This week's mailbag gets into the Mets' offseason thus far, Craig Breslow's tenure atop Boston's front office, the Munetaka Murakami situation, how an expansion draft works, the Cubs' anti-deferral policy, Fernando Tatis Jr.'s trade value, and much more.
Ed asks:
I'm finding it hard to understand the Mets thinking. I'm scratching my head about the Marcus Semien/ Brandon Nimmo trade. I asked my friend who's a big Mets fan (his last name is Metz) what he thought and he responded that it depends on what outfielder they replace Nimmo with. I told him that unless they break the bank on Kyle Tucker its not going to be a clear upgrade. I'd say Cody Bellinger is an slight upgrade but after looking at their numbers its amazing how similar Bellinger and Nimmo are offensively and I don't see Cody putting up as good numbers in Citi Field.
Then I heard they are shopping Senga, instead of signing Framber Valdez or Ranger Suarez to compliment Senga they are looking to move on all together. Again I think both Framber and Ranger are probably a little better than Senga but if you sign one of them and keep Senga he becomes your # 2 which he is much better suited for.
I believe last year was more of a fluke for Devin Williams than the new norm, but would rather have Diaz, especially since William's problem might have been that he just can't handle the New York limelight. The Mets are now going with Williams as closer unless they resign Diaz and yes it probably closes the door on Diaz unless they want to invest over $100 million on two back end of the bullpen guys.
Just curious what you think of these moves. Do you feel the Mets will be stronger in the OF, Starting and Relief pitching in 2026?
Abner asks:
As a NY Mets fan I would love to see a late innings duo of Edwin Díaz & Devin Williams. But knowing how does David Stearns operate, how realistic is the Mets signing Díaz with Williams already in the fold? Will they look for cheaper options getting a guy like Tyler Rogers and/or Emilio Pagán to be the setup man while Williams is the closer? If they decide to invest heavily in Williams and Díaz, does that mean that they will not invest in an ace for the starting rotation this offseason? Thanks in advance.
On the Nimmo/Semien trade, I agree with Ed's friend. So far, we've seen a portion of the Mets' offseason puzzle. It's not close to being complete.
At age 33, Nimmo projects as roughly a 2.5 WAR player next year. It's true that the free agent market is light on outfielders who are capable of that, beyond Tucker and Bellinger. But it's also true that 34 MLB outfielders were worth 2.5+ WAR this year, including several few saw coming. And that doesn't account for platoons that combined for 2.5 WAR-type value.
There's also collapse risk with the 33-year-old Nimmo, who is under contract through 2030. Let's take a quick look at the last five years and see how many 33-year-old outfielders were worth 2.5+ WAR:
- 2025: 2 (Aaron Judge at 33, George Springer at 35)
- 2024: 0
- 2023: 1 (Kevin Kiermaier at 33)
- 2022: 2 (Starling Marte and Mark Canha at 33 - both Mets!)
- 2021: 2 (AJ Pollock at 33, Darin Ruf at 34)
Nimmo's track record is very good, and a projection system is not going to project him to fall off a cliff after a 3-WAR season. But outfield is a young man's game, and you can see how rare good seasons are at 33+. With Nimmo, this could be a case of the old adage about trading a player a year too early rather than a year too late. So I don't mind subtracting a player who probably won't age well, saving some money long-term and bringing in a second baseman with strong defense. That's not to say Semien doesn't have his own collapse risk at 35, but his speed and defense are holding strong.
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Tim, I disagree with your analysis of the Red Sox/Breslow trade involving Devers. Yes, the players coming over, save Harrison, are light, but you have to include the salary dump and what Breslow chooses to spend it on. You also underestimate how important it was to remake the clubhouse, and get Devers’ pouting stench out of there, and allow the young players to develop under Bregman’s increased influence and a healthier vibe. Bottom line, Devers showed up to 2024 out of shape and did not rehab his shoulder. He didn’t take an ounce of responsibility for his failure to fulfill his professional obligations. He is NOT the guy you want leading a wave of talented young players. Cora tried to meet with Devers in the offseason to discuss the possibility of moving positions and signing Bregman …Devers blew him off and then showed up fat and out of shape, and not ready to play in the field, yet felt entitled to play 3b base. Your analysis is light on these factors, and blaming Breslow for Rafi’s lack of maturity is kinda dubious. The Red Sox failed to develop the professionalism and commitment of Devers well before Breslow showed up.
Right on all counts!! Addition by subtraction. Devers was a major distraction in the clubhouse, and wasn’t easy to trade, considering his contract. The Phillies had a similar situation with Richie Allen in 1969. They traded him to the Cardinals for Tim Mc Carver, Curt Flood, and a prospect. Flood, retired, rather than go to Philadelphia. Trading a player that productive in his prime, very rarely nets an equivalent return!!
Spot on Prophet.
Dont forget, once he arrived in SF, he ghosted Will Clark THREE times to work on first base. His immaturity may be an internal thing, not something taught by any management. And, when a player has a 300M contract, thats not likely to change.
There seems to be a lot to the Will Clark thing:
nbcsportsbayarea.com/mlb/san-francisco-giants/rafa…
I don’t think Craig Breslow taught Devers to be immature. And he might well be. But if we’re dealing in facts, he’s a very good hitter who wasn’t traded for much. I don’t consider that optimal handling by Breslow.
