Article: If the Red Sox Become Sellers, Expect These Players to Be Discussed in Trade Talks

[moonslav59]

31 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Disagree on "every single FA" because to me dumping Bregman is a showstopper despite his quad issue and his huge salary.  

As for the rest, no problem.  In fact, I love "pitching, pitching, and pitching."   While I agree with dumping Story and Yoshida, I don't want to do that and pay their freaking salaries.  Better to keep them.  

I like all four rookies--Narvaez, Mayer, Anthony, and even Campbell.  Same goes for Rafaela and Abreu.  Plus Bregman.  If Campbell can both hit and play 1b, that's a pretty good lineup even with Story as SS/2b.  

Agree also on "spend big," which JH used to do but hasn't lately.  

Did you notice that the attendance for the Jays series was over 35,000/game?  

I said, the exception was Bregman. If we can extend him, do it, if not, then trade him and maybe try to sign him, again this winter.

Um, JH spent big this past winter. Bregman $40M AAV, Buehler $21M AAV, Chapman $12M AAV and then the Crochet extension and KC one, too.

The Devers trade undid much of it, but we are still over the tax line.

I'm not saying he will spend big, this winter, but he did show some signs last winter.

[moonslav59]

Just now, dgalehouse said:

I think it is unlikely that Bregman opts out of a $40 million deal. No one is likely to top that. 

He may decide to go for years in his next deal, thinking he put to rest all the "He's in decline" talk.

Maybe not.

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, dgalehouse said:

I think it is unlikely that Bregman opts out of a $40 million deal. No one is likely to top that. 

Depends if he comes back strong or not.  If he does, opting out is a possibility, especially if he thinks the Sox are a trainwreck of a franchise.  It's $40 mill but it's only 2 years, and he's an elite player. 

Hard to predict, really. 

[dgalehouse]

3 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Depends if he comes back strong or not.  If he does, opting out is a possibility, especially if he thinks the Sox are a trainwreck of a franchise.  It's $40 mill but it's only 2 years, and he's an elite player. 

Hard to predict, really. 

Bregman is a very good ballplayer. And he has been for a number of years. He was having a really good season before the injury. But I think he is being a little bit overrated at this time by a fan base that is starving for heroes. 

[Bellhorn04]

3 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

Bregman is a very good ballplayer. And he has been for a number of years. He was having a really good season before the injury. But I think he is being a little bit overrated at this time by a fan base that is starving for heroes. 

I'm starving for really good players, I know that much.

With Devers gone, Bregman is the only real proven position player on the team.

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

Bregman is a very good ballplayer. And he has been for a number of years. He was having a really good season before the injury. But I think he is being a little bit overrated at this time by a fan base that is starving for heroes. 

I agree. Bregman got off to a good start, but even with him, and Raffy driving in a bunch of runs after Raffy got straightened out early in the season the Red Sox were still nothing more than a 500 team. Bregman will be 32 next season, and he’s still got 2 more years on his contract if he wants it. If not let him go. The team is not going nowhere until they get better pitching.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

20 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

It's a little early to say that.   

You're entitled to your opinion.

The bottom line is that they have struggled with .500 all season, traded away one of their top 2 bats while the other is on the IL, they are a terrible fielding team and they have the 22nd ranked starters' ERA.

Not exactly the recipe for success. And while bregman is a quality player, he doesn't solve all of those issues.

[Bellhorn04]

2 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

You're entitled to your opinion.

The bottom line is that they have struggled with .500 all season, traded away one of their top 2 bats while the other is on the IL, they are a terrible fielding team and they have the 22nd ranked starters' ERA.

Not exactly the recipe for success. And while bregman is a quality player, he doesn't solve all of those issues.

With Bregman it's more about if the team wants to compete next year or not.

If the Sox keep playing like crap the next few weeks it's pretty clear they should trade Chapman and the other expiring contracts.

[dgalehouse]

1 minute ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

You're entitled to your opinion.

The bottom line is that they have struggled with .500 all season, traded away one of their top 2 bats while the other is on the IL, they are a terrible fielding team and they have the 22nd ranked starters' ERA.

Not exactly the recipe for success. And while bregman is a quality player, he doesn't solve all of those issues.

I think that you, being a Yankee fan, still have a little worry about the Sox making a late season run. As such, you would like to see them give up and sell off at this point. I would not expect you to agree with that, but it is my opinion. And I have known many Yankee fans.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

6 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

I think that you, being a Yankee fan, still have a little worry about the Sox making a late season run. As such, you would like to see them give up and sell off at this point. I would not expect you to agree with that, but it is my opinion. And I have known many Yankee fans.

Lol, swing and a miss.

I have no such fear as I believe the orioles will eventually pass the sox and the sox will end up in last place in the division again.

My fear would be that they actually do what would be best for the franchise and trade the pieces I mentioned and bring back a nice haul.

I hope they try to improve at the deadline and fail to make the playoffs once again,

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

15 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

With Bregman it's more about if the team wants to compete next year or not.

