Caleb Kohn

In a most unexpected turn of events, the Red Sox have again heaved the face of their franchise to an NL West contender in what can only be described as the pettiest salary dump ever seen. Rafael Devers becomes the latest homegrown perennial All-Star to be traded for next to nothing in big league talent, in a deal that may ultimately make the Mookie Betts debacle look palatable. The San Francisco Giants are taking on the entirety of the eight remaining years on Devers contract, which I’m assuming was supposed to make up for the fact that the only major league return is a struggling pitcher who has yet to prove worthy of his own four-year, $44 million contract. The sad but ultimately realistic outlook for this Red Sox team is bleak. Devers was the premier player on this team, the one at-bat that you wouldn’t skip in a close game. With Alex Bregman on the shelf for weeks, this was that bat that we needed to carry us. What a way to kill the mood after sweeping your archrival. Thats going to be a very long flight to Seattle. The real question here for me is, what is the plan here? There is a GAPING hole in the lineup without Devers. Jarren Duran is a good leadoff man, not a middle of the order bat. Wilyer Abreu is having a good year but has cooled off significantly after the first month of the season, not to mention he is on the IL. Abraham Toro has hit well but doesn’t walk enough for it to be sustainable, and our other big lefty (Triston Casas) is out for the year and was struggling badly before getting injured. If the plan here is really to lean on the “Big Three” then we are dead in the water, at least in the near-term future. Campbell came out of the gate on fire for the first month and has dramatically fallen off afterward. Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony have been ok, but aren’t exactly lighting the world on fire, which honestly is to be expected even from top prospects. Those players may be stars, or they may be below average big leaguers. There really is no way to tell besides time. Placing the entire weight of this team’s trajectory on them is probably not the safest bet in mid-June. I’m not sure how the rest of the team feels about the move, but I imagine that quite a few players will be getting their things in order as the trade deadline approaches. I’m not sure if the Red Sox plan on keeping Alex Bregman around, but don’t be surprised if he either gets shipped to the Tigers at the deadline or he opts out after the season. Bregman was sold on coming to Boston to be on a contending team. My guess is he'll want the same come November, only this time he'll realize it won’t be here. If you are dumping salary, why stop there? Walker Buehler, Lucas Giolito, Aroldis Chapman and Liam Hendricks are all on expiring contracts, and Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu should be able to fetch some prospects (although you never know with this front office). If Devers is available to be traded for a very underwhelming major league return, what is the point of holding on to the rest? I also have very real concerns about what this means for our ability to negotiate contract extensions with our (hopefully) future star-level prospects, let alone convince premier free agents to sign with the team. Andrew Benintendi, Betts and Devers were all unceremoniously traded. Xander Bogaerts was basically pushed out of Boston after a laughable contract offer. Thank goodness we got Campbell and Crochet extended when we did, because I if I was Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer, I would have serious pause about a long-term commitment to this team at this point. The Red Sox have won five straight. They swept the Yankees at home. They are a game over .500 with pitching that is getting healthy and finding their grove. Flush it all. Another star is gone from Boston. View full article

