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Home , Brent Abernathy, Daniel Bard, Dusty Baker, Michael Chavis

The Thursday, October 15, 2020

* The Boston Globe

Where should a Red Sox fan’s rooting interest lie in this postseason?

Chad Finn

Red Sox fans didn’t have much to root for in 2020, other than a quick and merciful end to their charade of a season.

Xander Bogaerts was his reliably excellent self. pulverized deep into the empty Fenway stands from time to time. delivered clues that he may someday be a fan favorite and an All-Star.

And it was occasionally fun, I suppose, to try to guess whether Andrew Triggs, Kyle Mooney, and Robinson Leyer were actually the latest recalled from the Alternate Site or current “Saturday Night Live” cast members.

(Got ya with the curve there, didn’t !? Kyle Mooney actually is an “SNL” cast member. You have him confused with Kyle Hart. It’s understandable.)

Other than those fleeting satisfactions, though, there wasn’t much to root for. But that doesn’t mean a disaffected Red Sox fan shouldn’t find some rooting interests and enjoy the postseason.

No, the Red Sox are not involved. Ha ha, good one. Glad to see you kept your sense of humor though all of this.

But neither are the Yankees now that the expanded playoff field has been whittled to a final four. The Astros and Rays are clashing for the AL pennant, while the Dodgers and Braves appear to be playing Derby for the NL crown.

Seems to me the team Red Sox fans should be pulling for is obvious. But let’s go through them in order of what should be the least amount of local interest to most as far as the Boston perspective goes.

▪ Astros: Hey look, it’s the unrepentant villains of , still alive in this postseason despite a 29-31 regular season. I know, glass houses/thrown stones and all of that.

The Red Sox did have their own shady scandal, getting popped for using a video replay monitor to decode opponents’ signs during the 2018 regular season. That must be acknowledged, because the Red Sox don’t exactly have total access to the high road when it comes to aiming scorn at the Astros.

But the scope of the Astros' scandal was more elaborate, with greater effect on the outcome of not just individual games but series. If they had any collective character, they would be repentant. Yet they’ve taken to portraying themselves as martyrs despite largely dodging the consequences of their actions, given that there were no fans in the stands to boo them this season and the regionalized schedule allowed them to avoid teams like the Dodgers that might have had retribution in mind.

There is very little to like about them beyond their first-year , Dusty Baker, who gracefully answers over and over again for nonsense with which he was not involved.

▪ Braves: When I was growing up in the 1980s, NESN wasn’t part of the basic cable package where I lived. TBS, which pretty much featured Braves games and “Brady Bunch” reruns, was, and largely because of Skip Caray’s wry broadcasting approach, they became my second-favorite team.

I got to watch put an upbeat face on a sad decline, get sent down to A-ball after playing second base as if a pin had been pulled from the ball, and Tom Glavine, , and routinely get clobbered when first arriving in the big leagues . . . and then I got to watch it all come to fruition with the joyous worst-to-first season of 1991.

My interest in the Braves waned when they signed Greg Maddux and became, for 1995, a boringly excellent team and recurring October disappointment, but I fondly remember those days of cheering for them at their lousiest of lows and then that unexpected high.

I suppose some of our eldest of old-timers might pull for them still because they once were the Boston Braves, but I suspect most feelings on them around here are, like mine, mostly neutral. At least until you realize Pablo Sandoval is on their roster.

▪ Rays: Never would have thought back in the early (Devil) Rays days of Brent Abernathy, Ryan Rupe, and weird beanball wars with their Boston superiors that they would end up becoming a model for what the Red Sox want to do, but here we are.

The Rays have been excellent for a while now — 90 wins in 2018, 96 last year, and an MLB-best 40 this year in 60 games — and they now have a postseason series win to savor after ousting the Yankees in dramatic fashion in the ALDS. Their lineup is full of good players who lack much of a national profile, but perhaps that is changing now.

They’ve made savvy trades — the Chris Archer for Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows deal with the Pirates has a chance to be an all-time heist — and their knack for finding reliever after reliever who can dial up the radar gun to three digits is the envy of the league.

