CUBS SIGN ALEX BREGMAN! Full Reaction!

0:00The Baskards of Boston Baseball Podcasts. Back to folk. Red Sox fans of London here at the Boston Red Sox are World Champion. Game over, series over, and the Red Sox are World Champs again. Yes indeed. Here it comes. Another addition of the Baskards of Boston Baseball. Welcome in Red Sox nation. Some breaking news on the night of the 10th of January. A date that will live in infamy yet again, Alex Breggman has signed a deal finally. Not with the Red Sox, but with the Cubs and absolutely mammoth contract $175 million over five years.

1:05This has been broken after a lot of speculation. We heard a little bit about the Red Sox may be offering a four or five year deal. Some murmurs that maybe news would break soon and it did break but not the way that obviously those rumors were implying. What's your reaction to this Charlie and Chris? I'm going to be completely honest. I am so happy that he's not a member of the Red Sox. I was a big supporter of Alex Breggman when he took probably like a month or so to get acclimated and he started really responding well to being in Boston and being a go to guy for the young players on the team. I appreciate that because you think about good leaders in the clubhouse and the mentality that it takes to be not just a good leader but a great leader and putting the team above yourself and showing the young kids what you need to do. Because sometimes that's not necessarily what happens where leaders don't necessarily lead because they don't want to lose their power, they don't want to be belittled, they don't want to be replaced.

2:10And he was totally cool recognizing well I'm not playing right now so I'm just going to you know show these younger kids what they need to do and make these adjustments and we'll see what happened. And then the whole I'm going to be opting out and I'm going to explore free agency to get my like mega deal happened. That really ticked me off. This isn't a team that's locked for the playoffs for the next couple of years. This isn't something that I think you can take lightly or for granted. There were no vocal leaders on this team. Devours is gone. You're going to be the North star that people look to but it doesn't really send a strong message to your young guys that if you sign a contract and you're not happy not even done with year one. This is the message you're sending to the young guys so essentially the Cubs are giving him I think what the Tigers originally we're going to do which was six years on their deal. And this is 35 million per over the course of five years all 175 million five year deal with the Cubs.

3:12They're going to be so grossly disappointed in probably year two to three ish because the back end of that deal is going to age so terribly it's going to be over 90 millions probably a hundred million dollars of just money that's not worth it. So the Red Sox never replaced Devours when they moved on from that mega contract. I would have been shocked if they gave anybody a five year deal after what happened with that whole or deal you're you're you're signing someone to over ten years you trade a midway through year two it doesn't work out that happened. Okay great you never replace Tyler O'Neill's home runs and that. And now Alex Breggman is gone so now your full force of offense is relying on the prayer that trusted causes will light it up again this year. Roman Anthony takes not a step up I mean like a whole like floor up in in performance and that's going to be similar to the Brian Bayo expectation where it's going to be a lot a lot riding on his shoulders Trevor story is going to have to do what he did again and not get injured.

4:17Hopefully Wilson Contreras as well can be a big contributor on this team but you can't expect that Wilson Contreras is going to step into Alex Breggman's shoes and we're just good to go. So ultimately I'm happy the Red Sox did not hamstring themselves with a mega contract for a player that ultimately was not going to be in Boston or want to be in Boston. He just chased the money that's it and Boris Scott what he he got for his guy so 35 million for five years and good luck to him but if he comes back to Boston he's going to get food. So I'm going to take the Harvey Dent approach. I'm going to be too faced on this one and what I mean by that is that I like Charlie I am ecstatic that we are not resounding Alex Breggman I didn't want Alex Breggman not with the way that the season ended up manifesting to and the weight ended like the vibes were high and admittedly when we traded Rafael Devers I was I was in supporting that move and being like you know what we've got Alex Breggman.

5:20He's coaching the kids didn't realize how bad the injury was and then things turned out the way they did and I didn't feel very good about it but I'm like you know what we have the money. So you know if we have Alex Breggman or even if we don't we have the money we're going to spend it and we're going to replace Rafael Devers. We haven't and that's where I have a bone to pick with the red socks at this point because if you're if you're I'm fine with letting Breggman go but if you were not going to spend that Rafael Devers money and replace that that in this lineup what the hell are we doing and there's only one move now barring a trade that none of us see. It's boobishet and if you don't go out there and sign boobishet with the money that we have then just pump the season at this point I see Jared Crabis out there and listen you know what admittedly I like that crew I know where there are competition even though no one really considers their competition if we're being honest but to go out there at Fenway Fest or whatever the hell bullshit they're doing sorry for cursing Charlie put the dollar in the jar but.

6:30But be like oh well no one's counting on Roman Anthony and the and you know the elevation it's like dude let's just hope Roman Anthony doesn't get hurt because we were all singing his praises and like I was the one calling the singles merchant which to be honest the majority of last year he was a singles merchant and that's fine like if he's get a bat over 300 hit a bunch of singles and doubles and run into a homerun run to run I'm happy about that but that's not 40 home runs so to project that when the guy gets hurt and then. He didn't even play in the playoffs and we get bounced by the Yankees like I don't want to hear oh well there's going to be this elevation moment because there's nothing to suggest it at this point and I'm hoping I'm wrong and I want Roman Anthony I want him to get the next 10 Williams but to act like he's going to be just because we hope he's going to be is foolish it's fool's goal and we had raw field that was in yes admittedly I didn't like his attitude I wanted to just shut up and play because he got a 300 plus million.

