The Red Sox have a clear need at second base this winter, and as recently noted, newly installed chief baseball officer Craig Breslow indicated to reporters that he feels a trade is likelier than a free-agent signing. Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic adds some more context from Breslow’s media session, noting that he called the “ideal” acquisition a right-handed bat and plus defender.
Second base was a black hole in the Boston lineup last year. Ten different players saw time there — Christian Arroyo, Enmanuel Valdez, Luis Urias and Pablo Reyes primarily — and combined for a .240/.286/.376 slash on the whole. Urias has since been traded to the Mariners. Arroyo was outrighted and became a free agent. Reyes and Valdez remain on the roster, but the former is a career .256/.318/.367 hitter who’s best suited for a utility role, while the latter has all of 149 MLB plate appearances to his name.
Veteran Whit Merrifield headlines the free-agent crop of second basemen, though bounceback candidates like Amed Rosario and Adam Frazier hold some appeal to clubs in search of help at second base as well. The trade market offers far more intriguing possibilities. The Reds have an enviable surplus of infield talent, and 2021 Rookie of the Year Jonathan India has been an oft-rumored candidate to change hands (though Cincinnati president Nick Krall downplayed the possibility recently). The Twins have their own glut of infield talent and are open to offers on veteran Jorge Polanco as they seek to reduce payroll and bolster the pitching staff. McCaffrey suggests that San Diego’s Ha-Seong Kim would be of interest if available, although that would presumably only be the case if the Padres continue to scale back payroll — and the prospect cost to acquire Kim would hardly be insignificant.
As one would expect for a newly hired baseball operations leader who’s trying to turn around a last-place team, Breslow has plenty of balls in the air at the moment. In addition to the pursuits at second base, Boston has also been active in the rotation market. Reports this week indicated they’re among the top suitors for Seth Lugo, and McCaffrey writes that the Sox were interested in Luis Severino before he signed with the Mets. Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweets that the Sox had interest in a reunion with Eduardo Rodriguez but didn’t want to make a commitment with NPB newcomers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga both still in play via free agency. The Sox have interest in both.
Beyond the pitching staff, the Sox remain engaged with Justin Turner about a potential reunion, Breslow confirmed yesterday (via Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). Turner declined a player option with Boston after hitting .276/.345/.455 with 23 home runs in his first year with the team. That was a foregone conclusion, however, as the net $6.7MM value of that option (after factoring in the buyout he received) is well shy of what Turner can command in free agency, even at 39.
Breslow also suggested that he’d like to add a right-handed bat who can handle center field (via Abraham), though he stopped short of calling it a “need.” MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Breslow also implied the Sox could stand pat in the outfield and head into the 2024 season with the current group of Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela, though that’s obviously an inexperienced group and a further addition clearly hasn’t been ruled out. Boston was linked to right-handed-hitting outfielders Michael A. Taylor and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. this week, though only the former is an option in center field (and a very good one, at that).
“Plus defender” so not India then lol
Add Adam Frasier (left-handed bat) to the “not interested” list.
IMHO the move is to trade for Willy Adames and move Story to 2b. That would be a lock down DP combo!
India for Pivetta?
Not me. I’d rather sign Merrifield and keep Pivetta. Can’t trade him unless you first make a free agent starter splash. Both Whitlock and TH belong in the bullpen.
I like Pivetta alot
Merrifield seems like a natural acquisition.
Merrifield is aging and 2023 was his last good season.
Yes! 2023 is ancient history by baseball standards!
Fables – And why would we want a player who is aging? Let’s sign someone who is dead, then they will never age!
Ditto on keeping Pivetta, tho rather have him as a reliever, along with Houck and Whitlock.
OF presented in this article is 2 rookies plus Duran, whom nobody has a clue will be close to what he was in ’23. Duvall probably needs to come back or another on fairly short yrs + money.
Merrifield is old. Can’t see him being too productive much longer. He’s a speed guy and at that age, it’s a perishable skill. Plus, he was terrible the first part of last year
No thanks! I would rather keep Pivetta.
I think it depends on where they think Mayer is in his development. If they think he is coming up at the end of the 2024 season or is ready for 2025 I don’t see them making a move for someone like India. Story would be moving back to 2B.
I suspect they go get a solid vet as a short term stop gap.
Now Merrifield as a stopgap I can deal with
Of that group mentioned i like Polanco. Sox need power wherever they can get it. Perhaps they could see if the Twins would be interested in parting with Max Kepler while they are at it
Polanco is a terrible defender. This team already has 3 poor defenders. Hard pass, Find power at a less important defensive position (Leftfield, DH)
Expecting one of Duvall, Turner or JDM to be wearing one of those ugly yellow jerseys next season.
“Expecting one of Duvall, Turner or JDM”
Duvall: Maybe, Turner and JDM: No.
Turner and JDM would fly in the face of a pitching first GM. Red Sox have 3 very poor defenders right now. Casas (-10 OAA), Devers (-8) and Yoshida (-7). By leaving the DH empty, you would be immediately improving the defense by pulling one of the three out of the field. Which in turn, would improve pitching.
I dont see Breslow doing that. Duvall on the other hand would play mostly in LF (when not on IR). That makes sense. We’ll see.
Dewey – Lets hope Breslow is a step up from Bloom.
Duvall, Turner and JDM are all DHs with Duvall being so streaky he’s hardly worth signing. We have Devers, we have Yoshida, we don’t need another DH like Turner or JD unless they are going to play 3B.
I don’t think spending $20MM on a 3rd DH is something Breslow will do but if he does, then we have another Bloom.
Ceddanne is going to be a stud. Reminds me of a young Betts.
Comparison is there. Hopefully next year at this time we feel the same way.
Betts at age 23: 1,597 MLB PA, .304/.355/.500, 7.3% BB%, 12.1 % K%, MVP runner-up
Rafaela at age 23: 89 MLB PA, .241/.281/.386, 4.5% BB%, 31.5% K%
I see no comparison. Betts’ AAA K/W was 30/26 at a year younger than Ceddanne when he had a 48/12.
Joe = Irrelevant data.
K/W is about the relevant hitting stat that there is. Since 2000, there have been 1,150 hitters with 1,000 PAs. Only 93 have a K/W of 4:1 or worse. Of those 93, only 15 have an RC+ of 100 or better. Of those 15, only 2 have an RC+ of 110 or better.
The chances of carrying a 4-1 and being a good hitter is close to -0-.
That’s shooting rather high. Mike Cameron is a better comp in terms of likely outcomes
SJKinMD – Why? Cameron sucked. How is he comparable to him?
