As we noted earlier today, the potential 2020 season will bring a host of new rules governing player transactions. We haven’t heard anything yet regarding how that’ll take place. But supposing there’s an opportunity at some point to strike trades, it’s quite likely that non-contending teams will be as anxious as ever to make deals.
But wait … are the Red Sox a contending team? Obviously they aren’t going all out, having just traded one of the game’s very best players in Mookie Betts along with high-priced veteran David Price. The team may maintain that wasn’t driven exclusively by luxury tax considerations, but there’s no way to sell it as enhancing the team’s 2020 outlook. And the club did manage to dip just under the luxury line — making it all the more important that the season end up being played, so that the anticipated competitive balance tax rate reset isn’t wiped out.
At the time, we might’ve wondered whether a first half boom could’ve led the Red Sox to turn into a mid-season 2020 buyer. It would’ve been hard to sell away from a winning club, at least. But then came the whole global pandemic thing, which halted any thoughts of a typical season and trade deadline. And in the midst of that the club lost its most talented pitcher when Chris Sale went under the knife for Tommy John surgery.
The Boston organization still projects as an above-average team. And the odds of a surprise would increase in a short-season format with an expanded postseason. But you have to recognize that the American League is extremely top-heavy. On paper, the Sox are no match at all for the best clubs.
Meanwhile, new Red Sox baseball ops leader Chaim Bloom has already pulled the band aid off when it comes to trading veterans. He’s looking to 2021 and beyond and the fan base knows it. None of them are deciding whether to show up for games this season anyway. Under the circumstances, the Boston organization should be pretty motivated to trade short-term veterans for whatever long-term value it can get. With every team facing renewed and unexpected future financial concerns, there could be some wild opportunities out there.
If and when Bloom returns to the trading floor, he won’t have a Betts to work with. It’s quite unlikely he’ll seriously entertain talks for long-term core player such as Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts. It’s not likely the team will be keen to discuss Andrew Benintendi and Christian Vazquez given that each has multiple seasons of affordable control remaining. Even younger players like Alex Verdugo and Michael Chavis surely aren’t going anywhere.
But Bloom sure has a lot of other guys that would be worth talking about …
- Brandon Workman, RP: In retrospect, it’s surprising there wasn’t more talk of Workman in the offseason. He ran up over seventy frames of sub-2 ERA ball last year with big strikeout and groundball numbers. And he was approximately the only pitcher in baseball that seemed immune to the long ball, though walks remain a concern. With only a $3.5MM salary, Workman is a really nice target for the many teams that will be looking to compete as hoped without adding financial obligations.
- Jackie Bradley Jr., OF: The salary considerations go in the opposite direction here, as Bradley’s $11MM walk-year payout isn’t very friendly to the pocketbooks. He’s not likely to be a sought-after player unless he really makes a rebound at the plate. But he has shown that ability before and is a quality up-the-middle defender.
- Kevin Pillar, OF & Mitch Moreland, 1B: These veterans are both going to have to show what they’ve got on the field before any other teams take a look. But each could be a mid-season rental target.
- Eduardo Rodriguez, SP: Perhaps the most valuable potential Red Sox trade target that could realistically be shopped, the quality southpaw only just reached his 27th birthday after a productive and healthy 2019 season. He’s due a reasonable $8.3MM (on a full season basis) with one more arb year to go, so the Red Sox will probably intend to hang onto him for 2021 … though their plans could probably be changed with the right offer.
- Matt Barnes, RP: He keeps producing monster strikeout numbers with good but not great results, due in part to some free pass proclivities. There’d be a ton of interest if the Red Sox make him available, but as with Rodriguez, there’s little reason for the team to sell short. Barnes is earning a full-season $3.1MM salary in 2020 with another pass through arbitration to come thereafter.
- J.D. Martinez, OF/DH: Might there be added interest with a temporary National League DH? That’d be a risky strategy since the designated hitter could disappear in 2021, particularly given Martinez’s significant post-2020 obligations ($19.375MM apiece in 2021 and 2022). The slugger’s now less likely than ever to opt out of the remainder of his deal.
