mvp 78

We've had some bad first posts, but this is not one of them. I am also waiting to see if he'll heat up in June. I don't expect him to repeat 2024, but if he gets back to 2023 Duran, he's still a valuable guy at the top of the lineup. Right now, his metrics look similar to 2023, is BABIP is just a lot lower (good luck in '23 mixed with bad luck in '25?). I think his career low HR/FB% should turn around as the weather heats up since he's still hitting the ball hard.

moon, you have a long history of being willfully obtuse. We can point out stuff to you all day long and you'll just ignore it like all of the other times. Masa is as healthy as Raffy. Masa is in IL limbo because they just don't believe in him as a player and can't figure out what to do with him. It's the most passive aggressive thing the Sox have done in a long time. "Well, I didn't sign him, so just send him to WOO to rehab or whatever."

I wouldn't move Raffy off of DH. I'm just saying what I think the Sox will do.

They’ll trade him for a rule 5 eligible guy or an arm.

Keeping a DH in AAA on rehab because he can’t throw is roster manipulation. They haven’t used an option. Raffy can’t throw either.

Has anyone heard a status update on Fitts?

If the Sox started the season with: Raffy 1B Masa DH The team would have been much better off this year.

Since then: 730 OPS 16 HR 11 2B 92 G -0.3 bWAR He'll have a lot of time to work on his tan. 😎

It's said in the media because Breslow didn't appropriately address it prior to Spring Training. If he had, Raffy would have had a better response to the reporters and this wouldn't be a story.

Sox are doing whatever they can to keep him on the IL. ROSTER MANIPULATION

I think Casas probably wishes he signed that extension!

What injury? The one where Yoshida could still DH as much as he did last season, but not play the filed where he's absolutely horrible? Why would they want him in the field anyway? Seems like they also aren't treating Yoshida all that well.

It also seems that Cora and Breslow are not on the same page. Cora: wanted Bregman to be 2b Breslow: didn't want Bregman, but relented and signed him to be 3b I just wonder if there's underlying tension since Breslow has the job that Cora openly wanted, but was turned down for. Cora has been here longer, knows he has pull with ownership and just sees things in a certain way. Breslow is new to the job, trying to make his way and probably stepping on toes as he goes (maybe inadvertently).

I just think the communication all along should have left the door open for the likelihood that he may eventually have to play 1B or 3B again. However, that seems like it was not how they approached it. They told Devers that he was done playing the field and he was the fulltime DH going forward no matter what. That's what Cora said. I wouldn't be so sure about Casas being back. His knee injury is pretty significant and he likely won't be on the Opening Day roster even if he stays on track for his rehab. Similar injuries have taken other players 14 months to come back from. Even then, he's not a guy who has bounced back and doesn't have a strong MLB track record TBH.

Houck has just been kind of dreadful. His sweeper doesn't work anymore. He was "the right handed Chris Sale" because of that hard slider, but it's just trash now. The splitter was a great pitch for him last year, but it's doing nada this year. He just can't get LHB out anymore (7.21 FIP/1029 OPS). He may need to go to the pen at some point and try to figure it out again. I think I'd rather Newcomb out there TBH.

For the season: 146 wRC+ (career high) 398 OBP (career high) 16.2 bb% (career high) 415 xWOBA (career high) 95.6 exit velo (career high) 18.8 barrel% (career high) 61.6 hard hit% (career high) 40.2 LA sweet spot% (career high) 22.1 out of zone swing% (career low) He's been a better hitter as a DH than he has been as a 3b even including that first awful week. I think they should just keep him at DH and let him be a wreaking ball for the next how ever many seasons.

Breslow and Cora are paid to manage players. To this point, they have not managed Devers or this situation well. That's on them, not Devers. Devers was told he was going to be the long term 3b. Then he's told to throw away his glove that he's going to be DH and won't play the field again. Now he's told he has to play 1b. That's how you treat Romy Gonzalez, not your franchise player Rafael Devers.

It all blows over and Devers plays 1B at some point down the road. 50/50 he plays this season.

No! Who's that?

If you want an article about Devers, you do it like this: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-red-sox-are-pulling-the-wrong-levers-with-rafael-devers/ Written by our own @Davy Andrews But it’s hard to fault him for being upset that the team went back on its word. And if you fault a player for telling the truth to the public, you should take at least as much issue with the organization that misled both him and the public. After 12 years, the team must have known Devers well enough to expect him to take this personally. And after the dustup in February, taking essentially the same tack – deny it publicly, then spring a complete reversal on him privately – borders on absurdity. Imagine being Devers. You’re the face of the franchise, you’re continually reassured that your position is safe, and then, late in spring training, you’re told that none of it was actually true, that you’ll no longer get to play in the field, ever again. Then, two months later, when it’s expedient, you’re told that also wasn’t true. 🔥

If I'm making a move to get Roman on the team, I'm dealing Jarren. He still has a lot of value around the league. He's a top of the order bat. He has less control than the other OFers. It would be a huge shakeup, but is the right move for the product on the field. And the "sources say Rafaela isn't taking pitches" is straight from Sam Kennedy's playbook. I hate that.

The problem was twofold: 1. Didn't adequately communicate with Raffy 2. Didn't trade either Masa and/or Casas in the offseason I don't feel sorry for the Red Sox right now and I support Devers. He has a right to be frustrated.

Lawson probably didn't want to throw his player under the bus like that. Good on him. Not sure how that kind of stuff gets out there. Not sure the Sox are going to get Rafaela to have metrics better than where they are right now anyway. He has cut way down on his k's and increased his bb's. Just let him be who he is and he's on a bit of a roll right now anyway (767 OPS, 108 wRC+ since 4/22). Seems like they are priming the pump for a change in CF.

Hard to put Duran and "hit" in the same sentence this season.