The Red Sox and Yankees will face off for the second time in a week starting Friday. This time, Roman Anthony will take centerstage in his first series against Boston's hated rivals. This week on The Moonshot, our MLB Insiders weigh in on the state of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, as well as an array of issues surrounding current MLB playoff teams. It's only mid-June, but the playoff chase is heating up.
Welcome to The Moonshot, a weekly newsletter where we believe in exit velocity, bat flips, launch angles, stealing home, the hanging curveball, Big League Chew, sausage races, and that unwritten rules of any kind are self-indulgent, overrated crap. We believe Greg Maddux was an actual wizard. We believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment protecting minor league baseball and that pitch framing is both an art and a science. We believe in the sweet spot, making WARP not war, letting your closer chase a two-inning save, and we believe love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too. This week's panel includes Adam Weinrib, Chris Landers, Zach Rotman and Robert Murray.
Biggest takeaways from the latest MLB player poll in The Athletic
Adam Weinrib: The commentary on Craig Counsell stood out the most to me. “His teams win, have fun and play with an edge.” Isn’t that the dream? How do more MLB teams ensure that a manager’s chip on his shoulder carries over into their on-field play? It feels like finding someone who can thread the needle between “fun” and “edge” is harder than ever these days, but with so many decisions out of the manager’s hand, caretaking and balancing these two emotions is arguably the most important thing they can do in the modern game.
Robert Murray: What this player said about the Atlanta Braves: “The Braves do everything just as good as the Yankees. The way they take care of the players, players’ families, the way they treat you like you’re the best in the league.”
After the Braves called up Craig Kimbrel, only to designate him for assignment a day later, some people might scoff at this. But Alex Anthopoulos has carefully constructed the roster to find the right players and people for the locker room. Brian Snitker is as respected as any manager in baseball. They are respected among rival teams, players and even agents as a team who does business the right way.
Zach Rotman: “The Dodgers take care of players and their families, but they also excel on the player development side.” Sure, the Dodgers are willing to spend amounts of money other teams cannot match, but the reason why they’re so far above the rest of the league is because they’re willing to go above and beyond where other teams are willing to go. From taking care of players and their families, to investing in player development, the Dodgers do a lot more than throw piles of cash at free agents. Taking better care of players, especially for those teams that are unwilling to spend, can go a long way.
Chris Landers: This isn’t a quote, necessarily, so much as a result: I was a bit surprised to see relatively old-school managers like Bruce Bochy and Terry Francona run away with the poll for manager you’d most like to play for. There seems to be a real gulf between what fans think a manager’s job is (i.e., the stuff we can see on the field, like bullpen management) and what players and organizations actually value – you know, like the ability to manage a clubhouse full of 26 grown men with disparate personalities.
Early MLB pretenders exposed by records against winning teams
Adam Weinrib: The Kansas City Royals. Unless they can get the kind of Jac Caglianone surge they’ve been dreaming of (like, really an otherworldly one), then they might be stuck amongst the Pirates in the “What Could Have Been With That Rotation” Hall of Fame.
Robert Murray: The San Francisco Giants. I love their pitching and defense. It’s very similar to how they were built in 2010, 2012 and 2014. But where’s the offense coming from? They rank 19th in runs scored and are now without Matt Chapman for at least 10 games. I absolutely buy San Francisco as a playoff team, but with no offensive upgrades … it could be an early exit.
Zach Rotman: I’m going to agree with Adam, here. The Royals have an outstanding rotation (with a healthy Cole Ragans) and an underrated bullpen, but who outside of Bobby Witt Jr. and I guess Maikel Garcia is going to produce offense? I mean, they’re 28th in runs scored and dead last in home runs. They desperately need Jac Caglianone to take the league by storm to be okay offensively. That’s a problem.