Not traded for much? The Red Sox are out from under a $300,000,000 commitment!! That is a lot more than ‘not much’!
First Clark said this:
“”I came out early three days in a row — Friday, Saturday, Sunday — to work with [Devers] around first base … So Matt Williams and Bob Melvin want me to go out there and work with him around first base. No problem. And we weren’t going to do anything physical. … And Friday, Saturday, Sunday, he did not come out early at all. Period. Not at all.”
Then 2 days later, he said it was being blown out of proportion. The second comment sounds like a bit of damage control more than anything else.
—-
Did the media blow it out of proportion: Yes. thats what the media always does in sports. But, Devers did do it and its very unprofessional to blow off a coach who’s waiting for you three days in a row. Not communicating is a sign of immaturity.
Eh, accounting for deferrals that deal has the equivalent of maybe $220 mil over eight years left on it at this point. The team is seeking power this winter. I probably would’ve just kept it.
$220 Million?
Pete Alonso > Devers
Alonso plays first base, will cost less than $220M and come with a much shorter commitment. Red Sox are lucky to have moved that contract.
Reggie-Agreed. Alonso is also right handed, which will help balance the Red Sox power.
If they pull that off at a decent price, I would not necessarily disagree!
The Sox had a clubhouse where guys competed for each other, and they played better baseball when he left. They needed to free up the DH spot and get Anthony and all three OF into the game. If Anthony (Abreu, too) didn’t get hurt, this team would likely have won game two v. the Yankees and advanced in the playoffs. The Red Sox are building a team and a culture. Devers was a detriment to the culture, and his money can be better spent on players who want to be part of this young nucleus of talent. Cora is a good manager, and Devers wouldn’t buy into being a good teammate.
Devers’ contract and body will not age well…fastballs up in the zone will dominate him. He doesn’t have the discipline to fight father time.
Tim, do you want the last four years of his contract?
He is not a fitness guy; his bat speed will only continue to regress. He will be a guess hitter before you know it. He won’t be hitting good pitching.
I think the Red Sox are so lucky to get out of this contract without eating money. Look at his bat speed decline….do you really want this contract moving forward?
His Bat speed by MLB percentile
2023 69%
2024 61%
2025 46%
That’s your SF DH for the next 8 years and $250 million…not sure he’ll hit the high cheese much longer.
Tim, Devers is an RBI machine but has never hit 40 home runs in a season. The Sox need a true power bat. That said, they’re looking also need to change their overall approach. When they win, they extended the line (first time I remember hearing that expression was in 2004 although it probably was much earlier). If this team continues to strikeout so often, they will at most be a bride’s made, never the bride.
Polar Bear would be awesome at Fenway. Might hit 60 HR.
Sox should also look into Ranger Suarez. Top-notch LHP who is still on the young side.
Sometimes you just need to kill cancer. Or at least just ship it elsewhere. $ savings, players in return, pure bonus.
Devers was an absolute cancer in Boston.
It doesnt matter- he had to get rid of him as that was clear addition by subtraction. As for the return, lets face it – Breslow wasnt in an optimal position in terms of leverage since Devers is not a team player, plays lousy defense and everyone knew he had to trade him.
Tim:
“pull off at a decent price”
If Alonso is a better over all player than Devers and will cost less than the $220M left on Dever’s contract without any player cost, how much value do you think Devers has beyond the $220M owed?
Devers is a net negative value, as far as I can tell.
Its not just the vibe, conditioning, or leadership (or lack thereof)…
Even you leave out the insubordination, the resentment by guys giving 110% and doing what the team asks as they watch devers pout without consequence crushing morale, or even the instances reporters were in the clubhouse, devers was mouthing off, and other players were telling him ‘just stop talking’ repeatedly and in frustration.
No side was blameless, for sure, but when discussing the roots of the problems, id put the smallest share of anyone onto breslow.
OK, but how do you know A) which players actually resented Devers B) that they directly performed worse because of this and took off when he left and C) Bregman couldn’t have helped with this situation? All of this is highly speculative.
Is it possible for resentment to cause players to play worse? Sure. Is it possible for a player to pout about a position change for a while, and go on to have a good year without affecting the performance of other players? Also yes.
The Red Sox turned the season around after trading Devers and made the playoffs. Their record with Devers in 2025 was 37-36. After they traded Devers on June 15th, their record was 52-37. They were better without him.
These are also adult men and athletes. I don’t buy the resentment angle.
Lord, many are immature athletes who secure themselves financially before they’ve grown up. Others, have never had basic needs met until they secured their success. Egos takeover and personalities clash. None of us were in the Sox clubhouse but from appearances, Devers was acting like a spoiled brat.
The turn around in team record is largely due to the starting pitching finally figuring things out and the promotion of Roman Anthony. Both of these things were completely possible without trading Devers.
From 3/1/2025 to 6/15/2025, the Red Sox SP were 21st in ERA at 4.27. By fWAR, they were 18th at 5.0.
From 6/15/2025 to the end of the season, they were 3rd by ERA at 3.58 and 8th in fWAR at 6.9.
