Schadenfreude 361 (A Continuing Series)

The Red Sox have a 10-5 record in the month of June, with five of those 10 victories against the Yankees.

June 7:  Red Sox 10, MFY 7
June 8:  Red Sox 11, MFY 7
June 13: Red Sox  2, MFY 1 (10)
June 14: Red Sox  4, MFY 3
June 15: Red Sox  2, MFY 0

The 2-0 shutout on Father's Day turned the MFY bats into wet noodles. With subsequent losses to the Angels, 1-0 (11) and 4-0, the Yankees have not scored a run in their last 29 innings. As you can see below, that's a grand total of four runs in their last five games (all losses, of course), covering 48 innings. Also, in all five games, the MFY were unable to score a run in the first six innings.

000 000 001 0 000 000 201 000 000 000 000 000 000 00 000 000 000

From the most recent Red Sox series, in which Judge (who, I must admit, is hitting out of his goddamn mind this season) went 1-for-12, with nine strikeouts:

WTF: Rafael Devers Traded To Giants

The Boston Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday in exchange for pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison and a pair of prospects (outfielder James Tibbs III and pitcher Jose Bello). The teams had been discussing a Devers deal for the past few weeks.

Devers, in his ninth season with the club, had been the last member of the 2018 World Champions still in a Boston uniform. He's also in the second year of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract.

Initial news of the trade stunned the entire SoSH membership like a torpedo bat to the back of the noggin. I mean every. single. poster. Completely out of the blue. I have to assume Devers's reluctance/refusal to move to first base was a factor to some extent. As Ian Browne (mlb.com) reports:

[T]hings got turbulent between Devers and the Red Sox this past Spring Training . . .

Devers, a below-average defender according to the error column and the metrics, had played third base his entire career. He initially balked at the idea of transitioning to DH [after Alex Bregman was signed] in meetings with the Red Sox and in comments to the media before he reluctantly agreed to the arrangement in March. . . .

[A]nother storm cloud arrived when first baseman Triston Casas ruptured his left patellar tendon on May 2 and was lost for the season.

Searching for potential solutions at first base, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow asked Devers if he would consider playing the position. Devers declined.

Devers also reportedly refused (on several occasions) to take grounders at third and first during spring training. It's possible Devers asked to be traded.

2025 Red Sox W-L Record - Contest Entries

Here are the entries in the 2025 Red Sox W-L Record contest:

               W - L
Paul H.        95-67
Jeff M.        94-68
Ben B.         93-69
Ray P.         93-69
Matt B.        92-70
Nick R.        92-70
David F.       91-71
Warren S.      90-72
Rich G.        89-73
Jacob L.       89-73
Michael B.     89-73
Michael G.     89-73
Brett H.       88-74
Allan W.       87-75
John G.        84-78

We have everything covered from 88 to 95 wins (not counting my pick).

If no one wins this one, it better be because the Red Sox won 96+ games.

2025 Predictions (A Lot Of Sportswriters Like The Red Sox)

According to the splendid brainboxes at The Athletic, the Dodgers are the popular pick to win the 2025 World Series, receiving 14 of the 33 votes cast. That seems reasonable. However, you may be surprised to learn which team received the second-most votes to capture the Piece of Metal™ this season . . . the Boston Red Sox (81-81 last season)

First, the breakdown of predictions for the American League pennant: Texas 11, Red Sox 9, Orioles 6, Yankees 3, Royals 2, Mariners 1, Astros 1. (The Athletic notes: "All of those Red Sox votes, by the way, came from writers based outside of Boston.")

National League Champs: Dodgers 16, Atlanta 5, Mets 5, Phillies 4, Diamondbacks 2, Padres 1. (Sorry, Central Division.)

World Series Winner: Dodgers 14, Red Sox 4, Atlanta 3, Phillies 3, Diamondbacks 2, Mets 2, Orioles 1, Texas 1, Mariners 1, Padres 1, Yankees 1.

Who were these four bold and insightful prognosticators?

