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00:00And joining us right now for his weekly visit with Jones and Keith is Rob Bradford of WEEI
00:05and the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast, a friend of Tyler O'Neill. He's brought to you by McFarland
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00:30Rob Bradford, how are you doing on opening day?
00:33Oh, McFarland, all that's missing is an Alan Webster reference, right?
00:37Yeah, nice.
00:37If you're going to have Ruby Galarosa, you have to get an Alan Webster reference. Yeah,
00:41so happy opening day. It just hits different, doesn't it?
00:44It does. It really, really, really does hit different. People are bullish on the Red Sox,
00:51ESPN, MLB.com, Keefe's nemesis, Keefe Law. Do you think people are, it's getting away
00:58from them a little bit on the Red Sox? Three of us on this show have them in the World Series.
01:02Billy has them winning it. We all have them winning the division. Has it gotten a little
01:06carried away?
01:08Alex Bregman's going to hit a home run today, according to Rich.
01:10Oh, yeah, that's true. That is true.
01:12Yeah, that's a good bet.
01:14It's all coming together. It's all coming together. Yeah, I mean, I think that by the
01:18way they've landed in spring training, because in part, because all these other teams have had
01:23so many things go bad poorly, and the Red Sox have had just enough stuff not go poorly, I think it
01:29has worked out for them. And that's where they've landed. I don't think it's unreasonable to think
01:34they're going to win this division off of what talent they have right now.
01:38And I think one of the main reasons people are picking them is the guy starting today,
01:41Garrett Crochet. And do you think the contract thing is going to be an issue at times this year,
01:47or are they going to really be able to sort of put it to the side and just have him go out
01:51there and pitch all year?
01:52Yeah, I mean, as you guys know, today was the day. He's not talking beyond once today starts,
01:58so we assume that they're not talking. I mean, as we saw with Alex Cora that changed last year,
02:03it can always change. But I think the biggest thing is that he's got another year, right?
02:07So he's got another year. He's got this year to prove himself, to prove that he's right in
02:12holding out or to going for the big ticket item when it comes to the contract. And then the fact
02:18is that maybe he gets through this year and they pay more. But as we said before, I think it's...
02:24Oh, look at this. You hear my GPA?
02:28I'm sure you absolutely hear it, yeah.
02:29I've headed to the park, so...
02:32Nice. Do you need directions there?
02:34Have you never been?
02:37Yeah, well, no, not from this location. But I think that the fact is that both sides,
02:44we know the motivation. We know the motivation with this is on both sides. It's a little bit
02:51off the beaten track. You have a situation with the Red Sox. They can hold out and they can see
02:58if it's worth paying more money. And for Garrett Crochet, he can hold out and say, hey, you know
03:03what? I want to be the biggest contract in all of pitching and baseball. So this doesn't surprise
03:09me we've gotten to this point.
03:11I want to ask you about another pitcher the Red Sox were in on this offseason.
03:15You tweeted yesterday, according to a source, Nathan Ivaldi's decision this
03:19offseason came down to the Red Sox and the Rangers. There were six legit suitors.
03:23I'm curious, if he chose the Red Sox, would they still have been in on Walker Bueller?
03:28Would they still have been in on Garrett Crochet? If Ivaldi chose the Red Sox,
03:32how would that have changed their approach?
03:35I think it was the Bueller spot, not the Crochet spot. And if you look at it, it sort of fills the
03:41same bucket, right? The veteran guy, the guy who they know isn't going to will in the postseason,
03:46the guy who is going to be a good input in the clubhouse, like all those boxes are checked.
03:51But according to what I heard yesterday, that it really did come down to the Red Sox and Rangers.
03:56There were six legitimate teams interested. And it begs the question, which would you rather have
04:02Ivaldi or Bueller? I think it's a pretty good debate, but I can see why. Yeah, well, I mean,
04:08and that's, you know what? And that's why he got his deal, right? That's why he got his three-year
04:12deal with the Rangers. I'm sure that's put him over the top. But yeah, so I think that you could
04:18see what they were going for. And I like the fact that they were identifying those sort of guys.
04:22I like the fact that they were identifying Ivaldi because it shows you they're not obsessed.
04:26Remember the John Henry, oh, you got to, you can't be 30 years old and give a guy a contract.
04:31They're not obsessed with that. They're obsessed with, okay, this guy can be good in the clubhouse.
04:35He's a good pitcher. He can help us win a postseason game. And that's what Ivaldi can do.