SJKinMD – your comment aggravated me so much I looked up Cameron’s stats and he played 17 years with a slight above league average production. His career OPS+ is 107. Mookie’s is 138 after 10 years. with his LAD number being 145 versus his Boston number being 136. This proves all the idiots who said Mookie isn’t a $36MM a year player completely wrong AND it sets a very high ceiling for Rafaela to live up to.
Frankly, if Rafaela finishes his career above 125 he will have had an excellent career. If he plays up to Mookie’s level I’m afraid ownership will trade him!!!
Mike Cameron is a slightly above league average player. Not as good as Benny or Verdugo. I think Rafaela has far more upside than you give him credit for. He’s faster than Mookie and time will tell if he becomes a HR hitter but his athleticism makes him extremely valuable.
I really don’t understand the love for Verdugo. He’s a perfectly acceptable placeholder.
Raphaela in 2023: 4 Strikeouts per Walk at AA and AAA. Then, when he went to the Major Leagues it went to 6K/Walk (Albeit in limit ABs).
I think the guy is going to be great, but he’s got a lot to prove before we make Betts comparisons.
“I really don’t understand the love for Verdugo. He’s a perfectly acceptable placeholder.”
Your 2 sentences seem to contradict each other.
Red – So far in the majors Rafaela is looking more like Rusney Castillo.
Of course he has plenty of time to improve, but clearly Sox management doesn’t feel he’s ready to be an everyday middle infielder. Which is too bad, because if Rafaela and Abreu and Duran and Yoshida and Story could cover the outfield and middle infield then more resources could be used on pitching.
No, he’s 27 and average. He’s got no where to go to really expand his value. He is what he is and I’m not sure he’s someone you want if you are serious about winning. I’d rather pay someone much less and hope they develop then spend money for Verdugo and…that’s all there is.
RedStockings – Focusing on Ks isn’t an indication of how good he will be it’s modern metrics misdirection. I won’t bore you with the long explanation of why Ks are often better than ground outs.
What makes people be reminded of Mookie is that he’s fast, has power although that should get better as he fills into his body, he’s got a great arm and he’s a very positive influence in the clubhouse. Just like Mookie.
If he falls short of Mookie that doesn’t mean he didn’t live up to his potential. He’s is very young and what we need to watch is his ability to adapt to changes and improve. Mookie broke out when he showed his power and speed and what it could do for the team but he maintained the breakout by being excellent at adjusting his hitting as needed and he worked hard to be a great defender who had an accurate arm from the outfield.
Lets hope Rafaela follows in Mookie’s footsteps of adjusting to what pitchers are doing to him. Dalbec failed in that area while guys like Bogaerts and Benny did very well. Devers started great then pitchers figured him out and his entire 2018 season was crap both at hitting and fielding. His winter adjustment between 2018 and 2019 changed his career path. If Rafaela learns from his last two weeks of 2023 to be ready for 2024 he should be fine. He led off on a bad team who was playing the best teams in the AL East. The small sample size shows the floor and ceiling he might have going forward.
As far as the K’s go – I’ll take a K over a ground ball any time a runner is on first base and less than 2 outs. People need to understand generalizations about striking out is part of the ignorance built into modern metrics.
Fever – WHAT? Rusney Castillo. You’ve lost your ever fin mind.
Go to Baseball Reference and read his stats by game so you can see when he thrived and when he failed. Going 0 for 4 vs Glasnow at age 22 as the leadoff man is not a bad thing. Castillo sucked so to suggest Rafaela sucks is complete BS.
Rusney Castillo – Bah humbug to you.
“why Ks are often better than ground outs.”
There are many more options to a hit ball than a ground out. Not every player that doesnt strike out automatically hits a ground out.
Plain and simple striking out a lot and taking few walks means you are very aggressive at the plate. Players can survive being aggressive at the plate, but it not a good attribute however you want to try and spin it.
As for Betts, when he was as at the same stage of development (2014), he had 61 BB and 50K, between Double A and Triple A. That is a stark contrast to the free swinging Raphaela.
Ks alone seldom matter. It is almost always about the K/W relative to power. A guy like Dunn was a good hitter despite the 193 Ks a year, because he also had 107 walks and 37 HRs.
It’s way early, but Ceddanne has to improve on the ratio if he is going to be a good hitter.
JCP – It’s important to have some steady if unspectacular players on your team, every winner has them.
Trot Nixon falls under that category, he had a 9.0 WAR thru his Age 27 season.
At Age 27 Dugie already has an 11.1 WAR.
TF and I have compared the two many times.
TF – I just watched Scrooged, great movie! Bill Murray was the perfect actor for that role!!
I know what you’re saying, Rusney was much much better than Rafaela in his first season.
I was actually referring to Rusney’s second big league season, that’s where the comparisons with Rafaela are strikingly similar.
Both players had just a 4.5 walk percentage.
Both players had OBP’s in the .280’s
Both players had EV’s in the 80’s
Both players had Hard Hit percentages in the 30’s
Both players had Center Percentages in the 50’s
Let’s hope Rafaela can improve much more than Rusney did!!
Hopefully this isn’t an omen, but Rafaela’s MLB career OPS is .666
Red – You are absolutely correct, strikeouts suck.
You can’t drive in a run on a strikeout, but you can drive in a run on a groundout or flyout.
Errors are much, much more common on groundballs and flyballs than on strikeouts.
You can’t advance runners on a strikeout unless there’s a stolen base involved, but you can advance runners on groundballs and flyouts.
Chopon Rafaela is nothing like Betts. Betts has elite plate discipline rarely chases out of the zone elite sweet spot contact really strong exit velocities basically the exact opposite of Rafaela. The good thing is Rafaela is an elite defensive centerfielder so he doesn’t have to hit a ton to be quite valuable but he’s no Betts and that kind of pressure shouldn’t be put on the kid.
Bruin1012 – So you focused on ONE way that he is different from Betts and ignore all the other spot on comparisons. And you wonder why people think you are incredibly biased in your comments.
Remember you are the guy that said Devers wasn’t that bad on defense 7 years ago and 6 years ago and every other year. Your judgement of players is highly suspect. You resemble Cora in that you identify favorites and ignore everything else. It’s funny how NOBODY thinks Abreu is as good as Rafaela except you.
Rafaela is an ELITE defender – END OF STORY. He can play any of the three outfield positions but since his arm is the strongest he should play right field if he’s not at 3B.
FYI… stats in the minors don’t suggest he can’t hit . Only your bias comes to that conclusion
ONLY 5 seasons in the minors and he graduated in 22. I’m guessing that doesn’t happen to guys that can’t hit.