7:30You know I'd contract the largest in Red Sox history over David Ortiz who I would take any day over the week over Rafael levers I think any of us would he's the most clutch hitter in maybe modern day baseball history in the playoffs sorry Aaron judge because you actually have to do it in the playoffs and There was the closest thing to that and then he was gone and we've done nothing to replace him and like I see people in the comments now like let's let's get to Suarez like no Suarez isn't replacing Rafael Devers. He's not even replacing Breggman and I don't want Breggman Go out there get boba shit and Let's start from there, but I have zero confidence to Red Sox are gonna do it, but I'm glad we don't have Breggman So so one quick point and I'm gonna say this because it's gonna be Absolutely incredible if this happens. So real quick, Rafael Devers signed on paper the 15th largest contract in Major League Baseball history

8:30It was the fattest contract ever given to a Red Sox player first one over 300 million Didn't end up working out and is what it is The Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs do end up facing each other this year, which is going to be so special If that ends up being you know a series where it matters or even even more so more important if he's actually playing So it's gonna be one of the last weeks of the season. It's the 25th 26th and 27th of September and It's at Fenway Park. So I'm I'm really curious to see like what ends up happening with that one I think he's gonna get booed. I don't think on any way shape or form planet This guy is gonna be given like a standing ovation. You're here for one year. You chased the bag It is what it is and I hope he strikes out 10 times when he goes back to Boston

9:32Yeah, I mean this city right now and this team is experiencing nothing short of a power outage Like you guys mentioned and like we've been saying where are the homeruns on this team? It's really sad to me how Alex Braggman Even when he was a free agent last year you heard so many Red Sox fans Coventing him right people were saying this dude was made for Fenway. He's gonna rake here He's gonna abuse the monster and certainly when he was healthy this year especially before the injury he hit very well And it's just incredible to see that we threw away a franchise player in Rafael Devers I'm sorry to keep bringing it up, but you have to for two thirds of a year of Alex Braggman. That's really what it is It's just malpractice at this point. It's ridiculous. It's an organizational failure And it's a failure of philosophy at the end of the day This team for some reason decided they did not want to pay Devers that money and It's looking like they don't want to pay anyone that money because right now you look at the free agent class

10:36You look at the field to tell Marta is off the trading block Alex Braggman is in Chicago and it's really bow or bust And unfortunately, I'm on team bust if I were to place my money there. That's where it is It says something where even before Alex Braggman was signed. I was already doing the gymnastics in my head Saying, oh well, you know, if you look at the numbers maybe a platoon between Brendan Donovan and Roman Gonzalez could be effective at second base And then you have Marcella Meyer Nate eaten at third base. That's that's where we're going right now But there's no guarantee we even get Brendan Donovan at this point I'm starting to see people throughout the name Nolan Erinato again You know, you want to bring up general patent to if we're digging up graveyards. This is ridiculous Absolutely ridiculous and if for anyone who was there when the news broke for anyone who Just happened to be looking at their phone when it happened. Maybe they log into X or Twitter or whatever or YouTube They see the news break the reaction was Speaking loudly for itself. I think red socks nation is pissed off quite frankly

11:42But is it going to actually hurt John Henry's wallet because at the end of the day That's the only thing that is going to send a clear message so long as Fenway keeps selling tickets Keeps being its historical museum self You know, and it just sucks man because you have players to root for on this team you really do But this ownership group man and Breslow as much as I I want to you know, beat him like a piñata right now as much You know, I mean as much as I want to create an effigy like it's Guy Fox Day over in England. I I really just You can't view Breslow without saying this dude is just a muppet right now for ownership You know, he's doing exactly what he's been ordered to do and that's why he was the 11th candidate right He's just hind bloom version 2 and that's why there's so buddy buddy on the trading block There's the thing at the end of the day. I mean when they're floating five years 150 five years 160

12:43It's a done deal It's going to be happening for boss and a lot of people said it. I'm not going to name drop right now, which person um But I didn't think it was going to happen I think if Alex Breggman had 15 160 from the Red Sox or any other team you take that money you take that deal So I don't think there was ever ever any realistic shot That we were going to get Breggman and I'm okay with that Chris is okay with that. We're both excited. It felt like Christmas still was happening It's just not the 25th of December The other thing is while I think we're all aligned. We'd rather have Boba Shet I don't think Boba Shet's coming to Boston either And that's what sucks about this You know if you're going to spend five years 160 or or let's just say this 5175 for Breggman say you offered 5 160 Boba Shet is probably going to get somewhere in the realm of seven or eight years Boba Shet is still 27 years old

13:43He hasn't it 28 yet. That's in a couple of months He's going to get seven years minimum The only contract that you were flirting with outside of you know Raffi Devers potentially was Alex Breggman at five years because the fear and the risk of Having someone for longer is just too much to bear It's just too much for the Red Sox. They just couldn't handle it This front office is a complete joke You are not a 91 team. You're not an 80-win team You might be a 70-win team and that's assuming none of your major players get injured Or dealt at this point because honestly With the names that you're left with Brendan Donovan. I don't hate him, but Brendan Donovan Boba Shet. They're not the same class of player And anyone who tries to make like a justification or an argument and saying oh yeah, no

14:46But but Brendan Donovan's going to be a great suitable replacement. I think you're missing the point You're missing the point here This is the boss in Red Sox. It's not the Miami-Marlins. It's not the Chicago White Sox. It's you know God, what's another bargain you know bottom of the I mean this is this is quite possibly one of the I'm going to say this this team is very hateable Outside of like Roman Anthony Trevor story and Gare crochet. There aren't too many bright spots Like I'd be shocked if any of those Red Sox jerseys outside those three names say down Rafaela as well. I don't want to disrespect him either But outside those four guys I don't know who anyone's going to cheer for the only like bright spot that I think that I've seen in the last I don't know 72 96 hours four days was the Peyton Toli interview Do you guys see that on on YouTube or Twitter Instagram anything today? No He is such a likable dude. If you saw him on the street He'd be yeah, you'd be like hey, do you want to grab beer? He'd probably say sure like he just seems like that

