Two weeks at spring coaching will yield solutions to some questions – comparable to what sort of animal Triston Casas could be (an orangutan) – but in addition results in loads of new questions.
Here are seven new and not-so-new questions on present and former Red Sox, cash, and Seinfeld:
1. Why does everybody assume the Red Sox will probably be unhealthy this 12 months?
Aside from the plain arguments – they spent manner lower than the Dodgers and didn’t make a blockbuster commerce for Corbin Burnes (Orioles) or Juan Soto (Yankees) – what actually makes you assume the Red Sox can’t be a very good staff?
Spending is not any assure of success. Just have a look at the Mets and Padres final 12 months, or the Red Sox in ‘22, after they exceeded the posh tax, solely to have an avalanche of accidents bury them down the stretch.
This staff’s vitality is intriguing. They’re an intensely aggressive group, and already appear to have good chemistry; they know the significance of clubhouse camaraderie, and have made it a precedence to forge private relationships with each other. In different phrases, the sort of essential intangibles that made a distinction for earlier Red Sox groups.
It’s additionally a mostly-healthy Red Sox staff. The roster is filled with younger, hungry expertise, and a few promising new additions, together with Lucas Giolito and Vaughn Grissom. The pitchers have a transformational new coach in Andrew Bailey, who labored wonders with the San Francisco Giants.
Above all, the Red Sox don’t have anything to lose, as a result of almost everybody has already determined they’re losers. So why rely them out earlier than Opening Day? Allow for the chance that they might pleasantly shock you.
2. Will the Red Sox signal Jordan Montgomery?
At this level, there are solely two issues standing in the best way of Jordan Montgomery being a Red Sock: his willingness to be one, and John Henry agreeing to cough up the dough to make it occur.
It’s arduous to say which one is a more durable promote, however I’d say the latter, which solely makes the Red Sox and their self-imposed, pointless spending limits look worse. Sources inform the Herald that Montgomery actually needs to return to the defending-champion Texas Rangers, and remains to be holding out hope for a reunion. Unfortunately for the left-hander, the Rangers appear decided to not incur even steeper luxurious tax penalties by bringing him again.
The Red Sox haven’t any such issues, however convincing Henry to spend cash, even when it is going to result in an improved staff, renewed fan curiosity, and subsequently, a rise in fan spending, appears about as simple as climbing Everest barefoot.
3. Why are the Red Sox so insistent on shedding Kenley Jansen’s wage?
The quick reply can be the pretty apparent one: the Red Sox don’t need to spend cash.
They’re enthusiastic about buying and selling Jansen, and if they might discover a staff prepared to tackle the nearer’s total $16 million wage, they doubtless would’ve already.
Much just like the earlier query, the thriftiness is confounding. The Sox are one of many wealthiest franchises within the sport, however haven’t acted or spent like one lately. They’ve taken miserliness to a brand new stage this winter; in keeping with Spotrac, they rank No. 13 within the Majors in luxurious tax allocations, and their estimated $179.4 million luxurious tax payroll offers them roughly $57.6 million area earlier than they attain this 12 months’s $237 million threshold.
4. Will there be one other Sox spring coaching stud?
Almost yearly, a Red Sox hitter places up huge numbers in preseason play, then does next-to-nothing when video games begin to rely. Remember Sam Travis? He led the group with six house runs in spring coaching 2018. Over his 111 regular-season video games with the Sox between ‘17-19, he hit seven.
Bobby Dalbec and Michael Chavis had been as soon as prime prospects, and completed the ‘21 preseason with seven and six round-trippers, respectively, but neither managed to replicate their production or stick with the club in the regular season. Dalbec even admitted earlier this spring he can’t consider he’s nonetheless with the group.
5. Can Matt Barnes bounce again in DC?
Matt Barnes is getting a second probability within the National League East. Pending a bodily, the Washington Nationals will signal the previous Red Sox reliever to a minor league cope with an invitation to spring coaching.
Barnes debuted with the ‘14 Sox, and have become a bullpen mainstay earlier than struggling within the second half of ‘21 and all through ‘22. The Sox designated him for task and traded him to the Marlins final winter, however he solely pitched in 24 video games for Miami, and posted a career-worst 5.48 ERA over 21.1 innings.
Throughout Barnes’ 9 years in Boston, there have been lengthy stretches by which the right-hander was utterly unreliable. I attended the six-hour, 19-inning sport on Sept. 5, 2017 when John Farrell wanted 12 pitchers to defeat the Blue Jays, and nonetheless refused to let the right-hander take the mound. The then-Sox skipper felt extra snug testing Carson Smith, who hadn’t pitched in a big-league sport in over a 12 months, for the 18th body. Barnes additionally didn’t pitch as soon as within the ALDS the next month.
Almost every year of his Sox tenure, with out fail, he’d battle when the calendar flipped to June and August: a 5.21 ERA over 65 outings within the former, a 7.23 ERA over 81 appearances within the latter.
However, there have been occasions when Barnes was Boston’s finest bullpen arm, together with the primary half of the ‘21 season, when he pitched his way to his first All-Star Game. And when the lights were at their brightest, he dominated, allowing just one earned run over 12 appearances between the Sox’s ‘16, ‘18, and ‘21 postseason runs.
6. Who’s the Red Sox Opening Day beginning pitcher?
As of Tuesday, Red Sox Opening Day (in Seattle) is lower than a month away. Alex Cora isn’t able to make an official announcement, however he did say final week the aim is to ensure Brayan Bello is able to pitch in regular-season video games as early as doable, even when which means not letting him take the mound within the Sox’s two video games in opposition to the Rays in his native Dominican Republic on March 9 and 10.
7. How many Seinfeld jokes will I make now that Jason Alexander is a member of the Red Sox group?
The Red Sox are signing Alexander, a right-hander who shares the identical identify because the legendary Seinfeld actor. Cue the content material, WooSox social media crew.
Is this man repped by Vandelay Industries? How will George Steinbrenner really feel about this betrayal? Is he good at Frogger? Does he seek advice from himself within the third particular person?
Source: www.bostonherald.com