A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[a700hitter]

10 minutes ago, jad said:

If Bregman was such a GREAT fielder and a GREAT team player and a GREAT 'willing-to-sacrifice' sort of guy, then the obvious question is 'WTF didn't HE move to first base?'  The RS FO has offered not a shred of evidence to refute the obvious interpretation that the plan was to unload Rafy's contract all along and to 'Tito' his departure by pushing the 'bad team-mate' bs, so that the fans (many of whom are here) would support the boy genius/flunkie Yalie  presumably in charge.

The FO did what they always do— demonize a player on the way out the door.  They have done this time and again.

[notin]

2 hours ago, a700hitter said:

A guy who produces like Devers gets leeway to be a jerk.  Manny was a jerk his entire career.  I would put him in my lineup any day.  If Giants fans don’t like 30 bombs in their lineup because he didn’t want to be pinch run for, they are the dopes.

edit:  there was no evidence that Devers had issues until Breslow pulled the rug out on him.  He didn’t become a cancer overnight without provocation.

No but it did look like Cora refused to talk to him about changing positions.  We all know Devers made Bloom promise he would play third.  Then when Bregman rumors started, Cora, a major analytics guy, wanted reigning Gold Glover Bregman to move to 2b rather than move Devers off third despite his being the worst 3b in MLB by multiple metrics. Then when Casas got hurt, Cora refused to talk to Devers about moving to 1b at all. 

If Devers wasn’t difficult, Cora certainly refused to talk to him a lot…
 

 

[Bellhorn04]

The Devers thing was a mess but it doesn't bother me that much.  The Betts trade, on the other hand, still looks like a cataclysmic mistake.

[Old Red]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Reports said he almost immediately regretted signing with BOS, but Manny often looked very happy on the team, especially after winning multiple rings.

I agree, they botched the communication or position changes, and the Bloom promise made was a factor from the Devers' perspective, but the team needed him to change positions to make the club better. It seemed obvious  the team was better with Bregman at 3B and Devers at DH or 1B. The point is, even if you think the position change idea is wrong, do you really think it's okay for a player to refuse a move? To then call out the GM publically? To then show up his next team's manager over a PR'er sent out to help the team win?

The guy became a cancer, seemingly overnight. Even if he had good reasons to be upset, he still became a cancer. To me, that is beyond debate. He is a cancer and just about every SFG fan is aware of that, now. They'd gladly undo the trade.

Thinking that having a tryout at 1B for someone who had never played the position before, and hadn’t even played in the field at all last year, and had also been told to put his glove away was somehow going to make the team better when you were also weakening the DH position. That was the plan? The fact that Cora didn’t even approach Raffy about doing it says everything to me not to mention what Raffy thought. We’ve gone all over this 100 times already, and you keep asking the same questions, and I keep giving the same answers as I’ve heard others give the same. Yes it was OKAY for Raffy under ALL the circumstances to say thanks, but no thanks, and public ally call out a 12th pick in a HOBO draft.

[Old Red]

12 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The Devers thing was a mess but it doesn't bother me that much.  The Betts trade, on the other hand, still looks like a cataclysmic mistake.

I was never a Devers Forevers guy, but Brez being Brez , and being at the crux of the whole thing was something that didn’t need to happen.

[Old Red]

20 minutes ago, notin said:

No but it did look like Cora refused to talk to him about changing positions.  We all know Devers made Bloom promise he would play third.  Then when Bregman rumors started, Cora, a major analytics guy, wanted reigning Gold Glover Bregman to move to 2b rather than move Devers off third despite his being the worst 3b in MLB by multiple metrics. Then when Casas got hurt, Cora refused to talk to Devers about moving to 1b at all. 

If Devers wasn’t difficult, Cora certainly refused to talk to him a lot…
 

 

Devers made Bloom promise?🤔

[Bellhorn04]

2 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I was never a Devers Forevers guy, but Brez being Brez , and being at the crux of the whole thing was something that didn’t need to happen.

Yeah, I originally thought Devers was to blame, but subsequent events and things I've read have really lowered my opinion of Breslow as a manager.

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, a700hitter said:

 

40 minutes ago, jad said:

If Bregman was such a GREAT fielder and a GREAT team player and a GREAT 'willing-to-sacrifice' sort of guy, then the obvious question is 'WTF didn't HE move to first base?'  The RS FO has offered not a shred of evidence to refute the obvious interpretation that the plan was to unload Rafy's contract all along and to 'Tito' his departure by pushing the 'bad team-mate' bs, so that the fans (many of whom are here) would support the boy genius/flunkie Yalie  presumably in charge.

Ummm, Bregman offered to play 2B so the inferior defensive player could be babied and play 3B.

Nobody asked or even hinted for him to play 1B.