In those same time frames the offense:
3/1/2025 – 6/15/2025: 7th by wrc+ at 105.
6/15/2025 – end of season: 14th by wrc+ 101.
So overall, team offense was down post Devers trade and the SP took a gigantic step forward. That’s the reason for their better record. As Devers was the full-time DH, he did not impact the SP whatsoever. There’s no “oh his bad defense caused the pitching to be worse”.
Tim:
Do we need to single out which players had a problem with Devers behavior to know the behavior was problematic? Multiple journalists were talking about that incident in front of reporters, and, if they made it up im sure their ability to interact with the players would suffer. It was that exact provision of anonymity to protect who the players were, and just report the event happening, that protects their clubhouse interactions in the future.
I had two very distinct careers in the past, both successful. My first one was without going to college, where I was a senior operations manager, reporting only to the CEO, CFO, and COO of a mall-based retailer and, for a time, also was in charge of their entire new england zone.
Once an employee publicly undermines and disregards the authority of their boss, in public, in plain view of the other employees you have two, and ONLY two choices. Back the boss and ditch the employee, or, ditch the boss and keep the employee. No other option exists. The credibility, authority, and respect of all suffer otherwise and youre inviting discord, inefficiency, and basically chaos within the organization. Ive seen it play out many times.
Devers forced the issue by his reactions and behavior. Period. Ownership had two choices, cut devers, or, ditch breslow.
Just my opinion, but, of everyone involved, you can blame Bloom, Henry, Kennedy, Cora for whatever happened when Devers was extended. You can blame Devers for how he handled things. But Breslow inherited the situation, and, probably never had any inkling of what was discussed – and not incorporated in writing in Devers deal – before he arrived with the club. Maybe the transition could’ve been better, but, Breslow was a very very minor part of all of it.
You also say “Is it possible for a player to pout about a position change for a while and go on to have a good year without affecting the performance of other players?”
Devers conduct went beyond pouting, and, lasted all Spring Training, plus months into the season. Thats not a short window, and, it was creating discord if players are disgruntled and tell him to shut up in the locker room as he keeps the whining going.
Joe: would Henry have given the ok to load more money on the books if devers was still around?
Roman may have been promoted, then again, maybe not, due to roster space. But he probably wouldnt have gotten the extension yet.
And the circus in the clubhouse would keep continuing, with young kids thinking it was OK to disrespect the front office and staff like Devers did. Had he pouted a couple weeks and let it go, fell into line in ST and just did what was asked from then forwards like anyone else he’d probably still be a red sox. BUT he couldn’t let it go, becoming a festering sore.
Do you not agree a clubhouse full of distraction and dysfunction impact play of the other players?
Devers extension was a knee-jerk reaction to fallout after mismanaging retention of the other homegrown stars. He was always the one they *shouldnt* have kept.
I wonder if Henry and Co felt Devers was backstabbing them by not being grateful for all they gave him.
GA – Devers contract would not have stopped a competently ran team from extending Roman Anthony. He’s the real deal. You extend him early, or you risk losing him because the team won’t pay the price to extend him later. The mentality should be extend him at all costs. The Sox have very little money on the books in the future, they have Campbell, Rafaela, Crochet and Anthony. They’re a big market team. Spend like one.
I said it to start the season, I’ll say it again, Roman Anthony should have started the season on the Sox. Devers was not blocking Anthony. Their refusal to clear the OF logjam and the fact that they pretend that Yoshida’s bat is good enough for a full-time DH is. That’s not on Devers. That’s a poorly ran team.
They got rid of Devers, Bregman opted out, and Henry still seems like he’s not going to let the team spend like they should.
If there was a “circus” in the clubhouse, it’s on the leaders (Bregman, Story) and manager (Cora) to figure it out. Breslow created the situation and wasn’t man enough to admit he messed up. What good are all these leaders if they can’t fix actual problems?
Devers stood up for himself because the team kept treating him poorly and lying to him. That’s exactly what the young players should be doing for themselves. Don’t just be a corporate yes man, your C-Levels aren’t always right. They make mistakes. Devers contract is fully guaranteed, so he can stand up to the moronic moves more easily than most employees.
The Devers situation isn’t just this off-season. It was from the previous 4 or 5 years of the inept front office. Around the trade deadline, when the team is in contention, there’s be articles about how he would be asking the FO to get some help, that they knew what the team needed to compete. And they never did.
The front office has consistently failed the major league team. They keep failing at the trade deadline, failing to do enough during the off-season to return the team to championship form. If your boss(es) keep failing you, do you have faith that they’d do the right thing? Or would they keep making dumb decisions.
This wasn’t an isolated incident. It was a fractured relationship that started years ago. A competent manager would have realized Devers value, realized that they created this situation due to their inability to communicate, and resolve the issue. They wouldn’t quadruple down, that’s poor leadership. And now look at that, they’re looking for a middle of the order bat. Good luck finding that for the amount they were paying Devers.
I agree extending Devers was a kneejerk reaction, but I would have extended him over Xander due to his age and his bat. He could have shifted to 1B/DH later in the deal and the bat would still be great. Betts is still the clear 1 there though.
GA – so employees should just trust management, C-Levels, etc without question?
