Early Trade deadline deals the selling Sox should make

[Old Red]

11 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I have no idea.  But one would think he's not unaware of the criticisms about his management style.  And power can be a short-lived thing when you work for Henry LOL.

I agree, but he definitely got more power than Bloom somehow.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I have no idea.  But one would think he's not unaware of the criticisms about his management style.  And power can be a short-lived thing when you work for Henry LOL.

At least he's been decisive. He's made an enormous amount of trades, except at deadlines.

[Old Red]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

Breslow is definitely portrayed as unlikable, but if he had given Devers his wishes, suddenly it’s “the inmates running the asylum.”

When you’re in charge and have all the responsibility and are fair game for all the blame, isn’t it necessary to flex your authority when your players refuse your changes? 

Ah the same old lazy argument on Devers. Brez was not only against Raffy, but Cora as well. Brez knows all, or at least he thinks he does.

[JoeBrady]

55 minutes ago, notin said:

When you’re in charge and have all the responsibility and are fair game for all the blame, isn’t it necessary to flex your authority when your players refuse your changes? 

Same as in real life.  I am usually a collaborative type of guy.  But sometimes a yes/no is a better answer than 'what do you think?'.  Like I said, I understand Devers position, even if I would've just grabbed the 1B mitt.  But that doesn't mean that Breslow made a bad call.

[Old Red]

1 minute ago, JoeBrady said:

Same as in real life.  I am usually a collaborative type of guy.  But sometimes a yes/no is a better answer than 'what do you think?'.  Like I said, I understand Devers position, even if I would've just grabbed the 1B mitt.  But that doesn't mean that Breslow made a bad call.

I don’t see that Raffy grabbing a 1B mitt, and learning 1B on the job would have benefited the team in the first place, and I don’t think Cora did either.

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Breslow is definitely portrayed as unlikable, but if he had given Devers his wishes, suddenly it’s “the inmates running the asylum.”

When you’re in charge and have all the responsibility and are fair game for all the blame, isn’t it necessary to flex your authority when your players refuse your changes? 

But its a pattern with breslow, not an isolated incident.  Watch any interview with breslow and he will bring up how he is the final decider multiple times. Only exception is when he axed cora , for that he said "we" and he got corrected.

[notin]

2 hours ago, Old Red said:

I don’t see that Raffy grabbing a 1B mitt, and learning 1B on the job would have benefited the team in the first place, and I don’t think Cora did either.

We all knew Devers grabbing a 3b mitt didn’t help the Red Sox.   And Devers did some 1b OJT in San Francisco.  So not sure why you are trying to argue that point.

Cora clearly knew Devers was going to be difficult to get to change positions.  He advocated for Bregman at 2b despite Bregman being the reigning AL Gold Glover at third.  So is your argument that Cora felt his infield would be best with the worst 3b in MLB still at 3b while the best one changed positions?  
 

Cora didn’t talk to Devers about 1b because he knew Devers was difficult and selfish.  It had nothing to do with whether or not Devers could play 1b (which Devers clearly proved he could).  And the worst part to me was that it was to cover for an injured teammate.  It’s not like they were just randomly bouncing him around…

[Old Red]

26 minutes ago, notin said:

We all knew Devers grabbing a 3b mitt didn’t help the Red Sox.   And Devers did some 1b OJT in San Francisco.  So not sure why you are trying to argue that point.

Cora clearly knew Devers was going to be difficult to get to change positions.  He advocated for Bregman at 2b despite Bregman being the reigning AL Gold Glover at third.  So is your argument that Cora felt his infield would be best with the worst 3b in MLB still at 3b while the best one changed positions?  
 