15:50He doesn't have an ego. He's a super cool guy. Could you imagine someone like Alex Breggman doing that? No So we need to get more Peyton Toli type mentality guys in this On this team. I don't know how it's going to happen. I don't know what they're going to have to do but This team is not going to be a fun team to watch and we're going to get blown out the doors are going to get blown off and you might actually see Gare crochet with a losing record this year in 2026 he might actually go 11 and 12 or 11 and 13 12 and 14 market 11026 Gare crochet could have a losing record He could have the Jacob DeGrombe effect like when he was a met 10 and 12 11 and 13 and probably still win like a sion You I'm going to preface the statement with I hope that I'm wrong and I'll just say that I hope that I'm wrong But the truth is is you know, I see a lot of people comment on the things that we post from our from our account

16:52I'm like, oh you guys are going to flip flop You know, you're going to you're going to wish you had Alex Breggman yada yada yada et cetera and the truth is I don't think any of us are going to and I could speak for myself I used to be a Red Sox season ticket holder living in New York. I'm not anymore. I called the Red Sox to the day Said cancel my tickets. I don't I don't want them anymore If you if your ownership's not going to care about the team. I'm not gonna I'm not going to drive four hours four plus hours with traffic To come up there spend x amount of dollars on a freaking hotel to have my wife and two kids to watch this product I'm just not going to do it anymore. I've done it for years And I love the Red Sox and I want the Red Sox to win It's not a matter one of them to lose and me to be right like I hope I am wrong I want to make that very clear But I don't think I'm going to be wrong Because the Red Sox just keep doing everything to say that I'm going to be right They make the most money of any team in baseball and they don't spend it and Boba said is just such a logical answer like here's the reality to Charlie's point The Red Sox could sign Boba's shirt to a 10-year contract

17:55At $280 million in an AAV of $28 million a year And that would be better than selling Oh, it's signing Alex Bergman to five years 175 It's more fiscally responsible just because of the age because of 10 years They are the same age on a five-year contract. That's the reality And he has not had the injuries that Alex Bergman has That's just a fact so To me, we have the money The fact that Boba's shirt is going to go out there and go to the Philly's and probably get signed by an X Red Sox GM And Dumbrowski is sickening There's no excuse You're making money hand over fist Spend it And if you're not going to then I'm not going to Because at the end of the day I don't have the revenue that the Red Sox had coming in I do pretty well but not well enough not in comparison to John Henry and the Red Sox So if you're not going to spend the money, I'm not going to spend the money And you know, I hate to say it this way Boston is going to be in for a rough weekend Chicago is having a great weekend

18:56There's just beat the Packers for the first time in a million years since I think Pearl Harbor happens the first time they beat them in the playoffs And I hate to say it, Patriots fans You're probably going home tomorrow because you had a good record But you haven't beaten a damn team over 500 In fact, the newer giant to have the fifth overall pick Had more wins against 500 above teams than New England Patriots So rough weekend Boston this week for sports First off, how dare you? Second off, that's disrespectful It's fact Christopher, we can we discuss this later But this is the baseball show I'm going to say this Terrence and I talk about a bowl of stuff We talk about Cribage Sometimes backammon Mostly the Boston Red Sox And let me ask you a question with your opinions On both Craig Brezlow and John Henry With or without Boba Shet This is this is my part right here Boba Shet signs with the Yankees or team of the ALEAST Whether or not he does

19:56Do you think that Craig Brezlow and John Henry Will be able to recover from this blow From a PR standpoint There's nothing to suggest that they wouldn't Because here's why Okay What's happened the last decade that would suggest they wouldn't They've made the most money Being a below average franchise To the shirt they've had one or two Playoff appearances in the last six years In which we got bounced by the Yankees this past year And then we lost the Astros And then we didn't make the class for four seasons, three seasons, whatever The problem is to Nick's point Is Fenway Park has become a museum And it just rakes in money From people that you've made the course Of course, they're selling them on the Fenway experience Nick, I'm curious to hear what you think about any of this Yeah, you know, I think that there are two things that can be simultaneously true

20:57I don't believe that this is going to hurt John Henry's wallet I don't think it's going to hurt attendance numbers But I also don't think that this is a stain that washes out Will John Henry ever be able to smoke a cigar in public again Probably not, right? Because this dude, like once you lose that trust Once you lose that reputation Once you become a laughing stock It's hard to recover from that image And this dude might be richer than I could ever be in my wildest dreams He might own the Boston Red Sox He might own the Pittsburgh Penguins Ooh, well, he might have used to But the thing is is that The guy has been proven to be a cheapskate Right? This dude has fumbled So many talents And it's so hard I was just talking with a friend right before we went on the show It's so hard to get invested In the next generation of talent How are you supposed to buy a Roman Anthony Jersey How are you supposed to get excited about Marcelo Meyer

21:57Or get excited about Franklin Arias Or any of these guys When it's very likely that You know, they're going to perform For four years go to a couple of all-star games And then get traded In a lackluster package If you don't want to keep your best players Your homegrown talent Then you find yourself in the shoes Of the Detroit Tigers Getting outmatched on arbitration To the tune of $12 million By a guy who, by all means You should be opening up a blank check for It's just very unfortunate It really is And you know, similarly When it comes to the Alex Braggman thing I would say the same thing You know, there are two things that can be true at once I'm very happy that he's not going to be on the books For that contract But I don't have faith in us taking that $35 million that we just saved And investing it where it needs to be invested You know, I wanted Alex Braggman back Because I wanted his batten line up