- Nathan Eovaldi, Martin Perez & Collin McHugh, SPs: None of these hurlers would be moved at the moment, but perhaps that could change if mid-season trades are possible. The former is owed a lot of coin, but could conceivably be swapped in the right circumstances — if he returns to form. The latter two are buy-low free agent signees who’d be possible deadline flips in a normal year. Perez does come with a 2021 option.
Sox starting pitching is atrocious. I’d listen to trade offers on anyone not named Bogaerts or Devers.
and you wouldn’t get anything of any value.
Pretty sure E-Rod would bring back something worthwhile.
and AB
Saying the sox wouldn’t get any value back is absolutely ignorant. Rodriguez, benintendi Verdugo, Vazquez, Chavis, Workman. Im not saying any of them have the same value that Arod did 17 years ago, but saying they wouldn’t get any value is plain ignorant
Bloom will look for young talent back in any deal and once under the cap, look to get that top tier player who will put the team back towards the top of contention. Top tier, not the top players. He’ll let others overpay for the extra years and target what’s left. The coming years will see the big teams with cap space the only bidders on some players and the MLBPA will again cry collusion yet with the pandemic they have no leg to stand on.
E Rod hasta be a no trade ,along with Raffy, Xman, Benni, n Eovaldi(cuz you’ll get nothing fir him) n he may have a huge up side.
i think any NL team should consider Martinez if they expect an OF opening or can make one for 2021. he’s can absolutely be used in the OF. id look for a team like CHC to consider that after they went a sinmilar route with Castellanos last year. (presumably if they are willing to take on the money)
I would be scared to death sticking him in the outfield.
well Darkside is a Philly fan, and Matt Klentak has a track record of interesting defenses.
Rangers29 – Agreed – JD is a great hitter, but absolutely terrible outfielder….if i was a NL team owner and my GM brought me a trade offer for JD, I would fire him….lol
Good defense and run prevention helps win games and championships….
Defense is important, but you can’t win games without scoring either. If you’re mostly sound around the diamond defensively, you could hide a guy like JD. I wouldn’t be mad if he was in RF for my team.
How highlights have you seen of JD botching plays and costing games. I have seen all I can handle. The errors cause longer innings for a pitching staff that is already thin. No National League team will touch him that is why he did not opt-out……….
With his atrocious fielding which is far worse than castellanos, nobody will be plugging him in the outfield. He’s pretty much a DH only guy.
Yeah, unless if the National League implements the DH before he retires, he needs to stay in the American League for the rest of his career.
well then forgive me for not understanding. why has Boston played him with relative frequently in the OF the past few years? he could very well have played 162 as the DH but did not. and i dont see any numbers showing him to be anything worse than subpar.
I wouldn’t say they’re using him in the OF frequently. More like sparingly. He hasn’t played 1000 innings in the grass the past 2 seasons combined. Plus Fenway is very shallow in corner outfield. It’s not like he’s roaming a wide OF like Oracle.
In one corner outfield. Right field is one of the biggest and most difficult to play. Yes you can hide a below average fielder in left if they learn how to play the wall but let’s not pretend right field is easy in fact it’s one of if not the most difficult right fields in baseball. All that being said when Boston would occasionally play JD in right, mostly on the road, I would cringe. He has absolutely no range.
I think Workman would be a great target for the Rangers. I wonder how much we’d have to give up for him?
Final year of his contract. It’s hard to say. Y’all prospects as far as top 100 is concerned y’all only have 2. So maybe 1 of them and a middle of the pack prospect.
A top 100 prospect plus for a 20 or 30 game rental? I don’t see that happening.
You never know. Depends on if any other pieces get moved or money. I was just throwing something out there like a worst case situation. What is your “expert” opinion?
@Bliss. Javia wasn’t being rude in presenting a different opinion. But hey, I’ll give my “expert” opinion as well.
