When Masataka Yoshida Returns to Boston, Where Does He Fit?

18 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Yoshida is NOT playing 1B. C'mon now. 

Devers could and might prefer it to DH'ing.

I have to wonder what the Casas trade value is, right now. It's likely not as low as some might think it is.

1. Duran CF

2. Devers 3B

3. Bregman 3B

4. Abreu RF/Story SS

5. Story SS/Refsnyder RF

6. Yoshida DH

7. Campbell 2B

8. Anthony LF

9. Wong/Narvaez/Grandal

Bench: Catcher, Abreu/Refsnyder, Rafaela, Romy

34 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Old baseball saying: you can never have too much depth! 

But you can have a lack of quality at the expense of a quantity of mediocrity.

10 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Will the warmer weather help Casas and Devers ????

Maybe.

Career splits for Casas:

.658 April

.766 May

.839 June

1.199 July

.852 August

.798 Sept

Devers, not so much...

.806 April

.908 May

.889 June

1.008 July

.759 August

.798 Sept

29 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Andrew wright of Newsweek floated a Devers to the cubs trade idea!!! Seems like Matt Shaw got sent to the minors. Maybe bres-slow needs to call the cubs asap!!!!!  I am thinking Devers and yoshida for a thank card and a bucket of used baseballs!!!

I can't believe people have bailed, so quickly, on Devers.

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I can't believe people have bailed, so quickly, on Devers.

Fans tend to bail quickly on any player who's not performing.  I get it.  It's hard to have patience sometimes, but it's a must.  We've seen players time and time again come back strongly after a very tough stretch.

Just now, mvp 78 said:

We've also seen some players just completely lose it. I don't think Devers is the type of player to completely lose it at his age though. For me, knowing there was an issue with his should just makes me wonder if something else is causing this slump. I don't agree with the nonsense about pouting about 3b. 

Yes, sometimes players just lose it, but you have to give it some time to know if a player has just lost it or if it's something else.  I don't think that Devers is pouting about 3B any longer, but I do think that the mental adjustment of going from a full time position player to DH could be a real factor.

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

You should believe it. You've been on the internet long enough to see this behavior before. 

It's beyond bailing. We're talking a "bucket of balls" trade.

38 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's beyond bailing. We're talking a "bucket of balls" trade.

Oh no! Say it ain’t so. Raffy for a bucket of balls🙈🤭. Raffy usually takes most of the abuse on the game threads, and from bat to bat depending on how he does good, or bad, so it’s nothing new.

44 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

A bucket of used baseballs!!!!   And I was just joking!!! But bres-slow should kick the tires on everything just as a matter of good business practice 

Devers has been our best offensive player since Betts was traded. If you believe in clutch, and often complain about the Sox lack of timely hitting, then consider this...

Devers has a career .852 OPS.

.859 High Leverage

.868 Men on Base

.879 2 outs RISP

.891 RISP

He was on pace for a career high OPS in 2024- yes, way back 9 months ago, before an injury set him back.

I'm not against trading anybody for a better return, but I would not single him out as the guy I'm kicking tires on. Listen to offers, sure, but I'm not going out of my way to find a way to get rid of our best hitter.

16 minutes ago, Hitch said:

Through sheer existence, sports fans are impatient, but the start of this season has been something else. 

I've said it all summer - if Devers is DH, Yoshi has no place on this team outside of expensive depth. Trade ain't happening, they will almost certainly not DFA him, doesn't leave much else.  

He has options remaining, so AAA is an option.

We are not squeezed on the 40 man, as we just DFA'd Fulmer, and Sogard is no wonder player.

We could probably 60 Day IL Crawford or Wong, or DFA Sabol to add Grandal. 

Once we hit the wall on other options, we will keep Yoshida in AAA. That day might not even come, this year.

1 hour ago, Larry Cook said:

I think Cora said Wong is back in 3 weeks 

I'm not sure he ends up playing more than Narvaez, even when fully healthy.

On 4/18/2025 at 5:07 PM, drewski6 said:

Ive experienced the opposite with my friends. But I understand there is a contingent who do not have patience.  But my friends were jumping for joy over james paxton's return, telling me that verdugo was good, and all this other "had fallen in love with mediocrity" takes.

And calling Verdugo mediocre is generous.

People get impatient, but people also tend to overrate their own guys.

Very true about overrating your own guys.  I have to admit that I am guilty of doing that.  Actually, I'm not so sure it's overrating guys or just trying to stay positive about players?  Are they the same thing?

Some of it is probably wishful thinking and hoping for the best, some of it is feeling the need to defend Red Sox players against all the criticism.  Some of it is having a lot of patience, maybe too much. 

6 hours ago, drewski6 said:

It depends about which one you are talking about and the context.

For example, some of the worst takes Ive ever read on this forum, Ive read today. From good posters too. Anybody, anywhere talking about getting rid of Duran, and saying (for example): I wouldnt trade Duran for the best closer and the best catcher together in a 2 for 1. Thats not overrating (and I dont mean because it was me who said it). Because hes awesome (and I was on board with trading him last year).

Different sport , I know, but I hvae this friend who just wouldnt give up on Mac Jones. He blamed everyone else and wanted to keep giving Mac chance after Mac. Thats prob an example of overrating his own guys.

It seems like a fine line sometimes between having patience with a player who has the potential and should be performing better than they are and overrating a player.  I have a hard time giving up on Red Sox players, probably to a fault.

I do agree with your overall point that fans tend to overrate their own players.