Toucher & Rich: Players the Red Sox ruined this season…according to Joe Murray

To Joe Murray, the Boston Red Sox are elite when it comes to ruining players, both established players the team signed/traded for or their very own prospects.

During "What Happened Last Night" on Toucher & Rich on Tuesday, the guys discussed last night’s Red Sox loss to the Twins. Joe Murray, who’s covering headlines this morning while Wallach slides to the 2nd chair, believes the Red Sox have a lengthy track record of ruining players and their 2022 season is no different.

JOE MURRAY: So this now, the next exercise is the players of the 2022 Red Sox have ruined this season. 

JON WALLACH: Okay. 

JOE MURRAY: I had Brayan Bello on my list. You disagree, and that's fine. 

JON WALLACH: Mm hmm. 

JOE MURRAY: I don't really want to go with the list. Are we? Are we? 

JON WALLACH: Well, I mean, I. Go ahead. How many? We teased it. Let's hear it.

JOE MURRAY: Number one is Jarren Duran. Anything that he has earned in value or even on the field or just personally, they've completely ruined him this year. Do you agree? 

JON WALLACH: Oh, I don't know. You see, here's the thing. I don't know if they ruined him or he just isn't good enough. Worcester is a launching pad, as we found out. You know, balls fly out of that ballpark. So his offensive numbers may have been a little inflated, but I'll give it to you. 

FRED TOUCHER: Duran was supposed to be a good prospect. 

JON WALLACH: He was. He wasn't. He hasn't been. So I'll give that one to you, Joe. 

JOE MURRAY: He's done. I mean, they're not even going to get him anything former to trade. 

FRED TOUCHER: Well, there was an article in the paper the other day about how they have one outfielder on their contract and him. Oh, so, yeah. So, you know, there is a problem there. I mean, there is this belief that he might not be able to handle being an everyday outfielder for them.

JOE MURRAY: Another one is Bobby Dalbec, a kid who hit 30 home runs a year ago. They tried the Franchy Cordero. Thing is, he could play third. He played shortstop last week. Clearly, he's an athlete, but this is a kid that should be in the lineup every day and he can't. But they ruin him. I don't blame what I don't like. I blame them.

JON WALLACH: I would hesitate to say that because dalbec is what he is. A guy who strikes out a ton is good for 30 or 35 home runs. If you leave him alone, he'll never hit more than 200 or 220. actually Fred Goldman kind of reminds me of Rob Deer

FRED TOUCHER: Is a bit of a Rob Deer

JOE MURRAY: But his value now hurt because of the 2022 season

JON WALLACH: I disagree. I think that his value was never really that good.

JOE MURRAY: He had 30 home runs a year ago

JON WALLACH: I know that because they left him alone this year. he's good for your list. He's good, Derek.

FRED TOUCHER: If you had made a soto deal, like as soon as you found out Soto was available, Duran might have hit a piece of that. And now he could not be a piece to the trade like that because they could have they you know, they could have packaged Duran and obviously some of the higher prospects but now Duran would not be. If I'm a team I'm not interested in, I.

JON WALLACH: Give Joe credit for those two. Sure.

JOE MURRAY: I mean, you know, I guess some other people don't like my examples, but I'll take the kids Sawamura. They ruined him. I'm sorry that kid got ruined this year and he just got cut. 

JON WALLACH: Sawamura now, I don't agree with you there because Sawamura. If you take a look at his last year in Japan, it was mediocre at best and they signed him for nothing and he was pretty good last year. But I think this is regression towards the mean. I don't think he's not a kid either. He's in his late twenties, if I remember right. 

JOE MURRAY: He's done. 

JON WALLACH: So I think the Red Sox ruined him. I think he's always been what he's turned. 

JOE MURRAY: Darwinzon Hernandez, another guy that could have been the fifth starter this year, wasn't done in any value he's had. That's done too well. 

JON WALLACH: He was hurt a lot this year. 

JOE MURRAY: By the way, people are saying I'm digging a hole. Like I actually think the Red Sox did ruin these people this year.

JOE MURRAY: How about Trevor Story? 

