The Official 2025 Boston Red Sox Thread

[Deepster]

I didn't say JD was traded. The Red Sox paid Sale to win CY Young for another team.

You don't think losing your best player will matter much. You guys have had a lot of placeholder rosters lately.

I'm of the opinion you would've been much better off trying to win with your best players.

Have you not seen his Patriot takes??? Makes this Sox tapdancing look almost logical in comparison.

 

[Spaceman213J]

Mookie we all agree on. Huge mistake. High character player who is good at every phase of the game. Absolutely a guy you make the centerpiece of your franchise.

Sale was always good, just always hurt. They shopped him because he made a lot of money and almost never pitched. It wasn't a misevaluation of talent. Grissom not winning the 2B job is the only real mistake there. They were desperate for 2B help and had nobody in the system.

JD had a good year in the best lineup in baseball. But the decline was coming and there weren't a lot of teams clamoring for him. He wasn't traded, he was a free agent. They went with Turner, who can play 1B also had a good year for Boston.

That 2023 team was a placeholder roster while they waited for the young guys to be ready. Yoshida and Casas had good rookie years, Duran broke out. In 2025 I'm excited to see the young guys they called up get at bats. I am thrilled with Navarez, you want to talk about bad trades, the Yankees must be pissed. I'm excited to see what Harrison can be, added to Crochet. I didn't expect much from Dobbins, but he's looking good too. So yeah, I don't think losing Devers will matter much.

You are right no about Sale. They were trying to just get a piece of some value and Grissom may still be quality bench player down the line, but Sale's health and shaky post season were enough to move on.

Navarez has been a bright spot for the front office. Who thought the guy would be one the top rookies to this point on the season.

I think we just disagree on what Story has been, is and what we predict will be and how Devers has been treated by management (and their running of the team for the past 4-5 years). Devers could have handled the situation more professionally for sure, but he is a product of the Red Sox organization. I think it is unfair to vilify Devers and letting management get a free pass in this case.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Have you not seen his Patriot takes??? Makes this Sox tapdancing look almost logical in comparison.

My take is essentially that you can't judge this until you see how Harrison and Hicks perform and what the Sox do with the salary flexibility. So that's not logical?

I'm feeling quite good about the Pats too at the moment. Defense looks very promising.

 

[navery12]

My take is essentially that you can't judge this until you see how Harrison and Hicks perform and what the Sox do with the salary flexibility. So that's not logical?

I'm feeling quite good about the Pats too at the moment. Defense looks very promising.

Honestly, no. Salary flexibility is an astronomically stupid trade to make with your best player on a very reasonable contract. Hicks and Harrison being good would take the trade from horrible to just very bad, but the chances on that are pretty low, they're not good players

 

[Ports21]

Mookie, Sale, Devers all pretty much traded for garbage and $$ savings. Tells you all you need to know. MAYBE Harrison can be good. But people also said well maybe Verdugo will be good, maybe Grissom will be the 2B for the next decade. The Redsox are no longer the "smart" organization.

They want to be a middle of the pack spending version of the Rays. It's embarrassing when you charge some of the highest ticket prices in baseball and expect the fans to keep eating shit when you trade legitimate stars to save money.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Honestly, no. Salary flexibility is an astronomically stupid trade to make with your best player on a very reasonable contract. Hicks and Harrison being good would take the trade from horrible to just very bad, but the chances on that are pretty low, they're not good players

This is just so wrong. Hicks has been an excellent reliever and the Sox tried to sign him previously. He was a bad starter in SF. Harrison was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball very recently. They are good players. Harrison is probably the #3 starter on this team after July. Devers isn't their best player, Duran is (Crochet is if you count pitchers), and he doesn't have a reasonable contract for a Dan Hurley. He was the best power hitter, sure.

