The Red Sox’s miserable week continued tonight, as they dropped the first game of their weekend set against the Blue Jays by a 9-0 score. The Sox have lost seven of 10 since trading Rafael Devers and are riding a six-game losing streak — tied with Kansas City for the longest active mark in MLB. They’ve fallen three games below .500 at 40-43.
Poorly as they’ve played of late, the Sox are only three games out of a playoff spot. They’re one of six teams within five games of the Mariners, who currently hold the final Wild Card position. The muddled American League leaves every team aside from the White Sox and A’s with at least some hope of getting hot and playing their way out of selling at the deadline. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow maintained immediately after the Devers trade that the front office still expected to operate as buyers. He took a similar approach this evening.
“I think we’ve talked a lot about looking to the future, (but) at some point, the future has to be now,” Breslow told Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. “We went into 2025 expecting to compete for the division and expecting to make it to the playoffs. We haven’t played as well as we’re capable of, but that goal still exists, and we’re not so far away that we should be thinking about 2026 or 2027.”
Breslow added that the front office is focused on “(identifying) the needs that we have” over the next month. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported that Boston was in the market for both a first baseman and rotation help. Neither is surprising. Their first base plans have been up in the air since Triston Casas sustained a season-ending knee injury. Kristian Campbell has begun playing there in Triple-A, but it’s an unfamiliar position and he hadn’t hit for two months before he was optioned. Journeyman Abraham Toro is holding the role for now. He’s hitting .278/.307/.459 with five homers across 140 trips to the plate while posting below-average defensive grades.
The rotation has been an issue outside of Garrett Crochet’s starts. Brayan Bello has managed a decent ERA despite a poor strikeout/walk profile, which continued tonight. Every other Sox starter has posted an earned run average of 4.21 or higher. Richard Fitts has an ERA pushing 5.00, while Lucas Giolito has yet to post a sub-4.00 mark in any month. Signing Walker Buehler to a one-year, $21.05MM free agent deal has proven a major misstep. Opponents have teed off on the longtime Dodger for a 6.29 ERA across 13 starts. Buehler has allowed five or more runs in four of his past five appearances.
Kyle Harrison has begun his organizational tenure on optional assignment in Triple-A. Kutter Crawford probably won’t be back this season. Hunter Dobbins recently went down with an elbow strain. Tanner Houck had an ERA north of 8.00 over nine starts before landing on the injured list with a flexor pronator strain. He began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Worcester last week. Houck didn’t complete two innings in either of his first two minor league starts. He gave up a combined five runs on as many hits and four free passes (three walks and a hit batter) while recording just two strikeouts.
The Sox announced today that Houck’s next rehab appearance will come out of the bullpen following an opener. Breslow told WEEI’s Rob Bradford that the decision doesn’t signify a long-term role change, saying they’re simply hoping to “(change) the situation a little bit, (change) his mentality a little bit.” Regardless, it has hardly been an encouraging start to the righty’s rehab work and only increases the urgency to add to the rotation as long as they still feel they’re viable contenders.
*Sigh.
That is all
DBH – I concur. Even though we all saw this disaster coming, it still sucks.
Even though I know it’s their responsibility, I really wish Breslow and Cora would stop talking to the media. It’s all smoke and mirror BS, we know that.
We remember last year.
“Hey fans, we will be buyers! We will acquire starting pitching, relief pitching and a right-handed bat! We are GFIN!!”.
And then they acquired crap. Paxton, Hill, Ramirez, Simms, Jansen.
This year is looking like a repeat.
Sigh.
Fever – the Saux went from being all in on competing to a complete rebuild.
Breslow is going to get the ax.
Breslow is going to get the ax.
Yeah but all the front office will do is replace Breslow with another yes man. The Red Sox won’t get better until Henry sells the team. And until then this is what us Red Sox fans have to look forward to,
Not certainly, there is certainty is one’s approach to managing a roster.
General Managers should look towards profitability as much as they should towards winning. It’s the owners who want the ring.
.
When did Sox fans become the biggest bunch of crybabies in the league? ….4 World Series in the last 21yrs, more than any other MLB franchise, and you’re crying about a bad owner? Lol – the entitlement is strong folks
lamars – I don’t think Breslow gets fired this year, Henry has always given 4 years to turn things around.
Maybe they will can some of the 325 analysts they’ve got working in the analytics department.
Kinda funny how they ditched the analytics-driven launch angle approach yesterday and they ended up scoring 15 runs on mostly line drives.
Tommy – Who do you think is responsible for the 3rd-highest revenue in MLB? Yeah that’s right, Sox fans.
21 years is a long time buddy, and so is 4 straight years of missing the postseason.
EXACTLY!
Not that I’m disagreeing with you but the three major moves breslow made in the office season(Bregman, crochet, Chapman) were excellent, but it just wasn’t enough. They had a little to much faith in the young guys which was foolish, and how the handled Devers was terriblem
Bregman cost them $40M per and their franchise player. Crochet cost them $200M, saved them some cash in ’25 and ’26 but beyond that he is paid at a high level and isnt that much of a value unless he continues to pitch at a high level. Probability says that its likely he continues to outperform, also says that its likely he hits the rack for a season. That’s a year to year gamble and your locked in for six years.
Developing pitchers on the farm and getting their first six seasons is the best approach. You traded Priester and he is having a fairly good season in Milwaukee. Got a big bat in return, but Priester is going to be in the Brewers rotation for years to come and your a couple years out on Jhonyxston.
