Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow met with the Boston beat on Monday to discuss the team’s offseason. MLBTR has already relayed Breslow’s notes on Lucas Giolito and Roki Sasaki, respectively. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe were among those to cover Breslow’s other comments.
Most notably, the CBO pushed back against trade rumors swirling around first baseman Triston Casas. “I’m not totally sure where it comes from. We’re not shopping Triston,” Breslow said. “We see him as a guy that can hit in the middle of the lineup for a really long time here in Boston. I’ve seen some of the speculation about what deals may or may not have existed, or what may or may not have been proposed, and there was nothing that was remotely close. We’re certainly not shopping him.”
Reporting has generally characterized the Sox as being open to a Casas trade without suggesting they’re actively trying to deal him. That has been most prevalent in the context of attempting to line up a deal with Seattle for a controllable starter. Ryan Divish and Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reported during the Winter Meetings that the Mariners had rebuffed interest from the Sox in swapping Casas for a young starter like Bryan Woo or Bryce Miller. Boston has seemingly not had interest in a Casas for Luis Castillo framework. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand wrote last week that the Sox would’ve wanted Seattle to take on the underwater Masataka Yoshida contract in that situation.
In any case, it looks increasingly likely that Casas will remain on the Red Sox going into next season. Boston has added Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler to a rotation that already included Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford. Giolito is shooting for an Opening Day return from internal brace surgery. That gives the Sox at least six viable starters, while Cooper Criswell and Richard Fitts are on hand as depth options. Garrett Whitlock is likely to kick back to the bullpen once he returns from his own elbow surgery.
While the rotation may no longer be a priority, Breslow highlighted two longstanding target areas: a right-handed bat and the bullpen. They’ve made progress in the latter area, bringing in Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson to strengthen the left side. Whitlock and Liam Hendriks could step in alongside second-year pitcher Justin Slaten in the late innings. Whitlock, Hendriks, and Wilson all come with some durability question marks. Chapman’s scattershot command makes him something of a wild card. Slaten, who is just one season removed from being a Rule 5 selection, might be the team’s safest reliever.
Relief pitching is tough to project, and the Sox have a more volatile bullpen than most contenders. There’s a decent amount of upside, but it’s not surprising that Breslow indicated they’ll look for another addition. The free agent relief market has barely moved. Only three relievers — Clay Holmes, Blake Treinen and Yimi García — have signed multi-year deals. Holmes is stretching out as a starter after signing a three-year contract with the Mets. Chapman and Nick Martinez (who accepted a qualifying offer from Cincinnati) are the only other relievers to sign for a guarantee above $10MM.
The slowly-developing relief market in part reflects a weaker than average free agent group. However, the top two relievers, Tanner Scott and Jeff Hoffman, remain unsigned going into the new year. Carlos Estévez, Kirby Yates, A.J. Minter and David Robertson are other relievers who have yet to sign. Ryan Helsley is the top name on the trade market, though the Cardinals seem to prefer to hold him until the deadline.
In contrast to the bullpen, Boston has yet to make a move for a right-handed hitter aside from a trade for backup catcher Carlos Narváez. The Sox lost Tyler O’Neill from a group that was already very left-handed. Breslow reiterated that the Sox wanted impact production from “a right-handed bat out of the middle of the lineup.” He left open the possibility of internal improvements but noted they’re “certainly also engaged in conversations for players that aren’t yet in the organization.”
The top remaining free agent, righty-hitting infielder Alex Bregman, has been linked to the Sox in recent weeks. Asked whether the Sox are still involved on Bregman, Breslow pointed back to the need for right-handed hitting generally. “As you probably can imagine, I’m not going to speak about specific pursuits. I can say that right-handed bats that we feel like could play well at our park are certainly of interest to us, and we remain engaged on a number of fronts.”
Breslow added that the Red Sox aren’t looking to move Rafael Devers off the hot corner. That doesn’t rule out Bregman, who’d be a massive upgrade over Boston’s internal options at second base (i.e. Vaughn Grissom, David Hamilton, Romy Gonzalez). Switch-hitting outfielders Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar are speculative possibilities. Pete Alonso may be the best unsigned right-handed hitter, but he’d be a tough roster fit unless the Sox deal Casas or can offload most of the Yoshida contract.
I don’t want to pay for Bregman’s declining years and he has possibly started declining. I wouldn’t go past a 4 year deal with him.
Question. I’m not quite up on Red Sox affairs. Why did they let Tyler O’Neil walk as a FA? He led the team in hrs.
You have to pay extra for a winner to come to Boston! John Henry is to cheap and Breslow will be like Bloom, used as a scapegoat and get fired! Boston has a bad reputation in the FA market and John Henry is to cheap and doesn’t have the balls to go all in! This team is ready for the next step but we need a couple of proven winners to lead this team! If John Henry was serious about winning he would sign both Bregman and Scott! Wonder who is going to replace Breslow next year! Someone needs to have a heart to heart talk with Devers about his defense.
Some of you fans need to come to grips with your over focus on spending. The fact that Duran made less than $1M last year didn’t diminish his provocation one bit. Same with Houck. It’s not all about what a player is making and more about what they could contribute between the lines.
It isn’t about the pay, it’s about the talent. Signing stars as FA is one way to add top talent to the roster. If you don’t work that channel successfully, it makes it hard to compete at the top of the league.
The Red Sox are working a “mid market” strategy these days, with mid-market results.
So essentially Breslow is blowing smoke. Regardless, I like Casas and think he could carry the team a couple times a year.
I imagine it’s not ideal when a player finds out you’re shopping them. This is that corporate bs to pretend like never happened.
No, he’s speaking honestly and in real like GMs don’t operate in simplistic ways like “spend for the sake of spend”, “spend whatever is needed to get the target guy”, or “100% like this guy or 100% be out on him”. Every potential addition becomes more or less appealing depending on the acquisition cost, and the required acquisition ask can and does change over the course of the offseason. That’s why we hear about “negotiations”.
“Do or do not; there is no try” sounded great as a movie line, but the way some fans and media members apply that to justify their diatribes is foolish; it doesn’t apply well to pro sports front office work.
ha a guy who thinks a corporate leader speaks honestly. the world is funny place, all at different points in life. corporations must love you.
