There are 2 more weeks until the trade deadline

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Obviously a thread to indulge your Fantasy GM.
I think the only move will be to add a starter- which probably will move Criswell to the pen.
Possibly Roman Anthony, Valdez and a lesser level pitcher. Eovaldi is back.
Offense doesn’t change….

 

[ookami7m]

At a minimum the team needs a starter to help stabilize the rotation and load balance some off the new guys. Other pieces would be nice but not necessary.

Unless.....

If Breslow can pull something crazy off, who knows? Those types of deadline deals just don't happen as often anymore.

 

[Salem's Lot]

There are ton of buyers and not too many sellers, so I’m not holding out much hope beyond maybe some depth in the bullpen.

 

[BringBackMo]

Obviously a thread to indulge your Fantasy GM.
I think the only move will be to add a starter- which probably will move Criswell to the pen.
Possibly Roman Anthony, Valdez and a lesser level pitcher. Eovaldi is back.
Offense doesn’t change….

Just want to make sure I understand. Are you advocating for trading Roman Anthony?

 

[bosockboy]

Just want to make sure I understand. Are you advocating for trading Roman Anthony?

It appears for 2-3 months of Eovaldi, which is crazy.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Just want to make sure I understand. Are you advocating for trading Roman Anthony?

I thought Eovaldi had another year on his contract. So I am changing my mind on that. But by drafting Montgomery, it does make Anthony much less important for the future.

 

[moondog80]

Eovalid has a 20 mil option that kicks in if he throws 62 more innings this year (300 IP combined 2023-2024).

 

[BaseballJones]

Eovaldi has a $20m vesting option for 2025. If you're wondering what a vesting option is...

A vesting option is an optional year at the end of the contract that becomes guaranteed if the player reaches a certain performance incentive threshold. Vesting options are typically based on playing time incentives such as plate appearances, innings pitched, games started or games finished.

I don't know what the incentives are for his contract, but he's thrown 94 innings and is on pace for about 160 innings.

EDIT: Annnnnd, even as I typed that out, @moondog80 came up with the actual answer. Thanks!

 

[BaseballJones]

In my mind, acquiring Eovaldi would be basically the perfect move, depending on the price, of course.

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

I certainly wouldn’t trade him for an Eovaldi rental, but trading Anthony is defensible when you’ve already got Abreu and Duran around for the foreseeable future. I don’t think they need to run out and deal him away, like, tomorrow or anything, though.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

I’m not advocating but think for a trade for anyone worth trading for with more than an expiring contract it’ll take one of the big 3.
Sale had 1 season on his contract and took 1 top 10 prospect in all of baseball and another top 100

 

[bosockboy]

Anthony gets you in the Crochet discussion.

 

[Max Power]

I answered an extra starter and reliever, but there probably won't be many starters available and the Orioles have way more to offer in potential trades than the Red Sox. I won't be particularly disappointed if they just end up with a reliever because another deal just couldn't come together.

 

[MetSox1]

Love this thread, just for the fun value. I'm sure a lot won't be realistic but I'll throw my hat in the ring:

I'm making four assumptions going into this:

1) Houck and Kutter have never thrown anywhere near 200 innings. The odds of both of them beingon the field and effective in mid September is <50%. And a rotation where only one of those two is effective and the 2/3 starters are Pivetta and Bello (who would be 4/5 starters on a title contender) can not win. So IF buying, getting an SP or even two is essential. If they don't get a front line SP who can pitch big innings, the Red Sox should not be buyers. Full stop. And this is coming from a big Pivetta fan who believes in the peripherals - but he's never had an ERA under 4 in his life, so as of now he's not a top 3 starter on a playoff team.

2) The locker room is in a good place. The team has overperformed. Selling here is a terrible and potentially cancerous message, unless things go off the rails in the two weeks before the deadline. A first year GM has to see the writing on the wall and avoid that at all cost.