You can’t make the big move for a player like Crochet or a player like Bregman until your window is open, and your window wasn’t open for another two seasons.
You jumped the gun and blew up your rebuild. Traded your catcher for a pitcher you could have landed in FA. Narvaez isn’t the answer at C, Teel was.
Chapman is a great sign if you are in a position to compete, and don’t get me wrong, I had Boston winning the division preseason, mostly on Bello, Houck, Buehler and Crawford — bad luck in the rotation, but the truth is, you took a lot of gambles this season, and it came back to bite you.
The old man is getting old and wants to win before he croaks off, but it goes against his instinct. If he’s a commodities trader at heart, he knows that he has to wait for his trade. At some point though you get to be so old, you can’t wait for the your trade, not that your afraid of losing, because your afraid of dying, and thats what is going on with the Red Sox to some degree.
Breslow is a stiff, I see it in his face, he is a loser. I wont go into any more than that.
jc – It’s a little too soon to rate the Bregman and Crochet acquisitions as “excellent”, don’t ya think?
Bregman has played only 7 weeks and he’s getting paid a ton of money.
Crochet has yet to prove he can stay healthy for an entire season as a 180+ innings starting pitcher, and have you paid attention to what the Sox lost for him?
Meidroth and Teel went 5-for-8 today, Teel is hitting .319 and that doesn’t include the two other good prospects traded. Let’s see how they turn out first.
I’ve been wanting Chapman for years, glad Breslow finally listened to me ;O)
Probably shouldn’t have traded your franchise player in the middle of a season you planned on contending in. That might have been a mistake……
I am ok with the trade as the contract was approaching the bad years. I would however have liked to see Cora, Bailey, Breslow, Kennedy, and Henry traded away, also.
Snakes and Brewers are still in wild card mix. Otherwise, Eugenio, Naylor and Hoskins would all be good short-term gets.
What about the Sox year so far encourages you to think they should give up prospects for rentals?
Dusty – Totally agree. While several players are putting up below norms season (Duran, Story, Houck), one or two players aren’t going to fix things. Especially at the cost of losing prospects.
The issues are roster-wide fundamentals. They have around 20 1 run losses this year and have the most errors in all of baseball. It doesn’t take an Ivy league education to see that glaring issue.
All those errors add extra pitches and create more high leverage situations for the staff to deal with. Remember in 04, the defense was the only real weak spot and they added Cabrera and Mientkiewicz (had to look that spelling up, lol). Once those guys were in place, it shored up the defense and the rest is history.
Makes plays on defense and everything gets better. It will take more than another 3-4 SP and a 1B. Where’s Pokey Reese when you need him?
They had a real GM back then that fought Larry to make the right choices
cd – What? You can’t possibly be talking about Theo, can you?
Dusty
Speaking only for myself, the next 10-12 games will decide whether Red Sox are buying or selling.
MLB – Take a look at the 9 games right after the All-Star Break, nothing will be decided until those games are played. They could conceivably lose 7 of them.
I’m a Jays fan and I don’t think he was in the bad years at all, if he can stay healthy he earns that contract compared to other young stars that need to be locked up long term to not test free agency, like Vlad but not paid until he’s forty.
Gomer – You are correct. Even last year Devers had a Top 3 OPS until the shoulder injury became too much.
Take away the first week of this season, he’s right up there again despite all he’s been put through.
Devers is 28, turns 29 after Freddie Freeman turns 35, and that guy is still hitting. Think “approaching the bad years” could be a bit of an overstatement
have you looked at the body types of Freeman and Devers? No comparison. He won’t age the same.
Devers can’t even run the bases right. He has made so many outs just on the base paths… people forget to remembrr this. He really can only just hit… first base will probably be a rollercoaster for him.
Nyy – I get what you’re implying, but I don’t think his comment came from an ageist place. He’s a good guy, he’s just trying to soothe the loss of yet another superstar. I see it all the time with some fans, “Oh Sale is done anyway. Oh Eovaldi is over the hill anyway. Oh Mookie will decline soon because of his size anyway”.
It’s a coping mechanism for them.
Stymee – Now, now … don’t be a weightist. Ortiz didn’t exactly have an athletic body.
Did you see Vladdy’s stolen base and homeplate slide last night?
Even the heaviest stars perform until at least 34.
And it’s not like Raffy is playing 3B anymore.
Style – did you forget about a certain Red Sox DH who was crushing it until he was 40?
There is no concern from anyone with a brain that Devers could be effective through his age 36 season if someone like Ortiz did it until he was 40.
Stymeedone…you took the words out of my mouth. Dever’s is starting to look like the Panda…
I don’t care what his body is like… he can’t run the bases right. No baseball IQ
And he wasn’t exactly hustling in Boston (if you saw any games you would know this).
Devers is no Papi. Ortiz was a team player.
I love Ortiz but he was a player who was nearly out of the league until Pedro convinced the Sox to take a chance on him.
Devers was a top prospect and has been a superstar since he got to he league. Completely different situations.
Ortiz was also a team player while the Sox were winning championships. His attitude towards FSG would be different if he was dealing with how they currently run the team.
Ortiz questioned Devers maturity. Maybe you missed it.
A top player whp doesn’t know the basics of baserunning. FPG and Joemo have me blocked so can’t read any of my posts. Pity.
No loss Cora.
Joe – Great post!
And Ortiz was on bad knees for years.
