00:00Heard Curtis whining about the Red Sox again this morning.
00:05Please have him explain how this is not a better opening day roster than last season.
00:12Last year you had Devers and Bregman.
00:14Where are they?
00:15So at third base, you would say, not better.
00:19Not better.
00:20Not better.
00:21Right.
00:22I don't know what Meyer's going to be at second.
00:24I mean, he could be good.
00:25He could be bad.
00:25I have no idea.
00:28Upgrade at first base?
00:30Casas last year versus, I guess it's a wash.
00:33I don't think you're better.
00:34Contreras is better than Casas.
00:35Yeah, Contreras is better.
00:36Casas was on pace for 30 home runs, 120.
00:39Go back to what we were saying about Casas at this time last year.
00:43Ready for a breakout season.
00:45Who was saying that?
00:47Go look it up.
00:48That was the projection of what they thought.
00:51Exactly.
00:52That's what Breslow thought.
00:54And Breslow was, I don't know, I know he had that little bit of a kind of like
00:58a run at the end of the season before last season where they're like, oh, okay, this
01:05guy could maybe be, and I think Breslow said it, he could be like a 30 plus home run guy.
01:10Status quo at catcher, Narvi and Wong.
01:13So that's where you were last season.
01:17Pitching.
01:18Better.
01:19You know, you got Crochet, obviously.
01:22Suarez.
01:23The rotation is much better.
01:25Okay.
01:25Rotation is much better.
01:27The one area where you are missing from last year is really one guy.
01:33It's Devers.
01:34Because Devers is the big guy.
01:36Devers was the only guy on your team that was a consistent year in and year out 30 plus
01:42home run hit.
01:42But if you believe Roman Anthony is going to blow up this season, then that replaces that
01:47production.
01:47Right.
01:48But your outfield is inherently better because he was not on this roster to start last
01:52season.
01:52No, no, no.
01:52But you have to believe or also Roman and Willier can combine and give you some, give
02:00you some power hitting.
02:02Right.
02:02But that still is not better than having a guy on the roster.
02:05If you look at Devers, I think pretty much every year for like the last four or five years,
02:09he had 30 home runs.
02:10So you knew what you were getting from Devers.
02:13You don't know what you're getting from Roman Anthony.
02:16Like your expectations are high, but you don't know that he's going to be a 30 plus home run
02:20guy.
02:21That's the one area where you can look at this year from last year.
02:24Cause Bregman, I think you can replace his production.
02:26Cause he, he didn't really give you much.
02:28Right.
02:28I mean the front office that we're defending, I guess, thought Devers was worth $330 million.
02:34Yeah.
02:34So, I mean, they think he was pretty good.
02:36Yeah.
02:36And that was, that was before he became think adjacent, I think.
02:41Oh, you mean their public pursuit of his replacement at third base by the manager that supposedly
02:45knew the roster better than anybody else.
02:46I think he's gone because of all the other nonsense.
02:50Yeah.
02:50It's all the other, it's all the other, it's all the other stuff, you know, so, so you just
02:55out of curiosity, how many issues did you have with Devers before last season and his
02:59entire career with the Red Sox that we knew about?
03:01I never, I never felt like he was stepping into a leadership role.
03:05I said that many times.
03:06He was not interested in being the replacement for Xander Bogarts or Mookie Betts in the sense
03:12of being the clubhouse guy.
03:13Yep.
03:14He wasn't trying to be big poppy.
03:15How do you feel about a guy who is being paid $500,000 for a half an hour of on
03:27field
03:27time to do a commercial for your biggest sponsor who calls a half an hour when the film crews
03:37are all set up and ready to go, calls a half an hour before and says, yeah, not going to
03:43do it.
03:44Don't need the 500 grand.
03:46Not interested.
03:47How do you, is that a good guy to have on your baseball team?
03:50That's unprofessional behavior.
03:52Okay.
03:52Yeah.
03:53Do you know when they start filming on a Hollywood set when DiCaprio arrives?
04:00I mean, you're such a backwards view of it.
