[SPEAKER_00]: The Boston Red Sox make a move, shocking everybody in a move that no one really predicted funnily enough as I predicted.
[SPEAKER_00]: They trade for Caleb Durbin from the Milwaukee Brewers, getting not only Caleb Durbin, but a couple other infielders and a comp pick sending over Kyle Harrison, Shane Drowhan, and fan favorite David Hamilton.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Nick the Voice, joined tonight by Terry Kushman, Jr. and Chris Felico and we are the bastards of Boston.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, this news broke very suddenly and sure enough, just as Breslo has been doing up until now, there were like, no murmurs about this.
[SPEAKER_00]: No rumors, no nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: It comes out of nowhere and Durbin was not a guy that I had on my radar at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember us going through and speculating about all kinds of second and third basement,
[SPEAKER_00]: And not once did I really take a look at this guy as a potential solution to this infield problem we had, it does seem like, you know, the other two guys Andrew Monasterio and Anthony Seagler seems like they're more or less depth pieces, which is good, of course, since infield we needed depth more than anything there, but Caleb Durbin is the headliner.
[SPEAKER_00]: What was your guys' opinion of this so far?
[SPEAKER_00]: How do you like this being the answer that Preslow went with?
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it doesn't really fill the need for power, which at this point we weren't really expecting to fill that need.
[SPEAKER_02]: Isaac Parades was probably going to be the best you're going to get, and that's not even that great.
[SPEAKER_02]: The fact that we were able to get rid of David Hamilton is a plus and this whole thing,
[SPEAKER_02]: It fits so well with the rest of this offseason because we've made so many peculiar moves in the pathways that we took to get there and the amount of depth that we gave up to accomplish the goals and yet not necessarily fill any need a hundred percent with the exception of signing rangers for us, which was more of a pivot, even though the red socks front office says otherwise.
[SPEAKER_02]: It fits.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's right on brand.
[SPEAKER_02]: But it's frustrating.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think all fans are frustrated because there were so many no brainer moves out there between free agency and just the trade chips that we had to make deals.
[SPEAKER_02]: And to end up where we're at is, listen, it's been a rough weekend for Boston fans.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's just say that.
[SPEAKER_01]: So look at the total power here that we added you're going to get about 20 to 25 home runs from our first basement Wilson Contreras basically offsets what what pregnant gave you what a healthy pregnant would have gave you let's frame it that way So we've lost I think we've lost power this winter
[SPEAKER_01]: Like we did not address that.
[SPEAKER_01]: We were what, a bottom six or 17 last year or maybe it was in the second half, don't quote me.
[SPEAKER_01]: But we definitely had a power problem.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I just, this roster is a mess.
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like I don't trust that Caleb Durvin is gonna hit every day.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't trust that he's gonna be in the lineup every day.
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, if we didn't have Isaiah Connor, Phlepha, you know, maybe, maybe I would put some stock in, he could be in every day player, but where's Marcelo Meyer going to play?
[SPEAKER_01]: Is he just the utility guy now?
[SPEAKER_01]: Did we just pull the bug on him?
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I don't understand what's going on here.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't, and I think the reason why I don't understand what's going
[SPEAKER_01]: There's not no what's going on.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, what's his name, Caleb Dervin, I'm still.
[SPEAKER_01]: We had a, we had a reliever named Dervin Feldman.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's what's messing with me right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was happening to me too.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm getting my Dervin's mixed up.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm like his Dervin is first name or his last name.
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, you know, he'll improve the defense and,
[SPEAKER_01]: and so will Meyer.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Marcelo Meyer is still your best defensive glove in my opinion, in that infield.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so like if defense is important, then what do you even care what Meyer hits?
[SPEAKER_01]: Just put him in there.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's gonna help you.
[SPEAKER_01]: You've got a ton of ground ball pitchers, which we outlined on the last show.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, you've got swore as, you've got Bayo and you've got Sunny Gray.
[SPEAKER_01]: This team just screams First round exit from the playoffs if they even make it that far.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what this is.
[SPEAKER_01]: This isn't a dynamic lineup.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not going to we're going to be a bottom five team in the league.
[SPEAKER_01]: I I just and we're right around the second luxury tax threshold for what for what.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you know, the roster construction, you raised a lot of good points, the roster construction is very bizarre and we've been calling that out for months now, really for a year.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this team.
