Red Sox: Off Season 2024-2025

[Hitch]

I'm not suggesting this is even remotely possible, but if the opportunity came up to trade Casas for Vlad (and then extend hm) would you do it? 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Hitch said:

I'm not suggesting this is even remotely possible, but if the opportunity came up to trade Casas for Vlad (and then extend hm) would you do it? 

Vlad is a beast of a hitter, and should age well. It still shocks me to see he turns just 26, soon.

To me, it's all about the money, and the fact that we already have devers signed to $313M and both fit the 1B/DH profile, which to me give very limited positional value.

I'd love his RH'd bat paired with Devers. It could be Manny/Papi-esque. I'm just not sure we should tie up $75M a year on two 1B/DH types, when we already have an $18M x 3 DH only guy on the roster. Now, we are talking almost $97M on 3 DHs.

Knowing how cheap JUH has become, there won't be any money left for other higher importance positions.

[Duran Is The Man]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Vlad is a beast of a hitter, and should age well. It still shocks me to see he turns just 26, soon.

To me, it's all about the money, and the fact that we already have devers signed to $313M and both fit the 1B/DH profile, which to me give very limited positional value.

I'd love his RH'd bat paired with Devers. It could be Manny/Papi-esque. I'm just not sure we should tie up $75M a year on two 1B/DH types, when we already have an $18M x 3 DH only guy on the roster. Now, we are talking almost $97M on 3 DHs.

Knowing how cheap JUH has become, there won't be any money left for other higher importance positions.

the Masa contract is the gift that just keeps on giving.

[Hitch]

8 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Vlad is a beast of a hitter, and should age well. It still shocks me to see he turns just 26, soon.

To me, it's all about the money, and the fact that we already have devers signed to $313M and both fit the 1B/DH profile, which to me give very limited positional value.

I'd love his RH'd bat paired with Devers. It could be Manny/Papi-esque. I'm just not sure we should tie up $75M a year on two 1B/DH types, when we already have an $18M x 3 DH only guy on the roster. Now, we are talking almost $97M on 3 DHs.

Knowing how cheap JUH has become, there won't be any money left for other higher importance positions.

This is pretty much how I feel on it as well. I'm less worried for now about the Yoshi contract as it will be off the books before either decline, but having that much money tied up in two players who are likely to decline into DH's, or at best below average 1st basemen/DH's doesn't feel particularly smart. But the thought of seeing them hit together in the middle of the order over the next 6/7 years is tantalising.

That said, not to get too grim, in 6/8 years time there's no guarantee Henry will still be alive (or in charge). Who knows what the spending handcuffs will be like then.

[notin]

39 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

the Masa contract is the gift that just keeps on giving.

Vlad’s reported contract demand of $450mill will be a much bigger obstacle than the 2 years $36mill left on Yoshida’s deal when Vlad hits the market…

[Bellhorn04]

2 hours ago, Hitch said:

I'm not suggesting this is even remotely possible, but if the opportunity came up to trade Casas for Vlad (and then extend hm) would you do it? 

Love to have him, but probably not at his price tag.  

He'll probably be a Met next year.

[mvp 78]

36 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Love to have him, but probably not at his price tag.  

He'll probably be a Met next year.

Does he hate NY or just the Yankees? 

[Bellhorn04]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Does he hate NY or just the Yankees? 

Pretty sure it's just the MFYs.  He really seems to hate them.  Which endears him to me, needless to say.

[mvp 78]

Just now, Bellhorn04 said:

Pretty sure it's just the MFYs.  He really seems to hate them.  Which endears him to me, needless to say.

That's gotta be worth 100M right there. I mean, what's 100M anymore anyway? 

[Bellhorn04]

Unload Casas and Yoshida.  2026 1B Devers.  2026 DH Vlad.  It'll be another Ortiz/Manny thing.  

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Unload Casas and Yoshida.  2026 1B Devers.  2026 DH Vlad.  It'll be another Ortiz/Manny thing.  

1B Devers

2B Grissom

SS Hamilton

3B Vlad

C Wong

They can roll out the worst defensive lineup in the AL. 