You simply don’t have to be in great shape to be a fulltime DH.
Provost – That’s because Panda wore a SF Giants uniform too, before and after he signed with the Red Sox.
Prov – A lot of Red Sox players don’t hustle because they play for Cora. He tells them don’t run too hard otherwise you may injure yourself, like Casas did.
And Ramirez blamed the front office for their treatment
Provo – Ortiz was as selfish as they come.
He demanded a trade from the Red Sox because of playing time.
He smashed a telephone with this bat while teammates were seated right next to it.
He was a great hitter, but very selfish and not very smart.
Joe – Of all the dumb things Ortiz has said recently, him saying “you have to be a complete all-around player” was one of the dumbest. In his entire career he had only 278 games in the field, at the easiest position no less.
Devers already has 955 games in the field, at much harder positions.
And BTW if you look at Papi’s career offensive numbers through Age 28, they were not nearly as good as Raffy’s career numbers now.
I won’t get into what could have triggered Ortiz’s late-career resurgence.
Provos – Here’s some things you obviously missed:
1) Ortiz currently works for the Red Sox
2) Ortiz gets paid by the Red Sox to do public relations, such as supporting the front office and ownership
3) Ortiz has always said and done a lot of dumb things
4) Ortiz loves attention, he’s all over social media
5) Ortiz was roundly criticized for wrongly throwing Devers under the bus
6) Ortiz had originally supported Raffy’s desire to not learn first base midseason
7) Pedro Martinez, who has always been far more intelligent and articulate than Ortiz, has strongly criticized Ortiz’s behavior with regard to Raffy
8) Pedro has emphatically defended Devers as a great team player and great person loved by all
9) Pedro has emphatically pointed out how badly Devers was treated by the Red Sox this year
10) Pedro has blasted the Red Sox for disrespecting Devers and many other Red Sox legends
DBH – Ya know Devers is only 28 and having his best season ever, right? ;o)
Totally agree with your trade wishes though! They traded Theo, they can trade Breslow and Kennedy etc.
Franchise probably shouldn’t have been an entitled, whiny, me first baby as well.
I’m just not feeling it with these guys anymore. Too much dysfunction. Too many communication issues. There is a toxic undercurrent that befouls the entire franchise.
‘befouls’, how Shakespearean of you.
With this team we’ve surely had enough
Below 500 destined, aye that’s rough.
Wouldst Lord Henry deign to open his purse
perchance this foul fate may not have come.
Lo, in Boston we remember the days
of championship and “trying”, ha, to win
Alas these days are gone as his whimsy
be e’re toward Liverpool and Pittsburgh
‘Tis our fate, once champions, now to suffer
Or, they just are currently a mediocre team playing like a mediocre team?
Their best player from last year has not been carrying things offensively like he did a year ago. Their big offseason addition to the lineup, who started the year as their best performer, has been out a while now. They’ve had other guys in and out with injuries at times, and their two recent high end prospect talent call ups have struggled same as the vast majority of high end talent has this year. The bullpen like many pens has been inconsistent, and the SPing has as well outside of their ace.
Toxicity not necessary for that team profile to flash between good play and poor play for average overall results.
Long – It’s a combination, but much of their issues are self-inflicted.
For instance they totally abused and mishandled Campbell, who is now striking out 4 times a game in AAA and will be relegated to first base.
But the damage they caused with Devers will have longterm repercussions.
The damage they cause every time Breslow thinks or talks.
Align – Yep, same with Henry and Werner … which is why they don’t talk anymore.
Fever Pitch Guy: “Campbell, who is now striking out 4 times a game in AAA”
==============================
More garbage from FPG. Campbell has an OPS of .967 in 5 games since he was sent to AAA.
And in 18 ABs he has struck out 7 times almost half his at bats.
lamars: Wow. You are trying to defend FPG’s lie. Since you and FPG are trying to make Kristian Campbell look bad, here is the whole story: After 6 games at AAA, he has an OPS of .963 which is very good and has only had one bad game where he struck out 4 times. He has been on base in all the other games including at least one walk per game. He has reached base in 8 of his last 12 plate appearances by hit or walk with only one strikeout. Campbell is doing just fine – the opposite of what you and FPG are trying to portray.
The offense is pitiful – and that is being generous. The hitting coach, assistant hitting coach and anyone advising the players about hitting needs to be fired yesterday. Cora won’t be fired, unfortunately, so you gotta shake things up somehow. Send Anthony down and bring up Trayce Thompson – can’t do much worse.
Anthony and Meyer will be fine. It’s better that they go through the growing pains now when the season seems lost then in a true race. Besides, if they had start the season with the team instead of held back to manipulate service time, they’d already be producing.
You don’t have the slightest evidence whatsoever that Boston manipulated their service time, and it’s pathetic that you declared it anyway. That doesnt meant they definitely didnt, but you can’t pretend speculation is fact.
The FACT is that they did have a roster jam, and Mayer at least begged additional minor league work with his good-not-elite minor league hitting and missed time last year. Anthony certainly did well enough to make the team, but OF was where the jam was worst.
Darn, there is an alternative explanation to your declaration that just as well fits the facts…guess you have to go to work looking for actual direct evidence now.
You’re right Long…it’s so easy to secong guess.
Long – I gave you a detailed list of evidence that proves Roman’s service time was being manipulated.
The only thing that’s pathetic is you pretending you weren’t already educated about this topic, and you continue to intentionally spread a lie.