I think a top 100 prospect won’t happen..unless of course another player is involved. Relievers just don’t go for that much typically, and especially if that reliever is a one year rental like Workman. In addition to that, while his production typically looks solid, he has never put up elite production like he did in 2019.
Relievers are not as valuable as they once were. This off-season San Diego got Emilio Pagan for Manuel Margot and Logan Driscoll. Emilio Pagan is 2 years younger, has 3 additional years of control and has a lifetime ERA 0.48 lower and a WHIP 0.28 lower. Pagan had FAR more value than Workman will with 20-30 games left. And Margot and Driscoll are FAR less valuable than a top 100 prospect. Just sayin. No offense intended Mr. Bliss.
Ok I apologize for throwing my opinion out there. I said top 100 because of what the rangers have is garbage.
Cole Winn and Hans Crouse are pitchers who are not top 100 prospects, but they would definitely be quality pickups at a position of great need for the Sox. I don’t think the Sox could get both but possibly 1 and a flyer. They have high ceilings and would help thicken the Sox system and give them another chance or 2 for a minor leaguer to hit it big.
I am sure Rangers29 will try to say that you get Joe Palumbo and that’s it, but I think you may be able to do better than that. But I am sure he will be traded to a contender in need of bullpen help if he is traded at all.
Lol, I will say that I do throw out Palumbo’s name a lot, but that’s because the Rangers have a plethora of AAA pitchers (Allard, Hearn, Hernandez, and before TJ, Burke), and he’s a fairly well known prospect who’s also decent.
As for the return you’d get for Workman, it’s a little lower than the return for Pagan. No Huff or Jung, they are untouchable. Going off of those parameters, here is my deal:
Red Sox Recieve: Hans Crouse, Bubba Thompson, and Jesse Chavez
Rangers Recieve: Brandon Workman
Crouse has a wild delivery, but can still produce results, I think the Rangers would move him before Winn anyways. Thompson is a pretty good center fielder in our system, has the bat skills too. Chavez is kind of the throw in piece, he is better than his stats show, for most of last season he was very good, but 3 or 4 bad outings ruined his line.
Deal or no deal?
so many question marks here though. these trade chips could do a complete 180 in either direction based on performance. this altered schedule is a true wild card. how can anyone know who will respond well to it. in all likelihood their best bet could be to consider this a gap year and reload the farm
I’ve had similar thoughts myself. A shortened season should see good luck play a larger roll this season. It’s why the baseball season isn’t 20 games or less. You could see teams that would have otherwise not been involved make the playoffs. This may be the one season that is at least CLOSER to being anyone’s year than any seasons before it.
Still say the Padres and Red Sox can figure out a Wil Myers deal.
Nathan Eovaldi and Jackie Bradley Jr would be headed back to San Diego.
Eovaldi would be an expensive pen piece, but think he’d step in when Yates leaves. Jackie Bradley Jr would be a 1 year stop gap and possible trade chip at the deadline if he’s having a good season.
Only question is which prospect(s) would be headed back to Boston with Myers to offset the difference in salary. Maybe Tucupita Marcano, Blake Hunt, and Ronald Bolanos.
Still trying to get rid of Wil Myers. Good luck with that.
If the Padres were willing to take back a bad contract like Eovaldi they’d find takers. Myers has 2 years 45 mill left after 2020.
Eovaldi has 2 years 34 mill left
Jason Heyward has 3 years 71 mill left. Not the most ideal trade, but a guy who strikes out under 20% certainly fits what the padres were trying to do this off season in reducing strike outs. Cubs get out from a contract a year earlier so they’d probably send some prospects back. Change of scenery could help both.
Seattle could opt to trade Yusei Kikuchi who’s owed 2 years 32 mill if Padres include prospects.
The Padres have been trying to trade Myers for long time and haven’t been successful. As I said, Good Luck! I will believe it can happen when it happens. Until then, it just wishful thinking for Padre fans.
Any attempt to trade Myers up to this point has not mentioned any scenario where the Padres were taking back simply a bad contract.
