Alex Bregman and Adding a Bat

[Big Papi's Mango Salsa]

We don’t know that he can play 2B as well as the alternatives.

That was in reference to signing Donvoan Solano instead of Yoshida.

I was saying that I can understand the idea of not wanting "Bregman." I cannot understand the idea of not wanting Donovan Solano (who can provide days off for Casas and Devers, and actually can play 2b also) instead of Yoshida.

I suppose the response to that is "if Yoshida can have his hot stretches last full seasons he'd be a great DH". So sure, yes. But I if Jackie Bradley Jr could have had his hot stretches last full seasons he'd have been Ken Griffey Jr. (Oh, to be clear, if Yoshida could adequately play literally any single position on the diamond and be the 110ish wRC+ guy he's been, then he'd be just fine and I'd have no qualms having him on the roster. But he can't. Or at least the Red Sox have determined he can't).

 

[marcoscutaro]

The initial Devers shoulder injury that caused him to miss ten or twelve (?) games in April was due to him swinging off a machine at the end of spring training fwiw. He should have been put on the IL at the beginning of the season because once he hurt the other shoulder in Colorado then what he was doing to play through it wasn’t possible.

“I’m not frustrated,” said Devers through a team interpreter following the Sox’ 8-1 win over the Twins in the first game of a split doubleheader. “I’m just a little bit disappointed. It’s something I’ve been dealing with the whole year. Obviously, I was trying to play through it. And, like I said before, we were in a good position. But at the end of the day, it was the manager’s decision to put me on the IL and I agree with him.”

Devers hurt his left shoulder hitting off a pitching machine during spring training which, along with a bone bruise in his knee, cost him 11 of the Sox’ first 19 games to start the season. Despite the injury, however, Devers remained one of the best hitters in the majors through July, batting .302/.380/.599 with a .979 OPS and 24 homers.

How is it possible for him to avoid the shoulder inflammation injuries when even DHing he’ll be swinging off the machine anyway? It isn’t, and for that reason we’ve also heard about the push for him to adopt a team conditioning regime this offseason, which he has for the first time ever.
(Wasn’t the bone bruise after his collision with O’Neill?)

 

[joe dokes]

I suppose the response to that is "if Yoshida can have his hot stretches last full seasons he'd be a great DH". So sure, I guess. But I mean if Jackie Bradley Jr could have had his hot stretches last full seasons he'd have been Ken Griffey Jr.

FWIW--Compared to other MLB DHs last season, Yoshida wasn't nearly as bad as being portrayed in this thread. Considerably closer to the top than the bottom.

 

[EddieYost]

That was in reference to signing Donvoan Solano instead of Yoshida.

I was saying that I can understand the idea of not wanting "Bregman." I cannot understand the idea of not wanting Donovan Solano (who can provide days off for Casas and Devers, and actually can play 2b also) instead of Yoshida.

I suppose the response to that is "if Yoshida can have his hot stretches last full seasons he'd be a great DH". So sure, I guess. But I mean if Jackie Bradley Jr could have had his hot stretches last full seasons he'd have been Ken Griffey Jr.

Oh…well that’s different then….never mind.

 

[chawson]

That was in reference to signing Donvoan Solano instead of Yoshida.

I'm sorry man, this is ridiculous.

 

[marcoscutaro]

I don’t hate the idea of Solano on a short term contract to back up 1st and 3rd and act as a bridge to the young guys. Yoshida I think becomes far more tradable if he’s got two years and a productive season. Not sure why the fact he had that strange thumb injury and torn labrum all season isn’t mentioned when he’s getting compared to JBJ at the plate?

 

[BringBackMo]

Front offices say all kinds of things. At this time last year they were still saying they viewed Yoshida as a left fielder and Chris Sale as opening day starter. It means next to nothing.

His agent is not going to come out and be like, "yeah, we think Raffy sucks at third, and Raffy knows it. I don't know why the FO won't put him at DH!" And Breslow is not going to publicly shit on his star third baseman''s fielding ability because 1) it's terrible PR and undermines him and 2) it makes their bargaining position tougher, as Bregman or whoever now knows we're desperate to move him off third.

They're going to have private conversations about it if they decide to do it. And Devers is, at the end of the day, going to play where he's told to play, because that's his job. Ortiz didn't want to DH when he first came over here, and you know what? He sucked it up and did it.

