Early Trade deadline deals the selling Sox should make

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

Well, if they’re messing with his swing, I would expect that to impact him negatively.

It seems like the obvious solution is to let him use the swing that got him to be a Minor League Player of the Year and AL Rookie of the Month.  And to not panic over the occasional slump…

They weren't messing with his swing when he had the 4 mediocre to bad months in AAA last season. Was there an underlying injury? His numbers cratered after he sat out due to a rib problem. They said it wasn't an issue, but I can't trust them on any health related items. I won't give them any excuses for what is going on this year. 

[southpaw777]

22 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Since going to Gradum:

Durbin 23 G, 4 HR, 7 2b, 303 BA, 891 OPS

Will he keep it up? Definitely not. Where will his OPS end up? Hopefully close to 725. 

Two starters and another player was too much regardless. I saw him as a 700-750ops when he straightens out. Nice hitter with little power who wasn’t worth the return.

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, southpaw777 said:

Two starters and another player was too much regardless. I saw him as a 700-750ops when he straightens out. Nice hitter with little power who wasn’t worth the return.

It was a very weird trade for sure. I think they project a lot of pull side power for him with the monster. It didn't work early on. He had to go elsewhere to fix his swing. 

Swapping MIFers (DHam for Monasterio and Seigler) is a very odd choice. Getting the comp pick back is ok, but they really pulled the plug on Harrison very early. This was coming on the heels of trading other depth starters (Dobbins, Fitts). I don't think the anticipated that they'd have to get to Bennett, but they should have. Harrison would have had a spot this year! 

[notin]

22 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

It was a very weird trade for sure. I think they project a lot of pull side power for him with the monster. It didn't work early on. He had to go elsewhere to fix his swing. 

Swapping MIFers (DHam for Monasterio and Seigler) is a very odd choice. Getting the comp pick back is ok, but they really pulled the plug on Harrison very early. This was coming on the heels of trading other depth starters (Dobbins, Fitts). I don't think the anticipated that they'd have to get to Bennett, but they should have. Harrison would have had a spot this year! 

If Harrison was here, he’d probably be mediocre at best.  Not like he showed this kind of potential in 3 years at Oracle.  
 

I do think Harrison falls back a little bit and that trade winds up being fairly equal. (I assumed the  swap of middle infielders - Hamilton for Monasterio - was due to Romy’s injury coupled with Monasterio’s numbers vs LHP last year.)

I do agree dumping all of Dobbins, Fitts and Harrison felt like a depth killer, especially since i didn’t have the faith in Tyler Uberstine the Sox apparently had.  I still don’t have any, either…

[Old Red]

33 minutes ago, southpaw777 said:

He always looked like a scared deer in the headlights. I was shocked when Breslow gave him 60m. Smart kid for instantly taking it. The book on him was holes in that swing that mlb starters would expose and that he didn’t have a true position because his defense was bad. Giving a kid like him a deal with very little time in MLB shows breslows inexperience. And honestly, this goes for Anthony too, but to a lesser degree.

Well said. I don’t know if the Red Sox actually thought KC was ready, but the Red Sox needed a 2B after going through a revolving door the year before of 11 2B, so they gave him a shot. After a good first month it’s been all downhill ever since, and at the moment he looks more, and more like a lost cause, and there is probably more than 1 issue that’s causing it both physically, and emotionally. He seemed like a nice kid, so hopefully he gets back to being at least respectable.

[mvp 78]

24 minutes ago, notin said:

If Harrison was here, he’d probably be mediocre at best.  Not like he showed this kind of potential in 3 years at Oracle.  

I do think Harrison falls back a little bit and that trade winds up being fairly equal. (I assumed the  swap of middle infielders - Hamilton for Monasterio - was due to Romy’s injury coupled with Monasterio’s numbers vs LHP last year.)

I do agree dumping all of Dobbins, Fitts and Harrison felt like a depth killer, especially since i didn’t have the faith in Tyler Uberstine the Sox apparently had.  I still don’t have any, either…

I agree he got better because he was traded to MIL. 

I think they probably still needed another depth starter and this move only happened because they couldn't re-sign Breggie and the Paredes deal didn't work out. Figuring out a Duran for Paredes deal seems like a big miss right now. 

[notin]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I agree he got better because he was traded to MIL. 