Andrew Baggarly: Red Sox over Mets
Dennis Lin: Red Sox over Dodgers
Eno Sarris: Red Sox over Atlanta
Cody Stavenhagen: Red Sox over Mets

And the five slightly less bold crystal-ball gazers:

Brittany Ghiroli: Mets over Red Sox
Zack Meisel: Phillies over Red Sox
Chandler Rome: Phillies over Red Sox
Will Sammon: Dodgers over Red Sox
Sahadev Sharma: Padres over Red Sox

Other predictions:

AL Cy Young: Garrett Crochet 10, Logan Gilbert 8, Tarik Skubal 8 . . .

AL MVP: Bobby Witt Jr. 18, Aaron Judge 5, Gunnar Henderson 3 . . .

AL ROY: Jackson Jobe 14, Kristian Campbell 6 . . . Marcelo Mayer 1, Roman Anthony 1 . . .

NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani 18, Mookie Betts 5, Juan Soto 3 . . .

NL Cy Young: Zack Wheeler 14, Paul Skenes 12, Corbin Burnes 4 . . .

NL ROY: Roki Sasaki 15, Dylan Crews 9 . . .

ESPN wonders if the Yankees can "bounce back" from their historic World Series choke last October? (Boone: "I feel like it's going to sting forever." I certainly hope so.) In case you don't recall all of the wonderful details . . . and there were many . . . It. Was. Super. Fucking. Awesome. LOL!

All six of the Boston Globe writers picked the Red Sox to make the postseason for the first time since 2021, with three of them predicting an AL East title for the first time since 2018. But how far will the Hub Hose go?

Peter Abraham: Red Sox win East; lose ALCS G7 to Tigers; MFY miss postseason.

Chad Finn: Red Sox win East; lose ALCS to Texas.

Dan Shaughnessy: Red Sox win East. ["Will [John Henry] like me now?" . . . I wouldn't wager even a fucking dime on that.]

Alex Speier, Tara Sullivan, and Christopher L. Gasper all predict the Red Sox will win a wild card spot  but not make it to the ALCS. Speier says the team is finally "at a point where they are rightly expected to reach the playoffs . . . their core talent is good enough to get to October".

Five Globers pick the Dodgers to repeat as World Series champions, defeating the Tigers (PA), Guardians (CLG), Orioles (DS), Royals (AS), Texas (CF)). TS goes with Mets over Texas.

CHB says, if his pick proves true, it would be "[r]evenge for the 1966 World Series". Would it, Dan, really? 59 years later?

Dan was 13 during that WS. He'll be seventy-fucking-two this summer. One week after the Orioles finished sweeping the Dodgers (with three consecutive shutouts), I celebrated my third birthday.

What I'm trying to say is, that was a long fucking time ago. Shohei Ohtani is in his early 30s. Were his parents even born by 1966? . . . It turns out they were, but it's close. An article from late 2017 states his father is 55 and his mother is 54, so they were born in 1962 and 1963, respectively.)

I learned the following from Yahoo Sports' five "MLB experts" — Jake Mintz, Jordan Shusterman, Russell Dorsey, Jack Baer and Jason Owens:

Three pick the Red Sox to win the AL East, with the other two tagging the Orioles (and picking Boston as a wild card team). All five pick the Yankees to win a wild card spot.

Dorsey picks the Red Sox to win the AL pennant, but lose the WS to the Dodgers. WS winners: Dodgers (3), Atlanta (1), and Phillies (1).

Crochet gets a Cy Young nod. Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony get picked as ROY. Trevor Story is a pick for AL Comeback Player.

The five (in the order listed above) weigh in on the Dodgers' win total (108-109-105-104-103) and Ohtani HRs (45-44-43-36-45).

Four of the five say the Mets will finish with a better record than the Yankees. Shusterman rejects the schadenfreude.

Both Athlon and Lindy's pre-season magazines pick the Red Sox for third in the AL East.

The Red Sox will win the AL East, according to four of the five CBS Sports scribes. The Yankees get one pick for second place, and four picks for third.

