* The loss of Trevor Story is a significant one for the Red Sox. In the first week of the season, he was catching up to elite velocity again, hinting at a big bounce-back season at the plate. His defense, meanwhile, was typically excellent.
So where do the Red Sox go from here at shortstop? Pablo Reyes isn’t the everyday answer, and moving Vaughn Grissom, when he’s healthy, only ensures too many at-bats for Reyes and Enmanuel Valdez at second base. David Hamilton’s not the solution either, and Marcelo Mayer isn’t close to being ready.
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From here, Ceddanne Rafaela looks like the best bet. Evaluators believe he can be every bit as impactful at short as he’s been in center, with terrific range and a strong, accurate arm.
“We see him as a plus shortstop,” said an evaluator with another MLB team. “He has the arm to play there and the quickness, too. He just has to learn how to stay under control on some routine plays.”
This will mean some shuffling of the outfield alingment, of course, with Jarren Duran moved back to center, Tyler O’Neill in left and Wilyer Abreu in right. This isn’t a perfect solution. Duran isn’t nearly as good as Rafaela in center, though he’s playable there. There are questions about Abreu’s readiness as an everyday contributor, though perhaps when Rob Refsnyder is healthy, he can play left against lefties and O’Neill can shift to right, limiting Abreu’s exposure.
Still, that seems like the best in-house solution. It’s highly unlikely that the Red Sox can acquire a starting-caliber shortstop from elsewhere, especially this early in the season.
But Rafaela is a supremely talented athlete who will make all the plays at short while continuing to grow as a hitter.
* There’s a good chance that we’ll look back on 2024 as the year women’s college basketball exploded, thanks to Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers. Going forward, the sport will never be the same.
How much of a foothold did the game make this year? The TV ratings for the Iowa-LSU matchup last Monday eclipsed those of every World Series game last October and all but one of the NBA Finals’ contests from last June. And Friday’s Iowa-UConn game will probably top those. Remarkable.
* There’s something unseemly about two billionaire owners threatening to leave their current cities if they don’t get new taxpayer-financed stadia. Jerry Reinsdorf, who owns MLB’s Chicago White Sox, and Clark Hunt, owner of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, are both threatening to take their teams out of the market if they don’t receive government handouts to replace their current taxpayer-funded homes.
If only Reinsdorf and Hunt had as much shame as they did riches. Reinsdorf’s current playpen is less than 35 years old and came with all kinds of subsidies and incentives from the last time he threatened to skip town. Meanwhile, Hunt’s stadium has been expanded twice and renovated three times. As always, it’s never enough for these guys.
* Fighting is part of hockey, and likely always will be. A bout between two players that takes place organically between two agitated players can be entertaining. But the sort of staged line brawls, like the recent one that took place seconds after the opening faceoff between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, look like some WWE schtick and sets the game back.
* If you don’t like Drake Maye as a potential Patriots pick and future savior, that’s your right. But people who want to avoid drafting him because Mitch Trubisky shared the same alma mater and proved to be an NFL flop, are embarrassing themselves. What does a bust from seven years ago have to do with any of this? It’s not like schools are positionally cursed. Maybe teams should pass on Caleb Williams because fellow USC alums Mark Sanchez and Matt Leinhart didn’t work out.
* If, as reported, Bill Belichick is working on a book, I would hardly expect it to be a tell-all. After decades of mumbling one and two-word answers to the most mundane questions and treating the most basic inquiry like a state secret, Belichick is all of a sudden going to pull back the curtain? Don’t think so.
* Thing I didn’t have on my 2024 Bingo card: the emergence of Reese McGuire in a job-share with Connor Wong behind the plate. And never mind that they’re both just keeping the seat warm until Kyle Teel is ready to go.
* Around these parts, it’s championship or bust. Anything less is regarded as failure. But that shouldn’t render regular season accomplishments moot. As such, the fact that the Celtics are going to finish as the only NBA team with more than 60 wins should be recognized. In an era of load management, the team’s dominance and consistency over six months is something to behold.
* I can’t think of a worse first-round playoff matchup for the Bruins than the Tampa Bay Lightning. Never mind that the Lightning won three of four regular season matchups. But the Lightning have been the league’s hottest team in the last month, have offensive firepower (second in goals scored in the Eastern Conference) and championship pedigree. Finally, forget about the numbers: you don’t want to face Andrei Vasilevskiy in a big game or series.
* The schedule-maker has made things relatively easy for the Red Sox in the first month: two series with the Los Angeles Angels, two with the Cleveland Indians and one each with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland A’s — all non-playoff teams a year ago. It’s up to the Red Sox to take full advantage.
* Can’t tell you how many times over the last few months I’ve heard some variation of the following from an airline pilot upon landing. “Folks, we’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is, we landed 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The bad news is, our gate is occupied and it’s going to be a while…..” Or, there’s no gate agent available. First of all, the “good” news is immediately negated if you can’t get off the aircraft. Further, it’s not like planes routinely arrive unannounced, like unexpected dinner guests. Is their arrival somehow catching everyone by surprise?
* Sorry, can’t feel too sorry for the fan at Dodger Stadium who felt she wasn’t properly compensated for handing over Shohei Ohtani’s first home run for the Dodgers. When you go to the ballpark as a paying customer, there should be no expectation that you’re going to leave enriched just because a ball dropped in your lap.