.280/.331/.475/.806 for a guy who played at 17, 18, 20, 21 and 22 (partial season).
That’s not bad numbers as you are once again incorrectly stating.
You’ve taken my statement that he reminds me of Mookie and reformulated it to “he’s going to be as good as Mookie”. I didn’t put that pressure on him you did by changing the comment. He’s far better than Abreu and that’s all that really matters between you and me.
I think you’re the only guy that has ever told me that my opinions are biased. My opinions are biased because they differ from yours at times. It’s hard to take you seriously when you obviously haven’t watched a AAA game at Polar Park. You didn’t even know that left field is the big field in Polar Park and the wall is right field.
Rafaela has played 95% of his outfield in center field and that’s where he’s going to play in Fenway if he hits. I don’t dislike Rafaela I like him I just have a heavy dose of skepticism about his ability to hit big league pitching with his propensity to chase pitches. This isn’t up for argument it’s a fact he chases pitches at a very high rate. I’m not saying that he can’t be successful doing that he can it would be unusual but there are guys like Arraez who have huge chase rates but if you do swing at pitches off the plate you better have special hand eye coordination that still allows you to barrel it up like Arraez does. I’m just not sure that Rafaela has that. Minor league pitchers make a lot more mistake pitches than big league pitchers. Big leaguers already know they don’t have to throw him strikes and he will chase so he’s going to have to make an adjustment. This isn’t just me saying it it’s literally every evaluator that has ever watched him. The good news is he has such a high floor due to elite defense in center and overall defensive versatility.
Abreu on the other hand has a much more mature approach at the plate. He rarely chase pitches off the plate and he controls the strike zone well. The jury is out on if he’s the next Chavis with his pronounced uppercut swing it’s possible big league pitchers will just blow it by him up and away in the zone. Troll I’m not advocated that Abreu is going to be the better player of the two in his career. I think that Rafaela will probably have the better career. I just think next year I’d bet on Abreu having the more impact with his bat and along with his excellent arm and very good defense he’s my pick to play right. He will be very solid defensively in that position.
Imo opinion the best defense that Boston can put out there is the speedy but terrible route runner and poor jumps Duran in left, Rafaela in Center where he has a chance to be special defensively, and Abreu in Right to start. When Roman Anthony is ready he can slide into right field and potentially make Abreu make Abreu a 4th outfielder. This is how I see it and I’m willing to bet if no additions are made in the outfield this is what we will see next year. If for whatever reason you try and move Rafaela to right then you play Abreu in center his the better defender then Duran and he’s got the much better arm not even close.
Except mookies numbers at the same ages in the minors were much better…poor mans mookie? Sure
Jonathan India for Tanner Houck
India is a horrible second baseman.
Give us marte instead
My pick is Willy Adames. Great defender, righty bat, 24 HRs last year, Brewers are looking to move him.
Why does it have to be a second baseman the Red Sox acquire? Just move Story over to 2B a year earlier than planned.
YES YES YES!!!! Perfect trade option! Just throw in Burnes as a gift and you’ve made my Xmas miracles true!!!
I am a Padres fan. I am very much opposed to trading Kim.
This morning I read an article from last month about how Boston might be interested in trading for Xander Bogaerts. I would like that. Or might Boston be interested in Jake Cronenworth? This past year he played 1b for SD, it seems like he is better suited for 2b but SD’s infield is pretty crowded.
I’d prefer HS Kim big time! As far as Bogaerts, SD is going to have to pay a HUGE chunk of that ridiculous contract.
Of course you would rather have Kim. Yeah, I wonder if SD could trade Bogaerts to Boston, while sending money with him. How would you feel about Cronenworth?
He’s a solid 2nd baseman right, although SD had him at 1st? I believe he won a gold glove?? If the price is right, sure.
Cronenworth has never won a GG, but he is a 2 time All Star in 4 seasons, one of which didn’t have an all star game.
You can check his stats. He wasn’t great last year but that is mainly from a horrible first half. He could very easily bounce back.
He is owed $80mm through 2030, which is manageable.
truth – I’d love to have Xander back, but I wouldn’t want to be on the hook for any more than $150M.
SD clearly overpaid for Xander. Just like we overpaid for Eric Hosmer and extended Cronenworth for more years than was necessary.
Sending Xander and $104mm for 10 years to Boston for prospects might be the smart move. But it would make Preller and the organization look like total morons. We couldn’t afford to extend Soto partly because we have to pay Xander. Then to trade Soto, and then trade Xander WHILE still paying him $10mm a year for a decade is a bad look.
Rumors are the padres are shopping cronenworth. He was a 4 war second baseman before they moved him to first last year and everything went south last year.
When I hear Boston seems to be looking via trades he could be had for basically nothing with his current contract.
Think there is basically zero chance Kim will be dealt.
I would be ok with trading Cronenworth to Boston for basically nothing. I bet most Red Sox fans would feel somewhere between slightly negative to slightly positive.
Then SD would put Kim at SS and Bogaerts at 2b, he has said he would be willing to. Maybe Manny Machado plays 1b as he wno’t be healthy to start the year. SD has two young utility guys thirsty for playing time: Eguy Rosario and Matthew Batten, maybe they can play 3b or 1b.
With all of the savings we can resign Snell and sign Lee from Korea for CF. I would love to resign C Gary Sanchez, and maybe 1b/OF Jurickson Profar.
Don’t need Sanchez at all now. If we went catcher you go Garver. He can catch, dh and 1b. Plus he shouldn’t cost too much. He also rakes. Ship sailed on Sanchez with acquisition of higa yesterday.
Lee is definitely a guy they will try and get.
Think they will go after one top of the rotation pitcher. I don’t think that will be snell, prob via. Trade.
Also got them trying to get a late inning reliever. Could be Clase, hicks, Stephenson or Chapman.
Wouldn’t rule out a Bieber Clase trade to the padres. Fits the padres and they have done some trade with Cleveland.
I would rather have Gary Sanchez than Kyle Higiashoka or Garver. Garver has 51 innings of 1b defense, Sanchez has 4 innings. I honestly wonder if Sanchez can be a part of SD’s C/dH/1b mix.
The RS would have no interest in any case. Even if he stuck at SS, which is doubtful, the RS still have Mayer to consider.
Think there is basically zero chance Kim will be dealt.
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The correct move is Bogaerts to LF, Kim to SS, and Cro to 2nd.
I mentioned that to some of your insane Padre friends, but they said there was no chance of Soto being traded.
I bet most Red Sox fans would feel somewhere between slightly negative to slightly positive.
