Much like Newman, the Sox are not “Ready to deliver”– The 2025 Offseason News (& rumors?) Thread

moondog80

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My initial reaction to Bregman at 2B is that guys don't move up the defense spectrum at his age. But he played SS in college and the minors, and I guess has been forced to 3B all these years due to Altuve/Correa/Pena? Because if he can play 2B, that really does change his outlook — the bat gets a lot better. My reaction then becomes "great, but now does Campbell fit into a lineup that also hast to fit in Roman Anthony"?
 

Yelling At Clouds

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Is the logic that signing Bregman would “fix” the defense and therefore “fix” the pitching without having to commit big dollars to someone who’s inevitably going to tear a UCL or rotator cuff? Still seems like overthinking it, easier to just spend the money and trade chips on pitching.
 

chawson

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This morning in the Athletic:

Such is Cohen’s reputation for getting what he wants. Last winter, when the Mets and Dodgers were vying for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Japanese pitcher, through his representatives, essentially told Cohen enough. Yamamoto wanted to play for the Dodgers and was satisfied with 12-year, $325 million offers, even though Cohen signaled he would go higher. With Soto, the ceiling for a contract appeared to be almost unlimited.
Two important takeaways here: 1) Cohen’s ceiling for Soto’s contract was almost unlimited. And 2) Yamamoto was going to the Dodgers no matter what.
 

sezwho

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This morning in the Athletic:



Two important takeaways here: 1) Cohen’s ceiling for Soto’s contract was almost unlimited. And 2) Yamamoto was going to the Dodgers no matter what.
Those are great tidbits, thanks.

Tough spot for Sox if you can’t compete for any unicorns and seemingly won’t compete for Elite veteran pitching, though we’ll see what they do this year. They also haven’t drafted pitching at the top or in great volume.

Before I get pounded, each of the above has been litigated and is a rational position. Together the path for this FO to field a winner is narrow.

This could be the year though and I’ll change my tune when they sign Fried, get RH power somehow and keep Casas.

God, just take half one of those stupid $50 million Soto checks and attach it to Masa and bring back a bunch of prospects. Take the other half and add it to the Teoscar bucket (or whatever bucket).

Will they? That is the 700 million dollar question.
 

Big Papi's Mango Salsa

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Is the logic that signing Bregman would “fix” the defense and therefore “fix” the pitching without having to commit big dollars to someone who’s inevitably going to tear a UCL or rotator cuff? Still seems like overthinking it, easier to just spend the money and trade chips on pitching.
As someone that wants Bregman signed very badly, I'll say that I don't think he'd "fix" the pitching. The Red Sox don't have enough talent in the rotation nor in the high minors to rely on this, but I do think he'd help a great deal. Realistically, they cannot revamp their entire rotation and land 3 new top of the rotation starting pitchers this offseason and go with those three, Houck and Bello. But improving the infield defense should at least help get as much as possible out of what they have in house.

Also, for those that want to sign Fried (which I do), he is an extreme ground ball pitcher. So having him pitch in front of a wretched infield defense (or a theoretically good infield defense that has been destroyed by different injuries to the same player in succession) seems like a plan that won't maximize Fried either.

For what it's worth, while I don't think them actually signing Fried is realistic, I do think Eovaldi is at least in the realm of possibility. While not at Fried levels (he was 2nd in the game behind Framber last year), Eovaldi gets a ton of ground balls also (he was 8th last year). I also don't even really think them signing Bregman is realistic to be fair, so I think Kim for 3b and Eovaldi for SP1 is kind of the "upper middle class man's" version of Bregman and Fried and is something that even the large FA contract averse FSRedbird ownership should be able to swallow.


Would either of those work / will they even spend that much money, who knows. I'm not sure what the "solution" is, but I'm very confident the solution is not to simply keep doing what they've been doing and expect different results.
 
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simplicio

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Apparently LAD and Teoscar have been unable to bridge a gap for weeks, and you kinda have to wonder what his ask is if even the Dodgers don't want to pay it. They spent another $40m yesterday and it barely registered.
 