3) The FO is well aware of their perception issue. They are also aware that they have money under the cap and will be willing to - with a tight leash and probably going no where near the cap - use some of that financial flexibility as capital

4) The bullpen has thrown a ton of innings and could use some less taxed bullets

So assets are slight cash and young middle infielders, needs are pitching, pitching, pitching and a righty bat. And since the FO likely doesn't view this years team as part of "the window" Craig will likely want to avoid full rental only situations unless its an expandable asset. On the opposite side, Crochet is going to hit the same innings crunch that Houck and Kutter will, so just not sure he makes sense for the Sox at all right now (but by all means in the offseason...)



Here's my hail mary of a creative solution: Pray the dbacks stumble out of the gate in the second half, and the Sox survive (3-3 or 4-2?) that tough start to the second half. And then my deals are:

DBacks send:
Christian Walker (RHH, 1b, rental)
Zac Gallen (SP2, arb eligible thru end of 2025)
Paul Sewald (RP, rental)

Sox Send:
Cooper Criswell
Miguel Bleis
Wilyer Abreu
Bobby D

Nats send:
Robert Garcia (arb eligible thru 2030)

Sox Send:
Nick Yorke
Cam Booser

Tigers send:
Andrew Chafin (club option for 2025)

Sox Send:
Enmanual Valdez
Bailey Horn

These are expensive deals, but add two big ticket arms for next season as well, gives us Casas insurance for his injury this year and alleviates some 40 man concerns. The Sox hold on to the Big 3 and plug developmental holes for the other orgs. May need a third team involved in the DBacks deal since I don't know if they'd have room for Abreu but the values work out about right. Sox ROY lineup would look like this:

vs r:
Duran CF (L)
Hamilton 2b (L)
Walker 1b (R)
Devers 3b (L)
O'Neil RF (R)
Casas DH(L)
Wong C (R)
Yoshida LF (L)
Rafaela SS (R)

vs l:
Duran CF (L)
Gonzalez 2b (R)
Walker 1b (R)
Devers 3b (L)
O'Neil LF (R)
Refsnyder RF (R)
Casas DH(L)
Wong C (R)
Rafaela SS (R)

SP:
Houck
Gallen
Crawford
Bello
Pivetta

RP:
Jansen (R)
Z Kelly (R)
Sewald (R)
Garcia (L)
Chafin (L)
Wincowski (R)
Bernardino (L)
Weissert (R)


I think that team contends now, only adds about 10MM in salary for this season, and doesnt crush your future. And yes, I think its a bit crazy.

 

[LogansDad]

I still don't think I would give up Anthony for 1.25 years of Eovaldi, and I love Nate.

I feel like the Mariners are a really solid trade partner for the Sox right now. DiPoto has been known to not sit on his hands and try to fix problems and is willing to overpay. They need hitting. Lots of hitting. Their current DH is putting up a .645 OPS and is striking out a barely sub-Dalbecian 32%.

How about Yoshida with 50% retention, plus one of Yorke or Lugo for Emerson Hancock, who seems to have fallen out of favor a bit out there but might benefit from the pitching lab? He is still stellar in what has always been a high offense environment in the PCL, but for whatever reason that just isn't translating to the MLB level this year, but it is largely due to a disastrous outing against the Twins early in the season. He isn't striking anyone out, though, which is concerning, and the Mariners seem to want to limit his innings, probably due to prior injuries, though he has gotten up over 90 pitches in his last two MLB starts.

 

[simplicio]

I think starter, corner/2B RHB and maybe reliever.

The secondary question is whether they go for pure rentals and primarily sell off pieces we need to dump for 40 man space anyway, or pursue more control and make some deals that really hurt.

Starter: I don't see the need for an expensive long term get here. Giolito comes back next year to replace Pivetta if he leaves, the other guys go into next season with more innings under their belts, and I think there's a very real chance we actually target Burnes this winter. So I think this is rental territory and we get Yusei Kikuchi from TOR, who I think is quietly more impressive than top of the market guys like Flaherty and aligns better with our pitching program.

