[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Red Sox Digest, the only show where pain, sarcasm and a dash of hope collide nightly like a Trevor story strikeout. We cover every loss, every meltdown, and yes, even the rare win with brutally honest takes and zero front office fluff. Subscribe today at RedSoxDigest.com or risk being left out in the cold like a home game in April.
And now, here's the crew at Red Sox Digest.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: Good evening sports fans and welcome to another edition of Red Sox Digest. I am your host tonight, Jim Delfino. Tonight I am joined by two men who bring the kind of chaotic energy you'd expect from a little league dugout after someone opens a bag of Skittles. First, let me welcome in Nick Face, Boston's most enthusiastic stat whisperer. Nick once tried to explain whip using whipped cream and a wiffle ball bat. And he is the only guy who thinks launch angle is how you throw your remote at the TV when the sock strand the base is loaded.
And also joining us tonight is Thayer Doyle, who approaches baseball analysis like he's narrating a nature documentary. Observe the bullpen in its natural habitat, panicked and underperforming. If baseball had a talent show, there would be juggling rosin bags and reciting Moneyball. With all that said, let's get into it. The Boston Red Sox hosted the Kansas City Royals at Fenway park. And let me tell you, it was less America's pastime and more America's passive aggressive shrug. The Old Town team lost seven to three. And yes, that's not a typo. The Sox scored two runs in the first inning and then apparently took a vow of silence until the 8th where someone wearing a Trevor Story uniform continues to make a case for the Red Sox 10th player award. Do they even give that anymore? Anyway, the highlight for Boston, Romy Gonzalez is doubled in the first, driving in Jaron Durant and Trevor Story. After that, the bats went colder than a Fenway beer in January.
Seven hits total, two errors and about 17 hits batsman that I lost count and a collective team vibe that screamed we peaked in the first inning. Meanwhile, the Royals, who came in with a losing record and the swagger of a team that just found out they're still technically in the wild card hunt, decided to play whack a ball in the seventh. Jonathan India launched a three run homer in the seventh that somehow just got over the wall, that it would have been easier for Jordan Hicks just to throw it up on the ledge. Adam Frazier and Salvador Perez scored like they were late for dinner reservations. Kyle isbell also had a two run single in the fourth and Bobby Wick got the party started with a third with an RBI bloop that made our outfield look like they were auditioning for Dancing with the Stars.
Dustin May, Craig Breslow's shiny new toy, gave up three runs on six tenths. His ERA now stands at Please don't ask. The bullpen came in like a group of interns trying to fix a broken copier. Lots of effort, zero results.
Nick, let's start with you. Disappointing loss to say the least.
[00:03:01] Speaker C: Expected.
I picked two of three. I really like Michael Walker. I have said this many times before.
I never liked it when the Red Sox decided not to bring him back after the 2022 season. I understand that sometimes he's on the IL and he he gets these injury things at times and maybe you can make a case that he's not the most durable guy, but he has a storied career now of quality big league innings to his name and he gave the Royals everything they could have ever imagined tonight and made the Red Sox look like fools for signing Corey Kluber over him for 2023 tonight you got Romy Gonzalez big hit. As you said, Jim, the offense was in sleep mode tonight and they are about to board the plane to San Diego tonight. So it ain't going to be as cheery of a flight, I would say, after this sleepy loss here tonight. But you have to give them credit. They they had a great home stand, they took care of business. I think now it's time to take care of more business on the road. Here you have the San Diego Padres, who are a very good team. We need to make sure that we bring the same level of compete that we've had against the Astros. And then you're going to face the Astros again starting Monday.
So this is going to be an interesting little road trip here for this team and I'm sure we're going to get into what we're expecting here on this trip. But overall for tonight, I also just want to say I love Mike Yaskremski. I know he hasn't had that great of a season between the Giants and now with the Royals, but I gotta also give Mike Yastremski credit. Right field is a tough place to play at Fenway park and that was a heck of a play that he made and a heck of a jump he got on the ball that roman Anthony hit 29 other ballparks, guys, that's a home run.
So and then Mike Yusremski put In a nice, nice night with the bat. That guy just loves to play at Fenway park. And I'm super curious to know what his career would have been like if he were a Red Sox.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: There, your opening takes for tonight.