Don’t buy this comparison in the least. David Ortiz when he came to the Red Sox wasn’t even a starter. He had zero choice in the matter. Rafael Devers signed a massive contract two years ago, is the face of the organization, is a premiere hitter, and is simply not going to get jerked around by the Red Sox. What percentage chance do you personally put on Devers being moved off third base this year? And separately, what percentage chance do you out on Alex Bregman becoming the Red Sox primarily third baseman this year?

 

[marcoscutaro]

FWIW--Compared to other MLB DHs last season, Yoshida wasn't nearly as bad as being portrayed in this thread. Considerably closer to the top than the bottom.

I’m not out on Yoshida the player if they can’t move him - he is a reliable high contact guy and low K guy and one of the only two players with a good approach at the plate on the roster. It’s only the roster fit that’s the problem (and fwiw I thought their decision to make him DH only instead of playing a few games in LF was ludicrous, as well as predictably tanking his value).

 

[cantor44]

I voted no, even though - Yes, Bregman at third and Devers at DH is > Devers at third and Yoshida at DH. No question.

The problems as I see them:
- Bregman's bat declined last year and he's heading into his age 31 season
- It seems the trade would be to play him at second base, and the organization has several top young players who can or should slot in in the infield (or more absurdly move Raffy to first and trade Casas ..)
- The years and money Bregman is allegedly asking for seem more than he'd be worth.

If this were a Teoscar Hernandez 3 year contract, and the organization is prepared to make Raffy it's DH, then why not?

If this is a six-deal that requires Raffy to first and trading Casas, or Bregman to second, which at least the reporting is suggesting, then maybe not

 

[Big Papi's Mango Salsa]

I'm sorry man, this is ridiculous.

Why?

Solano has had a better wRC+ than Yoshida in both of Yoshida's MLB seasons.

He can play 3b (to give Devers rest), he can play 1b (to give Casas rest) he can play 2b as well. Yoshida can do none of those things.

Moving Yoshida (if someone would pay $15m total) and signing Solano would also probably give the Red Sox a little bit more money to address other areas. I'm not trying to cherry pick a single stat or good (or bad) month for either player. Using the last two years of data - which is all we have for Yoshida against MLB pitching, Solano has been a better hitter than Yoshida and a far more useful defensive player.

You might not like the idea, but what makes it so ridiculous that a one line response adds anything?

 

[simplicio]

As the resident Solano booster, I'm totally fine with bringing him in for the last spot on the bench as an insurance policy that can easily be dismissed when we need the roster space. But he's in no way displacing Yoshida as primary DH. He doesn't have anywhere near Yoshida’s upside as a hitter.

 

[pjheff]

I fully understand (and make) the argument that the team should find a good defensive and decent offensive 3b, move Devers to DH and recoup $5m on Yoshida to help in other areas

Is that how the math is going to work, though? Do you think this ownership is going to look at paying $39M for Yoshida to play elsewhere positively as recouping $5M to help in other areas? Or is it more likely that such a commitment will come at the expense of one other mid-tier contract on the Sox roster for each of the next three seasons? Are you willing to pay Yoshida to play elsewhere if that also means you won’t get to sign one Giolito/Chapman/Buehler/Sandoval type in the upcoming offseasons?

 

[marcoscutaro]

Ownership was willing to throw Casas away to get Yoshida off the team without spending money. Regardless of what that did to the lineup. They’re not paying shit.

 

[sezwho]

snip…
How is it possible for him to avoid the shoulder inflammation injuries when even DHing he’ll be swinging off the machine anyway? It isn’t, and for that reason …

Can’t find link but one of the outcomes of the injury was a decision Devers would not hit against machine. That’s one way.

Again, if I recall, he was running a series of high speed fastballs as a drill and the machine either misfired, or operator error, and a change up came unexpectedly and he wrecked himself swinging through.

 

[marcoscutaro]

Oh that’s good to know, I hadn’t seen that part of the story.

 

[Yo La Tengo]

The initial Devers shoulder injury that caused him to miss ten or twelve (?) games in April was due to him swinging off a machine at the end of spring training fwiw. He should have been put on the IL at the beginning of the season because once he hurt the other shoulder in Colorado then what he was doing to play through it wasn’t possible.
. . .
which he has for the first time ever.

