Post-Post-Season Red Sox Thoughts And Links For You This Happy Morning
All manner of topics covered, including Xander's and Devers' defense, Chaim's presser, Jeter Downs' hot streak, Alex Cora's post-season, and even Franchy Cordero makes an appearance.
The World Series is in full swing, or so I hear. I didn’t actually watch any of it. I usually make a point of watching the World Series. If nothing else, it’s the last baseball until February. But after getting so close, I can’t stomach seeing the Astros or Braves on the field. It feels like watching an ex walk past you with their new fling, look your way, and smile. It makes me sick to my stomach.
So putting actual baseball aside, there is still much to talk about concerning the Red Sox. I’ve noticed a number of good articles on interesting aspects of the team recently, so I thought I’d pass them along to you, occasionally adding my own thoughts as appropriate.
Before we get to that though, hello, I’m Matt Kory. This is Sox Outsider, my Red Sox newsletter. I’ve been writing about baseball here on the interwebs for a long time at such places as The Athletic and FanGraphs. Now I’m covering the Red Sox here, with this newsletter. It’s free to read and free to subscribe, so I’d be honored if you’d join the literally hundreds of people who have already signed up. Thank you!
1. It was an extremely tough year for one of the Red Sox best prospects, Jeter Downs, who came over from the Dodgers in the Mookie Betts trade. Downs finally started showing positive signs a few weeks before the regular season ended and the Red Sox sent him to the Arizona Fall League in hopes that that would continue. And lo and behold it did continue, as friend of the site Chris Hatfield of Sox Prospects points out here.
Before all that though, Zach Buchanan of The Athletic talked to Downs about his tough season and what he has learned from it. (Behind The Athletic’s paywall, FYI)
2. If you’re a Red Sox fan on Twitter you probably know the account @RedSoxStats. That account tweeted a self-written article on the problem with Xander Bogaerts’ defense and what to do about it. It’s not a simple issue for numerous reasons. I intend to write a piece on it as well, so I won’t say too much here except there are a number of ways things could go wrong. The situation will be a true test of Chaim Bloom’s leadership and wisdom.
3. My old friend Joon Lee, now of ESPN, spoke to Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers about their futures with the Red Sox. There are some very illuminating quotes in this article. Joon, as always, does a fantastic job.
4. Alex Cora had a… let’s call it memorable post-season. I wasn’t particularly impressed with his reliever usage, but Ben Clemens of FanGraphs thought he did a pretty good job and goes into good detail about it.
5. One of the items I’ve neglected to mention here in the maelstrom of ALCS news is that the Red Sox DFA’d Franchy Cordero. Franchy was, if not the key piece, than the most notable piece to come from the Andrew Benintendi trade this past winter. You’d think the Red Sox cutting him would be the biggest Franchy news, but no. There are two pieces of Franchy news beyond that. Before he was cut he signed a one year deal with the Red Sox for slightly above the league minimum. This effectively makes it more expensive for other teams to claim him. And, maybe predictably, the Red Sox plans worked, as Cordero was not claimed and was assigned to Triple-A, where he will be roster depth in 2022. Friend of the newsletter Matt Collins of Over The Monster gets into detail on all this.
6. One of my favorite writers, Dayn Perry of CBS Sports, wrote about one of my least favorite subjects, the CBA negotiations. The truth is, you’ll likely want to know this stuff, and there’s nobody who makes dry topics more fun than Dayn Perry.
7. Evan Drellich of The Athletic wrote about Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox never-ending search for value. This one has a bunch of great quotes in it as well. Definitely recommended (though it is also behind The Athletic’s paywall).
8. Chaim Bloom talked to the media on Monday. Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe has all the details.
It’s not my intent to bombard you with Sox Outsider on a daily basis during the off-season, but I am planning to do something in the vein of two to four pieces a week, as news and ideas dictate. If there’s anything you’d like to see me cover, please toss it in the comments section, or feel free to reach out to me on Twitter (I’m @mattymatty2000). I always love hearing from you.
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