[00:05:12] Speaker D: Hi, guys. What have I missed? What's been going on? I left and suddenly they figured out that they had to win baseball games in order to make the playoffs. I'm gone all that time and I come back and now we lose. I gotta say, it was not my fault. I was back Monday, so this had nothing to do with me. I'm not going back out west. But I got to say that in general, I have been very impressed with how well they've been playing.
They're throwing the ball, they're putting good at bats together. For the most part, they've been running the bases and playing good defense. We saw a little bit of that sort of going astray today before it got out of hand late. We had that play by Duran on the ball where he threw the ball to third base when they were still down 3 to 1. I think they were up 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 or 2 to 1.
And he tries to throw the runner out going to third base, which allows the man to get second base. They get the broken back flare over the broadened infield now and now you're losing. It turns out that it wasn't such a big deal. But that's baseball 101. That's stuff that this team, we've been talking about it all year, cannot afford to do in order to be successful. They're good, they're playing well.
I'm impressed. But again, we have to and we talk about these sort of things. This is not the 2018 team. This is not the team that can basically go out there, throw their gloves on the field and beat 95% of this team has to do everything right. And when they don't and when we sort of see like Nick was talking about some of the mental lapses in the bats in the approach today, swinging at a lot of first pitch strikes. And like you said, Nick Waka is a true professional. He knows how to get people out and he knows how to work batters that are not going to, that are too aggressive. And you saw that today.
Unfortunately, on the other side, we saw May, who could not command his pitches the way he wanted to. I thought he has some good movement on some of his pitches, but other pitches were just left right over the plate. That first inning, Jim, you were talking about, he got out of it he left a hangar to Perez that when he made contact, I'm like, oh, there it goes. But thankfully he got it down off the end of the bat and only flew out deep to center field as opposed to it going over the monster. So I think it was, Nick said this in our war room, it's only one game. It is only one game. It's nothing to really be discouraged about.
We just hope that they continue to play the way they have been over the last couple of weeks as they move over to save the other competition.
[00:07:44] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, I mean, I think like Nick said, there was probably a lot of thought that this game would probably go this way. Didn't have a lot of faith in Dustin May.
You know, three and two thirds innings, six hits, three earned runs, four strikeouts, 91 pitches, 61 strikes. It didn't even seem that good. But you know, it's really kind of tough when the first guy you get your major prize acquisition from a trade deadline piece goes through and 2/3 innings in his first start for his new team. So not really impressed there. A lot of traffic hits batsman, just a lot of nonsense and sloppy pitching from Dustin May and sloppy baseball behind him.
So, you know, hopefully this is just something that's going to be one of those, the dust settles and he'll kind of feel the butterflies go away and get back into some sort of a groove. But let's face it, he doesn't have the greatest track record for his career. He's been hurt a lot and you think he's been hurt more than he's pitched. So it's going to be interesting to see how this goes as the number five starter down the rest of this year, August, September, and if we are in fact playing October baseball, I want to continue a little bit about the bullpen. I want to discuss Jordan Hicks next. Thayer, take me through what you saw with Jordan Hicks. He continues to be a mystery on the mound. And again, you know, a multi run home run given up. He just is not a guy in my opinion that you can rely on ever.
[00:09:16] Speaker D: Jordan Hicks is a thrower. It simply comes down to that. He's someone who's been gifted with an arm from God, who can throw the ball 100 miles an hour, but he has no idea where it's going most of the time. And when he does throw it, it's straight as a string.
And we just saw the other day Major league baseball players can hit fastballs. What was it? Miller just gave up a home run on 104 mile an hour Fastball to Gurriel and he hammered that thing.
So major leaguers can hit fastball.
Problem with Hicks is he cannot put the fastball where he wants it. He can't control his breaking pitches. He gets behind in the count and when that happens, major leaguers are going to hit you. And he's not ready to be a late inning guy. He's probably a sixth inning guy at best for this team.
Unfortunately, with the setup that they have, he's sort of being put into situations because they keep going with their top guys early on and they aren't able to pitch multiple days in a row. So Hicks has to come into these close situations and we get what we saw that night when he blew the game in Texas. I think it was Texas, right. And then what we got here.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: Nick, your reaction to Jordan Hicks, what you're seeing and what do you think is going to be the outcome moving forward here?
[00:10:35] Speaker C: He needs to be long relief, plain and simple. I don't have any trust with him. Every time he comes in, it's a heart attack.