If the Sox keep playing like crap the next few weeks it's pretty clear they should trade Chapman and the other expiring contracts.

Again, barring a huge spending spree or some incredible trades I just don't really see this team being competitive next year either. There's many holes to fill for just one off-season.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Again, barring a huge spending spree or some incredible trades I just don't really see this team being competitive next year either. There's many holes to fill for just one off-season.

We do have more holes than I expected we might have, although Narvaez may have filled the catcher hole.

Do you agree with these holes as being the essential ones that need filling to be a serious contender in 2026?

SP 1 Crochet

SP2 ______

SP3 Sandoval

SP4 Bello

SP5 Dobbins

SP6 Crawford, Harrison, Fitts, Houck, Peralez, Early

Closer ______

RP2 Slaten

RP3 Whitlock

RP4 Crawford

RP5 Harrison

RP6 Houck

RP7 Hicks

RP8 Murphy, Weissert, Fitts, Criswell, Wink, Bernardino, Kelly

C Narvaez, _____ (Wong)

1B ______  (Casas, Campbell, Toro, Romy)

2B Mayer or Story (Campbell, DHam, Romy, Grissom)

SS ______ Story or Mayer (Romy, Romero)

3B Bregman or ________ (Mayer, Toro, Eaton, Romy)

LF Duran, Anthony (Yoshida, Jh Garcia)

CF Rafaela  (Jh Garcia)

RF Abreu, Refsnyder(?) Jh Garcia

DH Yoshida-Romy/Refsnyder or _______

I see 4 major holes- 5 if Bregman bolts, plus 2-3 minor ones (#2 catcher, DH and maybe another pitcher.) With the logjam of OF'ers and valuable prospects we can afford to trade, I'm thinking we can fill 1-2 slots via trade, and if the budget just stays the same 2-4 slots via free agency. 

Tell me, what other slots needs a ________.

[Bellhorn04]

2 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Again, barring a huge spending spree or some incredible trades I just don't really see this team being competitive next year either. There's many holes to fill for just one off-season.

Well, if they let Bregman go they just get worse.

Plus a lot can change in a year in this game.  

Anyway, my call is they don't trade Bregman even if they're selling.  We'll see what happens.

[moonslav59]

20 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Well, if they let Bregman go they just get worse.

Plus a lot can change in a year in this game.  

Anyway, my call is they don't trade Bregman even if they're selling.  We'll see what happens.

I think they are talking extension for Bregman, so maybe they have an idea on Bregman's chances of returning. If it looks like he won't be back, and we are sellers, I think Bregman gets traded.

We could try to re-sign him, this coming winter, but how many times have we heard that?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I think they are talking extension for Bregman, so maybe they have an idea on Bregman's chances of returning. If it looks like he won't be back, and we are sellers, I think Bregman gets traded.

We could try to re-sign him, this coming winter, but how many times have we heard that?

Bregman has injured the same quad twice in the last few years. This may make him less attractive for a long term contract on the FA market.

This probably means the Sox will be taking that risk the next two seasons.

[moonslav59]

23 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Bregman has injured the same quad twice in the last few years. This may make him less attractive for a long term contract on the FA market.

True.

Injury risk upticked. Decline talk downticked. He's a year older.

DET offered him $172M/6, so I'm thinking maybe some team would go $145M/5... maybe DET/ maybe BOS.

 

[Alex Mayes]

6 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

A note to Alex Mayes--

These daily articles are terrific, including the ones I disagree with.  They almost never fail to get a good discussion started because they are about good topic, fairly well researched, and usually well written.  

Super appreciate the kind words. I look forward to writing them and interacting with everyone.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

2 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Well, if they let Bregman go they just get worse.

Depends on what they get for him, it may be the better long term play.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

We do have more holes than I expected we might have, although Narvaez may have filled the catcher hole.

Do you agree with these holes as being the essential ones that need filling to be a serious contender in 2026?

SP 1 Crochet

SP2 ______

SP3 Sandoval

SP4 Bello

SP5 Dobbins

SP6 Crawford, Harrison, Fitts, Houck, Peralez, Early

Closer ______

RP2 Slaten

RP3 Whitlock

RP4 Crawford

RP5 Harrison

RP6 Houck

RP7 Hicks

RP8 Murphy, Weissert, Fitts, Criswell, Wink, Bernardino, Kelly

C Narvaez, _____ (Wong)

1B ______  (Casas, Campbell, Toro, Romy)

2B Mayer or Story (Campbell, DHam, Romy, Grissom)

SS ______ Story or Mayer (Romy, Romero)

3B Bregman or ________ (Mayer, Toro, Eaton, Romy)

LF Duran, Anthony (Yoshida, Jh Garcia)

CF Rafaela  (Jh Garcia)

RF Abreu, Refsnyder(?) Jh Garcia

DH Yoshida-Romy/Refsnyder or _______

I see 4 major holes- 5 if Bregman bolts, plus 2-3 minor ones (#2 catcher, DH and maybe another pitcher.) With the logjam of OF'ers and valuable prospects we can afford to trade, I'm thinking we can fill 1-2 slots via trade, and if the budget just stays the same 2-4 slots via free agency. 