[SPEAKER_00]: is just a bit of a curiosity, and it seems like moves are made almost independently of one another rather than all being a cohesive chain of events.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you mentioned, the $6 million to ICF, that is a very weird move.
[SPEAKER_00]: That seemed like a panic move.
[SPEAKER_00]: It seemed like something.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I wasn't happy with it certainly.
[SPEAKER_00]: And suddenly, this trade seems to fill the gap significantly better than $6 million to ICF.
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, we can sit here and say, well, six million dollars for the Red Sox, you know, you can throw that away, but not when we're up against this luxury tax like we are every dollar counts unfortunately for an ownership who wants to pinch pennies.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's very odd.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't know what the plan is with iKF.
[SPEAKER_00]: Durbin, I feel like this is going to be an everyday player.
[SPEAKER_00]: One nice thing about him, even though he, you know, the bat is questionable to some extent.
[SPEAKER_00]: He completely lacks power.
[SPEAKER_00]: The barrel percentage leaves a lot to be desired.
[SPEAKER_00]: He does not strike out, which is great.
[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't really chase pitches, but strangely enough, he also doesn't walk.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it was on basis sort of limited just by that.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's only 25 going to be 26.
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's a chance that he takes a step forward and he does play good defense.
[SPEAKER_00]: But at the very least, he is a decent bat, a little over 700 OPS, and not only a little over 700 OPS, but with even splits, you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's something that at least we have going for us is a guy who isn't going to demand a platoon, necessarily.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, that combined with a good defense, I mean earlier, I, you know, earlier in the month, I would say of January, I would say I had a wish list and I said, all we need at this point, just get me an everyday player that's going to give you two to three war.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we got them.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I can't really complain too much on that front.
[SPEAKER_00]: The way I put it before on Twitter or x.com is that I don't feel that Durbin transforms the line up, but he also simultaneously kind of makes the team better.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's strange how that works.
[SPEAKER_00]: Offensively speaking.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not super hyped about him, maybe the wall does well for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: I see some people talk about how he puts the ball in the air pretty well, but then I've heard other people say, well, if you project the number of home runs, he would have had in Fenway last year, it actually would have been less than what he wound up with.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, it's a bit of a double edged sword.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is not necessarily the the wowing answer in the infield that we all wanted, but I would say that if I had to choose between Kyle Harrison and Yuhani Oswara's and Caleb Durbin and Ranger Suarez, I am happier with the answer that we got.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's a good way to look at it because I would agree with you.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would be happier with that
[SPEAKER_02]: But the Terry's point as far as the power aspect, like I just saw a stat that's absolutely mind blowing when you think about it.
[SPEAKER_02]: So Rafael Devers played 73 games for the Red Sox last year, which is about 45%, so less than half the season.
[SPEAKER_02]: He was tied for six in home runs for the Red Sox and didn't even play half of the season for the Red Sox.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, if you want to talk about a power outage for this franchise, that is beyond alarming.
[SPEAKER_02]: And this offense, I mean, forget about media.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like, I don't even know if we would make the playoffs your right Terry at this point.
[SPEAKER_02]: And if we do, there's no way we're getting out of the first round.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right, we couldn't even get out of a wild card.
[SPEAKER_02]: Because yeah, I think our defense is marginally better at this, I shouldn't say margin.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's definitely better in the infield as a collective unit.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's marginally better.
[SPEAKER_02]: Because I don't think our outfielders
[SPEAKER_02]: But our power, I mean, in less some of these kids take a huge jump in which I mean, we just highlight the fact that like who knows what happens to Marcel and I are.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'd love to say he's definitely going to play every day at third or second or the second, or the second, put him, but I mean, he might be the new David Halton, part of the new Platoon Dynasty.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're going to need Roman Anthony to hit 30 plus bombs to try and make up some of the difference.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I just, I don't see it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I put a tweet out.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it was yesterday.
[SPEAKER_01]: You only have three every day guys on this roster.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, you've got Roman Anthony Wilson contraris, who I'm assuming will hit.
[SPEAKER_01]: They'll both be somewhere in the two to four slots and you have Trevor's story.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't think
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think I'm doing it again, Caleb Durbin is I'm just not sold that he's an everyday guy.