I call him Death Hicks. I just do because he's going to kill one of us from having to see him in a high leverage situation.
I feel like every time the ball comes out of his arm, it's either going to be hitting batters or outside or it's going to be screaming right down the middle of Broadway to hit a three run shot like India did tonight.
They put him into situations in so many different opportunities. I still look back on that Dodger series.
We are so fortunate that Rafaela made that play at second base to double up. I forget who the runner was at second base at the time, but that would have been another outing where Hicks would have given up the game percent and he did some sort of Houdini trick to get you that save and get you that win on, on that game.
I don't think there's any other ones that stand out that he actually got the job done. Of course we know about the Minnesota Rain delay and then he comes back in and implodes.
You can't put him in a 3:2 game or 4 to 3, 4 to 2, whatever it is, and feel confident that he's going to get the job done. He's just a guy that, as you said, Thayer, he's a thrower. And as a thrower, you have no control over where your ball is going to go. Doesn't matter what Navarros or Wong put down for a sign that thing is going to go, you know, where you don't know. It's a big question mark.
Andrew Bailey has his hands cut out to work with.
Definitely Jordan Hicks, but also with Dustin May.
The last thing I wanted to mention on before we had transitioned out from May, for the love of God, I don't want to see one more former Dodger pitchers traded for on this team in my lifetime.
At least under the Andrew Freeman watch for the Dodgers, enough is enough. Dustin May, to me is a worse version than Walker Bueller, especially when the Dodgers said, you're done, guy. You're gonna just go to the bullpen, you're all set. We have enough. Just go home. We don't want you. Let's find a sucker. Here's our sucker. The Red Sox. And I look back at that tonight and say, would I rather Fitz or would I rather May?
I probably still would rather Fitz, guys, to tell you the truth, I really do.
Maybe they can find something with May and put him in the bullpen and give him an inning or something like that, but as a starter, no, I'm all set.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: You know, it's interesting that you bring up the thing with the Dodgers and the Red Sox making trades with them. It seems to be a reoccurrence that, you know, we get a lot of these pitchers from their minor league and major league system, and very few of them have ever panned out. I mean, we had James Paxton who was with us and went there, Ruby De La Rosa. I mean, the list goes on Webster and Webster, who was supposed to be, you know, the next Max Scherzer or something like that.
[00:13:49] Speaker C: I mean, Ryan Brazier leaves the Red Sox, goes to the Dodgers and finds a fountain of youth and through. Was it two years in a row or a year or whatever it was, but they reinvented the wheel and he was fine. And it's a joke.
[00:14:02] Speaker B: Even Joe Kelly went there and started better, too, you know, so it just. It just amazes me how we can pick up their scraps. But, you know, I keep telling people all the time on Twitter, I said, if you're going to trade with a team that has World Series aspirations and you're grabbing one of their pitchers, what is that really telling you?
[00:14:24] Speaker C: Right?
[00:14:24] Speaker B: It's telling you that they feel that team. And we're using the Dodgers in this example, don't want him, don't need him. He's extra baggage and he's free to get rid of. So, you know, it's not someone that you can, you know, go to, put your head on the pillow at night and say, you know, we fleece the Dodgers, which everybody on Red Sox Twitter thinks we do all the time. And it very rarely happens. So you know, getting back a little bit more to the Jordan Hicks comment.
He's really a very interesting guy because he has that talent like fair says to throw the ball over 100 miles an hour. The problem is is that when you look back in the 80s and 90s, there was very few guys that would hit upper 90s or hit 100.
I can remember maybe like two or three guys that Troy Percival, you know, would be a guy that would hit 100 and everybody was wow about all that. And now it just seems like it's just an average. Every team has two or three guys that can hit triple digits.
His problem to Ferris point is, is that it's flat. Everything is, if you know it's coming, you can gear up for it. And that's the problem. Him, I mean Jonathan India is not the best home run hitter in the game and he's able, you know, it's. If you know what's coming, you're going to cork it. And that's the issue with Hicks. And you know, I, I don't know if DFA him is the right move or it is a move that you're going to see anytime soon because he's basically your compensation in the Deveres trade. And I'm not sure that they're going to just want to kind of wave the white flag on that particular trade. So it's a tough situation. But Nick, I think you're right. He's got to be in a long relief for a mop up role, you know, the next time the Red Sox are down six nothing in the fourth inning, you know, then have him come in and you know, try to save the bullpen because you're already pretty much waving the white flag on whatever game that might be. But in any high leverage situation he is just God awful and he cannot be trusted and I don't want to see him in any high leverage situation. I don't care if the game is tied, if they're down one or they're up one. I don't want to see him in any high leverage situation ever again on this team. Which brings me to my number.
