The Reset/Rebuild thread

[jacksonianmarch]

To go with the theme I started in the Go For It thread. JH gives you the keys to the kingdom. He mandates a reset and says he is fine with a couple years of losing, just once the Price, Pedroia, Martinez contracts are up, I want a winning window again. Rebuild this, ie get the most of our dealable assets

 

1. Mookie Betts gets dealt. 100%. I look in two places. The Cincinnati Reds painted themselves in a corner with the Bauer deal. They are all in for 2020. They have the pitching prospect you need to target in Hunter Greene. I start the deal around him and add in some other top 100 or fringe top 100 talent. But Greene is the guy to build your rotation around. If the Reds deal doesn't materialize, I look at Cleveland. No, they probably don't want to spend $30 mil on an OFer, but their OF was awful and they were close to the postseason. With their window closing soon, they need to maximize it and what better way than to get an MVP level player for a year. For the Guardians, I would look at Nolan Jones and Tristan McKenzie. Yes, they're their top 2 prospects, but that would be a good haul for a year of Mookie

 

2. ERod needs to go. There is one team I call first. Minnesota. Odorizzi, Gibson, Pineda, and Perez are all leaving. Minnesota likes short term deals, and the 2 yrs for ERod would be perfect. Since I have two years of control, I would ask for a lot. I like Graterol and Kiriloff and would go that route. Graterol looks like a future closer. Kiriloff struggled this year, but has all the makings of a Beni style player in the OF.

 

3. JBJ dealt for IFA money or non tendered

 

4. Call the White Sox on JDM if he doesn't opt out. The White Sox want to contend and they have the money. Abreu is a FA and the white sox were in hard on Machado. I absolutely call the White Sox and offer to pay down some of the contract for JD. I would go for Dane Dunning, who is coming off TJS. With Cease jumping over him in the pecking order, there is a chance the sox could snag this guy away from Chicago and finish his rehab in Boston

 

5. I would dangle Workman and Walden. Workman isn't as good as his 2019 says and Walden may have just had his career season. I would see what I could get for them.

 

6. I do not deal Barnes. Selling low on him would be dumb. Don't work him back to back, keep him out of the closers role and find someone else to take him at the deadline

 

7. I extend Devers. Make it known that he and Bogaerts are part of the solution, not the problem

 

8. Pump Beni up as more than an ancillary piece in Boston. Push him to the middle of the order. If he thrives, deal him for a king's ransom. He isn't worth much as a .800OPS corner OFer. If he can push that to .900 and look the part, then he could bring back a lot with 3 more years of control

 

9. Don't deal Chavis. Develop him in AAA, work on the upper end of the K zone and see if you can hone his swing to the heat. He has a skill not many do with breaking pitches.

[vegasbob]

Jack, the GM position is still open. You have aced the interview with your 2 threads.

[notin]

This would all be a massive overreaction.

 

I get why they would deal Betts, but the idea should be bring him back after one year, which means they need a tea to bring him back to. If he is set on testing the market, Boston has a strong history of making competitive offers to free agents. Cincinnati is one possibility, but I wouldn't rule out the Mets. And I think the most likely targets are San Diego (where the CEO has promised "heads will roll" if the team has another embarrassing season, and the Braves. Both alo have much, much stronger farms than Cincy, and Luis Patino is a better trade target than Hunter Greene. (The Padres also have a massive 40-man roster crunch, and the deal could be expanded to include some of the prospects needing protection for some of the Sox who do not.)

 

I get dealing Walden, but honestly, a 30yo career journeyman even with a low salary and a lot of control isn't likely to bring back much else besides another career journeyman. If the Sox dealt him for, say, Brian Goodwin, that's about the limit of his appeal.

 

I do agree it is not likely JBJ is back. I think it is more likely Rusney Castillo is in the Sox OF next year, but I wouldn't bank on that, either.

 

JDM isn't likel;y to opt out, and if he does, it gives the Sox about $78mill to spend before reaching the tax limit. With very little else is the way of appealing hitters on the FA market, the only thing more surprising than Martinez opting out would be the Red Sox not bidding heavily to bring him back anyway, and probably at a lower AAV (although with another year or two tacked on). Also, the buzz in Chicago is that Abreu and the White Sox have mutual interest in getting something done.

 

I don't see Barnes as a "sell low" and I don't think GMs view players that way anymore, especially not players under 30. Barnes is a 1-1.5 fWAR relief pitcher with 2 years of control left, and there is a lot of value in that. He ranks 22nd in MLB in fWAR over the past 3 years among all relief pitchers, and third among all relief pitchers with 5 or fewer saves. So as non-closers go, only Chad Green and Yusmeiro Petit (who is always criminally undervalued) have been better. If the Sox deal Betts, Barnes salary, which might be $2-3mill, is hardy an obstacle and he can easily be retained if no one meets an asking price.

 

The Sox are NOT going into some stupid full scale rebuild. They cannot afford to, and have too much money on the books for the next few seasons. They will try to be competitive next season, despite what Yankee fans want...

[notin]

Also, Benintendi is 10th in fWAR for left fielders over the past 3 seasons, and that was after a down year in 2019. He's hardly some worthless corner outfielder who needs to bulk up his value.

 

He plans to lose some weight, and get back to being a 3-3.5 fWAR player. Also, not sure how the plan of putting him in the middle of the order was going to add .100 OPS points...