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Negative, from my RS perspective. The $12M is actually less of a concern than the duration. He’s just about 30, and you have 7 years left.
Oh wow, Bogarets to LF? He would hate that. But that would solve a lot of problems.
When the season starts, Machado won’t be active or 100% healthy. He will either be inactive or play DH or even 1b. Kim will play 3b and Bogaerts SS for the time being.
Difference is Kim is owed nothing and the padres open oiin Korea this year.
It’s a little long for sure. Though 37 is as bad as some. Anyways I think he is traded with the reports of multiple teams interested.
Position market is just bad.
The Red Sox were absolutely never going to re-sign Bogaerts as his hard hit rate on balls in play was declining, his defense was below average, he refused to change defensive positions, and he would have blocked their top prospect Mayer!!! The ‘interest’ was for media and fan show only. Bloom was assigned a rebuild without it being a rebuild. Only 3 players remain on the 40- man roster from when Bloom arrived….THAT IS A REBUILT.
Joe – Agreed, Bogaerts is the 4th best SS on the Padres defensively. Lol, the SD GM has to be one of the all time stupidest GMs ever. What a waste of money. Judge and Turner rejected them and took lesser deals elsewhere, so he outbids everyone else by $100 million for an over 30 declining SS whose bat is already in decline (on an 11 year contract no less).
Yeah, Bogaerts is overpaid, I wonder how shocked he was to get that contract. As was Hosmer. And extending Cronenworth was unnecessary.
Kim will play 3b and Bogaerts SS for the time being.
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But the better defensive alignment is Kim at SS and X at 3rd.
Nah Xander doesn’t have the arm for third
I was good with Bogaerts in the $156/6-175M/7 range, but that was mostly because I really liked the guy. But I also knew that even the $156M was questionable with his inevitable move to 3rd, his 15 HRs in 2022, and the fact that his stats were heavily influenced by playing at Fenway.
To pay almost twice as much, and have to move Kim to 2nd, and Cro to 1st, is one of the craziest things I have ever seen.
The average throw length from SS is about 4 feet longer than the average throw from 3b. 97 feet vs 101 feet.
Truth – agreed, Bogaerts was not great when he played 3B for the Red Sox, but that was a long time ago. I played a little 3B and SS, and I thought 3B was a more difficult position to play. It is more dependent on quick reflexes, whereas, SS is more dependent on range, and those are quite different.
Either commit to Houck and Whitlock in the Bullpen or trade them. If traded, that solves all 2B/RHH OF problems
16 for 20 – Houck is a starter not a reliever. He started all be the one year Cora had yet another brain cramp and moved him to the bullpen. Whitlock showed a very unique skill a few years ago in that he came into games and stranded runners. To have a guy who stops rallies when the starter gets in trouble is worth his weight in gold. Cora is too dump to know this so we need Bailey or Breslow to take Cora out of the equation when it comes to pitching.
There is no reason to dump quality young players like Houck or Whitlock unless you are getting something tremendous like Burnes, Bieber or Woodruff. Otherwise, dump the youngsters who have defaulted to second tier farm players because their original value was too high. Guys like Blaze Jordan, Nick Yorke, Nazzan Zanetello, Brainer Bonaci or Yoeilin Cespedes. These are the guys you deal to get a mediocre player like India, Frazier or Polanco.
You are 100% correct that Whitlock needs to stay in the pen and Boston needs to stop flip-flopping Houck. He’s a career SP and should continue to be.
I don’t consider all of those players that you qualify as mediocre, those are valuable pieces on any contender team. The more closest to that qualification could be Polanco, but even him could have a bounce back season on a top tier team
Thur – If Polanco plays the whole season then he’s not in the class with the other guys, he’s better. He’s coming off two seasons with low games played. That’s a risk. If it’s up to me and you want to jump into a chance of winning the division then go for the best and move down the chart as you fail to get the top guys.
For me Polanco is a low average but adequate OBP guy so you can expect a 115 to 130 OPS+ BUT he needs to play 140 or more games.
“Houck is a starter not a reliever.”
Why? He has much better numbers (FIP, WHIP) as a Relief Pitcher than a Starting Pitcher.
Also, he has much better numbers against righties than lefties. As an RP you can pick and choose what innings he pitches and avoid those innings that have a dominate set of lefties coming up. You cant do that as a Starting Pitcher.
RedStocking – While your numbers are spot on you need to look at what Boston has done to him. He was a college SP. He was a minor league SP. Then Cora experimented with him for a short time in the minors to see if he could be a reliever before we got Kenley.
Were you aware that in the ONLY good season under Bloom Houck was the best starting pitcher that season. 3.52 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. That’s when Cora hurt the team by thinking and moved him to the bullpen in 2022.
I think his recent fall off has more to do with him being forced to relieve then forced to start and then not told what he was going to do in 2023. He pitched like he worked his whole off season at relieving and when he arrived at Spring Training they told him they changed their mind again and wanted him to start based on Bloom not acquiring enough arms.
I want to see what Breslow does with him because he’s really never failed in his life and he now has to figure things out and know which role they are going to use him in. Given his enormous success for his entire life, I think whichever Breslow decides he will be one our better pitchers in that role.
Cora is the worst manager for handling pitchers.
Houck has never been able to make in consistently through a lineup a third time and it’s been a problem his entire career going back to his days as a minor leaguer. He’s an elite RP and that’s where his home should be. The he needs to start ship sailed and there is plenty of data to support it.
The sample size is small, but his 1st, 2nd, and 3rd time thru the order splits are about as bad as I’ve seen.
.575
.709
.957
Meanwhile, his OPS out of the BP is a cool .570.
Who would the Red Sox be interested in giving up for Vaughn Grissom ?
I wish we sent Verdugo to ATL for Grissom.
Why sign Turner he is 39 will be 40 during the season, has bad knees, should retire and coach if he wants to help a team. His best playing days are behind him.
The Red Sox do not need a DH! They have three already. The Turner thing is a miss direct as they need a right handed hitting outfielder and 2B (as well as starting pitching). Re-signing Turner would be great for the clubhouse, but it would be terrible for the defense! Yoshida should get the majority of time at DH in 2024.
Whatever the Sox decide to do, I would be shocked if they brought in any 2B on more than a one-year (or maybe two-year) deal. Seems to me that the plan is to let Mayer develop (though I’m increasingly unsure that’s going to happen), bring him up down the stretch, then slide Story back over to 2B. If this is the gamble they’re making, it honestly might make more sense to target the outfield and let Ceddanne handle second until Mayer’s ready.