Do we have access to monthly defensive stats for Devers last year? Anecdotally, it seems like he was performing better before injuries caught up with him. That lines up with this quote from the link you posted:
"Though advanced metrics such as DRS and Outs Above Average (OAA) grade him as one of the worst defensive third basemen, he was amid one of his most consistent defensive seasons until the July injury. But he had to scale back his defensive work and ultimately struggled to throw with his shoulder injury. He ended the year being graded minus-6 OAA, meaning he converted six fewer balls in play into outs than an average third baseman."

 

[HangingW/ScottCooper]

Ownership was willing to throw Casas away to get Yoshida off the team without spending money. Regardless of what that did to the lineup. They’re not paying shit.

In fairness they were looking to acquire what they considered a #2 starter. That's not "throwing away". There also would have been a corresponding move to replace Casas at first base, otherwise there was going to be a lot of infield singles if they didn't have a first baseman.

 

[marcoscutaro]

I think that savant might show it month by month but I’m not sure how. Anecdotally he looked better with Story, but Jen McCaffrey also published this article on 29th May that begins by highlighting a play Devers made against the Rays:

On the night Rafael Devers hit a home run in a franchise-record sixth consecutive gameagainst the Tampa Bay Rays, there was another play that meant even more to him.

In the bottom of the seventh with one out and a runner on first, Devers was shaded toward the shortstop position with Ceddanne Rafaela closer to the second base bag. Brandon Lowe hit a hard liner to the right of second, Rafaela slid behind the bag and backflipped the ball to Devers who was on the run. He glided across the second base bag, turning the double play with a perfect throw to first base to end the inning.

It’s a play they practice nearly every day in early work and it set the tone defensively for the series.

Notable that beat reporters talking about how much pride Devers takes in playing third are aware of the player they’re covering, even if some here deny that that matters. Solid middle infield takes care of most problems, Valdez and Reyes were absolutely appalling last season. Honestly if they signed Bregman to play mainly 2B, spell Devers a bit at 3B, Campbell moves around, and they can do that to facilitate a Yoshida trade as he rebuilds his value, I’m all for it. They have more palatable options once Yoshida is down to his last two years, in terms of moving him.

 

[marcoscutaro]

In fairness they were looking to acquire what they considered a #2 starter. That's not "throwing away". There also would have been a corresponding move to replace Casas at first base, otherwise there was going to be a lot of infield singles if they didn't have a first baseman.

“In fairness” Castillo is clearly in decline with that mostly masked by Seattle park effects at first glance and they would have been creating a hole both in the lineup and at first, no matter if you think Devers moving to first covers it, there is still zero depth if Devers-at-1B gets injured. The way to avoid that nonsense was to spend money, which is what they ended up doing.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

I know that the biggest issue here is that the team needs a good hitter against LHP. Seems to me after reading most of these posts is that Bregman isn't really a solution to that issue.
The secondary issue is that Devers shitty defense needs to be addressed. Here's where Bregman seems to help more than any of the other available FA's or 3B types via trade that won't remove one of the future kids. But then there's the issue that Devers seems to want to stay there. I'm not sure if his defense really can't improve. His range is good- his biggest problem is his throws which to me is mostly mental focus which I think he's short on but that's something a good coach can help with.
Bregman in general just seems like a bad fit. Not terrible short term, but definitely long term.
The answer to me is clearly Campbell. Hoping Grissom can hack it at 2B and getting Campbell reps in AAA at 1B and 3B. Then you've got a very affordable peg that can fit multiple holes in the future. You hope that Romy can cover short term if there's an injury and at some point if Campbell's D is looking solid, you move him up and maybe a team takes Yoshida at that point? Mostly Bregman just doesn't fit unless you cut up the roster even more and he's not a guy you do that for IMO.

 

[Max Power]

Do we have access to monthly defensive stats for Devers last year? Anecdotally, it seems like he was performing better before injuries caught up with him. That lines up with this quote from the link you posted:
"Though advanced metrics such as DRS and Outs Above Average (OAA) grade him as one of the worst defensive third basemen, he was amid one of his most consistent defensive seasons until the July injury. But he had to scale back his defensive work and ultimately struggled to throw with his shoulder injury. He ended the year being graded minus-6 OAA, meaning he converted six fewer balls in play into outs than an average third baseman."

