Mookie Betts admits 2018 Red Sox occasionally used video to steal signs

The Astros’ scheme was the most prevalent, thorough, and arguably the most advantageous in terms of real-time at-bats. But Betts was candid when asked if he was aware that the 2018 Red Sox occasionally used live video to steal signs.

“Yeah,” Betts told Hernandez. “Everybody was.”

Betts, who endorsed Watkins’ hiring along with another former Sox regular in J.D. Martinez, said that Boston did not use any sign-stealing schemes during the 2018 World Series against the Dodgers.

During MLB’s investigation that resulted in Watkins’ suspension, the league ruled that the Red Sox utilized sign-stealing measures only during the 2018 regular season. The report yielded insufficient evidence of Boston using those same schemes during the 2018 postseason or the 2019 regular season.

Betts acknowledged that Boston used their sign-stealing scheme infrequently.

“Every now and … It’s kind of hard to remember,” Betts noted.

However, Betts added that stealing signs was far from the reason why the 2018 Red Sox were so dominant.

NL power accused of illegally stealing signs: ‘They’re the biggest cheaters’

According to Evan Drellich’s book, “Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports’ Biggest Mess,” the Boston Red Sox thought the Los Angeles Dodgers also tried to steal signs in the 2018 World Series. Keep in mind, the Red Sox were involved in their own sign-stealing scandal in that same series.

Per Chad Finn and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, a member of the Red Sox said in the book:

“The Dodgers have always been the thing that bothers me the most. Because they’re the biggest cheaters in the whole [expletive] industry. … They were doing it against us in the ‘18 World Series. They got caught by Major League Baseball and Major League Baseball did nothing.”

The Red Sox were accused of using their replay room to steal signs during the 2018 regular season. Per a report from commissioner Rob Manfred in 2020:

“I find that J.T. Watkins, the Red Sox video replay system operator, on at least some occasions during the 2018 regular season, utilized the game feeds in the replay room, in violation of MLB regulations, to revise sign sequence information that he had permissibly provided to players prior to the game.”

Matt Barnes traded to Marlins from Boston (source)

The Marlins added an experienced late-inning option to their bullpen on Monday afternoon by acquiring Matt Barnes and cash considerations from the Red Sox for left-hander Richard Bleier, a source told MLB.com on Monday.

The club did not confirm the news.

The longest-tenured Red Sox player until they designated him for assignment on Tuesday, Barnes had become one of the club’s most trusted relievers by 2016. During the ‘18 World Series championship run, he dominated across 10 playoff appearances.

Barnes became the full-time closer in 2021, recording a 124 ERA+, a 1.12 WHIP and 24 saves in 60 outings. But he struggled down the stretch, and it carried over into ‘22 with a 4.31 ERA, 3.87 FIP and 1.44 WHIP in 44 games. After returning from right shoulder inflammation last August, however, Barnes posted a 1.59 ERA in his final 24 outings.

Red Sox acquire Adalberto Mondesi in trade with Royals

The Boston Red Sox have acquired shortstop Adalberto Mondesi in a trade with the Kansas City Royals, it was announced Tuesday.

The Royals will get left-handed reliever Josh Taylor in exchange for Mondesi and a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Mondesi, 27, has played in only 50 games over the past two seasons because of injuries.

He was limited to 15 games during the 2022 season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on an attempted pickoff play in April. He played in only 35 games in 2021 because of left hamstring and left oblique injuries.

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Mastrodonato: Red Sox fans have every right to be angry at John Henry, Chaim Bloom and Co.

The bold-faced lying to fans, as if we are all too stupid to know they are lying, is absolutely galling. It’s hubris. This ownership group has lost me.

Sources: Red Sox, OF Adam Duvall agree to 1-year, $7M deal

Outfielder Adam Duvall has agreed to a one-year, $7 million deal with the Red Sox, sources confirmed, giving Boston someone who could help make up for the offense lost with the departure of J.D. Martinez.

Duvall, 34, struggled through an injury-plagued season with the Braves last year, hitting .212 with 12 homers and a .677 OPS. He was an All-Star in 2016, while with the Reds, and won a Gold Glove for his play with the Marlins and Braves in 2021, when he clubbed 38 homers and drove in 113 runs.