This off season it was Red Sox take Myers while Padres receive Betts and possibly price. Talks fell apart over how much $$ Red Sox would take back.
There was talks of the Indians having some interest in Myers if Padres were willing to include decent prospects and money.
There were discussions around Myers to Seattle for Segura and Leake.
They tried to convince the royals to take him back as part of a deal for Merrifield.
Nowhere in the past 2 years has any deal mentioned simply been bad contract for bad contract.
There was no talk in Ohio about the Indians having any interest in Wil Myers. The Indians are a small market team and would not take on part of that contract. That is not how they operate.
again i don’t see how Myers is untradable when there are so many other bad contracts in baseball and Myers has at least shown he can be used at 1B, OF, and sparingly at 3B. He’s also not a dinosaur and only is a few years removed from a good offensive season in a large park. i know its a bad contract but to act like it should be avoided like the plague is crazy.
hOs – Bradley is a FA after 2020, so 3 month rental at best. SD would have no interest in Bradley and is to cheat to take Eovaldi.
Bloom would be stupid to take Will Myers as JD probably does not opt out at DH, Verdugo is in RF, and unless Benintendi is moved to CF, so Myers could play LF, this does not work. Myers has only had one year of .800 OPS or better which was way back in 2013. Bloom can do better than $20 million for Myers for both 2021 and 2022 plus $1 million buy out for 2023 for a play who has never had an .800 OPS in a full year.
No team in baseball wants anything to do with any of Myers, Bradley or Eovaldi. Any trade would be crap for crap. You can go ahead and trade your haggis for blood pudding, but you are still going to end up with inedible animal insides on your plate.
San Diego doesn’t want an expensive garbage starter cluttering up their rotation and keeping them from bringing up the best pitching prospect in baseball any more than the Sox want Myers cluttering up their outfield. The Sox sure as hell aren’t going to trade what little pitching they have to make it happen. Trade is not going to happen.
“Eovaldi would be an expensive pen piece, but think he’d step in when Yates leaves.”
I agree with Javia ….”crap for crap”…..$17 million per year (20, 21, and 22) is one crazy expensive reliever….not happening.
Red Sox will use Eovaldi as a starter as they can not afford to trade away pitching if you are looking at: E-Rod, Eovaldi, Perez, Weber, Brian Johnson as your starters with zero depth.
@Javla
Thanks for the laugh – the line “You can go ahead and trade your haggis for blood pudding, but you are still going to end up with inedible animal insides on your plate.” was a proper coffee spitter….
And I agree, the Sox aren’t trading pitching….
1B*
Point of the trade isn’t Myers. Point of the trade is getting prospects back for the Red Soxs to add to a barren farm system. Guys ranked 5-15 in the Padres farm system would easily rank in the red Sox top 5.
Red Sox absolute do not need to trade for a first baseman.
Red Sox 1B prospects
Michael Chavis – MLB
1. Triston Casas
6. Bobby Dalbec
24. Pedro Castellanos
25. Brandon Howlett
Five of the team’s top non-MLB’s staters or prospects are 1B.
The first three have a higher ceiling and cost $20 million less than Wil Myers. There is no way cost conscious Mr. Bloom pays for Wil Myers and blocks the RS position with the most and best prospects.
Check out Soxprospect.com great read.
Draft History has last 27 years draft…every player drated, whether they sign, bonus, whether they made the majors, if they are still in the system….lots of good stuff
Javia – I hear Myers sucks on defense. Have you seen him in person? Is he as really that bad or are the articles I have read exaggerating?
He played very well defensively at 1B. He was at least average, possibly even plus in the OF years ago. In CF he is horrific. I think he can be okay in an OF corner. His problem is between his ears. Any changes throw him off his game. If he has a regular position to call his own he can be okay. Last year he was hard to watch. A saw a little bit of Jose Canseco in him on defense last year.