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe he will be and and Brazil did say today he will be, but when Alex Korra is trying to balance that line up, he there will be
[SPEAKER_01]: a point where Marcelo Meyer, they're going to have an optics problem by not utilizing one of the best prospects in all of Major League Baseball.
[SPEAKER_01]: What was he like 13th or 14th in the MLB top 100 before he debuted something like that?
[SPEAKER_01]: There's going to be an optics problem with him not being utilized
[SPEAKER_01]: we know how core is it if he doesn't have every day guys it's gonna be a platoon dynasty everybody he's gonna run it like a tea ball team everybody gets to play everybody gets to play and so you're gonna have a team that largely does not have defined roles here's another thing that I love
[SPEAKER_01]: Jared DeRan was valued as a seven war player, according to Jeff Pass and Ken Rosenthal, all those heavy hitters, the Red Sox were over valuing Jared DeRan.
[SPEAKER_01]: Alex Corra was asked today.
[SPEAKER_01]: So what's what's his role going to be?
[SPEAKER_01]: And Corra's like, I don't know yet.
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't know what your allegedly seven war players going to be doing.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, he was so untouchable in trades that you've got no plan for him, apparently.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's just how ridiculous this organization is right now.
[SPEAKER_01]: Here's another thing that's ridiculous to me.
[SPEAKER_01]: Apparently, the Diamondbacks wanted Marcelo Meyer and then one of Peyton Toley and Connolly early.
[SPEAKER_01]: And okay, you know, I could see why that's a steep ask.
[SPEAKER_01]: Marcelo Meyer is the least painful guy for me to give up out of those two.
[SPEAKER_01]: I just value pitching.
[SPEAKER_01]: Keep elite pitching is what affords you the ability to sign the big bats that you need.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so that's why I value those guys, but if you put Marta on this team and I didn't love him and I'm not mourning the fact that we didn't get him because he's got some off the field issues.
[SPEAKER_01]: There were some red flags, I guess, for lack of a better term.
[SPEAKER_01]: But he would have solved the power problem.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then you still could have got Caleb Durbin anyway.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I just don't, there's a lot of stuff that just doesn't make sense here.
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, so you would have had Anthony, Marte, and Contreras in the heart of your order.
[SPEAKER_01]: But you chose to keep Maya who doesn't even have a spot now, doesn't even have an everyday spot.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's just so ridiculous.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm glad you brought up that Marta trade because it really is interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know a lot of people were speculating that my or must be part of the asking price.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, that makes sense and it doesn't entirely make sense to keep him because to me, as much as I do love the idea of the player my or could be, I think that's the camp everyone has been in for years.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this dude's value is being limited by three things right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that is his health.
[SPEAKER_00]: His platoon status, I guess, where he's only going to be batting versus righties, not against lefties for sure this year, it's gonna be him and Romey as a tag team.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then also the fact that he is not being allowed to play it his natural position of shortstop, which would elevate this defense instant way over having Trevor story there.
[SPEAKER_00]: It really is frustrating that we have this guy who we are claiming to be a generational talent, a kin to Roman Anthony, you know, the dynamic duo, both of them cut from the same cloth,
[SPEAKER_00]: And instead, while we're challenging Roman Anthony, pretty regularly, swapping him from left field to right field to DH, having him bat versus both hands with Meyer, unfortunately, we are handicapping him a bit and handcuffing him in multiple ways.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's just, it is a shame, because I want to see this guy,
[SPEAKER_00]: take a big step forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: But as it stands, we aren't going to let him have the impact that he maybe could have for the Red Sox and maybe it would make more sense to include him in a package where maybe another team would be able to use him for 600 plate appearances assuming he was healthy for them.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, before I hand the mic over to you guys once more, I would like to adjust the power outage too.
[SPEAKER_00]: We heard some quotes come out just about how they're hoping that so many guys take steps forward, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They're counting on the young guys to take steps forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that is such a frustrating philosophy for an organization to have.
[SPEAKER_00]: And right now, we are poised from a power position, because you guys are absolutely right.
[SPEAKER_00]: This wasn't even a power hitting team last year.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's less of a power hitting team this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we are counting on so many things to go right that there's pretty much a guarantee that one of them goes wrong, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: We're counting on a bra you to take a step forward, Anthony to take a step forward, Ralph I. L. to take a step forward, Meyer to take a step forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're counting on Masataki Yoshida to really make up for the fact that he's going to be depriving guys like Jared Duran and Roman Anthony at that.
