- 2 days ago
WEEI Red Sox Insider Rob Bradford continues his conversation with Rich, Ken, and Ted and talks about what could happen at the trade deadline, including some possible targets for the team.
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00:00It is 93.7 WEEI, Rich Shirtleaf, Ken Laird, Ted Johnson, and of course the great Rob Bradford here in
00:08studio with us at the Ford Clubhouse Fenway Studio, brought to you by your New England Ford dealers and employee
00:13pricing for all.
00:14You pay what we pay, Ford, the official vehicle of Major League Baseball and that dirty water.
00:20So, listen, not everyone can be as excited about baseball right now as Cooper Boardman is because even the most
00:28ardent and the most strongest Red Sox fans are worried about Craig Breslow still having some sort of control.
00:35Despite all of these moves, and if you don't listen, he's proving a lot of people who criticized him wrong.
00:40A lot of the acquisitions that he's made, a lot of decisions that he's made, like firing Alex Cora, seem
00:45to be paying off.
00:46But, I said I'm going to hold my judgment on him until we see what happens at the trade deadline.
00:51And there was an article that Alex Spear wrote for the Boston Globe where he talked to Craig Breslow, and
00:56Craig Breslow won't say we're buying.
00:58So, he won't commit to it.
01:00Now, Rob, does that seem to you like it's just not wanting to show your hand before making a deal?
01:05Or do you truly believe that they are hesitant on doing something significant here at the trade deadline?
01:14I think it's – we can compare this to not taking off the interim badge off of Chad Tracy.
01:20And the reason they don't do that is because, obviously, he looks like he's earned that right.
01:25But if things fall apart, you don't want to name him, and then you have to fire him.
01:29Same thing here.
01:30You don't want to – you're only a game up, right?
01:32And you've done this, but what if you lose 13 in a row heading into the trade deadline, and then
01:37you find yourself five back and everything's changed?
01:39So, I don't think that he definitively wants to say that.
01:42I think a lot of these teams are feeling that way.
01:45That's probably why there's not a lot of action.
01:47But I will say this.
01:48A caller yesterday on the Baseballs and Boring Show had a really, really good point.
01:52He said that – I think that one of the things that we have to see Craig Breslow do is
01:58be able to obviously function better at the trade deadline compared to what he does in the offseason.
02:03In the offseason, you have a lot of time.
02:05You have a lot of time to analyze.
02:07You have a lot of time to let it play out.
02:09You have a lot of time to make decisions.
02:10Trade deadline, as we found out last year, you have to pull the trigger or you don't.
02:15And that is one thing.
02:17If you want to check off a box for Craig Breslow, not only the results, but the actual execution of
02:25feet to the fire, no questions about it, that you have to make a move or else right now, and
02:31it's going to get really, really uncomfortable.
02:33That's what he has to show this time around.
02:35Do you think, Brad Foe, the part of it is maybe there's not a ton of teams that maybe are
02:40clear-cut sellers at this point?
02:42You know, there's probably five or six teams that are just completely out of it, and maybe there's not a
02:47lot of inventory out there, if you will.
02:49So that's maybe a reason why he's tempering expectations.
02:53Yeah, absolutely, Ted.
02:54I think that you look at all these teams.
02:56Some teams, it's been the sad trombone since the All-Star game.
03:00The Houston Astros and some of these other teams, they are on the edge of they're going to have to
03:06sell.
03:07They have gone the other way from the Red Sox.
03:09But that can turn as well.
03:10I think there's the vast majority of teams that would be sellers are still not defining themselves as sellers, and
03:20I think more so than ever before.
03:22We hear it all the time, but I think that's a big part of this, too, with the Red Sox.
03:26But I will say this, and I keep saying this about what the Red Sox have to do, especially now.
03:32Now that they have shown that they can win the American League, that they can be what they thought they
03:37were going to be.
03:38When they said they were going to be a World Series team, that's our goal.
03:41All right, that was your goal in the offseason.
03:43That was your goal in spring training, being a World Series team, taking that next step.
03:47Well, okay, it's time to make a World Series team move.
03:51It's time to make that sort of move, because if you don't, then you're not taking advantage of what is
03:58a really, really good situation.
03:59Now, Bradfoe, you said you threw out a name that I liked, the Angels, Zach Netto.
04:04Yeah.
04:05Give you credit for that.
04:05That's the first I've heard of that.
04:06It makes a lot of sense.
04:07I have been a Jeremy Pena guy, but they're not trading him.
04:10At least that's what they said.
04:11Hector Gomez throwing out Luis Garcia Jr. from the Nationals today.
04:14Here's my question, though.
04:15What do they do with Trevor Story, and what do they think about Franklin Arias if they go get a
04:20shortstop?
04:20Because they have a problem there.
04:22You can't just keep all three of those guys, right?
04:24I think the question is, so you put Trevor Story back.
04:27This is a problem, though, Ken, because you don't know what you're going to get with Trevor Story.
04:33You can think you know what you're going to get.