Fangraphs has him at -6 outs above average last year with a -5 fielding run value. So we're arguing about a guy who costs the team 5 runs a season with his glove when he's playing hurt. I don't see how this is such a big issue that it must be solved by dumping Yoshida and locking Alex Bregman into the team for 5 years.

 

[Harry Hooper]

I think people forget how good Casas was in his first full year. RC+ of 130 in '23 - 10 points higher than Bregman's '24 number. Casas left/righty splits in his first full year were not huge (.817 versus .865). I don't really see how Bregman fits with the roster unless you move Yoshida because I damn sure don't want to give up on Casas.

The worry regarding Casas is the uncommon injury he sustained last year. There's not a big amount of historical data on how players fare in the years after such an issue. If that injury recurs, then Casas loses a major portion of his value, both as a contributor on the Sox roster or as a tradeable asset to other clubs. Hopefully it's a one-time freakish thing.

 

[HangingW/ScottCooper]

Realistically speaking, if there are minimal changes to the offense and we give the kids a few months in AAA, we'd still be looking at lineups like this in June (batting order probably isn't optimized):

vs. RHP
1. Duran - CF
2. Devers - 3B
3. Yoshida - DH
4. Story - SS
5. Casas - 1B
6. Anthony - LF
7. Campbell - 2B
8. Abreu - RF
9. Wong - C

vs. LHP
1. Duran - CF
2. Devers - DH
3. Refsnyder - LF
4. Story - SS
5. Campbell - 3B
6. Wong - C
7. R. Gonzalez - 1B
8. Rafaela - RF
9. Hamilton / Grissom - 2B

 

[BringBackMo]

Do we have access to monthly defensive stats for Devers last year? Anecdotally, it seems like he was performing better before injuries caught up with him. That lines up with this quote from the link you posted:
"Though advanced metrics such as DRS and Outs Above Average (OAA) grade him as one of the worst defensive third basemen, he was amid one of his most consistent defensive seasons until the July injury. But he had to scale back his defensive work and ultimately struggled to throw with his shoulder injury. He ended the year being graded minus-6 OAA, meaning he converted six fewer balls in play into outs than an average third baseman."

This is also what Breslow said a couple of weeks ago, for what that’s worth.

 

[zenax]

No one here knows how Devers would react to being pulled out of being a position player. Would he rejoice at no longer having to play third base or would he be offended at losing it after the work he put in trying to better himself at that role?

 

[marcoscutaro]

That would really be a question for those of you who follow NFL as rib cartilage tears are supposedly more common in that game. Nothing about this injury suggests anything more than Casas being appallingly unlucky; Freddie Freeman had a milder version of same towards the end of the season. I’d be interested in seeing if this kind of injury crops up more with players given the emphasis on bat speed and making hard contact.

 

[chawson]

Why?

Solano has had a better wRC+ than Yoshida in both of Yoshida's MLB seasons.

He can play 3b (to give Devers rest), he can play 1b (to give Casas rest) he can play 2b as well. Yoshida can do none of those things.

Moving Yoshida (if someone would pay $15m total) and signing Solano would also probably give the Red Sox a little bit more money to address other areas. I'm not trying to cherry pick a single stat or good (or bad) month for either player. Using the last two years of data - which is all we have for Yoshida against MLB pitching, Solano has been a better hitter than Yoshida and a far more useful defensive player.

You might not like the idea, but what makes it so ridiculous that a one line response adds anything?

Sorry for the one-liner. I think I leaned to brevity as a response to, respectfully, the sheer volume of content you're generating daily, for months, on the subject of trading Masataka Yoshida.

Solano is a useful player and I've floated the idea of signing him before on this board, for something like the role we've got Romy Gonzalez in. But he's a 37-year-old slap hitting infielder whose ability to play the infield is compromised these days.

There's also this trend on the board lately among those who've convinced themselves that the Red Sox are a "small-market team," and so have begun advocating for small-market solutions under the (imagined) premise that cost-cutting is the primary motive. Donovan Solano had a nice year as a part-timer in 2024, and good for him. But if the Red Sox were to jump ship on this all-world Japanese star, a guy they scouted for four years before signing him, after two solid and injury-plagued seasons based on the concept that they're a few million below their expected ROI, well, that would be something to be upset about!