I’d rather have one year of Michael A. Taylor than surrender prospect capital to acquire any of India, Kim, or Polanco. You’re just setting yourself up for an infield logjam down the line if you do that, and there’s no way you can convince anyone to take on that odious Story contract (nor can you stick him at DH with the way the rest of the roster is currently built).
It isn’t Breslow’s fault, but the roster construction is so wonky right now that it seems like the wrong time to be making big outlays and acquisitions on the position player side of things. I’d rather they do everything they can to shore up the pitching for the long term, make a firm decision on what roles Houck, Pivetta, and Whitlock are going to be playing, and let the kids play in 2024. It’ll be hard to ever tell if a roster can be carried by the likes of Casas, Rafaela, Mayer, Abreu, Valdez, Anthony, etc. if you keep crowding them out of the picture with defensively-limited stopgaps like Justin Turner or Adam Duvall.
agree with all of this. play the kids and see what you have. it’s a good, potentially great offensive core. as a yankee fan i’m not looking forward to playing the red sox from 2025 onwards
In Chaim Breslow we trust. Shed Verdugo, add 3 minor leaguers, remove $9.2M potential. More A, AA, AAA and retread players to come. Go Sox!.
Verdugo is exactly the type of move bloom DIDNT make.
The guy isn’t part of your long term plans, he’s about to walk anyways, and, he’s blocking superior youngsters that don’t have much left to prove in MiLB.
Convert him into potential depth, and move the team forwards.
Nah…BLOOM traded Mookie (on last year of contract) to LA for relatively new Verdugo and prospects. Similar to what Breslow just did with Verdugo to the Yanks. Not that Mookie and Verdugo are the same…I’m not saying that. But the move Breslow just did is a Bloom-like trade…hence Chaim Breslow..
soxshortstop – The big difference is Mookie was a generational player and Verdugo is a league average player who was set to make way more than his worth. The Mookie deal is unforgiveable. This deal was a simple salary dump and it may or may not produce any significant MLB contributions down the road but since the alternative was to non-tender Verdugo this deal makes perfect sense as a salary dump. Thank god Cashman is an idiot.
Except for the fact that Betts is generational talent and Verdugo is not. Huge difference there.
wasn’t comparing the two talent wise as I mentioned – just emphasizing structure of the trade seems comparable. i would agree salary dump and get the best offer you can get. Bloom traded betts and price (1/2 salary) for downs (failure), Wong (somewhat serviceable), Verdugo (AVG) . If we get one former Yankee that is AVG, I guess ok – but still smells like a BLOOMISH type of trade
“The Mookie deal is unforgivable” – yes. I still can’t believe Mookie got away, Troll. It’s a genuinely unforgivable move.
The difference is Verdugo HAD to go. There’s better younger cheaper players he blocked.
Option a: non-tender him, get nothing.
Option b: trade him as a pure 1 yr rental.
They did pretty well with Option b given his issues and quality of play
Yankees traded away loads of talent for two one year rentals. They decimated their farm for two guys who might not come back after ’24. We should be talking more about this.
It doesn’t matter who the POBO, this ownership group has no interest in doing anything but treading water until Mayer is ready. Breslow and Chaim are nothing but PR control and eventual scapegoats. We won’t progress past this stage until John Henry sells the team.
you could end up with an owner with a budget like Oakland.
At least ticket prices reflect the state of the team
soxfan1 – Mayer isn’t the answer. IF what you say is true, then the owners will be sorely disappointed to find out that Bloom’s 2020 tanking that got us Mayer was for naught.
This team is 4 moves from winning 100 games.
1 – Devers moves to DH and Breslow signs Chapman or trades Devers for Arenado
2 – Yamamoto is signed and a star pitcher like Burnes is traded for.
3 – Hader or some outstanding lefty reliever with closer experience is acquired
4 – A bridge at 2B is acquired. Someone like Merrifield. Should cost $10MM or less.
The other area that is not a big concern but it wouldn’t be bad to get a bridge catcher until Teel is ready. Two bad back-up catchers are not a good look for a team wanting to win the division.
That’s the thing, you must have glossed over the essence of my comment – this team doesn’t want to win or compete. They want keep raking in extraordinary ticket and concession prices and just tread water until they have multiple high contributors on the roster that are making pennies, at which point they may consider the notion of augmenting the roster further. When that happens? Who knows!
soxfan – Let’s wait until ST before passing judgement.
I don’t think any owner is dumb enough to forfeit 4+ seasons because they want to wait for a kid to make the majors.
You’re saying the Sox can’t compete without Mayer, come on now ….
An unmentioned trade candidate that fits Breslow’s “ideal” 2B candidate as “a right-handed bat and plus defender” might be Nick Madrigal on the Cubs. He’s hardly an advanced analytic favorite but if you’re like me and are fine with a traditional grunt at the keystone Madrigal could probably be had with Nico Hoerner blocking him at 2B.
The Cubs signing of free agent SS Dansby Swanson last offseason pushed incumbent SS Hoerner to 2B. Each won Gold Gloves with the Cubs in 2023. Madrigal took a crash course at 3B last winter and spring, a position he had zero college and professional experience at, and mastered it on the defensive side. Of course, his bat hardly profiles at the hot corner which is why the Cubs are seeking an upgrade at 3B this offseason.
Madrigal shouldn’t be too expensive as a trade acquisition and also comes with 3 more years of relatively cheap arbitration control depending on his opportunities and health going forward. He has been prone to injury since making his MLB debut. That said, if the Red Sox are looking for a high contact bat who can throw some leather and steal a few bases, they could do worse than ‘Nicky Two Strikes”.
I’d be listening on Madrigal. His lack of power might play better at Fenway. I think there is a decent floor, and at worst, he platoons with Valdez.
I agree. Despite Madrigal possessing a very high GB-FB%, typical of a traditional grunt with some speed, along with the fact that the majority of his batted balls are up the middle, ‘Slappy” should have no problem lifting more than a few balls over the Green Monster. The opposition will continue to play him shallow and toward CF which could result in more of his line drives becoming doubles and triples, especially to right centerfield.
ASaps – Nice call on Madrigal. A bridge is all we need.
The Sox are out on Ohtani because they said they’re prioritizing starting pitching. Since Ohtani would slot right into the top of the rotation in 2025, what they’re saying then is they’re all in on 2024. So then we’d better see some all-in moves. There’s no excuse not to land Yamamoto. Don’t give me Giolito or Montgomery. Don’t give me “we were in on (insert big name here)”. With the highest ticket prices in the sport, they are basically charging us for wagyu steak but serving us hamburger helper. No more excuses. Get it done.