Omg the Red Sox do not need that. I remember Canseco trying to catch a fly ball…. it hit his glove then his head and then bounced over the fender for a home run…
I think the whole Red Sox/Padres trade talks were just to get more out of the Dodgers. Padres wanted prospects and Red Sox wanted to dump salary and prospects in return. The trade never made sense from the very beginning.
Padres are said to have a great farm system. I think they will be better and better as the prospects make the MLB and join the players they already have.
Yeah, I seriously doubt this trade happens now.
I agree with you, and the Red Sox havelittle the Padres would want.
Listen all of y’all it’s sabotage. Listen all of y’all it’s sabotage!
“And the club did manage to dip just under the luxury line — making it all the more important that the season end up being played, so that the anticipated competitive balance tax rate reset isn’t wiped out.”
I have to say, as a Sox fan, the thought of canceling the 2020 season is appealing. If 2020 is canceled, there’s no doubt that the Sox will unequivocally win the Mookie Betts deal: the Dodgers will be left paying half of David Price, give Mookie a QO (if these exist in 2020), and the Sox will have walked away with Verdugo, Downs, and Wong.
Yes, not getting the tax relief hurts, but the Sox will only be $141M committed for 2021, and have room to go sign an MVP caliber OFer to replace JBJ… say… Mookie Betts? Who else is going to give him $400M/10 years? Add in E-Rod/Devers arbitration ($15M total?) Fill out of the rest of the roster for $20M and you’re right around the number needed for a reset in 2021, while still competing.
So let me get this straight…you care more about “winning the trade” in the eyes of the public than re-setting the tax penalty, which would allow the Sox to spend some money and improve the team?
I care about winning the trade, getting Mookie Betts back (seems more likely if he never plays a game in LA) and being competitive. There’s no way the current makeup of the team for 2020 is competitive, so scrapping it doesn’t seem terrible.
Yes, they still need to reset the tax, but they can do that in 2021 pretty easily, while still spending on Betts (or several other free agents).
In that scenario who is your starting 5?
Erod, Eovaldi, Martin Perez, McHugh, Weber, half a season of sale. If that happens, does it reallllly matter that the rotation as a whole looks like? Look at the lineup.
Yeah, the pitching still matters. The starting rotation you put together is roughly correct, but probably needs another piece or two mediocre pieces to get over the top. Lester/Bailey/Arrieta might be shorter term pieces that work here. It’d be great to go get a Bauer or a Minor, but probably not going to fit into that budget.
“… but there’s no way to sell it as enhancing the team’s 2020 outlook.”
Back when they were trying to trade him a whole bunch of people were trying to do exactly that.
I have it from a very reliable undisclosed source that the Red Sox owners started the pandemic so they would win public opinion on the Betts/Price trade
Berger – lol. That is the 21st different person or group i have heard started the pandemic, but definitely the funniest….lol…..lol
If 14 teams are going to make the playoffs it seems unlikely they’re going to unload. They’re good enough to contend for a playoff spot if that’s the case.
With the players in this article who were talked about who actually could be traded you could write this for any MLB club. No we need to write one for the Boston and once again make sure the east coast doesn’t go a day without all clubs being written about. This site must of been purchased by ESPN. Go ahead and block me. I am done on this one.
Before you leave you should look at the surrounding stories. They must really be pumping out east coast big market clickbait if they feature the Orioles, Royals, and Mariners, right?
Wait, please don’t go!, Please, I beg of you don’t go
Yep it is – the content on this site is MLB-what-ifs and just there to sell advertising……..all contrived content for people sitting at home obeying their pandemic house arrest….
that just isnt true, but whatever.
No! Come back so you can read all these posts and see just how much you will be missed!!!
Ultimate confirmation bias right here folks. He saw what he wanted to see.
All any site ever writes about are Earth teams. It’s really a planetary bias. Where are the stories on Martian baseball?
With their reduced gravity those stadiums play worse than Coors Field! It’s not real baseball when even infield singles go over the fence!
I enjoy watching my team’s star player hit 4,311 HRs a season though!