Cora didn’t talk to Devers about 1b because he knew Devers was difficult and selfish.  It had nothing to do with whether or not Devers could play 1b (which Devers clearly proved he could).  And the worst part to me was that it was to cover for an injured teammate.  It’s not like they were just randomly bouncing him around…

We’ve gone all over this 100’s of times already. Raffy going to SF was a whole entirely different situation, and a bad comparison at that. Raffy had been the Red Sox regular 3B for better, or worse since 2018. He went to SF who already had a good 3B, so Raff’s only choice to play outside of DH was 1B, so why you bring up that situation, and try to make a comparison you whiffed on. Why Cora didn’t talk to Raffy about playing 1B is pure speculation on everyone’s part. Also it was never an argument on how good of a 3B Raffy was, but as I’ve always said I don’t believe it was a big deal to Cora as long as Raffy hit. Did Cora think Franchy Strange Glove made the IF defense better? Going through 11 different 2B two years ago, or keeping Kike at SS as long as he did. Filling in for an injured teammate at 1B has never been proven to me would have made the Red Sox better with Raffy there, and then you weakened the DH position.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, Old Red said:

I don’t see that Raffy grabbing a 1B mitt, and learning 1B on the job would have benefited the team in the first place, and I don’t think Cora did either.

I agree with that.  Devers only saving grace at 3B is that he is surprisingly athletic for someone in his condition.  I thought he'd be a disaster at 1st.  And while it is not a cardinal rule for me, my solution to the need for a 1B would be to get a 1B.  Passing on Naylor, imo, was really bad.

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I agree with that.  Devers only saving grace at 3B is that he is surprisingly athletic for someone in his condition.  I thought he'd be a disaster at 1st.  And while it is not a cardinal rule for me, my solution to the need for a 1B would be to get a 1B.  Passing on Naylor, imo, was really bad.

I agree. Devers thought he was a good 3B, but they struggled at 1B, and Franchy was as bad as it gets with Casas getting hurt like he did.

[southpaw777]

6 hours ago, notin said:

Breslow is definitely portrayed as unlikable, but if he had given Devers his wishes, suddenly it’s “the inmates running the asylum.”

When you’re in charge and have all the responsibility and are fair game for all the blame, isn’t it necessary to flex your authority when your players refuse your changes? 

Nobody wanted Breslow to give him his wishes, but just have enough respect to make him aware of what their plans were beforehand. He may have acted different if he wasn’t treated like he was. I’m NOT all on Devers side because of how he responded, as he should have taken the high road. I was ok with trading him, just not the way they went about it. It was kind of shady.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, Old Red said:

Franchy was as bad as it gets

I saw someone hit a hard one-hopped past him that he never reacted to.  I've never seen that.  It was like he never even saw the ball.

[notin]

9 hours ago, Old Red said:

Ah the same old lazy argument on Devers. Brez was not only against Raffy, but Cora as well. Brez knows all, or at least he thinks he does.

Right because you have certainly shown yourself to have an open mind.

And if it is open, close it off soon before more of it escapes 😉

[notin]

3 hours ago, southpaw777 said:

Nobody wanted Breslow to give him his wishes, but just have enough respect to make him aware of what their plans were beforehand. He may have acted different if he wasn’t treated like he was. I’m NOT all on Devers side because of how he responded, as he should have taken the high road. I was ok with trading him, just not the way they went about it. It was kind of shady.

I saw Devers reaction.  Frankly I thought Devers should have been moved off third years ago.  And if no one had even broached the subject with him at any point in the previous 5 years, then either the Sox have had tons of clueless observers running this team or Devers was a notoriously obstinate fellow…

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Don't know what all this hoopla is about. Devers is gone and good riddance.

I'm sure the Giants are trying to figure a way to get rid him w/o eating a large portion of his ridiculous contract.

[JoeBrady]

13 hours ago, notin said:

I saw Devers reaction.  Frankly I thought Devers should have been moved off third years ago.  And if no one had even broached the subject with him at any point in the previous 5 years, then either the Sox have had tons of clueless observers running this team or Devers was a notoriously obstinate fellow…

Or, and I could be wrong, IMVHO, Devers always showed a lot of potential at 3rd.  I've seen him make plays that half the league wouldn't get to, only to botch a routine play.  I'm guessing that, at least for the first few years, the FO hoped for more consistency, and/or better conditioning.

