Defensive Indifference: the Sox's current and future(?) struggles in the field

[kazuneko]

It's been a tough weekend to be a Sox fan - in particular watching them outmatched by a Toronto team whose strength in the field (1st in the league at +54 DRS)underscored the Sox's biggest weakness: fielding. The Sox leads the league in errors (.70 per game) and are 27th in Defensive Runs Saved. And yet the worst part of this year's failures may be the fact that the team's worst fielders - Devers (-8 DRS, 3rd worst in the Majors at his position), Yoshida (-5 DRS, tied for 4th worst in LF*) Casas (-3 DRS, tied for 5th worst at 1b*) and Duran (-5 DRS, tied for 3rd worst at CF*) - are the very core of the team's lineup, both for now and presumably in the future. With a better (but older) fielder, Justin Turner, at DH (who the team has decided should not play regularly due to injury risk) potentially around for another year, the Sox face the possibility of a 2024 that forces them into the same situation, with 4 of the league's worst fielders taking the lion share of the innings at 4 of their 8 defensive positions.
Now, I suppose it can be argued that there is still hope for Casas (though he has looked horrible at handling throws and piss-poor at decision making) and that Duran is at least better than last year (when he may have been the worst CFer in the league) but I don't think the Sox can just assume either will improve. And the one downside of Yoshida's breakout season in LF is it's hard to imagine being able to move Duran there - despite it being a more natural positional fit- anytime soon. Perhaps the most frustrating fielder of the group is Devers, whose regression in the field in 23' and long history of being subpar (-52 DRS for his career) makes him the most logical candidate for the DH role longterm (possibly as soon as Turner departs), despite being only 26 years old and signed to the biggest contract in team history. It's not an enviable position for the team to be in, which is one of the reasons the prospect I was most comfortable with the Sox trading was Yorke, as the last thing this team needs to add to this lineup is a defensively challenged second baseman.
So I guess the question is how do they address this? Despite how fun it's been to watch Yoshida, Casas and Duran's offensive emergence the fact that all 3 have combined this with DH-level defensive performances has placed the Sox in a dilemma. Would it be wise to trade one of them, or maybe even Turner if he picks up his option? If Turner does depart, who should be shifted to DH? What might be best for 24' would be for Rafaela to replace Turner on the roster and take over at either 3rd base or CF - relieving either Devers or Yoshida of their fielding glove. It's a situation that may also increase the pressure to keep Verdugo, as his emergence defensively (+12 DRS) makes him the one plus-defender in the current lineup.

 

[nighthob]

I wish people would stop with this. Yorke is not a bad defensive 2B. The problem with him, defensively, is that he can only play 2B, 1B, or DH (i.e. no flexibility). He's looked entirely average at 2B every time I've watched him.

EDIT: Also, when Yorke and Mayer are ready, you can move Story to 3B and Devers to DH. There's also the reality of Rafaela arriving in Boston next year that opens up the opportunity to turn Verdugo into a defensive upgrade elsewhere. But, medium term, they'll need an OF spot for Roman Anthony. But that's a question for 2025.

 

[kazuneko]

I wish people would stop with this. Yorke is not a bad defensive 2B. The problem with him, defensively, is that he can only play 2B, 1B, or DH (i.e. no flexibility). He's looked entirely average at 2B every time I've watched him.

Never seen him play the field - just read scouting reports that have him as a "potential fringe average defender", which doesn't sound good. Also, it seems like one of the ways to account for the weaknesses at other spots might be having plus defenders at key positions, not average ones. Story (2b), Meyer (SS) and Rafaela (CF) up the middle could really do a lot to make up for having to carry Yoshida and Devers in the same line-up.

 

[nighthob]

Unless you’re trading Duran Little Rafi needs to play RF. He’s got the arm and JD doesn’t.

 

[YTF]

I wish people would stop with this. Yorke is not a bad defensive 2B. The problem with him, defensively, is that he can only play 2B, 1B, or DH (i.e. no flexibility). He's looked entirely average at 2B every time I've watched him.

EDIT: Also, when Yorke and Mayer are ready, you can move Story to 3B and Devers to DH. There's also the reality of Rafaela arriving in Boston next year that opens up the opportunity to turn Verdugo into a defensive upgrade elsewhere. But, medium term, they'll need an OF spot for Roman Anthony. But that's a question for 2025.

