Do Not Trade The Big 3

[Bellhorn04]

I think there was something about Iggy that rubbed the Sox brass the wrong way, although the next regime did bring him back (for nothing in return, I might add.)

 

I was very high on Iggy, but I felt Peavy was a good return. He was not a rental, either. He has another year of control, and eventually we traded him for Hembree and Escobar. (Later, Hembree was traded with Workman for Pivetta.)

 

Perhaps, the worst part of that trade was us also giving up Montas.

 

 

The Rental + 1.

[notin]

Plus Ragans, who I guess would not have been technically a prospect any more, but certainly looking like a massive haul for the sellers.

 

Ragans was dealt early. Common belief is if you buy too far before the deadline, you pay more.

 

The Rangers also traded Ronald Acuna Jr’s baby brother for Max

[notin]

Ragans was dealt early. Common belief is if you buy too far before the deadline, you pay more.

 

The Rangers also traded Ronald Acuna Jr’s baby brother for Max

 

 

In keeping with the theme, Ragans was never a ranked prospect by anyone. Acuna was ranked 73 by MLB at the time and ignored by BA and BP…

[moonslav59]

Even at the time, I would have preferred dealing Middlebrooks. His stay there was brief, but Iglesias might have been the best defensive 3b in Sox history. Bogaerts proved uncomfortable at 3b and needed to be at SS. But Iglesias didn’t…

 

The thing about Bogey at 3B, and I think maybe 2B was best for him, was that he was only given 10 games at 3B in the minors, before his call-up.

 

SS and 3B are not similar positions to play, and more time is needed to adjust from SS to 3B.

 

No doubt, Bogey struggled at 3B, and I think it also affected his batting, out of the gate, which was a big thing to do to a rookie being called up during a high pressure situational promotion.

 

An eventual Bogey 3B, Iggy SS, Pedey 2B and Devers 1B idea looked pretty good, on paper, to me, back in those days.

 

The Drew rental was a pretty good idea, too, and the results of that 2013 deadline move worked out well. (Note: no other deadline trades were made by the Sox in 2013.)

 

The Jacobs for Thornton deal in mid July did not work out, too well, but it was a good try.

[notin]

The thing about Bogey at 3B, and I think maybe 2B was best for him, was that he was only given 10 games at 3B in the minors, before his call-up.

 

SS and 3B are not similar positions to play, and more time is needed to adjust from SS to 3B.

 

No doubt, Bogey struggled at 3B, and I think it also affected his batting, out of the gate, which was a big thing to do to a rookie being called up during a high pressure situational promotion.

 

An eventual Bogey 3B, Iggy SS, Pedey 2B and Devers 1B idea looked pretty good, on paper, to me, back in those days.

 

The Drew rental was a pretty good idea, too, and the results of that 2013 deadline move worked out well. (Note: no other deadline trades were made by the Sox in 2013.)

 

The Jacobs for Thornton deal in mid July did not work out, too well, but it was a good try.

 

Ben’s vision was Middlebrooks at 3b, Bogaerts at SS and Pedroia at 2b. Devers was 16 at the time and presumably not in any plans…

[Old Red]

The thing about Bogey at 3B, and I think maybe 2B was best for him, was that he was only given 10 games at 3B in the minors, before his call-up.

 

SS and 3B are not similar positions to play, and more time is needed to adjust from SS to 3B.

 

No doubt, Bogey struggled at 3B, and I think it also affected his batting, out of the gate, which was a big thing to do to a rookie being called up during a high pressure situational promotion.

 

An eventual Bogey 3B, Iggy SS, Pedey 2B and Devers 1B idea looked pretty good, on paper, to me, back in those days.

 

The Drew rental was a pretty good idea, too, and the results of that 2013 deadline move worked out well. (Note: no other deadline trades were made by the Sox in 2013.)

 

The Jacobs for Thornton deal in mid July did not work out, too well, but it was a good try.

 

As usual what looks good on paper to you doesn’t look good to the powers at be of the Boston Red Sox.🤭🙈

[mvp 78]

Ben’s vision was Middlebrooks at 3b, Bogaerts at SS and Pedroia at 2b. Devers was 16 at the time and presumably not in any plans…

 

Little did you know that Ben had been on an ayahuasca trip with Aaron Rodgers and saw Devers in a vision.

