{"id":31103,"date":"2025-03-07T02:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T02:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31103"},"modified":"2025-03-07T02:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T02:16:09","slug":"alex-coras-decision-alex-bregman-or-rafael-devers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31103","title":{"rendered":"Alex Cora\u2019s Decision \u2013 Alex Bregman or Rafael Devers?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1636365720.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1636365720.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1636365720.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1636365720.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Alex Bregman tagging out Rafael Devers in 2023\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\" data-dom-ready-time=\"1217\" data-img-load-time=\"1586\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Alex Bregman tagging out Rafael Devers in 2023<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Almost three weeks ago, the\u00a0Red Sox\u00a0made a big splash by\u00a0signing\u00a0star third baseman, Alex Bregman. As Red Sox fans know, the seasons since Mookie Betts was\u00a0traded\u00a0to the Dodgers have been frustrating for a franchise that had so much success just a few years back. Now, with a stacked farm, the additions to the starting rotation, and this massive signing, it felt like the vibes were flipping in Boston.\u00a0Instead, a controversy over who would start at third base began when Rafael Devers was asked if the Red Sox wanted Bregman to play third and he\u00a0responded, \u201cNo, I play third.\u201d\u00a0This may have been media-induced and something the Sox players aren\u2019t upset about, but it\u2019s been the biggest \u201cdrama\u201d this Spring Training.<\/p>\n<p>Alex Cora has been asked repeatedly about the third base decision. Yesterday he\u00a0answered, \u201cWe\u2019ll do whatever is best for the Red Sox. Let\u2019s see what happens.\u201d So, let\u2019s look into who makes the most sense at third with the decision still looming.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The case for Alex Bregman<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It isn\u2019t too difficult to make the case for Bregman manning the hot corner \u2013 he is the better fielder. In 2024,\u00a0Bregman\u00a0posted 6 Outs Above Average (OAA) and was 81st percentile in the league in fielding run value. On the flip side,\u00a0Devers\u00a0accumulated -5 OAA and was 18st percentile in the league in fielding run value. In his career, Devers has had a total of -28 OAA and 141 errors over 951 games in the field.<\/p>\n<p>Over their careers, Bregman has posted negative fielding run value just once (2018), while Devers only posted positive fielding run value back in 2019. Their defensive metrics are basically reversed, and it doesn\u2019t take too much research to determine who the more talented fielder is.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The case for Rafael Devers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Devers has been clear about wanting to continue to play third base. He took over 3rd base in\u00a02017\u00a0and has emerged as the Red Sox leader since then. When the rumors came out about him potentially being moved off 3rd, some teammates showed their support, such as when Triston Casas\u00a0said, \u201cI think he\u2019s the third baseman and at that point, that\u2019s where it stands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another case for Devers, is that as much as he\u2019s struggled throughout his career, he did put together that extraordinary fielding season in 2019, when he posted\u00a018 OAA. Even though he has struggled lately, the talent is there and he has the support of the locker room to return to form defensively.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How will it end up playing out?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Despite all of Devers\u2019 statements and efforts to remain at third, it appears that the position will be handed to Bregman shortly. With Devers recovering from injury, Bregman has been the third baseman throughout Spring Training and hasn\u2019t even played second base.<\/p>\n<p>Devers does appear to be more open to the change at this point with his mindset more focused on\u00a0winning: \u201cI think the most important thing is for us to have a good chemistry together. Like I\u2019ve always said since Day 1, the most important thing for me is that we win.\u201d The bottom line is that the Red Sox need to make the best decision to rack up wins and have a chance to win in the postseason. The numbers scream to put Bregman at third and that is what we will inevitably see in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Alex Bregman tagging out Rafael Devers in 2023 Almost three weeks ago, the\u00a0Red Sox\u00a0made a big splash by\u00a0signing\u00a0star third baseman, Alex Bregman. As Red Sox fans&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Alex Cora\u2019s Decision \u2013 Alex Bregman or Rafael Devers? - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31103\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alex Cora\u2019s Decision \u2013 Alex Bregman or Rafael Devers? - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Alex Bregman tagging out Rafael Devers in 2023 Almost three weeks ago, the\u00a0Red Sox\u00a0made a big splash by\u00a0signing\u00a0star third baseman, Alex Bregman. 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