DHL Dan CCLXXI - Second Guessing, Shank's Favorite Pastime

In this weeks Picked Up Pieces column, Shank plays the what if? card with the Red Sox:

Rafael Devers might have been the piece the Red Sox were lacking in the playoffs, and other thoughts

Picked up pieces while predicting a big Patriot win Sunday night in Buffalo …

A fun Red Sox season is over. The locals made it to the postseason for the first time since 2021, then flamed out in a best-of-three Wild Card Series vs. the hated Yankees. The Sox were staggering at the finish, with only one-and-a-half starting pitchers, the worst defense in baseball, a lot of injured players, and a Charmin-soft lineup peppered with guys who’ve been cut loose by other teams and picked up from the recycling bin.

Seriously. How far were you going to go with Rob Refsnyder batting leadoff and Romy Gonzalez hitting cleanup against a Yankees team that featured four former MVPs in the first four spots in the lineup?

I will leave it to the Globe’s super-smart baseball scribes to speculate on what should be a busy winter for Boston baseball boss Craig Breslow and the Sox owners.

But for one final time, please let me address the myth of the Rafael Devers trade/salary dump that has been credited with turning around the Boston season, but, in fact, ultimately sunk the team in its final days.

The Red Sox batted .198 with one homer in the playoffs. Gonzalez, Refsnyder, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Nathaniel Lowe, and Carlos Narváez combined to hit .054 (3 for 55).

Predicting a big Patriot win tomorrow night, is he? Here's another prediction - if the Patriots lose to Buffalo, Shank will be all over their case on Monday and he'll somehow blame Robert Kraft for it.

DHL Dan CCLVIII - No Sale

In the weekly picked Up Pieces column, Shank's not buying the reason the Red Sox got rid of Rafael Devers last week:

Red Sox are trying to sell that Devers trade was in ‘best interest’ of team. Sorry, not buying, and other thoughts.

Picked-up pieces while thinking that Florida’s Paul Maurice can coach my team any day . . .

⋅ Feel better, Red Sox fans? Happy that your team gave away the team’s best hitter in exchange for nothing that will help this year, other than $254 million in payroll relief for ownership?

Of course you are. Because you’re convinced Devers was selfish and a bad teammate. Not willing to pick up a glove to help the team. He was fat. He wouldn’t do interviews in English. Even management shill Big Papi said Devers is an ungrateful lout. Oh, and did you hear that Devers was poisoning the clubhouse, telling a good kid such as Kristian Campbell not to work out at first base to help the team?

Devers had to go. That’s what the Red Sox want you to believe.

Why can't it be both?

Go West, Young Man

Shank weighs in on yesterday's Rafael Devers trade to the San Francisco Giants:

In dealing Rafael Devers, the Red Sox cash in their good vibes and once again trade their present for the future

This is not going to play well in Red Sox Nation.

It’s shocking.

And demoralizing.

The suddenly surging Red Sox swept the Yankees at Fenway on Sunday afternoon for their fifth straight win, got on a plane to Seattle for a nine-game West Coast trip, then traded franchise face Rafael Devers to the Giants for mediocre pitchers Kyle Harrison (1-1, 4.56 ERA) and Jordan Hicks (1-5, 6.47), plus two far-away prospects.

It’s a big bowl of bad for Boston baseball. The Red Sox are once again saving money and asking their paying population to tolerate a mediocre present in hopes of a better future.

Back then, No thanks.

My only rejoinder - didn't the Red Sox win in 2004 after they traded Nomar Garciaparra in a similar midseason trade? The only difference here - Shank led the bandwagon to run Nomar out of town.

Striking Out

Let's see how (former) Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers is doing in his new role as designated hitter after three games:

Something’s amiss in Rafael Devers’s move to DH

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Rafael Devers DH project is not off to a great start in Texas. In three games, Devers is 0 for 12 with 10 strikeouts. That’s an MLB record. Seriously.

In the galaxy of Boston sports stars, Devers has never been a controversial figure. In seven-plus seasons, he’s been a sweet, silent, savant swinger who smiles and keeps to himself. His nickname is “Carita,” which translates to “Baby Face.”

See the ball. Hit the ball. Mind your own business. Show up tomorrow and do it again. That’s been the Raffy Devers Way.

All that changed when Devers signed a 10-year, $313.5 million contract, in the post-Mookie, post-Xander chaos that took the franchise to the bottom of the AL East in 2022 and 2023. The big money brought new attention and responsibilities, and Sox Nation came down hard on Devers last month when he balked at the notion of moving to DH to accommodate new Sox third baseman, Gold Glover Alex Bregman.

Trouble In Paradise?

With the speculation that new acquisition Alex Bregman might play at third base for the Red Sox, let's see how the current third basement feels about it:

Does Rafael Devers have any interest in becoming the Red Sox’ full-time DH? ‘No!’

FORT MYERS, Fla. — We have a legitimate Red Sox spring training controversy. Just like in the good old days of Roger Clemens and Oil Can Boyd.

The Sox want third baseman Rafael Devers to become a designated hitter to make room for prize free agent acquisition Alex Bregman, who’s been a Gold Glove third baseman for the Astros.

And Devers has one word for them . . .

“No.”