Even Roman’s AAA manager said there’s nothing for him to gain there.
It was 100% blackmail, sign a team-friendly longterm extension like Campbell did or suffer the consequences of being stuck in the minors where you don’t belong.
Trayce Thompson can be worse
Clark – I totally agree with everything except the Roman part. He’s getting his walks, working the count and hitting the ball hard. He’ll be fine.
So, you’re saying that no team was offering a big league ready starter prospects with good minir league track records or even mlb ranked prospect arms in exchange for Devers? I get that they wanted him to go, and very arguably, needed to go, but the return for him, in my mind, was mediocre to pitiful. I could be eating my words later, but I honestly don’t see the value of a terrible number 5/swing pitcher, a number 5 lefty who hasn’t lived up to his draft pick number, an outfielder who can’t really run and an unknown pitcher with no info. But that’s just my humble lifetime Sox fan opinion
Most everyone who actually has prospect and player eval cache spoke about it as a solid to good return. Everyone who calls it mediocre or pitiful seems to be declaring that with no good basis.
To answer your question, there might have been few other (or no other) teams willing to take on his entire contract and give up a real talent package. When one has limited options, one takes what one can get. Harrison is obviously key to the deal, and just because Boston wants to work on things with him in the minors to start things off doesn’t mean he’s trash – it means it would rather focus on certain things there rather than try to make that happen in games that count.
They wanted to fully move on from Devers the person and contract, and despite that writing being on the wall they got a real talent package back. Like any talent package that isn’t built around set MLB players, we can’t judge much whether they took on an impactful return until it has a chance to unfold. The talent is real, and the talent is also far from a given to work out, and so we wait.
Pit – All they wanted is the contract off their hands. The players coming back are just optics, except Hicks was also a salary dump.
No one else wanted to take on the full amount owed on the Devers contract. Getting rid of him and getting out from under that contract were priorities 1 and 2. They got what they could… priority 3.
That’s because they pushed to trade him now, it was an emotional and spiteful decision
They could have waited closer to the deadline or intel the offseason and certainly have faired better.
It’s poor asset management, plain and simple
I would think that pirates would trade Keller and help offset contracts and possibly kb Hayes and other pieces for a devers deal. Makes too much sense
Could have been lots of teams interested if there was injury (ie they’re going to make the playoffs) or in the offseason when budgets are reset.
Very few teams were going to get the approval to take on that contract in season. Sox FO put their ego ahead of the long term health of the team. They better hope they sign Bregman (who now has more leverage)
This article tries to tie the losing streak to the Devers trade, which misses 3 key facts:
1) Boston won 3 of its first 4 post-Devers games, so that throws direct causality out the window
2) The team’s pitching has been awful during this losing streak, including 3 games allowing 9 runs. Devers obviously has nothing to do with that
3) Boston’s lineup was already scuffling WITH Devers right before the trade – despite a 5 game winning streak prior to the move, the team was only 3 runs scored a game
In other words, Boston was set up for this losing streak with or without Devers. Fact is, they’ve been yo-yoing all year, unable to sustain any momentum. They’ll probably start to heat up again before long, and then they’ll hit the skids again after that.
I don’t disagree but it’s hard to quantify the effect of moving a franchise player and arguably the best hitter on the team when you’ve already been yo-yoing with a playoff spot…
We have been yo-yoing a playoff spot for THREE years, with or without Devers. The problems with this team go much deeper.
Cora has to go at this point…
Wire, you are ignoring the fact that he was turning into a cancer on the team. He was actually pissed that Campbell offered to play first base!
Provost – Of course, every superstar that gets forced out of Boston is a cancer ….. it’s right out of the Red Sox playbook.
Who cares that all his Red Sox teammates, all the Red Sox insiders, and all the analysts have confirmed it’s total BS …. truth be damned!
Also thanks for bringing up the Campbell front office leak that BOTH Cora and Campbell confirmed was a lie.
You’re really good at sarcasm!!!
Devers had 134 wrc+ so far this season, that was after an awful start.
It’s a small sample size since the trade, so yes it’s very possible the Sox would have been 3-7 in those 10 games regardless but the overall point is that as of today they are a worse team with out him
Longinus….. They won 3 of the first 4 games after the trade of Devers because the starting Pitching in two of the wins was fantastic…
They had 9 hits in the Mariners series… the last two games they have 7 hits. They traded their best hitter and run producer…. one of the only hitters that the opposing team has to worry about. This has more of an effect than you are giving it.
The Clown in the dugout signed off on this trade, so he can play musical chairs with lineup filled with Utility Players just like he was as a player. Throw in having to play 4 Rookies (3 now until Campbell was sent down), and you got a lineup of inexperience and just inadequate hitters.
This team will continue to struggle until they remove the main problem, that has and continues to be the problem for the past 4 years…. Cora.
Cooper – Well said!
And let’s not forget all this drama began because Cora was hellbent on signing Bregman to play 3B and he didn’t give a damn about disrespecting Raffy or the negative snowball effect it would have on the team.
This is way too far down the comment section to have not seen a joke, or even mention of the fact that one of the pitchers in the article is named Dick Fitts.
If the Dick Fitts, wear it!
Long – With all due respect, you’ve proven why you should watch the games and look beyond the wins and losses.
1) It has been plastered everywhere, including by the NESN guys every day, the Sox hit just .188 on the West Coast trip.