RHB: I love to fantasize about Isaac Paredes, I really do. One of the most ideal Fenway hitters in history, he'd be an absolutely perfect complement to Devers, Casas and Yoshida for the next three years. But realistically he's a starter and an all star and he'd cost all star starter prices, so I don't see Breslow splurging like that on a luxury utility role. I think this is ultimately rental territory again, as next year we're looking at a healthy Story and Grissom, with Mayer waiting in the wings and Romy having established himself as a capable utility guy. So to get us over the finish line I think we set our sights slightly to the right of Paredes and buy Amed Rosario to upgrade Westbrook's bat. His defense is mediocre to godawful but you can plant him at a bunch of positions (not first, but Romy can take that), he's a contact singles/doubles guy (who somehow walks less than Ceddanne) and not remotely a power bat, but he doesn't have major splits and he's another burner so he'd fit right into the KAOS.

(Sidebar: if you wanted to split the difference you could continue across the Rays infield to Yandy Diaz, with 2 years of control and more of a power threat, but he comes with a big split and he's having a down year after two great ones. Maybe that makes Tampa want to get out of his $8m owed next year, I dunno.)

Reliever: this is murkier to me. Maybe pushing a starter to the pen and getting some combination of guys back from the IL is enough, but I have no idea what their progress looks like on that front. I think getting one more arm as insurance would still be prudent. Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates are both rentals with great stuff having excellent years, but both come with the closer tag and are going to be priced accordingly. One name I came across is Nick Mears from COL. His underlying pitch metrics are really strong, though he walks too many guys. His numbers are really wild; the 5.95 ERA is over 3 runs higher than his 2.81 FIP, and naturally as a Rockies guy you wonder how much he's getting killed at home. The answer is none, his ERA at Coors is 3.57, and somehow he's managed a road ERA of 8.69, nearly SIX runs over his 2.96 FIP. He's only given up 2 HR in 42 innings so it's not that, he appears to be just super unlucky with a .378 BABIP (and he doesn't have an outlier hard hit rate or anything to fuel that). This is a lot of red for a waiver claim toiling in Colorado for major league minimum:


"Starer": where's my Koji SOON pic?

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

I still don't think I would give up Anthony for 1.25 years of Eovaldi, and I love Nate.

I feel like the Mariners are a really solid trade partner for the Sox right now. DiPoto has been known to not sit on his hands and try to fix problems and is willing to overpay. They need hitting. Lots of hitting. Their current DH is putting up a .645 OPS and is striking out a barely sub-Dalbecian 32%.

How about Yoshida with 50% retention, plus one of Yorke or Lugo for Emerson Hancock, who seems to have fallen out of favor a bit out there but might benefit from the pitching lab? He is still stellar in what has always been a high offense environment in the PCL, but for whatever reason that just isn't translating to the MLB level this year, but it is largely due to a disastrous outing against the Twins early in the season. He isn't striking anyone out, though, which is concerning, and the Mariners seem to want to limit his innings, probably due to prior injuries, though he has gotten up over 90 pitches in his last two MLB starts.

The Mariners seem like they kind of need to do something big - Luis Robert, JCJ, Vlad Jr, some other player who’s not a Jr. - but I doubt they actually will. And I do think Yorke might appeal to them, even though I’m not sure he helps their current issues. But how would Yoshida fit their lineup?

All that said, in a scenario where the Mariners do wind up getting a Big Bat to play 1B or DH, I wonder if they’d be amenable to a Ty France move, he’s having a down year (who isn’t on that team), but he hits lefties and can play positions other than first in a pinch.

 

[Sox Pride]

Where is the "Sell" option. So many buyers out there and prices are bound to be ridiculously high. If we can get a Cole Ragans type pitcher for some thing short term, CB might consider it.

 

[NDame616]

I thought Eovaldi had another year on his contract. So I am changing my mind on that. But by drafting Montgomery, it does make Anthony much less important for the future.

Man I hope they don't approach the draft with the thought that they should trade one of their top prospects who is on the cusp of the majors, because we drafted a 21 year old coming off of an ankle injury so bad he was on a golf cart draft night (and no, I'm not saying anything bad about the pick...I like the pick....but I really hope we don't consider trading Anthony because of a guy who has yet to play in the pros)

 

[Delicious Sponge]

Max Scherzer is the perfect fit here. I know he's still coming back from injury and is owed a bunch of money for the rest of the year, but that means he won't be as expensive as other starters, and may have fewer suitors. If healthy, he's at least a Jake Peavey type acquisition, and would bring stability and massive veteran and post-season experience to a really young pitching staff.