My mom got completely screwed of her pension as a GM employee due to decisions by the C-Levels.
At one of my previous jobs, C-Levels decided that we needed to go one direction, develop products for this certain customer base. Then they changed their mind and we had to completely switch our focus. This happened yet again. Then they told us that we had a runway of 2 years with this latest product, which was different than we had done before. The vast majority of the team was laid off in under a year because the product wasn’t making money. Shocking, because of their previous mistakes.
The employee – employer relationship is built on trust. It’s a two way street. Thinking that you’re always right and know better, on either side, is not a way to have a successful relationship.
Could Devers have handled it better, you bet. But the situation was created and escalated by the front office. They could have easily fixed, chose not to, and are now crying for a power bat.
I have some skepticism with all the Devers soft factors. I’m not comfortable calling him immature/overweight/lazy without firsthand knowledge of that. And we don’t know exactly what was said to Devers and when. It is easy to demonize him from the outside or take shots at him after he’s gone.
Baseball history is rife with teams accommodating or even coddling star players, because the goal is to win games.
None of this can be proven – that Devers made other young players perform worse or that Bregman’s one-year effects couldn’t have happened if Devers remained.
I am not saying this was an easy situation to manage, but I don’t think it went optimally from the standpoint of making the Red Sox the best possible team.
I absolutely do think Devers should have been more of a team player on the DH/1B ideas, but it’s not as if the Red Sox had no recourse.
That’s journalistic integrity right there, folks. Write about what you know and leave the rest at the door.
Devers’ declining Bat speed by MLB percentile…are the facts. His attitude, we can debate.
2023 69%
2024 61%
2025 46%
Those are the facts that make this a great decision: dump his contract and avoid the remaining 8 years and $ 250 million.
Prophet, in fairness to Devers, his shoulder was partially responsible. He still ended up with over 100 RBIs.
Dewey, to some degree RBIs are a team stat and depend on where youre slotted in the order, and what guys in front of you do.
It does show you dont totally choke when a man is on base, and, could point to an ability to get balls in play
*if* the guy in front of you can do good baserunning to tag and move/score.
I prefer to look at batting average, walks, and homeruns.
1) Refused to DH in ST, before relenting.
2) Took groundballs at shortstop, after which the Boston media feasted.
3) Refused to play 1B, even though it was because of an injury. to Tristan Casas. Saying “they cant expect me to play every position”.
4) Said he had “earned some respect” and was being insulted, just because they wanted him to help out in an emergency at 1B.
5) Ghosted Will Clark three times to work on 1B.
—————
Thats not a good look for the young core. There are much better places to invest $300M.
@ReggieSmith, 100% on points 1-4, seems like a guy you have to walk on eggshells around, but I dont think #5 is a big deal.
Listened to Will Clark’s podcast after Devers didnt come out, and I wouldnt want anything to do with that guy either.
If you were Chris Young, which one of the young catchers you mentioned in the article would be your first choice, when acquisition cost and present a future ceiling is considered.
I generally agree with you that the Sox should have done a lot better or simply not traded him. One thing I have found interesting is what was NOT said after the trade. No players seemed even mildly upset, there was no “we are really going to miss this guy”, “he was really helpful to me when I came up.” In purely baseball terms the deal was awful but I feel like there is one hell of a story we aren’t getting.
JoseR…. correct,,,, There is one hell of a story we are not getting.
What is hilarious is all these experts here commenting that they know… and it’s all Devers fault when the fault probably lies in some way with all the parties involved.
All I can say is the “SPIN” that came from the Red Sox talking heads… Sam Kennedy/Breslow/COra ETC…. was pretty telling and leads me to believe that this had more to do with Henry wanting to get out of the Contract than anything else.
Would have been nice to have Devers bat in that 3 game playoff at Yankees Stadium…. result would have been different, but then again who knows if they don’t make the trade they even get there.
“all devers fault”
Can you point to where that was written by one of the “experts”? No, didnt think so.
Reggie— sorry, but there are many “experts” here commenting that it’s all Devers. You might want to check for reading Comprehension. But then again, you are one of the loudest ones screaming it’s all Devers. And everything you are stating comes from all the crap the Sox Management was spewing to justify the trade.
Never said it was all Devers fault once. And your just screaming the same tired crap you hear on Talk Radio.
@TimD – You are correct in many respects, and in your position to stake out the gray area makes a lot of sense.
At a certain point however, when the smoke is hanging in the air time and again, there is an underlying fire that needs containment. Could the Red Sox have handled things better? For sure. But to get out from that contract, with that personality type and body type and the clear lack of devotion to physical conditioning required to stay at an elite level made all sorts of sense.
One thing that I learned from decades in the dugout – even if you bring back essentially the same team the following season, one or two personality changes can risk spoilage and sometimes a bit of harsh pruning can make all of the difference to the team and how it performs on the whole.
Let me ask you a simple question about Devers. Someone on the team told him that his defense is so bad, that he’s the full-time DH. To put away his glove.
If his defense is so bad, why would they want him to learn a new position in the middle of the season?
And follow up question, wouldn’t it have been significantly better to tell him to keep working on his defense in case of injury, maybe pick up 1B to help with roster versatility?