FWIW, Story to third might be concern for lessening the wear and tear on his throwing arm.

 

[JimD]

I don't get to watch many Sox games - how much of Yoshida's performance is tied to learning to play the Monster?

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

I don't get to watch many Sox games - how much of Yoshida's performance is tied to learning to play the Monster?

There’s also the penalty that wall would impose even on a defender as good as JBJ in his prime.
It doesn’t really seem to be a problem to have the DH be a spot where Yoshida, Devers both rotate through with Duran picking up most away games in LF

 

[sambamcunningham22]

This topic underscores why it was a bonehead decision to pay Devers instead of Betts the big $ to be the face of the franchise. Devers is clearly on track to be a 300 million dollar DH with limited communication and leadership skills. Betts was clearly worth whatever he wanted as he could bring defense, leadership and clutch hitting to the table.
The panic move to pay Devers the massive contract will hamstring the team for years to come with a slow heavy DH who only brings hitting to the table and is not very athletic.
The poor defense is likely going to be a major issue for ghe team into the future as you point out.
Question - how many WS champs within past 10 years had bottom third defense?

 

[Doc Zero]

limited communication and leadership skills

Could you expand on this?

 

[sambamcunningham22]

Could you expand on this?

When things go bad for the sox, does Raffy represent and communicate to the public how the team is looking at the situation and their attitude. As a highly compensated veteran part of his role should be ideally to serve as interface between team and media/public.
I do not blame Raffy for this.
Ownership knew what they were paying for after backing themselves inyo a corner through the mismanagement of Betts.
Good for Raffy. He has multigenerational wealth. He and his agent played the situation perfectly.
Its Bloom and Henry.who have committed malpractice. They can not be forgiven for the Betts screw up

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

When things go bad for the sox, does Raffy represent and communicate to the public how the team is looking at the situation and their attitude. As a highly compensated veteran part of his role should be ideally to serve as interface between team and media/public.
I do not blame Raffy for this.
Ownership knew what they were paying for after backing themselves inyo a corner through the mismanagement of Betts.
Good for Raffy. He has multigenerational wealth. He and his agent played the situation perfectly.
Its Bloom and Henry.who have committed malpractice. They can not be forgiven for the Betts screw up

Let’s start the Betts discussion again!
Seriously, I doubt even Bloom or Henry disagree with your preference but it’s not the reality the Sox we’re operating in.

 

[bosockboy]

I wish people would stop with this. Yorke is not a bad defensive 2B. The problem with him, defensively, is that he can only play 2B, 1B, or DH (i.e. no flexibility). He's looked entirely average at 2B every time I've watched him.

EDIT: Also, when Yorke and Mayer are ready, you can move Story to 3B and Devers to DH. There's also the reality of Rafaela arriving in Boston next year that opens up the opportunity to turn Verdugo into a defensive upgrade elsewhere. But, medium term, they'll need an OF spot for Roman Anthony. But that's a question for 2025.

Anthony is likely in another organization by then. Yoshida/Duran/Rafaela future OF with Devers at DH, out of real estate for Anthony.

 

[LogansDad]

When things go bad for the sox, does Raffy represent and communicate to the public how the team is looking at the situation and their attitude. As a highly compensated veteran part of his role should be ideally to serve as interface between team and media/public.
I do not blame Raffy for this.
Ownership knew what they were paying for after backing themselves inyo a corner through the mismanagement of Betts.
Good for Raffy. He has multigenerational wealth. He and his agent played the situation perfectly.
Its Bloom and Henry.who have committed malpractice. They can not be forgiven for the Betts screw up

Honest question that is likely to come across as snark...

Who are the players around the league who take on this role of explaining what is going on in their clubhouse on a regular basis? I see guys get interviewed after games, and fluff pieces on MLBN or local affiliates, but I can't think of a single player who gets paraded around as a "bona fide leader" who is expected to answer to the public on the regular about those things.

It happens in the NFL for sure (Brady was one of the best at this) and in the NHL to a lesser extent (but they also have specific players who wear extra adornments on their uniform).