Mantush

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I doubt they sign Bregman. But if they do, it’ll be a homecoming of sorts. He was originally drafted by the Red Sox but elected to go to college instead. That said, I don’t see him as a good roster fit. Maybe I’m just not being creative enough.

An outfielder like Hernandez makes significantly more sense to me. I can also see a world where maybe you try and trade Yoshida and bring in Pete Alonso or Christian Walker to DH and occasionally play 1B to preserve Casas. Carlos Santana even remains unsigned, he’s a switch hitter, and hits LHP extremely well.

Point is, I don’t want to see big name bats just for the sake of getting a big name bat. I think there’s plenty on the way that’ll be able to contribute in a year or two that we shouldn’t be in a rush to block with large acquisitions. I’d rather see us be aggressive for pitching, improve the rotation, and stabilize the back of the bullpen. The team was lucky with the way a lot of its callups performed at times. I don’t think that’s repeatable.
 

simplicio

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Alonso and Walker are both going to have plenty of offers as primary 1B, they aren't going to come here just to DH.
 

Big Papi's Mango Salsa

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Alonso and Walker are both going to have plenty of offers as primary 1B, they aren't going to come here just to DH.
Genuinely curious here - do you mean this because they would be opposed to the idea or because the Sox wouldn't pay the same amount of money?

I tend to think that the vast majority of the time, players go where the most money is offered. So if St Louis was the "high bidder" and offered Alonso 7 and $175m to be the 1b and Boston offered him 7 and $200m to be the DH, do you think he'd turn down Boston's offer so that he could play first base?

(It's also why I think Devers would have no problems moving to DH. He's already been paid. If he were angling for a contract, it'd be a different story).
 

simplicio

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Guys take pride in their work, they don't want to play less (including Devers, who we've repeatedly heard wants to stay at 3B). And teams value positions differently, as they should. So beating out 1B offers for a DH spot means you're really overpaying for the production you'll get out of the player, and I'd say that's an unforced error.
 

Cassvt2023

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Why does it feel like Teo is going to get a 3 yr/80m+ deal? Bad on D, lots of K's, pretty low OBP. Seems like we would've been better off giving TO the QO.
 

BaseballJones

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Why does it feel like Teo is going to get a 3 yr/80m+ deal? Bad on D, lots of K's, pretty low OBP. Seems like we would've been better off giving TO the QO.
I thought the QO for O'Neill made a ton of sense and pushed for it. Water under the bridge now, of course.
 

tims4wins

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Also declining OPS for three straight years before rebounding this last year. One year bump due to being in such a good lineup, or a return to form?
919
870
807
741
840
 

simplicio

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Also declining OPS for three straight years before rebounding this last year. One year bump due to being in such a good lineup, or a return to form?
919
870
807
741
840
His 2023 away OPS was 830, Seattle was rough for him.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Also declining OPS for three straight years before rebounding this last year. One year bump due to being in such a good lineup, or a return to form?
919
870
807
741
840
The Sox need a RH bat (or someone good against LHP regardless of how they bat), ideally to put in between Casas and Devers. Preferably someone that could even play those two positions but mostly DH. The outfield really is fine as is. Better than fine..... and they have Campbell and Montgomery as depth there, along with Rafaela. I just don't get the push for Hernandez here. Or Suzuki.
I don't love Bregman but he makes more sense for where the weakness is on offense and defense.
 

moondog80

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His 2023 away OPS was 830, Seattle was rough for him.
Yeah, I'm comfortable with saying 2023 was an outlier. I'm still not super comfortable with the overall profile if they have to go beyond 3 years.
 

LogansDad

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The Sox need a RH bat (or someone good against LHP regardless of how they bat), ideally to put in between Casas and Devers. Preferably someone that could even play those two positions but mostly DH. The outfield really is fine as is. Better than fine..... and they have Campbell and Montgomery as depth there, along with Rafaela. I just don't get the push for Hernandez here. Or Suzuki.
I don't love Bregman but he makes more sense for where the weakness is on offense and defense.
I agree on Hernandez, and I get that Bregman is a fit for 2025, but I don't think he is necessarily a fit beyond that, so I don't really want to see 4 or 6 year deals for both/either of them.

