Red Sox Scouting Jose Quintana and Todd Frazier of White Sox

ponch73 said:

http://www.trifectanetworksports.com/boston-red-sox-rumor-team-reportedly-scouting-jose-quintana/

I shudder to think about the hit to an already-depleted farm system in order to get a 28-year old, 3-ish WAR pitcher making $7 mil this year, $8.85 mil next year with two team options thereafter (even if he is scuffling currently).

He has decent, but not otherwordly, stats in a small 4-game sample size at Fenway: 26.2 IP / 3.71 ERA / 1.13 WHIP / 1.44 SO:BB

I would think Frazier would be significantly cheaper. He is a 31-year old, low OBP slugger signed for $12 mil this year. In 28 PA at Fenway, he has 2 HR and a .843 OPS. His glove would be a modest upgrade at the hot corner.

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I know we don't really look too much at WAR, but calling him a 3-ish WAR is a bit misleading. He's been over 4 three times in last 4 years, twice over 5.

He's pretty good. Not sure his Fenway numbers matter a whole bunch.

Also, that link is guessing that Frazier is being looked at, as it says "one other player".

John Marzano Olympic Hero said:

The Boston Herald's Michael Silverman is shooting down this rumor.

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Has Silverman ever met Dombrowski? Dombrowski's three word motto for prospects is "Don't Get Attatched". Still I agree with Silverman in this case.

edoug said:

Has Silverman ever met Dombrowski? Dombrowski's three word motto for prospects is "Don't Get Attatched". Still I agree with Silverman in this case.

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Given the current state of the farm, I think it's less that Dombrowski would be unwilling to part with the prospects and more that he doesn't have the chips to make a competitive offer for Quintana. Not if Quintana is the biggest prize in the trade deadline sweepstakes.

Basically, I don't think they can get Quintana without giving up Devers+, and I don't think Devers is enough to be the centerpiece of a deal that gets the White Sox to bite.

The thing that gives me pause is not that DD likes to trade prospects. It's that he acts quickly and decisively.

So even tho it is May, if he has concluded that A) 3B is a black hole and B) Price and/or Wright are not to be relied on in 2017, it would not surprise me if he is seriously contemplating making a move -- even a big one.

Regardless of whether you agree, there is an argument to be made that this team has too much cost-controlled talent to sacrifice competing today for the prospect of competing sometime in the future.

This has nothing to do with Dombrowski not caring about trading prospects, it has more to do with having nothing to trade. I wanted to say this feels like the weakest crop they've had since 2001, but even then they had Freddy Sanchez and Delcarmen, and were able to flip Blanco and Thigpen for Todd Walker, Song for Cliff Floyd, Miniel for Lou Merloni (JK), Fossum for the Bigot, Dumatrait for Scott Williamson, and Francisco for Howry.

Outside of trading Devers (who should be untouchable on account of upside and organizational need at 3B), and Groome who is injured, what sort of haul could the Red Sox even get from prospects 3-20 on the SoxProspects.com list? Hindsight being what it is, but the Red Sox could use Shaw, and even Wade Miley at this point, and have gotten zero returns from those trades, and are now scrambling to plug these holes. Hopefully Price's return, and if Carson Smith ever returns depth becomes less of an issue, but the downsides to Dombrowski have been showing of late, from his "don't get attached" even applying to cashing in top-flight chips on unknowns (Pomeranz), to his questionable bullpen construction (mitigated a bit by Kimbrel's otherworldly season so far).

Van Everyman said:

B) Price and/or Wright are not to be relied on in 2017

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I sure hope DD has concluded that Wright can't be relied on in 2017 because he can't be.

Even with the black hole in the fifth spot is angling for the guy who will likely be the best SP on the market really the move given the farm? They've gotten two top tier pitchers in each of the last two off seasons, they have the reigning Cy Young, and this team still looks utterly average- perhaps even below average. Seems like DD is going to turn the farm into a smoking crater for the benefit of making into (maybe) but not deep in the playoffs. Right now, this team looks like it has neither the farm to make impact trades nor the current roster to be WS contenders and I doubt Quintana changes that.

Given what's available for trade on the farm I can't see a deal being made for Quintana and Frazier that doesn't include talent from the major league roster and the conversation will include players whose names begin with the letter B.

The Sox have the 11th best winning percentage in all of baseball. That comes after an opening two weeks where they had the bubonic plague and could almost literally barely field a team. They've been without Price all year long. Injuries have racked the bullpen and now the starting rotation. It's kind of amazing that they're where they are.

I think if they are 5 games over .500 at the end of May*, and Price returning, they'll be just fine. I really hope DD doesn't go after Quintana. Frazier might help but please do not give up key farm pieces for him.

*Currently they have a better record than Cleveland, NYM, Tor, Det, and Tex. They have the same record as the Cubs. They're just one game worse than the Cardinals. It's early in the year. Lots of quality teams are right where the Sox are.

Red(s)HawksFan said:

Given the current state of the farm, I think it's less that Dombrowski would be unwilling to part with the prospects and more that he doesn't have the chips to make a competitive offer for Quintana. Not if Quintana is the biggest prize in the trade deadline sweepstakes.

Basically, I don't think they can get Quintana without giving up Devers+, and I don't think Devers is enough to be the centerpiece of a deal that gets the White Sox to bite.

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You're selling Devers short. There's a pretty good chance that if Devers gets put on the table, he'd be the best individual prospect being offered. If Dombrowski is willing to include Groome, they've got the foundation for a winning bid and could supplement with the likes of Travis, Swihart, Pomeranz, etc to close the gap.

Not saying they'd be the odds on favorite, but Devers is a hugely valuable piece right now, and would likely be even more so at the deadline when he's that much closer to ready.

On the other hand, I would be very upset if they finished emptying the farm to grab Quintana. I like him quite a bit (he's being undervalued here) but Devers shouldn't be moved unless a cost controlled young third baseman with a high ceiling is coming back. It's not like there's anything worth getting excited about on the market this coming winter.

If the Sox are seriously scouting Quintana, then I sure as hell hope Dombrowski's willing to go all in on Don Cooper, too.

But I do expect they're trying to assess Frazier's value, in case Panda 3.2 still has bugs.