[00:16:45] Speaker C: He's my number two, least trusted guy in the bullpen right now outside of the guy that they are definitely not bringing to San Diego, Isaiah Campbell. Yeah, another arm coming up.
[00:16:57] Speaker B: And that's the next, that's the next clown I wanted to bring up, Nick. This guy doesn't deserve to be on a major league roster.
[00:17:05] Speaker C: No, he doesn't. And the only reason that he came up is because Alfalfa got DFA'd.
[00:17:12] Speaker B: And we needed a right hand.
[00:17:14] Speaker C: They needed a right handed arm. And Zach Kelly's not ready. And to tell you the truth, guys, I. I don't want to see Zach Kelly ever again in my life. I'm done. I don't want that experiment anymore. I think the next thing that you're going to see out of here is. I know they're working in Worcester right now with David Sandlin. That's an arm that might be doing something. Just got. Getting more fine tuned. Peyton Tolle, they're. They're trying to stretch him out and get him ready to rock and roll and figure that out. The positive news is Justin Slayton did throw a bullpen. And today how far away he is?
Maybe seven to ten days, I think. And realistically so whatever they do on this, it's going to be for one of those guys. In my eyes, you still have Bernardino down. You have to wait a little bit because of the whole. He got sent down at what is it, seven days or is it 10 days now? I forget what that rule is. I think it's seven.
[00:18:14] Speaker B: I'm not going to wait.
[00:18:15] Speaker C: You gotta wait to bring him back up. All this was tonight was Alfalfa, which is Alcala got DFA'd and you needed another arm and Campbell was chosen on the wheel of fortune.
I would have rather have hit the bankrupt fair.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: My opinion is that Isaiah Campbell will be DFA'd once Slayton comes back. What's your thoughts?
[00:18:39] Speaker D: Most likely that will be the situation. Or if nothing else, just sent back down. Nick's right. He's only up here because he can throw with his right hand.
Like every other aspect of the Red Sox farm system and system altogether. They either hit or bat or throw left handed. They don't have right handed people anymore. I don't understand it. They have too many left handed bets. They have too many left handed arms. I've never seen anything like this. And it sort of just continues to call into question Breslow and just what is he capable of doing and what is he not capable of doing? We're talking about DFing a guy who we just received for Devers.
How in God's green earth are we talking about DFAing someone who we got for our best ball player? Oh wait, we already did that for Mookie Betts.
You know that nobody in this organization has a clue. We just traded For May. And I know I joked about it a little earlier, but, you know, oh, we don't have three guys just like him, but we do. We're not getting anybody that can make an impact on this team.
Now, to Nick's point, I think May, after watching him today, May could possibly be a six, seventh inning guy.
He's got decent enough power with this fastball throwing in at 95, 96 now in the starts. I think if he were to just harness it for about 20, 25 pitches, he might be able to get up to 97, 98. And then he can focus on maybe just throwing the cutter and putting the sweeper away or just focusing on two of those pitches that might make him a little bit more effective and possibly sort of turn him into like Jim, you were saying, you know, the, the Kelly, you know, we might be able to go back to the days when we actually could trade for, for people that, and maybe he's that seventh inning guy who can come in and just sort of throw gas and hopefully not on the fire, but to get people out. That might be the best situation that we have moving forward.
[00:20:43] Speaker B: Yeah, excellent point. If, you know, I know you weren't on a Monday, but on Monday's broadcast I did talk about, and I bring this up all the time. I know you and I have talked about it for years. The Nasty boys, right? The 1990s Cincinnati Reds, one of the, one of my favorite teams of all time. Norm Charlton, Randy Myers and Rob Dibble, who's from our hometown. And you know, the bottom line was, is that you had six innings to win a ball game and if you didn't do it, it was lights out. I mean, it was the Ghostbuster. You were done. And to their credit, they won the World Series. And it was basically that. The 2015 Kansas City Royals had a very similar situation. You know, they had a strong back end bullpen and again you had six innings to score and if you didn't, the game was over. The Red Sox could do this with a guy like Dustin May. We have Whitlock and I mentioned this. Nick, you and I talked about this on the pod with Nick diamond and I and we all agreed that, you know, the Red Sox have finally decided and figured out how to work and use Garrett Whitlock one inning stint. Even earlier this year, they were giving him more than one inning and he crapped on himself when he would come back out for the second inning. And, and it may not be a full inning. He could have gotten two outs and one but then came back out in the following inning and crapped on himself. So they're, they're working him better now. Whether it be a 2/3 of an inning or a full inning. Get him there for the eighth inning, bring in Chapman for the ninth and maybe a guy like Dustin May could be your seventh inning weapon. And if you do, you're going to have a really talented back end of that bullpen and is probably as good as anybody in baseball.