Eight Shortstops Red Sox Could Target After Trevor Story Injury

TRADE CANDIDATES
Ha-Seong Kim, San Diego Padres
What if Bogaerts and Kim simply switched spots? Obviously, that’s a downgrade for Boston when painted as such, but Kim is a good, versatile infielder who’s coming off a 2022 season in which he posted 3.7 fWAR, the 11th-best mark among MLB shortstops. He’s also only 27 and on a team-friendly contract, meaning the Red Sox would need to part with legitimate talent to pry him away from San Diego, but it’s definitely a worthwhile consideration given Boston’s glaring need up the middle…

Adalberto Mondesi, Kansas City Royals
This would be a dart throw, seeing as Mondesi was limited to 50 games the last two seasons due to injuries and proved inconsistent with the bat in the years before that. But he’s still just 27 and showed flashes of being a dynamic player shortly after arriving in the majors, thanks to both his defense and his speed. Mondesi, a free agent next offseason, swiped 99 bases in 236 games between 2018 and 2020.

Red Sox’s Trevor Story Will Miss Time After Elbow Procedure

Who could have seen this coming? Not the Red Sox doctors, apparently.

Boston announced Trevor Story underwent an internal bracing procedure of the right ulnar collateral ligament — which is an alternative to Tommy John surgery. The Red Sox did not list a timetable for recovery, but internet searches say between four and six months.

Story signed a six-year deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2021 Major League Baseball season. Despite being primarily a shortstop with the Colorado Rockies, Story played second base and, when healthy, was one of the best defensively at the position last year.

Sources: Rafael Devers, Red Sox finalizing 11-year, $331M extension

Third baseman Rafael Devers and the Boston Red Sox are finalizing an 11-year, $331 million contract extension, sources told ESPN, a deal that will keep the 26-year-old star from reaching free agency this year and constitutes the longest and largest guarantee ever given by the franchise.

The agreement, which is expected to be signed Wednesday night, comes in the midst of an arduous winter for the Red Sox, who lost longtime shortstop Xander Bogaerts to San Diego in free agency nearly three years after trading star right fielder Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Offering Devers to a deal far longer than Manny Ramirez’s eight-year pact and more than 50% larger than David Price’s $217 million contract was enough for the two-time All-Star to accept shepherding the Red Sox out of last place in the American League East and back to contention.

The contract is expected to fold in the $17.5 million salary Devers agreed to earlier this week to avoid arbitration and extend another 10 years beyond that, sources said.

Red Sox Agree To One-Year Deal With Corey Kluber

The Red Sox made a move to add to their starting rotation.

Boston on Wednesday agreed to a one-year deal with Corey Kluber, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported. The contract also includes a club option for the 2024 season and has a $10 million guarantee for 2023.

While Kluber certainly isn’t the same pitcher he was when he won two Cy Young Awards while in Cleveland, he will be able to eat innings for the Red Sox, which they’ll need after Nathan Eovaldi and Rich Hill departed the organization.

Kluber, a member of the Tampa Bay Rays last season, went 10-10 with a 4.34 ERA in 164 innings pitched. While those numbers aren’t the most attractive, he did strike out 139 batters and walked just 21.

Inside the Red Sox’s free agency plans after Xander Bogaerts

The ownership group fired Dombrowski before the end of the 2019 season, less than a year after winning the World Series, and mandated the team cut salary in order to reset the luxury tax penalties. In came Bloom—whom Boston hired from the Tampa Bay Rays—with a vision of creating a Dodgers-style of sustained success, spending big money on star players while consistently developing top prospects to fill out the lineup.

It’s pretty funny saying they want a “Dodgers-style of sustained success” when the Red Sox traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers who signed him. You keep your young superstar players and get them locked up early, you don’t let them dangle until they get close to free agency. (Also see Bogaerts.)

According to multiple sources, Boston’s ownership group did not mandate that Bloom trade Betts to get under the luxury tax. But that is what Bloom ultimately decided to do, with an eye toward increasing the Red Sox’s options in the future. The team traded Betts and Price to Los Angeles for Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong. And Betts eventually signed a 12-year, $365 million contract with the Dodgers—a deal he told ESPN in August that he would have accepted in Boston.

I hope Bloom likes the criticism from multiple sources in the know. I’m sure those sources aren’t owner friendly. /s

Of course, if this is true, Bloom shouldn’t be in charge.