 

[Salem's Lot]

Where is the "Sell" option. So many buyers out there and prices are bound to be ridiculously high. If we can get a Cole Ragans type pitcher for some thing short term, CB might consider it.

It would be suicide for this ownership group in this town to sell at this year’s deadline.

 

[BaseballJones]

It would be suicide for this ownership group in this town to sell at this year’s deadline.

Yeah but you could do both theoretically. You could sell someone like O'Neill or Chris Martin or Abreu and get some good prospects back, and then in turn deal other (better) prospects for other players who they could control for longer.

 

[Max Power]

Max Scherzer is the perfect fit here. I know he's still coming back from injury and is owed a bunch of money for the rest of the year, but that means he won't be as expensive as other starters, and may have fewer suitors. If healthy, he's at least a Jake Peavey type acquisition, and would bring stability and massive veteran and post-season experience to a really young pitching staff.

It's very unlikely the Rangers would be sellers. They're 5 out in a weak division, have a positive run differential, and are planning to get Scherzer and deGrom back. After winning the World Series, they can't just pack it in in July. Especially since they went into the season knowing they'd have to tread water for the first half before the injured pitchers started coming back.

 

[SirPsychoSquints]

Lowest Playoff odds:

1. CWS 0.0%
2. OAK 0.0
3. COL 0.0
4. FLA 0.0
5. CAL 0.1
6. WAS 0.3
7. TOR 3.0
8. DET 7.5
9. CIN 8.7
10. TEX 11.8
11. CHC 12.1
12. PIT 16.6
13. TBD 16.6

All others over 24%.

For those teams above 7%, a few extra wins or losses over the next couple weeks might be enough to make up their minds. The Rangers specifically are 4-5 back of two teams for the division, and have to pass four teams to get a WC. I think they'd be prudent to sell/reload.

 

[BringBackMo]

Trading Roman Anthony for anything short of a young, cost-controlled over multiple years starting pitcher is insane. He is the kind of building block that contending cores are made of. And he will be ridiculously cheap for years to come. He is a spectacular prospect.

 

[BaseballJones]

The Rangers could probably rebuild and get a massive haul for Eovaldi, deGrom, and Scherzer if they truly went into sell mode. Of course, they'd need to completely rebuild their pitching staff in the offseason, but they'd get a lot of great pieces if they traded those guys.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

Max Scherzer is the perfect fit here. I know he's still coming back from injury and is owed a bunch of money for the rest of the year, but that means he won't be as expensive as other starters, and may have fewer suitors. If healthy, he's at least a Jake Peavey type acquisition, and would bring stability and massive veteran and post-season experience to a really young pitching staff.

These things can change, but he’s on record as saying he wouldn’t accept a trade. At the very least, he’d probably want something for it and Boston seems unlikely to be somewhere he’d want to go.

 

[greenmountains]

First - I'm a Rafaela fan boy. I believe he is the Sox CF'er for the next 10 years. Second - I had never been sold on Jarren Duran. Third - I was wrong about Jarren Duran. His game has changed, he has changed.

With that said, Jarren Duran may never have more trade value than he does today. While now a believer, I think he could a key to changing the starting pitch staff. Is there a cost controlled starter available who files the #1 or #2 starter spot for the foreseeable future. How do the Sox deal from a position of strength? Young, athletic outfield, left hand hitting outfield is a strength for the Red Sox organization - with Roman Anthony pushing in 2025, plus Abreu already looking like a everyday outfielder.

Let's be bold....what's it take to get Garett Crochet or Logan Gilbert? JD plus what (Teel? and Bleis?). Is asking for Gilbert too much, would Seattle part with George Kirby or Bryce Miller. I can't seem to get Baseball Trade Values to work without a subscription.

 

[LogansDad]

The Mariners seem like they kind of need to do something big - Luis Robert, JCJ, Vlad Jr, some other player who’s not a Jr. - but I doubt they actually will. And I do think Yorke might appeal to them, even though I’m not sure he helps their current issues. But how would Yoshida fit their lineup?