Red Sox president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom made his name in the Rays organization, and the seeds of their philosophy have been planted with the Red Sox. (The Rays reportedly wanted and from the Phillies before Bloom got them for a pair of relief pitchers.)

I do have my concerns with making the roster overly interchangeable in a market such as Boston that expects stars, but the Rays' success offers a peek into what might work for the next great Red Sox team. If that’s not reason enough to pull for them, they knocked out the Yankees and now aim to do the same to the dastardly Astros.

▪ Dodgers: For both historical and current reasons, aren’t they the obvious choice? Like the Red Sox, they spent a long time on the disappointing end of a rivalry with the Yankees. When they beat Reggie Jackson & Co. in the 1981 , it felt to my 11-year-old self like it would be possible for the Red Sox to someday conquer them, too. (I did not expect it to take another 23 years.)

Popular Red Sox champions such as , Manny Ramirez, and Bill Mueller also played in the Chavez Ravine sunshine. is there now, where he is properly appreciated, and I’ll wish the best for him right on through the day he makes his Hall of Fame speech.

And how does anyone with any recollection of the events of October 2004 not root for Dave Roberts, now the Dodgers manager, to prevail in everything he does in life? Plus, they loathe the Astros more than anyone. Beat LA? Nah. Beat 'em all, LA.

* WEEI.com

Daniel Bard on a return to : 'I would probably be fighting back tears'

Rob Bradford

Daniel Bard has earned the right to know where he will be in 2021.

“Definitely next year for sure I’ll be a Rockie unless they trade me,” the reliever said on the Bradfo Sho podcast.

But after revitalizing his big-league career this season, having taken the mound as a major-leaguer for the first time since walking off the hill at Fenway Park in 2013, Bard can dare to dream things he long thought would not be possible, such as pitching at Fenway at least one more time.

“I definitely hope to pitch in that stadium again at least one more time. I think that would be really cool,” said the 35-year-old, who is still under Colorado control through next season unless the arbitration process changes. “Even if it was for an opposing team. It would be great if it was for the Red Sox, but even coming in on the road … Not as if this story isn’t full-circle enough, I would probably be fighting back tears warming up. It would be pretty cool. I think I would really appreciate it.”

Bard’s story was one of the better ones emanating from the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign, with the reliever not only making the Rockies after previously retiring but proving to be one of Colorado’s most reliable relievers, finishing with six saves.

It was success that those fans in Boston he thought he had lost forever thanks to two years of control issues (which ultimately led to his self-diagnosed case of the “”) came back into his life.

“I’m not too active on any of the social medias but I do catch wind of some stuff, my wife would show me,” explained Bard, who received more than 250 congratulatory texts after his first major-league appearance in seven seasons. “At first I was kind of surprised at how positive it was. I think I left that place feeling a little beat up by fans, media. It was probably just that while I was there I was feeling any little bit of negative energy and I think there were a lot of positivity that I was missing. Now it’s good to know that there were people cheering for me that I didn’t even know were out there. So I definitely appreciate that.

“It’s a place you can have success, build a brand, build a fan base and then you have one bad year, it’s rough. The more you expose yourself to that the more you’re going to ride those ups and downs.

“If you’re a person who — which I think I was when I was younger — put to much value into what people say about me, think about me, that affects you. That literally directly affects your emotion, you happiness and it affects how you perform on the field. I wish I had a little more of that not-give-a-(expletive) those guys had when I was younger. I had to find it and grow it through other ways. You definitely have to have that to play there, especially if you’re going to play there a long time.”

Bard goes into great detail about the process of returning to life as a player, laying out the fascinating step-by-step process it took throughout this calendar year.

* NBC Sports Boston

Preparing to say goodbye to these important Sox figures

John Tomase

If Chaim Bloom's Red Sox tenure unfolds as planned, someday we'll marvel at how far the organization came on his watch.

His inaugural roster just delivered a last-place finish and the fourth-worst record in baseball, so when it comes to players who could depart this winter, the short answer is pretty much all of them. Outside of third baseman Rafael Devers, shortstop , and right fielder Alex Verdugo, the Red Sox are depressingly short on building blocks, though they hope that starts to change this offseason.