[SPEAKER_00]: We need a lot to go right for this team and now when you add Durban as much as I do like this player, you know, we're counting on a lot of guys to take steps forward and there's just no chance that all of them do so.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, if Anthony goes down with another injury, I'm not saying he will, and I don't think he will, but that's a season ender for your playoff folks.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's nobody else to step in there.
[SPEAKER_01]: And another thing too that I hit on last episode, it's adorable that they're saying, will your brain is gonna be in every day guy?
[SPEAKER_01]: I give it to about May 15th and he'll be back to platoons and it'll be no scheduled day off, no scheduled day off coincidentally when a lefty starting.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then they'll be like, well, we need to get to ran in there more in this guy in that guy.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I just, I just don't see how that's going to work.
[SPEAKER_01]: And there were times last year, I think he got hurt a little bit.
[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't miss a ton of time, but I
[SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, he goes quiet even versus righties at times.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like he's a streaky guy.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I don't, I just don't see how it's gonna work.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know what's crazy?
[SPEAKER_02]: I just, just a little bit of math here.
[SPEAKER_02]: What if I told you for about $4.75 million more this year you could have had, could tell Marte, Peter Lanzo, any range or spores?
[SPEAKER_02]: Then what we've done essentially bringing an ovito, sonny gray, Durban, and we'll sing a truer.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, when you really think about that, that is absolutely insane.
[SPEAKER_02]: You would have fixed your power.
[SPEAKER_02]: You would have brought in your number two picture.
[SPEAKER_02]: You don't need to owe the 80 because you still have all your prospects that pretty much probably you're going to do the same thing on the back of the rotation, you don't have sunny gray taking up a roster spot to basically take away starts from Bayo in the three.
[SPEAKER_02]: This team just makes no absolute sense and you have kettle marté, you still have Marcel and Mari and even if you got rid of who cares?
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I mean,
[SPEAKER_02]: This team just doesn't know what it's doing.
[SPEAKER_02]: Everything is so reactionary.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like, you said it perfectly, Nick.
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, every move seems very solitary, but yet it's a chain reaction from the previous mistake that we just made.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then a result of just completely misreading the market whether it be free agency and then even the trademark it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, we came into this off season,
[SPEAKER_02]: Priority was, get a power bat, didn't accomplish it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Get a number two, it was the fifth thing we did.
[SPEAKER_02]: And trade, Jared Durant still haven't.
[SPEAKER_02]: We did one thing that was like half right, and it was the fifth thing we did.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, let's take a look at this moron.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm assuming this guy's seen all four world championship teams, okay?
[SPEAKER_01]: Which of those championship teams does this current one closely resemble?
[SPEAKER_01]: Because to me, it resembles 20, 23, for instance.
[SPEAKER_01]: just just go back to that year or maybe it was 2022.
[SPEAKER_01]: We missed both times.
[SPEAKER_01]: But we missed the postseason with JD Martinez, Christian Vazquez who wasn't quite washed yet.
[SPEAKER_01]: You still had Xanderbogards.
[SPEAKER_01]: I know I'm missing one or two players in there, but you had really good every day
[SPEAKER_01]: I just, this roster is trash and anybody who believes that this is going to take us to the promised land that we're going to compete with the Dodgers and quite frankly, even the Orioles and the Blue Jays, you're, you're out of your mind, it's just, this roster
[SPEAKER_01]: How many times, I mean, the the brewers and the braves, each have had one or two boppers just like we have and then just a bunch of utility guys and and they're out in the first round every year, just like we will be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you know, when it comes to this roster, it's very interesting because I saw someone described this as like a win now rotation.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that that's fairly accurate.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this is a big boy pitching staff that we've been able to put together in the Ranger Suarez deal was really like you said, the fifth thing we did, finally enough, was probably the biggest movie made impact wise.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, finally got that number two, made this potentially an extremely
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully, the bullpen will come back even half as good as it was last year, you know, guys like Chapman, Whitlock.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully, you guys like Slayton can take a step forward, stay healthy.
[SPEAKER_00]: But this offense does leave a lot to be desired because as you point out, it seems like ever since 2018.
