New threads are good and having to go into an offseason discussion thread to discuss a contract extension (or anything really) now that the season has started is making my brain itch.
Ultimately how good Devers is, especially compared to his peers is up for debate, but I don't think it's going out on a limb to say that going forward, at age 25, he's the best impact bat the Sox have in the organization. I was thinking about my response to Sean's post that helped crystalize things for me.
Ultimately how good Devers is, especially compared to his peers is up for debate, but I don't think it's going out on a limb to say that going forward, at age 25, he's the best impact bat the Sox have in the organization. I was thinking about my response to Sean's post that helped crystalize things for me.
The point to extending him now is that if you assume the length of the deal & amount of guaranteed money aren't going to lessen when he's a FA, you're buying prime years, rather than the back end decline. It makes it more likely that the contract provides value for the team, and you aren't bidding against an open field.Yea I see Devers as a great hitter at 3B but I am very wary of offering him any sort of 10 year deal at $30 million plus. I don't really expect him to get any better defensively at 3B and I doubt many other teams do either. I am not sure what the team really gets out of extending him now instead of just trying to extend him when he is a FA. If he looks even more like a future 1B/DH type in 2024, he is looking at a slightly elevated Matt Olson contract.
And if the Sox have a chance to bid on him, so will everyone else. Do you really think this Sox ownership group is going to be the team that outbids everyone else? I think this ownership group's commitment to their ideas about how to pay for roster construction and the winners curse are mutually exclusive.Juan Soto is a FA the year after Devers is and is two years younger.