FORT MYERS, Fla. — Credit where it’s due: the Red Sox are taking steps to lock up some young players this spring, offering contract extensions to both Triston Casas and Brayan Bello.
For now, Casas has declined the Red Sox’ offer while Bello told MassLIve’s Chris Cotillo that a deal was possible before the end of spring training. A survey of other young players (and some prospects) found no other negotiations ongoing.
That’s understandable. While most fans are eager to see the team’s best homegrown players commit to spending all or most of their careers with the team, reaching agreement is easier said that done. Teams have to be certain with their projections that the players in question are going to be worthy of the long-term investment and players have to give up some future leverage in exchange for security.
But the process can go a long way toward avoiding the messes that occurred when Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts were either unwilling or unable to get long-term deals done to keep them in Boston. The closer a player gets to qualifying unfettered free agency, the harder it is to dissuade him from seeing what’s available.
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Even if the Red Sox elect not to pursue deals with players in the 0-1 service time category (Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Vaughn Grissom), it will be interesting to see how they treat any of the Big Three — Roman Anthony, Marcello Mayer and Kyle Teel — over the next year. Some clubs have already given seven- and eight-year deals to players before they take so much as a swing or throw a single pitch in the big leagues.
Those kind of deals require can’t miss prospects. Do Anthony, Mayer and Teel qualify?
Either way, good for the Red Sox for being proactive in this regard. It’s never too early to form bonds — contractual and personal — with your most promising players.
* Kudos to NESN’s Jack Edwards for speaking with candor about his speech difficulties, for which he has no found cause. It cannot have been easy for Edwards to battle through his issues in public, all the while dealing with unfounded speculation about his condition. Edwards may be an acquired taste for some, but his passion and preparation are undeniable. Here’s hoping he has some answers soon and can continue doing a job he very obviously loves.
* I’ve made my thoughts known on uniform fetishists, but this time around, they may have a point. The new MLB uniforms, unveiled with great fanfare, are an abomination — from the microscopic lettering on the back, to the see-through pants feature, to the boxy cut.
This should have been a big marketing opportunity for baseball. But somehow, MLB fumbled it, squandered a marketing opportunity and antagonized its players, too. Worse, MLB issued a statement that essentially asked: “Problem…what problem?” That’s quite the fail, all around.
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* Is Linus Ullmark in play as the NHL trade deadline approaches? The Bruins’ draft pick inventory has been thinned out by past deadline deals and the team finds itself up against the cap. Moving Ullmark could fetch another puck-moving defenseman and/or some physical presence up front. But it would leave the B’s without much of a safety net in goal. The strength of the team has been the ability to have a No. 1 goalie in net every night, but that may be a luxury they can quite literally no longer afford, given their other needs and their financial constraints.
* Coaches in most sports are notoriously underpaid, so it was good to see Steve Kerr land a lucrative extension, making him the highest-paid coach in the NBA. But even with four rings, two years and $35 million sounds like…a lot.
* Hal Steinbrenner met with New York media this past week and said: “Given where we are payroll-wise, any addition to the club is going to be a costly one. I’m still willing to consider anything that (GM Brian Cashman) and his team bring my way. I’ll leave it at that. We are not done trying to improve this team.”
You’ll notice that there was no chest-pounding about how much money the team had spent in the past, or a haughty reminder that big payrolls don’t guarantee on-field success. It was just a statement that the team would like to get better, and would be willing to spend more to accomplish that goal.
What a concept.
* I’m rooting for Ceddanne Rafaela. Maybe he’s ready for everyday duty in center in the big leagues, and maybe he’s not. But his presence would instantly make the Red Sox compelling. Rafaela brings elite speed and plus-plus defensive skills, and injecting some life and energy into the lineup wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Problem is, the competition for center could come down to an either-or between Rafaela and Jarren Duran. Duran has Rafaela’s speed but not, to date, his ability as a defender. It’s possible that Duran could share time in left with Tyler O’Neill and Masataka Yoshida, but at-bats could be hard to come by there.
* The Patriots unveiled a 23-man coaching staff this past week, and I’m not afraid to say that I wonder if that’s enough manpower. Won’t someone think of who’s going to work with inside linebackers or the strong safeties? Every sport has become ridiculously over-specialized, but on this score, no one can touch the NFL.
* Joe Mazzulla’s primary task over the next seven weeks is to carefully thread that needle between keeping the Celtics motivated while not overextending his stars before the long playoff push arrives. Most NBA coaches would give their left whistle to be in that situation, but it’s a tough balance to strike.
* Good to know that Alex Verdugo holds no “hard feelings,” toward Alex Cora. Cora gave Verdugo chance after chance. Disciplining him didn’t work and neither did publicly calling him out. But Verdugo has, out of the goodness of his heart, decided to not hold any grudges.
* RIP to former NFL receiver Golden Richards, who had one of the best football names of all time — right up there with Fair Hooker, of course.
* Get well soon to the Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy. Fearless with his takes, but importantly, accountable, too, Shaughnessy has been essential reading for decades. The spring training experience has not been the same without him.