I'm fine with the dislike for Brez, but there is no need to suggest we make the team worse by playing people at the wrong positions just to make your point.

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Ummm, Bregman offered to play 2B so the inferior defensive player could be babied and play 3B.

Nobody asked or even hinted for him to play 1B.

I'm fine with the dislike for Brez, but there is no need to suggest we make the team worse by playing people at the wrong positions just to make your point.

From a Devers Forevers guy to a Raffy Hater. What a fair weather fan.

[notin]

48 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Devers made Bloom promise?🤔

Apparently.  

[notin]

57 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Thinking that having a tryout at 1B for someone who had never played the position before, and hadn’t even played in the field at all last year, and had also been told to put his glove away was somehow going to make the team better when you were also weakening the DH position. That was the plan? The fact that Cora didn’t even approach Raffy about doing it says everything to me not to mention what Raffy thought. We’ve gone all over this 100 times already, and you keep asking the same questions, and I keep giving the same answers as I’ve heard others give the same. Yes it was OKAY for Raffy under ALL the circumstances to say thanks, but no thanks, and public ally call out a 12th pick in a HOBO draft.

And yet he did it in San Francisco.  Sort of makes that point moot…

[notin]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The Devers thing was a mess but it doesn't bother me that much.  The Betts trade, on the other hand, still looks like a cataclysmic mistake.

Very much agree…

[notin]

1 hour ago, jad said:

If Bregman was such a GREAT fielder and a GREAT team player and a GREAT 'willing-to-sacrifice' sort of guy, then the obvious question is 'WTF didn't HE move to first base?'  The RS FO has offered not a shred of evidence to refute the obvious interpretation that the plan was to unload Rafy's contract all along and to 'Tito' his departure by pushing the 'bad team-mate' bs, so that the fans (many of whom are here) would support the boy genius/flunkie Yalie  presumably in charge.

Maybe Bregman did.  He did offer to move to 2b.

But isn’t it Cora’s and Breslow’s job to put the best team on the field?  Then when Casas Sox best lineup didn’t have Devers over Bregman at first

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The Devers thing was a mess but it doesn't bother me that much.  The Betts trade, on the other hand, still looks like a cataclysmic mistake.

The two situations are light years apart.

What sticks out to me was how close DD got to trading Betts. That shows what the plan was long before DD left and Betts was actually traded.

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

And yet he did it in San Francisco.  Sort of makes that point moot…

How many N’S can you accumulate? We’ve gone over this many times too. Entirely different situation. Raffy went to a NEW team where they already had a good incumbent 3B. He was the new man on campus. Did Raffy playing 1B make SF a better team this year, or last year? 👋

 

[Old Red]

14 minutes ago, notin said:

Apparently.  

Apparently? Source, publication, article? 

[notin]

5 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Apparently? Source, publication, article? 

 

Where did you hear about it?  You’ve cited it repeatedly, saying it didn’t matter that Bloom made the promise and it was from the Red Sox…

[notin]

11 minutes ago, Old Red said:

How many N’S can you accumulate? We’ve gone over this many times too. Entirely different situation. Raffy went to a NEW team where they already had a good incumbent 3B. He was the new man on campus. Did Raffy playing 1B make SF a better team this year, or last year? 👋

 

Sure but all that’s ever happened is you making excuses for him, and bad excuses at that.  If he could wear a first baseman’s mitt in SF, there is no reason he couldn’t have worn one in Boston.  It really is that simple…

[notin]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Yeah, I originally thought Devers was to blame, but subsequent events and things I've read have really lowered my opinion of Breslow as a manager.

No one says anything nice about Breslow, but that doesn’t excuse Devers…

[moonslav59]

Just now, notin said:

Sure but all that’s ever happened is you making excuses for him, and bad excuses at that.  If he could wear a first baseman’s mitt in SF, there is no reason he couldn’t have worn one in Boston.  It really is that simple…

He thinks it matters if Brez & Co were right or wrong about wanting Devers at 1B and not DH.

I mean it does, when judging Brez & Cothem, but not Devers.

The fact is they wanted him to play 1B and he didn't. That's on Devers.

They wanted him to play 1B at SF, too, and he did, but only after missing a workout session.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, notin said:

No one says anything nice about Breslow...

Just don't call them "haters."

LOL

[Old Red]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

He thinks it matters if Brez & Co were right or wrong about wanting Devers at 1B and not DH.

I mean it does, when judging Brez & Cothem, but not Devers.

The fact is they wanted him to play 1B and he didn't. That's on Devers.

They wanted him to play 1B at SF, too, and he did, but only after missing a workout session.

The fact that Brez wanted him to play 1B, and Cora didn’t even talk to Raffy about it we agree on, and because Cora didn’t even talk to Raffy about it to me means that’s on Brez. You’re a Raffy HATER, so you of course see everything as Raffy’s fault.