Unless you are trading Yoshida or Casas, signing Bregman simply blocks Campbell and Vaughn. I just don’t see what sense that makes. And still you have to get Devers to move off third! Everyone seems to be pacifying Devers, by saying he is staying on third. I think Boston being in play for Bregman is just wishful thinking by his representation.
There’s really no reason to break the glass on a Devers position change until it’s decided on. With Casas and Yoshida, no reason to broach that just yet. Bregman actually suits well because he presents a non-OF opportunity to get the specific profile of hitting help the lineup needs without having to force any hands. If he *begins* at 2B, the front office can hold serve with the rest while letting things develop. If Casas or Yoshida end up moved, it could domino with everyone shifting around to different lineup spots; if the other 2B options flop early on, Boston wouldn’t be left having to endure a lineup hole creating negative value. Etc.
Bregman doesn’t “block” Vaughn or Campbell in that short-term the team can’t pencil either in AND for the medium term (and maybe shorter term) he’ll be ready to head to 3B when the time is right and 2B will then call for filling. It actually fits pretty elegantly when it comes to creating contingencies!
There are definitely times when a team is largely set, with just a simple fixed spot that demands upgrade – in that case, the search is for plug-and-play. This isn’t one of those situations, so a piece who brings appropriate flexibility to the table actually makes plenty of sense.
Has Bregman been the same player since the good astros beating the trash can days?
Nope – two seasons then as an 8 and 9 WAR player, and since then he’s settled in as a reliable 4 WAR type. Not a superstar and the rebound to that former ceiling that we used to wait for is just about gone, but there is also value in high floor. Unquestionably not the same guy as he was in those two years, though.
He’s been ok. Like Alonso, declining and not worth a huge contract, imo.
No on bregman – not at 3B and not at 2B. Sox can get their RH power by working a trade for Vladdy. Casas, Yoshida and, Crawford should get it done. If not, include Hamilton.
But – only if they can work an extension out with him beforehand. 10/500 sounds about right.
Casas and Crawford are not getting you Vladdy while also dumping Yoshidas contract.
Maybe – maybe not. If not, that’s why I included Hamilton. Face it – the jays are losing Vladdy – they can either get something substantial for him now or at best, get an additional draft pick with he rejects their QO and walks next year.
Dude, you should pace yourself on the New Year’s Eve drinking.
Bless your heart…
Gotta say that well intended humor makes me laugh out loud.
@Papi’sGhost
The Jays would never trade Vladdy to a division rival.
Given Boston’s operational behavior of late, what makes you think they would offer 10/500 to Vladdy, or anyone, really?
Well they broke $700M for Soto. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but the open market tends to revolve around flawed players, and having to pay inflated open-market prices (especially these past three offseasons, which have seen inflated deals beyond projections all over the place) for flawed guys really only makes sense if you’ve completely arrived at an open window and are aching to fill a pointed need.
Boston has a lot of flexibility (so, not aching to fill pointed needs, more like general ones such as “starting pitching” as it already has and “right handed hitting”) and only just is entering a projected period of an open window. No reason to force the issue just yet and prior to now there’s been ZERO reason to take on overpriced flawed-profile guys.
Nobody is going to bother acquiring Vladdy (now in a trade-and-sign or as a FA in a year) if the team doesn’t 100% see him as a core franchise hitter, as some teams will and bidding will be priced appropriately. IF Boston feels he is that sort of thing, yes, it would be willing to pay, because he would be worth it.
Their biggest recent free agent signing was Trevor Story, 6 years, $140 M.
Their biggest all time free agent contract was David Price, 7 years, $217 M.
They extended Devers 10 years, $312 M. (and most thought that was an overpay)
You think they’re shelling out $500 M for Vladdy? I don’t think anyone will, but it certainly won’t be the Red Sox.
Past numbers don’t mean much in that average and top salaries have risen; only a few teams have touched the sort of numbers a superstar is going to see now and going forward (barring a market collapse).
And Boston has been in a big-market-team rebuild mode for a handful of years now, so they haven’t been in a position to go for the biggest fishes (or be in much demand for them without big time overpaying for them) until just about now.
Anyway, putting all that aside, I was giving my thoughts on whether Boston would be willing to consider such a price tag for “anyone, really”. For Vlad specifically, I have no idea, because I have no idea whether they love him in a Soto sort of way. Given his inconsistencies and low positional value, I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t see him as the sort of superstar who merits that level of commitment, and seeing as I think at least a handful of teams will they will be the ones bidding up his market to whatever eye-popping deal he ends up getting.
But IF they saw him as a guy who will be a David Ortiz hitter for the next decade, then yeah, I think they would be willing to make him a huge offer. I just figure that they won’t see him that way.
The Sox offered 700M for Soto so yeah, I think they could definitely offer that to lock down Vladdy for the next decade.
Canuck – If the Mets don’t keep Alonso, I can see them dishing out $500M for Vladdy.
Ghost – It was proven the Red Sox offer to Soto was a scam.
They were the 4th team to offer at least that much, they knew it wouldn’t be accepted. It was all for show to entertain the delusional fans and lure people into buying tickets.
@Fever Pitch Guy
You could be right. Cohen is kind of an outlier. He is willing to spend beyond reason when he wants to.
“I don’t know where that came from”; Craig Breslow on shopping Tristan Casas.
Sean McAdam, Ken Rosenthal, and Jon Heyman threw it out there as a possibility to pursue a trade for Nolan Arenado and moving Devers to First Base, making Casas redundant. Breslow gave some credence to it by saying they “wouldn’t do it without asking him (Devers) first.
That’s where it came from craig, that’s where it came from
Rsox, were you on the Zoom call? It sounds like Breslow was fielding questions, and the quotes shared with us doesn’t define the “that” he refers to. If it was just the possibility of Casas being traded, your comment makes sense. But if it was about Breslow “shopping” Casas or outright looking to move Casas, then everything he said makes sense.
It’s eminently clear that Boston would consider trading Casas, as any front office should be willing to do for a guy like that. He isn’t so untouchable or embedded in the culture of the team that it should be unthinkable to move him, but he’s talented enough and not so “sell high” that it’s better to hold him unless the absolutely right deal comes along.
So, it’s most likely that Boston isn’t planning on moving him but is fully willing to do due diligence on worthwhile moves that might require him to be moved, no different than how the team surely didn’t “want” to move Teel or Montgomery but was fine to not have them as untouchable.
