00:00First time that your Boston Red Sox are taking on the Yankees
00:04since they traded Raphael Devers.
00:07Yep.
00:08Good launching off point for this question.
00:11Tim Healy writing the Boston Globe headline,
00:13Red Sox are a lot better off than when they last saw the rival Yankees.
00:19Simple question for you.
00:20Because I think we can all agree they're playing better baseball right now,
00:23although they've stumbled of late.
00:24But big pictures, he writes, zoom in.
00:26Red Sox have lost seven of their last ten games.
00:29Zoom out.
00:30They're 31-23 since they most recently saw the Yankees,
00:33the stretch that coincides with the trade of Raphael Devers.
00:36Yankees 26-29 in that time.
00:39Boston now just a game back of New York.
00:42So, playing better baseball overall since they traded Raphael Devers.
00:45My question to you, though, not is are they playing better baseball,
00:49but is the roster better?
00:51Has Craig Breslow done an effective job of making this roster,
00:57and his credit deserved to Craig Breslow for where they are right now with this roster?
01:03No.
01:04No.
01:04I mean, it's a simple no.
01:07They have played better baseball since they traded Devers,
01:10but it's kind of independent of that.
01:12They've pitched better since they traded Devers.
01:15And we knew this the night they traded Devers, to be totally honest to him.
01:19Like, they were not going to be able to replace his production in the lineup no matter what happened.
01:24Now, some things have happened that have helped them play better baseball.
01:28Roman Anthony has come up and is an impact player.
01:31They have pitched.
01:32But is the roster better than it was on the night they traded Raphael Devers,
01:36which was the last time they played the Yankees?
01:38No, it's not.
01:39And, you know, they were pretty quick to point out,
01:42well, you know, this gives us flexibility and we can, you know, do different things.
01:45They did none of that at the trading deadline.
01:48So, the question is, is will it eventually bite them?
01:52And I think you saw in this past week that they do have problems.
01:56They've got a middle-of-the-order problem.
01:58Like, that game the other night, why did they lose that game?
02:00It's because the middle-of-the-order sucks.
02:02It's not very good.
02:04Jaron Duran's not a No. 3 hitter.
02:05Trevor Story, as good as he's been this year, is not a No. 4 hitter.
02:09And Masutake Yoshida, who has essentially replaced Raphael Devers in this lineup,
02:14is not a No. 5 hitter.
02:15So, they're not a better baseball team.
02:17They've played better baseball.
02:19I think that will probably continue.
02:21I think it will get them to the playoffs.
02:24But eventually, the lack of a Raphael Devers-style bat in the middle of this lineup will hurt them.
02:29My sense is it will hurt them in October.
02:32And they'll be able to get there without it.
02:34Let me play devil's advocate here for a second.
02:35What about the addition-by-subtraction take?
02:37Right?
02:38Such an issue in the clubhouse.
02:39You get him out.
02:40And you see what's happened in San Francisco since he's joined as well.
02:43Right?
02:43That team has completely gone in the tank.
02:45So, what about that take?
02:46You've got younger players coming up.
02:48You want a clubhouse where you don't have a distraction like Raphael Devers.
02:50Does that play a factor?
02:52And do you factor that in?
02:53Sure.
02:53But the question was, is your team better?
02:55Is your roster better than it was since you traded Raphael Devers since you last met the Yankees?
03:00And the answer to that is no.
03:02The culture is better.
03:03And the culture was a problem.
03:05Which is why I was actually on board with the Devers trade.
03:08Because I don't want to bring up Roman Anthony in this environment.
03:11I don't want to bring up Meyer and Campbell if he ever returns.
03:14You know, I don't want to develop young players in the presence of Raphael Devers because he was an issue.
03:21So, yeah.
03:21Was he Phil, by the way?
03:23Yeah, he was.
03:23No, he was.
03:24Come on.
03:25You'd won six in a row when you traded him, right?
03:27You were playing good baseball at that point.
03:29You had an issue with Raphael Devers, no doubt.
03:32And certainly a squabble was taking place.
03:34I could also say that the Boston Red Sox could take some ownership in the way that that thing unfolded with your star player in terms of the handling of that.
03:41Going all the way back to the offseason, is that fair?
03:44Sure.
03:44Yes, the Red Sox deserve blame.
03:46Craig Breslow deserves blame for the way they communicated it, the way they handled it.
03:51But Raphael Devers deserves a lot of blame, too.
03:54You don't think that could be smoothed over, though?
03:56You thought it was such an issue that you could not smooth over all that stuff?
03:59No, because I think he was that petulant.
04:01I think he was that much of a crybaby.
04:03I do think he was a problem.
04:05He was a problem in that clubhouse.
04:08So, it's one of those things where both these...
04:09That prevented you from winning six in a row prior to the trade.
04:12The Red Sox were a bad baseball team for the first half of the season.
04:16They underachieved.
04:17They were not good enough.
04:18And Raphael Devers was one of the reasons why.
04:21I mean, yes, he had a good, you know, May into June.
04:26How about Raphael Devers at the beginning of the season, where you lost, you know, four games...
04:31You know, you lost three out of the first four, and he couldn't hit because he wasn't ready to go.
04:35He wasn't.
04:36He wasn't.
04:36He wasn't ready to go, for sure.