04:40Yeah. We heard Alex Cora yesterday talking about Devers is the DH and Bregman is the third
04:45baseman. That's sort of been the chat over the last couple of weeks and whether Devers loves
04:48it or not, that's sort of the reality. I guess the next layer down from that is last year's DH
04:54was Masataka Yoshida. What do you think ends up happening with him?
05:00I would love to tell you that we've done the Venn diagrams. We've done the, like the beautiful mind
05:06in the window. And we're trying to figure this out. And it is just, there's no path where Masa
05:12Yoshida to be an integral part of this team. If Raphael Devers is where he is right now,
05:17which we assume he is, he's going to be the everyday DH. They can talk all they want about
05:21Masa Yoshida is going to get his arm back. He's going to be throwing. He's going to be in the
05:25field. Well, you know, there's a reason why he didn't play in the field at all last year with
05:30what a perceived fine arm. And that's because they don't think he can feel. They want a good
05:35defensive team. And so every time that they say something nice about Masa Yoshida, that I'm just
05:41thinking, they're screaming and yelling to these other teams in major league baseball. I will say
05:45this. He's he looks good. Mike, he looks good heading. Like we, he's, I think he's a legitimate
05:51hitter. He could be a DH for someone. He just out for this team because of the guy sitting in the DH
05:57position. I just don't think it's where the red socks, Rob Bradford, we.com and the baseball
06:02isn't boring podcast. Joining us here as he does every Thursday on Jones and Keith here on opening
06:07day on WEI, you mentioned how Yoshida looks this spring. I know it's been limited looks at Raphael
06:14Devers. How would you say he looks? He's okay. I mean, I, I mean, the times I've seen him play
06:20and you know, like, listen, the conditioning is what it is. It's, you're going to see him. I think
06:24you have seen, I think he ran down and after I talked to you guys and took a video of him,
06:29you know, he's big, but he's not like, he's not like Sandoval big. And I'm not talking Patrick
06:34Sandoval. I'm talking Pablo, of course. And, and he's, he's, he hit, he's hit in the, in spring
06:40training. The thing is that I would be a little couple of things. I'd be a little wary of when
06:43it comes to Devers is that he, he got so few at bats in spring training and he can hit in the
06:50backfield, knock the deck machine and all that stuff. I don't, it's baffling to me why he didn't
06:55get in more games because games are games. That's what spring trainings are for. And the other thing
07:00is, is that how is he going to handle this DH thing? And I talked to him the other day, said,
07:05I'm just going to do my thing. I'm not going to change anything. I haven't asked advice from
07:09anybody, JD Martinez or David Ortiz or anything, but you don't know until you get there. Like you
07:14don't know how, what it's like to he's only DH 20 started 20 games as a DH. So all these things,
07:21you might just come out and just start raking right away. But these are some of the things
07:25that if he doesn't rake, then you're going to, we're going to point to and say, well,
07:28that wasn't right. And they should have adjusted it. Is there a way for Roman Anthony and Marcella
07:35Meyer to be up with the big club outside of injury to somebody in front of them?
07:41Yeah. I mean, if, if someone stinks, I mean, if, if a brand new stinks, if, if radio isn't good,
07:48then, and he really, really struggles kind of like he did last year at the beginning of the year.
07:53And they're like, Hey, you know what? You know, you can eat no more time in the minors or whatever
07:57it is that in Roman Anthony is tearing it up. Then sure. I think for Marcella Meyer is more of,
08:04it just comes down to is Trevor story or, or Bregman healthy. Those are the two spots that
08:10he can play if they are healthy and they are producing, or not even if they're producing,
08:13if they're healthy, then he's going to stay in the minor league for now. It's, it's still guys.
08:18It is still baffling to me. I love spring training. You know, I love the chicken wings.
08:22I love the beach. I love it all. And so, but of all my time in spring training,
08:28one of the most baffling things was that day, Marcella Meyer. I think I talked to you guys
08:32the day after Marcella Meyer playing second base. I mean, we did the podcast
08:36with Breslow. I sat down with him and I said, okay, you got to answer this for me.
08:41And he goes on about how you're in the right to be in the competition and blah, blah, blah. And I
08:45said, but it was a day, it was a day. And he didn't really have a response to it. It was weird.
08:52And yet, because that, that sort of him being in the competition came and went within a day,
08:58but he was, I think by far the best guy of those three guys in spring training.
09:03Well, yeah. And so speaking of that, I get your point on, you know,
09:06if William Ray really struggles, maybe that's where Roman Anthony comes up.