So, unless he’s fibbing about the clear understanding that Casas has been involved at times with some talks, what’s the problem? Do you know that is that “that” he’s referring to? Because I don’t, and I doubt that you do too.
Okay so this means somebody was lying:
Is Breslow lying that there was never a deal for Casas on the table??
Is Jude/Divish lying about the Mariners turning down a Miller or Woo for Casas deal??
Is Mark Feinsand lying about Boston wanting the Mariners to take Yoshida in any Casas deal?
Everywhere I look, liars liars pants on fires. And prevaricators.
Breslow said he is not shopping Casas. Does bringing up Casas to one team constitute shopping? Not sure of the answer.
No, it doesn’t. “Shopping” is generally understood to mean that a team is motivated (not necessarily desperate; it can mean that they feel a guy is sell high and they hope to do just that, but will only move him if they get that price) to move a guy.
A lot of Boston fans are resistant to the idea of trading Casas precisely because they feel he is going to do better going forward than his present market value due to his hobbled 2024. Breslow seems like a smart guy, in which case he probably isn’t motivated to move Casas either – in which case, that means he isn’t shopping the guy.
But Casas is talented and proven enough that there was always the chance that a team could feel bullish on him and be willing to offer a return that suits Boston, so Boston always should have been ready to listen. I think that’s the deal here.
Nobody is lying. Teams ask about guys whose teams aren’t “looking” to deal them specifically all the time.
Here’s one possible way all this could have gone down: Seattle and Boston start a conversation around the common sense understanding that Seattle could deal pitching from their position of strength and Boston could deal hitting from theirs. At some point, a serious proposal of a deal built around a young Seattle SP and Casas is put out there by Boston; Seattle says Casas isn’t the right sort of centerpiece it would want to give up one of its young guys. Then, at another point, Seattle tries “if you’re willing to give up Casas for SPing, how about Casas for Castillo?” Boston counters that Castillo isn’t the sort of controllable young pitching it would give up Casas for – but Boston also adds that, if Seattle were willing to pivot to a different sort of deal, it could package Yoshida with Casas for Castillo. But then doesn’t accomplish Seattle’s goal, and talks soon wrap.
This fits ALL the various reports we’ve gotten with nobody being a “liar”, and heck, with everyone operating pretty sensibly. And this includes Boston not “shopping” Casas; isn’t and shouldn’t be untouchable and so should always be open to be discussed, but Boston isn’t outright “looking” to deal him.
By contrast, reports paint a clear picture that Seattle is shopping Castillo, and I doubt they would try to refute that outright. They have enough other SPing that they would like to move his entire contract while also getting something positive in trade value on top of that, and they’re hoping they can find a team in enough SPing need to check both those boxes. They WANT to make that move, if they can find it.
Too sensible!
Post of the day!
Bregman at 31 is right on the edge of decline. There’s really no precedence to say that he isn’t. I think the most recent examples of this would be Nolan Arenado, who is a couple years older. Evan Longoria is another great example . Both Arenado and Longoria were perennial All-Stars 3B who began to decline at age 32 or so. Bregman is already showing signs of decline, particularly at the dish – the lowest OPS of his career was this past year. So if you’re going to pay for him, be realistic about what you’re getting.
I’d be fine with that cheater if he got the Christian Walker deal.
Look at Adrian Beltre’s stats starting at 31. I’m not saying Bregman won’t decline but there’s been other 3B who did well after age 31.
That’s true, There are always exceptions to the rule. I personally would not be willing to bet that Alex is gonna be one of those
If you go to baseball-reference.com and bring up Bergman’s page go to the Similarity Scores section. They do a pretty good job of pegging who a player is similar to over their career. Bergman’s are guys like Anthony Rendon; Eric Chavez and Nolan Arenado, not Beltre. And looking at what happened to those players not far into their 30s doesn’t bode well for Bergman.
Longoria is the wrong comp here. He actually had something change overnight, taking a big hit to his ISO after age 27(!), with only a single dead cat bounce ISO year after that for as long as he was a full-time player. Looks like the sort of thing that happens when a guy suffers a shoulder or wrist injury that affects him to varying degrees the rest of his career, but know that it neither came at “32 or so” nor was it a “beginning to decline” but rather a sudden tier drop in his hitting profile.
Arenado is a tough guy to analyze given the mid-career move from Colorado and all that that brings. We should note that he had a short-season collapse to his profile in the pandemic 2020 season, and in the 4 year since then outside of Colorado 3 have been only above average. Did he start to decline at 32, or was he always more just above average with his 2022 being just a lock-in year, or something else? Tough to say.
What part of, “we’re not shopping him,” is hard to understand?
He’s available and they’ll trade him at the flip of a hat, but they’re not dying to get him off the roster.
They’re not calling other teams so they can unload Casas. Breslow strictly said, we are not shopping him.
Yoshida, they are shopping him. Casas they are not. They want Yoshida out of town yesterday.
They’d be fine if they didn’t trade Tristan Casas, but they’ll include him in any deal to improve the team. Not tough to decipher this entire thing.
But the way I read it is Breslow being totally beside himself about how on Earth did Triston’s name become so centered in these hypothetical deals that were never discussed: “I’m not totally sure where it comes from.” That just sounds disingenuous coming from Breslow. Obviously these deals were talked about and discussed, maybe they didn’t get very far along, but they happened.
Yeah, lots of ideas get tossed around, though it does seem they’ve gotten blown out of proportion. Discussing Casas in a single trade that we’ve heard about is very different from “shopping” him.
He might also be asking, “who snitched”?
Conversations do not equal shopping.
Ignorant – With the Boston writers, I believe Breslow not the media. The media fabricates constantly. The proof is in the pudding.
How many people have the media associated with the Boston front office and how many have actually been verified by a legit source?
If a writer doesn’t like Casas or Duran they are on the block. If a writer likes guys like Bello, Whitlock, Abreu or the most over rated of all MAYER then things are suggested about what’s going to happen in the future that have never been discussed. That’s how the media personnel try to show how powerful they are in setting the future for a baseball team. Ken Rosenthal did this crap 20 years ago and now every two bit web sports writer is trying to prove his skills by being the influencer that stands out most among one organizations beat writers.
Gary – That’s kind of contradictory. If he’s available and they wouldn’t hesitate to trade him, that’s considered “shopping” him.
I’ve got no desire to get into a debate with anyone about wordplay, but “open to trading” is the PC way of saying “shopping” …. it’s the same damn thing.