In fact since the trade the Red Sox are DEAD LAST in every offensive category including nosehair. They are batting .184 with a .246 OBP and .309 SLG.
They won those 3 West Coast games with GREAT PITCHING, the offense had nothing to do with it.
2) Again, you are proving you don’t watch the games or understand how to interpret data. Two of the 6 losses they gave up just 2 runs, one of which they were leading 1-0 into the 8th inning. Obviously you don’t even watch Crochet starts.
3) And who drove in one of the two runs in the last Yankees game, hitting a huge homerun off Fried?
Ohhhhh …. I get it now! You’re mocking Breslow’s idiotic “we will win more games without Raffy” statement by imitating him!!
Okay I feel better, for a minute there it looked like you were just trolling us. LOL
FVP…. add in the #2 hole in the Sox lineup is hitting below. .100 since the Devers trade…. and this includes Roman Anthony’s two hits in today’s game.
1) Boston won 3 of its first 4 post-Devers games, so that throws direct causality out the window
And before today the Red Sox were 3-6 since the trade and were hitting .181 from the #2 spot with one extra base hit, 3 RBI, 3 Runs and 12 SO and an OPS of .581. After today’s game they are hitting a whopping .199, 3 extra base hits, 4 runs, 3 RBI, 13 SO and an OPS of .611. And you know how many runs they score per game before today? Under 3 per game since the trade and while the pitching has been awful so has the offense and particularly from the #2 hole.,
The trading of Devers made a struggling teams offense without Bregman much worse. With Devers in the two hole they quite possibly would have one a few 1 run games.
You had a first baseman that you treated poorly and then traded away..
What?!
Devers.
Had the Red Sox not handled the situation in the worst possible way, he’d be willing to play 1B – as evident by his comments and work at 1B with the Giants.
A team player (no matter what his issues were) would have sucked it up and just played.
Thanks for making it abundantly clear that you have no knowledge of the actual situation between the Red Sox and Devers.
And you have inside info?
Devers was pissed that Campbell offered to play first base.
Provo – When you find a veteran player that has no self-respect, you let me know.
The world is on Raffy’s side for a reason.
Joe – I have a strong feeling it’s not a “new poster”.
Provo – HAHAHA!! Yes you are right, it was idiotic for the Red Sox to concoct that lie and even dumber that they expected anyone to believe it!!!
Provost – did he though?
nbcboston.com/news/sports/mlb/boston-red-sox/krist…..&ref=app
I will trust David Ortiz when he says that Devers was the problem:
“As a player, sometimes you’ve got to put your ego aside and understand that once you get paid, you’ve got to find a way to do what you’re told.”
nesn.com/2025/06/how-david-ortiz-reacted-after-red…
And Ramirez came out and said the exact opposite. So why would you take Ortiz’s opinion as fact?
There’s 3 sides to every story
You can take whatever player’s word you want. Ortiz seems pretty level headed. Manny Ramirez does not.
I’ll take the better players word.
Especially when it’s so clear how Devers was treated poorly. He handled it poorly as well, but no other team would treat their star like this.
Ortiz is on the Sox Payroll….. he has to say what he said. Manny is not on the Sox payroll and can say the truth….
Sorry, I don’t believe Ortiz would stab someone in the back for money.
He didn’t stab annoying in the back, he just toed the company line
So, you are saying Ortiz lied? Yes or no? I also don’t believe Ortiz would lie for money. To me, lying = stabbing in the back. Maybe I have that wrong. A lie is a betrayal.
It’s not a lie, the front office has their story and that’s what they are sticking to, Devers has his.
I don’t think anyone is lying here, just different interpretations of the events
OK, so you believe that Ortiz is telling the truth like me. I am taking Ortiz’s word (trusting his judgement) on this situation because I have never played major league baseball.
Coop – Exactly! Anybody with at least half a brain understands that.
Ortiz is getting paid a huge sum of money on a lifetime contract, he is the proverbial sellout.
Manny is not and Pedro is not, both of whom have heavily criticized Ortiz throwing Devers under the bus just to keep the $$ rolling in.
Ortiz’s motto is “Dinero before Dominican Bros”.
Since then he has lost a lot of stature in the Latino community. Raffy’s BFF’s Soto, Tatis and Vladdy are looking at Ortiz in disbelief for selling out.
Pedro is the most respected of the ’04 trio, he was 100% correct in saying if Ortiz truly wanted to help resolve the issue he should have spoken to Raffy in private ….. not thru social media, what an egotistical clown. He’s in the same category as Schilling.
The truth is a fact.
I believe you have your opinion, as does Ortiz but can’t really determine if it’s the truth
I said I believe Ortiz when he said Devers was the problem. That is Ortiz’s opinion and I choose to have the same opinion. That is all that is really going on here. I agree with Ortiz who said “once you get paid, you’ve got to find a way to do what you’re told.”
Since when is Manny a better player than Ortiz? Do you not remember all the Manny being Manny nonsense? I would definitely listen to Ortiz first. I don’t disagree that they handled the Devers situation very poorly, and don’t blame him for initially being unwilling to switch positions again.
Every important statistic besides GP and PA is in favor of Ramirez.
It’s not even close, Manny easily had the better career
I probably should have looked at the stats before making that comment. I focus more on his contributions to the team from a leadership and mentoring perspective rather than his actual career numbers. Manny obviously had better numbers than I realized.
Actually, we didn’t. Has Devers played first fir the Giants yet? He may not even be successful at that
Bobby Dalbec?