[Old Red]

16 minutes ago, notin said:

Sure but all that’s ever happened is you making excuses for him, and bad excuses at that.  If he could wear a first baseman’s mitt in SF, there is no reason he couldn’t have worn one in Boston.  It really is that simple…

NNN. I told you he couldn’t find his glove in Boston, because they told him to put it away. 

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

The two situations are light years apart.

What sticks out to me was how close DD got to trading Betts. That shows what the plan was long before DD left and Betts was actually traded.

Yes, they gave up on keeping Betts in the off-season between 2018 and 2019 after making their final offer to him.  They then signed the extensions with Sale and Bogaerts.  So when they looked to be out of it in 2019 it made sense to entertain trade offers.  But they went on a little hot streak and decided against it.

[FredLynn]

3 hours ago, jad said:

If Bregman was such a GREAT fielder and a GREAT team player and a GREAT 'willing-to-sacrifice' sort of guy, then the obvious question is 'WTF didn't HE move to first base?'  The RS FO has offered not a shred of evidence to refute the obvious interpretation that the plan was to unload Rafy's contract all along and to 'Tito' his departure by pushing the 'bad team-mate' bs, so that the fans (many of whom are here) would support the boy genius/flunkie Yalie  presumably in charge.

Bregman didn't move to 1B because Devers STUNK at 3B defensively. There was no plan to unload Devers-until he decided that HE was more important than the TEAM. Good riddance. He's doing the same thing in SF, refusing to exit the game when the manager came out to get him recently, waving him away. I don't miss his crap attitude at all.

[notin]

3 hours ago, jad said:

If Bregman was such a GREAT fielder and a GREAT team player and a GREAT 'willing-to-sacrifice' sort of guy, then the obvious question is 'WTF didn't HE move to first base?'  The RS FO has offered not a shred of evidence to refute the obvious interpretation that the plan was to unload Rafy's contract all along and to 'Tito' his departure by pushing the 'bad team-mate' bs, so that the fans (many of whom are here) would support the boy genius/flunkie Yalie  presumably in charge.

You have got to be kidding.  Want proof the plsn wasn’t to unload his contract? How about the fact that they signed his contract in the first place!  They could have just traded him away before/instead of extending him…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

14 hours ago, jad said:

The RS FO has offered not a shred of evidence to refute the obvious interpretation that the plan was to unload Rafy's contract all along and to 'Tito' his departure by pushing the 'bad team-mate' bs, so that the fans (many of whom are here) would support the boy genius/flunkie Yalie  presumably in charge.

I've always thought it was a set-up.

If we're to buy into the superior intellect that encompasses the front office, then how can we believe otherwise that not even one big ivy league brain thought it might be a good idea to discuss with their sensitive $300 million superstar that he was being replaced at his position by the signing of another high profile player?

No one talked to Raffy? Approached him about being DH or possibly trying on a first baseman's mitt? Let's just ignore the rich young man playing a boy's game? Is that behavior becoming of the smartest men in the industry?

Yes, Devers was signed longterm, but it's not like this was the first time John Henry ever changed his mind or had buyer's remorse. Plus, he was signed on Bloom's watch, not Breslow's, and for all we know Brez -- who Raffy called out at the previous deadline for not adding pitching -- may have been on a budget pinch and wanted him out so he could use the savings to improve the roster. 

We don't really know, but what we do know is that the Red Sox aren't desperate to sign a Devers replacement to another $300 million contract. Not when they can extend Anthony, Campbell and Mayer for less than that combined. And hope for the best...

[Bellhorn04]

12 hours ago, notin said:

You have got to be kidding.  Want proof the plsn wasn’t to unload his contract? How about the fact that they signed his contract in the first place!  They could have just traded him away before/instead of extending him…

The Sox also signed Carl Crawford to that big contract.  Doesn't change the fact they were thrilled to unload it.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The Sox also signed Carl Crawford to that big contract.  Doesn't change the fact they were thrilled to unload it.

And Beckett's, and even attached a guy Theo coveted (another big contract) to get the deal done.

And Price's, and even attached another guy they never intended to pay market value to get the deal done.

This is why the Red Sox will never give a free agent a no-trade clause -- so they can dump them when they're sick of paying them.

[Old Red]

12 hours ago, notin said:

You have got to be kidding.  Want proof the plsn wasn’t to unload his contract? How about the fact that they signed his contract in the first place!  They could have just traded him away before/instead of extending him…

HUH? YOU have to be kidding. Carl Crawford, Panda, and even Masa was buyers remorse. I said when they signed Raffy it was because he was the LAST man standing out of Mookie , and Bogey. Proof? Proof? Proof? Your proof doesn’t past the smell test, and another N for you. This was a doozy. WOW!🤭🙈