Maxbialystock

Terrific narrative!! The players should get all the credit, but I would also give some to Cora, the pitching coach, and even Breslow. I do not think this is blind stupid luck.

Nick, an outstanding summary. I defended Devers relentlessly, but I agree with this trade/move and agree with you that the Sox will be fine. Well, as fine as their pitching will get them.

Meh. Without Devers the Sox have Bregman (next month), OPS .938, Ref .933, Toro .884, Gonzalez .856, Narvaez .824. Abreu .792, and Duran .740. Story and Rafaela both have OPS's in the .800's in June. I rooted like crazy for Devers and defended his position, but I agree with this move at this time. What kind of fascinates me is how Cora will manage this team because Breslow will want to play those rookies. When Bregman returns, who plays SS and 2b? When Abreu returns, who is the the starting outfield?

Credible.

I thought he had good stuff. He used his fast ball a lot but he also had some nasty breaking balls. 10 K's. And this is his 2d straight excellent start. So, much as I hate to admit it, maybe Breslow wasn't completely screwed up when he signed him. And maybe the pitching coach is working miracles because this is now 6 straight excellent starts by the rotation.

I completely agree Breslow was way out of line with Devers. He lied to him about keeping 3b, right up until he announced Bregman would play 3b and not 2b. Cora got Raffy to embrace DH, and he was excellent there and didn't miss a game. Plus all the rbi's. I was one of the few--and I don't recall that you were--rooting for Devers. Of course the Giants are thrilled and don't mind paying extra for a DH. He's exactly what they need. So let's agree that Breslow poisoned the well and made it necessary to trade Devers. On the other hand, Raffy's OPS dropped about 80 points after Bregman went on the IL not quite a month ago (May 24). OTOH, $30M/year is a bundle for a DH, especially when the Sox biggest need is pitching. OTOH, the Sox have hit reasonably well since they lost Bregman and should get better when he returns. Including Bregman and Abreu, both on the IL, the Sox have 5 hitters with OPS's ranging from .938 to .792. Duran's is .740. And this month Rafaela's is .839 and Story's is .826. If the pitching holds up, the Sox won't miss Devers. If the pitching doesn't hold up, Devers, even with an OPS of 1000--which he never had--couldn't save the Sox from a losing season.

He got three straight K's. That's great pitching! This is 2 straight great starts by Giolito.

Emphatically agree. This is 6 straight great starts by the Sox rotation and 2 of them were by Gioloto. Moreover, the Sox lineup scored just enough to win all 6 games. But winning at Seattle and against Gilbert (ERA 2.55) is huge. I think Breslow lied to Devers, but I also think letting him and his salary go was the right move. Last night's score was perfectly in line with the other 5 wins with Raffy, who was 3/18 with a dinger and 1 rbi. He was not missed last night. I do think he and Bregman were a good combo batting 2d and 3d in the lineup, but I like this lineup. The pitching is just unreal. I took a peek at the 2018 Sox schedule and saw they had a very early 8 game win streak in which the Sox pitching gave up 0, 2, 1, 3, 2, 2, 3, 7, and 1 runs. After losing to the Yankees, they won another 8 straight giving up 3, 3, 3, 1, 1, 0, 2, and 3 runs. Those two runs, both in April, made the Sox awfully hard to catch and made possible the Sox best season ever. Good pitching sure helps and doesn't necessarily need a good defense, which the 2018 Sox did not have.

Whattalotta. The Red Sox tradition in the John Henry era is winning 4 freaking WS's. That's more than any other MLB team in the same period. Plus of course JH ended the 86 year curse. So put that in your pipe and smoke it. Of course there have been bad trades. Everyone has them. The Yankees stole Ellsbury from us and paid over $200M for very little performance. The Sox also acquired some stinkers. To me there were/are understandable reasons for letting Mookie, Raffy, and others go. A major factor from 2019 to the present is that JH, no doubt appalled that his highest payroll in MLB 2019 Sox didn't make the postseason and that he would need to spend a lot more money to get back to that level. So he hired Chaim Bloom with instructions to look for bargains, not great talent. Breslow has made mistakes, but I don't think letting Devers go was one of them. I do agree with those who say Breslow created this mess with Devers, but also think letting him go with all of his humungous salary was a good move.

