The Rafael Devers-Alex Bregman situation is fine, really.
As much as I’m concerned about the fact that the Red Sox apparently gave $120 million to Alex Bregman without having a plan as to what position he would play, thus creating an awkward situation with face-of-the-franchise and fellow third baseman Rafael Devers, I have a confession to make: I think I’m kind of happy that, at the very least, people are talking about the Red Sox again.
A little spring training controversy can be a good thing and the Red Sox have a long history with it. The current third base kerfuffle is eerily reminiscent of the spring of 1997, of course, when John Valentin briefly walked out of camp in response to the team’s decision to move him off of shortstop to make room for a rookie by the name of Nomar Garciaparra. But that’s hardly the only juicy spring the Sox have given us. Manny Ramirez trade rumors were staples of February a few decades ago. Pedro-watch was an annual ritual as we wondered whether the team’s ace would report to Fort Myers on time and what it meant if he didn’t (again). Mo Vaughn and Dan Duquette regularly turned a spring training media scrum into something resembling a reality TV confessional, sniping at each other while rarely speaking the other’s name. It didn’t matter what the Celtics or Bruins were doing back in those days. As soon as pitchers and catchers reported, Boston immediately became a baseball town again, and those little controversies were a big reason why.
Now, we have a little bit of that back.
Triston Casas has weighed in, calling Rafael Devers his third baseman. Masataka Yoshida is addressing trade rumors as he potentially faces a reduced role in Boston. Alex Cora is (mildly) throwing his old boss under the bus in response to long-term roster construction decisions. I welcome these things not because I want the Red Sox to be poorly run, but because, after a years-long slide into Boston sports irrelevance, people are interested in the Sox again. As I’ve written before, there is no societal value in determining which of two teams composed of 26 arbitrarily grouped men is better at hitting, throwing, and catching a baseball than the other. Our lives don’t actually change depending on whether our favorite team wins or loses. We are here to be entertained.
Moreover, I just don’t think this little dust-up is going to have any kind of material negative impact on the field. If there’s one truism of roster construction, it’s that you can’t have too much talent (the Dodgers plan on reminding the world of this for the better part of the coming decade). There will be room on the diamond for both Rafael Devers and Alex Bregman. There will be a team willing to take on Yoshida in a trade as soon as he shows that he’s healthy and productive. Krisitian Campbell will be fine if he spends a little more time in Worcester waiting for a spot in the lineup to open up. A few months from now, when we’re watching Bregman and Devers greet each other with forearm bumps after a home run, we’ll barely remember what was said in Fort Myers this week.
But for now bring on the rumors and the gossip and the Kremlinology as we try to interpret batting cage body language. It’s twenty degrees outside today. The Green Line trains rumbling down Huntington Avenue are partially hidden by snow banks and the sidewalks are so slick with ice that you can luge down Beacon Hill if you want. But summer feels closer than ever, and that’s because people are talking about the Sox.