The month of May was a difficult one for the Red Sox and the pitching staff as a whole. Underperformance and injuries to some key players left the rotation thin, forcing them to lean heavily on a bullpen that is already showing signs of cracking. Even with the poor showing, there were some standout performances that will hopefully help the Sox regain some stability in time for the offense to wake up again in the summer heat. Here are your Red Sox pitchers of the month for May. Honorable Mention Aroldis Chapman 1-1 2.31 ERA (14 K in 11.2 IP) 1.03 WHIP .186 BAA The flame-throwing closer has continued his turn back the clock season, putting up a solid month of May. Chapman posted a 2.31 ERA and converted four of his five save opportunities. The 37-year-old still ranks among the very best with his 98th percentile average fastball velocity of 99.1 MPH, and he strikes out exactly 1/3 of the batters he faces (94th percentile). I don’t think anyone expected him to be quite this good at this age, but his presence at the back-end of the bullpen gives the Red Sox the shutdown closer they have been missing since Craig Kimbrel departed. #3: Justin Wilson 2-0, 0.87 ERA, (15 K in 10.1 IP) 1.16 WHIP Wilson wasn’t a high-profile acquisition in the offseason, a grizzled veteran coming off a rough 2024 campaign (5.59 ERA), but his underlying metrics looked good, and the bullpen needed some more swing and miss stuff. That gamble seems to be paying off so far, as the 37-year-old Wilson has been the most consistent member of the bullpen to date. Across 13 appearances in May, he recorded a 0.87 ERA. While the walks are a little high still, Wilson has been getting the job done by limiting hard contact. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity, and his 54.2% groundball rate ranks in the 90th percentile. #2: Brennan Bernardino 1-1 0.71 ERA (10 K in 12.1 IP) 0.95 WHIP The trend of left-handed pitchers performing well in May continues, although you can probably file this one under “doing better than you realized.” Over 16 appearances in May, Bernardino posted a 0.71 ERA. That was second only to Wilson, while his 16 appearances led the team. Bernardino has suffered from command issues in the past, but when his stuff is on, it gives the Red Sox bullpen another dangerous weapon in the late innings. #1: Garrett Crochet 2.03 ERA, (39 K in 31.0 IP) 1.10 WHIP Crochet has been every bit the ace that the Red Sox hoped they were getting when the dealt away a hefty package of prospects. The contract extension looks worth it, too, as the big lefty is leading the majors in strikeouts and innings with 101 over 82 innings pitched. His season ERA of 1.98 is seventh in MLB among qualified starters. He has also tallied 2.7 WAR. Over his five May starts, Crochet only recorded one win, a 10-1 drubbing of the Royals, and the overall picture of the season would be looking a lot better if the team could find a way to generate some offense when he is on the mound. Outside of that ten-run outburst, Crochet received only nine runs of support over his other four starts (2.25 runs per game). The team is getting everything it asked for from their ace, they just need to get him some wins to show for it. View full article

After Connor Wong fractured his pinky finger, the team wasted no time in finding the best catcher still on the free agent market. Despite adding three catchers during the offseason, the Red Sox entered the season short on the depth at the position. That problem got worse after the club included top prospect Kyle Teel as the headliner of a trade package to get Garrett Crochet. It took an even bigger hit when Connor Wong fractured the pinky finger on his catching hand on a catcher’s interference this past week. The front office didn’t wait long to respond, signing a 36-year-old Yasmani Grandal to a minor league contract on Thursday. A two-time All-Star, Grandal spent his best seasons in the Dodger organization, but still put up a 2.0 fWAR season with the Pirates last year. Grandal has earned a reputation for being a good hitter, but he has declined over the years. Last season was a bounce-bacek year at the plate, as he posted a 95 wRC+ and a .704 OPS, below average overall but above average for a catcher. He grades out fairly well on defense. His pop times are poor and blocking graded out as average last season, but his framing, by far the most important part of th job, graded out in the 86th percentile according to Statcast. Roll it all together and he ranks in the 52nd percentile in Fielding Run Value, or about average. It’s not flashy, but for a backup catcher, it should get the job done. Grandal is a switch hitter, and has showed improvements in his rate stats over the years, dropping his strikeout rate to 18.9% last year, while posting a 9.9% walk rate. Grandal’s contact quality numbers took a big jump forward, and he ran an excellent 91.1 average exit velocity is. While he come to the plate enough to qualify for the batting title, his 35.3% squared-up rate was the best in the game. Grandal won’t be the 25-homer threat he was in his heyday, but he won’t be a liability either. It's unclear how long it will take Grandal to get up to speed in Worcester, and the team has yet to set a timetable for Wong's return. Carlos Narváez has been getting the starts in Wong’s absence, and the team Blake Sabol from Worcester to serve as backup. “Carlos is going to play a lot,” manager Alex Cora told reporters. While Narváez has started the season fairly hot, adding a veteran presence in Grandal takes a lot of pressure off of the rookie catcher and hopefully allows the Red Sox to more effectively manage his workload without giving too many at bats to Sabol. The thing that stands out to me the most about this deal is the willingness to add to this team and to do it quickly. It’s not unreasonable to give Narváez a chance here, and he likely will get a majority of the at-bats. But this team has playoff aspirations, and adding Grandal will help toward that end. My hope is that this is a preview of the trade deadline. While there are still a lot of games left before that kind of speculation starts, the front office is already on it. View full article

This was very well put, @Brandon Glick thank you for sharing.

