Maxbialystock

But, but, but he was a thirdbaseman and loved being one. Breslow took that away from him. And Cora did his best to make it work by convincing Devers to embrace DH, which he did. He also played in every single Sox game this season. DH made him a better hitter. But my real point is that we absolutely know he was having a good year at DH even though he vastly preferred 3b. So why the heck move him to 1b when Casas stunk and was easily replaced? At 1b he would struggle to master the position, no doubt commit errors, and very possibly have his OPS go down. Mookie Betts has been terrific at SS, but this year is his lowest OPS, .766, in 12 freaking years in MLB. And Mookie is a much better athlete than Raffy.

Whoa, nellie. I agree he was a loner and not very happy and that recently it has been at its worse. But guess what? The Sox are 8-2 in their last 10 games when Devers, in addition to being a malcontent, wasn't hitting very well. And they did that without our best player and natural leader, Bregman. Also, if you watch the dugout when good things happen on the field, Devers is as enthusiastic as anyone. To me it's just silly to point to the DH and blame him for the lousy pitching we have had most of this season. Also, I believe it's true that Devers has yet to master the English language.

Injuries can happen to anyone and often do. See especially Breslow's injury last month. He was just rounding 1b and heading for 2b when he turned around and took himself out of the game because the same thing happened in 2021. Casas is 6'4"and 244 lbs and an accident waiting to happen. This one cost almost an entire season, and all he did was run to first base. Last year, as I said, he was just swinging at a pitch. That doesn't make me right and you wrong, but I'm sure Breslow ain't as sure as you are. Of course, he thought the same thing about Sale and let him go.

Would it were true, but I entirely agree with your notion.

I agree, but you're the one who started this with "chain of command." As a former soldier, I can assure we take an oath not to obey orders which are unlawful--and our primary allegiance is to the Constitution. Also, you seem to be unaware that the MLBPA pretty much guarantees a player has some say in how he is treated. Plus, guess what? There is nothing in Devers contract that says he is obligated to play any position the manager or CBO dictates. In this case, Devers had already been shorn of his favorite badge, that of a MLB thirdbaseman, where he played for 8 years. All that said, Breslow had/has the right to trade any player for any reason. In this case, it appears the Sox got the better deal by sending Raffy to the Giants. He was an awfully expensive DH. Plus Illinois points out that Devers really was unhappy with the Sox.

Do you remember how he injured himself last season? By swinging the bat, period. This season ended when he ran to 1b and didn't land well. The guy is accident/injury prone. He has been with the Sox for 4 seasons. In played in 132 games 2 years ago and played in 119 games the other 3 seasons combined. You say his average OPS is .800, and I say Toro's this year is .884 and Gonzalez's is .856. Casas no doubt has more potential than either of them, but this year I'm delighted with his absence.

Wait a second. He loved playing 3b and had done so for 8 years. But Bregman was better and Cora persuaded Devers to embrace DH, which worked. Raffy was having a career year and had missed no games. Plus the 1b thing came up a month after the season started and after Devers had already been moved once. On top of that, there was a good possibility that his OPS would go down while he was adapting to 1b. And on top of that is Illinois' point that Devers was already unhappy.

We don't know what Casas was going to do. We do know he had the worst WAR on the team. Completely agree that no one knew Toro/Gonzalez would do this well, but I also don't care because Devers was thriving as the DH and the Sox hitting this year has been a plus. Don't mess with success. II strongly agree he was overpaid and now he's the Giants' problem. Our new DH/DH's won't be as good a Raffy, but won't be terrible either. Plus Bregman's return will ameliorate the loss of Devers. The Sox are now 8-2 in their last 10 games, during which Raffy was 5 for 25 with 2 rbi's. Season to date, he has 58 rbi's in 73 games, so he has tailed off when the Sox had their best run of the season. I say that because the last 9 games were against the Yankees and Rays. I agree with the "insider" claim that this deal is a win for the Sox.

I thought the Nomar issues were about money.

Thanks from me too. I was thinking exactly that because moonslav pointed out that Devers is in fact overpaid as a DH. We're going to miss his bat, but our weakness is pitching. Whoever DH's now won't be as good as Devers, but could be just good enough. Plus Bregman is due back in July.

Well said. I'd forgotten that. I've defended Devers til the cows come home, but I am not distraught at this move even though timing is painful. The Sox seemed to be really jelling, whether or no Devers was happy or talking it up with his teammates.

I was afraid you were going to say that.

Agree it's water under the Tobin Bridge. Maybe 1b was a better position for Devers, but what I'm seeing right now is that firstbasemen need to develop a good sense for when to go after a grounder and when to cover 1b. Plus grabbing 95% of those short hop throws to 1b. Plus tossing the ball to a running pitcher. Christian tried it, but is back at 2b. We'll just have to see how the Giants use Devers. Mookie Betts is a much better all around athlete than Devers, plus most of his development was as an infielder. He moved to RF because that's what the Sox needed. Now the Dodgers need him at SS, where he is doing well (but not hitting well).

Breslow was dead wrong and Cora knew it. Devers, after losing his beloved (for 8 years) 3b position, did what Cora told him and embraced the DH position, where he has thrived. Meanwhile, replacing Casas was the easiest thing in the world because he was having a bad year. Toro and Gonzalez have both been much better. The chain of command is not as inflexible as you make it sound. Cora had good reasons for wanting Devers to stay as the DH--he was having a career year as DH and replacing Casas was the easiest thing in the world. And he was proved right because, even with the loss on May 23d of the Sox best player, Bregman, the Sox have persevered and are back to 1 above .500 without him. Meanwhile, Breslow had the option of trading Devers, and he did. We will certainly miss his bat, but, as moonslav has said, his salary can now be put to better use.