All that said, in a scenario where the Mariners do wind up getting a Big Bat to play 1B or DH, I wonder if they’d be amenable to a Ty France move, he’s having a down year (who isn’t on that team), but he hits lefties and can play positions other than first in a pinch.

My thought is that he's probably a better overall DH than Garver is right now, and he'd be cheap for 3 more seasons if the Sox are paying half the freight. He'd also, I assume, be a bit of a draw for the local Japanese population. I also think that Yoshida is a nice change of scenery candidate.

I am probably overselling how important he would be to the Mariners, though, you are right about that.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Yeah but you could do both theoretically. You could sell someone like O'Neill or Chris Martin or Abreu and get some good prospects back, and then in turn deal other (better) prospects for other players who they could control for longer.

Ask the last guy if that's true.

If the Sox don't do anything but buy in two weeks; the media (and a lot of fans) are going to completely lose their shit. If they sell, it will be spun as the ownership not caring or not having confidence in the team that is sitting two games up for third place in the Wild Card. If they do both, it will be "same old, same old" with Bloom's name being dredged back up and people wondering whether Breslow is the same guy and if so why'd we get rid of the last dude?

Breslow has a thin tight rope to walk, the team is in contention though I'm not sure whether that's because they're really good, other contending teams have shit the bed (Blue Jays, Rays, Rangers), the expansion of the playoffs, or some combination of all three. Breslow has to determine whether the team is good and then go on from there. And if thinks that they're not going to win the Series or at least get to the ALCS, how does he convey that to both the team and fan base? As strange as it sounds, with this team being as good as it is right now; it kind of screws Breslow a bit who I'm sure felt that he had at least a year to play around with the roster.

What he should do is take the redundant prospects (Yorke for example) and bolster the team that way. Leave ATM and Bleis alone (which he'll probably do) and make it appear that he's not afraid to deal young kids. Maybe a Yorke and something can nab you an Eovaldi. I think that would be spun as a win because you a. get a veteran pitcher b. get Eovaldi whom everyone loves c. show that you're not a prospect hoarder and d. get rid of one of Bloom's first draft picks.

 

[Brianish]

If they do both, it will be "same old, same old" with Bloom's name being dredged back up and people wondering whether Breslow is the same guy and if so why'd we get rid of the last dude?

I'm not sure this part is *necessarily* true if it results in a clear upgrade. This team has some clear needs, an overabundance of lefty hitters, and a couple people hopefully coming back from injury. If someone is shipped out to make room for an incoming piece that fits better, and the prospect pool is replenished as a side effect, I think the fans can be made to understand. After all, 2004 involved shipping out Nomar.

That said, they've created a real "boy who cried wolf" situation for themselves with the last few years.

 

[Fishy1]

I hope we're buying and shooting high.

My intuition is I might actually feel worse about dealing Teel or Mayer right now than I would Anthony. Anthony is super young and an outstanding prospect but the other two are at premium positions, and I worry Anthony is never going to solve his swing and miss issues. On top of that, catcher and SS are two positions where I'm worried about the future. I love Wong, but I think he's had some luck on balls in play (366 BABIP on an unimpressive statcast profile) and what we're seeing is peak rather than mean offensive play. And the defense - great thrower, but weak with passed balls and framing. I think hes a good catcher, but probably never better than a 2-3 win guy. And SS is obviously a position where we need a long-term solution (notwithstanding my Romy obsession). But that's just my intuition, which is remarkably volatile.

On the other hand, Anthony could be a perpetual 4-5 win player, and trading him for a starting pitcher whose arm might fall off might be stupendously dumb. With O'Neill probably leaving at the end of this year, LF might be open. And Roman could go on an insane tear like he did in the second half of last year that makes the middling performance from this first half highly forgettable.

That said, I totally agree that dealing him for anything less than outstanding cost-controlled pitching would be folly. Moncada and Kopech went for Sale. If we're moving Anthony, we'd want a great return.