The issue could have been solved if Breslow just manned up and talked to Devers, said he messed up, and that they need him to play 1B. It sounds like a conversation between Breslow and Devers never happened, just between Henry and Breslow, and then Henry, Cora and Devers.
The blame is 1000% on Breslow for the situation, and he could have very easily fixed it.
Did you see the shape Devers showed up to Spring Training? It wasn’t good.
He had a shoulder injury and clearly didn’t address it.. He couldn’t field any position despite having three months to address the issue.
Do you want to own the last 4 years of his contract? His body will not age well, given his lack of commitment to offseason fitness. His ability to hit high fastballs has diminished already.
If I am a teammate of Devers and I watch one of my brothers get carted off the field with a serious knee injury, and my highest-paid, longest-tenured player refuses to step up and play 1st base, thus allowing the Sox also to call up Anthony….I’m pissed, and I really don’t want you as my teammate.
Completely ignored my question got it.
He didn’t address the shoulder issue? What do you think he was doing all off-season and by showing up early to Fort Meyers?
Devers is still one of the top hitters in the game. And he will be for the majority of his deal because it ends when he’s like 36. It doesn’t go until he’s fourty. So yeah, I’ll take that deal. It’s not like Vlad Jr where he’s getting paid 35MM+ until he’s 40, or Xander til he’s 40.
There will be no problem for Devers to produce offensively through out the entirety of his deal.
Gotta love the people that just say “wah Devers fat and expensive thank God he’s gone” meanwhile they just hate non-white people and are shocked that their team is now in desperate need of a 3B and of middle of the order bats.
Again, if Devers defense is so bad, why have him learn a brand new position midseason? Maybe the FO should do their job and make a trade to get an actual 1B to fill the void. They could have told Devers to practice 1B in the off-season, they didn’t, they told him not to play defense anymore. So he didn’t for them. Maybe they should have planned ahead instead of running him out of town.
No comment anywhere on this thread mentions race except yours… just performance and attitude.
Performance? Like his 140 OPS+ and 35HR in 2025 and the team that traded him desperately needing a power bat, and the highest HR totals for the team was 25.
Doesn’t look like he has an attitude problem for the Giants, wonder why that is.
Most people these days try to “hide” their racism by just insulting people of the other races,
Joemo, please keep racism out of the discussion. There is nothing to suggest even remotely that race played a role here
Why are you so protective of owners money? It’s not my money. I want them to spend spend spend. A fan shouldn’t be proud of a salary dump. Devers mashes the ball. 140 OPS+ is pretty good!
Wolf, but his defense takes some of his bat away. Add in how he didn’t seem to be a team player and yes I’m glad he’s off the team.
Dewey…. sorry pal… you are buying all the spin from the Red Sox… this situation was completely mishandled by SOX Management….. which includes Breslow, Cora and this was a complete Salary Dump on behalf of Henry’s desires.
It was a “Salary Dump” as in get rid of a bad contract, so that the Red Sox can acquire a better player for less money and shorter contract. Tell us something we dont know.
Answer this question: If Posey could reverse the trade today, do you think he would?
NOPE
Have any players whined about Devers being traded for trash? Nope. They went on a heater.
It was a Devers dump. They were done dealing with an attitude in the clubhouse.
It wasn’t a salary dump. It was a Devers dump. He was a clubhouse isssue and they didn’t want him around the young guys coming up.
Joe: the quotes I saw was devers paraphrasing, specifically “*basically told me* to put away my glove.”
Which is filtered through a translator twice, once when they tell devers whatever was said, and, once when devers says it months later.
There was no need for breslow of anyone else to say they messed up – booting him off 3b was many years overdue under the prior front office. There was no “mistake”…
There’s was an unforeseen injury, and the team needed someone to step up. An immature narcissist of a player with an outsized ego refused to put team first or step up the way the rest of the organization does – look at how many other players line up in multiple spots when asked.
GA – the team should have communicated better. It’s not hard to communicate. Just use your words, say what you mean, mean what you say.
If they wanted to have Devers keep his glove ready, they would have said that. They could have said “hey you’re the DH now. But we might need your glove if there’s injuries, people need rest, etc. So let’s keep it ready.”
After hearing how the Red Sox staff communicate, specifically the whole Jim Rice situation in spring training, and the fact that Cora confirmed the Devers comment about him being the long time 3B during the contract extension, I’m inclined to believe Devers.
And yes, many players will play multiple spots when asked. Notice how Devers played 1B for SFG. Notice how they didn’t tell him he’d be the long time 3B, replace him without any sort of communication, fumble the whole process of preparing him for 1B, etc.
This goes back to my original question in this thread, which no one has answered: if his defense is so bad, why would they ask him to learn a new position in the middle of the season?
Here is the one fact you should understand: his teammate blew out his knee, and the team needed him to play 1st and call up their best prospect in baseball, Anthony… and Devers told his Teammates he wouldn’t do it… and then told his San Francisco teammates he would. Issue?
That’s the only fact that matters and tells you all you need to know about why it was necessary to trade him. It wasn’t a salary dump….it was an attitude, team commitment dump.
“communicate better”?
What does that even mean?
“use words”?
Are you saying they used grunts or drew first base on the dirt with an arrow?