Mike Axisa: Any margin of error the Yankees had coming into 2025 is gone now that they've lost Gerrit Cole for the year, Luis Gil for at least two months, and Giancarlo Stanton for who knows how long. . . . The Red Sox are the division's most improved team thanks to Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman, and I love their offense. They have contact, they have power, they have speed. And also an excellent farm system they can use to upscale their roster . . .

Kate Feldman: I liked the Yankees' offseason. . . . But they needed to do more. Max Fried was a good pickup but all of a sudden he needs to be an ace with Gerrit Cole out for the year. They still don't have a third baseman. Are we supposed to think Aaron Judge can just carry an entire offense again? The Red Sox opened the winter by trading for Garrett Crochet and finished it by signing Alex Bregman. . . .

Dayn Perry: [T]he Red Sox have the most balanced roster and increasing levels of upside as the impressive young talent trickles in. I don't feel strongly about this pick, though. If the O's had done anything more to address the rotation, they'd be my easy pick here. 

Matt Snyder: I think this is the strongest division in baseball, top to bottom. I thought my Red Sox pick would be an outlier, but instead several of us agree. I really like the look of their roster and they always seem to play above their heads anyway.

They do? Always?!?

Feldman picks Boston to win the AL pennant, but has them losing to the Mets. The other four WS picks are Dodgers (2) and Phillies (2).

I looked at SportsNet New York (SNY), because it's NY-based and has 14 contributors.

Red Sox: 7 division titles, 4 wild cards (picked by 11 of 14)
Yankees: 5 division titles, 9 wild cards (picked by all 14)

Six SNYers picked the Red Sox and Yankees to meet in the ALCS, because if both clubs are playing in October, how could you not? Fun Fact: All six picked the Red Sox to win the pennant!

ALCS: Red Sox win 8 of 9, Yankees win 1 of 8.
World Series: Red Sox win 2 of 8, Yankees lose 1 of 1.

Garrett Crochet got five picks as AL Cy Young and one person thought Rafael Devers would win AL MVP.

Mookie Malaise. Mookie Betts should be in the Dodgers' lineup today despite losing almost 20 pounds during a "long ordeal with a mystery illness". Betts is expected to be the Dodgers' shortstop this year (after playing right field and second base in previous seasons). Before his illness, Betts "had opened eyes in camp, showing a level of comfort at the position". Forget about playing all nine positions in one game, what about playing entire seasons at each position?

Everyone Loves A Contest #31: 2025 Red Sox W-L Record

The 2025 Red Sox season begins this Thursday afternoon in Texas – so it's time for the annual Red Sox W-L Contest!

If you can correctly guess the Red Sox's 2025 regular season W-L record, you can win . . . something . . .  a waffle party? . . . no, a mess to ship . . . I'm really stumped . . . a mystery prize . . . yes, perfect . . . A mystery prize!

Entries must be emailed to me before the first pitch on Thursday.

No tiebreaker this time. Multiple winners are possible. Good luck!

Remember: Happiness is a warm puppy . . . and pictures of Sad Yankee Fans.

Schadenfreude 360 (A Continuing Series)

After a long, cold winter, it's heartening to witness the undeniable signs of spring: budding plants peeking and pushing themselves up through the cool soil, daylight lasting longer into the afternoon and evening, and the New York Yankees falling the fuck apart.

Welcome to the Schadenfreude Cafe. . . . Tonight's menu:

Aperitif:

Mark W. Sanchez, Post, March 11, 2025:

The Yankees DH received his third round of PRP shots Monday, manager Aaron Boone said, after the first two sets of injections did not do enough to help his elbows. . . .

Boone . . . was not sure when the slugger would be around the team again.

On Saturday, Stanton called his injuries to both elbows "severe" and said he did not know when he could play or even swing a bat again. . . .

Appetizer:

Special Chef's Treat From The Kitchen:

Main Course:

Mark W. Sanchez, Post, March 10, 2025:

After one Grapefruit League start last spring, Cole's elbow bothered him before he eventually received a diagnosis of nerve inflammation and edema, which called for rest and rehabilitation.