I completely agree with the first part of the article and for the last month have said Breslow did not play fair with Devers. Cora did by convincing Raffy to embrace DH, which he did very successfully--see his stats. As I have also said, replacing Casas was not a problem at all because he stunk before his injury. Toro is so much better--and Gonzalez is also better. To me Casas injury was a plus for the Sox. I am more than happy to criticize Breslow and agree he screwed this up. On the other hand, Devers is vastly overpriced as a DH. Plus the Sox biggest need is pitching. As I also pointed out, without Bregman in the lineup Raffy's OPS dropped steadily. He had virtually nothing to do with what is now a 6 game winning streak. That's a tad overstated, but all I'm really trying to say is that losing Devers is not catastrophic. I do not expect Mayer, Anthony, Campbell to blossom this year. And maybe they don't have to because Bregman should be back before the ASG. Plus Toro, Narvaez, and Gonzalez all have OPS's above .800 and Abreu's is .792. Duran's is not so bad with a .740. Story's OPS in June is .826 and Rafaela's is .839. That's 5 pretty good bats and 3 that might be good. At the same time--and contrary to moonslav--I think the Sox have an above average defense. Certainly Narvaez, Bregman, Rafaela, and Abreu are in that category, and I think Story is too. Duran is adequate in LF. That leaves just 1b and 2b as the problems. If DWAR's mean anything, this defense is worlds better than the 2018 Sox defense with Bogey at SS, Raffy at 3b, Beni in LF, Nunez at 2b, and Moreland at 1b. All had negative DWAR's. 2018 was a terrific lineup because they could hit and score lots of runs. The Sox rotation has just produced 6 straight superb starts, including 3 vs the Yankees. When was the last time that happened? Better still, the Sox won all 6 games, including last night in freaking Seattle.

Gold star for moonslav. I love all of them because that's the way I feel--and I have defended Devers all season long.

Agree on Fenway effect, agree on more games played by Sox. But right now the Sox are 5th in runs scored and the 6th team, the Tigers, have also played 73 games. So the Sox are a legit 5th, and that's where they were in 2021 when they made the postseason and then the ALCS. What is wRC+ ? ESPN says the Sox ERA, 3.96, is tied with the Mariners for 17th. They were 15th in ERA in 2021, so maybe, as you say, they are competitive. I like our defense this year more than you do and think only 2b and 1b are problems. RF, CF, 3B and C are all above average. SS is steady with a DWAR of +0.4. LF is 0.0, but Duran is 5th in putouts.

Good stuff. Well said. In the most recent 5 games, all wins and all with Devers as DH, the Sox scored 3, 4, 2, 4, and 2 runs--3 runs per game.

Sox hit lefties better than righties, and two of our best against righties are/were Devers and Bregman with OPS's .907 and .915. Abreu, also on the IL, has an OPS of .828 against righties. I would DH with Gonzalez and play Campbell at 2b because both are better hitting righties (OPS's .705 and .674) than Hamilton (OPS .514). Maybe this is Cora testing Hamilton to see if he can be kept when Bregman returns. The departure of Devers takes away a very good hitter, but provides Cora some flexibility when Abreu returns this weekend.

Good plan.

I think he also said "the key to winning is pitching, fundamentals, and three-run homers."

Good points. I suspect Devers struggles with languages. Plus, let's face it, he knew he was good and there is no shortage of interpreters. When the Sox signed him for 10 years and $330M, learning English wasn't in the contract. I'll bet the majority of Americans playing in Japan know very little Japanese. And don't most of our Japanese players need interpreters?

Amen. The Sox have stayed at right about 6th in scoring in MLB for the whole season, with or without Bregman. But the team ERA has been as low as 23d and is now 20th. So what does that mean? It means the Sox have every reason to cough up a terrific but overpaid DH if the money saved can be spent on pitching. On top of that, we Devers was no longer happy to be on this team and management felt the same way.

Agree he's better in June than May, but in his last 7 games (June 8-15), Mookie is 5 for 26 with 1 dinger and 1 double. There can be no question that Mookie is still valuable for the Dodgers, who are 43-29. He has the third highest WAR on the team.

I have castigated Breslow as much as anyone, but Hicks is the cost of sending Devers and his huge salary elsewhere.

Meh. Betts was gone once he became a free agent because the Dodgers can afford to pay him more. Sale was a big mistake, but at the time absolutely no one--and I mean no one--on talksox said, "big mistake, he's going to win the Cy Young award in 2024." I've been beating up Breslow regularly over Giolito for Sale, but that is 20-20 hindsight. Agree the Sox ain't getting a lot for Devers, but they are dumping his salary, which is too high for a DH. I have defended Devers relentlessly, but I agree on that point. It was time for him to move on. And, by the way, the Sox have played some of their best ball over last 10 games, during which Devers went 5/25 with 2 rbi's. And don't forget Bregman was/is out also. FWIW, the Giants are happy to pay $30M/year for Devers to DH because their need is greater. Breslow didn't do Wong, Downs, Dugo, or Bello. Besides, the real point with Devers was to dump his salary. When we dumped Price on the Dodgers, we paid a big chunk of his salary.