Prophet – you’re avoiding the question. th Boston Red Sox think his defense is so bad that he should only DH. Why would they want to put a very bad defender at 1B? Shouldn’t they go out there and get someone who they think isn’t a very bad defender at 1B? The front office should do their job.
Think of it this way, if the Red Sox said that Player A is a very bad defender, that he should only be a DH, and then they acquire said player and have him try to play a new position that he’s never played before midseason, you’d be questioning their move right?
I don’t believe Devers told his teammates that. Sounds like he told Cora and Henry that though.
I’ll take this one:
“Why would they put Devers at 1B”
Because Casas got injured and it was an emergency. And, he was the best candidate they had on the roster. Wow, you dont really know much about the Red Sox.
Notice how they didn’t go on a heater for the rest of the season like the Sox did after he left.
He’s an employee. You shouldn’t have to ask him. You should be able to tell him.
Bristow had to get rid of that guy. No defense, refuses to play 1st base, that was addition by subtraction. But they need to go all out to resign Bregman. Even though that contract will be underwater after 3 years.
And Breslow…doh!
I logged on just so I could respond to this. I’ve read it twice and I consider it the best summery of what went down over the summer ever ever read. You absolutely nailed it and thank you very much
Thank you
They would have taken a bag of balls to get rid of Raffy.
I love the inclusion of Darin Ruf in the outfielder with 2.5+ WAR discussion. No doubt aided by his elite baserunning skills.
“RUF IS ON THE MOVE”
Ruf is the stuff!
As far as Ed and Abner go on the Mets, they need to have some patience. This is just the beginning of the makeover. They may bring back Diaz and Alonso, and they may not, we have to wait and see. Obviously the team they assembled last year underperformed and disappointed, so they need to do something different. Give Stearns some time, it’s still early, and we’ll find out soon enough.
What does the Cubs part of the article say?
Nothing worthwhile Log. But get yourself a subscription my friend.
I’ve been waiting to hear Ed’s friend’s analysis.
If you think Tatis is getting traded, you need to lay off the nose candy.
That was my question actually. I said it probably wouldn’t happen though you can never completely count something like that out. It mostly all comes from Michael Kay saying he would be trying to make a trade for Tatis if it were up to him. I thought it would be interesting to see what a deal would look like. You may unclench now.
Although I HIGHLY doubt a Tatis trade will happen…..many said the same thing of the Pads dumping Juan Soto, and yet it happened.
I do understand Soto had far less control, but trading Soto was perceived as a pipe dream by many.
Joe: as an aside, I’ve been waiting for an actual framework for what that trade would look like too, because of the uniqueness of the centerpiece. If I were Cashman, I’d be blowing up their phones and offering everything up to and including the Steinbrenner Poodle.
Another (perhaps much more realistic) trade I’d love to see is a Donovan trade.
I think with the Padres ownership “crisis” that seems to be blooming, they might be wanting to shed payroll, and it’s probably easier to trade Tatis than it is Machado.
MTG- with the team up for sale you never really know. So it’s not impossible to see Tatis being traded.
Though the Padres revenue is propped up by attendance. The team likely looks more appealing with Tatis than without. The Padres have raised ticket prices for 4 straight years. Anywhere from 10%-25% each year. If the fans stop coming everything will fold like a house of cards. I don’t think the current owners want to risk that while selling. Reports are they will get between 2b-3b selling the team. That’s their payday even if they have to carry a high payroll for another season.
What the new owner decides to do after that the current owners won’t care. At the very least they can say they didn’t tear it down.
So barring some ridiculous offer it’s very hard to see them trading Tatis. I could see a lessor move like trading cronenworth. Even that seems like a long shot given they have no replacements.
If Tatis was moved I could see the Red Sox as the most likely fit. As they are wanting a right handed bat. Have the outfielders, pitchers and even infielders that could plug right into the Padres team.
Something along the lines of…
Tatis and Cronenworth for (about 33m next year)
Duran (like 7.5m next year), Casas, Mayer, starter (who knows which). I could even see Yoshida in this deal but that takes up a lot of the payroll savings for the Padres and would require additional pieces from the Sox. Obviously just throwing crap against the wall but if he was available I could see something along these lines.
If the Padres were trade Tatis it’s an almost certainty it will be a losing deal for them. They’ll be giving up their most exciting player they have ever had who is signed through his prime. They have him for the next 9 years covering his age 27-35 seasons at a bargain deal for a superstar.
I haven’t seen a ton of Sox fans clamoring to sign Duran to keep him around longer than the three years of control he has, which you would expect from a wealthy team with one of their better players. He’s also 2+ years older then Tatis. The .740 OPS outside of Fenway scares the crap out of me after seeing the immediate drop from Boegarts. Cases is one they all want dealt to get something for him while they can. Mayer is a nice prospect but no Jackson Merrill or James Wood… man they killed it in that 2021 Draft.
I have faith if they need to shed some money Preller will get creative like using Ray Kerr to get out from under Matt Carpenter’s deal. Yuki Matsui and Wandy Peralta seem prime targets to do the same.
Love Jake Cronenworth, solid player that I wish we could keep, but you easily move him before even considering Tatis.