04:34You can say that his problems earlier in the year was because of that sports hernia, but you don't know.
04:40But I think that they're at the point where they just have to put them at shortstop, and that's the
04:44one position you're like, all right.
04:45Because all these other guys, even if, let's say, C.J. Abrams, like pipe dream, C.J. Abrams.
04:51But you can put them at second base.
04:52Second base is the – there's two spots to me where you can say you can get a guy, and
04:58it won't get really, really uncomfortable in terms of guys coming back and everything else.
05:01That second base and potentially turning over Jaron Duran for a piece that fits better.
05:07So that's how I view it anyway.
05:09All right, Rob, I want to ask you about this Roman Anthony article that came out this past weekend, once
05:15again with Alex Beer.
05:16And he said – Chad Tracy was interviewed, and he said, we're not going to resume hitting if there's still
05:20discomfort in his hand.
05:22He said, that's a big piece of our lineup.
05:24It would be great to get him back.
05:25The whole point is we don't want our player, that player, to play injured, especially when it comes to swinging
05:29the bat.
05:30So just continuing to get him to where he feels very confident in his mind that that hand feels good.
05:36That's our goal.
05:37And then he adds, this guy can really hit, and he needs his hand to hit.
05:41I fully support him.
05:43We don't want players in the box if they're not confident that they should be out there.
05:47There's a lot of components to it that go beyond just medical scans.
05:51Do you believe that there are people around the team or on the team that are frustrated with Roman Anthony?
05:59I don't know if there's that frustration because everyone understands.
06:02And I know where you're going, and I know that that's the buzz around this whole situation.
06:07But I think they understand that no matter – if you say you have a banged-up finger or a
06:13banged-up hand,
06:14and if you're Dustin Pedroia, maybe you know how to function with that banged-up finger or a banged-up
06:20hand.
06:21I don't think they're confident that Roman Anthony – and he said this – that he would be able to
06:27function like he needs to
06:28with that banged-up finger or that banged-up hand.
06:31And that's just the reality of the situation.
06:33It doesn't matter what anybody thinks about his pain tolerance or whatever it is.
06:38You need – at this point in the season, you need to figure out how you can get the guy
06:44who was leading off in Cincinnati on opening day,
06:47that guy to come back and be productive.
06:49And as currently constituted, that you are not getting that guy according to Roman Anthony and also according to Chad
06:57Tracy.
06:58Brad, who do you think is – should be up or you think they would consider being trade bait for
07:06the Red Sox?
07:07Is it some of the young pitchers?
07:08Yeah, man.
07:10Listen, who can they afford to move on from?
07:12They can afford to trade a bunch of people because, good for them, they kept drafting pitchers and they got
07:19a ton of pitchers.
07:20Yep.
07:20You've got to be careful about trading Franklin Arias because you don't have a ton of hitters coming up.
07:26And Trevor Stories isn't the shortstop of the future.
07:29And you don't know what you have at second base.
07:32So, you better be really, really careful in that respect.
07:35But, if you go out and trade for a CJ Abrams or a Zach Neto and use Franklin Arias, all
07:41right.
07:42Like, Ted, I come back to it.
07:44You proclaimed that your goal, that you were putting together a team to be in the World Series, to be
07:50a World Series team.
07:51You have that opportunity.
07:53If you think that you can just ride this out with this team currently constituted, 13-game win streak in
07:59all, like, that's a pipe dream.
08:01That's just not reality.
08:03You need help.
08:04You need that guy still in the middle of the order.
08:07And just like they did in 2021 with Kyle Schwarber.
08:10So, that's going to get uncomfortable.
08:12Sorry, Craig Breslow.
08:13Sorry, Red Sox.
08:14But that's just a reality.
08:15Rich, one more turning point suggested by the next line.
08:18Driveline guy quit.
08:20That's a popular narrative.
08:21Kyle Bodie left.
08:22You know what, actually, to that, let's go to David on line one.
08:27David, you got a question for Brad, Bo.
08:30Baseball is not boring.
08:32Yes, baseball, no, it's not a burrito.
08:35Ken kind of stole my thunder that the drive guy left.
08:40And I know he's not sitting in the clubhouse telling people how to bat.
08:43But is it a coincidence that he's gone and now they can bat however they feel like batting?
08:48Or is it something else?
08:50No, no.
08:51No, I mean, again, I like you personally.
08:53I respect your opinion.
08:54But, no, not even close.
08:56Kyle Bodie was nowhere to be found this season.
09:00And a lot of the guys who they have hired while Kyle Bodie was in the organization who have come
09:06from driveline, including John Sotaropoulos, who's one of their main hitting guys, is the guy that survived and is still
09:12there.
09:13So, you know, I don't think that there's any question about it.
09:16You know, it's funny with the driveline thing.
09:18You know, there's been a lot of, oh, it's good, it's bad, or whatever it is.
09:23I talked to Isaiah Conner-Falefa, who obviously went on a good run there for a while.
09:27He loves it.