You're suggesting that if Harrison becomes something close to Crochet or Skenes, this is a bad trade? Because that alone is enough to move Devers. So, as I said, we don't know. There's a big IF associated with this. I thought it was a salary/disgruntled player dump, but some more analytical Sox fans dug into the guys coming back and suggested it's better value than initially believed. Certainly the contract reduced what came back.

 

[navery12]

This is just so wrong. Hicks has been an excellent reliever and the Sox tried to sign him previously. He was a bad starter in SF. Harrison was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball very recently. They are good players. Harrison is probably the #3 starter on this team after July. Devers isn't their best player, Duran is (Crochet is if you count pitchers), and he doesn't have a reasonable contract for a Dan Hurley. He was the best power hitter, sure.

You're suggesting that if Harrison becomes something close to Crochet or Skenes, this is a bad trade? Because that alone is enough to move Devers. So, as I said, we don't know. There's a big IF associated with this. I thought it was a salary/disgruntled player dump, but some more analytical Sox fans dug into the guys coming back and suggested it's better value than initially believed. Certainly the contract reduced what came back.

Jordan Hicks had a 4 ERA as a starter last year and 5 as a reliever, and it's even worse this year. He is washed up and is not good. This year when you claim he's been an excellent reliever he has a 5.40 ERA. Harrison was a top pitching prospect a few years ago, and then now has 3 years with major league experience now and has been exposed as being massively overrated. He is not good.

The Devers contract is fine, and is even better if the Red Sox kept their promise to him and let him stick at one position. Then he wouldn't even be a D.H.

If he becomes Skenes or Crochet, sure that trade is worth it. But that's a .0000000000001% outcome. The fact you would even throw that out as a comparison is embarrassing.

 

[HCCForever]

The Devers contract is fine, and is even better if the Red Sox kept their promise to him and let him stick at one position. Then he wouldn't even be a D.H.

Why should any team keep a player at his "promised" position if he isn't doing the job? Devers was a lousy third baseman and didn't seem to be improving. Were they just supposed to keep him at third? No doubt, communication should have been better, but this is the big leagues and players should expect to compete for their playing time.

 

[Waquoit]

Devers is a good hitter but a classless fool.

Hard dislike. The Sox were the classless fools. Devers was human. I give two thumbs up to his chefs kiss in SF.

 

[navery12]

Why should any team keep a player at his "promised" position if he isn't doing the job? Devers was a lousy third baseman and didn't seem to be improving. Were they just supposed to keep him at third? No doubt, communication should have been better, but this is the big leagues and players should expect to compete for their playing time.

If they didn't want to keep him at 3B they shouldn't have promised him that. But even beyond that, I was more referring to him saying he'd play 1B but he wanted reassurance that he wouldn't get shifted around again. Which doesn't seem like a crazy ask

 

[HuskyHawk]

If they didn't want to keep him at 3B they shouldn't have promised him that. But even beyond that, I was more referring to him saying he'd play 1B but he wanted reassurance that he wouldn't get shifted around again. Which doesn't seem like a crazy ask

You play where the team needs you. And honestly, if a player doesn't immediately volunteer to do it when a teammate suffers a major injury than I have read doubts that he is interested in winning games. So yes, it's an unreasonable ask. Nobody should even need to ask you. The instant Casas goes down Devers should have picked up a 1B glove and asked coaches to work with him on it.

 

[superjohn]

All this Red Sox and Yankees talk. Neither team is doing anything. Cubs have quietly put together a real contender and PCA still isn't a household name yet despite already being arguably the best all around player in baseball.

 

[navery12]

You play where the team needs you. And honestly, if a player doesn't immediately volunteer to do it when a teammate suffers a major injury than I have read doubts that he is interested in winning games. So yes, it's an unreasonable ask. Nobody should even need to ask you. The instant Casas goes down Devers should have picked up a 1B glove and asked coaches to work with him on it.

Which he did, with the ask that the Red Sox commit to playing him at 1B for the rest of the year. Something they weren't willing to do, which is why Devers comes out looking good and the Red Sox look dumb

 

[HuskyHawk]

All this Red Sox and Yankees talk. Neither team is doing anything. Cubs have quietly put together a real contender and PCA still isn't a household name yet despite already being arguably the best all around player in baseball.