I think they probably still needed another depth starter and this move only happened because they couldn't re-sign Breggie and the Paredes deal didn't work out. Figuring out a Duran for Paredes deal seems like a big miss right now. 

The question now with Duran - is this the nadir? Do you keep him and hope he looks like a better target in December/January?

[mvp 78]

Just now, notin said:

The question now with Duran - is this the nadir? Do you keep him and hope he looks like a better target in December/January?

Keep runnnig him out there and hope he gets better. If he doesn't turn it around, trade? Non tender? IDK what you do with the guy. I'm sure there is a team out there that would take him, just not at the value Craig wants. 

[notin]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Keep runnnig him out there and hope he gets better. If he doesn't turn it around, trade? Non tender? IDK what you do with the guy. I'm sure there is a team out there that would take him, just not at the value Craig wants. 

Non-tendering is not an option.   At lest not a smart one.
 

The options are:

1. Trade in July

2. Trade in Dec/Jan

3. Keep.

[moonslav59]

Great discussion over the last couple pages! I'm loving it!

I'd like to add to the points being made about a few players traded away who have had instant or recent success- some in small sample sizes/ some in not-so-small ones.

Breslow has made a shocking amount of trades in less than 3 years at the helm. Two of the players being talked about (Priester & Harrison) were actually traded for and traded away. Several others fit that bill, too- like Fajardo, Tibbs, TGray & probably more. He also traded away many players he drafted. This makes it harder to judge, since he may have done well or poorly when acquiring these players then well or poorly when he traded them away. How do we count them?

Of course, what we got back in value is the ultimate judging aspect vs what we traded away value.

Here is a partial list of major non Brez players/prospects traded away:

Sale, Devers, Teel, Meidroth, Montgomery, Verdugo, DHam, Jordan, Perales, Dobbins, Jh Garcia, Travieso,  Schrieber, Wikelman, Elmer Rodriguez, Booser, Yorke, Clarke, L Guerrero, C Murphy, Bernardino, Hoppe,  Luis Urias, EValdez, Aita, M Lugo, Kavadas, Zeferjahn, Vargas, O Portes, Paulino, C Coffey, Batista, Bolivar, Nick Robertson, V Santos, Ehrhard, Reimer, Ammons

Players acquired and traded:

Fitts, Priester, Harrison, Sandlin, V Grissom, Hicks, Drohan & Newcomb

Player acquired:

Crochet, Contreras, Suarez, Chapman, Gray, Bregman, Slaten, O'Neill, Romy, IKF, Durbin, Monasterio, Seigler, Coulombe, YRod, Holobetz, Phillips, J Wilson, Giolito, Bennett, Matz, Narvaez, Oviedo, Guzman & Samaniego, Weissert, Moran, Gasper (traded away then re-acquired) Ziehl, T Guerrero, N Baez, D Jansen, Criswell, N Lowe, Dominic, Eaton, Watson, Paxton, DMay, Hendriks, Buehler, Sandoval, Fulmer, L Garcia & L Sims,  I Campbell, Ro Hernandez, L Heyman, B Ward, McShane, J Bello, Judice, I Jackson, Vogatasky + many drafted/IFA prospects including Eyanson, Witherspoon, Gonzales, Godbout, Azocar, Primera, Soto, Delzine, Rivas and many more.

This is an amazing roster flip from top to bottom.

Some players traded were bound to do better than expected. How many have not?

[JoeBrady]

On 6/21/2026 at 11:47 AM, moonslav59 said:

Yes, T Guerrero should be added to the trade list.

I fracking love that dude, but yeah.  How this guy hasn't made it before is not something I can figure out.  He throws a sinker in the high 90s.

[JoeBrady]

11 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

but they really pulled the plug on Harrison very early.

He'd have likely started in the BP.  You don't pass on a starting 3B in order to retain an RP, even one with some ceiling to him.

[notin]

3 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

I fracking love that dude, but yeah.  How this guy hasn't made it before is not something I can figure out.  He throws a sinker in the high 90s.

6 BB/9.  Thats how.. 

[mvp 78]

10 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

He'd have likely started in the BP.  You don't pass on a starting 3B in order to retain an RP, even one with some ceiling to him.

This is you: "Delino Deshields for Pedro Martinez was actually a smart trade." 

[mvp 78]

6 hours ago, notin said:

6 BB/9.  Thats how.. 

And just because a pitch is thrown very hard, doesn't mean it's a good pitch.