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Or, and I could be wrong, IMVHO, Devers always showed a lot of potential at 3rd.  I've seen him make plays that half the league wouldn't get to, only to botch a routine play.  I'm guessing that, at least for the first few years, the FO hoped for more consistency, and/or better conditioning.

I always felt he had pretty quick reflexes and was more nimble that one would expect from his body type. About half his errors were throwing, so for a long time, I felt he'd be a better fit at 1B than 3B.

We also had a big need at 1B for several years, so it's not like he was blocked.

The Bregman signing made it obvious: 1B and DH. Why they did not prepare him for 1B, too is beyond me. It should have started years ago.

[notin]

20 hours ago, Old Red said:

We’ve gone all over this 100’s of times already. Raffy going to SF was a whole entirely different situation, and a bad comparison at that. Raffy had been the Red Sox regular 3B for better, or worse since 2018. He went to SF who already had a good 3B, so Raff’s only choice to play outside of DH was 1B, so why you bring up that situation, and try to make a comparison you whiffed on. Why Cora didn’t talk to Raffy about playing 1B is pure speculation on everyone’s part. Also it was never an argument on how good of a 3B Raffy was, but as I’ve always said I don’t believe it was a big deal to Cora as long as Raffy hit. Did Cora think Franchy Strange Glove made the IF defense better? Going through 11 different 2B two years ago, or keeping Kike at SS as long as he did. Filling in for an injured teammate at 1B has never been proven to me would have made the Red Sox better with Raffy there, and then you weakened the DH position.

It was actually the same situation in Boston sand SF.  Both teams had much better gloves at 3b.  Both teams asked him to play DH and 1b.  He did so in SF with no experience, whereas in Boston he whined about having “to play every position.” 
 

Whether or not it weakens the DH position is immaterial if Devers is still in the lineup.  The Sox lineup would have looked better with Devers (1b) and Yoshida (DH) than it would have with Devers (DH) and Abraham Toro (1b)…

[Old Red]

11 minutes ago, notin said:

It was actually the same situation in Boston sand SF.  Both teams had much better gloves at 3b.  Both teams asked him to play DH and 1b.  He did so in SF with no experience, whereas in Boston he whined about having “to play every position.” 
 

Whether or not it weakens the DH position is immaterial if Devers is still in the lineup.  The Sox lineup would have looked better with Devers (1b) and Yoshida (DH) than it would have with Devers (DH) and Abraham Toro (1b)…

Wow!! Did the point go way over your helmet with all the N’S on it. Raffy was the incumbent 3B in Boston, and had been since 2018. When Raffy got traded to SF the Giants already had an incumbent 3B, and a good one at that. Two entirely DIFFERENT situations.🤭🙈👋

[JoeBrady]

10 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Don't know what all this hoopla is about. Devers is gone and good riddance.

I'm sure the Giants are trying to figure a way to get rid him w/o eating a large portion of his ridiculous contract.

I think it is safe to say, at least thru today, this was a terrific move by the RS.

[JoeBrady]

20 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Raffy was the incumbent 3B in Boston, and had been since 2018.

Meh, I am not a big believer in 'incumbency'.  I had no problem with giving Devers 3-4 years to prove himself at 3B, or at least improve, but he never did.  And he didn't inspire me with his conditioning.  He lost the job fair and square.

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Meh, I am not a big believer in 'incumbency'.  I had no problem with giving Devers 3-4 years to prove himself at 3B, or at least improve, but he never did.  And he didn't inspire me with his conditioning.  He lost the job fair and square.

Cora did believe in incumbency IMO, and it was Brez who moved Raffy off 3B. If it had been up to Cora, and Cora was still here I believe Raffy would still be the Red Sox 3B.

[southpaw777]

15 hours ago, notin said:

I saw Devers reaction.  Frankly I thought Devers should have been moved off third years ago.  And if no one had even broached the subject with him at any point in the previous 5 years, then either the Sox have had tons of clueless observers running this team or Devers was a notoriously obstinate fellow…

 

 

I had no issue with him at 3b. Frustrating for sure. He made some crazy good plays then kicked the pooch on some routine stuff.
The whole situation was botched from the start and went south very quickly. could have even avoided.
overall I don’t care that he’s gone and didn’t think he deserved that big deal anyway. 

