Third Baseman Ketel Marte Is On the Boston Red Sox's Radar

[notin]

15 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

He probably would have traded more top prospects, but Brez has already traded more top 20 prospects than DD did, at this point in his time with BOS.

It’s hard to recall exactly, but I think DD traded away more BA Top 100 prospects than Breslow has to date.  Granted, time in the role is not equal yet.  And a few of the BA Top 100 prospects DD dealt (example: Javier Guerra) were total busts…

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, notin said:

And trading Tolle and Early doesnt constitute trading “all the Sox prospects.”

He has absolutely gone down the road of trading prospects in the past.  That’s not up for debate.  At least not a good debate.  He’s also had success doing it, so of course he would do it again.  
 

Not sure if he has that option with Philly, but he hadn’t needed it yet because he has financial free rein.  So what he would do with a limited budget is guesswork at best. (Although given his history, trading prospects is not a bad guess.)  

But if they ever did put a halt on his spending, are you saying he still wouldn’t trade prospects to help his team?  Would he stand pat? Or just quit and apply for a job with the Mets?  I think he might have too much payroll commitment and recent success to go into Montreal Rebuilding Mode…

While trading prospects has been something DD and Brez did and will continue doing, DD had a remarkable record at getting high impact players in return. The Brez trades have often included prospects returning, even if just some throw-ins. Brez's biggest trades, or most memorable (other than the Crochet deal) have been trades of vets: Sale & $ for Grissom and Dugo for Weissert & Fitts.

It's rather stunning the amount of players and prospects traded by Brez just since the end of the season. It's not an emptying of the farm- nor was DD's history, especially in year 1 and 2, because Brez has also added some prospects and younger players, but here's a look-see:

Hoppe for Heyman

Bernardino for B Ward

Murphy for Ro. Hernandez

Guerrero for T Gray

(Non-tendered Lowe & Wink, DFA'd Criswell & lost Paez to Rule 5.)

Fitts & Clarke for S Gray

Jh Garcia & Travieso for Oviedo, Samaniego and A Guzman

Grissom for I Jackson

Riemer for R Watson (Rule 5)

Perales for J Bennett

Dobbins, Fajardo & Aita for Contreras

That's 14 players traded away in less than 5 weeks!

We added 12 players, of which 8 will likely begin the season on the farm. We also lost quite a few players to free agency, non tendering and DFAs.

All this change without a single MLB FA signed.

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, notin said:

It’s hard to recall exactly, but I think DD traded away more BA Top 100 prospects than Breslow has to date.  Granted, time in the role is not equal yet.  And a few of the BA Top 100 prospects DD dealt (example: Javier Guerra) were total busts…

Yes, there is a clear distinction between soxprospects.com top 20 prospects and top 100 national prospects.

Bloom traded zero of those. I don't think ben traded any, either.

Brez traded Teel and Montgomery. I don't think Yorke was ever top 100.

DD traded Espinoza (another bust) J Guerra (as u mentioned) and Moncada (not a great player.) He also traded Margot, Kopech, the Basabe brothers (both busts but not top 100) Dubon was not top 100- nor was Beeks.

[Duran Is The Man]

9 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, there is a clear distinction between soxprospects.com top 20 prospects and top 100 national prospects.

Bloom traded zero of those. I don't think ben traded any, either.

Brez traded Teel and Montgomery. I don't think Yorke was ever top 100.

DD traded Espinoza (another bust) J Guerra (as u mentioned) and Moncada (not a great player.) He also traded Margot, Kopech, the Basabe brothers (both busts but not top 100) Dubon was not top 100- nor was Beeks.

and some idiots still think DD "decimated the farm".

[moonslav59]

39 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

and some idiots still think DD "decimated the farm".

He traded a lot, but none really amounted to much.

The ones he kept did better.

That being said, there was a big gap between Devers and the Houck/Duran adds.

[notin]

On 12/19/2025 at 6:57 PM, JoeBrady said:

1-I am scared of the backslide of 5 weak and non-existent seasons at the benefit of gaining two very good seasons.

2-A very important piece of my calculus was that I would be using Duran to obtain a #2, as opposed to obtaining Marte.

At the end of the day, will we better off with Marte or with Suarez + Lodolo?

While I don’t see Duran getting a #2 starter directly, if AZ balked at him straight up for Marte, f*** them..   Duran was worth 10.8 fWAR in his only two seasons as a full time starter, putting him 0.1 fWAR behind Marte, Corbin Carroll, Elly de la Cruz and ahead of Trea Turner in that timeframe.  Duran is a good player, and has been doing as well as a lot of those “why can’t we get players like that” types.

I get why Breslow wants a lot..