22:58And I wanted his glove on the field But it was very much a sunk cost fallacy, right We had already lost so much by getting this guy That now we have a black hole When he's taken away, right And so now what are we looking at We're looking at maybe you Hanyo Suarez That's a nightmare We're not looking at any of the Japanese guys That's for sure They've been signed Because we were laid on the ball So I don't know man This is just An ugly, ugly look And in my opinion This is about 10 times worse than the Mookybets trade So if Charlie, I want to just say one thing Like the next point, I agree with you Because maybe I misunderstood the question of sweet we're asking I agree that I don't know if John Henry will ever beat the rap That he is now created for himself As far as the persona of being cheap Based off of these things Especially if he doesn't sign someone But on the flip side, I do believe that like

23:59Is that going to hurt the Red Sox? No, because I just think the Red Sox here at a point now There are revenue stream that just can't be stopped Based off of the history For better or worse Yeah, I mean I agree with you I think if the history isn't a part of it I mean you read the benefits of having the oldest ballpark And majorly in majorly baseball So that's a huge, huge plus I think if you're going to do a stadium tour Of a ballpark If Family Park isn't one of the three listed I would really question if the person Who educated you Understood baseball and history And just logic I mean Fenway Park is one of the most beautiful stadiums ever It might not be great for the visitors clubhouse and whatnot But I mean it's just it's fun It's exciting I personally I don't know if Craig Breslow will be able to recover But let's not forget That Breslow wasn't the first option It wasn't the second option It wasn't the third

24:59I think Terry did like the number of the full list He was like number 10 or number 11 So at the end of it if he doesn't end up recovering At least the eleventh choice If you're John Henry He's already called a stupid He's already said You know fans have unreal expectations of Of winning every year Forgive me if I don't have the exact wording But it was along Along the lines of Fans have unreal expectations of winning every year I don't expect to win every year The odds of winning every year I mean I think winning Major League Baseball's World Series Is the single hardest Trophy to hold in your paws Outside of the World Cup And the only reason I say that is because the World Cup happens once every four years There's only eight teams or eight countries Excuse me that have ever won the World Cup Maybe nine Um The World Series is every year But it's 162 tests

26:00To get to the games that matter You need to win 90 of those 162 You have to have a variance of 20 or more This isn't a team on paper That looks like they can get that done It's not a shot That's just a fact If you were to look at it You don't have the best team the elist Jeremy and I did this one earlier Where we both felt that You know it was Toronto, New York And then you got the the ball to Morris and Tampa Bay Is that could possibly fight for three four I have the Red Sox as the fifth team in the yellow list I don't know where you guys have have them But I have the boss and Red Sox winning the fifth most games In the American League East Because I don't think that they're better than the The New York Yankees They're definitely not better than the Blue Chase They're not better than the race And they're not better than the Orange So I was on that show with you Charlie You were on it too Okay, that's right Yeah, sorry, that's right It's been a while That's okay

27:01But similarly, I think I had the Sox It was a toss up between three and four I think I had them fourth right behind the Orioles Maybe Jeremy had them third then I don't remember what it was But I was like I don't know how you put them fifth Or less higher than fifth Really, you know Yeah I think I had them right behind the Orioles But I think the difference was between me and Jeremy's I had the Yankees winning the division still possibly Maybe that's what it was Okay But nonetheless As far as for the Sox Like I don't They're certainly not the first team They're definitely not the second team And you know Yeah, maybe they're trying to be better than the Orioles Because you know Injuries all these things that you just can't foresee possible But at the end of the day Even third That's not good enough Right Not off the season that we just had That's the trajectory that we should have had Coming off last season So Before Any Big names Got signed I said you know If you really want to try to tell your fans that you're serious Go sign Kyle Shorber for one year and 50 million

28:03For 2026 Just give him 50 million or 45 million Who cares It doesn't matter It's a fun money It's 45 million You definitely have You don't know if you're going to play the following year anyways So it doesn't really matter And so I wonder if this is just ownership thinking You know what We'll just play it out this year We're probably not going to play baseball in 27 Who cares Don't worry Chris I'll match you Who gives a shit There's a dollar Uh it's it's just that where where the mindset Isn't When now it's When Maybe And we'll we'll hope for winning games as opposed to the final trophy And um i don't blame you I don't blame you for saying you know what I'm good I don't want to invest a dollar here It's just not worth it to me I don't want to drive the four hours Pay for parking Bring the wife, bring the kiddos To a game where you're probably going to get the doors blown off And I mean that sucks You're going to drive four hours watch a three hour game get your ass whooped And then drive another four hours back like that

29:03I'd rather donate the money The job actually would be better I have to go into a hotel which costs if you should no money Just to drive friends the next day Yeah it But you get my point That I don't blame you for having to do that Like it's just dumb It's just dumb So for me I mean If the red socks If I'm going to be attending any games where the red socks are playing It will be at somebody else's stadium I'll go watch the red socks play In LA I'll go drive to San Diego to see them I'd be willing to go to San Francisco Vegas when it happens Arizona If it happens You know I'll go to those stadiums I'll drive I'm not going to spend a dollar at Family Park And it pains me to say that like it hurts It hurts to say that But when you don't care Why should we And you set it perfectly Chris If you don't care I'm not going to care This team came into the offseason with three clear needs And they went out and they looked and they said We need a front of the rotation starting picture