Is he a first baseman if he refuses to play first base though?
Wade – Look at the insider interviews (Speier, Merloni, etc) and read the early scouting reports.
There was never any question Raffy would eventually move to first base.
I looked at the lineup tonight, They have No Hitters. ! Trading Devs was Stupid.
Devers was a cancer in the clubhouse and could not hit a fastball 94+ up in the zone. His bat speed has diminished and will only get worse. His best years are behind him. It was smart for the Red Sox to get rid of him and his contract.
‘his best years are behind him’
As he currently has career highs in OPS+ and is walking at a career high.
You really have no idea what you’re talking about huh….
Like I said!
New – HAHAHA!!! I love your mocking of the Red Sox leaks, keep it up!!!
This is another moron buying into the narrative spewed by the Red Sox front Office to justify their ridiculous trade. Every Smart Baseball commentators are absolutely ripping the Red Sox and rightfully so.
Coop – I’m pretty sure they know what they are saying is 100% false but they keep repeating it anyway for ulterior motives.
Yeah they could be just incredibly ignorant, but who knows. Some people intentionally say stupid crap just to get attention. I find it hard to believe anyone can be so dumb as to spew that kind of nonsense and believe it.
Newsms22 – Get out of your own head as everything you said is hearsay and false. Several players have come to his defense and said he was nothing but pleasant in the clubhouse.
The attack on Devers character was nothing more than a PR stunt that blew up in their faces and exposed how toxic the Red Sox front office and ownership is.
Didn’t Devers take things to the media first when he said he is a third baseman and he would not DH? And you think Devers has good character?
Why didn’t they ask for Wilmer Flores as part of the return. He’s low salary and can play 1st base
We don’t know that they didn’t but odds are the Giants would have said know as that would have left them with only Dom Smith at 1B.
I’m sure they did and SF laughed at them.
There is once again no fight in this team’s offense and even if Bregman and Yoshida were activated tomorrow they probably aren’t enough without a legitimate power threat joining them
If you want power,sign Rowdy Tellez.Only thing he can do.His position is 1st base.
5 career Home Runs in 69 AB’s at Fenway says that might not be a bad idea
Even with a legitimate power threat, there’s no gurantee of anything.
Rsox – Did you catch the Duran interview? He was really upset about the Raffy trade when it happened, and now he’s admitting that he’s right back in that rabbit hole he was in a few years ago …. he said there’s a tremendous amount of pressure on the team now that Raffy is gone.
I feel so bad for the guy, but I always thought a relapse was possible …. talk about the trade having a snowball effect.
I feel bad for Duran and don’t want to hear any more stories about him considering suicide but at the same time he needs to realize Baseball is as much a business as it is a game. He’s a professional athlete and teammates come and go but the pressure is always going to be there, especially in a big market. If he can’t handle that it’s either retire or go play in Miami or Colorado where there is no pressure to win games
Rsox – I totally agree, and if he feels pressure now then how will he deal with it in the postseason?
Remind me, What did sox get for devers?
2 low level prospects and a bowl of clam chowder?
A pitcher that looks like a big leaguer, an over paid failed starter who could return to being an over paid but very good reliever, and the 13th? Maybe 14th pick of the draft that raked in college, and has a combined .831 OPS this year in high A and AA… one that could end up being a 1B that can play corner outfield when needed.
Mod – I think what Chandler is saying is that the Red Sox claimed they aren’t giving up on the season, but in the trade they got only a bunch of lottery tickets that probably won’t help much this season …. in other words, they lied yet again.
FVP — Spot on.
Fever- What they do at the trade deadline will tell us if they are giving up for the season or taking the money from the Devers trade and investing it into putting a better team on the field. I don’t know that there are players available that can get them closer to being competitive or not.
Mod – Who Harrison? The guy is a #4 starter at best and if the Sox get lucky maybe a serviceable #3 starter. An over paid reliever and a 14th pick prospect that is at least 2-3 or more years away from reaching the majors.
None of which will help them at the moment or even this year. This trade is Mookie 2.0 and was nothing more than a salary dump. Just look at the team where is the investment in the team?
Horrible flashback to Mookie Betts trade.
Literally nothing. When you add the negative value of the Hicks contract to the other players it cancels out their value completely.
But wait
WAIT A DAMN SECOND!
The sox got rid of a tm cancer
They are poised to thrive now
Where r the fans who screamed for devers removal? They DEMANDED he be traded? Even if it meant goodbye to playoffs goodbye WS goodbye 500 record, hello darkness my old friend
Chandler – And how can you forget Breslow stating the Sox would win more games without Devers. HAHAHA!
lamars – FTR ….. Sox from April 1st thru the trade had a .529 Win Percentage.
Since the trade? .333 Win Percentage
Arenado + Fedde and cash consideration for Jhostynxon Garcia
Yes, please! I absolutely love me some more Boston Drama Sox.
The Cardinals are stronger playoff contenders than the Red Sox. But Boston is free to go sign Lance Lynn and, say, Jeimer Candelario.
Don’t do it, Craig, don’t do it…
You and I both know selling is the way to go. Rotation and first base are already clogged… where are one or two extra guys really going to get us?
Maybe we should evaluate if water is wet too, probably a more meaningful exercise then caring about this trainwreck
Let’s not forget the great hitting coach FATSE and all his analytics! 11-12 Ks per game. Painful to watch!
