Red Sox Linked To Yet Another Elite Starter, This Time It's Left-Handed Max Fried

29 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

How old was Bryce Harper????

Good one. I think he was 26 1/2 and had a .900 OPS w WSH in 927 games and almost 4000 PAs. 7 seasons and 184 HRs.

Per 650 PAs: .279  30  86

Soto: 7 years. 936 games and just over 4,000 PAs. (201 HRs)

Per 650: .285  33  94

50 minutes ago, notin said:

This is true.  But Boston desperately needs a superstar to get past Betts…

"Giving away Bagwell while a prospect was bad enough, but the Red Sox had a HOFer about to enter his prime... and couldn't keep him."

58 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Or an above average right handed bat to protect pitching around devers 

As discussed before, most of the above average right-handed bats do not hit lefties as well as Soto does…

3 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Seager's not at the same level as Soto, I agree.  I just thought you were dissing him a bit too strongly, that's all.

I can admit to bring harsh on him.  But Seager racing free agency at 27 really isn’t the potential opportunity on the same level as Soto reaching out at 26.

Of course they will have something in common when all is said and done.  Seager didn’t sign with Boston either.
 

But until pen hits paper, I’m allowed to dream on this one…

5 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Yeah, so theres one.  Still it's rare.

Harper did have a 28.7 Fwar at that time, that's pretty darn close to what Soto did. 

Maybe if Harper had those two extra weeks…

6 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

How old was Bryce Harper????

Good call....

They both were about the same age, had played 7 seasons, had about 930 games and 4,000 PAs, when signed.

Soto: .953 OPS (160 OPS+) Per 650: .285  32  98

Harper:  .900 OPS (149 OPS+) Per 650: .279 30  87

28 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

maybe if he had those two extra weeks.....what?

<sigh>
 

I mentioned earlier Harper and Soto reached free agency at the same age, in fact Harper was about two weeks younger…

Gotta love Soto's consistently high OPS+

142 at ages 19 and 20.

217 at age 21 was off-the-charts.

175 and 147 at 22 & 23

Then 155 with the Padres at 24 and 178 with NYY at 25.

I can't stop from comparing him to Manny, and when you look at Manny's full 14 seasons, from ages 23 to 36, you see he had 2 seasons in the mid 180's as his highest, ever. He led the league, just ones at 174 at age 27. His age 26 to 36 went like this: 146, 174, 186, (BOS>>>)162, 184, 160, 162, 153, 165, 126, 166 (BOS+LAD) At ages 37 & 38, in just 751 PAs total, he still put up a 147 OPS+!

If Soto can match the 13 seasons Manny had from age 26 to 38, signing him is a no-brainer:

1.015 OPS (159 OPS+)

.315 BA

41 HRs per 162

135 RBI per 162

350 TB per 162

Soto's last 5 seasons:

.959 OPS, but a 168 OPS+, which is better than Manny's 13 year stretch.

35 HRs and 100 RBI per 162 falls short of Manny, as does his 299 TB/162.

Manny at ages 21-25: .940 OPS (140 OPS+) 32 HRs and 109 RBI per 162 w 311 TB.

It's hard to know if Soto can age like Manny, and there doesn't seem to be as many antics or drama moments to his career, but to me, he looks like a once in a generation kinds free agent.

We should have kept Betts, but signing Soto would go a long way to helping us get over that huge blunder.

5 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

With snell going to the dodgers, it looks like us and Toronto fighting for fried. 

Or the Dodgers...

I think the Sox young core may attract a lot of FAs to Boston. 

It's been a long time being able to say that.

The rebuild was too long. The last place finishes, too painful. 

I told myself, I was not going to let hope turn into expectation, but it's creeping into my soul.

I'm a fool.

37 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

They care about their friends more than they care about your prospects.  Its a brotherhood and prospects arent in until they are.

I meant the core already in the bigs.

Casas, Abreu, Rafaela, Bello, Fitts, Slaten

Duran, Devers, DHan, Wong, Whitlock, Houck, Crawford

7 minutes ago, vjcsmoke said:

I believe a ground ball pitcher would fare better in Fenway. Anything that gets in the air is liable to go off the wall for a double or if it's a line drive could end up a home run.

I've also heard on air talks with Big Papi mention that Max Fried was one of his favorite pitcher targets. Not sure if the Red Sox share the same opinion but I wouldn't be surprised if they are interested.

If SOTO joins the mix the Red Sox could field a very good offense and all the pitchers need to do is keep it close and let our bats do the rest.

I like this train of thought.

2023-2024 GB% leaders (200+ IP)

60 Logan Webb

59 Fried

57 C Sanchez, F Valdez

55 Houck

54 Bello

53 Stroman

51 H Brown

50 Suarez, Bradish, Elder, Glasnow, Nate