Yeah, I don't think that Soto blocks the Yankees from signing Yamamoto, if they are willing to pay for Yamamoto. Paying for Yamamoto, though, does give the Yankees less to work with when it comes time to try to retain Soto, if that's what they want to do.
What a weird batting profile. How do you have an 88th percentile barrel rate and a 32nd percentile hard hit rate?
Does this make Yoshida a permanent DH? Will he be happy with that, I wonder.
Yeah, I can’t imagine him being anything more than a role player. Okay bench piece but not someone who should be playing every day.
There is a chance Rafaela is a significantly worse hitter than Taylor.
To be clear, I'm not sold on Rafaela as a major league player. A lot of folks around here seem to be though and signing Taylor would appear to block Rafaela, at least for 2024.
Eh, someone has to be the second catcher. It's not like Reese McGuire was Mike Piazza, if the cost is small and they decide Maldonado's offensive shortcomings are made up for by his catching, who am I to argue?
One of Yamamotos conditions is he wants to play for a winner. These Sox are not that. Sox needed or need to add a couple studs before they try and sign him. Sure, money talks, however winning solves a lot of problems. And the Sox have a ton of players. It will be interesting to hear how Kennedy and Henry spin this if they lose the off season while the Yankees win it. Second place this off season will equal yet another basement season. I have not renewed my tax and won't if they don't break the bank and make this team a winner on paper.
Yeah, but at least they tried to win. We got another year of excuses and predictable results. For what we pay for tickets the Sox should be embarrassed. I know winning can't be guaranteed by off season acquisitions. I know losing can be by not improving. Especially when coming off yet another dismal year.
You have an awful lot of posts that say basically the exact same thing. This is not a rumor or really a response to a rumor. It's another post in a succession of posts that says "the Sox should spend a ton of money/set the market/etc." We get the point buddy.
I’d say we tried to win too. Teams that don’t give a shit don’t spend money on a closer. It just didn’t work out and the architect got the axe after failing to build on a strong 2021. There’s zero reason to be so down on this off-season because literally nothing has happened yet. Like, anywhere. The biggest move was Jarred Kelenic getting traded, seeing as how the Soto thing is still wrapping up and in kind of limbo at the moment. No big trades, no big ticket signings, all of the big fish are still out there. It’s unfair to lambast inactivity when there hasn’t been any activity to compare it to.
Fair enough though Taylor might be interesting depending on cost. He’s never been a great hitter but he’s a career .744 OPS against LHP and put up a .914 OPS against them last year. He remains elite in center. A player of that profile could be useful on this team if he’s not too expensive.
Duvall’s numbers from last year suggest he may have aged out of that profile. So I guess Michael Taylor.
He was the starting catcher for some very successful Houston teams, and wasn't part of the deal that he was really good at handling their pitching staff? I don't think it needs to be a priority or anything, but I can't say I'd hate it.
He's going to sign a 10-year contract. What have the Mets and Yankees won over the last 10 years? I don't think someone in his position is going to be that short sighted.
Yeah I think catcher is a position where we’re actually in pretty decent shape. Wong is excellent defensively and has hit just well enough to allow his glove to provide positive value and McGuire is fine as a backup. Both are cheap and under control so I see no reason to fret too hard about that situation while we see how Teel develops.
So if we want to finish last again when will tickets cost a price commensurate with the results. If we compete for the bottom we should be priced there. As I stated before the Sox need to set the market for fa pitching not settle by overpaying for the last guy left like we did with Story. Sox need two high end starters including a very legit ace and at least one impact 40 Homer bat with a high OBP like Soto. Oh that's right we let the Yanks get him for four ponies and a blanket. Of coursexwe let our right fielder go to the Yanks for a hope and a prayer. So we get worse, they get better, and our future has not been this bleak since the early 1960's. Of course I could go to games then for about 4 dollars so I didn't feel ripped off.View attachment 74790
This is a horribly uninspiring tweet.
Sounds like the Sox might be still considering signing another DH to a team full of them and for some reason can’t admit to pursuing the player that everyone agrees should be their biggest free agent priority. The good news is that they are really excited about grabbing a guy who probably would have been lost in the rule 5 draft of the team they got him from and they might be interested in Michael Taylor.
Meanwhile the Yanks have acquired Soto and Verdugo and are still shooting for Yamamoto
Is it Opening Day already? Geez, the whole off-season just flew by. I feel like I blinked and missed it. Who signed Yamamoto? Ohtani? Montgomery? Snell? Did anyone trade for Burnes? Cease? Glasnow? The Sox really did nothing at all?
This offseason is going to show why you need to build up and develop assets in the minors. The Yankees grab Soto because they had very good young, cheap players to trade. Having deep pockets or offering an overpay doesn’t guarantee you a high price FA like Yamamoto or Ohtani.
He’d presumably be in LF with Yoshida DHing. Can’t imagine the Sox would consider placing a guy who has never played in the OF except for LF and is -20 OAA for his career there in Fenway’s RF.
What a second. The Sox farm system, prior to the Yankees Soto deal was ranked in the top 5, even the top 3 depending on whose ranking. The Yankees farm was ranked middle of the pack. The Red Sox DO have good young cheap players to trade.
Regular reminder that the Red Sox are rumored to be linked to every free agent in every offseason. Player agents risk decertification if they fail to whisper to reporters that the Sox are in on their clients.
Fair point. And I guess complaining about players who haven’t been signed yet is a waste of time. Waiting out the market is generally a good idea but hard to watch as a fan!