[SPEAKER_00]: we've been taking slow steps back.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then 2021, we made that last little charge, but I agree the offense has been getting worse every single year.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure if that's objectively true by the actual numbers, the measurements, but it does just kind of feel less ominous, you know, to go up against as proposing pitching staff.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't have a ton of danger past the top four I would say you you get past the cleanup guy, whoever that's going to be, maybe it's going to be a brave, you know, versus rightees at the very least, but, you know, you have Roman Anthony you have Jared Durant you have.
[SPEAKER_00]: a breu, and then, you know, I guess you're hoping Narvaya's story, Raphaella, you're hoping Durbin, now you're hoping that these guys show up in deliver.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, and it just, we're going to need surprises.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's, it's like I said, you need guys to take steps forward, but when you're counting on five guys to take steps forward, you're kind of setting yourself up for
[SPEAKER_01]: Another guy we were in on apparently was Zach Netto with the, with the, with the, the, the angels LA angels, yeah, he was their short stop and put up, but I don't have his numbers up, but I last day check he had a pretty decent 20, 25.
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe that's here one for one with a
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's it's interesting how as soon as this trade broke it almost became every move we didn't make or almost make was like bigger news 10 minutes later Like you're like, oh, we ran on Isaac praise, but they wanted this up kettle marte, but it would have cost us my or up needle, but it would have cost us this it's like
[SPEAKER_02]: And okay, like that's what I would expect these teams to ask for and it's just it's this perpetual completely over-valuing talent that you don't even value that's the ironic part Terry is We're sitting here.
[SPEAKER_02]: I know I'm partying with Marcelo Mayor.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know where I'm going to play him, but there's no way I'm given him off
[SPEAKER_02]: And this was a guy that three years ago was the number one prospect in baseball, gets her drops out of the top five, was top eight, I think you said, before he debuted.
[SPEAKER_02]: And we just don't even know what to do with them at this point.
[SPEAKER_02]: And you're not even gonna put him at shortstop.
[SPEAKER_02]: Like if you're not gonna play the guy at shortstop, that literally 90% of MLD baseball teams would play him at shortstop,
[SPEAKER_02]: Like you just cut your losses and get something for him while you still have some sort of value to him.
[SPEAKER_02]: But you know what's going to happen.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's going to play defensively pretty decent wherever we put him where they're at second base, third base, he's going to probably not hit for crap.
[SPEAKER_02]: And at some point there's going to be a log jam and we're going to give him away for pennies on the dollar.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I sure hope not, you know, it's, it's funny how hindsight's always 20 20 of course, but you go back to that crochet trade and I would have been furious without question.
[SPEAKER_00]: If Marcelo Meyer was included in that at the time, at the very least, I would have been, you know, very upset that we had to part with that talent, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: But I would be interesting to pull red socks nation right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: I actually and say, who would you rather have on the roster, Marcelo Meyer or Kyle Tiel?
[SPEAKER_00]: Kyle Teele, there's a pretty clear spot for him, you know, as much as I do like Narvaya's, you can never have too many good catchers, you know, you get too hard hitting catchers and that can have some real impact.
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, when it comes to my or like I said, man, your hand cuffing this kit, uh, you don't want to give him the starting role over Trevor story, who's the veteran.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure if the platoon status has something to do with that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you don't want story to bounce between second and short, uh, but because of that, you're bouncing my or around second base, third base, maybe short stop on a day off.
[SPEAKER_00]: And instead, you know, you're just limiting the guy's value and it is a shame.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is a shame because I'm afraid that we're not going to allow him to take that step forward in his game that we're almost sabotaging him a little bit because at a certain point, you can overcook a prospect, you know, if you give him too much time off, if you give him too many easy days or not enough play appearances at all versus lefties, you know, guys not going to get better.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's going to be really interesting to see how this year pans out because not only do we have, of course, IKF now, Romi has been good enough to be the default, starting number, or she may starting it's second baseman, in the top of the line up versus lefties, you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: So you've got to put them somewhere, it's probably not going to be over Durbin.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unless you put them over Durbin half the days, put them over Meyer half the days, but then you could argue that Durbin's a better hitter versus lefties than Meyer, and so you're sacrificing the present for the future.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just a bit of a mess.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then just to glance at these other two infielders that we got Andrew Monasterio he's been older actually I think he's 28 years old from what I've seen he's a pretty decent defensive utility man second and third base and he is probably like our backup plan if we're only work to go out because he's put up some pretty good numbers overall versus lefties.