@Mantush mentioned Carlos Santana, who I hadn't really thought about, but who may be willing to sign a one year deal. He's a billiondy years old, but still mashed LHP last season, and I kind of like the idea.
 

nvalvo

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I was hugely excited about Téo last season in large part because he didn't have a pick attached. I like the player a lot, but if we sign him now for a bigger deal that costs a pick I will be furious at the failure to get to yes last offseason.

He wanted 4/$75m; we offered 2/$28, and he took 1/$24 with deferrals that made it worth a bit less. We should have raised the AAV or added an option/buyout third season or something to get him to take our money: Like 2/$28m with a third year at $17m/buyout at $8m, so the deal would either be 2/$36 or 3/$45. I bet he would have taken that! Meet him in the middle!

Those compensation picks are worth a ton — way more, IMO, than any difference between Hernández and O'Neill over a couple seasons. Our drafting and development group have been spinning them into gold at a pretty decent clip, so we should absolutely be hoarding them. Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell were both comp picks. I've seen comp picks and their attached bonus pool valued around $10m, but that feels low to me.

Relatedly, we also should have QO'd O'Neill; if he accepts, we have a mildly overpriced solution to our RH bat situation. It's on the line; he might very well have preferred 1/$22m and reaching FA without a QO next season to the 3/$45m he just got from Baltimore, but he of course wouldn't know in advance what his market would be and maybe a player with his injury history should take the largest deal in total commitment that he can get. The argument against QO'ing O'Neill was that it might be too much of our budget if he accepted, but now that we've offered "at least $700m" to an outfielder, I think we can safely put to rest the idea that the team has an inflexible budget at the first CBT line.
 

chawson

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I was hugely excited about Téo last season in large part because he didn't have a pick attached. I like the player a lot, but if we sign him now for a bigger deal that costs a pick I will be furious at the failure to get to yes last offseason.

He wanted 4/$75m; we offered 2/$28, and he took 1/$24 with deferrals that made it worth a bit less. We should have raised the AAV or added an option/buyout third season or something to get him to take our money: Like 2/$28m with a third year at $17m/buyout at $8m, so the deal would either be 2/$36 or 3/$45. I bet he would have taken that! Meet him in the middle!

Those compensation picks are worth a ton — way more, IMO, than any difference between Hernández and O'Neill over a couple seasons. Our drafting and development group have been spinning them into gold at a pretty decent clip, so we should absolutely be hoarding them. Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell were both comp picks. I've seen comp picks and their attached bonus pool valued around $10m, but that feels low to me.

Relatedly, we also should have QO'd O'Neill; if he accepts, we have a mildly overpriced solution to our RH bat situation. It's on the line; he might very well have preferred 1/$22m and reaching FA without a QO next season to the 3/$45m he just got from Baltimore, but he of course wouldn't know in advance what his market would be and maybe a player with his injury history should take the largest deal in total commitment that he can get. The argument against QO'ing O'Neill was that it might be too much of our budget if he accepted, but now that we've offered "at least $700m" to an outfielder, I think we can safely put to rest the idea that the team has an inflexible budget at the first CBT line.
I like Teoscar too and would worry about the comp pick, but it's less of a problem if we're already going to sign Fried or Burnes.

I may prefer Suzuki over Teoscar for a lot of the reasons you pose, depending on what the Cubs would want. He's younger, for one, and the plate discipline's a lot better than Teo. His deal also expires in two years, which would be useful if we need to dip under any thresholds. I also like the idea of getting a second Japanese slugger to play alongside Yoshida. Who knows, maybe that kind of thing is interesting for Sasaki.
 

SouthernBoSox

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View: https://twitter.com/jonesandkeefe/status/1866187712480285180?s=46


Bradford doubling down on the Sox going after Bregman.'


To add: I have a really tough time understanding this direction. I understand his bat fits, especially at Fenway, and he is a great defender. Maybe he is moving to second, which would make him more valuable. Bu then again, you have Grissom and Campbell there at the minimum.