I just don't know of many, if any, players in MLB who take on this role that you seem to want Raffy to be taking on.

 

[sambamcunningham22]

Let’s start the Betts discussion again!
Seriously, I doubt even Bloom or Henry disagree with your preference but it’s not the reality the Sox we’re operating in.

Sadly they have dug themselves a hole with Raffy. For 300 million you need a Bryce Harper or Mookie Betts player not a DH

 

[jon abbey]

Sadly they have dug themselves a hole with Raffy. For 300 million you need a Bryce Harper or Mookie Betts player not a DH

Harper has played way more games just this season at DH (70) than Devers has his entire career (12).

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

I think the point is that Devers should be playing DH, not that he has been playing DH. Harper is a weird case this year, but is he even a good defensive player anyways?

Raffy’s defense is mediocre and always has been, feels like something the team is going to have to live with and hope he gets better.

 

[8slim]

Teams deal with having a subpar defender or two all the time. Devers more than makes up for it with his offensive skills. The problem is that the Sox have defensive issues almost everywhere, and those guys don’t produce like him with the bat.

 

[Max Power]

Raffy doesn't look it, but he's pretty quick at third and has good range. His problem is missing balls or bad throws. I feel like there's more hope for improvement when it comes to things you can practice, like catching and throwing, rather than hoping someone can improve on their reaction time.

 

[Spelunker]

Honest question that is likely to come across as snark...

Who are the players around the league who take on this role of explaining what is going on in their clubhouse on a regular basis? I see guys get interviewed after games, and fluff pieces on MLBN or local affiliates, but I can't think of a single player who gets paraded around as a "bona fide leader" who is expected to answer to the public on the regular about those things.

It happens in the NFL for sure (Brady was one of the best at this) and in the NHL to a lesser extent (but they also have specific players who wear extra adornments on their uniform).

I just don't know of many, if any, players in MLB who take on this role that you seem to want Raffy to be taking on.

Also, how does explaining things to the fans make the team better? Why should what media/fans know/think impact how the team plays?

 

[Philip Jeff Frye]

Teams deal with having a subpar defender or two all the time. Devers more than makes up for it with his offensive skills. The problem is that the Sox have defensive issues almost everywhere, and those guys don’t produce like him with the bat.

Yes, teams deal with one or two, but as the original post points out, we seem likely to have four. It does seem like defense has not really been a priority for this team in recent years.

 

[Midnight Ryder Jones]

Also, how does explaining things to the fans make the team better? Why should what media/fans know/think impact how the team plays?

Well, for one thing, many former big leaguers have talked about the fact that players who take leadership roles vis-a-vis the media and are willing to publicly take accountability make it much easier on the other 25 guys.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Sadly they have dug themselves a hole with Raffy. For 300 million you need a Bryce Harper or Mookie Betts player not a DH

I think that hole was actually dug by Dombrowski. Good god, there's been about a million posts on this. Due to a variety of bad long term decisions (short term it netted a WS, so was worth it) the Sox weren't going to be able to pay Mookie what he likely was going to get... and he WAS going to Free Agency. The Dodgers wanted him and were going to pay him and from all indications he really wanted to go to the West Coast.
From the handcuffed situation, Bloom was able to extract a good, not great, RF and someone who is looking like he's going to be a top ten C in all of MLB, plus got rid of Price's contract.
Yes... it would have been preferable to have Mookie on this team. He was/is one of my all time favorite players and there's not a doubt in my mind that if Devers was Mookie and Mookie was Devers... (in time served, when they started service time) that Devers would be somewhere else and Mookie would be in RF in Fenway.

 

[8slim]

Yes, teams deal with one or two, but as the original post points out, we seem likely to have four. It does seem like defense has not really been a priority for this team in recent years.

Yes. Nor baserunning. We’ve fielded some petty dumb teams (in a baseball sense) frequently.

I just don’t think turning the attention largely to Devers addresses the worst issues. At least he can mash.

 

[Archer1979]

Baseball Savant has a stat that I hadn't seen before this year with Outs Above Average. Admittedly, my knowledge of advanced defense stats begins and ends with fielding percentage. For Outs Above Average, the Sox are horribly bad and have gotten worse. Last week, as a team they were at -41. Currently they are at -51.