Chris Landers: Is it time to officially panic about the Phillies? The pitching can hang with anyone (well, at least the rotation can), but this offense simply is not clicking, and it’s not immediately clear how things are going to get better unless Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, JT Realmuto and Co. are able to find it all of a sudden. Dave Dombrowski has trusted this core over the last few years, but they’re in the process of getting left behind by the Mets.
Roman Anthony expectations: What Red Sox fans should realistically expect
Adam Weinrib: The Red Sox have never been far enough out of a playoff spot to be DOA. Even with a reasonable amount of one-run-game luck, they were always poised to compete down the stretch. There isn’t a single team in the AL Wild Card mix that I’m 100% confident is a playoff team. That said, if Boston wants to do more than just occupy a spot, they’ll need a high-upside starter at the trade deadline. They should cash in their chips for the biggest name on the market. Why not go for it in a weak AL?
Robert Murray: One of the reasons the Red Sox waited to promote Anthony is they didn’t want him to feel like the savior during a brutal stretch. So yes, while Anthony is the top prospect in baseball and mega talented, he will not singlehandedly bring the Red Sox back to prominence. I’m with Adam: as long as they are within striking distance at the deadline, go acquire a pitcher, move one of your outfielders and make a real run at this thing.
Zach Rotman: I just watched this man hit a near 500 foot grand slam, so my expectations are high. I expect there to be bumps in the road, as is the case with most rookies, but I expect him to show why he’s been considered MLB’s top prospect rather quickly. His promotion should help them, but if the Red Sox want to make a real run, they’re going to need to add pitching. They could use another big arm to add in their rotation, and they’d also benefit from adding a high-leverage reliever. They certainly have the assets to check both boxes.
Chris Landers: Anthony comes to the Majors as one of the most polished Minor League hitters in recent memory, so while it’s never wise to put too much on a rookie’s plate, it seems perfectly fair to expect him to get on-base at a healthy clip and lengthen the middle of Boston’s lineup (well, at least against righties). As to the latter question, am I crazy for thinking that all they need to do is get healthy? There’s still the outline of a quality rotation here, and a 7-17 record in one-run games is bound to regress at some point (right?). The AL Wild Card race is so wide open that everybody not named the White Sox feels like they have a shot; Boston can absolutely get back into this.
Honoring Hunter Dobbins with the pettiest grudge match moments:
Adam Weinrib: I heard that when Mets fans and Red Sox fans team up to chant, “Yankees Suck!” when they play one another it's actually not adorable. It’s actually a construction of Big Tech. It’s Big Tech at it again. Isn’t that wild? Man, I’d never play for the Mets or Red Sox. Not even if they paid me human money to do it! I’d say, “No, sir, keep your human money.” If playing for the Mets or Red Sox for human money was the only thing standing between me and death’s sweet embrace, I’d say, “Satan, give me your hand, and we ride together.” Dustin Pedroia’s sweat smells of turmeric.
Chris Landers: The Red Sox will always hold a loathsome place in my heart, but I also grew up in New Jersey, in a town split more or less evenly between Yankees fans (guilty as charged) and Mets fans. So I didn’t really need any more motivation to hate the Mets, but let’s just say that a “friend” of mine papering the inside of my locker with printed-out photos of Mike Piazza ahead of the 2000 Subway Series more or less sealed the deal.
Around the horn: What did you write this week?
Adam Weinrib: I dove into Royals fans’ very weird relationship with Jazz Chisholm Jr. and some unpleasant Home Run Derby memories it evoked.
Robert Murray: I wrote about what Jacob Misiorowski means for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Zach Rotman: I got to write about some Aaron Judge ridiculousness. He’s good, folks.
Chris Landers: I wrote about why the clock may be about to strike midnight on the Cardinals’ Cinderella start to this season. (The pitching, it’s very bad.)
Robert Murray's notebook
If the Atlanta Braves do sell, Marcell Ozuna is a name that will get asked about plenty. But reliever Raisel Iglesias could make sense as a trade candidate for bullpen-needy teams.
Look for the Baltimore Orioles to sell, and one under-the-radar name to monitor is Charlie Morton.