00:00Greg, Wilson Contreras of your Boston Red Sox has loved his time in Boston.
00:04He finished as a semifinalist in the Home Run Derby last night.
00:08Prior to that, he spoke to the media and they asked him about his season in Boston so far.
00:13We can hear a bit from Wilson Contreras.
00:16How do you sum up your first four months in Boston so far?
00:20The best.
00:22Boston to me has been the best.
00:24The fans, the team, the front office, my teammates.
00:27I wouldn't change a thing from Boston.
00:30Of course, we are right now in third place, I think.
00:34We're not where we want to be, but we are on our way there.
00:38We're already making adjustments.
00:40The team has a really good chemistry and the energy is there.
00:45The guys that have been coming up from Chipotle are doing a great job.
00:48They're willing to listen, willing to work out,
00:51and they're willing to lift their heart on the free, which that's what we want.
00:54And what's your reaction to Fenway so far?
00:56You're a big dog, obviously, at Fenway Park, and everybody loves you.
00:59What's been that vibe, that buzz from the park that you feed them?
01:03It's been better.
01:03It's been better, to be honest.
01:04Everyone was like, I get that the fans weren't mad, but it wouldn't play good.
01:09It may have been the same.
01:10I was just trying not to pay attention to them, but now it's just getting better.
01:14I mean, the energy that Fenway brings is really unique, and I just like it.
01:22I just love it there.
01:23And I told them, too.
01:24I was like, man, just stay here.
01:26I want to stay here.
01:27All right.
01:28Wants to stay here.
01:29I love it.
01:30Wants to stay here.
01:31Going into the season, another thing that we had questioned
01:35and we were probably wrong about was whether it was Sam Kennedy
01:39or Alex Cora on this show who told us they felt like he could be the veteran
01:45leader who could replace Alex Bregman when it comes to guiding some of the
01:49younger guys.
01:50Seems like he absolutely is.
01:52Right.
01:53And loves it here.
01:56Wants to stay.
01:56Like, sign him up.
01:58Like, I mean, any concern whatsoever on trying to get,
02:02he's got another year left.
02:03What are you, what you're shaking your head, Shime, H?
02:06No, no, it's not even that.
02:07It's just.
02:07You don't like they call them a big dog.
02:09Is that, that's bothersome?
02:10Yeah, that's, that's my word.
02:11I don't, clearly that reporter listens to the show all the time.
02:14But no, I, I just get nervous a little bit or a little apprehensive with
02:19the, the amount of like, I don't know.
02:22He's had a bunch of issues so far with other players and on the field.
02:26And like, he's facing a suspension that we still don't even know
02:29what the suspension is.
02:30And he's, don't get me wrong.
02:32Fiery can be good sometimes.
02:33I just wonder if it's some, in his case, sometimes a little too much.
02:36That's all.
02:37He plays very edgy.
02:39Yes.
02:41He plays very edgy.
02:41He toes that line a lot.
02:42Oh, he plays with a lot of emotion.
02:44What's wrong with that?
02:45Yeah.
02:45That's fair.
02:45I like it.
02:46I like it much more than guys who have been on the team who have more of an
02:51issue with fans in the stands than guys on other teams.
02:54I don't know what he's going to do.
02:55Yeah.
02:56I like it.
02:57Great point.
02:58He loves the fans.
03:00He went out of his way to say that.
03:01Mm-hmm.
03:01Unlike at least one guy on this team who doesn't like the fans.
03:06And everybody, don't everybody was talking about you on a guy who's fiery, who plays with emotion,
03:11who it seems like the game matters to him.
03:14Like, for me, I think Contreras has been perfect for you.
03:18He's not only filled that role of being that, you know, emotional leader and potentially in the clubhouse.
03:24He's also filled the role for you of like, and they kind of told us that, like, where's your power
03:29bat?
03:30It looks like he's your power bat, right?
03:32And that's the right-handed power bat that, you know, that you were talking about in the offseason.
03:36He did say one thing that gives me pause with the trade deadline coming up, and that was how great
03:42the chemistry is on this team.
03:43We brought up the young guys, the guys who have come up, and the chemistry.
03:49So is there a risk when it comes to Breslow and bringing somebody in who is going to negatively affect
03:58that chemistry?
