Following a busy Father’s Day weekend around baseball, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on throughout the day:
1. Devers trade fallout:
The biggest news of the weekend was the shocking blockbuster trade that sent longtime Red Sox star Rafael Devers to the Giants in exchange for a four-player package that included right-hander Jordan Hicks and southpaw Kyle Harrison. The Giants are off today, so fans won’t get a glimpse of Devers in his new uniform quite yet, but there’s still plenty of fallout to be examined today. The Red Sox will need to fill out their active roster and pencil a new player into the DH slot in the lineup this evening, and the club told reporters (including Chris Cotillo of MassLive) that chief baseball office Craig Breslow and team president Sam Kennedy will discuss the trade in a Zoom call today.
2. Ohtani to make Dodgers pitching debut:
While San Francisco was adding a star slugger to its roster, their rivals in Los Angeles were preparing for their own superstar’s return to his two-way routine. Shohei Ohtani is set to make his Dodgers pitching debut at 7:10pm local time this evening in L.A. when the Padres come to town a kick off a four-game set with right-hander Dylan Cease (4.28 ERA) on the mound. For Ohtani, it will be his first time on a major league mound since August of 2023, when he was still a member of the Angels. He’s likely to pitch just one inning in today’s outing before being relieved by previously scheduled starter Ben Casparius, but that abbreviated outing seems unlikely to dampen the excitement of fans around the game who have waited nearly two years to see Ohtani resume pitching in big league games.
3. Gilbert to be activated:
The current iteration of the Mariners have long been associated with their elite rotation, but that hasn’t been the case this year. Injuries and ineffectiveness have left them to get an uncharacteristic 4.09 ERA out of their starters, good for just 20th in baseball. Fortunately, there’s help on the way. Manager Dan Wilson told reporters (including Dean Kramer of MLB.com) that right-hander Logan Gilbert is set to return from the injured list today for this evening’s game against the Red Sox. Gilbert pitched brilliantly through six starts earlier this season but has been shelved since late April due to a flexor strain in his right elbow. Fortunately, Gilbert is now set to return to the Mariners just six weeks afterwards. He’ll carry a 2.37 ERA and 2.15 FIP across 30 1/3 innings this year into today’s start opposite Lucas Giolito, who has scuffled to a 5.45 ERA in eight starts.
Who primarily plays DH for the Sox now when Yoshida is out? I guess they cycle certain guys through
I’m thinking it will be a cycle/matchup type thing. Mayer doesn’t really have a place to play when Bregman comes back. Same situation in OF.
Yeah can be rotating thing. Can even put Story there more to keep him healthy.
Mayer needs reps at SS, for sure
Disagree. Story is starting to hit and is their best middle infielder (not even close). He needs to continue to play in the field to prove he’s healthy as he could be the next one to go. I love what he brings (hustle and leadership) but if he shows he’s healthy and there’s a taker, ownership would love this contract to also get off the books.
I’m not so sure Story is better than Mayer at SS. It makes sense to Trade Story and they have money to eat part of his contract now. If indeed this is the push to get all the rookies on the field. I dunno, we will know in the next month.
If only another team would take him for a bag of balls.
Story is platinum glove caliber at second and excellent at short. While I haven’t seen enough of Mayer at short, it’s his bat that got him to The Show.
Maybe Yoshida will be back very soon since he won’t have to throw.
I would expect this. My understanding is he’s ahead of where David Fry is, for example. I have to double check that…
Update: looks like everything is pretty uncertain re: Yoshida’s recovery.
Anyone that’s got a nagging injury that just needs a day off from being a defender will get the first Crack I’d imagine.
I know it’s a long shot but Sox could trade for Ohtani and put him in DH.
That’s funny
He’ll probably be healed by the trade news alone 😄 🤣
Yoshida can hit now. Just can’t throw.
That was true prior to whatever happened the other day when he had an apparent setback. Now, that’s all murky until he or the Sox give an update.
Dang
As long as they can field the position…
/s
I would imagine that they would rotate There are 4 outfielders through the DH spot.
It would be more agreeable for all parties involved if Corporate Craig had his press conference in a public setting, protected by security guards who are just as frustrated with how he has run the team as the rest of the fandom, instead of hiding behind a laptop screen on zoom.