Yoshida's two seasons have included long stretches of excellence and long stretches of frustration, so it makes sense that opinions about him vary widely. I'm with those who think he's being undervalued. He's a fairly bad baserunner, but I don't think the book is closed on him as a left fielder. The fielding metrics penalize Fenway's left field.

My optimism about him stems from the fact that he's not been a consistent 115 wRC+ hitter — he's been a 150-160 wRC+ hitter for months, and also been a 80 wRC+ hitter during the times that correspond with injury (thumb, shoulder) or attrition (late 2023). That suggests his true talent level is closer to the higher mark.

 

[20Ks]

Why?

Solano has had a better wRC+ than Yoshida in both of Yoshida's MLB seasons.

He can play 3b (to give Devers rest), he can play 1b (to give Casas rest) he can play 2b as well. Yoshida can do none of those things.

Moving Yoshida (if someone would pay $15m total) and signing Solano would also probably give the Red Sox a little bit more money to address other areas. I'm not trying to cherry pick a single stat or good (or bad) month for either player. Using the last two years of data - which is all we have for Yoshida against MLB pitching, Solano has been a better hitter than Yoshida and a far more useful defensive player.

You might not like the idea, but what makes it so ridiculous that a one line response adds anything?

The Bolded is where I think everyone is losing the plot. Why do you think Yoshida is worth 3/15? There are no real LH bats available. To the point where Arizona gave Joc Pederson 2/37 who has as much defensive value as Yoshida, and hasn't had 65 PA v. LH since 2015. It will take nowhere near that kind of subsidy. Also all the movements we are talking about is for improvement over Devers defense at 3rd and Yoshida's bat at DH. Im not sold that Bregmans bat will be better than Yoshidas this year, or whatever many else years you have to tack on.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

I’m not out on Yoshida the player if they can’t move him - he is a reliable high contact guy and low K guy and one of the only two players with a good approach at the plate on the roster. It’s only the roster fit that’s the problem (and fwiw I thought their decision to make him DH only instead of playing a few games in LF was ludicrous, as well as predictably tanking his value).

Didn't we learn that the decision to not play him in the field at all was primarily due to the shoulder injury? It didn't impact his swing, but it did affect his ability to throw, so he couldn't play LF even if he wanted to.

I think it is worth watching how well he's recovered come spring training. If he's doing outfield drills with the rest of the guys without issue, I can see him being used at least on a part time basis in the outfield.

 

[HangingW/ScottCooper]

It's been 6 pages on adding an infielder and I'm ashamed at myself for not mentioning Ha-Seong Kim. He'll be injured to start the year (probably missing two months), but again he's someone that can probably be had for a much shorter commitment than Bregman. I'd welcome a 2-3 year deal for Kim.

 

[marcoscutaro]

It should also be noted that the severity of Casas’s injury undoubtedly increased because he tried playing through it. He came out of the game on April 20th but said he felt pain in the homestand in the Guardians series:

Though Casas exited last Saturday’s game after just one at-bat, he said the injury occurred during the Red Sox’s last homestand, in his first at-bat against the Guardians’ Ben Lively, the same night Tanner Houck spun his shutout gem.

So however many swings and check swings increased the damage of the initial injury and lengthened the recovery time.

 

[chawson]

Fangraphs has him at -6 outs above average last year with a -5 fielding run value. So we're arguing about a guy who costs the team 5 runs a season with his glove when he's playing hurt. I don't see how this is such a big issue that it must be solved by dumping Yoshida and locking Alex Bregman into the team for 5 years.

Totally agree with this. The cumulative effect of this bad defense is really not that much over the course of a season. And since Devers is good to his right (preventing doubles down the line) and not so good to his left, we're talking about a bunch of singles, many of which could be handled by a healthy Story (who is good going to his right).

Do we have access to monthly defensive stats for Devers last year? Anecdotally, it seems like he was performing better before injuries caught up with him. That lines up with this quote from the link you posted:
"Though advanced metrics such as DRS and Outs Above Average (OAA) grade him as one of the worst defensive third basemen, he was amid one of his most consistent defensive seasons until the July injury. But he had to scale back his defensive work and ultimately struggled to throw with his shoulder injury. He ended the year being graded minus-6 OAA, meaning he converted six fewer balls in play into outs than an average third baseman."