So you want to talk about super pen, that would be our super pen at that point. But you did bring up there a little bit on Breslow. I did want to comment on one thing that he may get a lot of credit for. As we all know, unless you've been living under a rock today, Roman Anthony did sign an eight year contract extension. This is a guy that the original rumors were he was not going to take much of a hometown discount. And Nick Face, I think you and Nick talking about this the other day that we didn't expect anything soon unless it was top dollar. Totally shocked by this deal. There is a 30 million dollar team option and it could go up to 230 million based on, you know, 7,000, you know, options that he could get with rookie of the year and all star balloting and you know, making great hamburgers. I don't know, it's a whole bunch of different things. But Nick, your reaction to this extension and you know what, what are you, what are your thoughts?
[00:23:24] Speaker C: My jar is still on the ground from when I got the text from some buddies and then the information started coming out from Twitter X land. I'm stunned because I look at this as an absolute bargain.
I think the best benefit of this whole thing is the maturity level of Roman Anthony where he believes in himself. If you heard from the press conference and him chatting it up with some of the media people, not a soul knew about anything that was going on on his, on this team. And I think this paid massive dividends to the Red Sox because he didn't have other players or other people in his ear saying they're a bunch of cheap so and so's you go out and you make John Henry pay top dollar because I guarantee you if he opened his mouth that's exactly what some people would have said to him. That is just the MO of where the Red Sox are at and he didn't. He decided this was good enough for him and his agent. Let's make sure that we also understand that Scott Boris is not his agent. If Scott Boris was his agent right now, as I've said, sometimes on that game show, deal or no deal, the case would have been slammed down and no deal would have happened and Boris probably would have chopped John Henry into pieces with the offer. That's probably what would have went down.
So what you have right now is an absolute steal where you can only hope that the Red Sox utilize even more of the money that they didn't have to give Roman Anthony here in some sort of level to make sure Bregman is back or we're going out, we're getting another top quality pitcher to booster this team here in the offseason and take on some money for whatever that's going to be. I cannot get over.
I think this is. I think this is just an absolute home run for, for the Red Sox. I give Roman Anthony all the credit for doing it, but it's still stunning to me.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: Yeah, you brought up a lot of good points. There's a lot even that went on during the trade deadline that it seemed like the Red Sox and Breslow worked in a lot of stealth moves where you. There wasn't a lot of leaks about anything that they were really working on until you actually heard about the moves or they were extremely close. There really wasn't a lot out there. And so, you know, this one and even crochet, even though we all wanted that deal, it seemed to come out of nowhere too. So somehow Breslow is able to be like better than Apple and hiding their, you know, the product being able to be launched before anybody gets the leak on it. So, you know, hats off to them. If this is a complete eight year, $130 million deal, it's going to be about 16 plus per season, which is a complete steal. If it goes to the top at the 230 mark, I think it's about 29 million per year. There are your reactions to the Roman Anthony extension and how do you feel about it?
[00:26:28] Speaker D: I'm astounded that he said yes to it. I'm pleased that he said yes to it. I think it's something that will hopefully set the team up moving forward.
I am also kind of worried about this as well. And that pessimist in me that the Red Sox are still playing sort of bargain basement baseball, that they're. They're looking to be a small market ball club to penny pinch here and there and that they got these fantastic deals and now we're good. I don't need to spend a lot of money. I'm going to bring in sort of cogs and pieces to fit in. But I'm not going to add more superstars to what I have. I'm just going to simply say, have my players, I love my players. We're going to have them here and then just sort of bring in you and me and Nick and we're going to fill in the spots that they're going to need. Like we've been sort of seeing them do the last couple years at first base, at second base, behind the plate, now in the bullpen. In some situations, I worry that that's going to be what they're going to do because they're going to have a sound core of a baseball team that's going to be fun to watch and it's going to win enough baseball games to keep the crowd and to keep Red Sox nation engaged up until the end of August, September, for the next seven, eight years without really having to break the bank to try and win. And I'm afraid that we may just be that kind of team. And I hope that's not.