Troy – I find it interesting Cora isn’t included in the Zoom meeting.
Combined with Cora’s many 180’s of late, perhaps there is a divide forming between him and Breslow?
It is curious that Cora is seemingly left out.
Henry signed Bregman without Breslow’s input. Bloom extended Devers before Breslow.
Breslow, for whatever reason, wants nothing to do with either of them. He is independent to a fault at this point. Both guys have a .900 OPS and yet neither can be worked into Breslow’s present and future plans? If he even has a plan, which is open to interpretation because he has the communication skills of the robot on the other end of a telephone we all scream “REPRESENTATIVE!!!!!!!” at
Troy – You nailed it! Breslow is a classic case of high intelligence with poor social skills. He’s the geeky math whiz who can’t understand there’s more to players than just statistics.
Robotic and tunnel-visioned, and he showed it in The Clubhouse when he declared “More hits are off fastballs than any other type of pitch, therefore we will no longer be throwing fastballs”.
Wondering that myself. I doubt Cora was thrilled with this trade and probably had 0-1% input in the talks.
let – Yeah it makes zero sense to not include Cora.
“Discuss the trade” ……. the trade is done, what’s there to discuss?
What needs to be discussed is how the DH position will be filled and what will be done with the newly acquired pitchers …. all of which the manager should be involved in.
BTW – Like I’ve said before, I DO sometimes defend Cora. LOL!!
I wonder if Kyle Harrison realizes his potential in Boston? If he can become the #2 I think he becomes, then Boston won this trade by a wide margin. I also wonder if Kyle Tucker takes home 40mil plus on a long term deal for the Red Sox in the off season, joining ex Astro teammate Bregman as the big money guys in Boston.
Tucker is not coming to Boston. Red Sox already have plenty of OFers. Expect the Devers money to be reallocated towards pitching or a corner infield position.
Exactly.
Jswag – Harrison becoming a #2 is far more likely than Tucker signing with the Sox.
Why would the Sox sign a free agent outfielder when they’ve already got Duran, Abreu, Rafaela, Campbell and Anthony under team control for many years?
Fever: The only reason I can think of for the Sox to sign Tucker is, you don’t turn someone down who can hit like him. Also, there have been rumors that Duran was talked about in trades so Tucker can fill that role. Then again, do the Sox want to carry two $40m/year contracts?
avenger – The Yankees have operated like that, but the Red Sox don’t. They will spend on perceived needs, outfield is not a need.
The need right now is for starting pitching and possibly a first baseman.
Harrison, Crochet, Bello, Buehler, Giolito, Fitts, Dobbins, Hicks (if he isn’t in the pen), eventually Crawford, down-the-road Houck. Where are they putting all these starting pitchers? I assume Buehler gets dealt soon to anyone who offers a AA prospect. Giolito hangs by a thread, but that still leaves (counts on fingers) at least 8 starting pitchers.
Giolito should switch roles. He can clean up the locker room or something. Hicks is nothing spectacular as a SP so far so he could certainly join the pen.
@Rishi agree regarding Hicks.
Given his BP experience and contract, he likely fills Chapman’s spot for 2026 & 2027.
His secondary pitches need a lot of improvement. Going back to work with Andrew Bailey could be a good thing.
Giants fan. Have already seen Harrison quite a bit. I would love to see him succeed (nice kid, and from the Bay Area) but he is right now still basically a one-pitch starting pitcher. He hides a high-spin fastball from a lower arm angle and hitters have a hard time catching up to it (but the best hitters do, he’ll give up some loud contact at times). He does not have good secondary pitches, and because of the lower arm angle, it limits the potential of his arsenal. Could he be a #2 someday? Only if figures out how to get a good feel for a cutter or slider with hard break from that angle (his “slurve” is pretty terrible). Good luck.
The Dodgers’ timing of this “announcement” is a joke. They just couldn’t stand to see the Giants take all the headlines.
I know! Raisins have little mouths that speak to me if I listen closely.
Do sour grapes make those raisins? I say go Giants, go Dodgers, go Padres! Love me a competitive division that doesn’t have those New York teams.
whyhayzee: Agree 100%!