I completely and totally disagree with east coast vs other areas coverage. I think it’s the most balance site I’ve been on. I think the Boston situation and Betts trade is made even more interesting with a shortened season. With not a ton happening out there in the sports world it’s worth a discussion. I’ve seen them break down every single teams outlook. Talk of the teams that have a young core or close to mlb ready talent and interesting teams to watch from all over the map. The focus seemed to be on Chicago for awhile(moresore before corona) bud with good reason the Sox were actively trying to add to their young core and the Cubs just let Maddon go, were looking to unload some salary, and whether or how much of that they’d reinvest in other areas was intriguing. They covered the Reds pretty well as they continue to try to do an unconventional rebuild(by today’s standards). Plenty of west coast too. They do extremely well. I’m from Stl and I also get that bigger spenders with big fan bases get a little more attention. You cater to the fans and to be honest they are typically more active with more to report. So it’ll never be even. I do agree ESPN takes it a little extreme but this site reports news and signings big and small from all size markets.
Nicely put Seth
Rodriguez and Workman could give the red sox a nice return
What about trading Rodriguez and attaching Eovaldi with him!?
Then you’re just reducing the value you could get back for just E-rod. I’d gladly keep Eovaldi and his contract if it meant getting absolute value back for E-rod.
82 game schedule, JDM and Bogey and AB and Devers get hot, Eovoldi gets healthy……adds up to a contender. TB is facing a 115M payroll in 20221; that ain’t happenin’, especially considering their main source of income (Revenue Sharing) is going to be cut off below its knees; expect a selloff. Toronto likely isn’t ready, O’s are, well…….
If anything, just for the sake of good PR and satsifying the Fenway Failthfull, they may very well add some pieces at the deadline (whenever that is).
Martin Perez is worth a couple bats at the wet market and nothing more.
Barnes is strait chips. Please trade him
Of the players listed the only one I think worth trading for is Eduardo Rodriguez.
And you would either be a Yankee fan or someone he doesn’t know much about baseball
I would still love to see Jackie Bradley Jr in a White Sox uniform.
you might be the only one
I’m sure of it but I’m bias. I’m a White Sox fan and South Carolina fan.
Bradley isn’t that bad, really. Genuine center fielder’s are pretty rare. The only position in baseball that might be more shallow is Catcher. Bradley is more valuable by virtue of grading on a curve. Might not be the sexiest argument for Bradley but it does give him a little more value than normal. Braves have a similar situation with Inciarte.
I can see that. I was thinking RF in Chicago if Nomar Mazara doesn’t pan out. JBJ defense is outstanding and the White Sox has an enough offense if everyone pans out to afford to have an everyday defender in the lineup.
As a RS fan Bloom should trade everybody not named Devers or Bogaerts
If the Red Sox even consider Eduardo Rodriguez as a trade chip, then they have completely thrown in the towel. He’s the last semblance of a starting pitcher on the entire team right now, and without him, we should just tank and start over.
He’s not even that reliable to be honest.
I think a shortened season gives teams a chance to catch fire and make the playoffs especially if they add an additional team in each league. Essentially you are playing until the all star break. History has shown us that inferior teams can be fortunate for half a season but overall after 162 the cream rises to the top. Games will be managed different and having strengths in certain a
You may not be able to start off slow and say well it’s a long season this year. You may see some surprises good and bad this year.
If you think the Red Sox are a contender, you’re completely in denial. If we do the 10 team league, only teams we may be better than are the Orioles and Marlins, and even then who knows.
Perez sucks. How is he still in baseball?!
Because he is relatively young, relatively cheap and an innings eater no 5.- that admittedly would make you wince if you’d paid good money to go to a game and got Perez against – say – Verlander.
That and because the name Martin is criminally under-represented in MLB. As is Mordechai.
Nevertheless, it’s more likely to be the first one. But not by much….
The farm system is so depleted and talentless, trades aren’t going to help that much. They just need time to re-arm via the Draft and International Signings. This entire organization is a huge dumpster fire.
I can see JBJ and JDM being part of a trade. One or the other but not both.