I posted this in October in the "Is it Time to Move Devers to DH" thread (which this has also become), but Devers isolated monthly OAAs with Bogaerts or Story as the primary shortstop have been better than otherwise. Here they are:

Apr '22: +1
May '22: -2
June '22: -1
Aug '23: 0
Sep '23: 0
Sep '24: +1

That's a full season's worth of months, spanning three years, so I'm not sure it's especially predictive. But Devers is a mere -1 OAA in the six months when he's played alongside Trevor Story (2023-24) or Xander Bogaerts (2022). It may also be relevant that those two poor months of May and June '22 came when Franchy Cordero was the primary first baseman.

Otherwise yes, the isolated OAAs by month are available at Baseball Savant.

 

[marcoscutaro]

Didn't we learn that the decision to not play him in the field at all was primarily due to the shoulder injury? It didn't impact his swing, but it did affect his ability to throw, so he couldn't play LF even if he wanted to.

I think it is worth watching how well he's recovered come spring training. If he's doing outfield drills with the rest of the guys without issue, I can see him being used at least on a part time basis in the outfield.

I hope so! He seemed visibly upset by it.

EDIT: chawson, where can I find the isolated OAAs by month?

 

[20Ks]

Sorry for the one-liner. I think I leaned to brevity as a response to, respectfully, the sheer volume of content you're generating daily, for months, on the subject of trading Masataka Yoshida.

Solano is a useful player and I've floated the idea of signing him before on this board, for something like the role we've got Romy Gonzalez in. But he's a 37-year-old slap hitting infielder whose ability to play the infield is compromised these days.

There's also this trend on the board lately among those who've convinced themselves that the Red Sox are a "small-market team," and so have begun advocating for small-market solutions under the (imagined) premise that cost-cutting is the primary motive. Donovan Solano had a nice year as a part-timer in 2024, and good for him. But if the Red Sox were to jump ship on this all-world Japanese star, a guy they scouted for four years before signing him, after two solid and injury-plagued seasons based on the concept that they're a few million below their expected ROI, well, that would be something to be upset about!

Yoshida's two seasons have included long stretches of excellence and long stretches of frustration, so it makes sense that opinions about him vary widely. I'm with those who think he's being undervalued. He's a fairly bad baserunner, but I don't think the book is closed on him as a left fielder. The fielding metrics penalize Fenway's left field.

My optimism about him stems from the fact that he's not been a consistent 115 wRC+ hitter — he's been a 150-160 wRC+ hitter for months, and also been a 80 wRC+ hitter during the times that correspond with injury (thumb, shoulder) or attrition (late 2023). That suggests his true talent level is closer to the higher mark.

Seconded. Also why the rush? Can't we wait and see, what we have with a non-injured Yoshida? The more time that goes by the less "underwater" his contract is, and it is nowhere as "underwater" as some people believe.

 

[radsoxfan]

Seconded. Also why the rush? Can't we wait and see, what we have with a non-injured Yoshida? The more time that goes by the less "underwater" his contract is, and it is nowhere as "underwater" as some people believe.

Wait and see is OK, probably the most likely scenario for the roster.

We have a poorly fitting roster at the moment with poor defense and too many DHs (or should be Dhs), so it would be nice to improve that if we are looking to compete in 2025 (since we presumably still have $ to spend). But if we want to wait for the kids to get their feet wet and Yoshida to prove he is healthy, that's fine.

For anyone who wants to say Yoshida's contract is not way underwater, what contract do you think he would get on the open market right now?

 

[20Ks]

Totally agree with this. The cumulative effect of this bad defense is really not that much over the course of a season. And since Devers is good to his right (preventing doubles down the line) and not so good to his left, we're talking about a bunch of singles, many of which could be handled by a healthy Story (who is good going to his right).