I’m pretty sure the Dodgers and Ohtani had his ’25 pitching debut mapped out way in advance. It’s not like they saw news of the Giants’ trade and said we must start Ohtani tomorrow and announce it to one-up the Giants. Was LA suppose to announce it today?
Hey shohei, I know we didn’t have this planned but you’re gonna need to pitch tomorrow. The giants just grabbed some headlines and we absolutely can’t have that so strap it on, cuz we’re gonna need at least six outta you.
Yeah that’s what rivals do they fight for the limelight
Remember when it was such a big deal when madbum hit a homer off kershaw?
ARod’s opt out announcement during a World Series he wasn’t even part of has entered the chat
Ohtani is pitching today. When were they supposed to announce it? Tuesday? Should they have anticipated another team might make a blockbuster trade and made their announcement earlier?
More importantly: do you think the Giants care about any of this?
they literally said he wasn’t starting until sometime in July, then the trade got announced…
They said there was a more than zero chance he comes back sooner.
That’s math for ya.
The correct timeline is this:
Early last week, after Ohtani’s most recent simulated game, Roberts went from saying Ohtani would return after the all-star break, to saying there was a north of zero chance it could be before the all-star break.
Then, in yesterday’s pregame interview (before the Devers trade had even happened), Roberts said after talking more about Ohtani’s progression, they all agreed that it’s kind of wasting bullets to not have him on a major league mound while he builds up length, since he doesn’t count against the 13 pitcher roster limit. Basically any innings they get from him during this time will be “bonus” innings for the pitching staff. He ended that by saying it’s likely Ohtani will be the opener for a game in the coming days.
Then, in the postgame interview, probably after making sure everyone was on the same page, he announced that Ohtani will be the opener for tonight’s game and likely pitch one inning, possibly two.
So no, it literally had nothing to do with the Giants acquiring Devers, lol.
Red Sox fallout from the trade seems to be the following future question: Which return was worse for the Red Sox? Betts or Devers?
Return for Devers was shockingly good.
What do you think they get for a possible clubhouse cancer whose a 31.5M dollar DH with an 8 year commitment?
The Betts trade has paid off. Two of the three went to the Yankees and stunk them up. And the third guy created a need for a catcher who they then got from the Yankees. Oh, and Betts helped demolish the Yankees in the World Series. So it’s a win win win win.
Sabe – I don’t see anything beating the Sale to Atlanta trade as the worst under this ownership.
But who knows, a lot could happen by 2033.
That’s going to take years to determine with the prospects still in rookie and high A ball.
Yep, and all teams make trades that they believe will improve their own situations, so attempting to grade who “won” a trade at the moment the coin drops is inherently an exercise in pure guesswork.
Yep. Yet people state their claim with so much certainty ! Ridiculous.
Mike Easler for Don Baylor?
hayzee – The Hit Man and the HBP Man!!!
If devers were a free agent is he getting the contract he has now? Even if so he’s not getting much more. So from that perspective you got some good young talent and got rid of a huge contract for a DH with a questionable attitude.
Rishi – If you want to grade Raffy’s contract, look no further than Vlad.
Vlad got half a billion, no deferrals, through Age 40, which comes to almost $36M annually.
Raffy is getting paid $29M annually after deferrals and only through his Age 36 season.
Vlad has a .842 OPS since 2022, Raffy has a .872 OPS during the same period.
Unless Raffy’s numbers start to tank, he’s actually a bargain at this point. Even moreso if he begins playing 1B, which I believe he will do but probably not until next year.
Well at the same time Guerrero is basically 3 years younger and at age 24 last season put up a better offensive season than Devers has ever had (and he’s done it before too). I get that there’s a comp there but it’s not perfect by any means. You are not necessarily gonna be merely stuck with Guerrero all those extra years either. He may very well still be productive.
The Vlad contract is also just bad. It was given by a team that has struggled to get FAs to take their money (much like the Giants had).
Rishi – Teams give longterm contracts into the player’s 40’s because they are forced to, not because they want to.