Have we made wrong decisions in the past? Lots of them,” Kennedy said. “You can’t sit around regretting mistakes of the past. That’s not a good recipe. We respect Mookie and it’s a hard decision, but we’ve moved on.”

Sure, you “can’t sit around regretting mistakes of the past.” But, you should remember and learn from them. Repeating the same mistakes over and over don’t point to the latter.

As the team builds the roster for 2023, some within the Red Sox front office have questioned Bloom’s decision-making process, team sources told ESPN. One front-office official said Bloom’s deliberate process toward making moves—asking many people for their input before making a decision—can put the Red Sox in a position to fall behind, reacting to other teams versus setting the market.

“I think we have a culture where people can and do express directly to me when they disagree with something,” Bloom said. “We have a lot of people in the loop on transactions that we make and we have a lot of really good debate. We have a place where people can share their opinion and have it be heard.”

More anonymous sources laying the groundwork for the future.

Anyway, there is a lot of other good stuff in the article, including info about Bogaerts willingness to take an extension after Story signed.

“I’m not sure how to respond to that,” Bloom said. “I certainly think we’ve made some large commitments in the time I’ve been here. For people who would’ve liked to have seen more, that’s their right. I think a lot of circumstances under which I joined the organization really precluded that for a period of time. I would argue we would’ve been worse off certainly prior to 2021 had we listened to people who wanted to see us make a splash instead of building a good baseball team.”

It’s not about the spending for me. It’s about the right spending. A team has to properly evaluate their best young players and get them signed as soon as they can. They can’t fritter away cash on mediocity and not spend money to keep their best homegrown players.

Betts and Bogaerts should have been able to fit within the Red Sox long-term budget. Alas, they can’t go back. Now they either have to overpay to keep Devers or be doomed to repeat the same mistake, again.

Ugh.

Jason R.R. Martinez on Twitter: “Updated Boston Red Sox projected roster” AFTER Justin Turner signs.

When I wrote that the Red Sox should be the Dodgers East I didn’t mean it literally.

Nevertheless, I like this sign. Turner hit well in the 2nd half last year and with more rest should be a nice complement at 3B, 1B and DH.

Red Sox DFA Eric Hosmer, acquire RHP Wyatt Mills from Royals

The Boston Red Sox designated veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer for assignment on Friday to make room for right-hander Wyatt Mills, who was acquired from Kansas City for minor league righty Jacob Wallace.

Hosmer, 33, batted .268 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs last season, when he was traded to the Red Sox from San Diego. In a 12-year career with the Royals, Padres and Red Sox, Hosmer has batted .277 with 196 homers and 879 RBIs.

Rafael Devers set to cash in on Red Sox’s Xander Bogaerts whiff

One big beneficiary of the free-agent largess — and particularly the $280M deal for Xander Bogaerts — is his longtime Red Sox teammate Rafael Devers. And sources say a Devers extension is Boston’s “No. 1 priority,” which never seemed true for Bogaerts.

“They have to give him whatever he wants,” one baseball exec said. “Can they really let him go too?”

Regarding Devers, Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Boom said by text, “Our efforts are only intensifying — but it’s something we’ve really wanted to do for a while and hopefully we’ll be able to find that path.”

The Red Sox were offering Devers in the mid $200Ms after already bumping it quite a bit, but now his $300M asking price seems reasonable. After all, he’s four years younger than Bogaerts.

While we know about Boston’s spring offer to Bogaerts to add one year and $30M to make it $90M over four, they offered to bump his deal to $120M in October, and as the Boston Globe reported, they floated a deal for close to $170M at the winter meetings (about $28M a year for six years).

Do You Really Want John Henry To Sell The Red Sox? - Over the Monster

My biggest complaint about John Henry is his impatience and quick firing of GMs.

A top franchise needs stability at the top. The owner needs to hire a good GM and then give him the runway to execute his long-term plan. Otherwise, there will be no consistency.  GMs, even the ones with good long-term plans, get forced into short-term moves to keep critics at bay and to keep their jobs. Those short-term decisions usually undermine their plan. For a GM to build with a long view in mind, he has to know the chance that he’ll be around in five years is good. To that end an owner has to provide the needed stability AND cover by getting out in the press to explain the team’s vision. The team’s actions then need to match those words.

