Hugh2

No, Xander Bogaerts

MAYER is going to be good, I'm still most excited about Anthony, who has some of the loudest tools I've ever seen and he's performed at every level at such a young age. If Storys' rebound is real, then when Bregman comes back the ceiling of the lineup goes up and takes pressure of these kids and guys like Campbell. When is Bregman coming back? I keep hearing soon.

Sometimes really really good players take a while to get going as well. Bogaerts first full season in the majors .660 OPS, never mind the slow month Pedroia had, it took a full year of exposure. It wasn't until his 4th year that he was a guy who you can bat towards the top of your lineup. How long will it take these guys to become who they are? Campbell could turn it around next week, next month, or next year, or never. Mayer could look good for a week then get figured out and how long will it take him to adjust? a week or never? This is what you get with youngsters, a big ass bag of uncertainty. I just hope people are ready for this. A lot of growing pains with this team. I've been one of the biggest prospect advocates and homers for a youth movement but as Lou Merloni always says "you need some adults in the room" I can see why they got rid of Devers when you look at it from that angle. Having one of the adults in the room being the highest paid guy who refuses to do anything for the team outside of some kind of negotiation is the worst kind of example to set for the youngsters. However, his absence still leaves the team without that veteran presence. The only guys to fill the void are Bregman, Story, and maybe a guy like Duran now. It's really hard to listen to a guy and look up to him when he sucks, which is why I think it's been a very big deal that Trevor Story has looked better recently. It's not just the production that adds value, but being the type of guy that youngsters can look up to is a big deal.

Wait......the Red Sox had a human element under Bloom???

Roman AnthonyMarcelo MayerLuis PeralesJuan ValeraFranklin AriasPayton TolleBrandon ClarkeJhostynxon GarciaRichard FittsHunter DobbinsMikey RomeroMiguel BleisJustin GonzalesConrad CasonDavid SandlinDorian SotoYoeilin CespedesConnelly EarlyJedixson PaezNelly Taylor I'm sorry, I know you have all eagerly been awaiting my rankings, as they are supreme and more accurate than anyone on earth. BTW, I give everyone an 80 grade in the top 10

So it looks like Devers will play other positions, maybe that's all the Sox needed to do. Was ask nicely.

I'm not trying to defend Breslow but I suppose I am a little bit with this point. But I can understand the position he was in. What if he didn't land Bregman or anyone else? then he has to keep Devers at 3B. It's almost like, you don't EVER put in your two week notice until you have a new job lined up, it's not so much dishonest as that's the way things are. I don't know how common of a conversation it would be to say "Hey, we are actively looking to replace you at 3B because we think your defense sucks there but hey, if we can't find someone you're going to stay there" THat would have been the honest route.......and I don't think that would fly over to well with people as well, including Devers.

Exactly, and one bad situation doesn't release someone from having to do their job. If I messed up a situation with an employee, and try to rectify a situation that doesn't mean I don't come back and put them on a job if I think it's the best fit for the company. Devers might not have liked how the whole Bregman showdown went in the offseason, but asking him to try 1B after Casas went down was a very natural thing to do.

I don't disagree, but I also don't like painting oneself into a corner of "you have to do something right now in this one area" as it kind of creates the opportunity to make a rash decision or a bad investment. The Sox might be judged by how the use the extra payroll space from trading Devers, but they do not have to necessarily do that at this years deadline. That's not to say they shouldn't be active, but that doesn't mean they have to add $29 million in payroll either.

The F.O. might share some of the blame pie for how they handled things with Devers, but in the end he was hurting his team mates the most by taking the "I'm not going to do what you tell me" mentality. It's really sad, and emotions fly high, and people love to look for someone to blame and a singular person to be mad at which is why we will forever see a debate between Raffy vs. the F.O. but these things just happen sometimes and there's no silver bullet. I don't blame Breslow for expecting him to be a team player and moving to 1B, I don't blame Devers for feeling jerked around, and I don't blame the Sox from moving on, nor do I blame Raffy for willing to play other positions in a new town.