I posted this in October in the "Is it Time to Move Devers to DH" thread (which this has also become), but Devers isolated monthly OAAs with Bogaerts or Story as the primary shortstop have been better than otherwise. Here they are:

Apr '22: +1
May '22: -2
June '22: -1
Aug '23: 0
Sep '23: 0
Sep '24: +1

That's a full season's worth of months, spanning three years, so I'm not sure it's especially predictive. But Devers is a mere -1 OAA in the six months when he's played alongside Trevor Story (2023-24) or Xander Bogaerts (2022). It may also be relevant that those two poor months of May and June '22 came when Franchy Cordero was the primary first baseman.

Otherwise yes, the isolated OAAs by month are available at Baseball Savant.

Great post other than reminding me about the Franchy Cordero era. He's also just 28 years old. The only mention of moving Devers in real media was Sean Mcadam talking about a Arenando trade and Devers moving "at some point" . Now why someone would want that info out is tough to pin down, but I'm pretty sure it was used to get that they had "interest" in Arenando out there. The Red Sox have denied any inclination to move him off 3rd. Again where is the fire? Why not wait and see?

 

[Harry Hooper]

Yoshida's two seasons have included long stretches of excellence and long stretches of frustration, so it makes sense that opinions about him vary widely. I'm with those who think he's being undervalued. He's a fairly bad baserunner, but I don't think the book is closed on him as a left fielder. The fielding metrics penalize Fenway's left field.

My optimism about him stems from the fact that he's not been a consistent 115 wRC+ hitter — he's been a 150-160 wRC+ hitter for months, and also been a 80 wRC+ hitter during the times that correspond with injury (thumb, shoulder) or attrition (late 2023). That suggests his true talent level is closer to the higher mark.

Fielding metrics do penalize Fenway's left field, but Yoshida's primary limitation defensively is he doesn't cover much ground at all. As a result, he likely doesn't gain as much outside of Fenway as other fielders.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Wait and see is OK, probably the most likely scenario for the roster.

We have a poorly fitting roster at the moment with poor defense and too many DHs (or should be Dhs), so it would be nice to improve that if we are looking to compete in 2025 (since we presumably still have $ to spend). But if we want to wait for the kids to get their feet wet and Yoshida to prove he is healthy, that's fine.

For anyone who wants to say Yoshida's contract is not way underwater, what contract do you think he would get on the open market right now?

I'd bet he'd likely get at least a 3/$30M offer somewhere easily.
Wait and see could only be 2-3 months--- easily enough time to get Campbell plenty of time at 3B and 1B in AAA. Promote him then and have him float between the corner spots and DH and OF with Yoshida in the mix still seems like the best plan of action.

 

[20Ks]

Wait and see is OK, probably the most likely scenario for the roster.

We have a poorly fitting roster at the moment with poor defense and too many DHs (or should be Dhs), so it would be nice to improve that if we are looking to compete in 2025 (since we presumably still have $ to spend). But if we want to wait for the kids to get their feet wet and Yoshida to prove he is healthy, that's fine.

For anyone who wants to say Yoshida's contract is not way underwater, what contract do you think he would get on the open market right now?

Well Santana got 1/12 Conforto got 1/17 and Joc Pederson got 2/37. I would venture to guess more than $5M. Now if he comes back healthy and can approximate 150+ wRC+ Yoshida, and play some in the field what do you think he would get next year? I for one would like to wait and see if that happens.

 

[ElcaballitoMVP]

As the resident Solano booster, I'm totally fine with bringing him in for the last spot on the bench as an insurance policy that can easily be dismissed when we need the roster space. But he's in no way displacing Yoshida as primary DH. He doesn't have anywhere near Yoshida’s upside as a hitter.

Does Solano bring much more to the table than Romy does? While I agree he'd be a nice bench piece, I don't think he'd be a great fit with Romy around. Plus, he'll be 37 while Romy is 28.

I'd rather go get Ha-Seong Kim, who will at the very least offer you plus defense at 3B/SS/2B and speed on the bases. Obviously the cost is a lot different between the two, but Kim is a much better player and you might even be able to get him on a 1 year deal that allows him to go into next offseason healthy to get the contract he really wants.

 

[OCD SS]

Tigers “all in” on Bergman per MLB

MLB.com link

 

[Big Papi's Mango Salsa]

Sorry for the one-liner. I think I leaned to brevity as a response to, respectfully, the sheer volume of content you're generating daily, for months, on the subject of trading Masataka Yoshida.

Fair. We all have our issues we cannot let go, right.