Tell me, what other slots needs a ________.

Well, 4 or 5 major holes is basically half of the team on the field......

[vjcsmoke]

7 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I said, the exception was Bregman. If we can extend him, do it, if not, then trade him and maybe try to sign him, again this winter.

Um, JH spent big this past winter. Bregman $40M AAV, Buehler $21M AAV, Chapman $12M AAV and then the Crochet extension and KC one, too.

The Devers trade undid much of it, but we are still over the tax line.

I'm not saying he will spend big, this winter, but he did show some signs last winter.

All of those were one year deals.

Bregman’s opt out clause makes it virtually a 1 year deal.

Extending Crochett just made sense to solidify the trade price we paid especially when it became apparent he was the real deal as a top of rotation pitcher.

Still have zero faith in ownership group and management. They have betrayed our faith too many times. Dealing away Devers for salary dump and poor return feels too much like the Betts trade.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Well, 4 or 5 major holes is basically half of the team on the field......

So, you agree it's 4 or 5?

If so, is it so hard to think we cant trade for 2 and sign 3?

[moonslav59]

13 minutes ago, vjcsmoke said:

All of those were one year deals.

Bregman’s opt out clause makes it virtually a 1 year deal.

Extending Crochett just made sense to solidify the trade price we paid especially when it became apparent he was the real deal as a top of rotation pitcher.

Still have zero faith in ownership group and management. They have betrayed our faith too many times. Dealing away Devers for salary dump and poor return feels too much like the Betts trade.

I can totally understand this.

I am far from having faith these guys do what it takes to build another winner. I just think we are really not that far away from being serious contender. One might think 5 top players is too far away, especially with our recent history of swings and misses and failure to spend enough. I get that.

I think we can replace all the lost salary and spend on 3 big FA and just keep pace. Then, I think we can trade an Of'er for another key piece and prospects for another.

I'll believe it when I see it, but I do think it's doable.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

8 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

So, you agree it's 4 or 5?

If so, is it so hard to think we cant trade for 2 and sign 3?

That would require them hitting on all 5 acquisitions while also seeing improvements across the board with their current roster. I think it will take a couple of years.

[moonslav59]

5 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

That would require them hitting on all 5 acquisitions while also seeing improvements across the board with their current roster. I think it will take a couple of years.

We could likely seriously compete by hitting on 4 out of 5, IMO with normal expected age-related growth and low side key injuries. I do not think these are unrealistic expectations, except maybe the injury part.

It would mean breaking some molds, like signing a long term pitcher, unless we fill that need via trade. We could trade Abreu and Duran and then sign Tucker, but that might be hard to do, if we bring back Bregman. A Bregman and Alonso pair might be more doable, or Tucker & Alonso, but then we'd have Mayer at 3B and we'd have to sign Torres or trade for a 2Bman. The closer will likely come from free agency, but who knows if Brez sees someone out there we can trade for. It might be someone we raise an eyebrow to, as many of us did with the Chapman signing.

It would be a tightrope walk, for sure. We could improve our odds by adding 6 or even 7 significantly plus players and squeeze 1-2 more of our current players into depth roles, but I'm not sure we'd spend that amount of money plus trade capital to make it happen. Adding just 4-5 might be pushing JH beyond his limits.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

We could improve our odds by adding 6 or even 7 significantly plus players and squeeze 1-2 more of our current players into depth roles,

Pretty much every team in baseball can make the same claim.

[moonslav59]

9 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Pretty much every team in baseball can make the same claim.

Agreed, but again, we are losing a huge chunk of budget, and that includes many of the 4-6 slots we need filled, AND we can offer better vet and prospects trade packages than most teams without opening gaping holes, elsewhere.

Yes, this depends on high winter spending and the willingness to go bold on another Crochet-type trade, plus a vet OF'er trade.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Agreed, but again, we are losing a huge chunk of budget, and that includes many of the 4-6 slots we need filled, AND we can offer better vet and prospects trade packages than most teams without opening gaping holes, elsewhere.

Yes, this depends on high winter spending and the willingness to go bold on another Crochet-type trade, plus a vet OF'er trade.

I'll believe it when I see it.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

Red Sox Rumors: 2 contenders emerge in Jarren Duran trade speculation

[vjcsmoke]

13 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Red Sox Rumors: 2 contenders emerge in Jarren Duran trade speculation

I just hope we get a good return on Duran. I'm not satisfied with what we got back from the Devers trade. A perennial all-star, top-10 batter who was batting over .900 OPS at the time of the trade should have brought back a bigger return.  Heck, San Francisco had a really good 1st base prospect, Bryce Eldridge, who would have solved positional issues for us but we didn't push to include him in the deal. Instead we accepted Tibbs as a substitute.

I think we had taken a package of Eldridge and say Wisenhunt instead of Harrison and Tibbs that would have potentially solved our big league 1b issues relatively soon.

[Larry Cook]

Hearing Detroit is very interested in Bregman!!