Of the players that are left on the roster (with Kike having been dead last on the team at -14), Yoshida (-6), Casas(-8), and Devers(-8), Casa and Yoshida are more likely to improve than Devers since they are relatively new. As I recall, Wade Boggs wasn't considered a plus defender by any stretch when he first came up and was able to improve considerably with practice and experience.

As stated above, you can generally hide one or two players that are liabilities on defense, but this team really has four regulars (the above along with Turner) that are currently better suited to DH.

By team:
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/outs_above_average?type=Fielding_Team&startYear=2023&endYear=2023&split=yes&team=&range=year&min=q&pos=&roles=&viz=hide


Individually on the Sox:

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/outs_above_average?type=Fielder&startYear=2023&endYear=2023&split=yes&team=BOS&range=year&min=q&pos=&roles=&viz=hide

 

[moondog80]

The team has definitely had defensive issues the past few years, but I don't think that's necessarily reflective of a general disregard for defense. The past few years have seen them selecting up-the-middle players almost exclusively in the top few rounds of the draft. The JBJ move failed spectacularly, but was pretty clearly done with defense in mind. Story has a lot of his value tied to his defense. The issue is there were always going to be many holes to fill, and given the budget and lack of help coming from the farm system until this year, they simply weren't going to get guys who could hit AND run AND field at every spot. They didn't seek to ignore fielding, they followed the market to build the best team they could given the constraints, and this is where it took them. And then it didn't help that when the farm finally started to bear fruit this year, it turned out that two of the big plums (Duran and Casas) have defensive issues.

 

[curly2]

The team has definitely had defensive issues the past few years, but I don't think that's necessarily reflective of a general disregard for defense. The past few years have seen them selecting up-the-middle players almost exclusively in the top few rounds of the draft. The JBJ move failed spectacularly, but was pretty clearly done with defense in mind.

But yet when Bloom didn't get a right-handed hitting platoon partner for Bradley, he just decided Arroyo could do it. You can't take a guy who had never played outfield in the majors and put him in the toughest corner outfield in baseball, even if it is just the short side of a platoon.

Yoshida didn't have good scouting reports for his fielding. And trading for Enmanuel Valdez doesn't show a commitment to defense either.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

Just my eye test, but it seemed that Raffy was playing solid D for most of the first half of the season. His problem is that he seems to go into defensive slumps, like he’s in now. No doubt it gets in his head and he starts to overthink instead of just reacting. I actually think he has some pretty solid skills over there.

 

[moondog80]

But yet when Bloom didn't get a right-handed hitting platoon partner for Bradley, he just decided Arroyo could do it. You can't take a guy who had never played outfield in the majors and put him in the toughest corner outfield in baseball, even if it is just the short side of a platoon.

Yoshida didn't have good scouting reports for his fielding. And trading for Enmanuel Valdez doesn't show a commitment to defense either.

Yes, they acquired players who are not superior in every aspect of the game. Do you think the Yohsida signing was a bad one? I'm pretty certain he'd have plenty of surplus trade value if they tried to trade him this offseason.

Many holes, limited budget, corners were cut out of necessity. Nobody every says that signing Yu Chang shows that they are not committed to scoring runs.

 

[curly2]

Do you think the Yohsida signing was a bad one?

Never said that. Never said anything close to that.

I said that defense is not a top priority. The Arroyo RF experiment and trading for a guy in Valdez who is a natural-born DH are better examples, and maybe I shouldn't have included Yoshida in the same example. Yoshida provides enough offense to more than cover for it.

 

[moondog80]

I said that defense is not a top priority. The Arroyo RF experiment and trading for a guy in Valdez who is a natural-born DH are better examples

They are cherry picked examples to support your argument. All teams acquire players will all kinds of deficiencies, including fielding. What about Yu Chang? Or Trevor Story? Or JBJ? Or Connor Wong? Or the top few rounds of the last few draft classes? Or the decision -- much to the chagrin to many of the same people who think they don't care about defense -- to not re-sign Kyle Schwarber?

Defense is a priority. It is not the *top* priority. The top priority is players who contribute to winning, and that comes in many different ways. Was Tim Wakefield evidence of a team that didn't value fastball velocity?