09:09I didn't never consider Marcella Meyer playing second base either.
09:13And so what if Christian Campbell gets off to a really slow start and obviously he is
09:18hopefully the future of that position and you don't want to run away from him too soon. But
09:22if it's a long prolonged slump to start the year and Marcella Meyer is killing it at Worcester,
09:28even though he's doing it at shortstop, would there be any kind of thought of having him come
09:32up and take Campbell's spot? I think they would be very hesitant to do it. They could do it,
09:38obviously, but you have to go through a lot of other check lists, right? You have to go through
09:43David Hamilton. You have to go through Vaughn Grissom, who's going to be playing second base
09:46in Worcester. And if neither one of those guys are impressing, yeah. And so if either one of
09:52those guys are impressing, then yeah, make the move. But the thing is, is that they want him,
09:57they want Marcella Meyer as a fail-safe at shortstop. And Trevor Story has had a bad back
10:03the last couple of weeks. That's a reminder, that's a reminder that you might need Marcella
10:08Meyer at shortstop. So I'm not going to say no, but right now, we're looking at, we're looking
10:15if we're going to do the Dustin Pedroia 2007 thing all over again, then David Hamilton would
10:19play the role of Alex Cora and get Pedroia to the finish line or get Campbell to the finish line.
10:26I don't think Marcella Meyer would be. I was listening to Cora yesterday on WEI
10:31Afternoons with Hart and Fitzy, and he gave what I thought an interesting answer about Tristan
10:36Kassas. He was asked about Breslau's projections for him, 40 and 110 or whatever. And Cora's like,
10:40the guy's just got to play. Like, he's got to be out there. He's got to play 150 games is the
10:44number. And if he plays that, the rest will take care of itself. I sensed a little Kassas fatigue
10:50in that answer. Is he already a little worn out by the Tristan Kassas experience,
10:54or am I barking up the wrong tree? No, I think, no, I think it's cut and dry,
10:59not only with Cora, I think with basically everyone that follows the Red Sox. If he produces,
11:05great. You've got a great personality, a great teammate. He's different, sure, but he's producing.
11:11But if you don't produce, then all this other stuff is like, it's just, it becomes,
11:16it becomes a little less palatable, right? So I think that Alex Cora is saying the obvious.
11:23We need this guy to produce. And so, and then, you know, for the team, but also just for the
11:30perception of Tristan Kassas, I, I said, I think I said it to you guys before. I don't know if
11:34there's a more polarizing athlete in Boston right now than Tristan Kassas. I don't know. And, and,
11:39but that's why it's sort of this April, so important to him to sort of get that narrative
11:44back on track, not only with Cora, but with everybody. All right, so let's play this out.
11:48Garrett Crochet goes six innings today and leaves the game with a lead.
11:53What is the ideal seven, eight, nine for the bullpen?
11:57Ooh, I love it. Let's go back to 2013 when you and Koji Andrew Miller,
12:02uh, who wasn't it? Uh, Andrew Bailey, was he in there? I don't know.
12:07Yeah. It was, it was Koji Andrew Miller. Ruby Della Rosa.
12:12Yeah. Ruby Della Rosa. Andrew. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Alan Webster came in throwing a 99 and everyone
12:18freaked out. Um, no, I think, I think that, I think that you're going to have, here's my guess.
12:24I, as I said, I'm a, I, I really liked what Whitlock has been doing. No question about it.
12:29I think Whitlock gets in there. I think Slayton gets in there. If you, the first left,
12:33you probably maybe it's Justin Miller. Um, and then you have Chapman at the end. I don't know
12:38if they throw Hendrix out there today. I think, I think, I think, yeah, I mean, I just, it just
12:46seems like he's still working his way back, you know? So it hasn't been terrible, but it hasn't
12:51been the type of level that you say, Oh, there's a high leverage guy. So, you know, I just, I think
12:57in an ideal world, you sort of ease him back into things. But right now, if you, I love a good power
13:03ranking. If you get a power rank, who looked the best in spring training and relievers, it was
13:07Chapman. It was Whitlock. It was Slayton. Is it fair to say it is kind of bullpen by committee
13:13Cora gave an answer the other day where he's like, well, Chapman's been the best guy, but
13:16if Corey Seager's up in the eighth inning, he's going to come in in the eighth. I mean,
13:19is it, is it fair to say this is bullpen by committee? Yeah. I mean, that's how baseball
13:23is right now, but you'd better have the guy who can come back. They weren't like that last year
13:28with Jens. Oh, I see what you're saying. Matching up beforehand. And then, yeah, right. Yeah. I
13:33mean, I guess almost all bullpens have two guys now, right? So it's like the Yankees,
13:37they have Luke Weaver and Devin Williams. Like you, you have these guys, but you know, I think
13:41that ideally, and, but I will say this, Cora has said, like, he likes certainty. He likes routine.