[moonslav59]

Bottom line:

I'm glad Devers is a Giant Forevers.

I'm glad Bregman is a Cubbie.

I'm glad  Bichette is a Met.

I'm fine with Contreras over Alonso.

I wish we'd gotten a second bigger bat (or two.)

[southpaw777]

17 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Bottom line:

I'm glad Devers is a Giant Forevers.

I'm glad Bregman is a Cubbie.

I'm glad  Bichette is a Met.

I'm fine with Contreras over Alonso.

I wish we'd gotten a second bigger bat (or two.)

Agree on all…but…the other bat was Alonso. We needed both bats. He got Suarez when they whiffed on that, which I liked a lot. And still do. We still need that other big bat like you said though if we’re going to be taken seriously.

[Bellhorn04]

21 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

I think it is safe to say, at least thru today, this was a terrific move by the RS.

Brez is making great moves but we stink.

It's a conundrum.

 

[moonslav59]

Just now, southpaw777 said:

Agree on all…but…the other bat was Alonso. We needed both bats. He got Suarez when they whiffed on that, which I liked a lot. And still do. We still need that other big bat like you said though if we’re going to be taken seriously.

The problem was we got Suarez instead of Bregman, who was never going to be that "other big bat." I was glad Brez botched those negotiations, but that is not putting a feather in his cap.

The offer we made to Alonso was not a serious one. I think we were fine with Anthony/Duran/Yoshida at DH and once we got Contreras, we stopped looking at 1B/DH types.

Like it or not, Schwarber & Alonso instead of Contreras was the only option, and I'm not sure Schwarber would leave PHI, anyway.

In hindsight, Brez should have dealt for BLowe or Donovan AND Durbin.

[harmony]

Would anyone trade reliever Garrett Whitock to the Mariners for two prospects -- shortstop Felnin Celesten and catcher Luke Stevenson -- as proposed by a Seattle podcaster?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdOOESluea4

... at about 23:00.

In his late May prospect list, Keith Law ranked the 20-year-old Celesten No. 17 overall and included the 21-year-old Stevenson among "other players who weren’t on my preseason top 100 ranking but are heading towards next winter’s list."

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7311086/2026/05/28/mlb-prospects-top-50-midseason-update/

Whitlock has a 2026 salary of $7.5 million with am $8.25 club option for 2027 and a $10.5 million club option for 2028.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, harmony said:

Would anyone trade reliever Garrett Whitock to the Mariners for two prospects -- shortstop Felnin Celesten and catcher Luke Stevenson -- as proposed by a Seattle podcaster?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdOOESluea4

... at about 23:00.

In his late May prospect list, Keith Law ranked the 20-year-old Celesten No. 17 overall and included the 21-year-old Stevenson among "other players who weren’t on my preseason top 100 ranking but are heading towards next winter’s list."

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7311086/2026/05/28/mlb-prospects-top-50-midseason-update/

Whitlock has a 2026 salary of $7.5 million with am $8.25 club option for 2027 and a $10.5 million club option for 2028.

I'm no expert on even our own farm, but this seems like the type of deal Brez might or should make.

The big drawback is that this is a punt down the road deal, as Whitlock has 2 years left, and our pen needs help now on top of having an 80 year old closer with just 1 year of possible control left, too.

I'm not sure the plan will be about 2028 and beyond. There needs to be 2027 included. Maybe that comes from the Gray trade, or maybe a Chapman trade. Maybe it comes from a Contreras trade.

Duran, IKF & Coulombe trades won't move the needle much.

 

[notin]

On 7/1/2026 at 12:52 PM, Old Red said:

Cora did believe in incumbency IMO, and it was Brez who moved Raffy off 3B. If it had been up to Cora, and Cora was still here I believe Raffy would still be the Red Sox 3B.

Or Cora believed in catering to the whiny so as to keep the peace…