Yeah, all of this adds up to me. Some mix of Rafaela getting part-time work against left-handers in center and at 2B while he figures out major league pitching while Valdez takes on the right-handed pitching would be fine with me. Valdez is no great shakes at 2B, but I have hopes he can improve to be average-ish. I also think the defense will be much better next year with Story at SS and Rafaela playing some centerfield, so I'm not as worried as I was about defense being an issue.
IIRC, Dustin Pedroia was one of the guys who were brought in to give an opinion prior to Breslow's hiring. I wonder if Pedey might be willing to spend some time with Valdez in particular to see if he can help him improve his play at second base.
Yeah I feel like I must have missed something that people are forecasting Valdez over Reyes. Wasn't Pablo just the better player for us this year, while offering more positional versatility?
It's mid-November. If either Valdez or Reyes is the regular starting 2B in April, I'll be surprised
Story had incredible DRS numbers last year, +8 in just 37 games. For comparison, Volpe won the AL Gold Glove at +15 with more than four times the innings of Story. I don't think Story is moving back to 2B.
Story absolutely crushed it this year but I believe the reports are Rafaela is even better. That being said I’d rather see him play center this year. If he could ops .700 he would be a tremendously valuable player.
Not a ton of trade options that wouldn’t collide with the Mayer/Story middle infield crunch we’ve got coming in a year or so.
I quite liked the previously floated ideas of trading Verdugo for Brandon Drury or Verdugo for Gleyber Torres.
I wouldn't mind those but they don't make a lot of sense to me. Can't see the Angels interested in one year of Verdugo where they're at, and I don't think the Sox and Yanks trade anything of substance, let alone something as Boston-tilted as Gleyber for Verdugo. (I'm into the Abreu plan though.)
It wouldn't be the hot stove season if Chawson weren't coming up with scenarios to dump Verdugo and Pivetta.
And I’ve been right to every year. Whatever would the 2022 and 2023 teams have done without Verdugo and Pivetta’s annual 1.5–2 WAR contributions.
Polanco would be an interesting target and Pivetta might be expendable if the Sox acquire/sign a couple of starters. He’s signed for two more seasons and decent enough with the bat/glove to be a bridge to Mayer/Yorke.
I'm totally with you on this. Story is the starting SS and I believe the higher ups are thinking that way also.
Polanco is a bat first 2B who’s had trouble staying on the field. He is not an upgrade on defense over anyone. Given what this team went through with infielders last year, I don’t think he fills our needs. Pass.
The team was hoping to compete the last two years and having average production at below average prices is the key to building out a good team. That they weren't able to compete is an indictment of Bloom's ability to pay for above average production, not an inability of your decent players to be more than decent. Trading them away would leave the team with replacement level dreck in their place and start them out in an even bigger hole in building out the rest of the roster.
Well that would depend on who they're traded away for, wouldn't it? I'm not advocating to DFA them.
Second this. Dumping Pivetta would seem pretty foolish. He was arguably the team's best pitcher the second half of the season. He has sensational stuff. That is - his career mediocrity is because of inconsistent command of his stuff, not because his ceiling is mediocre. He really harnessed his shit once we was sent to the pen, and continued the quality once reasserted into the rotation. With the right coaching Pivetta might not just be a legit #5, but a legit #3.
I agree as well. If he's able to round out the bottom of the rotation on a more consistent basis than he's previously shown as a starter or continues his brilliance in the bullpen he's a real asset. He is a FA after '24, so if he's able to be moved as part of a package for someone who's established as a # 2 type with a couple of years of control left I'm on board, but I think there's still a role for him here.
There is one person he is very clearly a defensive upgrade on: Valdez, who despite having -6 DRS in only 357 innings is being seen by many here as a viable option. Polanco was +1 in 468 innings in 23’ and +2 for the last three seasons combined (2400+ innings). Interestingly, Reyes also graded poorly at 2b, with -5 DRS in just under 200 innings..
I’m looking at the rotation as
I'm thinking similarly with Crawford, Sale and Pivetta rounding out the final two slots. If they do wind up with Yamamoto perhaps they will go with a 6 man rotation for a time in which case perhaps Pivetta might serve as a swing guy. I'm also hoping that Breslow is able to better define roles for Whitlock and Houck and let them settle into those roles.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/mariners-scoop-up-luis-urias-for-another-fresh-start/
Maybe they're planning to use it towards Snell. And then trading one of their other SPs for another bat.