[win red sox]

It would be nice if the Mets did the Red Sox a favor and signed Alonzo to a long term contract, that would pretty much take out the the 3 big market teams out of the bidding. I wouldn't trade Casas, but I would definitely trade Abreu. It's possible that you could see a lineup like this in June.

CF Duran

3B Devers

DH Vlad

1B Casas

2B Campbell

RF Anthony

LF Yoshida/Refsnyder

C. Wong

SS Story/Mayer

The offense has a chance to be elite.  Elite offenses make the playoffs.

 

 

[oldtimer]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Vlad is a beast of a hitter, and should age well. It still shocks me to see he turns just 26, soon.

To me, it's all about the money, and the fact that we already have devers signed to $313M and both fit the 1B/DH profile, which to me give very limited positional value.

I'd love his RH'd bat paired with Devers. It could be Manny/Papi-esque. I'm just not sure we should tie up $75M a year on two 1B/DH types, when we already have an $18M x 3 DH only guy on the roster. Now, we are talking almost $97M on 3 DHs.

Knowing how cheap JUH has become, there won't be any money left for other higher importance positions.

You say you're not sure that we shouldn't have both Rafael and Vlad on the team together. I am sure and realize thar at this time we have Devers, Casas and Yoshida. All are lefty bats and sub-par defenders. I resigned to the fact that we will have sub-par defenders at the corners this year but certainly do not want to add another expensive lefty who plays only first base. I also have been a long term advocate of moving Yoshida. He can hit and should have value to another team but he is not a fit for the Sox. Package him and get a decent return. 

[oldtimer]

6 minutes ago, win red sox said:

It would be nice if the Mets did the Red Sox a favor and signed Alonzo to a long term contract, that would pretty much take out the the 3 big market teams out of the bidding. I wouldn't trade Casas, but I would definitely trade Abreu. It's possible that you could see a lineup like this in June.

CF Duran

3B Devers

DH Vlad

1B Casas

2B Campbell

RF Anthony

LF Yoshida/Refsnyder

C. Wong

SS Story/Mayer

The offense has a chance to be elite.  Elite offenses make the playoffs.

 

 

Vlad is too expensive as a DH. Also Yoshida should go. Bring in a solid LF or keep Abreau. Why not pick up a RH power hitter? Otherwise I like  the idea of bringing up Cambell, Anthony and Mayer. If they pan out, they represent a major upside and if we don't one or more can be recycled to gain experience.

[Hitch]

34 minutes ago, win red sox said:

It would be nice if the Mets did the Red Sox a favor and signed Alonzo to a long term contract, that would pretty much take out the the 3 big market teams out of the bidding. I wouldn't trade Casas, but I would definitely trade Abreu. It's possible that you could see a lineup like this in June.

CF Duran

3B Devers

DH Vlad

1B Casas

2B Campbell

RF Anthony

LF Yoshida/Refsnyder

C. Wong

SS Story/Mayer

The offense has a chance to be elite.  Elite offenses make the playoffs.

 

 

You're not getting Vlad for Abreu. Not even close.

[moonslav59]

33 minutes ago, oldtimer said:

You say you're not sure that we shouldn't have both Rafael and Vlad on the team together. I am sure and realize thar at this time we have Devers, Casas and Yoshida. All are lefty bats and sub-par defenders. I resigned to the fact that we will have sub-par defenders at the corners this year but certainly do not want to add another expensive lefty who plays only first base. I also have been a long term advocate of moving Yoshida. He can hit and should have value to another team but he is not a fit for the Sox. Package him and get a decent return. 

Not easy. We have been talking about this for months. We could pay $$12M a year out of the $18M and maybe still not find a taker.

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, Hitch said:

You're not getting Vlad for Abreu. Not even close.

Casas: 222 G, 830 OPS, 2.9 bWAR

Abreu: 160 G, 794 OPS, 4.2 bWAR

These two players are closer to each other than some of us would like to believe. 

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

1B Devers

2B Grissom

SS Hamilton

3B Vlad

C Wong

They can roll out the worst defensive lineup in the AL. 

LOL Jays...