Just sign pitching.... I don't know.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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To add: I have a really tough time understanding this direction. I understand his bat fits, especially at Fenway, and he is a great defender. Maybe he is moving to second, which would make him more valuable. Bu then again, you have Grissom and Campbell there at the minimum.

Just sign pitching.... I don't know.
Does one preclude the other?
 

BaseballJones

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Does one preclude the other?
It had better not.

IF they get Bregman, which isn't a move I'm advocating for, I'll have to suck it up and get used to the idea. And the fact is, he WOULD help. He'd be a major improvement on defense at 3b, and he'd slot perfectly between Devers and Casas. It would allow Devers and Casas to split DH and 1b, reducing the wear on them. It would still allow them to get OF help, unless they just want to play Yoshida until Anthony arrives.

But such a move had better not stop them from still loading up on pitching. They need at least one excellent SP, probably two.
 

DJnVa

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Bregman has some weird numbers--119 walks in 2019 to 44 last season? I haven't read too deeply about him, but what is that attributed to? Garbage can banging?
 

Over Guapo Grande

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It had better not.

IF they get Bregman, which isn't a move I'm advocating for, I'll have to suck it up and get used to the idea. And the fact is, he WOULD help. He'd be a major improvement on defense at 3b, and he'd slot perfectly between Devers and Casas. It would allow Devers and Casas to split DH and 1b, reducing the wear on them. It would still allow them to get OF help, unless they just want to play Yoshida until Anthony arrives.

But such a move had better not stop them from still loading up on pitching. They need at least one excellent SP, probably two.
I am 100% with you @BaseballJones. The Pa RedSox needs help on both sides of the ball. Get some Pitching help. Get some D help, with a nice boost to the O.
 

iddoc

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Nov 17, 2006
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I was hugely excited about Téo last season in large part because he didn't have a pick attached. I like the player a lot, but if we sign him now for a bigger deal that costs a pick I will be furious at the failure to get to yes last offseason.

He wanted 4/$75m; we offered 2/$28, and he took 1/$24 with deferrals that made it worth a bit less. We should have raised the AAV or added an option/buyout third season or something to get him to take our money: Like 2/$28m with a third year at $17m/buyout at $8m, so the deal would either be 2/$36 or 3/$45. I bet he would have taken that! Meet him in the middle!

Those compensation picks are worth a ton — way more, IMO, than any difference between Hernández and O'Neill over a couple seasons. Our drafting and development group have been spinning them into gold at a pretty decent clip, so we should absolutely be hoarding them. Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell were both comp picks. I've seen comp picks and their attached bonus pool valued around $10m, but that feels low to me.

Relatedly, we also should have QO'd O'Neill; if he accepts, we have a mildly overpriced solution to our RH bat situation. It's on the line; he might very well have preferred 1/$22m and reaching FA without a QO next season to the 3/$45m he just got from Baltimore, but he of course wouldn't know in advance what his market would be and maybe a player with his injury history should take the largest deal in total commitment that he can get. The argument against QO'ing O'Neill was that it might be too much of our budget if he accepted, but now that we've offered "at least $700m" to an outfielder, I think we can safely put to rest the idea that the team has an inflexible budget at the first CBT line.
I'm baffled that they did not make a QO to O'Neill, especially with the accurately stated need for RH power in the lineup. If they didn't like his defense and don't feel prepared to jettison/bench/demote Yoshida, then Teoscar and Santander don't make sense either. Santander as a switch-hitting DH who could back up 1B and LF, that would be OK, but would necessitate doing something with Yoshida. Bregman makes sense only if they plan to have Casas and Devers share 1B/DH, displacing Yoshida, or if they trade either of them for front line pitching. Bringing him here to 2B seems like an inefficient use of resources, unless they have concrete plans to play Campbell somewhere else AND sell low on Grissom.
 

nighthob

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To add: I have a really tough time understanding this direction. I understand his bat fits, especially at Fenway, and he is a great defender. Maybe he is moving to second, which would make him more valuable. Bu then again, you have Grissom and Campbell there at the minimum.