With four Red Sox championships in this century, John Henry has a successful track record to point to that demonstrates his ability to build winners. He is squandering his credibility in that regard by not being up-front about the team’s plan and by not taking the short-term heat from the team’s decisions. As a result, he’s losing the confidence of his passionate, but reasonable, fans.

As for Chaim Bloom, Dan O’Dowd nails the issues with Bloom in this segment. (I wanted to embed the video but it seems MLB doesn’t have that option any more.)

At the root of any team’s success is having the best possible player evaluations. I don’t care how much money the team spends; I don’t care about the effectiveness of their player development; and, I don’t care if their economic models are perfect. If a team doesn’t properly evaluate players, it can’t win over an extended time period. That was true in Branch Rickey’s day; that was true when the Yankees were dominant in the 50’s; that was true when the Orioles excelled in the 60’s and 70’s; that was true when the Braves won in the 90’s; and, it’s true now during the Dodgers current run. A team NEEDS to evaluate players well or it fails.

Chaim Bloom’s plan seems good (such that he’s explained it) but his talent evaluations simply haven’t been good. The proof is in the play of his acquisitions and in the standings, which are the ultimate judge of of a team’s decision making.

Now, I haven’t given up on Bloom and the Red Sox yet, but I’m tettering. Hopefully, some self-examination of their player evaluation process will lead to some changes/improvements to the way they evaluate players. Otherwise, the team will continue to flounder and the blood demands from the most impatient, unreasonable Red Sox fans will continue to spread to the rest of the fan base.

Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom joined bradfo on the BBisntBoring podcast

Good interview from Rob Bradford. I’m in the middle of listening and it’s already worth a listen.

Red Sox’s Chaim Bloom on losing Xander Bogaerts: ‘It got to a point we weren’t going to’ - masslive.com

Here’s a great interview and article by Chris Cotillo.

I’ve been hammering Red Sox ownership and giving Bloom a break because owners make the call on big contracts. After reading the article, I wonder how much responsibility Bloom has for some of the decisions. Although most people didn’t properly forecast this off-season market, the Red Sox offered Bogaerts a decidedly undermarket contract (as the market was perceived) during last off-season. For Bloom to say the Red Sox had a high priority to keep Bogaerts, while offering such a contract, is either a blatant lie or an incompetent estimate of Bogaets market value. In either case, Bloom and the Red Sox don’t look good.

Going forward the team needs to do a better job in both evaluation and explaining to fans just what they are trying to do. Or, they can continue to get HAMMERED by their fans, while becoming a less attractive option for free agents.

Bloom said the Red Sox truly considered Bogaerts its top priority for the last few weeks and tried to back it up with actions, even if the final offer came well short of what the shortstop took from San Diego.

“We wouldn’t have said that if we didn’t mean it,” Bloom said. “I think it became clear to us as things went on that this was going to go to a point that we just weren’t, irrespective of how we prioritize things, it just wasn’t something that we should do. It’s hard because of how much we love him. But it’s just the reality of the situation.”

Xander Bogaerts, Padres agree to 11-year, $280M deal, sources confirm

Shortstop Xander Bogaerts and the Padres agreed to an 11-year, $280 million contract late Wednesday, sources confirmed to ESPN, a monumental move that brings the longtime Boston Red Sox luminary to a team already laden with star talent.

The stunning deal, consummated as an especially active winter meetings came to a close, adds Bogaerts to a Padres team that already includes Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. Boston, meanwhile, was left lamenting the loss of a homegrown talent who made his major league debut at 20 years old and leaves at 30 after opting out of the final three years of his contract.

Bogaerts won a pair of World Series and made four All-Star teams, including in 2022, when he hit .307/.377/.456 with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs in 150 games. The expectation is he will remain at shortstop, with Ha-Seong Kim—who took over at the position in 2022 when Tatis was injured and suspended for a positive performance-enhancing-drug test—moving to second base, incumbent second baseman Jake Cronenworth sliding over to first, Tatis shifting to right field and Soto going to left field.

Masataka Yoshida, Red Sox agree to deal

The Red Sox made their first major counter move to the rival Yankees, agreeing to a five-year, $90 million deal with Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The club has not confirmed the move.

The Red Sox will have to pay a $15.375 million posting fee to the Orix Buffaloes based on the $90 million contract for Yoshida.

