The coming offseason will tell us quite a but about how Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski values draft picks versus free agents, writes WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. As Bradford points out, Dombrowski never signed a free agent that had rejected a qualifying offer while serving as Tigers’ GM (he did, however, re-sign Victor Martinez, when letting him walk would’ve netted a comp pick), and Boston’s No. 12 overall selection in the 2016 draft is the second-highest unprotected pick, making it that much more difficult to surrender. The Sox will be connected to top pitchers like Zack Greinke, Jordan Zimmermann, Hisashi Iwakuma and Wei-Yin Chen, in addition to already having been connected to outfielder Alex Gordon, Bradford notes, but each would require parting with that premium pick.
A few more notes from the AL East…
- The Orioles like Daniel Murphy and could show interest in him this offseason writes MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, though Kubatko himself admits that it is difficult to see how Murphy fits onto the roster. Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado have Murphy’s two primary positions locked down, although as Kubatko notes, Murphy has experience a first base, and the O’s have the DH spot available as well. Murphy could, conceivably, rotate through those four spots in the lineup, giving Machado and Schoop breathers in the field and serving as insurance in the event of an injury. Nonetheless, he seems like an imperfect fit, or at least one that may not address the club’s top need, which is in the rotation.
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun writes that while Darren O’Day might be the likeliest of the Orioles’ impending free agents to return, the chances still aren’t great. O’Day could receive interest as a closer on the open market, Connolly notes, and the O’s showed last winter in letting Andrew Miller walk that they weren’t interested in paying closer money for a pitcher that would function as a setup man for the team. Connolly adds how important O’Day is to Baltimore’s pitching staff from a clubhouse leadership standpoint, though, also pointing to the Royals in highlighting the importance of having a dominant eighth/ninth inning combo at the back of a bullpen.
- Chad Jennings of the Journal News provides an early offseason checklist for the Yankees, noting that the club has six players on the 60-day disabled list but will only open up four spots via departing free agents. Jennings points out that Sergio Santos (one of the aforementioned 60-day players) is an easy candidate to be removed from the 40-man roster, and Diego Moreno, also on the 60-day DL, could be designated for assignment if the team doesn’t view him as part of the future. Other candidates include Domingo German, Austin Romine, Chris Martin and Andrew Bailey. Jennings also looks at Brendan Ryan’s mutual option and takes a look back at the Yankees’ recent early-November moves, noting that we shouldn’t rule out a few relatively notable transactions in the next couple of weeks.
- Incoming Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro, who will be formally announced at a press conference this afternoon, has a history of trading for unheralded prospects that blossom into stars, writes Sportsnet’s Nick Ashbourne. As Ashbourne points out, Shapiro acquired Coco Crisp, Travis Hafner, Shin-Soo Choo, Michael Brantley, Corey Kluber and Yan Gomes in various trades despite the fact that none ranked higher than seventh on Baseball America’s pre-season prospect rankings for the organization from which they were acquired. Excluding Brantley, none ranked better than 16th. There were some notable missteps, trading away Brandon Phillips and Chris Archer too soon, but it’s an impressive history nonetheless. Shapiro will, of course, have a significant increase in financial resources with Toronto, but the Jays aren’t the type of team that can fill out its roster solely through spending, so a keen eye for undervalued prospects will be an important trait. Shapiro currently sits atop the Jays’ baseball operations pyramid after GM Alex Anthopoulos stunningly left the team last week, reportedly due to differences with Shapiro and due to the fact that ownership promised Shapiro baseball operations autonomy when hiring him.
I honestly don’t know what I want the Sox to even do this offseason. I feel like Cherington screwed us over for a while, so it feels like DD and Hazen don’t have any good options to make the team good in the short term without exploding the club’s future.
A focus on pitching is probably best. I can see starting pitchers like Price, Cueto, Estrada, Kazmir and Fister as well as relievers like O’day, Clippard, Madson, Soria and Howell being of interest to DD and the Sox. None of those players should cost a draft pick either.
I don’t think Price will sign with Boston. There’s bad blood between him and Ortiz. Price will probably sign with the Cubs.
I dont see Price as the most likely target but I also don’t think the David Ortiz history will make much of a difference. Price is going to sign with the highest bidder and that probably wont be the Sox. That being said, I think the Sox are going to put a lot of focus on pitchers that don’t have draft pick compensation attached and Price is certainly one of the best in that category.
I hate the sox but with the new regime u guys are definitely gonna add some big pitching and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chris Davis playing first if Hanley doesn’t make the adjustment. He would mash in Boston! And you guys for sure will trade some outfield pieces to get even more pitching. Strasburg anyone? Maybe Harvey? Obviously with additional players in any deal like that but Boston certainly has the MLB ready and close to MLB ready talent to pull that kind of a trade off.
I believe Estrada was tendered the QO.
They need to sign one of the big four SP’s, and invest a bit of their prospect depth into a big basher corner OF. If they can dump Castillo in the same deal, fantastic. Then add a reliever or two and they’re pretty well all set. If they do all that I wouldn’t bet against them in the AL East next year, not with how the season ended this year.