I will try my best not to mention Yoshida's name again unless it's as the DH for the Boston Red Sox, since I think that assuming health (and a RHP on the mound) there is a 99.9% chance that is where he's going to be on Opening Day. I think that is a mistake, but I think that is the almost certain scenario.

 

[jon abbey]

Tigers “all in” on Bergman per MLB

MLB.com link

This has made sense to me both ways for a while, Bregman gets to be on a possibly up and coming team with his old manager and DET gets to show that they are 'serious' (by overpaying, but still).

 

[simplicio]

Does Solano bring much more to the table than Romy does? While I agree he'd be a nice bench piece, I don't think he'd be a great fit with Romy around. Plus, he'll be 37 while Romy is 28.

I'd rather go get Ha-Seong Kim, who will at the very least offer you plus defense at 3B/SS/2B and speed on the bases. Obviously the cost is a lot different between the two, but Kim is a much better player and you might even be able to get him on a 1 year deal that allows him to go into next offseason healthy to get the contract he really wants.

Well, he can also hit RHP fine, which Romy appears completely incapable of doing. But his greatest skill is being capable of solid performance with some versatility while simultaneously being completely expendable. Where we sit at this moment is a full starting roster, pondering the last bench spot, with Campbell and/or Anthony as massive unknowns. You could gamble and fill the spot with one of them (and I'm in favor of this personally), but this increases your exposure if they bust. If you add a Solano/Canha type and option Romy to fit the kids in, you have more insulation.

Kim doesn't make any sense to me cause he isn't going to be ready for the critical early season when we're ostensibly seeing the first taste of the prospects. Also have concerns about his bat going forward post-surgery, he doesn't have a lot of room to lose a step offensively.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Does Solano bring much more to the table than Romy does? While I agree he'd be a nice bench piece, I don't think he'd be a great fit with Romy around. Plus, he'll be 37 while Romy is 28.

I'd rather go get Ha-Seong Kim, who will at the very least offer you plus defense at 3B/SS/2B and speed on the bases. Obviously the cost is a lot different between the two, but Kim is a much better player and you might even be able to get him on a 1 year deal that allows him to go into next offseason healthy to get the contract he really wants.

While Kim is certainly better than Solano, he's also not healthy and won't be able to play until a month or two into the season. It's entirely possible that by the time he's ready to play, there won't be a spot for him to take because one or more of Campbell, Grissom, Romy, Rafaela, and Hamilton have locked themselves into the 26-man roster with their play.

 

[radsoxfan]

I'd bet he'd likely get at least a 3/$30M offer somewhere easily.
Wait and see could only be 2-3 months--- easily enough time to get Campbell plenty of time at 3B and 1B in AAA. Promote him then and have him float between the corner spots and DH and OF with Yoshida in the mix still seems like the best plan of action.

3/30 sounds pretty optimistic rather than "easily" to me.

I hope Cambpell is on the opening day roster for the record, with or without Bregman.

 

[benhogan]

The answer to me is clearly Campbell. Hoping Grissom can hack it at 2B and getting Campbell reps in AAA at 1B and 3B.

Then you've got a very affordable peg that can fit multiple holes in the future. You hope that Romy can cover short term if there's an injury and at some point if Campbell's D is looking solid, you move him up and maybe a team takes Yoshida at that point? Mostly Bregman just doesn't fit unless you cut up the roster even more and he's not a guy you do that for IMO.

I'm in the NO on Bregman Camp, and your suggestion sounds like the best option in the short & long term.

Start the season with Campbell mostly playing 3B in spring training & then AAA.

After a month, see how KC is doing in Worcester, Raffy looks at 3rd, Grissom at 2nd, and Yoshida at DH (if there are no subsidized MASA buyers before then). Adjust where needed as the season progresses.

 

[simplicio]

From Breslow's zoom call just now:
https://bsky.app/profile/alexspeier.bsky.social/post/3lek4ogrr7c2e
Breslow: “Raffy is our third baseman.”

 

[OCD SS]

Breslow on Bregman: “I’m not going to speak about specific pursuits. I can say RH bats that we feel like will play at our park are of interest to us.”

Speier on BlueSky

 

[Rasputin]

Tigers “all in” on Bergman per MLB

MLB.com link

They can have him.