What if? what if the Red Sox had traded Tristan Casas and asked Rafael Devers to play 1st base this offseason and not DH?

again, I don't think Breslow is a liar. He's not the one who made that promise to Dever. If someone hired me to run an organization, and I go in with a plan I try to execute it. If that goes against someone else plan before me I certainly try to handle it in a decent way but if there's no middle ground. I let that person go. It's very telling that the F.O. is seemingly in Breslows corner in this. As I've said before, I'm sure it could have been handled differently but at the end of the day sometimes parting ways is just the right thing to do. It's like when a relationship ends. Sometimes people outgrow each other, it's not like there always has to be one definitive bad guy and that's where I think a lot of people are getting hung up here. Someone has to be the bad guy, we all love someone to blame.

ADD. I think it would happen in the offseason, I can see Raffy sliding in at DH to finish off the year and the team asks him to slide to first in the offseason. Perhaps they expect on a new team, with a fresh start, and an honest dialogue up front that he doesn't have his feelings hurt about making the move.

Maybe, maybe not. Maybe they think Raffy will move to 1b.

Exactly, so you’d think the team sees him as a DH in San Francisco

Have we ever heard of players being afraid to speak up around here? I mean….maybe someone wants to get traded. all I’m saying is, when has a move like this been made in Boston and we DIDN’T hear about it from a player or two?

The key guy you’re forgetting is Bryce Eldridge. Top 25 prospect in all of baseball. 20 years old already in AAA. kid can do everything but field. Sure, maybe the plug him in at 1b and see what he can do. But apparently it hasn’t been pretty so far but Raffys situation on SF isn’t all too different than it was in Boston ADD: to be fair I forgot about Eldridge too

Maybe I've missed something that was said, but unlike other recent guys who were traded away, there isn't any blowback from Devers team mates. That should be VERY telling.

I think Devers starts out at DH in SF, but they're going to want him to play 1B at some point. They have a lot of DH types on their roster right now but no one locking down 1B. or not. who knows

riight, but he's been their primary first baseman since Chapman went on the IL. When Chapman comes back Fores is getting a lot less playing time. And it ain't like Dominic Smith has 1B locked down either

Sox are still going to have the bonus portion of the Devers contract count against the CBT for years to come, but it will free up a nice chunk of change.

If he's not willingly moving over to 1B in SF then the same EXACT thing is going to happen to him there. There DH spot is clogged up, Flores certainly does not have 1B locked down and the DH is going to get more clogged when Chapman comes back. I like Devers, I really do, but I'm going to chuckle if they want him at 1B and he doesn't like that.

If he's willing to play 1B, just not in Boston that's a bad look. He's the highest paid $300 million dollar man who can't put a personal quivel behind him for the best interest of the team? Even if it's true that the situation could have been handled differently there's not way that's not a good look. He's definitely saying, I had no problem playing 1B I just didn't want to do it because of the way they asked me in Boston. He put his quarrels with the FO above the team.

That's the part that really gets me the most, the fact that he is probably going to end up playing 1B in SF at some point.

I could be convinced to appropriate more blame to the F.O. but I just can't assign them (putting Breslow into the F.O. discussion) more than Devers. We can hypothetically speculate all day if things could have been different if the conversation was different but we don't nor will we ever live in that world. Many players in Raffy's position would make that move, he's even saying he would play 1B in SF. In the end, I can appreciate as a business owner having a philosophical difference between how I WANT to run a company vs. a set of parameters set by the other guy. Breslow does not have to abide by the promises made by his predecessor, and if Devers has a problem with that then it's on Bloom OR ownership. If you got a new boss tomorrow, you can't expect him to uphold promises the other guy made if he's asking you to do something that's within the scope of his power. Breslow is the head guy, he came in and tried to make the team better. I can appreciate as a business owner that when certain situations arise, sometimes the best thing to do is part ways. I think this is what happened, I think John Henry told Devers in KC that they were going to look to trade him. It may have even been a very friendly conversation "hey we love you, but if we must part ways then we will trade you to a good team, just keep your mouth shut, play your heart out and we will send you off to a contender"