30:05And they didn't get dill and cease They didn't get Framber Valdez They didn't get Ranger Suarez They got sunny gray And they said we need A real power bat We need a first baseman with pop And they didn't get pedalanzo And they didn't get Kyle Schwarber They went out and they got Wilson Contreras And they said We need an infielder To sort of round us out Preferably with some power in the bad A real offensive dynamic type of player To really give us a front of the lineup type of bat And some good defense And they didn't get Alex Braggman And they didn't get Catel Marte And they didn't yet get Boba Shet What are they going to go out and get That's really what we're going to be looking at This little Giving tree style parable Is what we're going to be thinking about Come opening day And it's a shame Because in a vacuum I do like sunny gray I think there's a chance he has a good year

31:07I do like Wilson Contreras I'm looking forward to seeing him hit in this lineup You know But it's just a bit frustrating Because it feels like we're shooting for the stars As Red Sox fans Which I don't think is completely unreasonable We are a big market team in theory We should be like the Dodgers In theory And yet we're going out there And we're going for The fifth best option The seventh best option And that's just what's driving me crazy right now And uh You know this is still an expensive team That too It's frustrating You know the idea that This isn't a true payroll cut team This is not 150 million dollars This is still over the luxury tax This is still talking about budding up against You know that next threshold of spending And it's frustrating because That means Well, where's all the money going It's going to Patrick Sandivall You know And he might pitch well too

32:08You know It's going to Masataki Oshita Who better hit well We need him to at this point We don't have a choice But we're really just at this Annoying middle ground Where we need money to just come off the books, I guess We need to go down below the threshold again, I guess Because at this point what's next year going to look like What's the year after that going to look like It's going to be more of the same Of saying well, we don't have the money to spend on the players we want So we're going to go out and spend Half the money, some of the money Still a good amount of money On the fifth best option And I'm just I'm really tired of operating like that It is not yielded a successful baseball team yet And I don't think it will Going forward Especially not with teams To your guys' point Like Toronto In the division who clearly You know give a crap What's disappointing too is like You mentioned this in a vacuum Sunny grade Maybe works out Wilson Gatres nice player

33:09We gave up a lot of assets Which was the strength for this team Going into this offseason where it's like Man, we got a lot of assets If we really want to move some of these guys We can bring in some pivotal Foundational pieces And again, Wilson Gatres nice player If Sunny Gray somehow puts it together Number said he won't Historically But if he does Could potentially be a good player But they're also on the wrong side of 30 So like they're not going to be foundational pieces for the long term And for this window Of these young guys that are supposed to emerge And kind of be the next Iteration of the lost and red socks That are going to be this perennial contender That we've been sold on for a half a decade So To give away all these assets For guys that are like One to two, three year Maybe for it most Is just disappointing When you're not spending any money To add foundational pieces Like a boba shut Like a pedalanzo Or go out there and trade some of these assets For players That could be here for five, six, seven years And it's it's honestly just mind boggling at this point

34:12And then you know, we even even mentioned this clip The fact that Craig Brousel came out today And had the audacity to basically be like Oh, I never really thought about As trading one of the four-hour feelers Like what Is that because no one else looks at Jaron Durin is a seven-war player And you're the only moron that does in the MLB Is that why you couldn't imagine trading him Or even a bra you Like it's We have these assets And we get rid of ones that we really don't have a lot of And then we're sitting on a ton of outfields And I get it One injury we could we could need them But the truth is we still have so many deficiencies on this team Like you said, Nick Like we went into the offseason needing Three things And we filled half of one And none of the other two And then we're sitting on a fourth outfielder That could fetch us something And he's like, oh, I really haven't considered it Well, the rest of the Red Sox nation has Craig And I get it Heimbloom might be on vacation this week And you don't know how to trade with anyone

35:12Except Heimbloom Figure it the hell out Wasn't it just hilarious It's like, oh, breaking news Red Sox It made another trade with the St. Louis Cardinals It's like, awesome Maybe he forgot But there's 30 teams to trade with Not one So, you know Or 29, excuse me It's just I mean, it was embarrassing And so, you brought up a point about Sunny Gray too And I had a double check Because Sunny Gray is 36 Right? Not looking How old was Cory Clubber when he joined the Red Sox Who was older without looking Who do you think was older? Sunny Gray Or Cory Clubber It's Sunny Gray It must be Sunny Gray If you're posing the question Not enough So, by a year He's younger By a year But we continue And this is believe me I would have said Sunny Gray too Because I thought Cory Clubber was 35 When he joined the Red Sox For his

36:13Shortened year Why is it that the Boston Red Sox And system doing one of two things We're going to sign a player To a multi-year deal But they're not going to pitch Or play the first year We're just going to really hope for gold in year two James Paxton was one Patrick Sandoval was another Lucas Chalito ended up being that But it wasn't the intention He ended up getting 18 million for You know two straight years And he did pitch because of TJ surgery And so we keep doing that So it's like Well, if your goal is to do that Don't pay them the first year Give them an extra two three million the second year Save the freaking money You look like a Like you look like idiots You look like morons And so Sunny Gray being 36 Looking at his numbers Had a great year last year In St. Louis 200 201 strikeouts 180 innings He's hit 180 or more in two of the last years

37:16Pitch and Minnesota did fine Was great in Cincinnati Could not hack it on one team Played no-plent Played New York Played in Cincinnati Minnesota St. Louis Could not hack it in the at least So Do we think that we just found gold with Sunny Gray? I mean, I want to give him a chance Because there weren't too many other things That are potentially going to be be good here I don't want to say It's going to be over before it starts But I don't think that Sunny Gray is going to be Probably top five, top six, number two, Pitch and baseball I'd be shocked if he's a top 10 Yeah, top 10, I agree Top 10 is the best case scenario I think and I'm entering this year as a Sunny Gray fan But I agree I'm not necessarily banking on him Being the guy that we needed necessarily