And yes the Red Sox DID call other teams and take the lead on trade proposals involving him. It’s detailed right here in this MLBTR article:
mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/red-sox-reportedly-open…
“While that infatuation with Casas’s skill set may be true, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported earlier today that the Red Sox have been “open” to including Casas in a trade that achieves their goal of adding a pitcher to the front of their rotation. What’s more, Speier goes on to report that one executive from a rival AL club noted that the Red Sox had offered Casas as the headliner in a package for one of his team’s pitchers”
So there you have it, the Red Sox APPROACHED a rival AL club (which obviously wasn’t a reference to the Mariners) offering Casas for a specific pitcher of theirs.
And here’s the important thing ….. things change over time!!! Breslow is probably telling the truth that Casas isn’t being shopped NOW that their rotation is set, but he conveniently failed to mention that he was clearly being shopped earlier. I do agree that at no point did the Red Sox feel like trading him this offseason was a necessity, because it’s not. Same as last year when they were shopping Duran.
One more thing …. where are you seeing they are trying hard to trade Yoshida? Link please ….I can’t imagine any team being interested in him until he proves he is healthy.
Why do you think that wasn’t the Mariners? They are very much in contention with the Red Sox for that last Wild Card spot.
And I agree that things change.
Wait – No offense to Mariners fans, but they are not a “rival” by any stretch.
is it possible the writer used a poor choice of words? Yes.
I would consider them a rival… Guess we see the implications of the word differently.
Wait – Yep it’s perfectly fine to have different interpretations.
You believe every AL team is a rival because the Sox could be potentially competing with all of them for a WC.
But think of it this way, the Sox could also potentially be competing with every NL team for a World Series championship … correct?
To me you’re a rival if you are competing for the same division title, playing a lot more games against said team, or are located in the same area (ie: Mets/Yanks, Cubs/ChiSox, etc).
The solution is trade Casas, Yoshida w/3MM per yr and Grissom for Reynolds. Move Mayer to 1B until Story leaves. Move Devers to DH. Use Cambell, Hamilton and Romy at 2b/U. Sign Bregman. With a 2d C that makes 14 Pos. players but lots have options.
there’s no way the Pirates would do that and I doubt very much the sox would as well. . Also shifting Mayer to 1B makes zero sense. as he’s an above average defender at SS and possible 3B so he’d be wasted a1 1b
When you think neither team will do the deal — you think it’s a fair exchange. As for Mayer at 1b for a yr or two, as long as Story is heathy SS will be OK.
No. When you don’t think either team will make the trade it’s not because it’s a good deal. It’s because it doesn’t help either team.
Also Mayer being at 1B is a complete waste of his talents. and makes no sense at all. Story is more likely to be playing 1B than Mayer and there’s not chance Story is playing 1B this year.
Definitely, there are many deals that shouldn’t happen.
acell10 – Mayer doesn’t have any talents per se. If he does, he hasn’t shown them consistently since he joined the Red Sox.
Minor League Fielding Percentage – SS .949 3B – .875
Minor League Hitting Line –
.274 AVG, .362 OBP, .465 SLG, .828 OPS 46 SBs 242 Games
Campbell – Minor League Player of the Year by comparison
Minor League Hitting Line –
.325 AVG .439 OBP, 546 SLG, 986 OPS 27 SBs 137 Games
Minor League Fielding Percentage – 2B .979, SS .971, 3B – 1.00
This comparison shows Mayer isn’t in the same league as Campbell. He should be given a starting spot out of Spring Training, the only question is should he be their SS of the future or 2B of the future. If Story outplays Grissom then I guess Story gets to play until his ridiculous contract is over but I would install Campbell at SS and let Mayer see if he can come back to beat out Grissom who hasn’t been terribly impressive either. OR I would put Campbell at 3B and fix the biggest problem the team has by moving Devers to DH.
You can’t go wrong with Campbell He’s their best 3B, SS and 2B and quite a bit better than Abreu in the Outfield. He’s the prize that should be getting the love from the front office but isn’t. Mayer’s is like Swihart many years ago when he was the darling of the front office and Mookie was just a chump until he blew everyone away with his numbers like Campbell just did.
This conversation wasn’t about comparing Campbell to Mayer. Both are extremely talented players in their own right. I’ll indulge you though and the following. There are far better ways to rate players defensively and measure than fielding percentage which many have point out to you before KD17. As you’ve said before assigning errors is extremely subjective. (you’ve pointed out numerous times in your posts against the Fenway score keeper vis a vie Devers and others)
That said Mayer’s talents are obvious. I’ll defer to universally regarded industry leaders such BA, MLB.com, ESPN who are used for determining prospect compensation and others who rate prospects vs Rotowire (an outlier for sure) who are less reputable.
A gentle reminder that just because the BA’s MlB.com etc of the world don’t agree with you doesn’t make them wrong or useless just like ignoring consensus doesn’t make one smarter that others.
Lol – You lost any credibility when you said put Mayer at 1B.
The Red Sox don’t need anymore outfielders and they don’t need to trade Casas.
The Red Sox are not going to put Mayer at first that’s ridiculous. More than likely Mayer is going to spend quite a bit of time in AAA showing he can put together a fully healthy season.
Why does Devers get to dictate where he plays? He is not a good 3rd baseman. Put him at DH. Let him have some games at 1st. Pay someone to take Yoshida. Trade some prospects for Arenado. They have a dozen infielders and outfielders that will never see the majors with Boston with Duran, Rafaella, Abreau, Anthony, Campbell, Grissom, Mayer, Cassas already there for a few years.
I don’t think he dictates his position; I think Boston has zero interest in jerking him around and want to make any position move be a permanent deal, something that their current roster doesn’t set up. They won’t play around with him off 3B even some of the time until they move him off there for good.
Arenado looks ready to be a major negative value player (counting contract) and a negative value hitter, so no appeal in him.
redsoxu571 – How can you possibly suggest that moving the worst 3B in history (Base on the actual numbers) would be jerking him around? That’s insane. It’s the most obvious move in all of baseball.
