Much like Lucas Giolito, Walker Buehler’s first pitch as a member of the Red Sox didn’t take place on a mound.
Here’s hoping Buehler’s will land better than Gio’s did…
The Sox’s newest right-handed starter is lending his voice to the recruitment of prized All-Star free agent third baseman Alex Bregman, just as Giolito did with his former teammate Max Fried.
Fried, of course, turned down Gio’s recruitment pitch to sign a lucrative deal with the rival New York Yankees. The end result of Bregman’s recruitment remains to be seen, but Buehler believes he might have an inside track…
“I have certainly made a pitch all over the place for him to come to Boston,” Buehler told reporters in his introductory press conference on Friday. “He and I have been buddies for a long time. We played on Team USA together,r a little bit in college. You know, being from Lexington the horse stuff is always something that I’ve been super interested in, and Alex got into it a few years ago. I know he has some family ties with it.”
Buehler is referring to the racehorse named "March of Time” he co-owns with Bregman. Hey, whatever floats your boat and whatever helps the cause, right?
My reaction to Buehler’s pitch to Bregman will be the same as Gio’s pitch to Fried. It’s not a bad thing to have a pre-existing relationship and an inside track with someone you’d like to partner up with. Being friends with someone can play a role in the decision-making process.
But at the end of the day, Bregman and Buehler are more businessmen than they are friends in the arena of professional baseball…
If the Sox are willing to offer Bregman in the ballpark of market value, then maybe his relationship with Buelher will help tip the scales. If they don’t, then Bregman is probably as good as gone… as well he should be.
Cora’s confidence
Alex Cora, for one, sounds fairly confident in the Sox’s ability to sign Bregman…
The Sox skipper said on the “Fenway Faithful Podcast” that he believes his team has put in the necessary legwork to reel in a big fish like Bregman.
“If you're patient enough, you can get your guys -- and we're still working at it,” said Cora, who pointed out how it also took the Sox a while to bring in one of their most impactful free agents of the past decade in J.D. Martinez.
That “patience” requires an ability to negotiate. Because really, what else could be holding up Bregman’s signing besides the dollars and cents?
That’s what will reportedly keep the Astros from retaining Bregman. According to a report from KPRC-TV in Houston, negotiations between the team and Bregman have simmered out after the team brought in Christian Walker.
Now, there is "a very, very real possibility” that Bregman winds up with the Red Sox, according to the report.
Note, that’s two “very”s… so, it must be very serious.
Cora has a personal connection with Bregman working for him, too. But again, whether it’s Buehler or Cora in Bregman’s ear, it won’t be as significant as John Henry and his checkbook being in his ear…
Farming for talent
We’ve long heard about the Sox’s “Big 3” prospects — now minus Kyle Teel, but everyone kept wanting to include Kristian Campbell so we’ll keep calling it the “Big 3” — but it seems their reputation isn’t as strong outside of New England.
At least not according to one system ranking, as Bleacher Report’s latest prospect ranking lists Boston’s farm system as only the 13th-best in all of baseball.
Roman Anthony led the way as B/R’s No. 1 prospect as of November while Marcelo Mayer was 11th. The site also includes Campbell (No. 16) and Franklin Arias (No. 90) as “Tier 1” prospects in the system… whatever that means.
I haven’t (and don’t care to) been interested in doing a player-by-player deep dive of every single prospect in the Red Sox’s system, but I think this result is a fair representation of what seems to be the situation down on the farm.
The Sox do have some of the best young talent in baseball, but it seems like it’s a pretty top-heavy crop. There’s a reason that you aren’t hearing about many up-and-coming pitchers through the minors… because they don’t really have any.
A farm system devoid of promising pitching talent, arguably the harder and more important piece to develop, isn’t much of a farm system at all…
Pawtucket blues
It’s been a long, slow goodbye to Pawtucket Red Sox baseball.
Alas, we’ve just about reached our conclusion — and that comes in the form of the demolition of beloved McCoy Stadium.
Tributes have been pouring in over the weekend for old McCoy, so I figured I would once again contribute my own.
McCoy Stadium was a quintessential minor league ballpark for its time. I spent many a year there both watching and later being fortunate enough to cover games there, all memories that I will forever cherish fondly.
It wasn’t an engineering spectacle. It wasn’t a modern marvel of the world. It was a simple, friendly minor league ballpark set in a neighborhood of factories, and that captured the spirit of the minors so well in my book.
I’ll always remember watching games there with my dad. You didn’t have to fork over an arm and a leg to park, get a hot dog and see a game. The prices were entirely reasonable. It was all about taking in a ballgame and everything good that comes with it.
I and we will miss you, McCoy. You were a perfect place to grow up in in conjunction with Fenway Park.
All this being said, I was a fan of the decision to move the team to Worcester — and I still am today. It was time. PawSox baseball and McCoy had run their course. Just as I believed that McCoy was a perfect minor league park for its era, I also truly believe that Polar Park is the perfect modern minor league stadium and experience.
There’s a time and a place for everything. It’s WooSox baseball’s time now. It was PawSox baseball’s time then.
We’ll always remember it fondly.