Other guys who might be tantalizing to other orgs: Matthew Lugo is heating up again in AAA and is just 23. He was the best hitter in the minor leagues for two months and has a OPS over 850 in AAA. Meidroth and Sogard are having great seasons and have great eyes. Kavadas is producing a insane three true outcomes season along with a HH% over 55. Bleis I wouldn't miss, honestly, he's still all projectiom, and for that reason might not be very tantalizing.

 

[NickEsasky]

Lowest Playoff odds:

1. CWS 0.0%
2. OAK 0.0
3. COL 0.0
4. FLA 0.0
5. CAL 0.1
6. WAS 0.3
7. TOR 3.0
8. DET 7.5
9. CIN 8.7
10. TEX 11.8
11. CHC 12.1
12. PIT 16.6
13. TBD 16.6

All others over 24%.

For those teams above 7%, a few extra wins or losses over the next couple weeks might be enough to make up their minds. The Rangers specifically are 4-5 back of two teams for the division, and have to pass four teams to get a WC. I think they'd be prudent to sell/reload.

How long do we have to wait to see who TBD is? I hope it's the Astros.

 

[tbrown_01923]

I am only tinkering around the edges - medium leverage reliever, back end starter. Continue the run the best they can, but lets not put all the chips in yet. This team is too exposed to left handed pitchers, and too light on pitching. I don't know if they can address all of that without dealing real talent or too much of the depth. Really comes down to: I don't think this is the year and want to save assets to push all in next year. with injured players returning, top end prospects on the cusp, and an offseason to maybe flip Yoshi...

 

[BaseballJones]

I'd be willing to deal Abreu. Not because I don't like him (I do...a lot). He's young (just 25) and is a terrific hitter (career ops of .822 and ops+ of 124) who also plays credible defense in the OF. For a lot of teams, such a cost-controlled guy with his ability would be worth quite a bit. For the Sox, they have "too many" left-handed bats, and so turning Abreu into pitching, knowing they have Anthony and Bleis and Campbell and maybe even Montgomery in a couple of years all on the way. This year they could simply roll with an OF of O'Neill, Duran, Yoshida, and Refsnyder, with Rafaela playing there too as needed (Hamilton at SS), and probably wouldn't lose too much in the process, while picking up a potentially very helpful starting pitcher.

 

[Fishy1]

I would add if I was going to ship out/replace one guy, it'd probably be O'Neill. He seems to be wearing down some and I'm not confident he's going to impress in the second half. And I really doubt they'd extend him. Too big an injury history, too old.

Lugo is an interesting internal option. He went on a strikeout binge after getting hit on the hand in AAA, but since he's recovered, he's tearing the cover off the ball again. He doesn't get talked about enough here. What he did in AA was bonkers, and he's made material adjustments to his approach and stance that are paying huge dividends

 

[BringBackMo]

I am only tinkering around the edges - medium leverage reliever, back end starter. Continue the run the best they can, but lets not put all the chips in yet. This team is too exposed to left handed pitchers, and too light on pitching. I don't know if they can address all of that without dealing real talent or too much of the depth. Really comes down to: I don't think this is the year and want to save assets to push all in next year. with injured players returning, top end prospects on the cusp, and an offseason to maybe flip Yoshi...

Post of the thread. Perfectly stated. Let's look to deal from the emerging 40-man crunch, bringing back average to slightly above-average Major League help in middle relief and the back of the rotation. Sox are on the upswing but are decidedly not in GFIN mode. Keep building, keep improving...keep our powder dry this season.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

I'd be willing to deal Abreu. Not because I don't like him (I do...a lot). He's young (just 25) and is a terrific hitter (career ops of .822 and ops+ of 124) who also plays credible defense in the OF. For a lot of teams, such a cost-controlled guy with his ability would be worth quite a bit. For the Sox, they have "too many" left-handed bats, and so turning Abreu into pitching, knowing they have Anthony and Bleis and Campbell and maybe even Montgomery in a couple of years all on the way. This year they could simply roll with an OF of O'Neill, Duran, Yoshida, and Refsnyder, with Rafaela playing there too as needed (Hamilton at SS), and probably wouldn't lose too much in the process, while picking up a potentially very helpful starting pitcher.