JON WALLACH: Trevor. Story's been hurt for two months. And he's got, by all accounts, a Gold Glove second baseman this year and was hitting very well when he got hurt. 

JOE MURRAY: Okay. And that's why I'm saying the 2022 season is ruined. Some people. 

JON WALLACH: But more to the caller's point, I just gave you three guys. They have flourished. And you gave me three or four that haven't. That pretty much bears out the caller's point. 

JOE MURRAY: Are we doing a measuring card? I'm just telling you that. 

JON WALLACH: We're having an argument here. We're having a discussion. You have your side. And I have. 

JOE MURRAY: Jarren Duran, I think, has ruined his value. I think Bobby Dalbec, if he is what he is, there's no value. Darwinzon Hernandez. Man, I liked him. He's done. We already know what happened this summer. Do you think Connor Seabold is that? You think Connor Seabold is now a big prospect that teams around? 

JON WALLACH: I never thought Seabold was a big problem. 

JOE MURRAY: Do you think there's any value in him now? 

JON WALLACH: There wasn't when he got here, so I don't think he's regressed. 

JOE MURRAY: How about Matt Barnes, who was an All-Star a year ago? 

JON WALLACH: Yeah, Matt Barnes is a head case. But they had him and he pitched in a World Series in 2018 and pitched some key innings, too. 

FRED TOUCHER: You could make an argument that they have signed guys to extensions. Yes, they. 

JON WALLACH: Did the extension. But now the extension for Barnes ruined him because right after his son that extension, he went in the tank. Right. And then there was this mysterious injured list stint of two months. And where I don't necessarily think he was hurt, he needed to get his head together. And by and large, in the last two, three weeks, since he's come back from wherever he was, he's pitched much better. 

JOE MURRAY: So, yeah, it got 20. So just like the caller and you, you guys just think it was just a bad season and everything will be fine. 

JON WALLACH: Joe for every bad situation on this team, there's a good one, too. I mean, you made a blanket statement in the last segment. Everyone who comes here, the Red Sox ruined and I disagreed with that. And here we are. 

JOE MURRAY: No, I didn't say they ruined. I said that they would ruin it. I thought they had a room. 

JON WALLACH: I know that, but no. Then you went and started talking about veterans that they ruined and completely got off your biotech and then we kind of got back on that when we started here in this segment. I'm just trying to follow along here, Joe. You're a little all over the place. 

JOE MURRAY: Okay. 

FRED TOUCHER: All right. But suffice it to say, the Red Sox are not good. 

JON WALLACH: No. We all agree on that. They're not good. That's not good at all. Good. And Kennedy loves the direction. 

FRED TOUCHER: Well, all right. Yeah. And Jason was making the point about Bart as well. He's on line one, but we already made that point. So, Joe, I mean, your claims are not without merit. I mean, they have, you know, Bloom's whole thing is going to be building up this farm system and then the kids from the farm system come up and under-perform and never become major leaguers. That law of averages is not something that is in this team's favor. I mean, if the whole point was to fix what Dombroski did, which, you know, it has to have been I mean, they've have to have just said, all right, Dombroski, you know, sold out for the world championship and, you know, left the cupboard bare. And then so now they restock it. And these guys don't end up like Jeter Downs, for instance. There was a I was somewhere where like the Worcester was playing and he was hit in like a buck 90 or something. 

JON WALLACH: He's off and now he's just now he's hurt. Yeah, that. 

JOE MURRAY: Was their wall. 

JON WALLACH: At Jeter Downs. 

JOE MURRAY: Good. 

JON WALLACH: That's one for your side. And he has not been good. I disagree on bail. 

JOE MURRAY: Connor Seabold. 

JON WALLACH: Much better. Seabold was never a prospect. 

JOE MURRAY: Sawamaura

JON WALLACH: Sawamura. He was a free agent signing from Japan, pitched okay last year and regressed toward the mean. I mean, there is stuff in there that is not correct. You do have stuff in there. I think that is very right. 

JOE MURRAY: 2023 Red Sox, baby! Everybody on board.