The demise of this franchise began when they traded Mookie Betts for literally nothing. Who’s left from that? A catcher who can’t hit his weight.
I can’t help but wonder where this team would be if they didn’t trade Mookie Betts, Chris Sale, and Rafael Devers for a bag of balls while letting Xander Bogaerts walk out the door in free agency. First place, maybe? Perennial contenders like the Yankees? How this front office operates is malpractice, and they treat their loyal fans worse than anyone.
Traded Sale for nothing.
Signed Giolito.
Signed Buehler.
Craig Breslow is a pitching whisperer, guru, part time pitching coach, Saux President and Chief wordsmith. The shi* he says is a hybrid of ridiculous and pathetic.
Not trying to defend Devers but Breslow not reaching out to him during the off-season to explain how they might sign a third baseman started the downfall of that situation.
I would say the downfall really started the moment Boston let go of Bloom and put Breslow in charge.
Align – You mistyped “Dombrowski” as “Bloom”.
Please Mr. Henry sell the team because you don’t want to win anymore and you think that you are smarter than everyone else and proven that you are not! Fire Breslow and Kennedy and bring in a real GM that knows talent and knows how to retain it! The Sox Stink!
Somebody here said “after all he’s been through” referring to Devers. What has he been through? Being asked to be DH so the defense could be better? Being asked to play first base so the team could maybe be better? Being asked to be a leader by example instead of whining? Being asked to run out infield grounders to set an example for young guys? I was glad to see him go. I just wish they had gotten at least one decent major leaguer for him.
The Saux brass is the epitome of poor leadership bro. How exactly do you expect Devers to provide leadership.
It starts at the top, except in Boston, it doesn’t start anywhere.
ray – Of course you’re glad, you’re a Tampa fan.
But really you need to catch up on everything that has happened this year with Devers. There’s some really great articles that explain it all, I’ll give you a link if you want. But I understand the Raffy haters don’t want to hear the truth, they just want to keep hating Raffy. Kinda a sad way to go through life, don’t you think?
Fever, I’ve been a Red Sox fan since 1952. Seen all of the good and bad in the past 70+ years. I think that qualifies as a fan. I’ve also played the sport in high school and college and coached it at the high school level. I think I have an idea about teammates and player value. I’m not a Raffy hater, but I think he did a lot to disrupt this season. .
Ray – I appreciate the clarification of your handle.
As for your distant judgment of Raffy’s presence on the team, I will continue to trust what his teammates have said and insiders with access to the clubhouse.
Many star players have had issues with management, including Ortiz and Pedro. Teammates know not to get involved, it’s none of their business and doesn’t impact their view of said player.
This whole organization is a joke now . They mention Walker Buehlur . Who thought move on from Pivetta and get this guy? Just like Sale was done . Who picked Vaughn Grissom as the guy to get for Sale.? They have mishandled Campbell. They locked him up with the contract. Where was he going? They have control of him for years. Disgusted !!!!!
dog – Campbell had 4 strikeouts in 4 PA’s the other day, and they are forcing him to learn first base.
Just think, only a couple months ago he was an offensive force playing middle infield and CF.
Have they given up on him being anything other than a first baseman?
Fever – Wait until the off-season when they sign a free agent first baseman and move Campbell back to second. The poor kid will be in therapy.
let – Agreed, and if Bregman opts out I can see that happening.
I’ll never forget the constant look on Campbell’s face during his last month in Boston …. it was incredibly sad to see.
Fever: I saw that . Terrible I hope he finds his stride again. It seems like the whole organization is about having platoon players . Aka Cora type. Seriously how many guys were legit everyday players but played multiple positions? I can’t think of too many. The pitching philosophy seems to be let’s get some injury prone players guys and guys who have been struggling. They seem to think they are going to fix them and look like the smartest guys in the room. Unfortunately I don’t see this organization going anywhere . In my opinion they need a complete overhaul in coaching department. Starting with Cora first . Then gut the F/O .
dog – I totally agree with you!
Campbell has the talent, but the organization has to STOP trying to cover up their mistakes by taking advantage of him and abusing him. He’s such a good kid, I’m rooting for him.
Look at the Jays, same lineup every game except when the backup catcher is starting.
I can’t think of very many legit super utility players, we saw last year with Rafaela and others it just doesn’t work.
Buehler has an ERA over 11 this month, what a disastrous signing. They haven’t “fixed” anybody.
Tito returns tomorrow, maybe we can have a managerial trade? It’s been a long time since any team has traded their manager! Ozzie Guillen in 2011 actually.
Fever- Every time I see that we lost a game the first thing I check is was Buehler pitching. Does he have any trade value, maybe a different pitching coach can do something? I wish we could send him down and let a young pitcher get some experience. They can’t do any worse than him. I agree that he was a horrible signing.
Poor Red Sox. Sorry, not sorry.
Signed,
Yankees fan
Man if only they acquired more SP help instead of Buehler this off-season and didn’t trade away Devers. They’d be in a good spot.
The Red Sox issues fall squarely on Breslow.
The Red Sox line up just doesn’t look that great. None of these 3 great prospects are hitting worth a darn. Major mistake to trade Devers
Sweet Caroline. So good! So good!
Everything is about money. Thinking otherwise is farcical. Winning is secondary to profit.
Bobby – Agreed, and they’ve already made a huge profit with their 6th current uniform merchandise …. the green and yellow.
Amazing but not surprising that MLB allows the Red Sox to have so many different official uniforms.