You can always start a Cubs thread. They do have a nice team. Scoring a ton of runs. Have the best run differential in MLB.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Which he did, with the ask that the Red Sox commit to playing him at 1B for the rest of the year. Something they weren't willing to do, which is why Devers comes out looking good and the Red Sox look dumb

No he didn't. He complained when there were rumors of Bregman and Arenado, when he should have called management and said hell yeah, sign Bregman, it will make us better and I'm happy to Dan Hurley or play first. Nope. Even after they signed Bregman he insisted that he was playing 3B and Bregman would need to play 2B. Then he finally accepted the Dan Hurley role and when Casas went down straight up told the media he wouldn't play 1B. They shouldn't have needed to ask him and he shouldn't have conditioned it on them keeping him there. Screw that. If they can land a better 1B at the trade deadline then he goes back to Dan Hurley.

"They had the conversation with me," Devers said through team interpreter Daveson Perez. "I don't think, for me personally, it's the best decision after they asked me to play a different position. And I only had two months playing this position to all of a sudden have me try to play another position. So, from my end, it doesn't seem like a good decision."

Devers tells Red Sox he won't play first, upset they asked him to move

BOSTON -- Rafael Devers has put his foot down and his glove away, too. He's not going to play first base.

www.mlb.com

 

[navery12]

No he didn't. He complained when there were rumors of Bregman and Arenado, when he should have called management and said hell yeah, sign Bregman, it will make us better and I'm happy to Dan Hurley or play first. Nope. Even after they signed Bregman he insisted that he was playing 3B and Bregman would need to play 2B. Then he finally accepted the Dan Hurley role and when Casas went down straight up told the media he wouldn't play 1B. They shouldn't have needed to ask him and he shouldn't have conditioned it on them keeping him there. Screw that. If they can land a better 1B at the trade deadline then he goes back to Dan Hurley.

"They had the conversation with me," Devers said through team interpreter Daveson Perez. "I don't think, for me personally, it's the best decision after they asked me to play a different position. And I only had two months playing this position to all of a sudden have me try to play another position. So, from my end, it doesn't seem like a good decision."

Devers tells Red Sox he won't play first, upset they asked him to move

BOSTON -- Rafael Devers has put his foot down and his glove away, too. He's not going to play first base.

www.mlb.com

And if you were paying attention to the new reports instead of just convincing yourself the garbage the Red Sox traded for is good you'd know you're wrong

New Report Reveals Rafael Devers Was Open to Playing First Base if Red Sox Committed to Him

A new report on the Boston Red Sox trade of Rafael Devers indicates he was willing to play first base if the team committed to him as the team's long-term solution at first.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[HuskyHawk]

And if you were paying attention to the new reports instead of just convincing yourself the garbage the Red Sox traded for is good you'd know you're wrong

New Report Reveals Rafael Devers Was Open to Playing First Base if Red Sox Committed to Him

A new report on the Boston Red Sox trade of Rafael Devers indicates he was willing to play first base if the team committed to him as the team's long-term solution at first.

sports.yahoo.com

Yes, I read that after the fact excuse making. I also read what he said in his own words at the time.

You miss the point. His request not to be moved is absurd. He shouldn't need to be asked, he should enthusiastically volunteer. Should have run out there with a glove the moment Casas went down, huddled the players and told the team not to worry that they've got this and will be stronger for it. That's what I expect from my highest paid player.

The team has lacked anybody like that for several years. Varitek, Pedroia and Ortiz carried that banner and the team followed suit. It's mostly been a leadership vacuum since other than JD and Mookie. Bregman is that guy and I think Duran is getting closer. Hopefully Anthony, Narvaez and Mayer pick up those habits. If you've seen the inside reports from people close to the Sox, that's a big part of what motivated this.

