Trading Places: Should A Trevor Story-Marcelo Mayer Position Swap Be on the Red Sox's Radar?

[notin]

7 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Story should have stayed at 2b. Swanson was a real SS. We had this discussion at the time. It's not buzzarding.

It was also never going to happen. Story was going back to SS once Bogaerts left…

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, alsoason said:

We will say this, do we think Story earned the crazy money he was paid to get hurt and play subpar ball throughout the contract, HELL NO. Bello is another example of getting WAY OVERPAID for just how much he has mastered his craft. Roman Anthony needs to hit either in the 3 hole or clean up. Put Duran back leading off, If the season continues as it has started without a doubt Story is gone at the trade deadline, hell he might be gone no matter what, even if they start jelling. All of a sudden I see Free Agent, and the word Union in a different light. The Owners WILL WIN in the coming lockout. Contracts should be year to year  performance driven with each player on every team having the ability to earn as much money as he can produce. Change is coming to MLB. Everyone knows the "economy" is just one giant leveraged bubble. The Owners should take back their assets, and cut their costs through a new pay scale saving them Capital which they can return to the fans through cut ticket prices(we are talking over 50% in most cases) and concessions at the Ballpark. There had to be a ceiling somewhere in the Monopoly game, with the mockery the Dodgers are making of the "open market"" push back was 100% assured. 

Duran is in the worst and longest slump on the team.

[mvp 78]

13 hours ago, notin said:

It was also never going to happen. Story was going back to SS once Bogaerts left…

Why? 

[mvp 78]

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Duran is in the worst and longest slump on the team.

He's not going to get out of it by playing part time and stewing on the bench. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He's not going to get out of it by playing part time and stewing on the bench. 

Still can't get over Duran being pinch-bunted for by a defensive specialist (who couldn't bunt either).

But how can a really fast baserunner who played college ball get to the majors and not know how to bunt?

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Still can't get over Duran being pinch-bunted for by a defensive specialist (who couldn't bunt either).

But how can a really fast baserunner who played college ball get to the majors and not know how to bunt?

It was kinda funny. Duran should be able to lay down a bunt with his skillset. I guess not with this org. 

[mvp 78]

And IKF fouled out bunting too. 😎

[moonslav59]

24 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He's not going to get out of it by playing part time and stewing on the bench. 

He may not ever get "out of it."

[Old Red]

53 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He's not going to get out of it by playing part time and stewing on the bench. 

That was the biggest talking point on another talk show yesterday prior to the game about Cora having so many different lineups, and how it makes it harder to get going for the players in, and out of the lineup the most.

[moonslav59]

13 minutes ago, Old Red said:

That was the biggest talking point on another talk show yesterday prior to the game about Cora having so many different lineups, and how it makes it harder to get going for the players in, and out of the lineup the most.

It sucks having too many great players.

[mvp 78]

13 minutes ago, Old Red said:

That was the biggest talking point on another talk show yesterday prior to the game about Cora having so many different lineups, and how it makes it harder to get going for the players in, and out of the lineup the most.

Having 5 OFers is fine actually! It's going great! 🤩

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Why? 

Not sure why.  But Whats anout their offer to Bogaerts made you think they were into bringing back another shortstop?

They had already committed lots of money to one shortstop, getting him the year before necessary.  Given their public commitment to younger players snd lower salaries, I think having $50 mill in AAV tied up on just middle infielders for the next 6 years or so felt unlikely to me…

[notin]

1 hour ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Still can't get over Duran being pinch-bunted for by a defensive specialist (who couldn't bunt either).

But how can a really fast baserunner who played college ball get to the majors and not know how to bunt?

Why do fans (not you specifically)think bunting is so easy? 
 

It’s a dying skill around MLB, true, as the Rays are showing.  Not because the Rays can’t bunt, but rather because they’ve been showing that no one knows how to defend it anymore.  But bunting MLB is pitching is difficult and not a given.  
 

For Duran, no idea how much he bunted in college, but probably not often against pitchers throwing 98 mph sinkers…

[mvp 78]

25 minutes ago, notin said:

Not sure why.  But Whats anout their offer to Bogaerts made you think they were into bringing back another shortstop?