[SPEAKER_00]: a 107 WRC plus versus lefties last year, as opposed to a 79 versus righties, so very much a platoon type of guy that this team is fond of.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anthony Seagler is an interesting one.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's only, I think, 26, maybe going on 27, and he ended up splitting some time mostly in triple
[SPEAKER_00]: And a few games in the majors, ultimately, in 380 play appearances between those two levels, the majors in triple A, he slash 267 391424, and if you look at prospects of on at least compare to other triple A guys, he was in a higher percentile for most of those stats.
[SPEAKER_00]: So,
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we got really good depth again at the infield like that we did solve that and I don't hate saying goodbye to Kyle Harris and even though him and priest her will probably share a sigh I'm next year for the words knowing our luck.
[SPEAKER_00]: I you know, Shane Drowhan is one like, you know, you can do with it without I don't think he really had a role in our team even though I did like him and David Hamilton was kind of like addition by subtraction
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's just kind of a weird trade to evaluate because overall on paper, I do think it was a good trade.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the Red Sox still have those holes in the lineup that have not really been addressed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Primarily, and we can say it over and over again.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think you could beat the horse enough, honestly, where are the home runs going to come from?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I don't believe in the home run or bust philosophy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love a little bit of small ball.
[SPEAKER_00]: This guy is fast.
[SPEAKER_00]: He can steal bags.
[SPEAKER_00]: I like that to ball skills, but I mean, you've got to have thump in the modern day.
[SPEAKER_00]: Home runs are king for a reason.
[SPEAKER_00]: Home run or bust, not necessarily, but you can't just not hit bombs.
[SPEAKER_00]: That needs to be an option throughout the lineup.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what the teams that have had the most success for the last several years will continue to have the most success doing.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, it's interesting that you mentioned that a point with the prospect as far as being depth for even a roaming, because all of a sudden, now we found out today that Roman Gonzalez heard a shoulder late last year and it's been nagging them all off season.
[SPEAKER_02]: So it looks like he may not, or we should say the front office knew he wasn't gonna be playing a heavy role in the platoon dynasty in the beginning of this season, which may be just adds, you know, further credence that has moved as far as the trade and the prospects.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, a name that we really haven't talked about as far as assuming a lot of the pressure now for power is radio.
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, and there's another thing that got reported to you with the whole parade of things is that it seemed like a bra you was basically the ask which is hilarious since we got him from the Houston Astros in that Christian Vasquez trade and, you know, talk about putting a tremendous amount of pressure on a guy that you literally were scared to play and basically
[SPEAKER_02]: And then also talk about like the lack of confidence that you must have in the guy like Christian Campbell.
[SPEAKER_02]: Because if they were asking for baskets, you really thought that priorities could really bolster and add a little bit more power than Durbin to this infield and you were reluctant to give away a guy that you basically won't bat against half the pictures in the MLB.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're basically saying that you don't think Christian Campbell is never to outbuilder at that point with the log gym that we have.
[SPEAKER_02]: a breu and obviously some points down in the Christian Campbell camp.
[SPEAKER_01]: So the Red Sox ranked 15th in 2025 overall in homeruns.
[SPEAKER_01]: After the all star break, they ranked 27th.
[SPEAKER_01]: Only the reds, pirates and cardinals hit fewer homeruns than the Boston Red Sox.
[SPEAKER_00]: somehow I'm not surprised to be honest, you know, you trade rafile devours and you hit less home runs.
[SPEAKER_01]: Braggman came back and wasn't, wasn't healthy.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I just, I don't really know where to go with it, but we're going to have a platoon dynasty.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to have so many different lineup combinations.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I just,
[SPEAKER_01]: I think I wonder if we're even going to hit the fewest homeruns in the American League East.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, we definitely, I would venture to guess it's possible because we have the least intimidating lineup because even the rays who I would say like maybe over all their line-up doesn't scare me, I think that maybe the socks have a better, you know, batting
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, they have guys that I'm more scared of as far as taking the ball out of the park.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I agree with that.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to be contending with the race for that bottom spot.