04:37And then he was.
04:39From April 1st to the moment he was traded, he was a top five bat in terms of OPS.
04:43Was he a problem in the clubhouse?
04:45Yes or no?
04:46I don't think that's significant.
04:47Think about what's come out since that happened.
04:49He definitely made it difficult.
04:50How about your decision to force Christian Campbell onto the opening day roster, and he's now sitting at AAA,
04:54when they were still the pathway of Bregman at second and Devers at third base,
04:58where you could have had Yoshida maybe start the year at DH,
05:00where now, after four months, and you told him to go to Siberia,
05:03so you didn't have to hear from him or do anything with him,
05:05he hasn't looked like himself.
05:06He's been closer to league average in August,
05:08but still, it looks like he's having trouble getting back to where he was.
05:11Because guess what?
05:12He's played 25 games this year after sitting out the first four months.
05:15So, like, I think it's a balancing of all that.
05:17But a lot of that stuff was so self-inflicted.
05:19And yes, Devers was selfish after the Kostas injury.
05:22You have to acknowledge that.
05:23But still, to me, the fact that we haven't got anything significant
05:26from an organization that loves to dump on players the minute they leave here,
05:30what's the worst thing we've heard about Rafael Devers?
05:32It was that he was mad at Christian Campbell.
05:33Guess what happened to that report?
05:35It got thrown in the trash and was proven false.
05:37I'm not trying to argue, by the way, that he wasn't frustrating
05:40and that there was some blame there to put on Rafael Devers
05:43in terms of the way that that thing was handled
05:45and refusing to play first base
05:48and not taking accountability when all that stuff cropped up.
05:51For sure.
05:52I also think the Red Sox deserve just as much, if not more,
05:55blame for the way that that whole thing unfolded.
05:57I also look at the Red Sox and the way they're playing right now.
05:59And post-trade, they're second in all of baseball in ERA.
06:03So unless he was stuffing the starting pitchers in lockers
06:06on a nightly basis before their starts,
06:09I don't think that those two things correlate
06:11in terms of getting him out of the clubhouse
06:13and suddenly you playing better baseball.
06:14Oh, I don't think there's any correlation between that.
06:17I mean, the reason they have played better baseball
06:19is they have pitched better.
06:21Plain and simple.
06:22But I would say this, though.
06:25Does it allow Roman Anthony to grow into his role
06:27if Rafael Devers is gone?
06:30Yes.
06:30Now, again...
06:31Okay, so I agree, by the way.
06:34Obviously, Roman Anthony coming into this lineup has made a difference.
06:36I would also look at the Red Sox and say
06:38if Roman Anthony is your second
06:40or potentially even best bat in the lineup right now,
06:43you figure out a way to get that guy in the lineup
06:45prior to trading your best bat, right?
06:48There's probably room for both of those bats in your lineup.
06:50You want to know one of the reasons they dragged their feet
06:53on bringing Roman Anthony up here
06:54when they needed a DH but Devers would not move?
06:58It's because Devers wouldn't move to first base.
07:00So because he was DH-ing, you couldn't find room
07:03for what would potentially be your second or third best bat
07:06in the lineup?
07:07Which you did to yourself, by the way you handled it
07:09over the offseason.
07:11I'm not saying it's good.
07:12I'm saying that's the reason why.
07:14Also, the forcing of the Devers trade, right?
07:16When you did it, just because you wanted the money off the books
07:19and what you got in return, you got in Jordan Hicks,
07:21who might be the biggest arsonist we've seen in some time
07:23with a 660 ERA.
07:25How about you having Kyle Harrison down at AAA
07:27who is so... he's been mediocre overall.
07:29He's been a workhorse for the Boots.
07:30He's been a great addition to the 508.
07:32But a guy that when you have Walker Buehler out there
07:35crapping his pants regularly and giving you nothing
07:37has not even done enough to force him off the roster
07:39or force your hand.
07:40That's a tough spot.
07:42Even James Tibbs, you flipped in a deal for Dustin May.
07:44Good in two out of three starts, but everyone was like,
07:46you overpaid for what you needed to do in that deal.
07:49Listen, it's one of those things where both of these things are true.
07:52Are the Red Sox better since they last played the Yankees
07:55when Devers is in their lineup on the roster?
07:58Undeniably, they are worse.
08:00You saw it again this week.
08:01They will miss Raphael Devers.
08:04They missed him on Tuesday night.
08:06They will miss him eventually.
08:07But let's also not act like he wasn't a petulant crybaby
08:10and was a problem in that clubhouse.
08:12Now, the issue is you didn't make this move in the offseason.
08:18You gave the money to the wrong guy in the first place,
08:20and you ended up in a spot where you traded him
08:22in the middle of the year for nothing
08:24when you were not going to be able to replace him.
08:26You will not be able to replace Raphael Devers' production
08:29until the offseason because bats like that
08:32don't move in the regular season.
08:34Well, you move them.
08:35Nobody else does.
08:37Nobody else does.
08:37Yeah, and that's an issue.
08:38That's a problem.
08:39That's a problem.
08:40It's an issue.
08:41It's probably not going to bite them until they get to October.
08:44I think they have enough to get to October.
08:47Don't get me wrong.
08:48It's an issue.
08:48Don't get me wrong.