They had already committed lots of money to one shortstop, getting him the year before necessary.  Given their public commitment to younger players snd lower salaries, I think having $50 mill in AAV tied up on just middle infielders for the next 6 years or so felt unlikely to me…

Wait, so they made an offer to a FA that offseason, but they wouldn't make one to Dansby? 🫡

[mvp 78]

22 minutes ago, notin said:

For Duran, no idea how much he bunted in college, but probably not often against pitchers throwing 98 mph sinkers…

Strawman alert!

 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

36 minutes ago, notin said:

Why do fans (not you specifically)think bunting is so easy? 

It's not easy if you've never learned it, but that's maybe the point. 

Professional batters presumably have the best hand-eye coordination in the sport. Guys who made it to the majors used to have all the basics mastered on the way up... maybe this changed when clubs just started promoting god-blessed athletes like Deon Sanders.

If they have split-second pitch recognition and reactions that allow them to check swing, then they can also pull back on pitches they can't bunt. But metrics also decided this century it's not worth it to bunt anymore (they didn't poll Red Sox fans who'd rather watch their favorite whiffers win in extra innings more often).

Some wonder if programs in high school, college and the minor leagues no longer teach bunting? How many of us remember at any level taking batting practice: we weren't even allowed to swing until we bunted one fair towards first, then towards third. And the next swing was a fake-bunt slash (another lost art).

Of course, those who do make it to The Show likely get there from hacking away and are just out of practice.

 

[mvp 78]

There were 5 seasons where Deion had more bunts than the entire Red Sox did last year. 

In '95, he had as many bunts as the Sox did from '24-'25. He only played in 85 games that year.

[notin]

32 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Wait, so they made an offer to a FA that offseason, but they wouldn't make one to Dansby? 🫡

Did they make one to another middle infielder?

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, notin said:

Did they make one to another middle infielder?

They should have! There was budget for it apparently! 

[notin]

28 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

It's not easy if you've never learned it, but that's maybe the point. 

Professional batters presumably have the best hand-eye coordination in the sport. Guys who made it to the majors used to have all the basics mastered on the way up... maybe this changed when clubs just started promoting god-blessed athletes like Deon Sanders.

If they have split-second pitch recognition and reactions that allow them to check swing, then they can also pull back on pitches they can't bunt. But metrics also decided this century it's not worth it to bunt anymore (they didn't poll Red Sox fans who'd rather watch their favorite whiffers win in extra innings more often).

Some wonder if programs in high school, college and the minor leagues no longer teach bunting? How many of us remember at any level taking batting practice: we weren't even allowed to swing until we bunted one fair towards first, then towards third. And the next swing was a fake-bunt slash (another lost art).

Of course, those who do make it to The Show likely get there from hacking away and are just out of practice.

 

Metrics do dictate against sacrifice bunting in most cases, and they should.  There are times when metrics favor the sac bunt, however, so it’s not taboo.

But bunting isn’t easy especially against MLB pitching.  I watched Dansby Swanson pop up two bunts in the tenth inning on Sunday, not because he didn’t know what he was doing but because Craig Kimbrel (yes, he is still alive) was on to him and threw nothing but high fastballs.  Know how hard it is to bunt a high Major league fastball?  That’s not something you can work on in high school.

 

[notin]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They should have! There was budget for it apparently! 

Adalberto Mondesi didnt cut it for you?

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Metrics do dictate against sacrifice bunting in most cases, and they should.  There are times when metrics favor the sac bunt, however, so it’s not taboo.

But bunting isn’t easy especially against MLB pitching.  I watched Dansby Swanson pop up two bunts in the tenth inning on Sunday, not because he didn’t know what he was doing but because Craig Kimbrel (yes, he is still alive) was on to him and threw nothing but high fastballs.  Know how hard it is to bunt a high fastball?  That’s not something you can work on in high school.

 

We worked on our pitchers throwing high and inside whenever a batter squared.

The idea isn't to bean a guy, but to get him to pop up into a double play...

... because every single batter in the history of high school baseball -- whenever they got the bunt sign -- went after the next pitch, no matter where it was: 10 feet outside, over their heads, underground, in the parking lot at DQ.

They can't help themselves, even when it's not a suicide squeeze -- it's an obligatory rite of passage, like talking to the redhead at the drive-in in The Outsiders, even when you know you don't have a prayer.