Ah boy.... I hear you but I suspect a lot of teams don't trust him yet. He doesn't have the pedigree and because of that, there's a lot of distrust on impressive single seasons. I disagree and think this guy has an incredibly high floor and a borderline All Star ceiling for 6 more seasons or so. He kinda sorta does everything really well. Nothing great, but someone mentioned the Trot Nixon comparison and it seems apt. A guy you don't extend but you ride with him and hope he can address his weakness (LHP deficient but way too SSS) but even if he doesn't.... there's always guys like Refsnyder out there that if platooned properly will give you a combined high level player.

 

[BaseballJones]

Ah boy.... I hear you but I suspect a lot of teams don't trust him yet. He doesn't have the pedigree and because of that, there's a lot of distrust on impressive single seasons. I disagree and think this guy has an incredibly high floor and a borderline All Star ceiling for 6 more seasons or so. He kinda sorta does everything really well. Nothing great, but someone mentioned the Trot Nixon comparison and it seems apt. A guy you don't extend but you ride with him and hope he can address his weakness (LHP deficient but way too SSS) but even if he doesn't.... there's always guys like Refsnyder out there that if platooned properly will give you a combined high level player.

Yeah you might be right. But he's obviously a good player. But the Sox have a bunch of quality OF both now and coming up, so he's a guy I'd be willing to deal.

 

[SirPsychoSquints]

How long do we have to wait to see who TBD is? I hope it's the Astros.

I’m never, ever going to stop calling them the Devil Rays.

 

[dynomite]

Post of the thread. Perfectly stated. Let's look to deal from the emerging 40-man crunch, bringing back average to slightly above-average Major League help in middle relief and the rotation. Sox are on the upswing but are decidedly not in GFIN mode. Keep building, keep improving...keep our powder dry this season.

This is the sober take I suppose. And if we were in charge of a baseball simulator, sure, I'd be fine with this approach.

But I really, really hope this isn't the consensus view of the front office or anyone in charge of the Red Sox.

Since October 2021 -- almost 3 years -- the Red Sox haven't played meaningful baseball. This team finished dead last the past two seasons. Now all of a sudden they have the best record in MLB since mid-May (right?). The Red Sox organization has enormous financial resources and a farm system stocked with young talent. As I've thought since Spring Training, this is a scary team that no one will would to play in the playoffs. They can try to win in 2024 without blowing up the tentative, hopefully possibilities for winning in 2026 and 2027.

The playoffs have been proven time and again to be a crapshoot. Last year's World Series featured a 90-win champion and an 83-win runner up. Whatever "keeping your powder dry" vs. "GFIN" means, I want this team to do what it needs to do to responsibly to win now.

Maybe we're saying the same thing. I'm not suggesting we trade the entire farm system for Herschel Walker. I just bristle at the idea that a team this good should "keep its powder dry" until some hopeful far off (medium off?) future arrives.

 

[barbed wire Bob]

I'm voting we trade for a Starer.

 

[Rasputin]

There are ton of buyers and not too many sellers, so I’m not holding out much hope beyond maybe some depth in the bullpen.

I voted for everything between the extremes, but this is probably the most likely course.

 

[Rasputin]

Maybe we're saying the same thing. I'm not suggesting we trade the entire farm system for Herschel Walker. I just bristle at the idea that a team this good should "keep its powder dry" until some hopeful far off (medium off?) future arrives.

The medium-off is basically next year.

There's an off season in between in which you can back up the truck for Corbin Burnes. The ATM crew will be in AAA and there's a good chance at least one is in the bigs for good and that the others have had some time up. The Window will not just be open, it will be all the way open, propped up with a 2x4 on one of those summer days that make you wonder if winter is even real.

 

[BringBackMo]

Whatever "keeping your powder dry" vs. "GFIN" means, I want this team to do what it needs to do to responsibly to win now.

Maybe we're saying the same thing. I'm not suggesting we trade the entire farm system for Herschel Walker. I just bristle at the idea that a team this good should "keep its powder dry" until some hopeful far off (medium off?) future arrives.