[southpaw777]

11 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

He'd have likely started in the BP.  You don't pass on a starting 3B in order to retain an RP, even one with some ceiling to him.

Durbin is more middle IF. Contact speed and gap to gap doubles hitter. True corner guys usually have some power. Also, Harrison wasn’t projected as RP nor were they using him or talking about him in that capacity. 

[mvp 78]

3 hours ago, southpaw777 said:

Durbin is more middle IF. Contact speed and gap to gap doubles hitter. True corner guys usually have some power. Also, Harrison wasn’t projected as RP nor were they using him or talking about him in that capacity. 

WOO only has 3 starting pitchers right now.

There's no way he would have been put into the pen.

[southpaw777]

47 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

WOO only has 3 starting pitchers right now.

There's no way he would have been put into the pen.

Breslow got rid of all our depth and possible rotation help. Threes no way to defend losing 5-6 arms that could help in some way. Especially knowing how many pitchers can go down in one year.

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, southpaw777 said:

Durbin is more middle IF. Contact speed and gap to gap doubles hitter. True corner guys usually have some power. Also, Harrison wasn’t projected as RP nor were they using him or talking about him in that capacity. 

3B is no longer the slugging position it once was. If Durbin can play near GG defense at 3B and hit over .750, he'll be okay, as long as we add two big bats somewhere else (DH? SS/2B? C?)

3B still slugs more than 2B & SS but not by a lot.

SLG in MLB by position '24>'25>'26

.393>.397>.386 3B

.411>.404>.390 SS

.374>.371>.386 2B (same as 3B, this year!)

 

[drewski6]

16 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

I fracking love that dude, but yeah.  How this guy hasn't made it before is not something I can figure out.  He throws a sinker in the high 90s.

does it sink?

[drewski6]

16 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

He'd have likely started in the BP.  You don't pass on a starting 3B in order to retain an RP, even one with some ceiling to him.

maybe among the lowest exit EV in the biz is not "a starting 3b"

[drewski6]

12 hours ago, notin said:

6 BB/9.  Thats how.. 

might sink a little too much

[drewski6]

20 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

3B is no longer the slugging position it once was. If Durbin can play near GG defense at 3B and hit over .750, he'll be okay, as long as we add two big bats somewhere else (DH? SS/2B? C?)

3B still slugs more than 2B & SS but not by a lot.

SLG in MLB by position '24>'25>'26

.393>.397>.386 3B

.411>.404>.390 SS

.374>.371>.386 2B (same as 3B, this year!)

 

and this is why we should not look at our needs from a positional view.  Because you arent going to get a 2b/ss/3b who can hit enough to save us, even if those positions are the biggest holes.

Enter the value of a DH who can mash.

[notin]

9 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

might sink a little too much

He’s been known to throw it underground…

[mvp 78]

40 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

3B is no longer the slugging position it once was. If Durbin can play near GG defense at 3B and hit over .750, he'll be okay, as long as we add two big bats somewhere else (DH? SS/2B? C?)

3B still slugs more than 2B & SS but not by a lot.

SLG in MLB by position '24>'25>'26

.393>.397>.386 3B

.411>.404>.390 SS

.374>.371>.386 2B (same as 3B, this year!)

 

Look how bad Durbin is. He dragged the entirety of 3b down with him! 

[mvp 78]

19 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

and this is why we should not look at our needs from a positional view.  Because you arent going to get a 2b/ss/3b who can hit enough to save us, even if those positions are the biggest holes.

Enter the value of a DH who can mash.

DH isn't really a hitting position anymore. It's for Catcher's off days. Didn't you know? 

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

DH isn't really a hitting position anymore. It's for Catcher's off days. Didn't you know? 

are you singing erykah badu to me? didnt cha know....didnt cha know

dont hate that.

[moonslav59]

41 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

does it sink?

By a lot- often right out of the K zone.

[moonslav59]

22 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Look how bad Durbin is. He dragged the entirety of 3b down with him! 

Durbin's career SLG is .369- not far from the league average at 3B.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Durbin's career SLG is .369- not far from the league average at 3B.

That includes a whole bunch of AAA hitters. Who cares. 

If you look at guys above 50 PA:

20th is 397 SLG (Oswald Peraza)

Durbin isn't even top 30 and that includes his recent hot stretch.