Devers should have been moved at age 14 when he fielded far below league average at the Dominican Republic Academy. Then when they signed him they should of moved him off 3B because he was fielding at a .930 pace. He had at season at AA where he finished only 25 points below league average and it moved his career fielding to .935. He went to the majors with the at fielding percentage and after several years in the majors his fielding percentage was still below his minor league number. It’s been 14 seasons since it was documented that he had no ability to play 3B. That is completely inexcusable and so incredibly arrogant of him to dismiss what’s best for the team and take the DH spot like an adult would who cared about his team mates. SELFISH that’s Devers in a nutshell. Oh yeah, and a pathetic fielder whether it’s a 3B or 1B. He shouldn’t be allowed to own a baseball glove.
Arenado had one of his best fielding percentages last year. It was higher than the year before and for a guy who won 10 straight gold gloves the misconception about his defense getting worse with his numbers improving simply means some other player moved him down from 1st to 2nd in the defensive effectiveness category. That’s not a DIG on Arenado, it’s a wow somebody got a lot better.
The Cardinals didn’t hit last year so just like when Devers lost both JD and Bogaerts and dropped dramatically in productivity, so did Arenado. He has 2400 more chances at 3B than Devers and less career errors while his average the last three years is .293, 266 and .272 last year. Devers last three averages are .294, 271 and .271. Yep, nearly identical. So, Arenado would do two things for Boston’s success – 1) He raises team defense from bottom 5 to top 10 if Devers is the DH, 2) He provides the right handed power bat that Boston desperately needs AND with a short term contract.that only costs $52 Million in cash for the next 3 years (average payout of $17.3Million which is damn cheap for him). The AAV will be $25.3 Million but the cash flow will be much less.
Getting Arenado should be a no brainer except for selfish Devers.
Arenado is a perfect fit.
In fact, if STL would take Devers for Arenado the Red Sox would have a huge payroll dump and Devers hitting numbers could be replaced with someone who could add even more to the team by playing defense far better than Devers or by being another all-star level pitcher. The Red Sox would have 3 years to find a new future 3B with Arenado playing there in 2025-2027 at $17Million a year..
Casas for Woo or Miller made me giggle.
Not happening lol
casas for Castillo strait up made me laugh out loud. No way the sox would make that trade
Made me laugh also, I wouldn’t make that trade either!! Casas ain’t that good.
Woo and Miller have horrendous road splits. M’s might regret not making that trade when they had the chance.
I would target Sandy Alcantara and Jhron Duran in trades. Leave the hitting alone and bring up the non-traded kids.
Nobody has ever clarified that Boston suggested that as a clear 1-for-1. Clearly, Woo or Miller don’t bring back Casas and another major prospect or piece, so whether it was Casas or Casas and whatever secondary piece would be needed to balance the deal doesn’t change the general nature of the proposal.
Seattle didn’t want Casas as the centerpiece of a Woo or Miller deal, but there is nothing laughable about such a consideration, just as there was nothing screwy about Seattle not being interested in it. You don’t deal a Woo or Miller unless you really like the centerpiece of the return (or you for whatever reason feel you must trade one of them and you’re left accepting the best offer on the table).
Casas is clearly not being traded to the Mariners, so you have nothing to worry about.
If Casas can stay healthy this year, Mariner fans will see why Breslow offered him for Woo. Casas is a legitimate 30-30 guy (HRs & Doubles) and he has a very good eye at the plate. A healthy Casas in Seattle would instantly become their second best offensive player behind Rodriguez and would probably outperform Rodriguez is a couple of categories (RBI, OBP, BB, OPS). As a former 3B, his defense is more than passable at 1B too.
Of course… I can understand why the Mariners wouldn’t want to trade Woo, but I’m equally reluctant to trade Casas. Sometimes the best deal is the one that doesn’t happen, from both sides.
I do get tired of the whining from Mariners fans that the Red Sox should be offering them Casas for nothing.
As a Mariners fan, totally agree on all the upside potential on Casas, and kicking the dirt that nothing could be worked out on a pitcher trade. That being said, I also sympathize with Boston fans who know Casas is a special player, one who belongs there and will excel there for many years.
Trying to fix last years roster is not going to result in a WS run. There’s this thing called a “championship window” and 2025 just flat out is not in it. Hence the short term contracts and fliers on guys who could potentially produce. It’s not that they don’t want to compete next year. They’ve added a couple guys who could actually win a few more games for the team compared to who they replaced.
Crochet is a long term move. I assume he gets a hefty extension at the end of the year if he is who we want him to be. But the fact is we have two top 25 middle infielders and the best OF prospect in the minors. These guys need playing time. Bregman makes zero sense. We would have to replace him early in the championship window and when he’s the most expensive he’s ever been in his career.
I would think that if Rafaela and Abreu continue to improve, the prospects come up and play well, and some pitching emerges, this could be a very young, very good, very affordable team for the next 5-6 years. And during those years (the window), is when you go after the big expensive pieces to “fix” the roster. It’s a pretty admirable position to be in, similar to Baltimore. But Boston might actually land a superstar FA when they need one as opposed to whatever Baltimore is doing currently.
A trade revolving around Castillo, Yoshida and Devers would make more sense
The Sox will not spend anymore. Breslow said they are looking to raise the ceiling of the rotation in getting a front end pitcher. They were supposedly looking to sign 2 out of the top 3 pitchers available and they signed none of them. Sam Kennedy said they would be investing big on the team and we’re not afraid to go over the lux tax. That was complete BS. They wasted prospects on Crochet, the white Sox couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. They know this guy can’t put together a full season as an ace so they quickly sold high and suckered the Sox. It shows how dumb breslow is to trade catching when they have no depth. The season is over and it hasn’t even started yet.
The only BS is every whiner who conflates “we absolutely will and want to spend on the right guys” with “we’re definitely going to spend even if it’s for stupid overpays and if we don’t you can call us liars”.
Actual front office guys look at available options and set a price they’re willing to pay for each. If drunken spending teams take the limited number of most-appealing options (e.g. Fried) and overpay them to a ridiculous extent, oh well, let that tainted fish go. And just because the most appealing guys got badly overpaid doesn’t mean the team should be obligated to spend on whatever is less or else deal with your empty accusations of “complete BS”.
No, dude…keep trying to negotiate better deals with the flawed remaining guys and/or hold your assets for better future opportunities. Options can emerge before April and in-season, so no need to box oneself in with tepid big commitments now.
Then again, you’re the sort of person who sees trading for Crochet as a “waste” and thinks that the long-from-contention White Sox wanting to move a guy who WILL be gone in two seasons while he can bring a big return somehow equates to just wanting to “get rid of him”. That’s a clueless take, and you should be aware of that so you can maybe save yourself the trouble of throwing time away sharing other clueless takes.