 

[Daniel_Son]

When things go bad for the sox, does Raffy represent and communicate to the public how the team is looking at the situation and their attitude. As a highly compensated veteran part of his role should be ideally to serve as interface between team and media/public.
I do not blame Raffy for this.
Ownership knew what they were paying for after backing themselves inyo a corner through the mismanagement of Betts.
Good for Raffy. He has multigenerational wealth. He and his agent played the situation perfectly.
Its Bloom and Henry.who have committed malpractice. They can not be forgiven for the Betts screw up

I'm sorry but I'm still not really getting this. He's given multiple interviews with reporters in the years he's been here about both his and the team's performance. What exactly are you looking for from him that he's not providing?

 

[curly2]

They are cherry picked examples to support your argument. All teams acquire players will all kinds of deficiencies, including fielding. What about Yu Chang? Or Trevor Story? Or JBJ? Or Connor Wong? Or the top few rounds of the last few draft classes? Or the decision -- much to the chagrin to many of the same people who think they don't care about defense -- to not re-sign Kyle Shcwarber?

Defense is a priority. It is not the *top* priority. The top priority is players who contribute to winning, and that comes in many different ways.

Wong's been a revelation behind the plate. All credit to him and whoever in the organization who worked with him because it seems like he's exceeded expectations defensively. (The Sox Prospects guys at one point said he might see time at second base).

Maybe they've changed their philosophy in the draft after using their first two picks on Yorke and Jordan, who's value seems to be tied up predominantly on offense. If so, I welcome the change. (And I am NOT writing off Yorke and Jordan, by the way, just saying they've got to hit their way to the majors).

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

I'm still relatively skeptical of advanced defensive statistics. Not completely dismissive at all... but I still think Yoshida looks average out there and has room to improve.
I think the problem is that when you're trying to put together a good combo (both defense and offense), they're going to be impossible to find on the FA market so you really need to draft those guys (which it appears he's been doing), so the default is to pick someone who is better at offense. It makes sense intuitively for me if you don't have a general all-around good player. How often does any player get a ball hit to them? How often is that hit going to be played by a "good" defender over a below average one? Even if that ball in play gets turned into a hit... how does that get figured into the overall outcome? And I don't know if the difference there is the difference between a .600 OPS great defender and a .750 OPS hitter type below average defender.
Bloom had Mondesi (and by all indications he was going to be ready by mid May), an average bat good defender ready for the infield. Chang is clearly a good defensive IF'er but we're all ready to kick him to the curb because he's got a shitty bat.
Again.... how many plus defenders and plus hitters are available for trade or FA? They're a super rare commodity and cost a fortune.

Also... everybody is complaining about a bad roster. Tell me who you want removed and replaced and by whom.... (and be realistic about it please....)

C- Wong, McGuire (you want a great THIRD CATCHER???)
1B- Casas, Turner
2B- Arroyo, Vazquez, Mondesi
SS- Kiké, Story, Chang
3B- Devers, Turner
LF- Duvall, Yoshida
CF- Duran, Kiké, Duvall
RF- Verdugo

 

[zenax]

Raffy’s defense is mediocre and always has been, feels like something the team is going to have to live with and hope he gets better.

While his fielding may be mediocre, he had a pretty good year in 2022 at 3B compared to 2021 and I suspect the Sox thought he was going to continue to improve. I doubt that the change in infield rules helped him this season as well as not having his usual infield mates.

 

[moondog80]

I can't for Kyle Schwarber to homer in a wild card game and see this board get lit up with posts wondering why we didn't sign him to a team that already had JD Martinez.

 

[curly2]

Unless you’re trading Duran Little Rafi needs to play RF. He’s got the arm and JD doesn’t.

I would love Duran to be good enough to hold down CF and Rafaela to hit enough to play RF. In Fenway you really need a right fielder with the ability of a center fielder.

 

[Reggie's Racquet]

Maybe you consider trading Casas while his value is high for starting pitching and move Devers to 1B and DH?

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Well, for one thing, many former big leaguers have talked about the fact that players who take leadership roles vis-a-vis the media and are willing to publicly take accountability make it much easier on the other 25 guys.