Sources: Red Sox, closer Kenley Jansen reach 2-year deal

Closer Kenley Jansen and the Boston Red Sox are in agreement on a two-year, $32 million contract, sources told ESPN, bolstering a Boston bullpen that ranked among the worst in baseball during the 2022 season.

Jansen, 35, spent this year with the Atlanta Braves after a dozen distinguished seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He led the National League with 41 saves, and his 391 career saves are second most among active players and eighth all-time.

In 64 innings with the Braves, Jansen struck out 85 batters, walked 22 and posted a 3.38 ERA. Over his career, Jansen has struck out 1,107 hitters in 769 innings with a 2.46 ERA and ranks among the most dominant closers in history.

Chaim Bloom’s empty words about Bogaerts are insulting

Of course, the Red Sox will be mediocre with him.

Bogaerts is just the most recent bungling of a superstar’s exit. The Red Sox decided early on to not pay for Lester, Mookie, and Bogearts. Their actions are more credible than their words. The Red Sox ownership, which is the common factor in the mishandling of contract negotiations with top players, has lost all credibility.

Now, I don’t have a problem with a team walking away from a player it feels is overvalued in the market. What I do resent is the ownership lying about their intentions, especially while making multiple GMs scapegoats for those ownership level decisions. It treats the players and fans as idiots.

The shelf life of the Red Sox three :D four championships has expired. At this point, whether they end up resigning Bogearts is irrelevent for me. What I’d rather see is a consistent team-building vision and an honest, transparent expression of what that vision is. (See the Dodgers for an excellent example of how this is all done.)

Super agent Scott Boras put the pressure on the Red Sox Tuesday at MLB’s Winter Meetings, calling them a middling club if his client isn’t manning shortstop. “I think if there’s anybody, I think everyone around them understands the Sox without ‘X’ are so-so,” he said.

Bob Nightengale on Twitter: “Now that Aaron Judge has signed, the free agent dominoes are falling: Closer Kenley Jansen, 2 years, $32 million: Boston Red Sox. Starter Jose Quintana, 2 years, $26 million: New York Mets.” / Twitter

Desperation moves?

Now that Aaron Judge has signed, the free agent dominoes are falling:
Closer Kenley Jansen, 2 years, $32 million: Boston Red Sox.
Starter Jose Quintana, 2 years, $26 million: New York Mets.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 7, 2022

Sources: Red Sox, reliever Chris Martin agree to 2-year, $17.5M deal

The Boston Red Sox are in agreement on a two-year, $17.5 million deal with right-handed reliever Chris Martin, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Friday.

The contract is pending a physical, sources said.

Martin, 36, was acquired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in a midseason trade with the Cubs. He closed the season strong for L.A., going 3-1 with a 1.46 ERA across 24⅔ innings.

MLB Rumors: Red Sox ‘sweetened offers’ to Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers - NBC Sports Boston

Ownership doesn’t have a good track record of retaining its own players. They spend money yet still seem too interested in making team-friendly deals.

The handling of Mookie Betts broke me.

Kennedy acknowledges that actions speak louder than words, but he assures the organization has been active in contract talks with a number of players, including their own.

“Coming out of [last week’s] GM meetings, I can tell you that we have been very proactive, though I know people don’t want to hear about how aggressive we’ve been, because it doesn’t mean anything until there’s something to announce,” Kennedy told Silverman.

“But I can tell you that we’ve made offers to several players, including our own players. And we’re cautiously optimistic that things are going to start moving here.”

Red Sox Rumors: Boston ‘High On The List’ For Star Free Agent

He will be 36 in January. Consider me unenthused.

Of course, I’m not willing to pay $30 a month for NESN so I only watch a game or two a year now. That’s after watching around 100 games on TV and another ten at Fenway for years and years. I get it, though, the Red Sox don’t need fans like me.

Boston is going to be “high on the list” of potential landing spots for José Abreu, as reported by Bruce Levine on a recent episode of the “Inside the Clubhouse” podcast (h/t MassLive). Other realistic options for the longtime Chicago White Sox first baseman reportedly are the Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins and World Series champion Houston Astros.

“When you talk about the Boston Red Sox, when you talk about the Houston Astros, when you talk about Miami, those are real fits for Abreu,” Levine said, as transcribed by MassLive’s Christopher Smith.