 

[navery12]

Yes, I read that after the fact excuse making. I also read what he said in his own words at the time.

You miss the point. His request not to be moved is absurd. He shouldn't need to be asked, he should enthusiastically volunteer. Should have run out there with a glove the moment Casas went down, huddled the players and told the team not to worry that they've got this and will be stronger for it. That's what I expect from my highest paid player.

The team has lacked anybody like that for several years. Varitek, Pedroia and Ortiz carried that banner and the team followed suit. It's mostly been a leadership vacuum since other than JD and Mookie. Bregman is that guy and I think Duran is getting closer. Hopefully Anthony, Narvaez and Mayer pick up those habits. If you've seen the inside reports from people close to the Sox, that's a big part of what motivated this.

Fair enough, you're entitled to your opinion. I'd take Devers on my team any day over some faux leadership rah-rah nonsense from inferior players. They'll have lots of time to discuss how to improve their leadership pep talks as they watch the other teams play postseason baseball on TV

 

[Waquoit]

You miss the point. His request not to be moved is absurd. He shouldn't need to be asked, he should enthusiastically volunteer. Should have run out there with a glove the moment Casas went down, huddled the players and told the team not to worry that they've got this and will be stronger for it. That's what I expect from my highest paid player.

You miss the point. The team sacked their best player for no return. CHB nails it today. "I’m not convinced that this was anything other than a salary dump made palatable to Red Sox Nation only because Devers turned the fan base against him." Sox-paid shill Ortiz ripped Devers because that's what he gets paid to do. Meanwhile, independent Pedro said "“If you try to sell to me . . . that Raffy is a bad teammate or he is not a team player, you’re lying. You’re going to tell me he’s a bad influence in the clubhouse? He’s not".

 

[HuskyHawk]

You miss the point. The team sacked their best player for no return. CHB nails it today. "I’m not convinced that this was anything other than a salary dump made palatable to Red Sox Nation only because Devers turned the fan base against him." Sox-paid shill Ortiz ripped Devers because that's what he gets paid to do. Meanwhile, independent Pedro said "“If you try to sell to me . . . that Raffy is a bad teammate or he is not a team player, you’re lying. You’re going to tell me he’s a bad influence in the clubhouse? He’s not".

He was not their best player, just best hitter. The return is much better than you are saying. Hicks has been excellent as a reliever and Harrison will be up in two weeks in the rotation and probably slots in as a #2/3 starter. But there is also addition by subtraction, because you cannot have a guy with this attitude as your highest paid player. These are his words.

 

[Waquoit]

This from ESPN:

"When Devers showed up at spring training, the team broached the idea of him shifting to designated hitter. Their computer model said the best version of the 2025 Red Sox would feature reigning Minor League Player of the Year Kristian Campbell at second base, Bregman at third and Devers at Dan Hurley. Devers was livid. A player's position is part of his identity. He was a third baseman. Beyond that, though, was a breach in the trust implicit in a contract of Devers' magnitude."

Their computer model must be rubbish. Because of it they paid Campbell millions and he promptly tanked. Bregman will take most of his paychecks on the DL and sign somewhere else next year. More flexibility! But it goes on:

"At the very least, if the Red Sox were intent on him moving positions, he wanted to ease into the new role. Play a couple times a week at third base and take the rest of his at-bats as Dan Hurley." Sounds reasonable enough, especially coming from a bad example, a team cancer.

"No, he was told. This was what was best for the team...Cora told him to not even bother bringing a glove to the spring training fields"

Any person with an ounce of self-respect is telling these jamokes to pound sand.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I didn't say JD was traded. The Red Sox paid Sale to win CY Young for another team.

You don't think losing your best player will matter much. You guys have had a lot of placeholder rosters lately.

I'm of the opinion you would've been much better off trying to win with your best players.

I didn't mind the Sox getting rid of Sale. He had a total of 31 starts over his list three seasons with Boston, was in his mid-30's and making a boat load of money. I don't wish any ill toward Sale but it was a smart percentage play by Boston's management.