If we're handicapping the potential candidates to find new homes, it's hard to say whether catcher Christian Vazquez is more likely to be traded than or or , though that didn't stop us from undertaking the exercise earlier this month. Expect Bloom to be open for business.

That said, a handful of players are much less likely to return, and any list has to start with center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. The club's only free agent of note has ridden the roller coaster over seven seasons in Boston, vacillating between Gold Glove , postseason hero, and offensive zero. We shouldn't let Bradley's inconsistency cloud that he's going to be a free agent in demand.

He's probably the second-best center fielder on the market, trailing only Astros All-Star George Springer. He's also coming off one of his better offensive seasons after hitting .283 with an .814 OPS. There's rumors that the Astros are already interested in Bradley as a lower-cost replacement for Springer, and any team hoping to add an elite defender without breaking the bank should give him a call.

While there's a chance the Red Sox retain him, his departure feels more likely, if for no other reason than once free agents reach the market, as a general rule they tend to leave. It's also telling that the Red Sox didn't make any extension overtures to Bradley during the season.

He's not the only outfielder who will be in the market for a new home. It's OK if you forgot about him, but Rusney Castillo is finally a free man after serving out the final four years of his seven-year, $72.5 million contract in minor league purgatory. Castillo became a financial liability as part of the 40-man roster, so once the Red Sox removed him, it became clear he would never make it back.

Let the record show that Castillo hit .262 with seven homers in 99 games over parts of three seasons, though his last appearance came in 2016. It's actually conceivable that he finds work next season, because the 33-year-old hit .293 with a .761 OPS over five seasons in the minors. And because he spent so much time there, he's not even arbitration-eligible until 2023. Stranger things have happened.

History suggests Sox could hit jackpot at No. 4 overall Finally, there's Dustin Pedroia. The former All-Star, Rookie of the Year, Gold Glover, and MVP is effectively finished, thanks to a debilitating knee injury. All that's left now is to figure out how to end his career gracefully, since he's still owed the final $12 million on his six-year contract extension.

Pedroia can be removed from the 40-man roster or released, but more the more likely outcome is that the Red Sox reach a settlement similar to the one that allowed David Wright to be paid by the Mets when a back injury ended his career prematurely.

Injuries may have curtailed what looked like a Hall of Fame career, but even without the sendoff he deserved, Pedroia still goes down as an all-time Red Sox great.

* BostonSportsJournal.com

Ranking the Red Sox’ top outfield prospects

Sean McAdam

(First in a series: Over the coming weeks, we’ll be examining a specific positional area in the Red Sox minor league system, with an eye toward evaluating depth, impact and timetable for contributions. Today: outfield).

CURRENT MAJOR LEAGUE PERSONNEL: The Red Sox control Alex Verdugo through 2024 and Andrew Benintendi through 2022. Jackie Bradley Jr. is eligible for free agency. Other major league options include Michael Chavis (controlled through 2025), Yairo Munoz (controlled through 2024) and Cesar Puello (controlled through 2024).

OVERALL: The Red Sox have the two corner outfield spots covered, with Benintendi in left and Verdugo in right. Benintendi had a miserable few weeks in 2020 (four hits) before being lost for the season with a ribcage strain. Still, the Red Sox believe there’s plenty more there, by virtue of his .830 OPS in 2018 and other flashes across his first four-plus seasons. Verdugo, meanwhile, was a high point in an otherwise forgettable 2020 season, excelling in the field, on the bases and at the plate. It’s possible that Bradley could be brought back, but it’s more likely that he seeks a longer term deal elsewhere, opening a spot in center.

TOP PROSPECTS

Jarren Duran Acquired: 2018 draft, seventh round Age: 24 Timetable for arrival: Mid-2021. Skinny: Drafted as a second baseman, Duran made the transition to the outfield in 2018 and profiled as a speed-first, athletic center fielder – think minus the outlier season of 2011.

