What's the price point where losing the 1rst round pick for an entirely one dimensional Trumbo would make sense for Sox ?
1) League has 1 WAR at about 8 mill per year
2) We know they want to be under the lux tax which they are by 10ish mill factoring in in season money freedom.
I'd bet Trumbo is fishing for 3/30 with option at this point. I doubt the Sox would entertain the idea without getting the APY at 8 or 9 maybe even lower.
I'd probably look more at Valbuena but it's a mildly interesting idea IF he can be had at 8/9m over 3 .
It's worth pointing out that at no point in the article is it specified that Farrell believes they will sign a middle of the order bat this winter. It's not ruled out, of course, but he could well have meant that at some point they'll need to find a solid replacement for what Papi brought to the lineup and maybe that happens next winter instead of this one. Or maybe they trade for a guy this summer.
Next winter they could target Todd Frazier or maybe Jonathan Lucroy if none of the catching options work out this year. They could look to convert an outfield bat to 1st base or sign one as a DH/4th outfielder while moving Hanley back to 1st. JD Martinez and Justin Upton will both probably be on the market. Carlos Beltran will be back on the market, and Carlos Gonzalez, too, who could benefit greatly from spending a chunk of the year DHing instead of in the field.
And we all know the following winter is loaded with talent like Harper, Machado, Dozier, Donaldson, Blackmon, Adam Jones, AJ Pollock, and maybe Yasmany Tomas. So I'm sure they absolutely intend to sign a big bat at some point in the near future. I'm just not seeing a reason to assume Farrell had to mean before spring training.