2020-2021 Offseason Thread

[jacksonianmarch]

It sucks if he's good, but I'm not broken up over it because it's just as likely he morphs into Smoltz in his busted Boston final year. When I read Kluber maxed at 90 mph in his showcase, I wondered if he was airing it out one last time for a contract, and might hinder his rehab and hurt his comeback.

 

Do we really want to watch another season with more pitchers in a new "rotation" coming off of injuries?

 

He was averaging 92 in his last ace level season. To be at 90 in January is pretty good. I love the idea of Kluber. I don’t like the idea of relying on Kluber. If the Yanks re-signed Masa and then got Kluber, I’m in. But Kluber is 36 and coming off two major arm injuries, one of which was a fluke, the other an overuse injury. Right now he’s a 3 in our rotation. I’d rather he be a 4 or 5 with a 6th pitcher being totally ready.

 

As it stands...

 

1. Cole

2. Montgomery

3. Kluber

4. German

5. Garcia

6. Schmidt/King/Nelson/Gil

 

Severino to return around the ASB. Lots of potential. Also a chance it turns into a dumpster fire. I’d rather we have used the $11 mil and maybe added to it and brought in someone with a better chance of making it through the whole year

Edited January 16, 2021 by jacksonianmarch

[oldtimer]

Today the Yankees improved relative to the Red Sox and others ... but it was just one day.

 

The Red Sox may make the major improvements next week or next month.

 

Or not.

The Sox made an offer but Kluber probably thought the Yankees would give him a better chance to be on a winning team. He would have been correct to think that. That is just another hurtle for Bloom to overcome. I like your optimism. The Sox are working to get better and I believe some moves will be made this coming week.

[jacksonianmarch]

Bloom wants to be Friedman. You won’t see any long term stuff this offseason. You’ll see short term deals for guys who can be sold off. You don’t hire Bloom to sign big name FAs. You hire Bloom to rebuild and he is already doing an excellent job of that.

[notin]

The Sox made an offer but Kluber probably thought the Yankees would give him a better chance to be on a winning team. He would have been correct to think that. That is just another hurtle for Bloom to overcome. I like your optimism. The Sox are working to get better and I believe some moves will be made this coming week.

 

Or the Yankees offered more money...

[Kimmi]

Devers agreed to arb 4.6M

 

I am glad that the Sox and Devers reached an agreement. Those arb hearings can be brutal. That could be part of the reason why Mookie decided he didn't want to play in Boston.

[Kimmi]

It sucks if he's good, but I'm not broken up over it because it's just as likely he morphs into Smoltz in his busted Boston final year. When I read Kluber maxed at 90 mph in his showcase, I wondered if he was airing it out one last time for a contract, and might hinder his rehab and hurt his comeback.

 

Do we really want to watch another season with more pitchers in a new "rotation" coming off of injuries?

 

I would have done this deal in a heartbeat, because it's only for one year. IMO, it is well worth the risk

 

According to Sherman, the Yankees have the inside track on Kluber's health:

 

Joel Sherman

@joelsherman1

· 9h

#Yankees always had a HUGE edge in knowledge with Kluber. Eric Cressey is overseeing Kluber’s rehab from a shoulder injury that kept him to 1GS last yr and Cressey is also the #Yankees director of health and performance.

[Kimmi]

O ye of little faith.

[Bellhorn04]

Must mean Tanaka is going back to Japan.

 

Our next target: Odorizzi.

 

We're running out of top options.

 

I'm at DEFCOM 3.

 

DEFCON 3. It's short for Defense Condition.

[notin]

DEFCON 3. It's short for Defense Condition.

 

And DEFCON3 is the step for “increased readiness”. I get that when I have too much coffee ...

[kenmeister]

We missed out on Kluber!!! Damn.

 

. That's how I feel.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

O ye of little faith.

 

I have faith in my instincts and I hope I'm proven wrong. The Red Sox have too many question marks right now, and while there should be some periods at the end of a few sentences, I doubt we'll see one exclamation point before Opening Day.

[notin]

Bloom wants to be Friedman. You won’t see any long term stuff this offseason. You’ll see short term deals for guys who can be sold off. You don’t hire Bloom to sign big name FAs. You hire Bloom to rebuild and he is already doing an excellent job of that.

 

I’m guessing you don’t realize Friedman never did that...

[notin]

Of course the interesting angle in all of this is Trevor Bauer loses suitors with every big contract, and might even see his price come down over the next month.

 

He’s going to sign somewhere and the Sox are going to sign someone...

[Monster24]

Kluber may pitch well for the Yanks but with Eovaldi ,Sale and ERods injury history I am not at all upset the Sox did not get him

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I’m guessing you don’t realize Friedman never did that...

 

Some posters forget Bloom was never actually in charge of the Rays, so all we can do is speculate how much input -- and pull -- he had in decisions that were made regarding trades, drafts, signings, etc.