Don’t get your hopes Yamamoto, he is going to compete with far too many Talented GMs
Corr – No excuse to not land Yama?
So if Cohen offers him $400M you’re gonna be mad at Henry for not offering more?
Well alrighty then …
He’s not getting $400M, nor is he gonna get $300M. He will be in the $200Ms, and considering his age and stuff, no excuse for a big market team like the Sox, with the highest ticket prices in the game, and back to back last place finishes, to land him. If he gets $400M from anyone, I will tip my hat to you, but there is zero chance of that happening.
Corr – Just to clarify, I’m not saying he will get $400M. What I’m saying is that if the bidding for him gets really crazy, it would be understandable for Henry to bow out.
I do think $300M is possible, and I would be okay with Henry being the one to give it to him.
Young Betts defensively, yes, but offensively, not a chance….he strikeouts way too much.
With the current roster lacking a quality 2B Boston should sign Merrifield. His speed coupled with Duran and Rafaela would give Boston a dimension they haven’t had for years – 3 base stealing threats in the 9 man line-up.
Boston just lost out on Candalaria so Breslow needs to get moving to find a quality 3B so Devers can DH. Chapman’s glove would make the Story/Chapman left side very formidable defensively. Or trade Devers for Arenado and solve the defense and DH problems with one move. Breslow MUST get Yamamoto but he also needs to fix several other holes before the best candidates are gone.
The need for an outfield bat is SO SO minimal that it is simply a distraction from what Breslow needs to do. The team has plenty of outfield depth right now and picking up an outfielder may be one of the easiest things a GM can do.
For those of you concerned about balancing the two sides of the plate with hitters –
C Wong R/R
1B Casas L/R
2B TBD
SS Story R/R
3B Devers L/R
LF Abreu L/L
CF Duran L/R
RF Rafaela R/R
DH Yoshida L/R
If we get a right handed hitting 2B then it’s 5 lefties and 4 righties. How is that imbalanced? With 9 hitters 5/4 is the most balanced it can be. Also, Refsnyder is the 4th OF right now and he’s righty. If we don’t go outside for a 2B then Reyes is Righty and Valdez is Lefty.
Right now, for pinch hitting we have Dalbec a righty.
To fill our holes
2B Whit Merrifield is righty
3B Matt Chapman is righty and Nolan Arenado is righty
That’s it!! We have two fielding holes that need to be filled. The focus of this off season needs to be SP1, SP 2 and a lefty late inning guy who can also close like Hader.
There is no need for a big bat in the outfield that is righty. If after all the holes are filled Breslow can scan the countryside for the back-ups he would prefer but to look for them now is just bad GMing. It’s something Bloom would do. The ultimate bad GM.
Trollfree….. Devers is not moving off of 3B anytime soon, so get that thought out of your head. Until sleazy Cora is gone…Devers is the Third Baseman. If the Sox don’t sign Yamamoto (come on Yoshida…..do your job!), Keep Yoshida, If they lose out on Yamamoto…. trade Yoshida…. then Devers can DH more.
Haha agree 100% on the Yoshida Yamamoto thing…
Cooperdooper7 = I’ve invested 7 years in trying to get Devers moved for the sake of the team. I’m not about to stop now.
It’s a mockery of a travesty that Devers is still at 3B after 129 counted errors and another 150 misplays that didn’t count for errors. It’s my crusade for Red Sox Nation!!
TF – Sometimes I get the impression you’re not crazy about Devers at 3B, so how would you feel about him at 2B? He wouldn’t have to throw as much distance, which would cut down on his errors.
Brendan Donovan is available, with Norman Gorman and minor league middle infield talent on the horizon for Stl. Donovan’s flexibility also works to Boston’s benefit, but he won’t come cheap.
Maybe Dalbec should get some reps at 2b this off season, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Ceddanne Rafael or Hamilton take over.
Best thing they could do with Dalbac is let him do well in triple AAA and let a team overpay for him. He struggles way too much at the major league level and strikes out too much. Not enough production for first base for him to be a full timer.
No one’s overpaying for him.
Al – I feel like we’ve been saying the exact same thing about Dalbec for 3 years now.
You know how they say the definition of insanity is trying the exact same thing over and over while expecting different results.
Dalbec had a 34% strikeout rate in AAA, and it was over 50% in the MLB! The only MLB teams that might be suitable are teams who do not intend to compete in 2024: Oakland, KC, White Sox….. I liked Dalbec, but even with 34 HRs in AAA, he is not good enough to be a starter on a MLB that is serious about competing!
Breslow is starting to remind me of Chaim Bloom, we are in on everything but have yet to do anything. No offer to EROD who would have helped. It seems we are a day late and a dollar short. Does anyone really believe that Breslow is going to get Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga. Please they will sign with a west coast team so that they can be closer to Japan.
It seems we are a day late and a dollar short. Does anyone really believe that Breslow is going to get Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga.
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Have we made any offers to anyone? If not, a dollar short is incongruent with that statement.
And I would guess no on YY, but maybe yes on Imanaga. Guys like Cashman and Preller might not survive another year without a playoff spot, so they will go way over budget. And Cohen doesn’t have a budget. I’d be surprised to see the RS outbid all the teams for YY..
Joe
There is no way Breslow is going to outbid teams for Yamamoto, no way! Even the guys we have left to play the outfield, no one is overpowering or a standout. Breslow created a hole with the trade of Verdugo.
Verdugo is nothing special. He’s okay, but has a 2.0 WAR over the past three years. What do you think Ceddanne will provide if he gets 600 PAs in RF?
Joe – If any team has the revenue and payroll space to overpay Yama, it’s the Red Sox.
Do you not realize in 2025 the only guaranteed contracts are Raffy at $29M, Story at $23M, Yoshida at $18M and Whitlock at $5M.
They have an incredible amount to spend on pitching, thanks to the youthful outfield and Mayer/Yorke on the way.
Lots of teams could give YY $360M/12. It is more a question of whether that would make any sense. This is the same as I say for Ohtani. I’d rather have YY & Monty for $50M than Ohtani for $50M.
I’d like to sign YY, but if Cohen, Preller & Cashman go all-in, it is probably best to not try to out-bid them.
Or is it John Henry? No coincidence how Bloom and Breslow make similar deals.
No coincidence how Bloom and Breslow make similar deals.
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How is trading Verdugo similar to anything Bloom did? How is it even close?
It’s only the fact that nothing majorly has been done yet. I liked this trade though, and in comparison to Bloom, it was a Bloom better end deal.
Mayer and Hauck for adames and burnes ?
that is an incredibly dumb trade from the red sox standpoint.