Nobody expects Vlad to be productive in his late 30’s, same with Xander. The whole reason why the Sox gave Devers the contract is because it ends at Age 36 when many star players are still productive.
This is Raffy’s 7th year (9-year career) with an OPS of at least .819 and you know how many Vlad has? Just TWO in his 7 year career, that’s it.
In fact this is Raffy’s 6th consecutive year with an OPS of at least .850 (not counting 2020 Covid).
Raffy is clearly the more proven and consistent player among the two, and he’s making nearly 20% less.
No contest, Raffy is the better bargain as of right now.
flam – Sure the huge spike in player salaries is ridiculous, but what makes a contract good or bad depends heavily on market value.
Soto and Vlad pushed salaries to a ridiculously high level, that makes smaller shorter contracts like Raffy’s much better.
And how many mega-contracts (>$250M) expire before the player turns 37?
I can’t think of any off the top of my head.
Well he’s definitely the bigger “bargain”. I mean ideally you don’t have any of these type of contracts. You would develop guys young and sign them early to extensions that are fair but also potentially team friendly. Or you would at least make the big splash on a player that has a lot of things to like (not just the bat) like Betts (even Freeman as he’s very athletic and a plus personality/otherworldly hit tool), Judge has that special something too. You don’t build a franchise around Devers. Anything over 200m for a player with very limited athleticism is not ideal-its a product of the market and needing to keep a player because your team hasn’t developed/traded for that many good hitters. Big markets try to play that game. It can be done but Betts was the type you do those deals for.
After this season, 8/232 ($29 AVV) doesn’t seem so far-fetched considering what Vladdy, Jr. gets and what Kyle Tucker will get.
I get that I’m just saying your trading a huge contract and it’s a DH basically. It limits your options. And you got some good young players. Not sayings it’s a great deal. It didn’t seem like a lot at first but I get it.
Rishi – but Devers can actually play the field still. The Sox just made a dumb decision to make him only the DH.
He’s not going to win a gold glove, but he was making improvements in the field at 3B (for those of us who actually watched him play and not just complain about his defense).
So weird for him to go to SF with Chapman over there, I am interested to see how he fits into that lineup.
Your definition of “play the field” and mine are significantly different.
Does your definition include waking up in a different bed every night?
I spend too much time in the comment section of a baseball website for that!
My apologies for the misunderstanding. I made assumptions based on the “wildride” portion of your name.
Oh look, another person who hasn’t actually watched Devers play 3B.
At this point the sexual abuse gives way to substance abuse. If by different bed you mean different gutter or other person’s front lawn you have hit the nail on the head.
3B is a deceptive position to watch. Everyone over there has a decent glove and can look smooth but it is much harder to really notice the difference in range & reaction time (especially because half the balls hit to around third on tv are hit so hard you barely see what happens). Every 3B makes nice plays here and there. He should certainly be able to play 1B if he put in the work.
Rishi – That’s the thing, the incompetence of Red Sox management has devalued Raffy by making him a fulltime DH in his 20’s.
No other team in the history of MLB has done what the Sox did to Raffy …. for a reason.
Do not be surprised if Raffy plays some 3B and/or 1B in the future. I think the Giants will respect him enough to give him that chance.
Wade – This is not directed at you, but why do you think the same people who said “defense is extremely important, burn Raffy’s glove” are now perfectly fine with the crappy MLB-worst defense of Campbell and were also perfectly fine with the utterly crappy defense of Casas? Why is that?
I think Devers should have been moved to first. Probably end up better than Casas.
Getting out from Devers RIDICULOUSLY ABSURD CONTRACT is a win for Boston. If Harrison turns into a solid #3 &/or if they get anything from James Tibbs it’s bonus gravy.
Just purchased 10k seats to watch the GOAT pitch one inning.
Loyalty over anything!
The GOAT my @$$.
Ohtani is probably the single greatest ball player of all time. Hope he keeps it up.
I’ll wait for him to play right field on days he doesn’t pitch…or when he’s asked to go 9 innings, It’s real taxing to go a maximum of 6 innings, or sit on his can while his teammates are out playing the other side of the ball. I like the guy, but he’s a product of rule changes and the times. If Ruth had a DH, what kind of offensive and pitching numbers do you think he would have put up? Ohtani is neither the best pitcher nor hitter in the league….and yet because he does both, he’s the GOAT. Again, thanks for the humor.