38:16FIP loves him And I love FIP, I'll fully admit But right now the infield defense is questionable I'm not sure if Sunny Gray's ground ball metrics based off the top of my head But I mean we really need an infielder still man And it's it's just scary. It really is And you're you're absolutely right about the Corey Clubert about Patrick standable This team has become the rebound destination For free agents If you're coming off a bad year And you're not happy with the offers you're getting Go and play for the red socks Audition for the rest of the league And then go get paid. That's pretty much our modus operandi right now And that's just ridiculous. It's ridiculous and humiliating I mean, we're the Boston Reclamation Projects Is really what our That should be the Boston Mint Sox Maybe the Boston Mint Sox And in the summer numbers guy Like I numbers don't lie They are just facts based off of what actually happened And I get it. There's the side where

39:17Sunny Gray is in a rare company I think with to reach Scoobal and like Garrett Crochet As far as like strikeouts and I don't know the exact stat I don't even remember because I really don't care at this point Because the truth is there's the other side of it Where there's enough evidence in the Aalese to suggest Specifically in Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium Where he's not a good pitcher And like those are the two stadiums that I give a crap about I need him to certainly pitch well in his home ball park Which would be Fenway Park which he doesn't And then on the road it's like Yeah, I mean I should care about the Toronto Blue Jays But like there's not enough animosity Now at this point that I could give two crabs But the Yankees always are going to peak my interest And like he doesn't pitch well there So it's already like I don't need to know more Like great you can strike out the Cincinnati Reds Good for you most teams can The Pittsburgh Pirates most team teams can Yeah, you pitched with the Brewers But you know I'd be interested to know what his stats were Against the Brewers last year Considering they were a great team that flamed out As we all expected in the playoffs

40:17Um It's To both your points It would be an absolute miracle. He was a top 10 pitcher But the truth is like if I pose this question to you Especially knowing would you Lucas Giollito at his High point last season Who has a better chance of being a top Even 20 pitcher in the M.O.B. Lucas Giollito, we're sunny grey And I know there's statistics to probably support both But my gut tells me based off the age And then also knowing the divisions they played in It's like Lucas Giollito That's what my gut would tell me And I didn't want Lucas Giollito But we said no, we're going to replace Lucas Giollito With an older version of Lucas Giollito Who doesn't pitch well in Fenway Park Or Yankee Stadium Enjoy it Red Sox fans Here's your bid Yeah, it's going to be fun It's going to be really really fun this year I mean Do we have a higher probability Of getting

41:17Six wins in a row Or losing Three games in a row by at least eight or nine runs I would say six in a row only because bad teams win six games in a row Because you can get fluky things in six games Eight to nine runs is quite a bit of a margin Now if you said if we would win six in a row or lose 15 in a row I would say we have a greater chance to lose 15 in a row because you can lose it by one rod Which we're the one-run merchants for a while I mean we were this we were We had the second most losses by one run in 2025 Uh To the Chicago White Sox, I think I think we had 18 and they had 22 or something like that 60 and they had 20 or something and then all of a sudden things changed because Chapman Blue was saved and that was the last time we saw Liam Hendrix some so glad he's gone And and that was the thing and then all of a sudden then Chapman had a a perfect the immaculate month no hits

42:19It was just or maybe you have one hit a lot. I can't remember but it was just flawless just flawless and he earned he earned his contract but Yeah, man, I mean this is This is gonna be fun. Let me play a game here for you guys. Let's I love games Well, we'll end it here because I think this this is this is telling I'll ask you guys this question first and then I asked the second question first What do you think currently if we do nothing else? Where do the red socks finish record wise? What do you think Charlie and then Nick How many wins do we have in 2020? We have yes Oh, you know, this is a very very good question I'm hoping We can crack 70 and I know someone's gonna say oh my god like that's crazy. You don't think they're gonna get 70 You're one major injury away. You lose Trevor story or Roman Anthony. You have no offense or you're you're praying for Wilson Contreras and Trevor story to carry the load when Roman Anthony is gone and

43:19Raphaela is going through one of those ugly spells of a lot of strikeouts and no extra bass hits Or god forbid god forbid you lose garrick or Shay So I think in a perfect world where there's no injuries You're probably 74 I'm gonna say 70 74 73 those those are my two numbers with an injury 67 66 and you're you're Barely you're barely sniffing 100 losses, but it could happen with one major injury I'm I'm really not feeling that confident right now. So I'll say on record 74 will round up Okay You know, it's tough I'd love to take a look at the roster But just the vibe that I'm getting right now. I'm not going that low I think I would throw a dart at the board And I'll say 84 I think we're gonna finish with 80 over 500 I do think so

44:20Wow 84 and It's going to be one of those years where with the 2026 Red Sock you're looking at the win record at the end of the season And the playoff standings and you're kicking and screaming and going Why couldn't we have just found for more war last off season to maybe you know have gotten us there And I think we're just gonna fall short and pretty much field the team that this uh this ownership wants Which is competitive but not good enough I will split the difference. I think we are probably a 75 76 because I look at the team Two years ago offensively. We are not better than that team And that team had Rafael Devers and it finished with I think 78 wins or somewhere somewhere around there And while I would say our pitching is probably better as far as the starting pictures I don't know what to expect from Bale if he regresses back to the old Bale like that's a huge step back And again, I already went to my whole diet tribe of