I wonder how big an immediate drop in attendance there would be if they dealt Tatis? 500k, 1m? It’d be sizeable so I agree completely it would never happen under current ownership.
No signs that they will trade Tatis outside of if some nationals media guys.
Will see what happens. My guess is Preller will come up with something. 1B and a couple of starters.
Simm if a sale is in place behind the scenes it’s possible that Tatis could be moved before the sale to not make the new owner look like the bad guy. Not that I think he’ll be traded.
Guess anything is possible.
I find it so funny that once Devers was traded he was all in on playing 1st base. The rumors about Devers not meeting with Will Clark was blown out of proportion. Devers didn’t want to get on the field against the Red Sox who happened to be in town then. Its typical media blowing things out of proportion.
Devers and the Red Sox was bad communication and immaturity across the board from player and management.
Neither side was innocent in what went down.
Time to move on.
Will Clark is also a tool, delusional geriatric said he’d grab Devers by his neck and drag him out there. Clark seems the type to rub alot of people the wrong way.
Love the trade though, ridiculous the eggshells Boston had to walk on to broach 1B with Devers, and the injuries are already piling up.
The people saying Devers was a cancer and needed to go have a point when looking at the results before and after the trade.
At the time of the trade the Red Sox were 36-36. After it they went 53-37.
The Giants did the opposite. At the time of the trade they were 41-30. After it they went 40-51.
Devers’ contract has more years on it. We’ll see in 6 years if it truly was a win for either side.
If Breslow called Posey today and asked if he wanted to reverse the trade. Posey would take the offer without blinking. He could then use the money to sign one of the many sluggers in FA that cost less than Devers.
Of course, more time is needed for the final result, but right now, its the top of the 2nd inning, and the Red Sox have a big lead.
If Anthony stays on his career arc, the deal they were able to give him using funds freed by Devers departure will tilt heavily towards the deal being positive for the red sox.
All of this is a moot point. Im not sure why Red Sox fans are still so obsessed with Devers. Big Papi, Chris Cotillo both seems to make such a big deal. The giants got a player that normally wouldn’t come to SF.
How many wins, would consider a good season for the Chicago White Sox in 2026?
Referencing the Nimmo situation, ironic that the Puma article references Lindor twice (McNeil-Lindor argument, Lindor Soto disconnect), and surfaces directly after the trade.
I am sure that Stearns doesn’t do scorched earth, but the clubhouse culture issues were almost certainly the result of wounded egos regarding Lindor’s and Soto’s presence.
If someone wanted to do a clubhouse study regarding discord and performance…, do one of records with McNeil on the active roster versus not on the roster.
Stearns was clear about needing to shake up culture. Note Pete has NOT been mentioned as one that might need to go.
Senga is a different case. He’s quirky, honorable and a perfectionist. Difficult to judge. I am a fan of keeping him. I know people are penciling McLean in as the ace, and I love him as a prospect, but he will have limited innings and workload could be a concern. Look at Peterson…he ran out of gas.
So bottom line, I am okay with sending Nimmo, McNeil, maybe Pete on their way (Pete for analytic reasons), but Senga is still useful.
Tim: Wouldn’t it make sense to list the Chris Sale trade as Sale for Grissom plus $10M? I think the Red Sox were looking more to dump as much of Sale’s contract as possible than to acquire Grissom as Sale had injury problemsfor 5 straight years. What do you think?
👍
Suit, there was heavy interest in grissom simply because 2B has been a black hole for Boston since Machado’s dirty play ended the career of Pedroia with no succession plan in place.
I tend to think acquiring a 2B was the primary goal over saving $10m, and, here’s why. Sale had an injury history, but, some of that was non-baseball related, or, freak occurrences like the comebacker.
Ask yourself, looking at SP costs, and, the reclamation deals Boston was offering. What does $10m buy in a SP to replace Sale, without adding in extra money? Because thats what you had to do. You opened a rotation hole, with $10m to fill it after the trade.
That $10m doesnt buy a replacement with the same talent (injured or not) and ypside.
GA: I don’t think they wanted to get Grissom and found the only way to do that was to trade Sale for him. I have to believe the $10M was at least as important as Grissom to the Red Sox.
Think that Nimmo line about trading a guy a year too early could also be applied to Devers. Yeah a 135 wrc+ DH is nice, but thats all hes giving you, and once that dips, hes unmoveable. Devers has got a lengthy injury history that could cause said downturn at the plate even if he doesn’t continue to bleed bat speed.
Id wager his return says alot about what people in baseball think of him on that deal, and thats not even factoring in possible character issues.
As a Mets fan if Diaz signs elsewhere they need to get another guy to battle Williams for the closer role. I would sign Bellinger NOW and put pressure on Alonso to resign than Bellinger goes to RF, with Soto moving to LF and Benge playing CF. If Skubal stays in Detroit than I would trade Vientos, Mauricio, Williams, and Santucci to Pittsburgh for Skenes and Santana (let him battle Williams for the closer role).Sign Adonis Garcia to DH.
How do you put pressure on Pete Alonso at the beginning of December when he’s a free agent? Just curious.
Jvent’s trade:
The Pirates will trade the best pitcher in all of baseball, who has years of control left, plus an excellent closer for one Top 100 prospects and a bunch of throw ins.
