Could the Sox deal any mid-season for a player like Guerrero Jr., or Alcantara?

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What does Middlebrooks think of the #RedSox 'big 3' and the rest of the prospects? Could the Sox deal any mid-season for a player like Guerrero Jr., or Alcantara? #MLB

Transcript

00:00Well, going back to talking about Bregman and his relationship with Alex Cora, when

00:04we talked to Cora at spring training, he made the point to say with the cheating allegations

00:09and everything around that, the player that emerged in Alex Bregman is a different guy

00:14than before.

00:16Is that what the leadership comes down to, that he's learned so much in his career that

00:20he's able to bring guys along with him and lead them down the right path?

00:25Yeah, and it's just part of, I mean, there's a human aspect to this as well, right?

00:29He's 30 years old.

00:30He's not a kid anymore.

00:31He's been around the game for a long time.

00:34And I just think there's a maturity that comes just as a man and as a human being that obviously

00:38bleeds into your baseball career and then how you are as a teammate.

00:42But yeah, he's been through it, right?

00:44He's also won every year, which is great.

00:46So there's that on top of it.

00:47But I think when you go through something like that, you really appreciate the people

00:52around you.

00:53You learn how to build relationships a lot better because there for a few years, the

00:57people in his clubhouse were the only people he had on his side.

01:03You think about every stadium he went to, he was getting booed nonstop.

01:07And I get it, right?

01:08Everybody around baseball understands it.

01:10So I think that could have helped him, yes, maturity-wise, but also just building relationships.

01:15And we've seen that from day one with everyone in the clubhouse with Bregman.

01:18Well, when you see some of these acquisitions that the Red Sox made this offseason, I know

01:23Greg's expectation is win the divisions.

01:25Curtis has them at being in the World Series or maybe even winning the World Series.

01:29What's the expectations for you when you look at this team based on what they were able

01:35to do this offseason?

01:36Well, I'll start with saying I couldn't imagine a world at the end of last year where you

01:44don't have Bayo, Giolito, or Crawford, and no one's really even talking about it, right?

01:50We're going into the season, and there's three guys that could be big contributors

01:56in this rotation, not on the roster, and no one's talking about it at all because of this

02:00depth they've built.

02:02And I think if there's a common denominator with all winning teams, it's pitching depth,

02:06starting pitching depth, because you don't roast your bullpen by July, and then you're

02:11just running on fumes and limping to the finish line.

02:13So to answer your question, with the added depth, not only in starting pitching, but

02:18in the middle relief and in the bullpen, I think the AL is wide open.

02:23I think it's a realistic expectation to want this team, and I think this team can win the

02:27division, especially with the Yankees.

02:30Yeah, they added Freed, but they lost Soto.

02:32They also lost Garrett Cole.

02:33Louie Hill's going to be out for a while.

02:38I don't know if Baltimore's young.

02:40They're exciting.

02:41There's a lot of high-ceiling players, but they haven't really tapped into it yet.

02:44They also lost Corbin Burns.

02:47It's a really tough division, but I think the Boston Red Sox have a really good team

02:53to win in the low 90s.

02:55Will Middlebrooks is our guest on the call today and a bunch this season on the Shaws

03:02and Star Market Red Sox radio network.

03:05Actually did Tristan Cassis have to sign off on you being in the booth?

03:09Not that I'm aware of, but we'll see.

03:15That guy, you never know.

03:16You just never know.

03:18Did you play with anybody who was like that?

03:21No.

03:22Mentally?

03:23I don't know how to describe it.

03:25Aloof?

03:26Personality?

03:27That type of character?

03:28Yes.

03:29He's so fun, though, because for one, he's like a closet baseball ... I don't want to

03:36say closet genius, but when you ask him a post-game question and he starts rattling

03:41off every thought he had over the last three hours, it's really interesting, but at the

03:47same time, you're like, I don't know if I ever want to be inside this guy's head ever.