Monday at JetBlue Park was one of the wilder spring training days in club history. That’s no small statement for a franchise that gave us general manager Lou Gorman saying, “The sun will rise, the sun will set, and I’ll have lunch,” when MVP Clemens stormed out of camp over a contract squabble . . . or when Oil Can was nearly arrested for overdue adult videos in Winter Haven — an episode that came to be known as “The Can’s Film Festival.”

I'm sure this one will be as good as some of those other ones but as far as a funny name, nothing's topping “The Can’s Film Festival” !

DHL Dan CLIII - A Come Together Moment

To everyone's surprise, the Boston Red Sox signed Rafael Devers to a mega contract:

The Rafael Devers deal coming together was one for the books, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while packing for Buffalo, home of America’s Team …

▪ Signing a homegrown star to an 11-year, $331 million extension is not something a franchise does on the spur of the moment. It’s not something a team does in knee-jerk fashion. It’s not an emotional reaction to the owner of the ball club getting booed two days earlier in his own ballpark. That’s just silly.

But that’s the shorthand, folks. That’s what fans will remember years from now when the pluses and minuses of Rafael Devers’s whopping contract are debated after the Local Nine experiences more duck boat parades and/or last-place finishes.

Fair or unfair, the lasting narrative of the Devers extension is going to be that a minor fan insurrection at Fenway Park Monday motivated the Red Sox to sign their best remaining player.

DHL Dan CXXV - Goners?

Shank takes a look at the contract situations of key members of the Red Sox:

It already seems impossible to get away from Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts contract talk, and other thoughts

NEW YORK — Picked-up pieces while back in New York for the first time in 2½ years …

▪ Two days into a new baseball season and it seems impossible to get away from contract talk. Is Xander Bogaerts going to opt out at the end of this season? Is Rafael Devers gone after 2023? Why won’t the Red Sox just pony up and sign their homegrown stars to whopping contract extensions?

Fair or unfair, this is a reality as the Red Sox start their season in Yankee Stadium. It’s been hard to focus on competitive baseball issues — such as the questionable quality of Alex Cora’s starting rotation and bullpen.

Money was on everyone’s minds at Yankee Stadium for Friday’s opener. Bogaerts and Devers had acknowledged that spring negotiations with the Sox went nowhere. Both said they didn’t want to negotiate during the season. And once the game started, everything they did felt like a referendum on their worth to the franchise.

I get the feeling neither one of them will re-sign with the Sox, the way it's going now.

Get Off My Lawn?

Shank's latest column started out strong with that old man vibe:

Kids today. They’re just not like they used to be.

This is what old people say. And parents. And teachers. And coaches. This is the lament of folks sitting in rocking chairs, reading newspapers, calling grandchildren on the land-line rotary telephone and actually expecting the young folks to pick up the call.

It’s the same when it comes to Major League Baseball players.

Turns out it's a pretty decent column, and I think that's the second time I've recommended a Shank column this month. That's a sure sign of the approaching apocalypse!

The Obligatory Rafael Devers Column

You ever get the feeling that Shank just goes through the motions when he covers Red Sox spring training?

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Vitilla has been very good to Boston baseball.

The Dominican Republic gave the Red Sox Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Hanley Ramirez, and now Rafael Devers. And all of them honed their skills playing vitilla (pronounced vee-TEE-ya), the broomstick/bottle cap baseball game children play in the Dominican Republic.

“You go to the Dominican and as soon as you land and go outside the airport, you are gonna see kids playing vitilla all over the place,’’ said Hanley Ramirez. “Every backyard. That’s all we do.’’

And what Red Sox spring training column by Shank isn't complete without a forty year-old story?

The description reminded me of a conversation I had with 21-year-old Eddie Murray four decades ago at Bobby Maduro Stadium in Miami.

Surprisingly, he hasn't reused that chestnut a shitload of times - maybe he's not going through the motions?

UPDATE AT 5:40 PM - Just to note of the five Dominican players mentioned above, Shank did his best to run the first three out of town and will do so to the other two when the opportunity presents itself.

Man Overboard?

Red Sox rookie Rafael Devers smacks a home run in his second game in the major leagues, and Shank devotes a column to it.

SEATTLE — It was quite a week for 20-year-old Red Sox rookie Rafael Devers. He made his first six-hour flight, got his first $60 haircut (clubhouse barber), and hit his first major league home run in a much-needed, 4-0 Red Sox victory (thank you, Chris Sale) over the Mariners Wednesday.

So what’s the reward?

No one knows. Devers went 2 for 4 in his second career game, but might be headed right back to the minors before the reeling Red Sox come home for David Price’s return party at Fenway Friday night.

Tony C. and Fred Lynn are also mentioned; I'm sure that's just a coincidence.

The First Rafael Devers Column

The latest member of the Boston Red Sox got the call yesterday and will be playing third base tonight. Shank does the write-up:

SEATTLE — Rafael Devers is the Next Big Thing in Red Sox Nation.

Devers is only 20. He played only 86 games above the A-ball level and now he’s in the majors. Devers did not play in the Red Sox’ 4-0 loss to the Mariners on Monday night, although he was available for pinch-hitting duties. He is expected to make his first big league appearance Tuesday against Seattle’s Felix Hernandez.

Welcome to the big leagues, kid.

No cheap baseball clichés here!