vjcsmoke

I'm convinced that the Soto courting was all posturing. They never intended to outbid the Mets or whoever the ultimate winner of the sweepstakes were. They just wanted to appear to be making an effort to appease the fans but would always end up a few million dollars short of signing the potential franchise talent player. They just wanted to be able to say, "See, we tried, but we just couldn't get there. You can't blame us for lack of effort!"

The real problem is that our front office is player-hostile. Get Pedro martinez or Big Papi as an ambassador and Devers problem could have been solved quietly and smoothly. Instead it become a war in the press. I strongly suspect that the real motivation was Red Sox salary dump and they wanted an excuse to dump Devers on another team while saving face. They got themselves out from under a 300 million dollar contract they never wanted to give. Never mind that Devers has been our best offensive player the past 3 years since signing the contract.

I'm shocked we dealt Devers. I mean I get his decision to stick to DH and not play the field anymore didn't sit well with management. But he's our best offensive player and hitting his best recently. He banged his 15th homer the other day, his 500th career extra base hit. Now he will play for the Giants and it feels like a salary dump. What haul did we get in return? A starting pitcher Jordan Hicks who has been unlucky with a 6.47 ERA this year. The Giants top pitching prospect in Kyle Harrison who we hope will pan out. And some lesser prospects. No sure fire proven players here. We better hope Harrison turns into a top of the rotation pitcher for the Red Sox or this trade will go down in infamy.

Who do you guys feel will get traded at the deadline? I keep hearing Jurran Duran's name mentioned. I do feel we have an excess of outfielders, especially since we need to make room for our #1 prospect Roman Anthony. The good news is we're not as bad as the Baltimore Orioles but the bad news is we're still the 4th best team in the division. I feel like we have some talent to compete but it's just not 'all there' somehow.

Naah, this ship has sailed. Devers is not going to play first. The manager won't pressure him to play first. He's hitting very well now and there's no need to mess with his mojo. 1st base is probably the least valuable defensive position on the field. We will be able to find a league average player to stick there sooner or later. Maybe near the trade deadline.

I think the Bregman injury opens up an opportunity for Marcelo Mayer to try manning the hot corner. This way we can put Story back at SS and Campbell back to 2B. 1B is still a mess but at least we have solutions for 3B in house imo. The speculation of Devers back to 3rd don't make sense. We don't need to piss him off by temporarily shifting him back only to put him back to DH once Bregman is healthy.

The Red Sox just traded for Ryan Noda. Our 1st base problems are solved! Hopefully... two seasons ago Noda slugged for .770 OPS which is respectable. Last year he was not doing so hot with a .465 OPS. Hopefully he turns it around with a change in scenery. mlb reference noda: Ryan Noda Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

I'd rather Mayer at SS. That's a bigger impact position. Slide Story to 2nd and Campbell to 1st. I don't think Campbell stays at 1st permanently. Once we move on from Story and/or we get a real 1st baseman we can move Campbell back to 2nd.

I think the real problem was setting expectations. The Red Sox did not talk with Devers ahead of time and say, well we want to improve the team, and if we sign a guy like Bregman we really need you to consider 1B OR DH for the good of the team. If the conversation had gone down like that before free agency I don't think we'd have nearly as much friction now. Whether or not you like Devers reaction, I think you can see his point. You told me, I'm not the 3B anymore, I'm the DH. Now you want me to switch from DH to 1B? To him it feels like 2 position switches. Maybe Papi acting as an ambassador in this situation could help smooth things over, but do Breslow and Red Sox management think the same thing and did they reach out to him for help here? Who knows. Cora at least seems to back Devers staying at DH. He's doing the smart thing by keeping his star player happy.

Yes. It really happened. I guess we were desperate. I've read another rumor that we might be interested in Baltimore's Ryan O'Hearn. He's having his best season yet at age 31. I guess he's a late bloomer? He will be a free agent at the end of the year. So we would be buying a rental. Shouldn't be too pricey considering there's no additional control and I could take him seriously as a 1st baseman replacement. He's currently ripping it for .955 OPS with 7 homeruns.

We signed Rizzo to play 1st base. Not even joking. He's 35 years old and his OPS trend has gone down each year: .817 -> .706 -> .637. I mean he used to be good a few years ago. Maybe he'll have a minor bounce back year and hit a useful .750ish? Anyone hyped about this pickup? I find it hard to get enthused. I guess the only bonus is if he goes off against his former team when we face them head to head. Article source: Red Sox Sign Former Yankees All-Star First Baseman Slugger

Campbell and Abreu have been really nice pleasant surprises. Campbell is the biggest surprise to do that as a rookie. Abreu was not hitting this well last year so he has grown into a really good every day outfielder, arguably our best one right now. Bregman is kind of expected because of the big money we spent on him and how his swing is tailored for Fenway park but it is a big relief that he is meeting expectations and doing well. We definitely did not want to swing and miss with the big contract we paid him in the offseason. Very importantly, Devers is back to being Devers and his numbers are returning to normal. It's so important to have your big bat in the middle of the lineup be a real threat. My main concern is that Casas still doesn't look great. I was expecting more for him. Also our catchers are just bad offensively, like, really really poor. Connor Wong in particular has crashed. Narvaez has won the job by default of not being as sucky as our other catchers who hit for sub .400 OPS. I'm glad the team is over .500 now and getting that big 10-2 revenge win against the Blue Jays was a nice way to show we can compete against the division.