Cole lasted two Grapefruit League starts this spring before the same elbow grew "alarming," Cole said.

The righty was knocked around in an outing Thursday, felt the hinge grow progressively more sore and knew "something wasn't right."

It is difficult to overstate what the loss of Cole means to the player and his Yankees future.

Dessert:

I know there are MANY Yankees fans who are furious at this news. I love it. Boone has shown a remarkable propensity to idiot-manage his team out of the postseason in spectacular fashion. 2025 is the MFY's 16th season without a championship. Assuming Boone sticks around for the whole time, we can count on that streak reaching 18.

After-Dinner Mints:

So Much For Tradition:

More of the Post's sports reporting is now behind a paywall ($5/month). That's not surprising, but it is a drag. I'd get it for the postseason if I have to; I'll see how the regular season goes. (Does anyone out there subscribe?) I hardly bothered with the Daily News last season, because its MFY reporters' writing was less colorful than a bag of air and the website is a ghastly nightmare of popups and other garbage (even with my ad blocker running).

Schadenfreude 359 (A Continuing Series)

The Dodgers Knew The Yankees' Fatal Weakness — And Brutally Exposed It
Joel Sherman, Post (my emphasis)

The Dodgers won four World Series games with a .206 average, seven homers and 25 runs. The Yankees won one World Series game with a .212 average, nine homers and 24 runs. On a piece of paper — where too much of the Yankee front office continues to reside — this was an even World Series. On the field, the Yankees blundered away Games 1 and 5. 

By the end of Wednesday night, with the Dodgers being handed gift after gift to rally from a five-run deficit to win the clincher, 7-6, you could have convinced me the Emmy for best comedy of the fall season should go to the Yankees' defense . . . They played perhaps the worst fielding inning in World Series history in the fifth of Game 5, allowing five unearned runs to score with two outs. . . .

The Yankees have been getting eliminated by non-AL Central teams annually in October because they just do not execute the routine well and when the level of competition goes up, those shortcomings in the A-B-Cs of the game are fully exposed. . . .

The Yankees talk a good game about what they work on. But there is a difference between checking items off a to-do list and taking ball after ball off an outfield wall with seriousness of purpose even when you are a Hall-of-Fame caliber player such as Betts. [The column began noting that Betts practices fielding balls off the wall and making sure he's in a good position to throw the ball for a long time every single day during the season.]

To do baseball well is to emphasize and practice the routine relentlessly with enthusiasm, concentration and pride. You are either demanding that from the top down — from Brian Cashman to Aaron Boone to the captain, Aaron Judge — or you are just going through the motions. When mistake after mistake continues to be made during the season and they are not corrected because you are talenting your way to 90-plus wins, it is seeing the tornado outside of town and not evacuating. The Dodgers are eventually blowing through your town. 

When you are in charge of something and see redundant mistakes, you are either fixing them or condoning them — there is no middle ground at this level. . . .

What the Dodgers told their players in scouting meetings was the Yankees were talent over fundamentals. That if you run the bases with purpose and aggression, the Yankees will self-inflict harm as was exposed by Betts, Tommy Edman, Freddie Freeman, etc. That the value was very high to put the ball in play to make the Yankees execute. They mentioned that the Yankees were . . . the majors' worst baserunning team by every metric . . . 

They were thrilled at how short Yankee leads were at first base to potentially be less of a threat on pivots at second . . . They said their metrics had the Yankees as the worst positioned outfield. They were amazed how many times relay throws came skittering through the infield with no one taking charge and how often Jazz Chisholm Jr., for example, was out of place or just standing still when a play was in action. . . .

Aaron Boone is the grandson, son and brother of major leaguers and was one himself. This can't really be acceptable to him — can it? His modus operandi can't just be positivity. There has to be a greater accountability to cleaning up the messiness of the fundamentals. Cashman has to stress finding players who care about playing the game well — it can't just always be best talent wins. 

Look, I get it. Every outraged Yankee fan wants both fired. We can waste a lot of words on something that Hal Steinbrenner isn't going to do off a World Series appearance — no matter how forceful any case is. So can these guys create and demand something cleaner? Can Judge enforce it from within at a higher level? 