I’m not saying they should spend for the sake of spending. I wouldn’t have given sotto or fried those stupid contracts. However, I think the Corbin burns deal wasn’t bad he proved he can pitch in the AL east. Your telling me they couldn’t out spend the Diamondbacks? How about last season when they could have signed Wacha and Lugo to reasonable deals? Oh no can’t out spend the royals. The fact is they needed rotation help prior to last season and all the do is waste money on injured players or guys coming off bad years so they can hand out one year deals. The Sox used to sign those deals figuring if they worked out then great, but if not we already have a good team and those players would be a luxury. Now they depend on those players, because of being cheap and poor drafting of pitching. You think they should have given up that much prospect capital for a injury prone pitcher that has never started a full season? If you do then I’m glad you’re not a GM. I personally had no interest in him and if I did make a trade for him I would have traded from our surplus of outfielders. You are clueless if you don’t see the difference between the way the Sox operate now and how they did from 2004-2018. Fact is Henry stopped focusing on the Sox and started to see them as a piggy bank to buy other franchises. I’m a big sox fan so I take no pleasure in having to criticize them. I just don’t drink the Kool aid like you.
This whole article is non factual. When writers makes stuff up it’s really crappy that we have to wade through the BS he’s shoveling.
Example – He ranks the Boston pitchers Bello, Houck and Crawford. Bello is the weakest link in that group but there is a huge gap between Houck and the tandem of Crawford and Bello. This guy is trying to change people’s perception on the skills of the three incumbent pitchers. That’s horse crap. Bad writing. Trying to create bias thinking by embedding it in his article. That’s horse crap.
Next, he completely screws the order of the bullpen. There is an elite closer in Hendriks who is coming back from TJ surgery with a very long run way so he will be at peak form on Opening Day as the ONLY closer on the team. Here again the writer is trying to change perspective on the quality of players creating bias.
Slaten is a NOTHING compared to the good bullpen pitchers yet he acts like Slaten is a stud which is the farthest thing from the truth. He’s maybe the 13th pitcher to make the roster if he does. Chapman should be #2 on the pecking order and Whitlock is a complete unknown and he treats Whitlock like Bello with great bias. Whitlock would be a nice surprise if he EVER pitches well again. He’s fragile and resembles Giolito from a recency of good performance. Guys like Chapman or Wilson are ahead of Whitlock in the pecking order. So lets set the record straight, the people the writer focuses on are NOT the guys that should have focus, they are at the bottom of the pecking order.
Next, It’s hard to believe Breslow is so incredibly stupid as Franco suggests. Devers staying at 3B pretty much assures Boston of 10 to 15 less wins. I simple refuse to believe Breslow would make that statement. Probably a representative of Devers suggested he slip that BS in his article. DEVERS is the BUTCHER OF BOSTON and hurts the team EVERY GAME.
Last point, no way if Boston is even the least bit interested in Bregman that they would play him at 2B. Bregman knows he’s far superior to Devers so that’s simply not going to happen. Complete BS once again.
Puff pieces to bias people to think like him. That’s a bad way to present information to the fan base. Facts ARE NOT frivolous things you want to sprinkle in articles. Your opinions on players are all biased and show a lack of understanding of the talents of the players on the team.
Next time stick to the facts and quit trying to insert your own opinions as if they are ideas from the Red Sox. Maybe it generates lots of comments but it shouldn’t because it’s not true.
I hate when there are slow transaction days so crap has to be made up to generate comments.
“Next time stick to facts and quit trying to your own opinions”…
Maybe take your own advice. Suggesting that Raffy COSTS the RS 10-15 wins a year is perhaps the dumbest thing anyone said in 2024.
Craig Breslow said he’s looking to trade for relievers and 2B?
I’d let Grissom or Campbell have 2nd base and see what happens. One of those two will work out and provide some pop from the right side. You could also throw Campbell in the Outfield..
Yoshida has to be let go, take whatever you can get. Also either Duran or Abreu will have to be traded eventually to make room for Anthony and Campbell.
There no friggin’ way i’d trade for Luis Castillo, well maybe Yoshida for him.
Yaz – With all due respect, “Yoshida has to be let go” is the equivalent of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
The outfield of Anthony, Rafaela, Duran, Abreu and Garcia is fine as Yoshida and Refsnyder go…that should be our OUTFIELD and versatility with Rafaela and Duran being able to spot start at 2b… or 2b/SS for Rafaela. The infield should be Casas, Campbell or Grissom as the 2n and UT, Story at SS, Devers at 3b. If Bregman comes Raffy can move to DH, Breg to 3b, Story leaves, Mayer, Campbell Grissom take the open spots. Hamilton and Gonzales traded
baseball – No offense but not a chance in hell Jhost makes the opening day roster.
“As you probably can imagine, I’m not going to speak about specific pursuits” Translation: We aren’t signing anyone high-caliber. We prefer to stick with pitchers who have had or are going to have TJS and can’t play for 18 months.
I’m indifferent if they do or don’t get Bregman. I don’t want any of the other right handed hitters that are available and I also think the offense will be fine without adding the right hitter.
I do think they should concentrate all of their remaining free agent dollars on high end relief.Scott or Hoffman then a guy like Yates and the bullpen suddenly becomes pretty scary. The starting rotation looks pretty good assuming health and really quite deep deeper than it’s been for years. So let’s get a couple more back of the bullpen arms and see what happens.
The real problem I see with adding Bregman on the contract he is going to get is twofold. The first unless you are moving Devers off third the move just blocks a player who’s best position is probably second and who will probably hit better then Bregman within a year or two. The second is how will this limit other free agent acquisitions in the future when the competitive window is wide open. He might add a win or two as second baseman this year and since it appears Devers isn’t moving off third at least not this year then really why add Bregman. I’m fine seeing Grissom and Campbell battling it out during spring training for the second baseman job.
along with everything you said in your last paragraph I think Bregman’s contract will be underwater within a year or two of him signing. Therefore I’m out on Bregman
I agree. I’d like to see a righty bat, but I wouldn’t make a bad deal just to accomplish that. IMO, an addition like Hoffman could go a long way. And I’d like to allocate some of our existing cap space to extending Crochet, and maybe 1-2 others.
