Mailday Madness Pt. 8

I'm just going to do one package today because the next one will be a big one and I don't have a ton of time to generate a post this morning.

1.  Rafael Devers.  There are rumblings that Devers has been working on some things with his swing over the offseason and that he has built up a little more muscle.  If he has protection in the lineup, a 40-homer season is possible.

2.  Chase Meidroth.  Meidroth was the fourth-round pick in 2022 and looks like a potential utility player in the Majors, primarily at second and third.  He is a decent contact hitter, but doesn't have much power.

3.  Nomar Garciaparra.  I need to work on getting some of the Panini products from last year to grab some of the retired players.  I do hope that Panini branches out somewhat on different players in 2024.  Let's see George Scott, Rick Burleson, Jim Lonborg, Bill Monbouquette, Rudy York, Billy Werber, Buddy Myer, Dutch Leonard and Duffy Lewis.  I could go on and on and on, but some kind of stars of the past set would be a lot of fun.

4.  Kenley Jansen.  Jansen has not been very happy with the direction of the team and I suppose I get that.  He is coming close to the end of his career and wanted to play for a winning team and Boston's direction has been pretty confusing lately.  

5.  Adam Duvall.  Duvall is still a free agent.  After Boston signed C.J. Cron, I don't see them bringing him back, but he had some good moments in 2023.

6.  Mikey Romero.  Romero was the first-round pick in 2022 and looks like a decent hitter, but might have to move to second base.  With the number of middle infield prospects in the system, it would be difficult for Romero to stick out.

7.  Masataka Yoshida.  Yoshida will be the full-time DH in 2024 which will hopefully keep his bat consistent.  He had some down times in 2023 which kind of overshadowed the moments he was at his best.

8.  Ted Williams.  This is one of those manufactured patches.  Williams won the MVP in 1949 when he hit .343/.490/.650 with 43 home runs and 159 RBIs.  He led the league in OBP, slugging, home runs, RBIs, runs (150), doubles (39) and walks (162) for a team that missed the playoffs by one game.  He missed the batting title by percentage points.