45:21Geolito and Sunny Gray. I think that's a wash at best if we're hopeful and Crochet without the run support It's hard to expect them to have the same season. So I would say 75 76 wins now. I'll pose this question to you guys If I can give you the option of you can have Boba Shet or Fremble Valdez One of those Boba Shet We'll all be on the same page because I would agree Boba Shet's the guy if we add Boba Shet to this roster What does the win total look like now You want to go first Go for I've never once heard anybody say anything bad about Boba Shet I think that Fremble Valdez is a piece of garbage. I really do I think when you allegedly get crossed up with your catcher and you being your catcher because you got upset That you gave up a grand slam you are a You're just an awful human being because we don't swear on the show

46:22But off the show I'll tell you exactly what I think about Fremble Valdez I did not want him even on a low ball contract coming to Boston Because you don't need more head cases. Thank you. Goodbye. Don't want Fremble It could have been anyone or Fremble and it would have been anyone for me That's how much I dislike Fremble Valdez it's like Dude Would you want someone who had domestic violence like attached to them? Absolutely not Not thinking or saying that Fremble Valdez is in that bucket But he's the type of person that if he has anger management problems I'm all set with that. I don't need that. Thank you goodbye Boba Shit coming to Boston. What does that add? Assuming again the Red Sox are healthy without any problems You're probably eighty two and eighty maybe eighty three and eighty uh 79 something like that like in that range you're above a five hundred team Because I think that Boba Shit right handed bat at Fenway Park Could absolutely wreak havoc for 81 games in the season So yeah, I'll say what what did you say Nick beforehand? You said 84

47:26All right, so I said 74 you said 84. Chris was at 76 You all say that the variance goes up Nine I'll go up to 83 That was the first number I said 83. What do you say Nick to that? Yeah, I'll probably you know, I'll be a little more um conservative I guess in my swing But uh, I'd say it probably jumps us up from an 84 win team to an 88 win team And uh, you know, you go from wishing you just had that one more piece to being in potentially wild card race Chris I'm gonna say probably 84 to 85 win. So I'm gonna be in that same variances you Charlie like a nine to ten Yeah, just because and again, I don't even know so like he's not the best defender But I think he's upgrade right now over what we're gonna be Absolutely on a consistent basis Oh, yeah, where it brings a certain level of consistency defensively and then obviously on the offensive side Where you could kind of guarantee you're probably gonna get two or three more wins and his war would necessarily say

48:31All right, right I mean, here's the thing it's just gonna be wishful thinking Hoping to come under the Christmas tree and see that present there And it's just not gonna be there because at the end of the day, dude I think all three of us are aligned It's another it's another one where it's like oh man, I wish we had him too, but we didn't get him It's not gonna happen, but if it did in a world where it did here's what I do think If somehow the sogs did pull that off I actually would expect them to be a team that finishes Somewhere closer and 90 because if you're going for the shit, you're not stopping there If you're gonna go for it what I do think ends up happening is Brezzo's eventually gonna start feeling calls for that fourth outfielder because now there's no options for the other teams They get desperate and now all of a sudden you are maybe able to improve your starting pitching Improve your bullpen, which now yields that additional one two three four wins Where that 85 win teams becomes an 89 win fringe 90 and we're right back to where we were last year

49:32And then depending on who those teams are and who takes a step back. Maybe you are a wild card team I don't know But even if you improve those two areas, I we're certainly not competing for the division Maybe we're able to get past the Orioles The Yankees if things don't go their way because they haven't really done much and they're an injury away from the same position as we are Let me ask you a question too Knowing that Alex Breggman got his ridiculous contract of five at 175 Where do you think bobe shed is gonna land knowing full well that a lesser hitter Better defender even though it's not the same position. You got shortstop versus third base. I think shortstop is the premium position in baseball uh Not as good of a fielder much better hitter. I don't think Alex Breggman's gonna do I mean he'll probably hit 18 17 home runs as a member of the Chicago Cubs I would be so pissed if I'm paying 35 million dollars for someone who's gonna hit 17 home runs

50:32I think bobe shed's gonna hit 30 Wherever he ends up. He's gonna hit 30. He's probably gonna be a 30 100 guy He's gonna be that like mat holiday type guy who we wish hit for better average But can still steal bases and assuming he can stay healthy What do you think he gets do you think he touches 40 million per Do you want to go first nigger you want me to go up to you if you have a take Yeah, I think Well, I'll tell you this way If if Breggman got 5 175, what do I think Bo should get if he's getting 175 Bo should be close to three And I'm not saying that Bo would have 300 million dollar player I'm just saying that's giving Breggman 175 to me. It's no brain to give him 300 Now realistically Here's what I do think though that the way that major league baseball views him as far as front offices fair or not I think that people do not look at bobe shed as a great defender And I think a lot of teams don't look at him as a shortstop moving forward Whereas Breggman everyone still looks at them as a third baseman

51:33And he's still pretty decent defensively there Um, and I can't even have too many gripes with him is for the way he played defense for the Red Sock when he was playing So fair or not and the fact that he has all that playoff experience. I think there's some value to that as well Um, even though if you look at their statistics much smaller sample size for for bobe shed. He's the more impressive hitter Um And I do think that front offices look at that similarly I think bobe shed is going to probably end up somewhere Around that shoe 20 mark. I know there's people out there today saying 283 hundred If it was not locked if there was no lockout I do think he would touch that number and I reason why I think Major league baseball's already been trending on these slower off seasons the fact that we have a lockout pending I think is just making it exponentially worse Both on the timing of things and I think the money front of things So I think he's going to touch somewhere between 220 maybe top end 250