Where’s Theo in all this mess? It’s hard for me to think he would be on board with these questionable roster configurations. He was fortunate to be in charge during a time before FSG and the FO had a commitment to winning, but even with the patchwork roster they have now, even Theo knows you can’t compete w Abraham freaking Toro in the 2 hole and Carlos Narvaez hitting clean up. I mean… seriously? This is such an easy line up to pitch to.
If Theo is collecting a check from FSG, I would think he would at least give some input on how to keep this dumpster fire under control. Well, it’s not really a dumpster fire because sometimes those are fun to watch unlike this line up..
p.s. Narvaez has been of the few bright spots this year. Calls a good game and occasionally runs into a fastball, but he has no business hitting anywhere, but 6-9 in the lineup.
swan – Not sure what you mean by collecting a check? Theo is an owner, not an employee.
Narvaez, like Toro, has been in a massive slump because the book is out on them. If they can’t make adjustments, they will continue to struggle.
Fever – Narvaez has also been way overused. He’s tired. Cora handles him the way he does his relievers. He works them to death, they start to suck and Cora gets little of the blame.
Breslow was working closely with Theo last year. Haven’t heard Breslow mention him in a while.
All- I was just thinking about Theo and wondering what his involvement is at this point. I have not heard a word about him all year.
Uncle P: Breslow said last year that Theo was watching all the games and that he was consulting with him. I’m guessing he still consults with him.
Dick Fitts huh? I hope it doesn’t.
Doesn’t it though? Fitts this team well… lol
Wade – I think that went over everyone’s head. LOL
Gotta have a pretty low head for Dick Fitts to go over!
The red sox have been a 500 or less with or without Devers. Devers on the bench as a DH was not going to help Buehler throw strikes the other day or keep Houck from getting destroyed. They guys they where counting on have been a big disappointment and gave this team a false sense of hope coming into the season. Besides Crochet the starters have been all over the place, defense and base running has been atrocious.. I not sure if they have a stat for base ball IQ but the sox would surely be last in the League.! People put too much faith in rookies thinking they are going to be saviors.. Cora cant play a guy in the same position he was a utility player and he’s a utility coach. This team is chock full of utility players! they should be called the Utilty Sox!
Either Tanner Houck’s physical status is worse than revealed or the guy has gone completely Steve Blass.
After nearly 5 years of clear needs that were never filled by the organization, even into this season, the team has decided to “identify” needs that need to be filled. That is why we brought in the big brains everyone.
Just a thought, but perhaps try to build a major league rotation and bullpen. Play people defensively where they excel rather than struggle in the name of versatility. Try to have the back end of the lineup start at the 8 and 9 hole, not after the 3 hitter. Perhaps aim for healthy players with good track records instead of collecting hurt players coming off bad years.
william – Winning is clearly not a priority, and hasn’t been since 2018.
Look at the millions they are making on the new green merchandise.
And the non-Sox-fans who are filling Fenway, like today when the Jays fans filled the park.
It’s all about profit. Like the writers here said in a recent podcast, they’ve figured out they don’t need huge revenue to make a profit …. cutting expenses works just as well.
Cleveland and Boston could help each other here. Santana could slot in nicely at first. Boston has a surplus of outfielders. Rob Refsnyder could come back to cleveland.
follars – I’m really surprised how bad Cleveland has been, never thought they’d have a losing record into the second half.
1- Trade w/AZ for Josh Naylor;
– – Ryan O’Hearn/Marcell Ozuna is plan B
2- Trade w/Miami for Sandy Alcantara:
– – Mitch Keller/Merrill Kelly plan B
3 – add a veteran RH reliever
Done & Done.
The kids will continue to get better with more ABs, Bregman back in about 2 weeks
Just so sick of hearing the same fluff over and over from this front office. Between John Henry (and the back seat LeBron James group), that tone deaf narcissist Kennedy, the lack of experienced and timid/do as I say or you’ll be fired “Breslow” and this LAME DUCK Cora (the orchestrator of cheating that this same group brought back?).
It’s buzzword central with these thoughtless (and caring less and less about the fans each day) jokes of Baseball people. They’ve ruined all positive vibes that could possibly be had within this team and within the fan community.
Sell, Sell, Sell! They’re obviously jerking us around with 2025, since last year honestly. Their goal has ALWAYS been 2026 or later.
Cheap Cheap Cheap! Hope the soccer player and the Pittsburgh Penguins were worth it (and don’t give time the BS that “the books are separate”.. If you believe that then you’re stupid AF)!
Giolito season ERA is 3.99 despite the 3 starts he gave up 19 earned runs in 9.1 combined innings. The guy is one of the best pitchers in MLB over last 4 starts.
Lest we should forget Breslow was also part of the crew that gutted the Cubs with Hoyer after Theo was out of the picture. He has been through resets before and not afraid of huge change and even cutting ties with big names like Rizzo and Schwarber etc. inversely he will go through and systematically rebuild and take his public beatdowns in stride.
I wouldn’t be surprised though if we saw either of those 2 names in his notes.
Sox could climb back to 500 maybe a game over before the all star break if they can take advantage of a few week teams. I glanced ahead on schedule after the break and its BRUTAL!
Cubs
Phils
Dogers
Twins
Astros
KC
SD
Astros
AK – Right you are!
The Sox need to sweep the 6 games against Washington and Colorado that start Friday … the last chance to get the casuals all excited about this team.
Matt Olson should be taken from the braves.