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, notin said:

Adalberto Mondesi didnt cut it for you?

That was a total WTH player.

He came to the Sox as a 26 year old with a 4 year .738 OPS with 21 HRs & 68 SBs per 650!

He never faced another MLB or minor league pitch... not even for the Sox.

[mvp 78]

54 minutes ago, notin said:

Metrics do dictate against sacrifice bunting in most cases, and they should.  There are times when metrics favor the sac bunt, however, so it’s not taboo.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/game-strategy-explorer?type=winexp&qs={"inning"%3A9%2C"half"%3A"Bottom"%2C"outs"%3A1%2C"balls"%3A0%2C"strikes"%3A0%2C"situation"%3A"Sac Bunt"%2C"run_diff"%3A0%2C"runners"%3A{"1b"%3Atrue%2C"2b"%3Afalse%2C"3b"%3Afalse}%2C"perspective"%3A"bat"}

 

[drewski6]

3 hours ago, Old Red said:

That was the biggest talking point on another talk show yesterday prior to the game about Cora having so many different lineups, and how it makes it harder to get going for the players in, and out of the lineup the most.

The average number of different lineups used by MLB managers over the course of a season is like 100.  The everyday lineup is extinct.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/baseballs-lineup-shuffle-1459443463

[Nick]

17 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Duran is in the worst and longest slump on the team.

You have been around forever. Should we simply trade a player that's had a career season thinking it's as good as it gets? It's probably better than 50/50 odd that the player will never return to repeat the season. Sure there are exceptions. But

In retrospect, should we have traded Duran two years ago when his value was the max?

[Nick]

On 4/20/2026 at 10:02 AM, mvp 78 said:

Henry wants to eat as little of these contracts as possible. I think he can eat one year at a time. I don't think he'll eat two years. There's a chance these guys can be moved this deadline if the Sox are out of it or in the offseason with significant $$$ being taken on by the Sox. The cap resets with a new CBA so I there shouldn't be any concerns there. 

Let's just hope he has an 'uptick' before the deadline and we're out of it. Surely someone will want him.

I don't see a scenario where he improves to another level and stay there for further improvement. He will pitch well for a stretch but revert back to his old trick.

[Alex Mayes]

27 minutes ago, Nick said:

You have been around forever. Should we simply trade a player that's had a career season thinking it's as good as it gets? It's probably better than 50/50 odd that the player will never return to repeat the season. Sure there are exceptions. But

In retrospect, should we have traded Duran two years ago when his value was the max?

We absolutely should have traded Duran two years ago. His rise felt unsustainable then and the front office should have capitalized on his value to make improvements to the team. The next best time to trade him was the deadline last year when, rumor has it, Leo De Vries was on the table. Now that he’s even more stuck in the outfield log jam and not producing, he has zero value.

[moonslav59]

43 minutes ago, Nick said:

You have been around forever. Should we simply trade a player that's had a career season thinking it's as good as it gets? It's probably better than 50/50 odd that the player will never return to repeat the season. Sure there are exceptions. But

In retrospect, should we have traded Duran two years ago when his value was the max?

Duran was streaky for a long time before 2024. He must have changed his approach  and stance a dozen times. His defense was very shaky until 2024, too.

i always had my doubts, and because we had 3 other OF'ers looking good, I felt he was the guy to trade- not because I expected him to suck, but because I liked the other three better. Plus, we had Yoshida (Devers & Casas) as DH types over those years.

I'm really not trying to sound like "I told you so," because I did not think he'd decline like this. Plus, this may just be a slump.

[notin]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Strawman alert!

 

So your point is Duran fouled off two cutters, therefore the only conclusion is the Sox never practice bunting?

Duran might not be a very good bunter (I have no idea if he is or isn’t), but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t practice it or never has.  He’s not hitting for s*** this year.  Can we assume he isn’t practicing that, too? 
 

But every time some player fails to lay down a bunt, it’s always “the Sox never practice bunting! Bad fundamentals!”  And no one ever says “bunting isn’t this high percentage play hitters can pull off nearly every time.” 
 

If the Sox truly never practice bunting, than maybe Cora should stop asking them to bunt…