 

All we have to go by is what he's done since he's run the Red Sox. I like the focus so far on signing and stockpiling prospects. Not a fan of the bargain bins. Still waiting on impactful MLB acquisitions... Verdugo looks good, but the rest -- Perez, Pillar, Pivetta, Renfroe/Andreise -- were either average and expendable or have the potential of useful roster parts. And I refuse to mention the scroll of openers.

[moonslav59]

Yates is apparently close to signing with one of five unnamed teams.

 

He wanted $5M+ and incentives that could reach "millions" more, according to MLBTR.

 

FA options are starting to dry up, although plenty useful players still remain. In terms of making a major addition, I'm wondering if Bloom is focusing on trades more than a signing(s).

[notin]

Yates is apparently close to signing with one of five unnamed teams.

 

He wanted $5M+ and incentives that could reach "millions" more, according to MLBTR.

 

FA options are starting to dry up, although plenty useful players still remain. In terms of making a major addition, I'm wondering if Bloom is focusing on trades more than a signing(s).

 

How many players besides Kluber was Bloom really in on that went on to sign with other MLB teams?

[moonslav59]

How many players besides Kluber was Bloom really in on that went on to sign with other MLB teams?

 

Maybe 2-4 players?

 

He may be only planning on signing 1-3 and trading for 1-3. I'm sure he has a few plan B's he's content with.

 

If we miss out on Odorizzi, Yates and Hand, I'll be more worried, but maybe a couple big trades are in the works.

 

Maybe, I'm totally wrong and all we do is something like what we did, last winter.

 

[notin]

Maybe 2-4 players?

 

He may be only planning on signing 1-3 and trading for 1-3. I'm sure he has a few plan B's he's content with.

 

If we miss out on Odorizzi, Yates and Hand, I'll be more worried, but maybe a couple big trades are in the works.

 

Maybe, I'm totally wrong and all we do is something like what we did, last winter.

 

 

I am not sure I can name any. Sugano did not sign with another team. He bailed on Kim prematurely.

 

Odorizzi and Semien have yet to sign anywhere. And anyone else we have no idea if or if not there was anything above cursory interest and/or due diligence. So far, Kluber looks like the real first target that he "lost out" on...

[Kimmi]

I have faith in my instincts and I hope I'm proven wrong. The Red Sox have too many question marks right now, and while there should be some periods at the end of a few sentences, I doubt we'll see one exclamation point before Opening Day.

 

We do have some question marks. I believe that most of those questions marks will be answered before the start of the season!!!

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

We do have some question marks. I believe that most of those questions marks will be answered before the start of the season!!!

 

Ha -- three +++ In the meantime...

[a700hitter]

[h=2]Red Sox, Martín Perez Nearing Deal[/h]By TC Zencka | January 16, 2021 at 4:41pm CDT

The Red Sox are close to bring back southpaw Martín Perez, per the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.

Start printing the playoff tickets.

[a700hitter]

Elsewise, Boston continues to look for arms to add to the rotation mix. Garrett Richards and Matt Moore are two names they’ve looked into recently, per Cotillo. Richards will make sense on a lot of teams now that he appears fully recovered from Tommy John surgery. He posted a 4.03 ERA/4.28 FIP in 51 1/3 innings for the Padres in 2020, with 10 starts, a 21.6 percent strikeout rate, 8.0 percent walk rate, and 40.1 percent groundball rate.

We really do need a vomit emoji.

[notin]

Not sure why Bloom likes Martin Perez. He's not horrible, but not exactly what we need, either.

[moonslav59]

Not sure why Bloom likes Martin Perez. He's not horrible, but not exactly what we need, either.

 

I'm never onboard with building a rotation from the 4 or 5 slot, but since this can be just a 1 year deal, it's just a punt. As long as we sign someone like Odorizzi (and I'm not sure of who else is "like" him), I'm fine with Perez as depth.

[Bellhorn04]

We really do need a vomit emoji.

 

Or a punt emoji.

[jacksonianmarch]

Perez is a body who can fill a rotation slot and not vomit all over himself every time he goes the slab.

[a700hitter]

Perez is a body who can fill a rotation slot and not vomit all over himself every time he goes the slab.

He vomits on himself only every third start.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

We really do need a vomit emoji.

 

While Perez isn't quite an innings-eater, he's not an innings-bulimic, either. Martin is more like an innings-acid reflexor (his, yours, mine...). How many more months before we can all sit back and watch games again, with a cold one and a Pepcid?

[harmony]

From today's MLB Trade Rumors chat with columnist Mark Polishuk:

 

Trade Prediction

1:17 Sox trade Benintendi to Mariners for Justin Dunn. Yes or no?

 

Mark P

1:18 Mariners aren't doing that. Doesn't make much sense from their end.

https://www.jotcast.com/chat/mlbtr-live-chat-9686.html

 

This Seattle fan holds in high regard 25-year-old righthander Justin Dunn, the Boston College product who last season posted an ERA of 4.34 in 10 starts.

 

Still, the Mariners should probably trade five years of Dunn for two years of Andrew Benintendi.

Edited January 17, 2021 by harmony