 

[Waquoit]

I didn't mind the Sox getting rid of Sale. He had a total of 31 starts over his list three seasons with Boston, was in his mid-30's and making a boat load of money. I don't wish any ill toward Sale but it was a smart percentage play by Boston's management.

It was a total failure. They didn't save any money and they gave up the Cy Young winner for nothing. How many more smart percentage plays can the Sox take? These smart guys had Campbell pegged to start and produce at 2B and he couldn't even stick. Is he the highest-paid player in the minors? One of them, I'm sure.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This from ESPN:

"When Devers showed up at spring training, the team broached the idea of him shifting to designated hitter. Their computer model said the best version of the 2025 Red Sox would feature reigning Minor League Player of the Year Kristian Campbell at second base, Bregman at third and Devers at Dan Hurley. Devers was livid. A player's position is part of his identity. He was a third baseman. Beyond that, though, was a breach in the trust implicit in a contract of Devers' magnitude."

Their computer model must be rubbish. Because of it they paid Campbell millions and he promptly tanked. Bregman will take most of his paychecks on the DL and sign somewhere else next year. More flexibility! But it goes on:

"At the very least, if the Red Sox were intent on him moving positions, he wanted to ease into the new role. Play a couple times a week at third base and take the rest of his at-bats as Dan Hurley." Sounds reasonable enough, especially coming from a bad example, a team cancer.

"No, he was told. This was what was best for the team...Cora told him to not even bother bringing a glove to the spring training fields"

Any person with an ounce of self-respect is telling these jamokes to pound sand.

You must be joking. Any player behaving like Devers is a player I don’t want on my team. Imagine Karaban saying I’m a forward, I’m not playing center even though Donovan got hurt and Johnson fouled out. It’s part of my identity. What utter nonsense.

Devers is and has long been a below average defender. If he had any interest in being on a winning team he would been thrilled that the team could upgrade at 3B and move him to Dan Hurley. Then, when Casas was hurt he should have been excited to move to first to help the team. Good riddance.

Campbell will be fine. His contract is cheap.

 

[Deepster]

It was a total failure. They didn't save any money and they gave up the Cy Young winner for nothing. How many more smart percentage plays can the Sox take? These smart guys had Campbell pegged to start and produce at 2B and he couldn't even stick. Is he the highest-paid player in the minors? One of them, I'm sure.

The guy went out and won a Cy Young and it’s a smart percentage play? For what? If you want 100% chance of not winning your division?

 

[Waquoit]

You must be joking. Any player behaving like Devers is a player I don’t want on my team.

The only way for the brain trust to justify this move is for their smear campaign to take hold. It's clearly working on you. They lit the fire and now they want credit for putting it out. The Sox better make the watered-down playoffs or Breslow and crew will be sacked.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The only way for the brain trust to justify this move is for their smear campaign to take hold. It's clearly working on you. They lit the fire and now they want credit for putting it out. The Sox better make the watered-down playoffs or Breslow and crew will be sacked.

These are his own words. He’s the one saying this stuff. He’s a one man smear campaign because he’s a freaking genius and a diva.

 

[Waquoit]

I’m stuck listening to Dave O’Brien lamenting about the Sox lack of run scoring on the road trip. Gee, what happened just before the trip?

 

[HuskyHawk]

I’m stuck listening to Dave O’Brien lamenting about the Sox lack of run scoring on the road trip. Gee, what happened just before the trip?

Traded a guy who is hitting .217 for his new team, slugging .391. He's been pretty bad in SF.

Sox offense is a mess. They can bust out but don't score consistently. Really desperately need Bregman back. Getting Abreu back helped. Yoshida should help, because he's so consistent and they really need that. There's still time, it's a long season. Kids have to start hitting consistently.

 

[Waquoit]

Yoshida is the answer now? I assume you typed that with a straight face.