09:28Like, he loves it.
09:29He's all in on it.
09:30So, I'm not going to go down that driveline rabbit hole, but the Kyle Bodie thing, no, it has nothing
09:37to do with anything.
09:38All right, Bradford, is there any benefit in naming Chad Tracy the full-time manager before the season is over?
09:46It would be nice.
09:47I think he's earned it.
09:48But as I said, I think the problem is, is that what if they hit the skids and then you
09:52have to fire the guy you named, right?
09:55I mean, you don't have to fire an interim guy.
09:58That's just, that's the harsh reality of it, isn't it?
10:01I think.
10:02Give him a raise or something.
10:04I mean, just like a bonus?
10:06A sweet on the road?
10:07I mean, like.
10:08Sure.
10:09Can another team swoop in and sign him?
10:11Like, are they.
10:11Wait, right now?
10:12Yeah, yeah.
10:12Are you saying they're going to trade Chad Tracy?
10:15He might look for another job.
10:17There's no benefit to giving it to him though right now, isn't it?
10:20That's the point.
10:21Yeah.
10:21It's like the only, the payoff or the problem is, is that you give it to them and they hit
10:27the skids and then all of a sudden you have to fire another guy.
10:30What if the Yankees fire Boone and hire Tracy?
10:32Like just right in the middle of the season.
10:34Wouldn't that be like.
10:35Oh, that would be spicy.
10:36Yeah.
10:36Wait, the kerosene Ken takes are like at peak level now with this 13 game win streak.
10:42Well, let me ask you this though, because I mean, there's a lot of people who are giving
10:47Chad Tracy credit for this turnaround.
10:48I give him a lot of credit.
10:49Like if there was like a, you know, the big blame pie, I'm definitely giving him a huge
10:54chunk of that.
10:55But I also.
10:55Credit pie.
10:56Yeah.
10:56Exactly.
10:57Um, so, but I, I, I'm thinking about Alex Cora, like, can you be a great manager, but
11:03just not be the right manager for a specific team?
11:07Sure.
11:07I mean, I, I still say, and nobody wants to hear this, but I still say it probably wasn't
11:13the right move to do what they did because it took two and a half months to get this
11:17right.
11:17You can't, uh, listen, I mean, Chad, this has taken nothing away from Chad Tracy, but
11:23we can't definitively say that this wouldn't have happened with his group because it happened
11:26with the group like the last couple of years.
11:29So, uh, but I do think this rich, I think that what we know now with Chad Tracy is that
11:36he is a great fit for this group.
11:38I don't think that you could say that Alex Cora wasn't a great fit for the group, but
11:42the Alex, Chad Tracy is absolutely great fit for the group and also a great fit for what
11:47happened after they moved on from Alex Cora and the coaches.
11:51And you know that this team has truly earned their respect when Catherine Veritek is saying
11:58positive things about them on social media.
12:01But how can you not?
12:02There's no way you have to, right?
12:04You should bring her back to sing the anthem or something.
12:06She was kind of, and I, by the way, I like Catherine Veritek and I liked that she tweets
12:10and things, but she was spiking the football when they were crappy, you know, like there
12:14was kind of a little bit of a, Hey, now that my guy's gone, but she, uh, she tweeted three
12:18decades of loyalty, respect for this organization.
12:21Don't simply disappear.
12:22The guys on the field deserve every bit of the praise.
12:25Now she did say the guys on the field and not obviously she, she definitely is in the
12:29mix to catch the first pitch from Joe Kelly on baseball.
12:32It's boring night.
12:32All right.
12:33That would be, Hey, by the way, congrats on that.
12:35That's a cool thing.
12:35Yeah.
12:35September 2nd.
12:36Yeah.
12:37All roads.
12:37That's going to be a big game.
12:39Seattle.
12:39All roads lead to September 2nd.
12:41Right.
12:42And I should know, like we, let's not sleep on tonight's game.
12:46Holy mackerel.
12:46And I, I just want to rattle off this thing from Optistats when my new found favorite,
12:51uh, count to today's game between the Red Sox and Orioles will be the second time in MLB
12:55history in which two teams on wind streaks of seven or more games meet.
13:00And the combined wind streak of is 20 or more games.
13:04The other is in 1884.
13:06Wow.
13:07Wow.
13:07I mean that in Tyler O'Neill out in the field right now with a cutoff baseballs and boring
13:12a Canadian shirt, you know, it's a big night.
13:15Let's go.
13:15All right.
13:16Well, there we go.
13:17Rob Bradford, the man who is so connected with these Red Sox.
13:21He's going to go and he's going to, who are you interviewing today for the, uh, he's going
13:24to Fort Myers right now.
13:25I'm going to hang out at Twin Peaks.
13:29Well, yeah, it's between me and Ken.
13:32Ken is more cachet at Twin Peaks than I do.
13:34So yeah, he's the king of Twin Peaks.
13:37He is.
13:37Absolutely.
13:38All right.
13:39I've been there.
13:40Good stuff, Rob.