Red Sox Offseason News and Notes

RedOctober3829

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deep inside Guido territory
Make new threads about things like big FA acquisitions or trades but for minor transactions we can use this as a catch-all.

--Picked up options on Sale and Kimbrel.
--Promoted Bryce Brentz and Williams Jerez to the major league roster.
--Robbie Ross and Josh Rutledge elect free agency.
--Reinstated Tyler Thornburg, Marco Hernandez, and Steven Wright from the 60-day DL.

 

Buzzkill Pauley

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I can’t be the only one surprised at the brentz news?
It’s not that surprising.

Brentz wasn’t on the September roster only because his potential value was only to exactly duplicate what Chris Young was already on the roster and supposed to be doing.

It wasn’t because Brentz had no future on the roster, only because he had no present utility.

I’m glad he wasn’t cut loose to hit 30 HR for Oakland or Tampa. Hopefully Cora can find him enough PA to hit 25 for the Sox.
 

Cesar Crespo

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It’s not that surprising.

Brentz wasn’t on the September roster only because his potential value was only to exactly duplicate what Chris Young was already on the roster and supposed to be doing.

It wasn’t because Brentz had no future on the roster, only because he had no present utility.

I’m glad he wasn’t cut loose to hit 30 HR for Oakland or Tampa. Hopefully Cora can find him enough PA to hit 25 for the Sox.
You must be really high on Brentz if you want him to get enough PA to hit 25 HRs. Or really sour on Hanley. Brentz would be best used against lefties only. His pitch recognition vs R is dreadful.
 

Plympton91

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I'm surprised that they allowed Robbie Ross to hit free agency. I though he was likely to be healthy by spring training and when healthy has been a serviceable reliever. Maybe I'm wrong about his health. Or maybe they feel like they have enough serviceable relievers nearer the major league minimum. However that almost always turns out not to be the case.
 

johnnywayback

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Ross was going to make ~$2m in arbitration, which is the kind of luxury they’re going to have to forgo in order to make a major addition or two this offseason. Entirely possible he winds up back on a ml deal if he doesn’t find a market.
 

MikeM

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It’s not that surprising.

Brentz wasn’t on the September roster only because his potential value was only to exactly duplicate what Chris Young was already on the roster and supposed to be doing.

It wasn’t because Brentz had no future on the roster, only because he had no present utility.

I’m glad he wasn’t cut loose to hit 30 HR for Oakland or Tampa. Hopefully Cora can find him enough PA to hit 25 for the Sox.
Not taking that look still isn't ultimately adding up to me if they did indeed view him as the potential 25 man piece going forward. I'm guessing they bring somebody else in for that spot. Or heck, maybe even re-sign Young at a much reduced rate I guess.

Ross/Rutledge were obvious trim the payroll fat cuts so no surprise there though.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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I think the addition of Brentz to the 40 man, extending their control of him through the winter, is more about the possibility of using him in a trade than about Hanley insurance.
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

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Who would you guys recommend following on Twitter for Sox offseason news/info? I used to follow Edes until he left the Sox beat. Now I follow Speier, but that’s it at this point. Looking for some additional options.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Who would you guys recommend following on Twitter for Sox offseason news/info? I used to follow Edes until he left the Sox beat. Now I follow Speier, but that’s it at this point. Looking for some additional options.
These are all pretty solid selections for Sox news. There are others but these guys seem to stick to news when they tweet. As opposed to guys like Bradford who is plugging his radio shifts and podcasts as much as he's posting news items.

Sean_McAdam - Boston Sports Journal
TimBritton - ProJo
IanMBrowne - MLB.com
ScottLauber - ESPN.com
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

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These are all pretty solid selections for Sox news. There are others but these guys seem to stick to news when they tweet. As opposed to guys like Bradford who is plugging his radio shifts and podcasts as much as he's posting news items.

Sean_McAdam - Boston Sports Journal
TimBritton - ProJo
IanMBrowne - MLB.com
ScottLauber - ESPN.com
Awesome, thanks!
 

simplicio

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Cora speaking about the defense makes it sound like JBJ isn't going anywhere:

"…And yes, we’re going to see more and more of those annoying shifts,” said Cora. “There’s going to be different formations, probably defensively, we’re going to help this infield to be better. The outfield, they’re amazing defensively, so we don’t have to make too much adjustments.”
 

nvalvo

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Trading Bradley never made all that much sense. He doesn't make a ton of money, there's a real risk of selling low — fWAR ranked him the 25th best position player in baseball in 2016 — and trades aren't frictionless.
 

