I'm a little surprised at how many are backing Devers. He refused to play first base, he didn't hustle down the line, he's making $31 million a year, he's the good guy?
I feel no angst about this at all. Raffy really lost me. I know the Sox screwed up some stuff too, but I'm afraid he really proved who was in the wrong with his non-hustle. That was confirmation that there were always going to be issues.
The timing doesn't surprise me. The meeting with Henry apparently didn't go well, Raffy's lack of hustle made matters worse. San Fran presumably made a push for the trade recently and they made an offer the Sox found acceptable.
I can see taking Devers's side on the position switch stuff. But how you do take the side of a guy making 31 million a year who won't run hard to first base.
The loss of Betts stands alone. That was a grievous mistake.
Bogaerts won't earn his contract, not even close, and Devers probably won't either.
Of the three, the only one who sped their own departure was Devers. He really let us down as a teammate and a person. He'll be remembered more like Nomar.
And I expect "availability" is largely determined by usage charts that are closely monitored from Day One to the final pitch of the season - taking into account all the various health or fatigue issues that pop up along the way.
I guarantee you that actual major league baseball teams in the year 2025 use a lot more than BA, ISO, Walk Rate, SB, Runs Produced and Fielding Percentage to evaluate players.
You realize that teams have large analytics departments now?