[moonslav59]

32 minutes ago, notin said:

While I don’t see Duran getting a #2 starter directly, if AZ balked at him straight up for Marte, f*** them..   Duran was worth 10.8 fWAR in his only two seasons as a full time starter, putting him 0.1 fWAR behind Marte, Corbin Carroll, Elly de la Cruz and ahead of Trea Turner in that timeframe.  Duran is a good player, and has been doing as well as a lot of those “why can’t we get players like that” types.

I get why Breslow wants a lot..

While KMarte had 5-6 years to Duran's 3 of control, the age factor negates than aspect of such a trade. The recency factor favors Marte. The defense, too.

I'd offer Duran and maybe Crawford or Harrison. I'd prefer to give them Sandlin or Mullins, but I'm not sure they do it.

One big factor: I think with all the deferrals, KMarte's deal is less than $15M AAV. Subtract $7.8 for Duran and $2.7 for Crawford, and the tax hit would only be about $4-5M a year! We might still be under tax line 1!

JH might be okay with a 5-6 year deal in this context.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

While I don’t see Duran getting a #2 starter directly,...

Duran could probably get us Lodolo.

Duran to a third team, plus Crawford might get us Joe Ryan.

Duran plus Tolle or Early might get us Greene or Hunter Brown.

How about this for a Christmas blockbuster?

Duran, Tolle, Phillips and Mullins for Hunter Brown (3 arbs, but try to extend) and Paredes (2 arbs but try to extend)?

[notin]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Duran could probably get us Lodolo.

Duran to a third team, plus Crawford might get us Joe Ryan.

Duran plus Tolle or Early might get us Greene or Hunter Brown.

How about this for a Christmas blockbuster?

Duran, Tolle, Phillips and Mullins for Hunter Brown (3 arbs, but try to extend) and Paredes (2 arbs but try to extend)?

As much as I value Duran, the Sox have a better chance of dealing him for Galileo than they do for either Hunter - Greene or Brown.  And while Tolle and Philips are nice adds, no.  That deal makes zero sense for Houston, who isn’t going to trade a win-now contributor in Brown for a win-now contributor in Duran plus a pair of win-later candidates.  Same goes for Greene.

Lodolo seems like the best candidate.  Possibly only candidate in a two team trade.

Trading Duran for Paredes (whom I like at Fenway) and a reliever is like spending $20 on a stick of gum. 
 

Lodolo or 3 teams if the Sox want a SP for Duran…

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

As much as I value Duran, the Sox have a better chance of dealing him for Galileo than they do for either Hunter - Greene or Brown.  And while Tolle and Philips are nice adds, no.  That deal makes zero sense for Houston, who isn’t going to trade a win-now contributor in Brown for a win-now contributor in Duran plus a pair of win-later candidates.  Same goes for Greene.

Lodolo seems like the best candidate.  Possibly only candidate in a two team trade.

Trading Duran for Paredes (whom I like at Fenway) and a reliever is like spending $20 on a stick of gum. 
 

Lodolo or 3 teams if the Sox want a SP for Duran…

Third team for Gore works, too, but I'm not sure I count him as a #2, despite his higher BTV than Lodolo.

I agree on HOU not trading Brown and CIN not trading Greene, but HOU is acting stingy and may be rebuilding.

[UtahSox]

5 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

 

How about this for a Christmas blockbuster?

Duran, Tolle, Phillips and Mullins for Hunter Brown (3 arbs, but try to extend) and Paredes (2 arbs but try to extend)?

If you think Houston would even entertain this, I have some beautiful oceanfront property here in Utah to sell you. 

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, UtahSox said:

If you think Houston would even entertain this, I have some beautiful oceanfront property here in Utah to sell you. 

Isn't the Salt Lake like an ocean?

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Isn't the Salt Lake like an ocean?

How do you think UtahSox wound up in Utah?

[notin]

12 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

How do you think UtahSox wound up in Utah?

I think once he chose the name he didn’t have much on the way of choice…

[moonslav59]

13 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

How do you think UtahSox wound up in Utah?

He bought the property!

He's not buying the Sox FO sham, though.

[JoeBrady]

48 minutes ago, notin said:

I think once he chose the name he didn’t have much on the way of choice…

Or, how do we know the state wasn't named after him?  Maybe he and and a fried were driving through, got in some trouble, and were referred to as the 'two utes'.

[moonslav59]

I can't throw stones at Utes.

I chose Texas, of all places!

[JoeBrady]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I can't throw stones at Utes.

I chose Texas, of all places!

Good Mexican food.  Once I went down to Houston a few times, I could no longer enjoy local Mexican food.

[moonslav59]

56 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Good Mexican food.  Once I went down to Houston a few times, I could no longer enjoy local Mexican food.

I lived in Mexico City for over 4 years. I can appreciate that. HOU also has a huge Asian population, so lots of Indian, Vietnamese and other great Asian spots to eat, too.