[SPEAKER_00]: No doubt.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, as often as these things are simple as this, you know, again, I live in New York, so I'm, you know, Nick, from sure you hear this, too, is every Yankee fans all were running it back.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, yeah, you're running it back, but you're, you know, adding one of the best
[SPEAKER_02]: still you got to get there and so overall on paper you're a better team.
[SPEAKER_02]: The socks have arguably gotten worse and even if we're marginally better defensively, it's not even remotely arguable that the soft ends is worse and why did we go home last year?
[SPEAKER_02]: It wasn't because of the pitching because we couldn't score runs and you made that team worse at scoring runs and the Yankees just got better at preventing runs.
[SPEAKER_02]: Or better, in the playoffs, we're going home.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you know, you can talk about money, ball, and analytics, and mathematics, and baseball, but at the end of the day, when they wrote up on the whiteboard.
[SPEAKER_00]: the equation and it's just run scored and runs against man and that's how you figure out how many games you should win.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's very true.
[SPEAKER_00]: You score more runs.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're probably going to win more games.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we are likely going to score less runs than last year.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think that that's a bold prediction necessarily.
[SPEAKER_00]: We would need, like we said, a lot of guys to take huge steps forward, which some of them are capable of.
[SPEAKER_00]: No,
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, and you wind up in this awkward position where you're pitching staff is keeping you in this where that rotation goes out there and can shut a team down and then you're screaming at your television for nine innings saying, why can't we just score three runs?
[SPEAKER_00]: What is going on?
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's going to be one of those things, you know, this team is going to need some kind of organizational philosophy that can match the talent.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because last year and for years, I mean, how often have we been complaining about the hitting coaching, going on, just guys, basic approach, you know, in situational baseball, we need to become very good at that because otherwise we don't have the dudes who are going to reset the game for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't have a lot of guys capable of going out there and turning a three run deficit into a one run surplus.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's frightening, it is because you need a brave to be a 30 home run guy, maybe he will be maybe he won't be Anthony maybe will hit 25, you know, I'm not confident he'll hit 30, I actually think his discipline is too good to hit 30, you know, usually when guys walk that much, they they sacrifice some power.
[SPEAKER_00]: So who else do we have, you know, like you said, first base, you should get 20 to 25.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully short stop you should get 20 to 25.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it catcher or via as maybe you can get 20, but it just doesn't quite add up to where we need it to be next to teams like.
[SPEAKER_00]: God forbid the Dodgers, or the Yankees, or the Blue Jays, or, you know, the Orioles, getting a guy like Peter Lons, so that's a big pickup, and that was exactly what we were eyeing for a reason, because you don't have too many game changers quite like that in terms of power on the market.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we kind of let one slip through our fingers a bit, and we'll see how much that comes back to bite us, if we even make it to the postseason.
[SPEAKER_01]: And Derben had 22 doubles last year, not off the chartly for an every day guy.
[SPEAKER_01]: Kind of a Lefa across a couple of teams had 19 doubles.
[SPEAKER_01]: He had, IKF had 15 stolen bases, so that's not insignificant.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm trying to see what, uh,
[SPEAKER_01]: Durbin had here.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, he had 18, I guess.
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's, that's something, but I just, I don't see how, how it's going to happen.
[SPEAKER_01]: Unfortunately, you got a great starting rotation.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's nice with Durbin, I'd like to throw out just looking at like his month by month, stats is rolling average stuff like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: He really only had one bad month last year.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was in a bot average hitter for most of the season, which is nice to say.
[SPEAKER_00]: And one thing that I would like to spot like to, which, you know, it's not always a great metric.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you can sometimes gauge a return just based off of how the opposing fan base feels about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of brewers fans are sorry to see this kid go.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if if that says anything, you know, it's something to be considered.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, I don't really have much to add, but I'm just.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, we're about to see as these guys are reporting this week, you know, how many, how many beat writers and content creators are going to be like, oh, there's some special ruin here with this team and I'm like, oh, come on, man, yeah, they say that every year, 20, 20, 24 Alex Korra said, he knew he couldn't just be full of shit, so he's like, well, you know, if they
[SPEAKER_01]: That's, that's all he had.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I would get ready for a lot of that.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's gonna be the platoon dynasty, even more so than previous years.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you don't win championships like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: No team has ever won a championship like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Good teams win championships.
[SPEAKER_01]: Balance teams win championships.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because they hit home runs, they rip doubles.