Just sign pitching.... I don't know.
Maybe it presages a deal with Pittsburgh? The Pirates seem to have a 3D printer pumping out pitching prospects and desperately need hitting. A Casas for Jones or Chandler+ trade might make a lot of sense in the context of a Bregman signing.
 

chrisfont9

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Bradford doubling down on the Sox going after Bregman.'


To add: I have a really tough time understanding this direction. I understand his bat fits, especially at Fenway, and he is a great defender. Maybe he is moving to second, which would make him more valuable. Bu then again, you have Grissom and Campbell there at the minimum.

Just sign pitching.... I don't know.
Doesn't this mean they have good trade offers involving Casas? E.g. Crochet? Bregman to 2b sounds like something you say when you haven't approached your star 3b about moving positions. I guess they could just make Grissom obsolete and keep moving the kids around, but at least Casas is a major trade asset; Grissom you'd just be freezing out.
 

Big Papi's Mango Salsa

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Guys take pride in their work, they don't want to play less (including Devers, who we've repeatedly heard wants to stay at 3B). And teams value positions differently, as they should. So beating out 1B offers for a DH spot means you're really overpaying for the production you'll get out of the player, and I'd say that's an unforced error.
Appreciate the answer. It's interesting to get perspective on what some people think does (and does not) matter in free agency negotiations, especially those that would outweigh money. Truly interesting perspective, as I admit I think for the vast majority of players its 1) money; 2) money; 3) winning; 4) money; 5) anything else.

View: https://twitter.com/jonesandkeefe/status/1866187712480285180?s=46


Bradford doubling down on the Sox going after Bregman.'


To add: I have a really tough time understanding this direction. I understand his bat fits, especially at Fenway, and he is a great defender. Maybe he is moving to second, which would make him more valuable. Bu then again, you have Grissom and Campbell there at the minimum.

Just sign pitching.... I don't know.
For those that don't want Bregman, this should be a very positive development. There being information out there that the Red Sox are "in" on someone any time over the past half decade means that they've probably had one conversation with an agent and have moved into an entirely different direction. Nothing out there makes me more sure of the fact that Bregman, Fried, Burnes, Hernandez and Santander are not coming to Boston than the fact that they're apparently what is being fed to reporters.

I mean, the only person to have the "scoop" on Chapman was a freaking afternoon show producer.


To be clear - I'm not blaming anyone for posting it; and I don't blame the reporters for sharing it. Honestly, I'd bet a lot of agents and "executives" out there are just in essence crossing off the current top available FAs and going to the next group down and thinking that is where the Red Sox are shifting their focus, because they can't possibly be dumb enough to sit out the off-season and slide further into baseball irrelevance again, right. So that is what they tell Bradford or "reporter of your choice" that the Red Sox are shifting their focus to this player. When Bregman, Fried and Burnes sign with "not Boston" then they'll be turning their focus to Hernandez, Santander and Flaherty. When those guys sign with not Boston it'll shift to the next group.
 

Cassvt2023

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Doesn't this mean they have good trade offers involving Casas? E.g. Crochet? Bregman to 2b sounds like something you say when you haven't approached your star 3b about moving positions. I guess they could just make Grissom obsolete and keep moving the kids around, but at least Casas is a major trade asset; Grissom you'd just be freezing out.
What if they're thinking about attaching Yoshida to Casas and having Devers/Grissom/Campbell/Story/Rafaela/Romy rotate thru DH/1B/3B/SS/UT duties? With Bregman mostly at 2B
 

BaseballJones

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Bregman has some weird numbers--119 walks in 2019 to 44 last season? I haven't read too deeply about him, but what is that attributed to? Garbage can banging?
According to b-ref's advanced stats, he saw a lot more strikes this year than in the past.

Strike percentage:
2018 - 57.9%
2019 - 55.3%
2020 - 58.2%
2021 - 60.2%
2022 - 56.9%
2023 - 58.1%
2024 - 63.7%

And this isn't an increase in swinging strikes.

Swinging strike percentage:
2021 - 9.2%
2022 - 10.5%
2023 - 9.4%
2024 - 9.0%

So pitchers are just throwing him a lot more strikes. Just under a hundred fewer strikes over four hundred more pitches seen.

