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Well, moving Yoshida to DH does have some merit. He’s already here and already paid for. And it’s not like Yoshida a bad hitter. Sure, Devers is a better DH than Yoshida, but he’s also a better first baseman and by a wider margin than Abraham Toro and Rob Refsnyder

And we’re talking about a guy whose ceiling was probably Michael A. Taylor, certainly a Major Leaguer but not a guy anyone gets excited about. Not someone you want counting towards your taxes at $12mill, especially in 2015. If DD liked Castillo, he’d have played in MLB. He never did, reportedly. That’s not a criticism of DD, just how it played out…

Just because he was 32 doesn’t mean he retained his skills over the years. How many 32 year old players with minimal MLB experience get MLB contracts? Not counting Japanese/Korean league vets Just because I said he was good enough for MLB doesn’t mean I (or anyone else, like the author of the Fangraphs article) thought he was an above average starter, let alone a star. When you get to be 32 in MLB, you’re old.

As a younger player, they might have. But not for that contract. Fangraphs used to do an annual series of articles on minor leaguers that deserve a shot in MLB, and one year they profiled Castillo. The article included a quote from a rivscout asking “why is this guy still here?”, referring to AAA. No one wanted his overpriced contract, and (,correct me if I’m wrong) including money to pay for him to play for an MLB team would have made that money count towards the Sox luxury tax. Idont think Castillo was ever destined to be a star, but I do think he was good enough for MLB. Doubtful he ever justified that contract…

Even with owner approval, Breslow has the responsibility of making the team better. He doesn’t get to shirk that responsibility by saying “but you said I could!!”

While true, the real problem for Castillo was the DD was not a fan. After Rusney did his showcase for MLB teams, DD (then still with Detroit) reportedly left calling Castillo “a fourth outfielder.” While playing for even a day left Castillo on the payroll counting towards the luxury tax, I think we can both agree DD never let those finances inhibit the way he operated. He simply didn’t like Castillo’s game…

Was there? Rusney had a bad contract and rules at the time allowed the Sox to bury it by removing him from the 40 man roster. But he was far from untalented. His defensive metrics were off the chart among MLB outfielders, especially his DRS, which trends towards being cumulative. He had skills. But not ones DD wanted to pay for…

People like to scream “fix!!” I remember many years ago, Duke was playing UConn(?) in the tournament, and Duke PG Chris Duhon launched a last second shot from 3/4 of the way down the court and drained it. The game went from Duke trailing by 4 to Duke losing by one. But the spread on the game had Duke as a 2 point underdog and that meaningless Hail Mary meant Duke covered the spread. Hundreds of thousands of dollars likely changed hands all of the sudden! So the cry the next day was “FIX!! FIX!!” A fix!! On a 60 foot shot that goes in maybe 0.0001% of the time! If the NCAA was fixing games, they really took a chance on that one…

However, MLB did have their own umpire betting scandal this year…

They didn’t do the Mavericks a favor. The Mavs did something incredibly stupid and deserve the fallout. And we’re talking about Dallas - hardly a marquee NBA franchise. If the NBA did nothing for the Celtics (definitely a marquee franchise) after the misfortunes they had with Len Bias and Reggie Lewis, they’re clearly not in the business of using their lottery system to reinstall some justice as they see fit…

They had the third worst record in the NBA! If the NBA fixed the lottery, why did LeBron end up in Cleveland?

46.7%, so it’s close. But did the Tigers’ broadcast mention the league average is 42.2%?

But not Grissom’s or Hamilton’s…

Actually I thought Houck looked a lot like Koufax tonight. He certainly pitched like a 90 year old man with arthritis…

It might be time for Houck to go to the bullpen. Possibly the Worcester bullpen. Its May 12th, and this year he already has the TWO worst starting performances in franchise history…

That’s great. It also wasn’t what I asked…

So you think he gets non-tendered? Hes not tradable. The market for arbitration eligible first basemen with 350 PA and a -0.3 bWAR over a two year stretch is not as robust as one imagines…

Why is it “far from likely”? Think the Sox non-tender him? Or trade him? He’s not exactly at his most marketable right now and they did try to extend him not too long ago…

To be a little fair to Breslow and Cora, the decision to move Devers to first was due to an injury and not done on a whim. And since Casas is likely due back in Boston at some point in his career, it’s likely just a temporary move…

Agreed. Most likely with Devers sticking at DH…

I wouldn’t trade Rafaela, but I would use him as a super sub and RF platoon to create an opening for Anthony. Cora does not agree with me here, however…

He’s unlucky, but the ball isn’t…

He’s looking like a future star. Play him at one position, even if it’s first base…

Toglia is a terrible fielder. He couldn’t catch COVID if he licked every doorknob in 2020. The 5’5” Vaughn seems like a plausible albeit unexciting target. If the Twins fall off the pace, Ty France might be the best of the stopgap options…

I’m sure the Athletics would love Abreu. Ive suggested deals for Soderstrom involving him. Casas? He’s just not good trade bait. I mean, you tried to pass of his career bWAR of 2.0 in a season and a half worth of games as an accomplishment; it’s not. That’s utility infielder production. I have doubts Oakland moves Kurtz, and other doubts about how useful he’ll really be in 2025 anyway. I could see moving Abreu, but I’d actually rather not. He’s becoming a star player before us. And moving him to get Anthony in the lineup - while acceptable - might also be a step down. The Sox should get a stopgap 1b. No one is trading for Casas right now. Like Casas or not, BTV gives him a surplus value of $0. For comparison, Nick Kurtz has a surplus value of $44.1 million. (And Abreu has a surplus value of $64.5million, suggesting a straight up trade of Abreu for Kurtz is a MASSIVE overpay by Boston). Casas will likely be offered arbitration next year and try again to be the starting 1b in Boston. Kurtz will start in (Sacramento? Vegas?) for minimum wage for his current low budget team. And Boston will explore the rental market for a stopgap 1b to fill out the year Josh Bell? Wilmer Flores? Ty France? Mitch Garver? Andrew Vaughn? Someone unexciting, but an upgrade nonetheless…