Yes, it's true that former players who like talking to the media love to tell the media that talking to the media is important, and the media pushes that message, which makes the media seem important.

 

[BravesField]

While his fielding may be mediocre, he had a pretty good year in 2022 at 3B compared to 2021 and I suspect the Sox thought he was going to continue to improve. I doubt that the change in infield rules helped him this season as well as not having his usual infield mates.

I think the point is that Devers should be playing DH, not that he has been playing DH. Harper is a weird case this year, but is he even a good defensive player anyways?

Raffy’s defense is mediocre and always has been, feels like something the team is going to have to live with and hope he gets better.

I'm sorry, but mediocre????

Raffy has been in the league since 2018.
In 2018, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 24 errors
In 2019, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 22 errors
In 2020, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 14 errors. (In 57 games played)
In 2021, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 22 errors.
In 2022, Raffy was second in MLB with 14 errors. (Ryan McMahon had 17)
In 2023 - So Far....Raffy again leads all 3B in MLB with 14 errors.

I guess I understand why Sox fans are reluctant to criticize their own, but Raffy is what he is.

 

[Rovin Romine]

maybe I shouldn't have included Yoshida in the same example. Yoshida provides enough offense to more than cover for it.

Most defensive numbers I see don't seem to compensate for Fenway's LF, or do so in a way that's odd. Very good OFs become mediocre playing LF and hey-presto good again in CF/RF.

I think Yoshida (by subjective eyeball) is an average to below-average fielder. But in stat-land, he's always going to look worse.

 

[nighthob]

Wong's been a revelation behind the plate. All credit to him and whoever in the organization who worked with him because it seems like he's exceeded expectations defensively. (The Sox Prospects guys at one point said he might see time at second base).

Maybe they've changed their philosophy in the draft after using their first two picks on Yorke and Jordan, who's value seems to be tied up predominantly on offense. If so, I welcome the change. (And I am NOT writing off Yorke and Jordan, by the way, just saying they've got to hit their way to the majors).

I mean using the bizarro 2020 draft where Boston had been docked a top pick as a shining exemplar of Bloom’s overall draft strategy is certainly a bold choice.

 

[Sin Duda]

Anthony is likely in another organization by then. Yoshida/Duran/Rafaela future OF with Devers at DH, out of real estate for Anthony.

I love what he's added this year, but I'm not sure Duran is here in 2026. Do you have great confidence he will be?

 

[Heating up in the bullpen]

So I guess the question is how do they address this? Despite how fun it's been to watch Yoshida, Casas and Duran's offensive emergence the fact that all 3 have combined this with DH-level defensive performances has placed the Sox in a dilemma. Would it be wise to trade one of them, or maybe even Turner if he picks up his option? If Turner does depart, who should be shifted to DH? What might be best for 24' would be for Rafaela to replace Turner on the roster and take over at either 3rd base or CF - relieving either Devers or Yoshida of their fielding glove. It's a situation that may also increase the pressure to keep Verdugo, as his emergence defensively (+12 DRS) makes him the one plus-defender in the current lineup.

I'm hopeful the defensive issues will be resolved over the next couple years as prospects graduate to Boston.
As you say, keeping Verdugo as a plus defender in Fenway's RF seems imperative. I can see keeping him on a 3-4 year deal (through his age 30 season).
Duran may be better defensively this year than last year, but I still have no confidence in his ability to make plays at the fence. If Rafaela can hold his own offensively, I'd consider moving Duran, especially if Roman Anthony can keep moving through the system with a big offensive profile.
As for Rafaela playing 3B... maybe? He played there a bunch in the DSL as a 17 year-old in 2018; split time between 3B and 2B in the FCL in 2019; and 20 more games there for Salem in 2021. Hasn't played there since.
Whether it's next year or '25, I like the idea of shuttling Devers and Yoshida through the DH spot.

 

[Sin Duda]

I'm sorry, but mediocre????

Raffy has been in the league since 2018.
In 2018, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 24 errors
In 2019, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 22 errors
In 2020, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 14 errors. (In 57 games played)
In 2021, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 22 errors.
In 2022, Raffy was second in MLB with 14 errors. (Ryan McMahon had 17)
In 2023 - So Far....Raffy again leads all 3B in MLB with 14 errors.