His 3-0 count percentage:

2021 - 7.5%
2022 - 7.6%
2023 - 6.1%
2024 - 4.9%

His 2-0 count percentage:

2021 - 17.0%
2022 - 19.6%
2023 - 15.9%
2024 - 12.9%

His 3-1 count percentage:

2021 - 13.5%
2022 - 13.2%
2023 - 11.3%
2024 - 8.2%

So guys were just coming at him and throwing more strikes earlier in the count. Why? I'm not sure. His other numbers are fine and normal, other than the walk rate.
 

RedOctober3829

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Appreciate the answer. It's interesting to get perspective on what some people think does (and does not) matter in free agency negotiations, especially those that would outweigh money. Truly interesting perspective, as I admit I think for the vast majority of players its 1) money; 2) money; 3) winning; 4) money; 5) anything else.



For those that don't want Bregman, this should be a very positive development. There being information out there that the Red Sox are "in" on someone any time over the past half decade means that they've probably had one conversation with an agent and have moved into an entirely different direction. Nothing out there makes me more sure of the fact that Bregman, Fried, Burnes, Hernandez and Santander are not coming to Boston than the fact that they're apparently what is being fed to reporters.

I mean, the only person to have the "scoop" on Chapman was a freaking afternoon show producer.


To be clear - I'm not blaming anyone for posting it; and I don't blame the reporters for sharing it. Honestly, I'd bet a lot of agents and "executives" out there are just in essence crossing off the current top available FAs and going to the next group down and thinking that is where the Red Sox are shifting their focus, because they can't possibly be dumb enough to sit out the off-season and slide further into baseball irrelevance again, right. So that is what they tell Bradford or "reporter of your choice" that the Red Sox are shifting their focus to this player. When Bregman, Fried and Burnes sign with "not Boston" then they'll be turning their focus to Hernandez, Santander and Flaherty. When those guys sign with not Boston it'll shift to the next group.
Yup that is what the Red Sox will do with an up and coming team, money to spend, and holes to fill. They will "sit out" the offseason. Give me a break.
 

sean1562

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Maybe it presages a deal with Pittsburgh? The Pirates seem to have a 3D printer pumping out pitching prospects and desperately need hitting. A Casas for Jones or Chandler+ trade might make a lot of sense in the context of a Bregman signing.
MLB has Chandler as the 15th best prospect in baseball. The only pitching prospect they have higher than that is Jackson Jobe at 5. I don't see any reason the Pirates would trade Jones or Chandler for Casas straight up. A Chandler trade would be more like Kristian Campbell for Chandler. Both Jones and Chandler are much more valuable than Casas is, they have ace potential and havent started their major league service clocks. Casas is a defensively challenged 25 year old 1B with a career .830 OPS. He has potential but he could also be Rhys Hoskins.
 

nighthob

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MLB has Chandler as the 15th best prospect in baseball. The only pitching prospect they have higher than that is Jackson Jobe at 5. I don't see any reason the Pirates would trade Jones or Chandler for Casas straight up. A Chandler trade would be more like Kristian Campbell for Chandler. Both Jones and Chandler are much more valuable than Casas is, they have ace potential and havent started their major league service clocks. Casas is a defensively challenged 25 year old 1B with a career .830 OPS. He has potential but he could also be Rhys Hoskins.
Casas also has 40 hr power, and those guys don't grow on trees. And it's not like the Pirates have any of those guys in their system. The only young player on their roster that even has 20hr power is their SS/CF. Casas booked an OPS+ 129 season as a rookie before an injury marred sophomore campaign. He's a good bet to improve on the OPS+ 129 number going forward, and be the low-cost middle of the order bat they need. I love KC as much as the next guy, but he's more of a 1/2 hitter than a 3/4 one. The Pirates need the latter.
 