That's about it.

It's been 80 all week. While that's better than snow and ice, there are about 6 months of unbearable heat, here. Good thing we have Sebago Lake for the sumemrs.

[JoeBrady]

6 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I lived in Mexico City for over 4 years. I can appreciate that. HOU also has a huge Asian population, so lots of Indian, Vietnamese and other great Asian spots to eat, too.

That's about it.

It's been 80 all week. While that's better than snow and ice, there are about 6 months of unbearable heat, here. Good thing we have Sebago Lake for the sumemrs.

One of my co-workers told me that the difference between NY and Houston was that, in NY, it is almost always nice in the morning, even if it could get unbearable in the afternoon.  In Houston, it never cools off in the summer.

[moonslav59]

16 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

One of my co-workers told me that the difference between NY and Houston was that, in NY, it is almost always nice in the morning, even if it could get unbearable in the afternoon.  In Houston, it never cools off in the summer.

From May 1st to Nov 1st it is almost always hot to extremely hot. There are such long stretches with not a single day of relief.

Here are the numbers for 2024:

April: Only 1 day with the high temp below 72.

May: 2 days below 81 (77 & 72)

June: 81, 82 and 84 on three days (24 days over 90.)

July: 19 days over 90.

August 26 days (lowest hi was 86,) 

Sept: 17 days over 90 (never under 81 for high temp)

It took to OCT 16th to  get below 80 for a high temp.

It took to NOV 14th to get below 77. NOV 26th was the only day under 72.

It was in the high 50's a couple days in DEC, but between 61-81 the other days.

This year it was 57 on April 6th, 66 on the 7th then poof. 77-84 the rest of the month.... another 5-6 month brutal stretch.

Pretty much from DEC to mid April is the only time there is change to the weather.

[JoeBrady]

26 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

From May 1st to Nov 1st it is almost always hot to extremely hot.

He also said that you had to treat your pool water every single day.  I remember a long discussion we had  They had summer attire and NY did not.  I said they went from an air-conditioned house to an air-conditioned car, to an air-conditioned office.  NY goes from a walk to a bus or subway, with subway stations often 100 degrees, back to walking to the office.  NY suffered much more from the heat. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

He also said that you had to treat your pool water every single day.  I remember a long discussion we had  They had summer attire and NY did not.  I said they went from an air-conditioned house to an air-conditioned car, to an air-conditioned office.  NY goes from a walk to a bus or subway, with subway stations often 100 degrees, back to walking to the office.  NY suffered much more from the heat. 

They even have a tunnel under the city, so people can walk around without ever going outside!

The city is growing a lot. It's amazing how people flock to an unlivable place.

[JoeBrady]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

The city is growing a lot. It's amazing how people flock to an unlivable place.

It's funny, but people moving down to FL, and moving back to NY 6 months later because of the heat, is a real thing.

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

It's funny, but people moving down to FL, and moving back to NY 6 months later because of the heat, is a real thing.

Indeed, and many have perfected the art of moving back and forth, yearly.

I hope to retire, soon and plan on summering in Maine and wintering somewhere with very mild or short winters. Maybe NC, Georgia, Northern Florida or the like.

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Indeed, and many have perfected the art of moving back and forth, yearly.

I mean, some of these people sold their houses, bought a house in FL, and sold their house 6 months later.

[moonslav59]

It's been over 80 all week, here. 86, today.

[notin]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

It's been over 80 all week, here. 86, today.

It was 60 in Chicago yesterday.  December 26 + Chicago + 60 degrees is like it being 110 in Houston.

It is supposed to be 20 here tomorrow.  Balance restored…

[FredLynn]

On 12/14/2025 at 1:49 PM, moonslav59 said:

The thing is, we can build a solid team with just 1-2 year free agents. We'd be a lot better had we signed Polanco and Merrill Kelly to their $20M x 2 year deals each.

I'm not saying that's all we needed, but we'll see others sign for 1-2 year deals by the start of 2026.

That being said, this is the time to make a large and long deal. I just hope it's not Bichette or Bregman.

Who then? I don't think we are getting anyone of significance. Henry is too cheap to pay up.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, FredLynn said:

Who then? I don't think we are getting anyone of significance. Henry is too cheap to pay up.

i'm not suggesting JH agrees to one, but I keep coming back to one guy and one guy only.

Not Bregman at 4, 5 or 6 years.

Not Bichette at 5, 6 of 7+ years.

It's Ketel Marte with an AAV due to deferrals of about $15M a year. Yes, he breaks the no long deals for anyone over 30, but if we are to "break the mold," I'd go with him.

I think the closest we might come is Okamoto or Suarez. Even those two might be pipedreams, unless Suarez take 1-2 years, or Okamoto signs a deal like Murakami's.