Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. What’s next for the Red Sox?
The Red Sox swung a trade to clear space in their budget and on the 40-man roster when they shipped right-hander Jordan Hicks, pitching prospect David Sandlin and $8MM cash and two players to be named later in exchange for Gage Ziehl and a player to be named later. Getting the majority of Hicks’ salary for the next two seasons of the books has allowed them to squeak back under the second tier of the luxury, but the team has still yet to replace Alex Bregman on the infield. Marcelo Mayer poised to play either second or third base depending on where a new addition would play, but options are dwindling after both Luis Arraez and Eugenio Suarez signed over the weekend. How will Boston address its biggest remaining need?
2. First base market heating up?
While every hitter in our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list has signed after Suarez reached a deal with the Reds yesterday, there are still a number of interesting bats on the market. Specifically, the first base market has remained rather quiet throughout the winter, leaving players such as Paul Goldschmidt and Rhys Hoskins unsigned. Recently, that market has appeared to heat up. The Diamondbacks are reportedly interested in adding a first baseman, and yesterday they were connected to switch-hitting veteran Carlos Santana and also said to have interest in Ty France. Arizona’s division rivals in San Diego are also looking for help in their first/base DH mix and have interest in France, who is drawing interest from both New York clubs as well. Wilmer Flores, Nathaniel Lowe, and Rowdy Tellez are among the other noteworthy options still available. With Arraez and Suarez off the board, is the market heating up for some of these corner bats?
3. Arbitration hearings underway:
Arbitration hearings kicked off late last week, and the Associated Press reports two such hearings have occurred so far: one between right-hander Edwin Uceta and the Rays, and one between left-hander Dylan Lee and the Braves. The decision from those arbitration hearings is typically not immediately announced; Uceta’s is being withheld until other cases have resolved, while Lee’s is expected to be announced at some point next week. After first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino avoided arbitration last week, 12 more players are scheduled for arbitration hearings. The most notable among those is two-time AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal, who is facing a massive $13MM gap between his filing figure and that of the Tigers. Arbitration hearings are scheduled to run through February 13.
I don’t see how Skubal doesn’t win or the Tigers don’t fold like a cheap suit for a compromise in the upper end of a middle ground number ($27.5M or something) before the hearing itself.
I don’t see how Skubal wins. Boras put him out on the limb.
It’s easy to see how Skubal doesn’t win. It’s not about is he worth the money, it’s about precedent. Precedent isn’t on his side.
I think Skubal should win but I don’t think he will. There’s no precedent for an arbitration raise that large not from Skubal’s previous year’s salary or from David Price’s (!) record setting salary.
I hope I’m wrong.
He won’t be he should, and him winning wouldn’t have to at some precedent for any good player but if you’re winning back to back cy young awards then maybe.
I agree with you TTO. And btw, Boras has already said there will be no negotiation. He is trying to reset the market and they are not willing to take one penny less.
Would not be surprised if the Red Sox make a trade for Donavan.
Gunnar- not sure if Donovan is the guy, as the Sox are looking for a right handed bat.
Sad, I’m at a loss to understand the next move unless it’s an overwhelming offer for Marte. If getting a lefty is under consideration, I prefer Baty over Donovan but I’m starting to wonder if the club is looking at Casas for the needed power regardless if he too is a lefty (and who should be forced to earn his spot this spring). I don’t need a gold glover at second. Only one that is competent, which Hamilton is not. Gonzalez is ok in limited dosages but will be exposed with a lot of work at second. If the club is not getting a righty masher (starting swinging a bat Jim Rice), I’d prefer Gonzalez as the righty DH.
Marte might work…but not ketel..is noelvi marte for 3b worth trying to get from the reds? He can play 3b and might be available
dewey – If Mayer is playing third, I almost want a defense first second baseman and i’ll roll with the current lineup. The pitching should be good enough to keep our offense on par with the opponent’s.
I agree with your assessment of Romy. In small doses he’s fine, but Hamilton cant play 100+ games on a playoff team
Dont know if i see another move, because at this point, we will overpay. Lets see how the season starts.
I am concerned about the four man OF rotation, there just isn’t enough ABs for all of them.
I’m rooting for Casas, and I hope he gets right at Worcester and kicks down the door to get back to Fenway.
I doubt noelvi is available
Hamilton is actually slightly above average defensively at 2B. The concern with him is will he hit enough to hold down the spot. So far that really hasn’t been the case, even if used as a strictly platoon player who only bats against right handed pitching.
Ezekiel tovar if the rocks might be the solution. he would move story of ss to 2b. he is a good fielder with some pop. they are not gonna be good for a while.And may accept a basket of lower level.Good prospects.