52:35neck Yeah, I think if he was a more consistent defender Or even a good one, you know, you would probably I agree I would probably put him at the Maybe 10 year 300 million mark, you know, because he is going into his age 38 season or excuse me 28 seasons that would sign him through to age 38 It's not too bad But bobe shed does have like a shortstop turned second baseman Turned maybe first baseman turned dh kind of feel to him, you know, just when you're looking over the course of his career You know, and I do think that's going to hurt him overall still Is he going to get seven million or seven years rather eight years? That's what he's looking for Do I think he's going to be worth? You know a 30 million dollar a year Type of contract To the extent that any free agent will be, you know, is it going to be an overpay? Yes. Is it going to be an egregious overpay? No, I don't think so so I mean, I guess

53:38Right now if I had to put a number on it maybe seven years Seven years or eight years at 30 million a piece of what 210 or 240 million somewhere in that ballpark I Think he's if you do the math out eight years 37-5 which is two and a half million dollars more than what Breggman got And you tack on a couple extra years you're you're getting to that 300 number That's your magic 300 Chris and I think there's a chance that if a team is willing to do that He signs yesterday, so I don't think that offers on the table yet Which is why I think it's going to be somewhere in the realm of the 240 to 50 range at the high end Because of the mention the mention of the strike I think that that's going to going to play into it There was one person online that compared Carlos Kareya to Bishet and This was a little while back like oh you wouldn't give him this kind of money and he was looking for this I don't compare the two. I don't think it's fair to compare the two. Yes. They've had injury history and injury problems

54:38Boba shits been able to do things that Carlos Kareya could never do and I'm not talking about just the fact that he could stay Carlos Kareya has never had a hundred RBI's Carlos Kareya has never hit 30 homeruns people and say well, that's not a metric of being like a really good baseball player Boba shite hasn't had 30 at 29 had a hundred RBI's a couple of years ago It was right after covid But I still would rather take my shot at Boba shite now than Carlos Kareya 26 or 27 And if if you have to shoot your shot with the middle infield guy That's not a head case that comes from You know a big baseball family Stadz Dante Bishet who also played for the Boston Red Sox. So there's that connection too I mean, it just makes more sense, but unfortunately We don't want to spend the money or if we do I will be the first one to issue a public apology If we spend 240 million dollars, I will I will go to family park this year I'll actually better yet if Boba shite signs will do a raffle

55:43I will buy tickets and we'll give them to we'll give them to a listener Do that actually I'll be getting monster seeds I'll go with you I'll spend money for those tickets with you Yeah, it'd be crazy There's a chance of catching a home run you know in the monster seeds. I mean That's how high I think we are because people do say oh you guys are really negative No, man, you do that you'll turn us back into believers again You can't sit here and say how can you not being believers if you don't invest Like this is a game where it's paid a play and you're not paying. So we're gonna be playing for you know peanuts here You know, I have two thoughts to usher us out here The first one is just something that popped into my mind before when we were just talking about You know a lot of the things that can go wrong for the red socks this year And I'm thinking to myself that the 2026 red socks as they are right now Have a very specific way to win games And a lot of different ways to lose them that's sort of how it feels to me

56:46You know if we go out there and we have a great starting pitching performance and you know we put up Four or five runs that that's that's gonna feel like a lot of our victories are gonna come from those sort of fundamental Baseball great games all this, but I mean you're going to see Blown leads you're going to see two to one losses you're gonna see it all and I'm afraid that you're gonna see it in a substantial enough number of course that it impacts the the win record at the end of the year And the other thing is just a bit of speculation on what the heck this contract means For Kyle Tucker that's gonna be really interesting because to me this is kind of the cubs Coming to terms with they're not getting Tucker. They're they're not going to be the team that locks him up And it's just a little wild me because Let's say that Tucker is behind closed doors 40 million somewhere in that ballpark. I think that's a lot of the speculation right That's only five million more than what Alex Breggman just got for what I feel is a better player especially long term

57:51So it really does make me wonder what the heck is going on in those negotiations Again, I think if it wasn't a lockout season, I feel like Tucker would already have a contract Um, especially at the age and the talent and the numbers that he's put up and the type or hitter that he is And you're right. I do feel like the cubs are 100% out on Tucker at this point which You know, you should feel good because if you're a socks fan on any any other normal year, you'd be like Okay, you got Tucker in the shed. Well the blue jays can't sign a bull Or logic would say they won't sign the bull and I think all of us would agree with that But how typical would it be if bobe shed naturally goes back to the blue jays Or goes to the Phillies and then the Dodgers are like let's just sign Tucker We have the money we could kick it down until 2070 who cares and you know they will They there's already rumblings about it. So like that's already what I'm expecting at this point

58:52I'm expecting bobe shed to either go back to the blue jays We're dumb Dave Dumbbrowski to be like yeah, I'll sign bobe shed like why not no one else has And then Kyle talkers be like yeah, I'm just going to go to LA I'll have a contract with Penny me until you know my grandkids are getting paid on it It's gonna be a fun year guys. This is gonna be a really fun year I really can't wait to do the show with some of your gents when Certain things are happening. I really can't sure and we're gonna reference one 1026 Oh, yes Thank you everyone for listening It's been a heck of a show, you know, we um we did this kind of Bropped right because Terry is out of town right now. So he just shot a message to the group chat And when can anyone do an emergency show tonight and I'm like that's how I heard about the news. I was like Uh-oh what just happened. Oh come on You know, I mean, so that that was you know literally the 30 minutes right prior to us going live So thank you everyone for listening and watching Hopefully the Red Sox can figure something out here It'll be interesting to see what the rest of the offseason holds and what obviously the rest of the season holds

59:55I've been nick the voice joined by Charlie Smith and Chris Faleco. We have been the bastards of Boston We will see you next time take care