But that was before Duran made some significant changes to his swing this summer, which greatly improved his ability to drive the ball in the air. Duran has also made good strides with his defense, improving on his jumps and routes. He made several eye-opening plays during Summer Camp that demonstrated his ability to potentially handle the tricky confines of Fenway’s center field. There was some initial thought that the Red Sox might promote him to the big leagues in September after dealing off Kevin Pillar, but that didn’t happen — in part because he wasn’t yet on the 40-man roster and in part because the Red Sox didn’t want to prematurely start his service time clock. The latter will likely contribute to him starting 2021 at Triple A, but chances are, they’d like another couple of months of development time before introducing him into the lineup. Still, Duran has the potential to impact the roster thanks to his plus-plus speed, range in the outfield and particularly if the progress he made at the plate this past summer can similarly translate to game action. Projection: Starting outfielder — either in CF or LF — by the end of the 2021 season.

Marcus Wilson Acquired: In trade with Arizona for C (2019); drafted 2014, second round. Age: 24 Timetable for arrival: late-2021. Skinny: Wilson is the epitome of a “toolsy” player — scout-speak for a player with lots of raw skill — who has yet to completely take advantage of his talent. The 2020 season was something of a lost year for Wilson, since he wasn’t included in the team’s Alternate Training Site until the second week of September, losing much of the year in terms of development. The clock is ticking somewhat for Wilson, who, despite seven years of pro ball, has yet to play at Triple A. There are questions about his hit tool, especially as it relates to consistent contact. Wilson has flashed plus-power at times, but has also struggled to put the ball in play. Defensively, he grades out as above-average and he also projects as an above-average baserunner. Projection: Fourth or fifth outfielder, in either late 2021 or 2022.

Gilberto Jimenez Acquired: International free agent, 2017 Age: 20 Timetable for arrival: 2023 Skinny: Incredibly athletic, Jimenez profiles as perhaps the position player with potentially the highest ceiling of any position player in the organization. Jimenez has elite speed and strong defensive skills already, to go with a plus arm. What’s unknown, for now, is his ceiling as a hitter. While he possesses above-average bat speed and makes consistent contact, there’s been little power evident. That could still come, especially, since he didn’t begin switch-hitting until after he signed with the Red Sox. His hitting remains a work in progress, to be sure. It’s also important to recognize how much more development there is to go. He spent 2019 at Lowell, so he’s yet to play a full season in pro ball, and of course, lost development time in 2020 with the cancellation of the minor league season. He’s currently taking part in Instructional League ball in Fort Myers. Projection: Starting outfielder, perhaps with capability of All-Star, especially if power improves.

Jeisson Rosario Acquired: Obtained from San Diego in trade for Mitch Moreland; international free agent 2016 signing with Padres Age: 20 (turns 21 in two weeks) Timetable for arrival: Late 2022 Skinny: Rosario has shown tremendous instincts in the outfield, with plus speed. He needs work as a base stealer when it comes to reads, but has the raw speed to be a true stolen base threat. He’s demonstrated good discipline at the plate, but his swing can be awkward at times, and for now, he’s shown little power. There’s a wide variance on him from evaluators: some see him as a defense-first center fielder with the ability to steal bases while others believe there’s enough offensive potential to make him a fine everyday outfielder. A September addition to the Alternate Training Site in Pawtucket, he’s not taking part in the team’s Instructional League program. Projection: Depth outfielder as a floor, with the potential to be a more significant contributor if he can find a more consistent approach at the plate.

Nick Decker Acquired: 2018 draft, second round Age: 21 Timetable for arrival: 2023 Skinny: Decker has been limited by injuries as a pro in both 2018 (broken hand) and 2019 (ankle, hamstring), stalling his development some, and of course, he lost all of 2020, being too young to be invited to the Alternate Training Site. So far, the left-handed Decker has struggled to make contact against lefties, and that must improve or he’ll be consigned to a platoon role. Profiles as a corner outfielder with decent pop, but his swing needs to be quicker and shorter and he’s got to show the ability to put the ball in play with more consistency. He’s got an above-average, accurate arm and average speed on the bases. Projection: Platoon corner outfielder, with the potential to become more of a contributor with more regular reps.