DD - Brings a ton of talent in Price, Sale, JD and others, they win 3 division titles and a ring

Bloom - Dumps Mookie and Price, then repurposes the entire 2018 championship team except Devers who he over-pays by $10Million a year for a DH and 5 years longer than Devers will be serviceable

Breslow - Figures out the politics of the organization and has Cora recruit Bregman so Devers will retire his glove which should have happened at least 7 years earlier then trades for Crochet, Bregman, Giolito and Sandoval in hopes of improving the horrid pitchers from Bloom but mistakenly gives away Sale for a bad 2B prospect showing he's not perfect.

Three resumes and you have problems with the last one?  Not the one that destroyed the franchise?

Breslow is a godsend.  He not only made Cora do the dirty work in getting Devers to move to DH but then he shipped him out of town and recovered $260 Million to use elsewhere if the owners don't have another psychotic break like they did when they fired Dombrowski.

I think everything is going the best it has since Dombrowski was fired.  No complaints at all.  Now if he figures out the complex politics of firing Cora, he will be my idol and win an organizational MVP!!!!

Let's just keep one thing perfectly clear, and lots of people do this, not just you, losing Mookie is a HENRY decision, NOT a Bloom decision. 

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

We're not going to lose 15% of our runs.

In 2024 Devers's RAR per B-R was 37 runs.  Pro-rate that for what's left of 2025, we would lose about 20 runs, or 2 wins, compared to a replacement level DH.

Okay. I will say that if you add Devers Runs and RBI and minus his Hrs, it was 97 runs accounted for. That was 25% of our runs.

15% is too high, I admit, but I suggested that as a possible high end amount. Even a loss of 11 or 12% might be too high.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Amongst all qualified batters, Goldschmidt, Grisham, Rice, Bellinger, Wells and Volpe all have a higher OPS than anyone on the sox.

What the frig have I said about the Red Sox offense since Devers left? 

[moonslav59]

19 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

What the frig have I said about the Red Sox offense since Devers left? 

Not this.

LOL!

[Maxbialystock]

4 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Averaging 1.7 runs/game without Devers! 

Sox currently on a 2.5 runs/game over the last 8 (28th in runs, 2nd in K%). 

Horsehockey!!!  The Sox have been without Raffy, Bregman, and Abreu.  Plus Raffy was flat not needed in the first 5 wins of the the 6 game streak.  

The Sox went south when Bregman dropped out of the lineup on May 24.  They were 26-26 and went down to 30-35 because he was missed.   And the comeback was not, repeat not, because of Raffy.  It was because of the pitching.

I rooted like crazy for Devers when he was DH, where I think he was a great fit.  But I'm also looking forward to Ref and Yoshida manning the DH.  You could be right with your "give me Raffy or give me death," but I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.  

Breslow can certainly be a jerk, but the last thing we need as CBO is the sweetheart of sigma chi.  

 

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Not this.

LOL!

I've said they've been bad! I've said they might be in rougher waters going forward! 🫠

[mvp 78]

I can criticize the Yankees lineup while it having nothing to do with the Sox.