Not going to lie that was my first thought too haha

The Cy Young candidate is locked up through at least the 2030 season. The Red Sox and Garrett Crochet have agreed to terms on a six-year $170 million contract extension. As usual, ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first with the news. Several major media outlets, including NESN, are also reporting the news. MassLive'sChris Cotillo reported just last week that the Red Sox were not close to an extension, but these things can really change quickly. The deal goes into effect in 2026, buying out Crochet's last year of arbitration. The sixth year of the deal also includes an opt-out, and FanSided's Robert Murray reports that the deal also includes $10 million worth of incentives. After pitching in relief for the first two seasons of his career and missing 2022 and much of 2023 due to Tommy John surgery, Crochet switched to starting and immediately proved himself to be an ace in 2024. The Red Sox traded for him during the Winter Meetings in a blockbuster move that sent four prospects, including their last two first- round picks, to the White Sox. While it was a hefty price tag to get the deal done, it definitely feels worth it after getting an extension done. The Red Sox gave up legitimate prospects, but have now locked up one of the game's premier pitchers for the rest of the decade. At the time of the trade, the Red Sox would have only had control of Crochet through the 2026 season. This extension will start at the 2026 season and buys the Red Sox at least four more years of control until the opt-out becomes an option after the 2030 season. The lefty had a dominant spring training, giving up just one run over 15 2/3 innings while striking out 30 batters. He looked good, though a little wild, in his first start on Opening Day, allowing two runs over 5 innings. The Red Sox have high hopes that Crochet will continue to fill out his ace potential in his first season in Boston, and now in many seasons to come. We'll have continuing coverage of this blockbuster deal. View full article

For the first time this year, our week in review features live baseball that actually matters, and for that, we can celebrate! I have some questions as the Red Sox roster has started to come into shape, and we get a few games under our belts. It is way too early in the season to start making reactionary decisions, but the small sample-size theater has had some interesting stage work so far. Let’s dive in. Kristian Campbell Looks Ready For The BIGS When the Red Sox promoted Kristian Campbell, it said more about their confidence in him than his performance. Campbell struggled in spring training, often chasing pitches out of the strike zone. Campbell made the team anyway but looked nervous in his first few at-bats, again chasing pitches and swinging awkwardly. He did manage to log his first big league hit in that first game, and perhaps that helped to settle his nerves a bit. His performance on Saturday in the 4-3 loss to Texas showed why the Sox had so much confidence in him. Campbell launched his first big league home run off the back wall of the bullpen in left field and finished the night 2-3, adding a double and a walk. He also nearly made a spectacular catch in his first start in left field, but the ball popped out of his glove on a rough landing and was ruled a double. The NESN broadcast shared that when they got to the team hotel in Texas, Campbell was going through the room assignments to find out who his roommate would be. Alex Cora had to inform him that he gets his own room at this level. This is a small sample size, to be sure, but this kid has a lot to be excited about as he gets settled into the big-league routine. So far, Campbell is batting .429/.500/.786 (1.286 OPS) in his first four games. Who Needs Spring Training? Wilyer Abreu Is RAKING Red Sox fans were concerned that Wilyer Abreu would not be ready for opening day after he brought the plague with him to camp (or quite possibly walked the Oregon Trail over the offseason). Abreu lost at least 15 pounds and didn’t see game action for several weeks. When he finally debuted, he struggled mightily, going 1-for-20 in spring action. Abreu insisted he was good to go and “felt strong” despite the weight loss. He wasted no time proving it, blasting two home runs on opening day, including a game-winning three-run shot in the 9th inning to snap the tie in an eventual 5-2 Red Sox win. Maybe it is the newfound dad strength, as Abreu recently became a father, welcoming twins just a few weeks ago. Abreu has looked the most comfortable at the plate out of any of the Red Sox hitters (7-for-10 with two home runs, two doubles, five walks, and zero strikeouts) and may be poised for a breakout that could take him out of the platoon situation that he found himself in throughout his rookie season. Alex Cora left Abreu in the game to face a lefty on Opening Day (Abreu worked a walk) in what would typically be a pinch-hit scenario to bring in Rob Refsnyder. This left him in the game to face a righty in the 9th in a clutch spot where he came up big. It will be interesting to see if Cora continues to trust his right fielder more and if his role continues to expand. The Big Boys Are Scuffling While the bottom of the lineup has been doing some damage (see Abreu, Wilyer & Campbell, Kristian), the top of the lineup hasn’t done much to generate offense over this first series. Rafael Devers is 0 for 16 and is on pace to strike out about 500 times. Triston Casas has gone 1 for 16 with seven strikeouts, looking lost at the plate. Trevor Story has gone 1 for 11 with one walk, although he has stolen two bases already. Jarren Duran is 4 for 16. Alex Bregman is 4 for 17. This lineup is projected to score a lot of runs and was ranked by Anthony Castrovince as one of the best, if not the best, in the American League. These are good players who will figure things out eventually, but boy, has it been an ugly start to the season. The biggest concern is Devers, who has consistently been beaten by fastballs in the zone. Whether he did not have enough game action in the spring to get his timing down, his shoulders are still bothering him, or the DH tax is hitting him with the highest income bracket, it's apparent that he does not look comfortable at the plate at all. Devers is key to this lineup functioning at full potential, and the sooner he can get himself right, the better. Ever The Need For Situational Hitting When the Red Sox wrapped up their 4-3 loss to Texas on Saturday night, you didn’t need to look any farther than the LOB column in the scorecard to see why. The Sox left ten men stranded while going just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. After Sunday’s 3-2 loss, where they went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring, their season total so far is 5-for-40 with runners in scoring position over the first four games. Yikes. The story of last season was when the Sox pitched, they didn’t hit, and vice versa. This became a real problem late in the season last year and led to the collapse of the offense that had carried them to a playoff position at the All-Star break. The Red Sox improved their pitching depth significantly this offseason, so hopefully, the staff doesn’t run out of bullets come August. That won’t matter if the lineup can’t find a way to get runners over and in. It's a small sample size for sure, but they seem to be picking up right where they left off. What's Next? The Red Sox fly to Baltimore to start a 3-game series against the Orioles. Sean Newcomb will get the ball Monday in his Red Sox debut. The Massachusetts native earned the fifth spot in the rotation after a surprisingly dominant spring training showing and looks to continue that success against a strong Orioles lineup. The Red Sox open their first home stand of the season on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Monday @ Orioles Tuesday Off Day Wednesday @ Orioles Thursday @ Orioles Friday vs Cardinals Saturday vs Cardinals Sunday vs Cardinals View full article