I guess I understand why Sox fans are reluctant to criticize their own, but Raffy is what he is.

So he's a leader.

 

[kazuneko]

I'm sorry, but mediocre????

Raffy has been in the league since 2018.
In 2018, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 24 errors
In 2019, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 22 errors
In 2020, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 14 errors. (In 57 games played)
In 2021, Raffy led all 3B in MLB with 22 errors.
In 2022, Raffy was second in MLB with 14 errors. (Ryan McMahon had 17)
In 2023 - So Far....Raffy again leads all 3B in MLB with 14 errors.

I guess I understand why Sox fans are reluctant to criticize their own, but Raffy is what he is.

Exactly. And this is further supported by advanced stats. The "improvements" seen last year still led to him grading as the 3rd worst defender at the position with -7 DRS in 22'. Certainly better than this year, but if that is his upside it seems like he's a guy that really needs to be taking a seat when the defense takes the field.

 

[kazuneko]

Never said that. Never said anything close to that.
I said that defense is not a top priority. The Arroyo RF experiment and trading for a guy in Valdez who is a natural-born DH are better examples, and maybe I shouldn't have included Yoshida in the same example. Yoshida provides enough offense to more than cover for it.

The only problem with Yoshida, and to some degree all these guys, is that they all landed on the same team, and while you can accommodate for one bad fielder it's pretty hard to do that with four. Makes you wonder why Bloom thought it was a good idea to sign a dedicated DH in the off-season.

 

[kazuneko]

I would love Duran to be good enough to hold down CF and Rafaela to hit enough to play RF. In Fenway you really need a right fielder with the ability of a center fielder.

He's been a fun player to watch this year, and I think that combined with some modest improvements in the field has led to a lot of people fooling themselves into thinking that he might be passably good in center. But let's face it, he isn't. His improvements are real, but let's remember last year he was unplayably bad. This year's -5 DRS in barely 500 innings is second worst in the majors among CFers who have been regulars at the position. The question is whether or not his deficiencies can be hidden in LF. I think the best possible defensive future -that includes him- would have Rafaela in CF, Verdugo in RF and Duran in LF (with Yoshida DHing).

 

[reggiecleveland]

When things go bad for the sox, does Raffy represent and communicate to the public how the team is looking at the situation and their attitude. As a highly compensated veteran part of his role should be ideally to serve as interface between team and media/public.

I can't take this seriously. You are describing you preference and venting frustration.

Some of the best players ever never even spoke to the press.The best player in Red Sox history was vilified by the press and months at time ignored them. For every Ortiz and Pedro, there are many more Spanish speaking players that are not comfortable talking to the press in English.

And the Betts thing again?

 

[Jack Rabbit Slim]

He's been a fun player to watch this year, and I think that combined with some modest improvements in the field has led to a lot of people fooling themselves into thinking that he might be passably good in center. But let's face it, he isn't. His improvements are real, but let's remember last year he was unplayably bad. This year's -5 DRS in barely 500 innings is second worst in the majors among CFers who have been regulars at the position. The question is whether or not his deficiencies can be hidden in LF. I think the best possible defensive future -that includes him- would have Rafaela in CF, Verdugo in RF and Duran in LF (with Yoshida DHing).

I think this deserves some push back since quoting a single defensive stat (when the whole field of defensive stats has big question marks around its accuracy) doesn't tell you much. Duran also has accrued a UZR of 2.0 and an OAA of 1 in CF this year. So two common defensive stats show him as an average defender in CF and one shows him below average.

You also need to take into account the value of having a good bat in a position high on the defensive spectrum. Duran has put up a wOBA of 0.368, good for 5th among all CF with a minimum 300 PA. So the total package has Duran with an fWAR of 2.7, tied for the 6th best CF in baseball. I would also note the clear improvement from last year to this year gives me optimism that he could get even better defensively with more time.

In my opinion, Duran in CF is not really a problem unless they think the bat is an illusion.

 

[Humphrey]

Maybe you consider trading Casas while his value is high for starting pitching and move Devers to 1B and DH?

If you want to move Devers, why not split the field time between him and Casas? A trade is not needed. You want hitters at both those positions.