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Anticipation for the 2025 Red Sox season is high, after the team showed promise for much of last year but petered out late in the second half, mostly because of a lack of depth.
That’s changed with big-name acquisitions like Alex Bregman, Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler joining the team’s stable of young talent. But even as the additions were piling up, especially with the signing of Bregman, an issue lingered over the team.
If Bregman, a Gold Glover at third base, remains at his natural position, what becomes of incumbent star Rafael Devers? Devers has been the team’s anchor in recent seasons, and has been with the team for eight years now. He’s a three-time All-Star with a career slash line of .279/.345./.511, and is in the third year of a 10-year, $313 million contract.
And Devers has been the starter at third base his entire career.
Last month, when asked about moving positions or DH-ing to accommodate the addition of Bregman, Devers was blunt in saying he had no intention of moving off of third base. That opened the possibility that Bregman would play second base, but he has yet to work there throughout this spring.
Devers has been injured and slowly ramping up to spring training action. That’s quieted the notion of the Red Sox having a Devers/Bregman/third base problem.
For now. But Sean McAdam, the veteran Red Sox beat man who now writes for MassLive, says that won’t last long.
Discussing the Devers situation on “The Fenway Rundown” podcast with fellow beat man Chris Cotillo, McAdam said, “I would say ticking time bomb is more applicable here. It’s quiet not because they haven’t said, ‘We made our decision, you are our DH.’ When that happens … They haven’t told him that definitively. When they do that, it will get ugly for at least a little while. Where that goes and what form that takes, we’ll have to see.
“I would caution people who say, ‘Well, seems like that’s blown over …’ No, it’s been put on hold. And it still very much could be a huge disruption.”
While Devers, who is a subpar third baseman, has limited power to change the situation barring demanding a trade, his unhappiness could be an issue for the Red Sox.
“He is largely powerless here but the organization has to find a way to get him to buy in,” McAdam said. “Telling him, ‘Sorry, know you don’t want to do this, but you’re our DH’ doesn’t completely solve it. You don’t want a $30 million player … you don’t want a guy that important unhappy. If it comes to light that they have told him, ‘You are gonna be the DH,’ they’re gonna have some fires to put out pretty quickly.”
More must-reads:
- Orioles star to open 2025 season on the 10-day IL
- Pirates ace Paul Skenes primed for 2025 season after latest dominant spring training start
- The '2024 MLB runs scored leaders' quiz
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Seattle Mariners Trade For Former New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers Pitcher
The Seattle Mariners are starting to hammer down the last few spots on the major league roster. The bullpen will be one of the most interesting units on the team, at least for the for the first part of the season. Troy Taylor and Matt Brash are expected to return early, but there's a question about who will fill in for them while they're out. One potential major league arm, Shintaro Fujinami, was re-assigned to minor league camp on Saturday. On the same day, the Mariners acquired a pitcher in the trade that will be on his third organization in four months. Seattle brought in right-handed pitcher Michael Hobbs in a trade with the New York Mets in return for cash considerations. The news was first reported by The Athletic's Mets reporter, Will Sammon. Hobbs was originally selected in the 10th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He advanced to the Dodgers Doube-A affiliate, the Tulsa Drillers, before being selected by New York in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft. He was selected by the Mets in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 draft. Hobbs had a 2.97 ERA in 42 appearances with the Drillers. He struck out 30 batters in 57.2 innings pitched. Hobbs was assigned to New York on March 17, but hadn't made an appearance in Grapefruit League play. The Mariners had more than 30 players leave the organization on the minor league level in the offseason. Most of them were pitchers. Seattle had to turn to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers several times last season to find relievers. And it seems the Mariners are making sure the depth is solid in Tacoma in case they have to do it again in 2025.