Adorable. Next give us what you think it would take for the Mets to obtain Ohtani and Judge.
Now that’s a lopsided trade, even by MLBTR comment-section standards.
Devers is a cancer Horrible at 3rd and just a big baby. I HATED that contract
Silly argument on Nimmo. OF is not a young man’s game, baseball is a young man’s game. Exceptions are just that, exceptions.
He cited that it’s rare, only 7 times in 5 years, that OFs of Nimmo’s age have a WAR of 3+. But there’s only one case in 10 years of 3+WAR for a 2b as old as Semien. (Zobrist 2916).
2 overpaid, declining players. Both still stealing 10+ bases so maybe their legs are above avg. for their age. Maybe decline will hurt a LF more than an IF. But silly.
What Tim isn’t factoring in is the fact that Tatis is a cheater who failed a drug test. So who knows if that will happen again and if it does, you would lose him for most of the season.
I know a lot of non-Padre fans don’t think it was an innocent mistake. That said he was popped in a season he hadn’t played in after his immature motorcycle accident and the resulting wrist surgery. He ended up getting a 2nd wrist surgery that same year as well as a shoulder surgery to deal with his shoulder that was popping out frequently in 2021.
He sure seems to have moved on from that point. You don’t hear of any dumb off-season stories about him, he’s been a lot more healthy since that forgetable season. He’s come back and turned himself into an elite outfielder with two gold and platinum gloves.
He’s by far their biggest fan favorite and biggest draw while they have set three consecutive franchise attendance records. They just outdrew every team in baseball outside of the Dodgers and Tatis is a huge part of that.
It-s never an innocent mistake and if you think it was you’re niave. And I’m a Cubs fan.
Well from what I read it was the complete wrong kind of drug to take and had the opposite effect of someone recovering from surgery and hoping to get an edge to try to expedite that process.
Just like Giant fans don’t hold Logan Webb screwup when he was young, Padre fans have moved on as well.
Listening to the commentary around the game and how well perceived Tatis is, I think most have done the same. Not to mention every big payroll team would jump at the opportunity to take on him on his deal if they didn’t have to part with a monster package.
That said, looking at my handle I’m clearly a homer, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
If Tatis is being shopped, 29 other teams are ringing AJ’s phone off the hook. The comments by LT and Papi above, as well as Tim D’s response in the Q&A, explain well why he’s not likely to be traded, regardless of team’s ownership status.
If he can just stay away from ringworm Hotspots from now on…
Who cares?
Thanks for the thoughtful and detailed responses.
1. Semien put up 3.3 bWAR last season. That was a disappointment, primarily because in his last five full seasons (excluding pandemic short season) he had averaged 6.6 bWAR! He played in only 127 games in 2025, over those five previous seasons he played the maximum number of games and led the league in games played four times, the fifth season he played 159 games. He, of course, was injured in 2025. Even if he plays like last season, he delivers more than Nimmo, at a position of greater need. The Mets have internal candidates to play LF: McNeil put up 2.3 oWAR last season, and he’s much better defensively in LF than 2B; and they have three outstanding OF prospects. The trade gets the Mets off the hook for paying Nimmo over $20 million annually through his 37 year old season. Even if they don’t pick up a corner OF via trade or free agency, this looks to me like a great deal for the Mets.
2. There are benefits to a player for accepting deferrals in addition to the sticker price of the contract. Given the value of contracts involving deferrals, the player doesn’t need the money now, and with a deferral the player can maximize his tax and financial situation later (retirement in a no or low tax state like FL, NV, AZ?). The Cubs, who are in a high tax state, should be more willing to offer deferrals. Deferrals have limited downside since: a) for competitive balance purposes the contract value is spread over the number of years in the contract, not during the deferred years; and b) from a cash flow perspective, they can (and to some extent are required to) fund the future obligations with cash payments during the contract years.
It’s hard to understand what the Cubs are thinking much of the time. It appears that the goal is to be a playoff caliber team, rather than a championship caliber team.
I really don’t care too much what Tatis did years ago, I would sure want him on my team now. He appears to have matured and cleaned up his act. There sure are a lot of glass houses in this comment section.
Mets defense up the middle is gonna be tremendous. Those two guys are gonna save pitchers from a lot of hits and kill rallies w/beaucoup de DPs.
I remember the Covid Expansion Draft. That was fun and would be cool to do again (maybe during next year’s lockout)
The more people that doom about their wanted lockout, the more I just laugh.
Lol I don’t want it but can’t see a way it doesn’t happen. There was a lockout last time that lasted what, 3 months?
Haha. And cry.
Lol Devin will never get you to Diaz.
In re: reader Dave’s comment about Breslow getting “fleeced” in the Dustin May trade, what am I missing about Tibbs? Dave says it may go down as the next Bagwell-Larry Anderson trade. Tibbs’s numbers don’t jump off the page, so what am I missing about him?
Also, while I am not a Rockies fan, I would love to see Murakami land there.
Agreed. I think Tibbs will be an average MLB player at best. He strikes out a lot and may not even make it to MLB. Tibbs is now on this THIRD TEAM since being drafted in July 2024. That tells me teams don’t really value him.