[SPEAKER_01]: They sprinkle some triples out.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we just don't have it.
[SPEAKER_01]: a radic build to this year's team where we're not going to be developing guys like Campbell and Meyer.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think and the other thing too, you're coming up on a strike here.
[SPEAKER_01]: So not only are you not going to maximize this year for their development, everyone's going to be sitting around next year.
[SPEAKER_01]: not doing anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then what's 2020's eight going to look like.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's just Craig Brezlow has just been just a massive failure to me.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I never at any point this winter was I like he knows what he's doing.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's there's a plan.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's there's a plan and we just
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it almost seems like Craig Bruezo's plan is to make us some more dynamic Cleveland guardians.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, because the truth is, I can't, they have more power.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, we don't have a holiday remeer as it's going to hit 30 plus home runs.
[SPEAKER_02]: But, I mean, the rest of the lineup is very reminiscent, I mean, but that's a team that, like we said, every year, you know, feast on bed teams, we also have the benefit of being in that division, although the Tigers have been good as a plate, but they get to the playoffs, they face the Yankees, and they go home, and it's like that's what the new life of a Boston Red said, we have to hope, you know, our ceiling is basically, let's get to the wall card and then get our ASKET.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, you know, I've used this analogy before, but you know, you're at about the the second luxury tax threshold and and you your lineup isn't going to give you that type of value.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, it's like, it's like, great.
[SPEAKER_02]: We're paying three times as much as the Cleveland Guardians for a half a year, but I'm sorry to take it back.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so that my analogy was like you just paid triple for your Chevy Malibu.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what you did.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was just spitting my T-O-L over my computer.
[SPEAKER_01]: Res close walking around talking like it's a, you know, a Mustang GT with all the loaded options.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you just, you just got flaced bad for like a, a Malibu.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's, that's what this team is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and it's painted lime green at this point too, you know, it really is one of those like, if we are going to be a series team and I'm sorry to say this, you know, I don't want to have, you know, there's a fine line between pessimism and realism, but there's also a fine line between optimism and delusion, I think at some points.
[SPEAKER_00]: When it comes to this team, I am going to absolutely love watching this pitching staff.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to absolutely love watching certain players on offense.
[SPEAKER_00]: But overall, you really, if you want a playoff run, if you expect world series championships, you would have to have this pitching staff just have an immaculate postseason.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're talking, you know, crochet and swarr as and gray going out there and just shoving shunning teams down for six or seven innings, you know, hold them to one run and then the bullpen just following suit, you know, because I don't see us winning a game where like one of our aces gives up five runs.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you've got a bad start like that, you're kind of hoping for a rainout.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'll leave it with us to piggyback on Terry's analogy.
[SPEAKER_02]: We're like the people that went to Enterprise rented the V6 Mustang.
[SPEAKER_02]: Went to a drag race, got our butt kicked, and was like, we'd have V8, but then left the dealership with a four cylinder.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_01]: This, we're just along for the ride at this point.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we'll see if the front office has anything else up there sleeves.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, if we do reach opening day with Duran and Raphaella and Yoshida all on the roster, then I mean, I think a lot of people are going to lose some bets that they made a year prior, you know, at mid season last year, I think a lot of people predicted that at least one of those guys would be gone, come opening day, we'll see what happens.
[SPEAKER_00]: Overall, in a vacuum, I give this trade a thumbs up, not quite two thumbs up, but I think you know, it's all right, but
[SPEAKER_00]: The greater picture leaves something to be desired.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll see, maybe there's another trade cooking up.
[SPEAKER_00]: At the very least, we can say, we are no longer over that second threshold that was a concern of mine, where teams suddenly knew, oh, the socks have to move someone and suddenly your leverage goes down, you know.
[SPEAKER_00]: So fingers crossed that this team can can outperform some expectations and maybe surprise us, but I'm not super optimistic, especially about the latter half
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been Nick joined by Terry and Chris.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have been the bastards of Boston.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much, everyone.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're chatting with us tonight for watching us tonight.
[SPEAKER_00]: Very active chat tonight, especially on YouTube, make sure to follow us on the various platforms.
[SPEAKER_00]: We do read all the comments, even if we don't directly respond to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we do appreciate it.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've been the bastards of Boston.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's go red socks and let's hope that this team can pull out some major tricks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Take care, everyone.