I would agree if in fact it was best for the team. But it absolutely was not. Toro and Gonzalez have been excellent at 1band way better than Casas was. His injury was a blessing for the team. Meanwhil, Devers was having a career year at the plate as DH. That's why Breslow couldn't convince Cora to tell Devers he should play 1b. You guys are falling for this "best for the team" crap because Breslow went public with it and even got JH involved.

I'm not sure about superstar, but agree his was our 2d best bat after Bregman, who will be out until July. I agree with how the team has been playing recently--this is very bad timing. On the other hand, that big salary could be applied to a bigger need--better pitching.

Before the season started Devers had to accept losing 3b, which he loved playing and had played for 8 seasons. Bregman was simply better. So Cora convinced Devers to embrace DH, which he in fact did and became the 2d best bat on the team and at one point at the most rbi's in MLB. It was after all that happened that Breslow got the idea that, with Casas out, the team's second best bat had to be moved yet again, this time to a position he had never played. To me that was just dumb because what we have in fact seen is that Toro and Gonzalez are way better then Casas was when he was hurt. To make matters worse, Breslow went public with Devers refusal and even got the owner involved. Now it was a huge deal that garnered headlines everywhere. Devers was a bum, a quitter, a problem. I disagree with that characterization, but Breslow made it a big deal, so of course Devers had to go. Now that the deal is done, I think the Sox will hurt with their two best bats out, but agree Devers' salary can now be applied to other needs.

To what end? Devers didn't like being displaced from a position he had played for 8 years, but Cora got him to embrace DH, where he did pretty well. Meanwhile, the loss of Casas was a net positive because Toro and Gonzalez are both better. There was absolutely no need to move Devers to 1b. Did I forget to mention that Devers would probably have committed more errors, both mental and physical, than he ever did at 3b?

Exactly the way I see it. Not a trade but a dumping of Devers salary and disgruntlement. I have backed Devers relentlessly this season, but have also agreed he's being paid an awful lot to be the DH. Season to date, by far the two best Sox bats have been Bregman and Devers. Coming at a time when the Sox have gone 8-2 in their last 10 games and climbed back above .500, the message here seems to be: forget this season and keep cheering for our three rookies. They are the future. In addition, Devers salary/contract will be put to use in acquiring more pitching or whatever.

Yeah. I spoke/wrote too soon. And I definitely ignored poor Raffy. He's still 3d in rbi's in MLB. If the Sox can go 5-4 or even 4-5 on this road trip, we got ourselves a season.

Could not agree more.

Neat.

I'll just bet you were delighted when JH didn't renew Francona's contract after the 2011 season. For 2012 they brought in a monster--no doubt picked by that CBO--who lasted one season. The very next season Farrell managed the Sox to their 3d WS win in the JH era--but JH fired him after the 2017 season even though the Sox went to the postseason in 2016 and 2017. Cora has stayed--missing the 2020 nonseason--because he's good. Forget 2018 and look at the amazing job he did with the 2021 Sox, especially in the postseason when as a wild card they made it to the ALCS without a closer and with a team ERA ranked 15th in MLB. JH has stuck with Cora because JH knows he's good and because JH knew that the team wasn't getting the full support of management, specifically with regard to signing good pitchers. Sale and Price poisoned that well. Like everyone else, I love having three rookies on the active roster. They represent the future. However, unlike you, I'm not ready to kiss this season goodbye and let Campbell, Mayer, and Anthony start every game as you no doubt want them to do. In fact, I like the way Cora has given them opportunities--largely because Bregman and then Abreu went on the IL--while at the same time managing to win games. Mayer has missed some starts, and so has Anthony. How well has Cora managed? After Bregman's last game the Sox were 26-26, the Sox plummeted to 30-35, but now they are 1 game above .500 despite playing the Rays and Yankees over the last 9 games. I'm guessing you hate this resurgence because you want the Sox to collapse and Cora to be fired. And I feel the exact opposite. I've rooted like crazy for the Sox since 1949, and that included 55 seasons of the 86 year drought. In too many seasons the Sox had what we called the "June swoon." We are now in the John Henry era, by far the best in Sox history. We no more need to fire Cora than we did Francona after the 2011 season (when his contract ran out). I'm all for getting good pitching. You can never have enough. I won't mind trading one of our outfielders when Abreu returns (June 20) and we have 5: Abreu, Anthony, Rafaela, Ref, and Duran. I would love for another team to take over Yoshida's contract, but seriously doubt that will happen. Right now he simply is not needed on this team because Devers is a far better DH. I of course think Breslow is better than Bloom, but let's not forget that JH has loosened up the purse strings as he refused to do for CB. No way, no how would JH have allowed a Crochet to get the contract he now has. Ditto Bregman's $40M. Also, as I keep reminding everyone (ad nauseum), Breslow dumped Sale and replaced him with Giolito. We make the postseason last year if Breslow had simply kept Sale and ignored Giolito. Breslow also bypassed his manager to tell Devers he should place 1b. Dumb! Replacing Casas has been painless because he was having a lousy season and both Toro and Gonzalez are much better. Nevertheless, because this is Breslow's first shot at CBO, he should get some leeway.

For now, I prefer to focus on what the Sox are doing because it's downright amazing. They lost Bregman on May 23d and then nosedived from 27-26 to 30-35 and are now back to 1 game over. In the absence of Bregman, Devers OPS dropped from .984 to .905. Nevertheless, he is still 3d in MLB in rbi's with 58. The leader (Alonso) has 63 and Judge has 60. Meanwhile, a bunch of other guys have emerged, plus the rotation was stunning this weekend. Now comes a daunting trip to the West Coast and Seattle, the Giants, and the Angels.

Bello was fantastic. Devers not so much.