[00:28:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, you bring up a really great point there because the idea is this, is, this is probably right outside of the Atlanta Braves playbook. You know, sign your guys in advance, low contracts, multiple years. And you know, we've talked about this before in person, how they should have done this years ago with guys like Xander Bogarts, with Rafael Devers, with Mookie Betts, if they had made legitimate contract offers and worked with these guys, even if they were able to buy out free agent years or do a team friendly deal, being able to get those guys at 50%, you know, $0.50 on the dollar from what their contracts were with San Diego and obviously Mookie with the Dodgers, respectively, they could have gotten these guys for half. Half the money is really what it all boils down to. So maybe, just maybe they're learning from their mistakes, guys, and they're actually saying to themselves, let's get Crochet under tow, let's get Rafael under tow, let's get Roman Anthony, undertow, Christian Campbell, let's get all these guys signed and we'll keep that money low and we don't go over the luxury tax and we have a good team. The concern that Thayer has, and I agree with you, is if you are a piece away, if you are two pieces away, are you gonna go out and do what it takes now to get J.D. martinez to go get, you know, some kind of guy that is Gonna cost you 200 million on the free agent market and bring him in here to be the piece that takes you over the top and, you know, theory. You're basically saying you don't believe that that's the case. I'm also concerned about that, too, and I'm sure Nick is. Nick, your reaction to Ferris comment on that and how do you feel is, does this mean that the Red Sox are just trying to, you know, get players under team control for low money so that they can turn around and spend it elsewhere?
[00:30:09] Speaker C: Well, this is going to be the Red Sox MO Here where they're going to say, well, we use the Devers money, folks. Don't come after us because we gave that money to Anthony. We're going to give this money to so and so next. That will not change with the current ownership group. I don't want to hear anybody out there currently right now saying, well, the Red Sox are back. They're out there spending. They're going to do everything. It's what it takes to win it, to win everything.
No, they're not. They're gonna get you to a point as a fan and get you into that park and drive you in with a product that is just good enough.
Just barely good enough. But it's missing pieces, much like you said, Thayer, with getting another starter, that's this season.
Getting another bullpen arm. Oh, that's right. That's this season, too. Getting another hitter, that can actually be some thump in your lineup.
Did I just say that again? That's our season right now, 2025, folks. Wake up. That's what's happening right here. They're going to get these players when they're young. They're going to hope and pray that they can get a cheap deal off the book, case in point with Anthony, and figure they can lowball it enough where he's going to say, oh, wow, that's so great. I love being a Red Sox. They're going to take care of me when I'm young and then not worry about the whole other product of the team.
So I guess you can give them a little bit of credit because they're learning a little bit from their mistakes and the whole Mookie, Zander, Devers, whatever it was when they were younger, not. Not really locking them up.
I guess you can say that they're learning there. But this doesn't change my outlook for the team moving forward. Heck no.
[00:31:55] Speaker B: Heck no.
[00:31:55] Speaker C: If you want to see something drastic and big, let's look at Bregman. Let's see what happens with this.
Because I still tell you, to tell you the truth right now, I don't have confidence right now that I can, I can say to you right now the Red Sox is going to bring Bregman back for next season. I cannot tell you that. If I told you that right now, any viewer out there, I would be lying to you. But I'm not going to do that. I like to be. I like to shoot from my hip. I like to make sure that my points that I give off are exactly how I feel. And exactly how I feel right now is Bregman is a big question mark. And if the Red Sox do decide that Bregman is a part of this team, which in my opinion I feel he is, and that's a big piece. If you let him walk, you're in deep trouble. And the fan base is going to come right at John Henry and the rest of the ownership group if Bregman is not taken care of sooner rather than later.
[00:32:52] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, the Alex Bregman situation is really the piggyback off this Roman Anthony deal.