Dustin the Wind

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"ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reports that teams that have reached out to J.D. Martinez get the impression agent Scott Boras is looking for a deal in the $200 million range.

Martinez just hired Boras last week, and he's already making waves. The lofty asking price is really no surprise, considering Martinez slugged .690 and hit 45 homers in 119 games this past season between Detroit and Arizona. Whether or not Martinez gets anywhere near $200 million will depend on how much a team is willing to overlook his flawed defense. Because of his prodigious right-handed power, the 30-year-old corner outfielder is guaranteed to be one of the highest paid players this winter."

Obviously this price tag makes JD a lot less attractive, do we let this play out or turn our attention elsewhere?
 

simplicio

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Who's going to buy at that price? Or is Boras just starting all his clients at 200 Million this year?
 

IpswichSox

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But I wonder whether it would take something closer to $200 million to get it done quickly. Usually when a Boras' client signs early in the winter, it's because there's a top-of-market/insane offer, like when Ellsbury went to NY. I'm not interested in dragging this out to January as Boras frequently does, and Dombrowski's MO (at least here) is to identify what he wants and strike quickly. (I'm not advocating we spend $200 million, just that it may take until January for Martinez' price to fall.)
 

MikeM

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Who's going to buy at that price? Or is Boras just starting all his clients at 200 Million this year?
Probably somebody who's going value the massive amount of front end appeal in adding the first .300/40 HR bat to hit FA since A-Rod 10 years ago more then they'll concern themselves with the possibility of getting screwed by aging/decline on the back end.

Classic highest end of FA stuff actually.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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They can ask for $200 million but he’s not going to get it. He’ll sign for somewhere around $125–$150 million.
The issue isn't that they'll have to pay him that much. It's that there's no chance he signs early, and they really can't afford to wait around very long with adding a power bat or they could end up with nothing. This probably ends any chance the Sox had of signing him.
 

DisgruntledSoxFan77

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The issue isn't that they'll have to pay him that much. It's that there's no chance he signs early, and they really can't afford to wait around very long with adding a power bat or they could end up with nothing. This probably ends any chance the Sox had of signing him.
I'm ok with this. This is seriously the first offseason I can remember where I'm not at all intrigued by any of the options available.
 

Savin Hillbilly

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The wrong side of the bridge....
The issue isn't that they'll have to pay him that much. It's that there's no chance he signs early, and they really can't afford to wait around very long with adding a power bat or they could end up with nothing. This probably ends any chance the Sox had of signing him.
I'm curious what you think are the Sox' options in this regard. Who's the guy they will acquire because they've given up on Martinez? (Maybe another way to ask the question is, where do you set the bar for "power bat"?)
 

Kun Aguero

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Obviously this price tag makes JD a lot less attractive, do we let this play out or turn our attention elsewhere?
I would think the loss of a draft pick & international pool money for signing someone like Hosmer is a lot less attractive than just money for signing JD. Especially given the current state of the minors. They need to keep their picks if at all possible. Doesn't mean they should vastly overpay though, and they will try to stay under the $40mil 10 spot pick drop threshold LT, but all else being equal money vs. draft picks is a no brainer.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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I'm curious what you think are the Sox' options in this regard. Who's the guy they will acquire because they've given up on Martinez? (Maybe another way to ask the question is, where do you set the bar for "power bat"?)
I think this makes it more likely they pounce on someone like Duda or Bruce. Or maybe bite the bullet on the QO penalty for Moustakas or (gulp) Hosmer.

I still don't think they have the chips to be the winning bid on Stanton but I'm sure Dombrowski will do everything in his power to exhaust that possibility at the winter meetings.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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Not a fan of acquiring Stanton. Between the cost in talent it will require the Sox to give up and his injury history .......no thanks.
If it's going to cost Benintendi and two or three of the top 5 or 6 prospects, I get this. But if it's just the prospects, there's literally nothing in the farm system right now that I'd be terribly upset about losing in a Stanton trade so long as it wasn't everything. One of Groome or Chavis plus two of Mata, Houck, Travis or Ockimey and one of Brennan, Shawaryn or Scherff would likely make this one of the two worst farm systems in baseball, but we're talking a drop of 3 or 4 spots in the system rankings at this point. So whatever.

I'd prefer to not have Groome and Scherff in the same deal as I'm really high on Scherff's upside and would like one of the only two high upside pitchers on the farm (IMO) to be retained, but other than that you're clearing out a system that's already super thin on talent anyway.