Not the Greatest of All Time, but he’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen. Many others outside of the internet will agree.
Who is your pick for GOAT? The level the game is played at now is pretty different than back in Ruth’s time. I guess you have to pick the guy that was so much better than anyone else in any given era.
It’s really the only way you can do it, unfortunately. Hitters today have in-dugout computer analysis of every pitcher in the league. Pitchers have the same luxury. Guys who blow out their arms can have them surgically repaired. Position players who can’t play defense to save their lives, can DH. They travel on private aircraft, they make inordinate amounts of money doing so. The players of yesteryear had none of those luxuries. All I can say is, I “think” any all-time great ballplayer from any era, would have found a way to be great in any timeframe. The elite players are special.
Excellent points.
You appear to be hating the player, not the game. Playing what-ifs does no good if the rules of yesteryear didn’t apply.
Did you just post gibberish or is that poetry?
Whatever you want it to be, young grasshopper.
He might be the goat of 2 way players
10k? Are you sitting next to Roberts?
James – He’s really Charlie Sheen.
It will be interesting to see how Devers stats are affected by having home games at Oracle Park instead of Fenway. Fenway (105 PF) is the second best hitters park in MLB and Oracle (96 PF) is third worst. For example, Dever’s homerun yesterday against the Yankees is an F7 in San Fran.
They’ve already said last night he’d have 11 more home runs at Oracle because of the lack of the green monster which suppressed 11 of his so far this year…
I’m just going off what they said last night during the Dodgers game
Devers is going from one of the best hitter’s parks to one of the worst. Doesnt “11 more homeruns” seem a little ridiculous to you?
Luckily, the internet has ways to check things: Devers has hit a total of THREE balls off the the Green Monster this year. How does that equate to 11 less HRs? Sounds like “they” dont know what theyre talking about.
Interesting that his HR could go up. Wonder if his average drops though.
The “11 extra HRs” is made up.
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Here are this season’s Dever’s only 3 hits off the Green Monster:
baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=46adaf…
baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=f5699d…
baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=ac7e59…
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You cant get 11 extra HRs from 3 balls hit off the wall.
You have to remember it was an ESPN announcer team that said it. They also asked anyone with a pulse and a dodger hat on about Ohtani.
They said that about Sandoval as well. Those things are never right. Adding 11 would put him on pace for 57 HRs, and he’s not that type of hitter.
Or, from another perspective, he has 9 HRs at home. Add another 11, and that means he should have 20 at home, in only 142 ABs. That would give him 42 in 300 ABs, putting him well within Maris’ record of 61.
I figured SF was 2nd worst. Is it KC?
Dodger stadium prices are expensive. I think I’ll stick to watching the Rockies and Marlins…
With Devers now a Giant, perhaps FS1 drops the scheduled Texas-Pittsburgh game on Saturday to show Boston-San Francisco.
And the last time there was a mid-June trade with major impact? Keith Hernandez from St. Louis to the New York Mets in 1983, 8 months after he helped the Cardinals win the World Series. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Well, not mid June Chucky but Nomar to Cubs in 04 was pretty big… strikingly similar circumstances I feel….( on major players involved)…
olm – In some ways it was similar, as Nomar was the face of the franchise and was definitely disrespected …. just like Raffy.
But keep in mind he had only 2 months remaining before free agency ….. Raffy has 8 years remaining.
And Nomar had an injury that prevented him from playing shortstop, while Raffy has been healthy all year.
Sox trade away yet another superstar that they will regret deeply for years
Meanwhile devers career is over. Goes from fenway to pitchers park in sf, & he was a yankee killer. Now goes to nl west, where his career avg in dodger stadium, AZ, and SD is .083. Instead of hitting next to jarren duran or bregman he will be batting next to wilmer flores for f sake. Sometimes i wonder how in the hell does a billion $ organization in a billion $ business have such incompetent gm’s/owners making such insane decisions. This is the kinda crap that happens in a free fantasy baseball league run by 12 year olds . This should not be happening in real life with adults & professionals
I love this comment.
chandlerbing’s comment reeks of Samuel, especially that “free fantasy baseball league run by 12-year olds” part.