Because if you want to turn around and say, well, the Red Sox are going to go ahead and spend essentially the other 200 million, right, that they didn't, that they saved on devers and the 130 that they're giving on, you know, giving Anthony, well, now you've got that money to allocate towards Bregman. The issue is, is making it a long term deal and not a set of, you know, one year deals here. There's not one team that's going to go out and give him, you know, a two year, eighty million dollar deal. So to, for him to go and opt out from, from this kind of money isn't going to happen.
In that, in that regard, the issue is that do they want to go out right now and tell Red Sox nation that, you know, we are investing heavily in this team now and for the foreseeable future.
And if that's the case, then now that you have Roman Anthony under tow and you know what you're going to pay him, you know what you're paying your center fielder, you know what you're paying your ace, go and give Bregman the contract that he probably deserves and the length of time that he deserves, and do it now, don't do it in the off season, do it now that you know what the numbers are going to be and what your expectations are and say, listen, we're going to rip up these 2 and 80 and we're going to give you 6 and 150 or whatever that number might be, the Point is, is that they are going to need a third baseman in this off season. They can't go with Abraham Toro at third. And, you know, stop the presses, folks, but there's no great third baseman that's going to be a free agent at the end of this year either, outside of. Unless it's Bregman. So they really need to make sure that they've got that position on the diamond locked up, because can you honestly say if Bregman walks that they're going to turn around and say, well, Marcelo Meyer is going to be our third baseman moving forward? I don't see that happening. So that's going to be a tricky situation. And of course, in the off season, they'll have a lot more to work with with what they're going to do with guys like Vaughn Grisham and so forth. But right now, I think it makes a lot of sense for them to continue to win over the fan base by making that Bregman deal and getting it done. And look, you know, it's been highly touted over the All Star break and so forth that he's willing to sign an extension and stay here. So, you know, let's. Let's put everybody's money where their mouth is and get it done there. You're. Go ahead, Nick. Yeah.
[00:35:38] Speaker C: It was funny that you mentioned Marseille Meyer in that conversation on that third base. I actually think that that's exactly what the Red Sox were would do. I have to tell you the truth, that would fit their M.O. perfectly. Oh, well. We just couldn't figure out the dollar figures and we just didn't want to go all these years attached with Bregman, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But lo and behold, folks, here is our shiny third base guy, Marcelo Meyer, for you, just coming off his mystery wrist thing. Here he is, folks. You're going to love them.
[00:36:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:14] Speaker C: Yeah, that's so. That's so Red Sox.
[00:36:16] Speaker B: Right there certainly is.
Thayer, your closing thoughts before we wrap up tonight.
[00:36:22] Speaker D: Overall, like I said in the beginning, I'm pleased with how well they've been playing. I am happy that they are moving in this direction. I sort of told you guys this while I was away.
I don't know whether in my core I am truly happy and want them to make the playoffs or I am not. I want to enjoy a playoff run. I want to, in the moment, be here. And I experience, you know, the excitement of looking forward to October baseball, to a playoff chase, to watching the guys perform. At the same time, I'm worried that the talent that's on the field. And what the players are doing is going to overshadow the ineptitude of the front office and sort of give the front office the false hope that what they did was right.
That by just sort of pick, you know, mixing and matching and plug and playing guys, that's how I can build a team, and that's how I can be competitive for the future.
And we know that's not the case, that in 2013, that was just an exceptional group of guys. In 2021, an exceptional, lucky group of guys, we're starting to see that. 22, 23, 24. It falls apart more times than not.
I really, I want to have playoff baseball. I really do. I want to enjoy it. But please, please, please, Breslow and Henry in the front office don't think that the nonsense that you pulled over the winter and not really setting this team up for success has anything and what they're doing now has anything to do with you.
It doesn't. We've seen the trades you've made have been garbage. You've traded their best player and got nothing back in return. The trading deadline came. You got useless pieces. You didn't do anything to support this team this year. Everything that they are doing is happening because of the uniformed personnel, has nothing to do with anybody that's wearing a suit.
So I hope they don't start to think that they're smarter than the rest of us, because they're not.
But yes, I want to playoffs.
[00:38:35] Speaker B: Well, look, they've done this for years, right? I mean, look at 2013 is a perfect example. They got a lot of, you know, I'll call them blue collar guys. Mike Napoli, right? Mike Carp, Mike Karp, you know, Shane Victorino, Johnny Gomes.
[00:38:50] Speaker D: They got.