And with the passing of Daniel Flores, they really can't afford to give up picks and IFA money to sign any QO talent (unless they completely punt on rebuilding the system for a couple of years), so they are limited to a trade like this, signing JD Martinez for what looks like far too much money over too many years, or settling for Duda or Bruce.

I'd prefer taking a chance on Duda giving the team a .330 OPB and 30 HR and planning on/hoping for some positive regression and a little bit of a boost from Hyers' supposed buying into the launch angle revolution. But if the price is just prospects for Stanton and they aren't being outbid (unlikely, IMO), adding Stanton instead makes this a better team for the duration of the window.
 

sean1562

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What is Benintendi's ceiling in LF? Do we expect him to a .850 OPS guy? If so, with Devers, do we really need a "big bat"? If not, is he so untouchable to not be traded for one of the premier sluggers of this generation when we are "all in" over the next few years?
 

E5 Yaz

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It's the old salt shaker Cafardo, but this was interesting as to how it plays into the Dombrowski-Farrell dynamic:

6. Bryce Brentz, OF, Red Sox — Yes, even Brentz was a little taken aback when the Red Sox suddenly put him on the 40-man roster earlier this month after they failed to take advantage of his power in September. According to Dave Dombrowski, former manager John Farrell nixed it because he didn’t think he could guarantee Brentz any at-bats.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2017/11/11/which-teams-will-most-active-meetings/SyEfjn7bHdOdYkl0AsMg4K/story.html
 

Cesar Crespo

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It's the old salt shaker Cafardo, but this was interesting as to how it plays into the Dombrowski-Farrell dynamic:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2017/11/11/which-teams-will-most-active-meetings/SyEfjn7bHdOdYkl0AsMg4K/story.html
Depending how the off season plays out, he could be a really cheap LF/DH option vs lefties. Brentz has a much different approach vs lefties with a significantly better k/bb ratio. He's a good option to have stashed in AAA to start the season. I'd be upset if I were him too, it probably cost him a chance to get 500+ ABs somewhere in Oakland or w/e.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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Depending how the off season plays out, he could be a really cheap LF/DH option vs lefties. Brentz has a much different approach vs lefties with a significantly better k/bb ratio. He's a good option to have stashed in AAA to start the season. I'd be upset if I were him too, it probably cost him a chance to get 500+ ABs somewhere in Oakland or w/e.
No it didn't. He's out of options. He's either in the majors with the Red Sox to start the season or he'll be in the majors with someone else.
 

Cesar Crespo

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No it didn't. He's out of options. He's either in the majors with the Red Sox to start the season or he'll be in the majors with someone else.
Ahh, thought he just had to be placed on the 40 man and not the 25. Still doesn't change the fact it may have cost him a chance at 500+ AB, but he should still get 200ish if he ends up on the Sox 25.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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#SFGiants have interest in trading for Jackie Bradley Jr., among many outfield options they are currently considering, source says. @MLBNetwork @MLB
If they are acquiring another outfielder (via FA or trade) I could get behind a JBJ for Chris Shaw swap. I'd like to see another lotto ticket style prospect added to the package coming from SF, but Shaw steps in as the 1st baseman (probably in late May or so) giving them another cost controlled player with pop.

He just hit 24 HR with an .871 OPS across AA and AAA last year (only 37 of those games were in AAA), so he's nearly ready. You could start the season with Hanley at 1st, a FA or trade acquisition in LF with Benintendi in CF and Brentz as the primary DH, then move Shaw to 1st and Hanley to DH, moving Brentz to the bench with a second catcher (Leon or Swihart), Nunez (or another piece of infield depth) and maybe a defensive specialist like Marrero or Lin. That's a pretty deep and versatile bench.

Shaw was number 86 on BA's midseason top 100, so even with the strong full season he's likely not much better than a top 50-ish prospect. Shouldn't be a prohibitive ask if SF is serious about acquiring JBJ.
 

Minneapolis Millers

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With the plethora of FA 1Bs available, I'd think it more likely that the Sox would be looking at this as a 3-way where the prospect(s) they get for JBJ get flipped for Stanton, maybe with another lower Sox guy thrown in.
 

charlieoscar

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In addition to Stanton missing a lot of games due to injury, he has also missed a number of innings when he was attempting comebacks from them because he was used only as a pinch hitter of when he did make a start, he ended up coming out of the game early. Even in 2011 when he played 150 games, he had 8 games with one PA and two with 2 PA. While playing only 119 games in 2016, he had 11 with only 1 PA.

I don't want him; he's too expensive whether it be in money or talent.
 

sean1562

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JD Martinez is fairly injury prone too, no? And last season is the best he will ever have.