03:59I don't think there's – I mean, there's always a risk, but I think to me it indicated more of
04:04–
04:04it almost felt like a veiled shot at some of the other younger guys that were here that didn't come
04:09from the AAA team
04:10and started on the professional roster.
04:11Now you're reading into it.
04:13You and Mega, you guys read everything – anything that happens, it's about Meyer and Roman Anthony.
04:19But it goes back to what Alex Cora said to –
04:21I'm okay with that.
04:22It goes back to what Alex Cora said to Ken Rosenthal, where he's like, yeah, these guys just come up
04:26here with contracts already.
04:27They don't go and work in AAA like they're supposed to, and Wilson Contreras is almost fortifying that idea.
04:32Like, the guys who have been working in AAA come up, and they've been really helpful.
04:36Shyam, was that shot from Alex Cora about the young guys who signed a deal that anybody would sign,
04:43or was it about what the Red Sox were doing in trying to sign those guys early because it financially
04:49made sense
04:49rather than bringing in, I don't know, high-priced free agents who are veterans?
04:53Couldn't it be both?
04:53Like, I think that, like, yes, I think he disagreed with the approach, but also it made these guys unprepared
04:59on the roster,
05:00and that was a problem.
05:02Yeah, I agree with Mega.
05:04Like, I think he was saying he didn't like the Red Sox forcing those young guys up quick
05:09and forcing them on the roster based on the fact that they hadn't earned their stripes.
05:17That's right, because he said that.
05:18He's cut from the cloth of, like, a guy who, oh, I had to earn my right to be on
05:25the Major League roster,
05:26and I had to put the work in, and that's what he would, to me, he was more talking about
05:31that
05:32where guys weren't earning it no more, was being handed to them.
05:35And I don't mean, like, contracts because Meyer doesn't have a contract.
05:38I think it meant, like, the opportunity was being handed to them to be guys that could be everyday players
05:45versus show us that you can earn your stripes to be at this level.
05:51By the way, I know you were out Friday, but he is serving his suspension as we speak.
05:55Oh, is he?
05:56Okay.
05:56Yes.
05:58I thought that was still in limbo.
05:59No, no, no.
06:00Were we not talking about this yesterday?
06:01We did not talk about it yesterday.
06:03Okay, my fault.
06:03But we did talk about it Friday when you were out.
06:05So, but he has a, it was cut down to a five-game suspension.
06:10Okay.
06:10So, I think he's back for the second game on Friday night.
06:13And what's he going to?
06:14Which I am going to, by the way.
06:16Oh, okay.
06:16All right.
06:17Yes.
06:17I'm very excited.
06:19DM's friend Elena is coming to town from Chicago, and so we are going to take in the second game
06:24of the doubleheader at my favorite ballpark.
06:26Once they start to win, I go right back.
06:28There you go.
06:28So, you show up.
06:29Notice that?
06:30Not wrong with that.
06:31But I asked them for permission to run the bases, and they're thinking about it.
06:35All right.
06:36Let's make it happen.
06:37I hope it comes through.
06:38Come on, guys.
06:38Right.
06:39It's really a field issue because, you know, when they have concerts, it doesn't do the
06:44best.
06:45It's not the best for the grass and for the base paths.
06:48You're not going to be on the grass, though.
06:49It's just the base path.
06:50Just the dirt.
06:51I understand that.
06:52I mean, I may, my turn might be a little wide around second base.
06:56If they provide me with a rake, Greg, I'd be happy to rake up the dirt once you're done.
07:00And what's nice is all the Noah Kahn fans fertilized the outfield when they were there.
07:05At least one did.
07:07Yeah.
07:08I mean, that was in Philadelphia, I think, where that person had an accident.
07:15But anyway, we'll see if they let us do that or not.
07:18I asked.
07:20If they say I can't run, I can't run.
07:22Right.
07:23I mean, I tried to honor the expectation.
07:25No, you just can't run the bases.
07:27You can still run.
07:28Yeah, it's really mostly appropriate at Fenway.
07:30That's really the only place.
07:31Why not just run around Fenway?
07:33One lap around the entire stadium.
07:34I don't know if that would be as effective.
07:36Meh.
07:36Okay.
Comments