Another Sandy Alcantara trade rumor today. This time the centerpiece of the trade is Rafaela Ceddanne. I think moving a utility player plus prospects for a frontline SP who has a couple years of control is a move worth making. Red Sox give Ceddane Rafaela, Franklin Arias, David Sandlin, and Mikey Romero. Receive: RHP Sandy Alcantara. Who says no to this deal? Would you do it? article: Red Sox could cut ties with Ceddanne Rafaela in trade for $56M AL East-altering star

Story has been a dud no doubt about it. But he's the best we've got at SS until Marcelo Mayer is ready. Also his contract is very untradeable while he is playing badly. I think if he can get back to league average shortstop numbers and when Mayer is ready and called up, the Red Sox might be able to move Story on later near trade deadline without having to lose significant assets.

Campbell has really come on lately. Maybe his new contract motivated him! Maybe his girlfriend is treating him extra nice now, who knows. But certainly seems like he is validating the deal. Very small sample size but an opening season slash line of .400 avg, .500 obp, .750 slg, and 1.25 OPS is extremely encouraging!

On the one hand 8/60m is a bargain if he works out as a starter level player at 2B. ON the other hand he has proven pretty much nothing. How many of his free agency years did we buy out with this deal? He struggled in spring training but has played well to start the season from what I can see.

Crochett looked pretty good on opening day. As long as he stays relatively healthy for the remainder of the contract this looks like a good deal to lock in a top of the rotation pitcher. I feel this is a good long term move for the Red Sox.

.111? wow that's even worse. mlb reference told me his OPS was in the .550's. ok it's updated to .111 now. that's an ice cold slump! lemme check casas. .180 OPS. OOF. our middle of lineup is DED. should Abreu bat cleanup for a little bit? he's sitting at a crazy 2.30 OPS!

We're in last place after losing back to back close 1 run games to the Rangers. Devers has been atrocious with a .552 OPS to start the season. To give you an idea how bad that is, the awful, stinky, atrocious return of JBJ to the Red Sox saw him bat .578 OPS before we got rid of him. Now this has only been ONE 4 game series. So it's a super small sample size. But clearly something is wrong with Devers and he might be cold for a minute before he figures it out and gets out of his slump. But our whole middle of the order could be doing better. Casas and Devers have been ice cold. I think perhaps Cora should consider tweaking the batting order to account for this? We can't have Devers and Casas stranding people. Why not put the hot hitters in impact positions till Devers and Casas figure it out.

A good win against the Rangers to start the season. Crochett pitched well enough to win. The bullpen was solid. Went back down to earth in game 2 with a 4-1 loss. Offense did not click. But Abreu has been the surprise of the early season. Who would think he would start off the season this hot? Campbell has also been hitting well. He may well stick if he keeps it up with his bat and plays solid defense. Hopefully we can bounce back with a win and take the series. Talent seems to be there. We just need our big bats to warm up. We need more from the likes of Devers, Bregman, and Casas.

Another day another rumor. This time more Sandy Alcantara talk. According to this article, Bowden thinks the Red Sox would offer a package for the Marlins star pitcher headlined by OF Wilyer Abreu and 3 minor league prospects Perales, Arias, and Valera. article: Red Sox Predicted To Swap Wilyer Abreu, 3 Others For Marlins Ace Sandy Alcantara Is the price too steep? If this deal is palatable would it be better to make the trade sooner to get him used to the Red Sox or later when Roman Anthony is likely to be ready to step in?

Looks like Hamilton has won the 2B job. Also Grissom got optioned out to Triple AAA. This is his last option year. Unless he develops and is called up later this year, the Red Sox might need to cut bait on their central acquisition from the Chris Sale trade. I'm optimistic about seeing a future IF of Mayer SS/Campbell 2B. And then later Roman Anthony in RF. For now the kids will get the most playing time and best development in the minors. But hopefully we get to see them again when rosters expand and maybe they can contribute a little down the stretch.

There are growing indications that Campbell will be our starting 2nd baseman. He's had 3 starts next to Story in a row. Bregman I think will play 3B and Devers has grudgingly accepted the DH role. Defensively that probably gives us our best infield with Casas at 1B. Article predicting Campbell as 2b starter: Red Sox 22-Year-Old Predicted To Crack Opening Day Roster Despite Shaky Spring

BTW Do we trade Vaughn Grissom because Marcelo Mayer could be ready soon or what's his story? He hit poorly last year, nor did he light it up in the minors. Article in favor of trading him: https://www.si.com/mlb/red-sox/boston-red-sox-news/red-sox-urged-to-trade-24-year-old-change-of-scenery-candidate-amid-roster-crunch-jackson3

All three of our big prospects hit a Homerun in the same game. This is the future we are looking forward to. Hope they are ready to help the big club soon! Article: https://www.mlb.com/news/kristian-campbell-marcelo-mayer-go-back-to-back-in-spring-breakout