This was a reader email a few weeks back to Baseball podcast, Effectively Wild, now come to life.
I know what Passan's saying, but eating the rest of the Abreu mistake and upgrading to Walker shouldn't be dragged into it. They're moving on, at a budget level they've decided to set. What was the alternative, signing Bregman through his aging years and getting nothing for Tucker when he walked next season?
That would be too bad if true. But i think thats the kind of thing Rickey would announce himself.
That'd be the question I would ask - do they have someone in the minors in mind for first base for 2026.
Kyle Manzardo is considered the first baseman of the future and will get the opportunity to establish himself in Cleveland, probably picking up the majority of the DH at-bats in the early going. CJ Kayfus put himself on the map last year but will spend 2025 at the AA/AAA levels. Another possibility is if Juan Brito (who might open the year in Cleveland) and Travis Bazzana both have good years, Brito is the lesser second baseman and has some experience playing first base.
Seattle is also running out of options if they are looking to upgrade 1B. They're not going to sign Alonso, but perhaps they move off from Casas for Castillo and offer up one of the other starters that they have been reluctant to move. I'm not a huge proponent of trading Casas, but if Breslow can land one of The M's more prized possessions away he'll have acquired two desirable starters via trade and can spend to replace Casas with Alonso.
Because if you are looking at the mlb.com list, they already moved Caba to the MIA one. He is #81 in the top 100.
I think Caba is legit, $3m IFA SS. Fangraphs had him as the Phillies #3 and #71 overall. His A ball sample is still small.
And this trade makes perfect sense to me. Caba is a solid prospect. He's also 19 years old. He's years away from contributing on the field, while the Phillies have a $300M roster contending for a World Series this year (and next) and little salary room left to work with.
I don't want to turn this into yet another thread about Dombrowski (overseer of 3 consecutive AL East titles and the greatest Red Sox team in history) -- so mods, let me know if this should be moved/deleted -- but what are the examples of DD trading "blue chip prospects" for "distressed assets"? Not singling you out, I just feel like I see these shots directed at DD a lot on here and don't totally know why.
Random variations in performance & outcomes across a MLB roster >>> WAR projections
On a minor league deal no less ... dude is only 28 and he's already hit "Rays reclamation project" status. Tremendously grim.