Or will we be watching America's Funniest Baseball Videos again next October?

Dodgers' Joe Kelly Mocks Yankees And 'Fat Joe Curse' In Scathing Interview
Erich Richter, Post

After the Yankees choked away a 5-0 lead, the always outspoken Dodgers pitcher [Joe Kelly] explained that Fat Joe was seen on the Jumbotron before the fifth inning signaling their opponent was about to surrender their advantage.

"They put Fat Joe up on the board, and I was like, 'Oh, it's an easy dub now,'" Kelly said after the Dodgers' Game 5 World Series-clinching victory. "You know Fat Joe is the curse."

The Bronx-born rapper was previously roasted on social media for his poor performance while leading the Yankees into Game 3 of the World Series. . . .

"They started kicking the ball around and playing Yankee defense," Kelly continued while laughing. "Oh, he was on the Jumbotron, I'm pretty sure, right before the fifth. I looked over at [Brent] Honeywell and said 'The Fat Joe Curse, watch.' and we started chipping away, chipping away, chipping away. And bad play, bad play, bad play. And I end up getting my second one with the Dodgers."

The Yankees made two errors — Aaron Judge dropping a fly ball and Anthony Volpe one-hopping a throw to third base — along with Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rizzo getting beaten to the bag by Mookie Betts in that disastrous fifth that saw the Dodgers score five runs on their way to a 7-6 win.

A highly enjoyable 114 seconds. 

And the comments:

Scouts Rip Aaron Boone For Yankees Mistakes — With One Glaring Issue Standing Out
Jon Heyman, Post

Scouts criticized Yankees manager Aaron Boone for a few of his World Series moves, but two in particular in Game 5: 

1) Not bringing in closer Luke Weaver to start the eighth (with the bottom of the order up, Boone presumably figured Tommy Kahnle, who'd been very solid, could suffice, but Kahnle allowed all three Dodgers to reach before Weaver was called upon). 

2) Eschewing a mound visit during the fifth-inning, five-run debacle that lasted 21 minutes. (Pitching coach Matt Blake did go out for a visit during that fateful fifth, but not Boone).

"How the [heck] was there no visit to the mound in — 36 pitches, three errors (actually two plus the failure of Anthony Rizzo or Gerrit Cole to get to first base)?" 

In any case, the likelihood is that the Yankees pick up their beloved Boone's 2025 option, believed to be for $3M plus. 

The real negative reflection on Boone was how poorly the Yankees ran the bases throughout the year. Yankees officials say it was a point of emphasis in spring. One AL scout said this was them at their worst. "The Yankees played really bad in this series, probably the worst they played all season."

Anthony Rizzo seemed to place the blame for allowing Mookie betts to beat out an infield single squarely on Gerrit Cole. (The biggest error of the inning still belongs to Lurch.)

Rizzo: "Those balls off righties, those are the hardest balls for us [first basemen to field] … I kind of was going for it, and then it kicked one way, so I had to really make sure to catch it first. I looked up to flip [the ball to Cole] and, uh, that's what happened… Pitchers are always taught to get over, no matter what. It was just a weird spinning [ball] that I had to really make sure to [secure]. And I think, even coming through [and going directly] to first, I don't know if I would have [gotten] him."

Cole sounded confused (or evasive): "I think I took a bad angle to the ball. I wasn't sure, really, off the bat, how hard he hit it. I took a direct angle to [the grounder], as if to cut it off, because I didn't know how hard he hit it. By the time the ball got by me I was not in the position to cover first. Neither [myself nor Rizzo] were. Based on the spin of the baseball, and [Rizzo] having to secure it, and just a bad read off the bat."

A Post commenter: "It's not rocket science here. Both Cole and Rizzo were simply lazy. Cole didn't run to cover and Rizzo didn't bother to charge the ball and take it to the bag. Rizzo has been like that from the start of the season. He plays first like a 60-yr old beer leaguer now and Cole should have known that."