Agree about free agents chasing a title. The Sox are still rebuilding. I also agree Devers is a loss in the near term because his OPS, rbi's, etc were great to have. However, in the long term paying your DH $30M/year for 8 years is insane. That $30M/year would be better spent on a good starter like Crochet. However, the Giants are willing to pay Raffy $30M to DH because they don't need a third baseman or a first baseman. And allow me to add that right now the Sox also don't need a third baseman or a first baseman. They could use a really good DH, but Breslow ain't going to allow that and JH supports him. While I think Devers was not treated well by the Sox, at this point it makes sense to send him on his way. Presumably, some combination of Campbell, Anthony, and Mayer will fill the gap, but maybe not this season.

The article is total horsehockey and completely ignores the value of the Sox pitching in 2018 and of course forgets that JDM was crucial to the big improvement in hitting and scoring runs in 2018. It also completely misunderstands what happened with Betts. The 2019 season was a watershed season for JH because they had the highest payroll in MLB and didn't even make the postseason. If JH had decided to keep Dombrowski and Betts and Sale and Price and all those other guys, it would have cost him a bundle more than he was already paying with absolutely no guarantee of future success because 2019 revealed that the rotation, especially Sale and Price, was kaput. I'm not saying bringing in Chaim Bloom was smart, but am saying it was understandable. With Chaim came a progressively lower payroll and a steadfast reluctance to pay big bucks for any starter. Plus Betts had to go, not so much because he asked for too much, but because, if the Sox had matched the Dodgers offer, theDodgers would have raised their offer(s) until the Sox gave up. The Dodgers and Yankees are far wealthier than the Sox, who are simply not able to outbid either of them. Interestingly, as the payroll went down, so did the attendance which peaked in 2019, the season following the magnificent 2018 season, at 36,106 (7th highest in MLB). Then covid hit which definitely affected 2020 and 2021. In 2022 it was back up to 32,408 (10th in MLB), in 2023 32,989 (12th), last year 32,939 (11th), and this year so far 32,818 (9th). Four straight seasons of not breaking the 33K barrier. I'm guessing JH decided to get the attendance and TV ratings back up, which meant getting a new CBO and changing his policy about salaries. It's pretty obvious the new policy and new CBO, Breslow, didn't have much effect on salaries or attendance last year. This year, with the addition of pricey and talented Bregman, Crochet, and Chapman, the attendance is still under 33K. just a tad better than 2022. My guess is that JH is willing to give Breslow more time if only because the Sox are still overpaying Story and Yoshida, both acquired by CB. And maybe that's why Devers was let go--at $30M/year he is definitely and overpaid DH. Plus I have to admit he was no longer happy here and maybe his teammates weren't either. Bottom line: we are definitely in a rebuild and one which holds some hope thanks to the likes of Anthony, Mayer, Campbell, Narvaez and others. As I've already said elsewhere, the Sox 8-2 run against the Yankees and Rays occurred without Bregman and with Devers going 5/25 with 2 rbi's. So give some credit to Breslow for Chapman, Bregman, Crochet and especially Narvaez, a truly great steal from the Yankees. Also to Cora for his skillful management of a team in transition. About Cora, the idiot who persuaded Devers to embrace the DH position. Anyone want to guess where the Giants will use him? Anyone? DH, of course. Yet right now the big story seems to be that the Giants stole the magnificent Devers and the Sox are just stupid.

OK, DH didn't make him better, but it sure helped that as the DH he never missed a game. I doubt that Cora promised anything, but I'm sure he told a distraught Devers to embrace the DH position, which he did. I think you have made a good case that Devers was/is better suited for 1b than 3b. But guess what? No one in Sox management said that for 8 straight seasons. You remember Dalbec? That would have been a perfect year to switch Devers, but it never came even close to happening. So all of sudden in comes Bregman, a terrific 3d baseman and hitter. But did anyone suggest 1b to Devers then? Nosiree. Casas owned that position even though he only played 63 games last season. Heck, forget last season. The Sox loved him this season with his .580 OPS. He literally owned 1b, and there was no place for Devers except DH. And I must repeat this. Not once in the previous 8 years had the Sox made any attempt to train Devers to be a firstbaseman. Now, all of sudden, when Casas is having an absolutely crap year, it is of the highest priority to move Devers in there. To me that's baloney. And, oh, by the way, with Devers at DH, the Sox played just as well as they did without their best player, Bregman, as they did with him. Bregman was not missed--well, not so you tell by the W-L record. Where I do agree is that it was time for Devers to leave, both because they were paying him too much to be a DH and because in the end he probably wasn't very happy here. In my opinion management was just as screwed up as Devers.

Two freakish in 2 back to back seasons with the result that he played in 94 games out of a possible 324 games. I agree accidents can happen to anyone, but in Casas' case I'm suspicious because of his height and weight and how they happened. So we'll just have to wait and see.