13:46So why he said he might bring him in the eighth, I would think that he wouldn't want to wait for
13:51the ninth and how long that dynamic lasts. It really depends on how many times you're going to
13:57go with watching a role. This Chapman walked three guys before striking out the first,
14:02because, you know, this is, he looks good, but you know, he has a track record of not throwing
14:07strikes. Last thing for you, Brad, for this ended up being a pretty spirited debate last week on
14:13the show. Is the catcher a part of the infield? Yes. Is he? Yeah. Yeah. He's not part of the
14:24outfield. Yeah. He's an infielder, but he is part of the battery. He's not an infield. A catcher's
14:29not an infielder. Don't sway him. He already said you do both, but you asked the misleading way.
14:36I feel like is a catcher and infield. All right. Maybe I didn't ask you. Right. But I got the
14:40right answer. Is the outfield is outfielders part of the lineup. Yeah. You can be both.
14:46It's like they're in the lineup. Yeah. Yeah. This is a type of thing. This is a title. This
14:52is why baseball is so great. Yay. Baseball. Baseball is never boring with conversations
14:56like this. It isn't. It isn't. All right. Brad, we appreciate it. Even when you're wrong answer,
15:02we'll we'll talk to you. We'll talk to you next week. As I said, it's your prerogative to be
15:06wrong. So there you go. I am used to that. We'll talk to you next week. Enjoy opening day.
15:11All right. Thanks, guys. Brad joining us here every Thursday. Infield. Thank you.
15:18I forgot to ask him that. Great job by the text line. I would have forgotten about that.
15:22You said, is he part of the infield? I feel like that was a leading way to ask it. Is he an
15:27infielder? Same thing, isn't it? No difference. No, no, no. Thank you, Nick. No, no, no. Because
15:31you were asking more about like where where he is. Is centerfield a part of the outfield?
15:36Is centerfield an outfielder? Yeah. Well, no, but in that case,
15:39those are both yes. Well, yeah, but but you understand they're both yes to Jones. The
15:43question is the same. Right. But you would say, like, the pitcher is part of the infield,
15:46but you would say the pitcher isn't a fielder. Yeah. Pitchers are the pitchers.
15:50Not only when a few goals. That's what I need. Damn it, Billy. He did win a gold glove.
15:53That's what the next week is a pitcher and infielders blow this whole thing up. The gold
15:59gloves go to the best fielders. No, a pitcher a pitcher wins one every year. He's a fielder.
16:04He's an infielder. He plays the pitcher spot. He's part of the battery.
16:07It's a good point. If you win a goal, if your position wins a gold glove, you're a fielder.
16:11Yeah. You got to be fielding somewhere. And we've all agreed that it's not the outfield.
16:15We all agree that at the very least. But there's more than two. You make it sound like there's
16:19only two spots. There's three battery. I've never heard outfield infield battery. Where's the field
16:24in that word? That's not this. It's not the name. The defense rest your honor. So a pitcher is an
16:30infielder. The prosecution also rests. Answer that the pitcher is an infielder. Unwritten rules.
16:34Yes, he's not. Yeah, he is. Reality is he's an infield. Thank you. I'm all about written rules.
16:39He has a number. There's a double play and he's involved in it. His one is involved.
16:43One, two, three, four, five. That's like that guy that called Greg today was pissed. He's like,
16:47the team can't be good. They can't turn to four years ago. It was a wild thing. He's like,
16:51they don't have middle infielders. You almost have to respect the double play combinations
16:55trash four years ago. And then Greg's like, you want me to ask Will Middlebrooks about that?
17:00Is that a good call next week? Yeah. If the pitcher wasn't a fielder, why would he have a
17:03glove? Thank you, Nick. I didn't say he isn't a fielder. I said he's not an infielder. I didn't
17:07say he's not a fielder. He's not an infielder. Well, then where's he? He's part of the battery.
17:11Apparently, he's part of the battery field. Yeah. Great. Text line agrees with me. Text
17:17line greater than Bradford. I always say it.