Welcome to Snyder’s Soapbox! Here, I pontificate about matters related to Major League Baseball on a weekly basis. Some of the topics will be pressing matters, some might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and most will be somewhere in between. The good thing about this website is that it’s free, and you are allowed to click away. If you stay, you’ll get smarter, though. That’s a money-back guarantee. Let’s get to it.
Last week, the Boston Red Sox signed free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million deal. That’s a hell of a nice move this late in the offseason and the Red Sox overall appear to be much improved heading to the 2025 season. There’s a problem, however. They already have a third baseman, one they apparently didn’t keep in the loop when pursuing Bregman.
Now with players arriving in camp, it appears the plan, from the point of view of Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora, was to shift Rafael Devers to a full-time designed hitter.
That was apparently news to Devers, who says he’s refusing to move off third base and has declared himself a third baseman.
“I told them no. I’m a third baseman,” he said Monday. “I think we have a hell of a team and I’m grateful ownership for the moves they made. Third base is my position. I don’t know what their plans are. I made it clear my desires and whatever happens we’ll see.”
A few days after signing Bregman, word was that the Red Sox were still undecided on how to line things up defensively.
To Bregman’s credit, he’s said he’s open to moving wherever the team needs him. They would be best suited with Bregman at third and Devers at DH. Bregman is one of the better defensive third basemen in baseball while Devers is a negative at the hot corner.
But we’re still left with the head-scratching decision by the front office to not run anything by Devers before signing Bregman.
Keep in mind, Devers is on a 10-year deal worth over $300 million. Breslow is a former player, as is Cora. They didn’t think Devers should be consulted if they wanted him to move positions?
Further, this is an interesting tidbit: Devers referenced promises that were made when Chaim Bloom was running the Red Sox, but Bloom has since been fired.
It would appear the Red Sox are just going to have to move Bregman to second base and leave Devers at third, given that Devers is refusing to move and Bregman is open to a switch. That certainly makes the team worse, though, and there’s also the issue of top prospect Kristian Campbell, who hit .330/.439/.558 between three stops last year, including 19 games in Triple-A. He might not start the season in the majors, but it won’t be long.
If Devers would move to DH, the Red Sox could play Bregman at third and use placeholders at second until Campbell is ready. If Bregman is the everyday second baseman, though, there isn’t really a spot for Campbell.
All of this is a bit of a headache here in the early days of camp, when it’s supposed to simply be players showing up with excitement for the upcoming season, especially given that the Red Sox look like they are good enough to make the playoffs again after a three-year hiatus.
Breslow is new in the position of top executive for a team, but he’s been in front offices since 2019, starting under Theo Epstein with the Cubs. As a player, he pitched for seven different teams in a 12-year career. He was on the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox.
Did he really not have a defensive plan before pursuing Bregman? Or did he want to move Devers and not talk to the star third baseman?
This seems like an unforced error. We’ve gotta loop Cora in, too, as a former player and accomplished manager who has been around plenty of star players.
Not that I’m absolving Devers. There are times when a player refusing to change positions in front of free agency when I’d fully support him in an effort to maximize his earning potential, but Devers has secured his monster contract and that money isn’t going anywhere. Signing Bregman and playing him at third base is the best move for the Red Sox as a team, so why not just do what is best for the team?
He could even continue to work out at third base, ready to move there is Bregman needs a day off or if he misses time due to injury. Devers could also say he’s willing to learn first base just to increase flexibility, especially since incumbent first baseman Triston Casas missed more than half the season last year with a rib injury.
Maybe this ends up being an afterthought in a few weeks. Maybe Devers changes his mind and moves. Maybe he ends up having a good defensive year at third base — though it’s unlikely. He’s led AL third basemen in errors for seven straight seasons and his range is below average. That’s a trend that isn’t going to change at age 28, but, sure, we’ll leave open the possibility that drastic improvement is made.
For now, though, a tsk tsk tsk goes in the direction of Breslow, Cora and Devers, probably in that exact order.
Read the full article here