I’d be fine with either Scott or Hoffman and signing Crochet to an extension. Same with extensions for Casas and at least get the ball rolling on talks with some of the minor leaguers.
I’m more iffy on Yates though. Bruin was there something you may have seen in Yates that I’m missing?
The dude just misses bats out of the pen when healthy. Yates is getting older but he was excellent last year I’m sure Father time will catch up at some point. His fastball is only in the 93 mph range but it must play up. He was outstanding last year.
I’m concerned about his ability to hold up but on a one year deal why not. I’d still rather scott or hoffman which I think is the consensus at this point.
I want Scott or Hoffman and Yates.
seems like there’s a lot of chatter about Hoffman starting.
Bruin – If forced to wager, I’d say the Red Sox are done making any significant acquisitions unless they trade some players currently on the roster. They have a boatload of bodies already for the pitching staff, and they could be replacing just one position player (O’Neill) with three top prospects.
They are hellbent on going with a Closer by Committee again.
FPG- there’s just no excuse for ownership to not add another player or two. My money would be on the bullpen. I do think Boston has potentially a good pen but it could be a great pen a game changing pen with a couple of high end additions. Imo this would be the best use of money and there is room.
Bruin – To your point, yes there’s still several relievers available and they do tend to get signed last.
You’ve seen my list, if they add two relievers …. who goes?
Definitely not Slaten, Whitlock, Hendriks, Chapman, Criswell or Weissert. I’d say Fitts should make the team too, considering how good he was last year at the MLB and AAA levels.
if Fits makes the team it’s as a starter. Probably Criswell will go.
FPG you have to look at who has options. If they add Scott and Yates let’s say they should be right up against the lux tax possibly slightly over. The Bullpen would be imo
Scott
Hendricks
Slaten
Chapman
Yates
Whitlock( if healthy) if Whitlock can’t go then I think Weissert makes it.
Wilson or Fulmer possibly both.
That’s a really good bullpen with good depth pieces in the minors. This is a big time bat missing strikeout pen. That’s would I would do with the money they should be able to spend.
Criswell has options and would start in the Worcester rotation. Weissert and Guerrero would start in AAA Worcester as well
Bruin – Yeah I understand about the options, just seems like a waste to demote someone like Weissert who had a pretty solid ERA and Criswell who had the lowest ERA of everyone in the rotation not named Houck.
I know injuries are expected, but I can’t picture Fulmer or Wilson starting the season on the Opening Day roster.
The way Cora mishandles the bullpen there has to be overkill in that pen. He needs to have a lot of high quality options and personally I don’t think Breslow signed both Wilson and Fulmer, who don’t have options and can’t be left down in AAA, to watch them walk. My belief they will get every chance to make the teams 26 man especially Wilson. I guess Fulmer isn’t on the 40 man so he could start in AAA and it appears he signed a minor league contract. The bottom line can’t have too many relievers for Cora he will go through them.
Burn, Baby, Burn!!!
Make it simple. Keep casas at first and devers at 3rd. Sure casas must bounce back but the sox were bad a couple years to rebuild the farm so now just bet on the young guys and hope it works.
Go with
1b casas
2b Crawford
Ss story
3b devers
Abreu, Anthony, Raffaella, Duran in the of.
Either it works or you hope for 2026.
Great set of comments despite the articles’ intention. Read them all and never saw one mention of Cora. As a former utility infielder, he has no feel for handling a pitching staff, starting or relieving. Studying his moves, day in and day out, he is the standard bearer for incompetence.
There is no quotable statistic, except wins and loses, that can define his lack of common sense when it comes to pitching. Bring in all the help you can and he will still “butcher” it.
Titles aside, he is the in-game pitching coach and fear is a definable emotion when he leaves the dugout.
Maybe he should let his pitching coach do the job? I agree that he has at best a poor concept of how to manage a bullpen. He talked about being “more aggressive” down the stretch, and started mixing and matching more than he had before. Shortly after the entire bullpen collapsed from overwork – too many short outings, too many times getting up without getting in the game.
Wait – Cora won’t even let the POBO/CBO do their job, and you expect him to let the pitching coach do his? Haha!
Bee – Great post, I totally agree!!
BeeCarbo = Wow do you get it!!! I’m so happy to see someone else who recognizes how incredibly incompetent Cora is. Thank you!!!!
Managers never take an at bat so they can only influence wins and losses. Some of the key things that influence losses are:
1 – Choosing to play back-ups more often than they should in the leverage game of a three game series. Cora almost plays to lose one of every three games in a series. A bad choice of sitting O’Neill when you can only expect about 120 games from him so sitting him while healthy is a terrible move.
2 – Putting a catcher at 1B is one of Cora’s famous bad moves. It weakens the defense and plays a guy who isn’t that good and should rest to be effective when he does catch.
3 – Giving multiple all-star players off when Sale pitched because he was by far the best pitcher. That led to errors and unearned runs and eventually pulling him too soon so all inherited base runners scored and raised Sale’s ERA artificially. A simple pick of the wrong reliever can add one to many runs scored that shouldn’t have if the right one is selected, the obvious right one!. Those moves often cost Cora wins!!
4 – Cora has loaded his line-ups with lefty hitters because the starter on the other team is right handed. But the right hander was an opener not a starter. That’s just pure stupidity.
5 – In baseball, the reason the best hitters bat one through four is because they come to the plate most often in a game and bad hitters with speed bat 9th. Cora violates those rules nearly daily when assembling his batting order which significantly drops the teams chances of scoring runs. There was a reason Mookie hit #1, Benny #2, JD #3, Bogaerts #4 and Devers #5 in 2018, the four highest OBPs led to an efficient run scoring order while the failing Devers in 2018 batted 5th while hitting a miserable .240. His bias towards Dominican players has existed since he arrived and like with Abreu the former Astro he’s still doing it today costing Boston many runs and in turn wins.
6 – Your in game comments about him managing pitchers are just as ineffective when he manages hitting. How many times did Cora pull JD Martinez in the 7th inning after he got a hit and replaced him with a crap hitting speedster as a base runner just to have the other team come back and in the ninth JD was nowhere to be found when an RBI was present for him had he not been pulled? The sad part is, the speedster didn’t attempt a steal, he was simply a bit faster in case someone hit an extra base hit which seldom happened. More games not won thanks to poor timing on substitutions.