04:02Like, oh, he pissed off a sponsor.
04:05Wow.
04:05The horror.
04:07Like, the guy got paid, the people that you're defending knew him, saw him grow in the organization
04:14and handed him $300 million.
04:16Right.
04:16Even though he said, I'm not ready to film the spot.
04:20I'm not doing it, is what he said.
04:22I'm just shocked.
04:25Give him all the credit in the world.
04:26You're able to turn down $500,000 to work a half an hour?
04:31Yeah.
04:31Well, when you're making $30 million a year, it's pretty easy sometimes to do that.
04:35I guess so.
04:36Yeah.
04:36And I would say this.
04:38Prior to last year and Bregman showing up, I mean, at least I had never heard anything
04:44negative about Devers.
04:45I heard the fact, like, the leadership thing that you're talking about, Megal, but I thought
04:50that was more because, you know, he just, you know, his English wasn't great and that
04:55really wasn't who he was as a person.
04:56And it was like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.
05:00That's just not who he was.
05:01But as far as, like, on the field, issues in the clubhouse, those, I had never heard
05:07anything about Devers.
05:09I mean, we love Manny, right?
05:10Yes.
05:11I mean, he literally assaulted the traveling secretary.
05:15And we defended it because he was good.
05:17Yeah.
05:18So you hear about guys, they're defined as mercurial when they're good and they're a-holes
05:23when they're not as good.
05:24It's just as the same way you're describing guys.
05:26Everybody, Major League Baseball players are the most pompous, most detached of any professional
05:32athlete.
05:32And they're all independent contractors because it's the most individual team sport there
05:37is.
05:38And so if you don't want to have guys that can occasionally be a pain in the ass, you're
05:41not going to have a very good team.
05:43So that would be the only area I would say that you're not as good last year.
05:47Devers' bat.
05:48Devers' bat.
05:48Not his glove.
05:49Not his glove.
05:50It's bat.
05:50Because Thurbinator should be able to do what he was able to do at third base.
05:54Is anyone worried about Garrett Crochet's spring training?
05:58No.
05:59His ERA was above seven in spring training.
06:02No.
06:03No.
06:03I'm not concerned about that.
06:04He's your ace.
06:04Yeah.
06:04I'm not concerned about spring training.
06:06I think a lot of these guys go out there and work on stuff that maybe they might not
06:11do in the regular season.
06:13They're trying to add new pitches.
06:15Things are like that nature.
06:16Now, if Crochet threw his first three, four, five starts, has issues, then we have a conversation.
06:22But who really, like, would you look, would you be concerned if Jason Tatum's training
06:28camp in the NBA, he was, you know, 0 for 15, shoot three-pointers?
06:32No, I don't know.
06:33We're sitting here saying, is the opening day roster going to be better than last year?
06:36And we're all assuming Crochet, who is an ace and a really full-season starter cementing
06:42himself that way last season, is going to be that same exact guy, if not better, this
06:46season.
06:47Like, we're all banking on that.
06:48Right.
06:48And he had a bad spring training.
06:50So I think it's relevant.
06:51But to be fair, at the start of last season, we didn't know Crochet was going to be that
06:54good.
06:55Right.
06:55Right?
06:55So, like, that's, again, you don't know exactly how the season's going to play out.
06:59But when the season started last year, you didn't know Crochet was going to be quite as
07:03good as he was.
07:03And I usually judge the player on what they've done during the regular season, more so than
07:10what we see at training camp or preseason games.
07:13And I get what you're saying, Mago.
07:15I understand the point you're making.
07:17But I would be more concerned if his first couple of starts, he didn't look good.
07:21I think when, Greg, you asked the question, I would just say that would be the only area
07:26where I feel like you didn't make the upgrade.
07:29That's why I was so bent out of shape when they didn't get Pete Alonzo, because you would
07:34have upgraded the one area that you're missing.
07:37But they upgraded elsewhere.
07:39So if you're going to take some total, you would say this opening day roster is better
07:45than it was last season.
07:47I would say yes, minus the fact that you're not as good when it comes to your power hitter.