[00:38:51] Speaker B: They got professional players that were veterans, but they got guys that were not superstars. They wound up winning a World Series. And I've said this on different podcasts, I think on this one, and I've said it to people on Twitter.
The 2013 World Series victory was the worst thing that happened to the Boston Red Sox for a series of three or four seasons. And the reason why I say that is because they thought they were the smartest team in the room. And they were going to say, look, we can go out and we can get has beens and wannabes and backup guys and, you know, veterans that are trying to hang on to a career and put together a World Series title run. And they quickly fell on their face, realizing that they had to spend money. So then they went out and started spending money again. And then they stopped over the last few years and now it looks like maybe they want to start doing it again. But to your earlier point there, one of the things that does concern me is that they are not going to play to win to, you know, the World Series. They aren't going to play to win the division title. They're going to be more concerned with doing enough to back into the third wild card, back themselves into the second wild card. And if they're lucky enough, you know, because someone else fails, not that they win, you know, you get a big, big slump from the Yankees like you're getting right now that it turns around, they back themselves into the first wild card. So, you know, the future will tell that answer. But for right now, you know, let's hope that the playoff atmosphere does come to Fenway park and the Red Sox say, you know, we love this again and we want to, we want more of this. That's all I can, we can hope for, you know. And Nick, before your closing thoughts Friday, we'll talk about, we'll probably be on a little bit earlier. We won't be on after the game because it's out west. We'll talk about the San Diego game. But you know, Nick brought this up earlier. We've got San Diego and Houston for six games and then we get a little reprieve. I know Miami has been on a run of late. We got Baltimore, New York, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cleveland to kind of finish off the month. So we do have a little bit of a reprieve. But these next six games are going to be really important. Nick, your final thoughts on tonight and anything else you want to bring up.
[00:41:10] Speaker C: I have to say I echo exactly what they are saying, 100%.
I am nervous. I want to win. I want to see this team compete and be on the big stage. I absolutely do.
But I don't want to see the 2021 repeat of what we saw that season because that was doomsday. Because that's what set this team back for now four years because they, they, they thought they had everything all figured out and it blew up in their face.
I wish they never made the playoffs in 2021. I am going to say that, and I hate to say that, but that's why we're at this stage right now.
That's the big time issue that we've had to face because they thought they were the smartest people in the room and, and they can do everything in their power to screw players over. And I mean that by cheapening out and not getting the best product on the field.
Go back to 2018 when you had some of your guys.
He was there, Xander was there, Devers was there. You had talent, but you also infused that with youth and players that knew how to play the game and could compete.
I don't know why it's so, so complicated to take a model that worked amazingly well. Yes, you paid for it a little bit, but you won. At the end of the day, that is the model to use.
Could even go back to 2004 into 2007 too.
For the upcoming weekend, I want to go at least three and be on the road trip. I'm gonna say that I think three and three. I'll be happy. I think this is going to be a tough trip and to get a repeat in Houston of sweeping the Astros. I don't see that happening again. I don't. I think the Astros are probably going to jive a little bit better now with getting Carlos Correa and a little more things figured out with them.
That was great that you got the sweep at Fenway, but this team is not as good on on the road, so I think I'll be happy with the split. 3 and 3.
[00:43:29] Speaker B: Yeah. I think the biggest part that you brought on that takeaway is the fact that they're not as good on the road as they are at home. It's been, it's been glaring and of course a lot has been brought up. Are they cheating at home? Is there anything that they're doing to pad that that the lead in the and the win loss record that they have? And it's hard to say but you know, we'll definitely cover that on Friday. You know, probably an earlier show right before the 9 o' clock 9:40 start. So last thing I want to leave everybody with is Masataki Yoshida is now batting.240, a.283 on base percentage, a 3.4A 60 slugging and a.643 OPS as your DH. This guy's got to go. I can't take any more of it. Just dump this guy. With that being said, please go ahead and subscribe to our Digital
[email protected] Subscribe to the you get a daily email with the recap of the previous night's game and Thayer has been working really hard with a product called Fenway Flashback. He's been doing the 1975 season and we have some really great ideas for the future next year. We're contemplating doing the 1986 season because that'll be will be 2026. We'll do the 86 season. But in any event, hopefully we have a great weekend. We'll be back on Friday before the San Diego game, unless anything major happens Friday between now and Friday night. So everybody have a great night and we'll see you next time.
[00:45:17] Speaker D: Sa.