[moonslav59]

Ben’s vision was Middlebrooks at 3b, Bogaerts at SS and Pedroia at 2b. Devers was 16 at the time and presumably not in any plans…

 

LOL, my timeline was a tad off on Devers. LOL.

[notin]

Little did you know that Ben had been on an ayahuasca trip with Aaron Rodgers and saw Devers in a vision.

 

No, that was the Pablo Sandoval.

 

Or maybe it was Grimace with a baseball glove.

 

(I went there, and I will again. I’m not above body-shaming Pablo Sandoval and never will be.)

[mvp 78]

No, that was the Pablo Sandoval.

 

Or maybe it was Grimace with a baseball glove.

 

(I went there, and I will again. I’m not above body-shaming Pablo Sandoval and never will be.)

 

I saw a guy walking his dog the other day that was wearing a Sox Sandoval shirsey. I was like "who's # 48?" Then I got close enough to read the name. I wanted to pull the car over and talk to him.

[notin]

I saw a guy walking his dog the other day that was wearing a Sox Sandoval shirsey. I was like "who's # 48?" Then I got close enough to read the name. I wanted to pull the car over and talk to him.

 

Was it Pablo himself?

[mvp 78]

Was it Pablo himself?

 

No, white guy and about 100 lbs lighter.

[notin]

No, white guy and about 100 lbs lighter.

 

So still pretty beefy…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I saw a guy walking his dog the other day that was wearing a Sox Sandoval shirsey. I was like "who's # 48?" Then I got close enough to read the name. I wanted to pull the car over and talk to him.

 

I hate when people put bandanas on dogs or Sandoval shirts on panda bears.

[mvp 78]

So still pretty beefy…

 

Normal late middle aged guy for FL.

[Behindenemylines]

On 7/23/2024 at 1:04 PM, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

 

I hate when people put bandanas on dogs or Sandoval shirts on panda bears.

Yes, in total agreement! These two things should never happen. Just like the signing of Sandoval should never have happened.

[Behindenemylines]

On 7/16/2024 at 12:20 PM, sk7326 said:

 

I need to hear more from the folks who follow prospects for a living whether Kristian Campbell has made it a Big 4.

Yes, Campbell makes it a big four. He has been on fire the whole summer and now is doing it in AAA. Much like Rafaela has been playing multiple positions (2B-SS-OF). Not as good a fielder as Ceddane, but maybe a better hitter. With his emergence I can see them moving Mayer. Anthony looks like the real deal, and Teel is a catcher who they seem high on. 

[moonslav59]

The only thing about moving Mayer is that out of all the everyday positions we have, middle infield looks not only the weakest, but also lacks in quality depth. While corner infield lacks more in depth, Devers and Casas look so entrenched, that area seems like the one we don't need much depth, except to cover for injuries. (Maybe Meidroth is enough.)

While the Rafaela-DHam-Romy-Sogard combo has brought some stability to the middle infield, while Story has been on the IL more often than not, and those higher on the depth chart to start the season (Grissom, Reyes, EValdez) all flopped, they should not be viewed as long time solutions to the SS and 2B slots.

Rafaela belongs in CF, despite the OF bottleneck of talent and minor league depth.

A DHam-Romy platoon at 2B is not bad, but I do not like thinking that should be the plan for 2025 and beyond. (Sogard should only be viewed as decent minor league emergency depth.)

Now, maybe Campbell can play 2B well enough to fill that need, but with Story's injury history, who can we count on to play decent SS? Not DHam. Not Romy. Not Sogard for any long term role. It basically has to be Mayer, until Arias arrives.

While I like Anthony much more than Mayer, our OF is all set, and if Campbell looks better in CF/LF than 2B, we have an even bigger bottleneck in the OF.

LF: Duran, Abreu/Ref platoon, EValdez/Yoshida in a pinch (Campbell, Jh Garcia, Cespedes)

CF: Rafaela, Duran, Anthony (Campbell, Jh Garcia, Bleis, Cespedes)

RF: Abreu-Ref platoon (Anthony replacing Ref for 2026, but is a lefty bat, too) (Bleis, Campbell, Jh Garcia, Cespedes)

To me, it makes more sense to go for broke on the best, young SP'ers we can trade for- a guy with 3+ years of team control. A guy that will demand a stiff return package, headlined by Anthony.

 

[moonslav59]

Ideally, we keep the big 4.

We see JH open his wallet to sign 2 solid SP'ers and a closer.

We call up some kids and trade Abreu, DHam and Fitts or Sandlin for a solid SP'er, but not the ace a package headlined by Anthony could likely get us.