@Poolhall
Noelvi is young (24) but the goal is to win now and his below average hitting (86 wRC+; 101 in 2025) and AWFUL defense at 3rd (-15 OAA in 989.2 innings) is unlikely to be a better option than one of the remaining free agents or a current in-house option.
@sad.Sox
I understand that they would prefer a RH bat. The difficulty is that there is not one on the market. Marte is not available. Paredes is not available. Donovan is available. He may be LH but he is a solid player.
Stymeedone- I agree with you,
That said, there was an opportunity this offseason to get a 3B or 2B because of Mayer’s versatility, here we are….
I dont want to bang a square peg into a round hole just because…..
Gunnar – I agree. There is no way the Red Sox shell out money on another big free agent contract. The Red sox still have enough good prospects to get a quality 2B without giving up premium prospects like Tolle and Early.
Donny is going to net a Tolle or Early + another mid level prospect, they arnt going to trade for a lower quality 2nd baseman and that’s going to be the price.
It would make sense for them to trade for Paredes but Houston isn’t going to move on from him when they are likely to be in the hunt for their division.
Donny is a lefty but still can play 3 or 4 positions for two years, I still trade for Donovan even with him being a lefty. Even more so assuming that Campbell has a bouce back year, he’s likely the righty they will use at some point this season.
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How will Boston address the other IF position?
It’s looking more and more likely that it’s going to be Hamilton / Romy holding down 2B. Hopefully I’m wrong…
Skubal hearing set for 2/4. Skubal win guarantees a lockout. Plain and simple.
What’s the correlation between Skubal winning an arbitration case and a lockout?
Flores and France both have experience at second and third, could they be options for the Red Sox?
Wilmer can surprise you with his defense.
Soft hands, decent arm. Problem is wonky knees that won’t last the season. He also may be the slowest guy in MLB.
Mark Vientos would make a great fit.
Mets would cave in for cheap.
Nick Sogard and Romy can handle second for the Redsox
Problem is Sogard bats much better right handed than left handed so he’s not a great platoon partner for Romy. They’d be better off just playing Romy full time.
I’m afraid the 2B situation for Boston is going to be solved in house. I don’t have a problem with the short-side platoon being Romy, but the LH option kinds sucks if it’s Hamilton. This is where Donavon would be nice, but I think the roster is pretty well set. I would be shocked if they make another significant move now that they’ve dipped back under the 2nd LT level.
Personally I’d rather see Sogard get a shot at the LH side of the 2B platoon. I suppose this will be a battle to watch throughout ST.
What’s next for Red Sox is to dump Yoshida to whatever team values a contact-hitting DH and needs a lefty bat. They will have to eat some of the $$ to make it happen. Seattle might be a good fit.
Then with that additional savings, enough money will be cleared for ownership to greenlight Breslow adding to payroll, and thus revisit Marte trade talks, or Hoerner (my preference) with plan to immediately extend him after the trade
How will they ever have enough to get Marte (a player no longer on the market) if they no longer have Yoshida to sweeten the deal? /s
Eat “some” of the money owed to Yoshida? Try MOST of the money owed to him. The Sox would have to pay at least 2/3 of his salary to get someone else to take him unless they attach a serious prospect to get the acquiring team to take on more than that.
Is anyone well-versed in all the rules pertaining to arbitration salaries?
If a player wins their hearing, their salary is guaranteed.
If a player loses their hearing, their contract is not guaranteed – until they make the opening day roster. At that point, their full contract is guaranteed.
If it goes to a hearing, it’s not guaranteed. If they are released before the season, they get a month or so severance.
I believe that is the “Take what you are given or else!” provision of the union agreement.
The Owners don’t like the Arb system already. If Skubal manages to win they will make it a key point of the next CBA negotiations. They might do it anyway, but the Achilles heel in the system is how younger players are treated. The gigantic contracts to star players are probably easier to resolve than the MLB minimum issues. Cheap young players create profitability.
I doubt the Red Sox do much of anything to address this need as they haven’t done anything yet and it’s only two weeks til training camp begins.
I said in a previous posts maybe they should give Campbell reps at 3B or consider trying Casas at 3B. The options are likely coming in house and either would be a solution to what to do with either player
Yes, but it took this long to find a taker for Hicks. Now they’re a little freer to make a move.
I hope Paredes and Diaz don’t have to go through arb hearings. Though I do think we could win with Diaz and maybe Paredes.
The Red Sox already replaced Bregman’s bat with Willson Contreras. The hope is that between 2B and 3B they can get more production than 1B and 2B gave them last year. That’s not a great hill to climb. Its more like a speed bump.