The prospect has laid claim to the second base job, and now we'll all have to find something new to argue about. On Sunday night, Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 Houston reported that Kristian Campbell will become the first member of the Big Three Red Sox prospects to debut in Boston. Campbell will break camp with the Red Sox, which almost certainly means that the second base job, the subject of discussion throughout spring training, belongs to him. Campbell came into spring training in a competition with David Hamilton and Vaughn Grissom, although there was also much speculation that a newly signed Alex Bregman could take the position. As spring progressed, Bregman played third base exclusively, leaving second wide open. Campbell was a far cry from impressing during spring training, batting .174 and striking out more than 30% of the time for a 61 wRC+. However, he was consistently spectacular on defense, and Alex Cora praised the adjustments he made as camp progressed. At the beginning of camp, Campbell was letting his nerves get the best of him and swinging outside the strike zone too much. As he settled in, he was able to return to the approach the won him the Baseball America’s 2024 Minor League Player of the Year honors. While the results haven’t followed, the approach is there and that was enough for the Red Sox to hand the starting job to a 22-year-old rookie. And really, the sky is the limit. With an improved swing path and an emphasis on driving the ball in the air, Campbell tore his way through three levels of the minor leagues last season, hitting a slashing .330/.439/.558 with 20 home runs and 24 stolen before finishing in triple-A Worcester (as did Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer). While Campbell will be the first to taste the big, his compatriots shouldn’t be too far behind him. With the top half of Boston’s batting order firmly entrenched, Campbell will likely slot into the bottom third in some combination with Abreu and Rafaela. If spring training is any indication, he will likely take his lumps as he tries to get his legs under him at the major league level. Sliding him into the bottom of the lineup allows him to get consistent at-bats without putting a lot of pressure to succeed immediately. As the Red Sox had the confidence to give him the starting job out of spring training, they likely won’t be too quick to react if he struggles early. Remember back to Dustin Pedroia and Tristan Casas, who both struggled mightily in ther first two montsh in Boston before ultimately turning it around and finishing first and third in the Rookie of the Year voting, respectively. Campbell should be given some leash to run with here. If for any reason things go catastrophically bad, the Red Sox still have David Hamilton, who will now likely be used in a utility role. Regardless of Cambell’s performance, expect to see Hamilton around the infield as key players need to rest their legs. View full article

My understanding was that Casas is near death. Reporters are expecting a priest any hour to deliver last rights.