The Filthy One

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Those prospect challenge trades rarely happen anymore. And I think if Casas goes, it's for someone with a) some MLB track record, and b) some years of control left.
 

nighthob

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I don't think Casas qualifies as a prospect anymore, so I agree that a Pittsburgh pitching prospect for Boston prospects trade is highly unlikely (I also don't think that Jones qualifies as a prospect either, he's already established that he belongs in a MLB rotation). And I can't see it happening from either side.
 

sean1562

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Casas also has 40 hr power, and those guys don't grow on trees. And it's not like the Pirates have any of those guys in their system. The only young player on their roster that even has 20hr power is their SS/CF. Casas booked an OPS+ 129 season as a rookie before an injury marred sophomore campaign. He's a good bet to improve on the OPS+ 129 number going forward, and be the low-cost middle of the order bat they need. I love KC as much as the next guy, but he's more of a 1/2 hitter than a 3/4 one. The Pirates need the latter.
The Pirates need a whole lot before they are a contending team. Trading major league ready pitchers in their early 20s for a 1B that has hit 42 HRs in his 222 game career is not going to make them a contender. Their window is probably at least a year away, probably more. The White Sox are asking for Abreu+ for a year and a half of Crochet. Both of those pitchers could be a Crochet level trade chip in a few seasons. IDK, the Pirates trades thrown around recently seem like the kind of wishcasting people mock Yankees fans over, viewing small market teams as big market farm systems. If the Pirates start telling teams "Jared Jones and/or Bubba Chandler are available", I think they get better offers than Triston Casas.
 

Big Papi's Mango Salsa

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Dec 7, 2022
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Yup that is what the Red Sox will do with an up and coming team, money to spend, and holes to fill. They will "sit out" the offseason. Give me a break.
I should have been more clear that I was using that as an agent saying to reporters "the Red Sox can't be dumb enough to sit out the off-season again" (as in that they have the past several).

I've mentioned several times that what I think is realistic is for the Sox to spend are landing one from each of the buckets of 1) the possibly Flaherty / Eovaldi / trade tier and 2) the possibly Hernandez (though less likely if NYY and LAD are in) / Santander / more likely Kim / C Walker tier. I didn't want to type the same thing again, but I guess I should have.

Until we see the report from Passan, I'll be concerned it's lower than that, but I don't believe (rationally, as in not "fear") that the Sox are dumb enough to sit out the off-season for the fourth year in a row. Hope that is more clear.


(Forced to guess, I'm saying they end up spending 3/$70m/$23.3m on Eovaldi and 4/$80m/$20m on Kim, which I'd consider a big step in the right direction and be more or less fine with).
 

ehaz

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Sep 30, 2007
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I sort of get Bregman if they think he can play second at a high level. Yes, Campbell. But he's a multi-positional athlete. If the bat forces the issue early, they'll find a spot for him.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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Jan 13, 2021
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I don’t really get playing Bregman at 2b, is that just a rumor to cover themselves before they tell Devers he’s moving? Continually acquiring players who are over 30 and moving them to unfamiliar positions seems risky to me. Maybe it works, but seems likely to increase potential injury, and hell- if he’s an excellent defensive 3b, why not play him there instead of our lousy defensive 3b?
 

chrisfont9

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I don’t really get playing Bregman at 2b, is that just a rumor to cover themselves before they tell Devers he’s moving? Continually acquiring players who are over 30 and moving them to unfamiliar positions seems risky to me. Maybe it works, but seems likely to increase potential injury, and hell- if he’s an excellent defensive 3b, why not play him there instead of our lousy defensive 3b?
Bregman has only played a few games at 2b but 129 at SS. He can move around. Obviously Houston didn't need him at 2b.
 

BaseballJones

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Oct 1, 2015
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Well, if the Sox trade Grissom, Yoshida, and $$ for a decent prospect or two, and then sign Bregman and Teoscar, well now, that's a substantial upgrade on the MLB roster.

C - Wong
1b - Casas
2b - Bregman
3b - Devers
SS - Story
LF - Anthony/Campbell
CF - Duran
RF - Abreu/Refsnyder
DH - Teoscar

1 Duran
2 Bregman
3 Devers
4 Teoscar
5 Casas
6 Story
7 Abreu/Refsnyder
8 Anthony/Campbell
9 Wong

It allows Anthony and/or Campbell to come along at a nice easy pace.