I feel like you've characterized my post in the narrowest way possible. I don't think GFIN v keeping our powder dry is an especially cryptic concept, and I was hopeful that when I specifically advocated for improving the Major League team by trading some of our many good prospects that will have to be added to the 40-man this off-season, I was making it clear that keeping our powder dry relates entirely to our top-level prospects. Perhaps we are saying the same thing, but to figure that out I guess it would be helpful if you could tease out a little more who in our system you would be willing to trade, and the kinds of Major League talent (not specific names, necessarily, but overall quality of players) you would be looking for in return.

EDIT: Rasputin's post above makes me realize that I, too, should have addressed the time question you raised in your post. In my OP what I wrote was "keep our powder dry this season." I was trying to make it clear that the Red Sox are on the upswing, and that GFIN begins next season.

 

[nighthob]

I’m not advocating but think for a trade for anyone worth trading for with more than an expiring contract it’ll take one of the big 3.
Sale had 1 season on his contract and took 1 top 10 prospect in all of baseball and another top 100

Sale was 28 and the best pitcher in baseball with three years left on his White Sox contract when Boston acquired him. His onerous deal didn’t kick in until the 2020 season. There’s no way you trade Roman Anthony for what Eovaldi has left. Much less Anthony+.

 

[BornToRun]

Anthony gets you in the Crochet discussion.

I’d love Crochet as he’s awesome, under control for past this year, and has the sort of history that maybe suggests he’d be open to an extension but I would assume that discussion starts with two of Anthony, Mayer, and Teel.

 

[simplicio]

Might as well propose some trades for the people I mentioned:

Yusei Kikuchi: Yorke. Kind of a similar valuation to the Lorenzen for Hao-Yu Lee trade last year.

Amed Rosario: Rosario's been fine but not amazing, maybe the Mark Canha trade from last year is a comp? He brought back MIL's #30, maybe this is the way of getting Mata off the 40 man and giving Tampa a pitching project for us to regret later.

Nick Mears: this seems like a lottery ticket type of situation. Give COL a choice of some A guy in the 30-50 range.

 

[dynomite]

I feel like you've characterized my post in the narrowest way possible. I don't think GFIN v keeping our powder dry is an especially cryptic concept, and I was hopeful that when I specifically advocated for improving the Major League team by trading some of our many good prospects that will have to be added to the 40-man this off-season, I was making it clear that keeping our powder dry relates entirely to our top-level prospects. Perhaps we are saying the same thing, but to figure that out I guess it would be helpful if you could tease out a little more who in our system you would be willing to trade, and the kinds of Major League talent (not specific names, necessarily, but overall quality of players) you would be looking for in return.

EDIT: Rasputin's post above makes me realize that I, too, should have addressed the time question you raised in your post. In my OP what I wrote was "keep our powder dry this season." I was trying to make it clear that the Red Sox are on the upswing, and that GFIN begins next season.

That's all fair, and again, I didn't mean to unfairly read your post -- as we both are saying, maybe we're saying the same thing. Being more specific about players is harder now that the baseball trade simulator site is paywalled (and anyway, there's been plenty of debate about how accurate it is).

Ultimately, I hope the team is willing to a) take on salary and b) protect the top prospects but look to improve the 2024 roster (and ideally beyond) while dealing from the rest of the MiLB system -- Bleis, Yorke, etc.

I don't know what it will take to get Jack Flaherty from the Tigers, or an injured Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins, or Rooker from Oakland, or Luis Robert/Fedde/Crochet/etc. from the White Sox, let alone Rengifo, Kikuchi, or other players. But I sure hope the Sox are kicking the tires on all of it.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Might as well propose some trades for the people I mentioned:

Yusei Kikuchi: Yorke. Kind of a similar valuation to the Lorenzen for Hao-Yu Lee trade last year.

Amed Rosario: Rosario's been fine but not amazing, maybe the Mark Canha trade from last year is a comp? He brought back MIL's #30, maybe this is the way of getting Mata off the 40 man and giving Tampa a pitching project for us to regret later.

Nick Mears: this seems like a lottery ticket type of situation. Give COL a choice of some A guy in the 30-50 range.

Kikuchi would be fantastic for Yorke. He has 1 year control after ‘24 yeah?