NHL Analyst Willing to Bet $100 on Canadiens-Islanders Blockbuster Involving Mathew Barzal
The Montreal Canadiens are going through a very good stretch. Still, the lineup for this season has some major holes, especially at the center position on the second line. Let's be honest: the Kirby Dach experiment at center hasn't gone very well, and Alex Newhook is definitely not a top-six player. With Ivan Demidov expected to join the Canadiens lineup in the near future, Kent Hughes absolutely needs to find a center who can help generate offense. In a recent segment on BPM Sports, David Ettedgui took a bold stance and revealed his list of players that Kent Hughes should target this summer to improve the second line. According to him, the players to aim for are: Mason McTavish, Robert Thomas, Martin Necas, and Mathew Barzal. David Ettedgui would bet $100 on one name in particular: Mathew Barzal to the Montreal Canadiens While all these names are enticing, Ettedgui believes only one is truly attainable-and that's Mathew Barzal. In fact, he says he'd be willing to bet $100 that this trade is more than just possible. 'If I were to bet $100 on a trade that is really, really possible, it's definitely Mathew Barzal. The Islanders are heading into a dead end. They're not progressing. There's no prospect pool at all.' - David Ettedgui The reason why this trade could very well happen is quite simple. Despite the Islanders' Thursday night win over the Canadiens and their current playoff push, they're going nowhere fast. Lou Lamoriello's team has no real prospect pool and is clearly heading into a dead end. Sooner or later, they'll need to reload with prospects and young players. And prospects and youth? That's exactly what Kent Hughes and the Canadiens have in abundance. Now, I can already hear people bringing up Barzal's salary ($9.15M through the end of 2027-28) and his injury history. But Ettedgui was quick to flip the narrative. According to the analyst, the British Columbia native's talent is worth the price. Even if Barzal only plays 60 to 75 games a season, his offensive production would still significantly boost the team. Let's not forget, Barzal posted 80 points in 80 games in 2023-2024. Another fun fact: like Logan Mailloux, Barzal speaks French very well. He learned French as a kid because his father secretly hoped he'd one day play for the Canadiens. That's a huge bonus for the Montreal market.
Browns Predicted to Sign Pro Bowl QB to Replace Deshaun Watson
As of now, the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback for Week 1 is shaping up to be Kenny Pickett. That is after Deshaun Watson, who is entering the fourth season of a five-year, $230 million deal, had surgery in January to repair a re-ruptured Achilles injury. Pickett has not lived up to his status as a first-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2022 NFL draft. In 30 career appearances (25 starts) with the Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles, he has completed 471 of 755 passes for 4,765 yards, 15 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a 79.3 passer rating. In a video posted to the "NFL on NBC" YouTube channel, Pro Football Talk analyst Mike Florio predicted that the Browns will sign one-time Pro Bowler Carson Wentz to fill in for Watson. "I think Carson Wentz will be the one that they bring in to ultimately win the job at a time when they need cheap quarterbacks because they've got so much money and cap space still tied up in that albatross of a Deshaun Watson contract," Florio said. "The single worst transaction in NFL history, and that is not an exaggeration." The last time Wentz started at least 10 games in a season was in 2021 with the Indianapolis Colts, where he proved to be a viable option, completing 322 of 516 passes for 3,563 yards, 27 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 94.6 passer rating. Since then, though, he has bounced between three different teams not getting much of a chance to prove himself with 13 appearances and nine starts, completing 201 of 319 passes for 2,036 yards, 13 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and an 81.7 passer rating. If Wentz can return to being the same player from just four years ago, he could be a bargain for the Browns to replace Watson with, as Spotrac places his market value at just $1.9 million annually.
'Player welfare will always come first': PTPA 'heavily involved' in Elena Rybakina, Stefano Vukov case, claims executive director
The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) executive director Ahmad Nassar has claimed that his organisation has been ‘heavily involved’ in the case regarding one-time Grand Slam winner Elena Rybakina and her coach Stefano Vukov. Both individuals have been under the spotlight ever since it was revealed that the WTA decided to ban the 37-year-old for 12 months from coaching after being found guilty of misconduct. The decision made headlines as Vukov was set to return to the coaching team of Rybakin, who not so long ago decided to part ways with him and hire former coach of Serbia’s legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic, Goran Ivanisevic. Once the news broke that Rybakina was ready to reunite with her former coach, Ivanisevic decided to part ways with the one-time Grand Slam winner. It was later reported in some news media outlets that both Rybakina and Vukov were involved in a romantic relationship. PTPA’s executive director Nassar has been recently quoted in a report, in which he confirmed that his organisation is very ‘heavily involved’ in the case. "It's very high profile, and it's very... I'll just say we've been heavily involved, just not publicly. And I'll leave it at that," the he said while speaking to Ben Rothenberg. "Player welfare will always come first. So, Elena...yeah, we're heavily involved, just not publicly." Back in February when the decision was announced, Rybakina was unhappy with the outcome. "I'm just disappointed with the situation, and how the process went. I'm not going to comment much more,” she said back then. On the court, however, the Moscow-born star has been doing pretty well this season. Out of the six competitions that she participated in in 2025, Rybakina has managed to go as far as semifinal on two occasions and quarterfinal once. Her most recent outing was a big disappointment as she was knocked out of the Miami Open after losing to Ashlyn Krueger with a score of 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
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