I love the “Devers career is over”, followed by accusations of “run by 12 year olds”.
Self awareness is a thing.
Entertaining as heck though
Frequently bosses ask their employees to do things they dont want to. Sometimes, an employee refuses. The same employee may refuse a second request. That employee is usually gone soon after.
Not sure what you expect, but the real world and the baseball world arent that different.
dont give me that same ol excuse. redsox just as much at fault as devers. yes raffy could have handled it differently. but boston? are you kidding? “you’re no longer 3b. you’re now dh. wait no. you’re not dh. you’re 1b. wait no. you might have to play 3b again. wait no, yes, for sure, dh. uh, er, um…. .” thats an indecisive organization that offers no clarity, an org that i dont trust 1 bit, not as a fan and definitely not as a player. and despite the controversy, devers was having a ridiculous season at the plate. maybe the best year of his career. and boston thought its in the best interest to trade him for absolutely nothing? after all the bad trades in sox history, starting with the most (in)famous trade in sports history when they traded the babe for a f’ing broadway play, and more recently traded franchise superstar betts, and sox still decided to do this?? are you absolutely f’ing crazy for even suggesting this is the right move?? this isnt a 7 fin’g 11. this is a billion dollar business. and boston just f’ed itself to hell.
“you’re no longer 3b. you’re now dh. wait no. you’re not dh. you’re 1b. wait no. you might have to play 3b again. wait no, yes, for sure, dh. uh, er, um…. .”
It went much more like this: “To improve the overall team, we brought in a much better defensive 3B, and need you DH. No? How about 1B then? No, again? Okay bye bye”.
@reggie
yes, bye bye
to the red sox playoff + ws hopes
Didnt most at MLBTR/Red Sox already rule them out of the playoffs about two weeks ago? Im guessing you were in that crowd. So now they’re, back in it? Lol! Bye bye
chandler – Here’s the thing ……
Raffy doesn’t need to put up an .884 OPS in Oracle Park …. he only needs to be a better hitter than opponents when they play there.
Remember it’s a pitcher’s park for the visiting teams too …. the goal is simply to outscore them ;O)
Just harder to market the trade as a success when the guy who was hitting .300 with 50 HRs turns into a .250 25 HR guy after moving from Colorado to Seattle.
@wade
exactly
my guess is the rest of devers career mirrors arenado’s.
solid #s but nowhere near elite
Wade – That’s why we have stats such as OPS+ …… they take into consideration Park Factors.
Want to hear something very interesting?
Trevor Story had an .801 OPS in his final season with the Rockies.
He had a .737 OPS in his first year with the Sox.
However in BOTH seasons his OPS+ was 102.
So the Sox knew they were getting basically a league-average hitter even though he had an .801 OPS the year before signing.
As long as Raffy puts up an OPS+ of at least 140 with the Giants, they will be quite happy with him.
How many casual fans care about the good stats? I think a big part of loving baseball is statistics but it is more for the true fan.
Walter is back!
The cheater will blow his elbow out again within the next month. Someone should be looking into why the dodgers pitchers get injured so often, seems to be a systemic problem across the board for all dodgers pitchers. East missouri cesspool team usually has a lot of injuries due to the emphasis they put on throwing the 2 seam fastball throughout the organization, maybe the dodgers do something similar in their philosophy? Or maybe they just don’t care because the cheater and his crooked contract allow them to just buy every player they want?
Who’s this “cheater” you’re talking about, Dog Chapman?
‘injuries’ are a “systemic problem across the board for all dodgers pitchers.”
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Injuries are a systemic problem across the board for all MLB pitchers. I fixed it for ya.
Early season workload, increased velocity and increased spin rate are to blame and its a problem throughout the big leagues.
Good on Dave Martinez for defending his coaching staff. Players need to step up and be accountable for their poor performance. They’re paid to be professionals to win games. Maybe get a players-only meeting going and get everyone onboard. Otherwise, they should resign and go play Indy Ball or go work in the coal mines.
Yay Logan Gilbert!