[mvp 78]

We talk about Raffy's bad defense, but Vlad was -20 OAA, -21 FRV in 2019 at 3B.

Raffy career: -29 OAA, -21 FRV. 

Vlad is a poor fielding 1B. He is miles worse than Raffy at 3B. Vlad is all time bad at 3B. 

[Hitch]

53 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Casas: 222 G, 830 OPS, 2.9 bWAR

Abreu: 160 G, 794 OPS, 4.2 bWAR

These two players are closer to each other than some of us would like to believe. 

The difference in potential is fairly big however. Which are often what these trades are built on. Hoping you trade up on the player ready to hit his ceiling. 

That said, I wouldn't have thought Jays would do it for Casas even before seeing your post above.

[moonslav59]

Signing Vlad is one thing, but I'm not trading value for a guy I have to pay $450M to, next winter.

[mvp 78]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Signing Vlad is one thing, but I'm not trading value for a guy I have to pay $450M to, next winter.

Wait a year. Sign Vlad. DFA Masa. Go year to year with Casas since 1B/DH contracts are cheap. Keep Devers at 3B until Casas finishes his ARB years. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Most here may agree that John Henry has had enough of blowing money on longterm player contracts. The Soto ruse accomplished exactly what Red Sox PR sought at the time: interest. Since then, the longest contract they've given out was to a guy who may not even pitch this season: Sandoval.

So what exactly makes anyone think Boston will fork over ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS MORE than they're paying Raffy Devers, to someone who is actually a worse corner infielder?

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Most here may agree that John Henry has had enough of blowing money on longterm player contracts. The Soto ruse accomplished exactly what Red Sox PR sought at the time: interest. Since then, the longest contract they've given out was to a guy who may not even pitch this season: Sandoval.

So what exactly makes anyone think Boston will fork over ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS MORE than they're paying Raffy Devers, to someone who is actually a worse corner infielder?

There is no way the would do that, and IMO, they should not.

I doubt they fork over one third of what Vladdy will get to sign Bregman.

[Bellhorn04]

9 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Most here may agree that John Henry has had enough of blowing money on longterm player contracts. The Soto ruse accomplished exactly what Red Sox PR sought at the time: interest. Since then, the longest contract they've given out was to a guy who may not even pitch this season: Sandoval.

So what exactly makes anyone think Boston will fork over ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS MORE than they're paying Raffy Devers, to someone who is actually a worse corner infielder?

Oh yeah, Vlad to Sox ain't happening in the real world.  

 

 

[Hitch]

16 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Signing Vlad is one thing, but I'm not trading value for a guy I have to pay $450M to, next winter.

 

44 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Wait a year. Sign Vlad. DFA Masa. Go year to year with Casas since 1B/DH contracts are cheap. Keep Devers at 3B until Casas finishes his ARB years. 

The problem with doing it this way is that you open it up to the floor and the bidding war happens again, until finally, the Mets blow everyone out of the water.

If you trade and extend, you control the process. It'll still be pricey but you avoid another Sotoschism where the owners lose their mind.

Again, it's not happening, but fun to think about. 

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, Hitch said:

 

The problem with doing it this way is that you open it up to the floor and the bidding war happens again, until finally, the Mets blow everyone out of the water.

If you trade and extend, you control the process. It'll still be pricey but you avoid another Sotoschism where the owners lose their mind.

Again, it's not happening, but fun to think about. 

Why would he extend to anything not close to what the Mets might pay?

(Word is, Alonso will not be a Met. Guess who needs a 1Bman?)

[Old Red]

10 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Oh yeah, Vlad to Sox ain't happening in the real world.  

 

 

Maybe with Monopoly money.

[Bellhorn04]

3 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Maybe with Monopoly money.

Which is just one step down from Canadian money. 🙃

[Hitch]

22 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Why would he extend to anything not close to what the Mets might pay?

(Word is, Alonso will not be a Met. Guess who needs a 1Bman?)

Because we don't know what The Mets will pay, or if they will definitely bid at this point. Nobody guessed that either Shoei or Soto would get anywhere near as high as it went until the process got under way.

 

Plus there's the possibility of serious injury occurring this year.  A huge offer now is plenty enticing.