Cora finds ways to lose games and seldom finds ways to win games. The laughable part is when he plays a hunch and is right 1 out of 10 times the post game interview is him talking about his genius!!! hahaha How ironic that he actually believes that!!!
Alonso is a tough fit but could rake at Fenway. I like him better than Sand or Breg – Use him as DH and to spell Casas at first. Also Casas still needs to prove it – JMHO
Yoshida isn’t a FA until like 2029 …. They have to trade out of that too many outfielders. They want a right hand hitting power bat for the outfield. That kind of makes that issue worse. I have a feeling they are working on some trades on the QT because of the who end of the spectrum. Could they be adding some star power to that list?
Yoshida has three years left on the contract. Not sure he”ll last on a roster that long, but some believe he’ll rebound this year.
Wait – Tough question is how many games will we lose with Devers at 3B so Yoshida can DH? Is it worth it?
How many extra innings will be pitched due to 50 plus misplays at 3B by Devers? How many additional runs will score? How many more pitchers will have to be used? 50 misplays in 150 games played by Devers is one every three games he’s impacting the pitching staff negatively. That’s a lot and if it’s from Yoshida being DH then DFA him and eat the money to move Devers. I don’t think Yoshida is the reason. I think someone high up protects Devers and allows him to ruin things for the whole team. Whoever is Devers’ sugar daddy needs to be identified so the fans can get in his face big time.
I believe your “50 plus misplays” is an exaggeration. While his defensive cost is certainly greater than the 1 or 2 additional errors (compared to the average starting 3B) that he makes, I would estimate it at ~10 plays. Do you have a factual source documenting that 50?
You are correct that the defensive problems the last few years have strained the pitching staff. It isn’t just extra pitches and extra outs, but putting guys in scoring position and creating high-pressure situations where the pitcher has to throw max effort to escape..
The bigger issues defensively last year were Wong giving away strike calls, Rafaela struggling a bit for the first month as he adjusted to a position that he had barely played in years, and Valdez — who is even less competent than Devers defensively.
SPEND THE MONEY ON BREGMAN ALREADY AS A 2B! When Yoshida is gone Raffy Moves to DH Bregman goes to 3b. Also fits perfectly for when Story leaves Campbell, Mayer, Grissom and Anthony arrive. GO SPEND ON BREGMAN if he’s not a fur Nobody is! Also sign Scott we need a lock down closer
Um no.
Money Spent$$$ in free agency By Boston: a measly Meek, paltry 52.3 million dollars
Money Spent$$$ in free agency By The A’s: a stout 70.95 million dollars
Boston Front Office and Ownership Lied to Redsox Nation yet again. I think we should remain “interested” in attending games at Fenway and “in on” all Redsox Merchandise and Steaming Services until they actually spend money as well. 6 years we’ve waited and without a BREGMAN & SCOTT additions, We remain “interested” & “in on” the 2025 Redsox Season
this thing again? Instead of speaking for others by writing comments on a website that no one from red sox ownership reads why not actually do something that will get their attention.
also saying the A’s spent a “stout” 70 million was funny for how ridiculously off base it was and then especially when compared to the sox spent 50 was meek.
Is Campbell or Grissom ready? Campbell has only played 19 games at AAA. What I’d like to see is the Red Sox to offer an over the top AAV but only offer 2 years with player option next year for Bregman. It’s a short-term overpay and ya get Campbell a year more seasoning. We have the payroll space and if ya blow Bregman away he won’t turn down the money. He’d get a big payday and another bite at the apple later. It’s what’s best for business now and later….
There’s no such thing as a bad one year contract so if Bregman wanted 35 million for one year I’d be fine with that. It’s not remotely possible that Bergman does
Why not? Get 35 million this year, bet on yourself and see if next year you get something more to your liking. Players make this mistake all the time in thinking guaranteed years is what is best. Teams will overpay on 1 year deals or 2 year deals just to fill a hole until a prospect is really ready. Bregman might be on the downside but he isn’t the future, Campbell is at 2nd. Campbell just needs more at-bats just so he can verify to management he’s ready. It could be he has a killer ST and this conversation is mute, but with no track record it’s worth a pursuit.
Why not is it’s a very risky especially for someone in their age 31 season like Bregman. There might not be something out there to his liking and what he mind find is even less desirable contract offers..
I’d venture a guess to say guaranteed years is what’s best the majority of the time and taking the up front money isn’t as big a mistake as you think.
BOSTON FOR THE LOVE SIGN BREGMAN FOR 5 OR 6 175 185 AND SCOTT! YOU’VE SPENT NEXT TO NOTHING THIS WINTER AFTER 6 LONG YEARS REDSOX NATION WAITED. GET REAL QUICK OR WE’RE NOT SPENDING
do you honestly think anyone from the red sox is reading this or takes your all caps rant seriously? Also stop speaking for other people.
The defense must be improved if the Red Sox are going to move up.
There some good FA defenders out there who would cost far less than Bregman. Consider Ha Seong Kim and Jose Iglesias as short term options to better guarantee a good defender at 2nd base. Both are really good at defense and Iglesias still hits. If Grissom and Campbell really show very good defense at 2nd, let the newly acquired infielder go. This would also provide proven quality depth in case of injuries. With prospects on the way who need more time in AAA, this would be a cost effective move.
Spend the big money on a high quality reliever to give depth when the injuries start coming. The starting pitching has pretty good depth. Keep
Fitts. Every team is likely to have multiple injuries to their pitching staff.
Since many pitchers begin damaging their arms in high school, injuries are guaranteed.
I am so glad the Red Sox missed on Soto and the other over paid FA
starters. Then there is Burnes who decided to pitch near home – that was his priority. He’s due for TJ pretty soon. Over paying for long term
FA deals has rarely worked out. Some commenters have forgotten this.
If a healthy Devers doesn’t improve his defense enough this year, then move him to DH next year. Don’t trade Casas.
Still moaning about Betts. What a great player. But he wanted test the FA market and got this amazing deal from the Dodgers that will pay him many millions of dollars LONG after he stops playing. That kind of deferred money is bound to get in the way of long term team success,
unless you are the Dodgers who are just an amazing cash machine with their numerous media deals. Not even Cohen can compete with the Dodger’s cash inflow.
Unlike last year when the depleted starters broke down which led to the relief pitching breaking down, this year looks much more promising with the added depth. Some will regress and others will improve, but we have a lot of experience in the starting crew.