You mean Burnes with one year of team control ? Yeah that’s brilliant.
Thx ! Bc you get a pick at the end of the first round if the FA signs for 50 mil and second if they don’t. So if made the trade they’d atleast ensure 2 top 75 picks if they can’t resign either.
BTW – mayer, stock down
Red Sox seem like a perfect fit for cronenworth. Padres are clearly shipping him as it was reported today they have several teams interested. The prospect cost is going to cost anything. He was a 4 war player at second before the padres moved him to first.
My guess is he will be traded very soon. He needs to go somewhere he can play second. Kim isn’t moving so cronenworth does.
Tanner Houck for Tommy Edman and Tyler O’Neill. Gives the Cardinals quality depth behind their 33 year and older starting rotation. Houck can even serve in the bullpen if he didn’t make the rotation out of spring training.
As far as the Red Sox, they get a switch-hitting solid defensive 2B and a Right-Handed outfielder who, if healthy, can provide solid power and plus defense.
I would do that in a heartbeat.
No way the Cardinals would make that trade. It’s beyond fleecing them.
That’s why I would do it in a heartbeat. Edman alone would be worth Houck.
Redsox8 – Lets go all the way on your deal!!!
Houck and Devers for Edman, O’Neill and Arenado.
That would be awesome. Team defense jumps 20 spots. Edman far better than any 2B in the organization and no long term commitment at outrageous dollars at 3B.
STL probably would do your deal or mine but it’s fun to consider it.
Totally with the trade Devers plan.
Why on earth would the Cardinals make that trade?
I already have no faith in Breslow. He trades verdugo (say what you want about him, but we are worse off today without him) for pitchers that will probably amount to nothing. That’s a Bloom move. I don’t know, how about packaging him with prospects to Seattle for one of their young starters. Seattle has a weak farm with position players, but strong on the pitching side. Our farm is stronger on position players. If he thinks signing Seth Lugo is a difference maker then he is a moron. We need young front of the rotation arms, not bargain basement number 5 starters. Trade for Logan Gilbert, sign Yamamoto and sign Montgomery. Gilbert, Yamamoto and Bello give you 3 guys in their 20s so you are set up for several years. Montgomery and sale are for the present and make that a very strong rotation
Real question is: is it a Bloom move or a John Henry move? I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both Bloom and Breslow are making eerily similar moves. Breslow at least has a plan.
both Bloom and Breslow are making eerily similar moves.
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Because Breslow trading Verdugo is exactly like which Bloom move?
One of his better ones, I’ll give you that, but it’s low risk high rewardmove. Only difference is that’s the only kind of moves Bloom makes. When Breslow does more, I’ll think differently.
Honestly though, how do you expect these pitchers to be dynamite? That’s why it’s like Bloom, there’s no guarantee the return is good. A lot of Bloom’s moves looked good on paper until the guys played the field
How is it not like a Bloom move? Or more specifically a John Henry move? Enlighten me. None of those pitchers may be any good, and again we are banking on low cost, high reward.
I think it is good we got rid of Verdugo, but we replaced a 2.6 WAR Verdugo with a .3 WAR O’ neil. Again, we go for the cheaper “could be” rather than the proven talent.
soxfan4381 – Verdugo costs $9.2MM and provided league average numbers in 2022 and 2023. We ARE NOT worse off without him because our current top 4 outfielders all had better numbers in 2023 and they are young if you don’t count Yoshida.
Gilbert probably isn’t available in a trade but he would look great in a Red Sox uniform. Yamamoto is very key to the team success in 2024. Without him we need two stud starting pitchers and we need to hope Sale will be healthy.
If Texas doesn’t get Ohtani then Montgomery is likely to return to Texas for 2024.
All your ideas are great but I’m not sure Breslow has a magic wand that powerful.
Seattle’s GM said they are considering trading from their surplus of pitching to improve the offense. Even if we can’t get Gilbert they have other good young arms. Montgomery just bought a house near Boston, because his wife is working for the hospital in Boston. I think this gives Boston the advantage. Also, Texas said they will not be spending big this off-season. I think it’s possible to get all these things done if you are aggressive.
If I had to bet they get someone like a Merrifield or Rosario. A solid veteran who is a better than average defender. 2B is probably ear marked for Story after 2024, assuming Mayer is the SS of the future and that future is very close.
They may pull a 1975 Red Sox and go with three young guys. I can see them grabbing someone like a Gurriel.The might go get an O’Neill from the Cardinals if the asking price is reasonable.
My guess is they are going to go all in on Yamamoto and then make a splash trading for a really good starter, probably not an ace. Hopefully adding three or four good bullpen arms.
I just don’t see them making a huge splash in FA or trading for a position player. I can see them signings come C+/B-/B players for OF, 2B and C.
My wild card is I could see them making a run at Burnes from the Brewers.
A rotation of:
Burnes
Bello
Yamamoto
Sale
Paxton
with Crawford, Pivetta and Houck swing starters/long relievers is a solid rotation. Moving Whitlock to the ben and picking up some more arms and they should be a lot better.
You have to hope Devers and Casas can improve of what was a horrible defensive output last year and they can get solid D from Story and whoever else they put in at SS or 2B.
They can talk all they want but I don’t see Justin Turner coming back
The RS need to decide the timeline for their re-emergence as a champion contender. Their time horizon is not next year. Breslow needs to decide upon his best course of action-sign a free agent or trade. He has to value what he has to decide whether he wants to give them up in trade. That said, I favor an outfield of Duran in left, Rafaela in CF, and Abreau in RF. I would sign Merrifield for 2B,and get the best free agent pitcher/prospects one can or can afford. I would not sign Turner and use Yoshida as the DH. If one could sign Chapman, I would move Devers to the DH position. you save money, and give the youngsters time to develop.
It’s about 18 months too early to draw any conclusions about Breslow, since we don’t know what restrictions he’s facing, or what he might have up his sleeve, or what the long-term plan is.. He gets two off seasons to show what he’s trying to do–and get some results–before I make any real judgments.
But it’s a red flag that the Sox were interested in ERod but couldn’t pull the trigger. That was Bloom’s downfall: too cautious to take the leap and as a result missed out. I get it; they didn’t want to commit to $20m/yr that they might prefer to spend elsewhere. But if that kind of caution continues to be a pattern, it’s going to be a problem.
I doubt they were interested in ERod. Teams don’t usually go back to guys that they let walk.
New POBO might have a different view than the old POBO on the merits of this player.
bcjd – EROD sucked as a Red Sox pitcher.
ERA 4.16 WHIP 1.313 Those stats aren’t worth $20MM a year.