Thats completely false. The RS already have a good foundation and are really only an ace and a few good relievers away from contention. Bouncebacks from Porcello/Sandoval/Ramirez would go a long way. To further that, not having Ramirez in the OF (which did so much damage) and not having Kelly/Masteron in the rotation also goes a long way. Right now, if they went into the season without ANY upgrades, they would probably project as a 83ish win team.
Plus, the Redsox have so much young talent both in the major leagues and minor leagues, that it would be difficult to “explode the club’s future”….
The ALE is also kind of a mess right now.. Theres really no team almost guaranteed the divsion. It’s literally a 5 team race.
After watching DD work these past several years here in Detroit, you could be very frustrated trying to figure out what they are going to do. He keeps his cards so close to the vest you probably won’t know what could happen till its a done deal.
One thing I do know about DD. He never saw a prospect that wasn’t a trade chip.
Agree 100%! DD prefers the sure thing to the might be.
So Cherington screwed the Sox over by not compromising the future but you don’t want DD to compromise the future? Ok then
I think Karkat was referring to the Porcello, Sandoval and Ramirez deals. Those certainly didn’t help the Red Sox.
Cherington went full-force into panic mode with those signings. I think he got too comfortable with his 2013 success and, when they tanked in 2014, he just blindly went after “names” to appease the fans and media. How else do you explain going from signing guys like Gomes and Ross to bringing Hanley on board?
Cherrington was right to get a mix of free agents in 2013 in order to make the team competitive.
In 2014, he sort of sat on his hands and didn’t do much beyond letting Ellsbury and Salty leave. Midway he traded away premium players like Lester and Lackey.
In 2015, he signed a bunch of names that weren’t premium players. Porcello, Ramirez, and Sandoval are not equivalent to that of Lester, Lackey, and Ellsbury.
Hopefully DD realizes this and snags up premium players to incorporate with the Sox’s talented foundation.
I honestly think the best thing to focus on is quality relief pitching. Sign a couple of the top names on the market and make a trade for someone younger. If they don’t sign or trade for an ace they can still be competitive. And if the right deal for an ace isn’t out there then don’t make it. There’s a descent chance that guys like Rodriguez and Owens take a step forward. As long as Porcello and Kelly are the guys they grew into at the end of the season the starting pitching will be fine. As far as position players are concerned, I don’t think many updates are necessary. If Ramirez and Sandoval don’t produce, they can always go to plan B of some combination of Shaw, Holt, Marrero. Some of the youth needs to be moved either way as there is just too much of it. Maybe sign a veteran outfielder that could play up to 100 games? Nothing major positionwise though.
What they do with Hanley will determine how they approach this winter and next season. They have a very strong farm system between Moncada and Castillo who is already in MLB
Is his reasoning for saying O’Day is the most likely to return simply because he thinks the chances of other players (like Davis) is essentially zero? Because I feel like O’Day will have many suitors and his chances of returning to the Os are pretty low. Pretty much every team that was in the playoffs this year (minus the Royals and probably the Pirates) should and will be in on O’Day.
Oday will have a lot of suitors but he also seems like the type of guy that will sign a hometown discount. If he can get closer money similar to Robertson or Miller last year he is gone. If no teams are offering up a fourth year he will probably take the 3 the Os will do. The first team that offers him a fourth year might get him.
I think O’Day’s leadership, price, and every team being open for bullpen upgrades makes O’Day a likely candidate to come back. He’ll be a pricey RP, but his contract would far cheaper than Davis, Chen, or Weiters.
Would Austin Romine be rule 5 eligible? Or would he just be a normal Free Agent if designated?
Should’ve rule 5 eligible assuming he isn’t claimed. I don’t believe he has enough service time to become a free agent.
I believe that he was dfa’d off the 40 earlier this season, then subsequently outrighted. Which is something a team can only do once and he would need to be added to the 40 or become a minor league FA.
Disclaimer – I could be convoluting a few rules, waiting for my morning coffee
O’Day has been a good performer for the O’s but the bottom line is there is a lot of luck associated with getting a deep pen and most of it has to do with scouting. Giving O’Day a lot of money/years doesn’t make a lot of sense for a smaller market team like Baltimore, whose needs are many.
Perhaps a long shot but I would turn to Seattle and see if they would be interested in dealing Felix. If Seattle thinks they are a few years away from being competitive, the Sox have the prospects that could be ready in a few years and it’s not like Felix is getting any younger.
I’m hesitant about Price and I don’t want Cueto or Grienke. Zimmerman can be nice but not sure he is the #1. As for the few other names mentioned…lol we need an ace
Seattle has been indicating they are going for it with the core they have in place. So they might be a competitor for free agents opposed to a seller.
The Orioles should just focus on signing Machado and Schoop long-term this winter. They have no chance of retaining any of their free agents. At least, not when they only offer 3/4 of what other teams offer.
If they cant compete for free agents, why should Machado or Schoop sign long term when the likelihood of winning is small, and higher Dollars can be earned with multiple teams bidding up their salaries?
O Day will be one of first guys to sign else where
I also think it will be another long cold winter meeting for O’s fans
They always shop the reduce rack