SP: FA, FA, Houck, Bello, Gio (Crawford, Criswell, Priester)

RP: FA, Hendriks, Slaten, Whitlock, Crawford, Criswell, Kelly, Bernardino/Booser/Weissert/ICampbell

C: Wong & Teel

1B: Casas (Devers as back-up)

2B: Story & Campbell

SS: Mayer & Story

3B: Devers & Meidroth

LF: Duran, Campbell, Ref

CF: Rafaela, Duran

RF: Anthony, Campbell

DH: Yoshida (Casas, Devers, Ref)

That looks very impressive, as long as those "FAs" pull their weight, for once.

[Randy Red Sox]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

The only thing about moving Mayer is that out of all the everyday positions we have, middle infield looks not only the weakest, but also lacks in quality depth. While corner infield lacks more in depth, Devers and Casas look so entrenched, that area seems like the one we don't need much depth, except to cover for injuries. (Maybe Meidroth is enough.)

While the Rafaela-DHam-Romy-Sogard combo has brought some stability to the middle infield, while Story has been on the IL more often than not, and those higher on the depth chart to start the season (Grissom, Reyes, EValdez) all flopped, they should not be viewed as long time solutions to the SS and 2B slots.

Rafaela belongs in CF, despite the OF bottleneck of talent and minor league depth.

A DHam-Romy platoon at 2B is not bad, but I do not like thinking that should be the plan for 2025 and beyond. (Sogard should only be viewed as decent minor league emergency depth.)

Now, maybe Campbell can play 2B well enough to fill that need, but with Story's injury history, who can we count on to play decent SS? Not DHam. Not Romy. Not Sogard for any long term role. It basically has to be Mayer, until Arias arrives.

While I like Anthony much more than Mayer, our OF is all set, and if Campbell looks better in CF/LF than 2B, we have an even bigger bottleneck in the OF.

LF: Duran, Abreu/Ref platoon, EValdez/Yoshida in a pinch (Campbell, Jh Garcia, Cespedes)

CF: Rafaela, Duran, Anthony (Campbell, Jh Garcia, Bleis, Cespedes)

RF: Abreu-Ref platoon (Anthony replacing Ref for 2026, but is a lefty bat, too) (Bleis, Campbell, Jh Garcia, Cespedes)

To me, it makes more sense to go for broke on the best, young SP'ers we can trade for- a guy with 3+ years of team control. A guy that will demand a stiff return package, headlined by Anthony.

 

campbell seems to have come out of nowhere.  where/when did we get him ?

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

campbell seems to have come out of nowhere.  where/when did we get him ?

He was the comp pick for losing Bogey to free agency.

(There was some criticism of Bloom  for going over the tax line, and the comp pick dropping to the 4th round, but it ended up working out okay, for us.)

We also drafted Justin Reimer with the Nate comp pick on the very next pick (#133.)

[Duran Is The Man]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Ideally, we keep the big 4.

We see JH open his wallet to sign 2 solid SP'ers and a closer.

We call up some kids and trade Abreu, DHam and Fitts or Sandlin for a solid SP'er, but not the ace a package headlined by Anthony could likely get us.

SP: FA, FA, Houck, Bello, Gio (Crawford, Criswell, Priester)

RP: FA, Hendriks, Slaten, Whitlock, Crawford, Criswell, Kelly, Bernardino/Booser/Weissert/ICampbell

C: Wong & Teel

1B: Casas (Devers as back-up)

2B: Story & Campbell

SS: Mayer & Story

3B: Devers & Meidroth

LF: Duran, Campbell, Ref

CF: Rafaela, Duran

RF: Anthony, Campbell

DH: Yoshida (Casas, Devers, Ref)

That looks very impressive, as long as those "FAs" pull their weight, for once.

this could be the start of a long-term formidable lineup and a good plan going forward. but i'm sure Henry and the idiots in his FO will have none of this and spend their time dumpster-diving for cheap, injured, and over-the-hill pitchers to save Henry money.

[moonslav59]

20 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

this could be the start of a long-term formidable lineup and a good plan going forward. but i'm sure Henry and the idiots in his FO will have none of this and spend their time dumpster-diving for cheap, injured, and over-the-hill pitchers to save Henry money.

it's hard to know. I could see one more year of skimping, and maybe it will be more. I've given up expecting more spending, but I will not be surprised if it happens.