Boston dodged a bullet by not pursuing the over rated inconsistent starting pitcher. He was a SP5 based on numbers yet he always saw himself as a SP1 or SP2. He refused LAD for a reason. Reporters would have eaten him alive if he couldn’t live up to his contract.
TF – Who would you rather have, ERod or Hill?
ERod or Kluber?
ERod or Perez?
ERod or Paxton?
ERod or Richards?
ERod or Dermody?
ERod or Scott?
ERod or Robertson?
ERod or Garza?
I always get a kick out of the foolish comments about how long we need to give a GM to know if he’s good or not. Bloom dumps Mookie but we needed to give him 3 more years according to so many that were clueless. The same thing is true about managers. We needed to give Cora more time because he won in 2018 when the Red Sox had the best team on the planet. He still did stupid things daily and we could have judged him on that but for some reason people believe it’s rash to not call out Cora after watching dozens of mistakes. Go figure!!
Breslow needs to be evaluated day by day just like a player during the season. So far, Breslow has focused on gaining young pitching. Why? Because he brought in a pitching coach so the entire floundering pitching program can be turned around. Smart move? YEP. Does it vaguely resemble the stupid crap Bloom did? Yep.
Breslow’s initial big deal will dictate a direction for him. Bloom didn’t non-tender JBJ and then traded Mookie and Price. After 3 months it was obvious he sucked at his job and he was nice enough to prove it over and over for four years yet so many people kept saying we need to give him three years at least because it takes that long to turn things around. The turning around that was done was to dismantle a championship team It was obvious from his Mookie deal he wasn’t interested in winning the normal way. He wanted to find diamonds in the rough so people would think he’s a genius. Instead, we got DFAs in the rough. All those Bloom supporters were complete fools.. Same with the Cora supporters.
Let’s take it to a layman’s level with respect to Cora. If you own a food truck that provides hot dogs and hamburgers at lunch time and you hire a person to cook the food and they burn everything. How many years should you wait to fire that person? 3? Is that the magic number? No, the sane person fires them when it’s obvious they don’t have the skills to do the job. For Cora, it was obvious in April 2018 but he’s still here.
Now Breslow is on the hot seat. He needs to reverse the Bloom curse. He needs to make smart moves. We need to see the GM fill holes not contract redundant skills. We need to see the GM make trades that provide higher value to Boston like his first trade and his Verdugo trade. There was a need to lose the $9.2MM contract and he successfully dumped it and if the prospects turn out good and contribute at the major league lever or are part of trades that bring needed resources to Boston, that’s icing on the cake.
ONE MORE TIME – The NEEDS are still
1 – A 3B so Devers can go to DH whether you think it will happen or not is irrelevant because this is clearly the team’s biggest need and the GM needs to deal with it.
2 – 2 starting pitchers who will throw 350 innings and provide excellent ERAs and WHIPs because the offense will generate enough runs if the pitchers can keep the opposing scoring down.
3 – A lefty reliever who can close if Jansen has an injury and when Kenley walks after 2024 the lefty can take over the spot seamlessly. Hader fits the bill.
4 – A 2B who is an excellent fielder. Added benefits would be speed, power, a good eye and a .275 or higher average. This is the least critical need.
4a – Some say a better catcher than Wong. To me that’s a nicety not a need. Teel will arrive pretty soon and the problem will be ended for good when that happens.
Those FOUR NEEDS being filled can change the .500 team into a .600 team. Depth can be built as time passes but these four critical needs are due before Spring Training starts.
Wow wow wow oh wow. I basically take a day off from the internet and The Nation is losing its collective minds!!!
Relax, y’all!
It doesn’t matter what the rest if the team in the AL East has done. 2024 is not likely a playoff year for us. It is a get better and get ready for 2025 year. If if we sneak in, it will be as a wild card, and we will not go deep. Nothing that has happened has changed that.
Red Sox FO, Breslow in particular, has said pitching is the priority. Big pitching moves will NOT happen until after Ohtani signs. Then it is full in on Yamamoto. And then add a number 3 or 4. After that, small adjustments to the position front.
Soto to the Stanks for 1 year in a year that their pitching depth has been completely nuked is not a bad thing. Even if Soto extends, which I doubt, the Empire will be paying 3 guy A BILLION dollars over the next 8 to 10.
Cashman’s panic move helps us long run. Now just hope Ohtani goes to Toronto and Baltimore goes to the Carlyle Group.
Get Yamamoto, an number 3, a couple releivers and we are on our way to 2025. Position mess can be dealt with at the trade deadlineline.
Again, 2024 is not a playoff year. It is a ‘fix stuff’ year. Biggest fixes will be in-house with Breslow and Bailey getting our young bucks adjusted and moving forward.
Now please everyone, put down the pitch forks. Just don’t put them away. Because if we don’t get Yamamoto, I will personally lead the revolt lol
DBH – Great post! This proves you shouldn’t take off any more days from the internet, we need you too much here!!
Yes there are quite a few Sox fans who are very impatient, they are acting like it’s March 8th instead of December 8th! I am very confident Henry will make at least one big star acquisition. With the big Orioles news, he realizes he will likely be fighting with Tampa to stay out of the cellar if he doesn’t make a big improvement to the team. The Yankees, Jays and now likely O’s will be big spenders in the future.
However I still say John Henry wants to make the postseason next year, he wants to wipe away the stench of the past two seasons. The Red Sox have the 3rd-highest revenue in MLB, there is absolutely no reason why they need to punt on yet another season.
Did you hear the controversy about the Casas giveaway? They have him barefoot rolling on the grass, kinda silly if you ask me.
Kinda agree, FPG. But you give Henry more trust than I do. To me Henry is no longer engaged. He only pops his head up when the Fenway Faithful are near revolt, like last year.
He just now puts a guy in charge of the Red Sox and then goes back to his board room.
The Sox, once his pride and joy, are now just another department in his business. He’s Walmart, the Sox are the meat department, and we are the customers wondering why there’s only chicken thighs left on the shelves.
Soto to the Stanks for 1 year in a year that their pitching depth has been completely nuked is not a bad thing.
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I’m not thinking that highly of it. Soto is real good, but King did a very good job last year as well. Just going by last year, which is a small sample, but Soto had a 5.5 bWAR while King had a 3.2. So they theoretically increased their WAR by 2.3 for ~ $30M.
And when Dominguez returns, their OF is Judge, Dominguez, Soto, Verdugo & Grisham. So having 5 decent ++ outfielders is somewhat redundant.
And now they are down to only 2 SPs who can give them 160+ IPs.