Because it's more fun to live in a hypothetical world this offseason than the real one, here's how I spent 25 minutes of my time:
Trade Rafael Devers and Nick Pivetta for Brett Baty, Alex Ramirez, and Tylor Megill (Parada would be a good get, but probably too much to ask)
Trade Alex Verdugo and Jaren Duran to the Marlins for Jake Eder and Cody Morrissette (ML hitters - if we'd be so generous w/ Duran - for talented mL pitchers with question marks. Morrissette is a local kid and was more of a fun inclusion. This may be light for Eder, I'm not sure.)
Trade Bobby Dalbec for an mL arm (The Rays are rumored suitors...not sure if Bloom's experience in TB puts him at an advantage or disadvantage.)
Trade some of the mL surplus - and possibly Houck - for an Arizona OF...preferably Varsho. (Could also re-route some of a Devers package, whatever it is, to get this done. The point is to get a young cornerstone on the roster this winter without giving up the best of the best. Easier said than done, I know. There's a reason why I left this one vague.)
Finally, Re-stock the Padres system a bit and go get Ha-Seong Kim to play SS. He's signed for '23 and '24. I think the Adames price would be prohibitive, though I do like him.
Sign Noah Syndergaard (or Wacha)
Sign Justin Turner (or Longoria or Brian Anderson)
Sign Andrew McCutchen (or Pollock, Peralta, Pham, Gallo)
DH - Masataka Yoshida
2B - Trevor Story
CF - Daulton Varsho
3B - Justin Turner
1B - Triston Casas
LF - Andrew McCutchen
SS - Ha-Seong Kim
RF - Enrique Hernandez
C - Reese McGuire
BN - Connor Wong
BN - Eric Hosmer
BN - Christian Arroyo
BN - Rob Refsnyder
SP - Chris Sale
SP - Garrett Whitlock
SP - Noah Syndergaard
SP - Tanner Houck
SP - Tylor Megill
SP - Brayan Bello
CL - Kelley Jansen
SU - Chris Martin
RP - John Schreiber
RP - Joely Rodriguez
RP - Matt Barnes
RP - Zack Kelly / camp battle
LR - James Paxton
Philosophy here:
- With the right moves, I think we're almost through the fire, but they have to see it through.
- Stay under the CBT - without looking too closely, I think we'd squeeze in under this plan.
- Can't afford to misjudge the return for Devers...prospect evaluation is everything at this stage of the build. I'm not 100% sold on Baty, but I like that the Mets may be desperate.
- Good SPs (think guys whose upside is a #2-3 starter) in their mid-late 20s under team control for years to come will be big. Whitlock, Houck, Megill all fit this. Allows room for an ace or two on the books.
- The emphasis with vet free agents this winter needs to be guys who are still productive and will be net positives - not negatives - to the clubhouse culture, in what'll likely be a tough year.
Then, Bloom, Kennedy, Henry, and co. hold a 2-hour press conference, answer every question, do a podcast tour, and extend some goodwill moves to fans (whether ticket prices or whatever) with the overarching message being "Hang on. You've been patient, and we're almost there. We expected to go for it in '23, and because of how the market broke, that wasn't the right move. But we're nearly set up for perpetual playoff contention, and we have the makings of the next championship Red Sox team already in the organization." (I know that's generally been the message to date, but I think it's important to underscore at this point, and explain things in a way that is both honest but clear to the average fan.)
At the deadline, sell non-building blocks, with an eye toward 2024. Look for reclamation projects at SP, like Eovaldi circa '18. Do our best to unearth a gem or two in the bullpen from within the organization. (Needing to spend big on RP every winter isn't a winning formula, but it's better than the alternative.) Get a look at some of our top mL hitters.
Enter next winter with a ton of money to spend; more foundational ML pieces in the lineup, rotation, and 'pen than we have right now; and a loaded farm system, ready for promotions + trades.