03:53Well, when you look at some of these prospects, and I know the season hasn't even started,

03:58but I think it's one of the questions that maybe you could ask going through the season.

04:04Is there a chance that maybe the Blue Jays with Toronto, that there's an opportunity

04:10for you come trade that line team to make your team even that much better that the Sox

04:15use some of these prospects and potentially go after a guy like Vlad Guerrero?

04:20I mean, that's what prospect capital gives you the opportunity to do.

04:25I think so.

04:26Vlad's also going to come.

04:30Do you want to give up ... Now, I think they're getting more and more attached to these prospects

04:34after the spring training that we saw from these guys, especially from Roman and Marcelo,

04:40so that's going to be tougher because you know you also have to bring in Vladdy and

04:43it's going to cost you $600 million, so there's that attached to it as well, but you also

04:51have guys out there like Sandy Alcantara from Miami that everybody's had their eye on who's

04:55coming back from surgery and he could have Cy Young type stuff, so there's multiple guys.

05:01To your question, yes, you have this prospect capital.

05:05Are you going to hit on all the prospects?

05:07Probably not.

05:08It's really hard to do that, but I think we have three here that are legit big league

05:13impact players and you start looking at our roster, it's starting to get a little full

05:18in certain areas, especially the outfield.

05:21I'm infield now, too, with Christian Campbell making the team, so there's a lot of hard

05:26decisions that are going to be made over the next year, I guess we could say.

05:31I have no idea which way this team wants to go with that because I really like these prospects

05:35and I don't want them to go anywhere.

05:37Will, just a random question from me, did you ever in your wildest imagination think

05:42when you won the World Series in 2013 that you were playing with the Lobstermen as your

05:46manager?

05:47No, I did not, man, I did not, and that was such a fun year because I remember within

05:57the first two weeks of the season, Johnny Gomes, and in the old clubhouse, the manager's

06:02office used to be in our clubhouse.

06:04It wasn't down the hall like Alex Coors is now, it was literally like, his door was open,

06:09we could see in there from our locker, and I remember Johnny Gomes calling John Farrell

06:13in and he walks in there and Johnny Gomes goes, hey man, stay out of the way, we got

06:22this.

06:23And from that point, Farrell just, he never really came in the clubhouse, it was run by

06:28the veterans, John Farrell made the pitching changes and the lineup cards and he let the

06:34veterans run it.

06:35But that's the best teams, the best teams always have clubhouses full of guys who take

06:40the manager out of the equation.

06:41Now this is different with Alex Coors just because he almost feels like he's still a

06:45player the way he interacts with these guys, which is, that's what kind of makes him fun

06:49to play for.

06:50But old school managers like the John Farrells and guys like that, we got him to just stay

06:55out of the way, and maybe that pushed him to be a fisherman, who knows.

07:00So arguably no one in the history of this city has celebrated a title more professionally

07:07than Mike Napoli.

07:08I mean, that was like a week and a half long bender from Mike Napoli.

07:13Week and a half, that was like a month, and he had a shirt on for maybe 25 minutes total.

07:21My favorite moment of that whole run was when you guys won it and Rosenthal ratted out Gomes

07:26by saying he was just asked to ask him why he won this team, and he said, it's not about

07:33your war, it's who you go to war with, and I was like, oh my god.

07:37That's a good line.

07:38Johnny Gomes is full, it doesn't matter where he is in his day or his life, he can always

07:44give you a one-liner.

07:45Always.

07:46And it's one you're always going to remember.

07:48He's that good.

07:49All right, well, it's exciting.

07:51It's opening day.

07:53For Scheim and the rest of the Wagerers, where are you on the 86 and a half wins?

07:59Over or under that?

08:00I'm over that, and that's not just because I like the team, I'm around the team, I legit

08:06think this team can win 90 plus games.

08:08All right, well, we will be listening this afternoon, 4.05, and all season long, and

08:15thanks for getting up early and doing this this morning, and we'll talk to you again

08:18this season, I am sure.

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