mvp 78’s 2027 Payroll Blueprint: No copying my work, Brez!

[Hugh2]

OH SO NOW YOU THINK SATO IS A 3B!!!!!

I actually love it, he can always move to the OF/1B if he can hit and Arias plays his way up. 

The more I think about it the more I like MEAD at DH, and that's another path for Arias onto this roster. 

And I LOVE another poster being aggressive and adding Skubal to the rotation.

And......you came in under budget. Bravo. And unlike me and others you added a back up catcher. 

[moonslav59]

49 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

After trading Mookie Betts (sorry, I just can't let anyone involved ever forget what they did).

I agree, and after finding out DD was almost forced to do it, I don't blame anyone but JH for that.

[mvp 78]

26 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

OH SO NOW YOU THINK SATO IS A 3B!!!!!

I actually love it, he can always move to the OF/1B if he can hit and Arias plays his way up. 

The more I think about it the more I like MEAD at DH, and that's another path for Arias onto this roster. 

And I LOVE another poster being aggressive and adding Skubal to the rotation.

And......you came in under budget. Bravo. And unlike me and others you added a back up catcher. 

I think he'd be slightly better than Devers defensively, but the plan is to move him off 3b in a year or two. Maybe sooner depending on OF injury. 

I don't think any evaluator think Mead can play anywhere on the IF. 

Wong gone! 

[mvp 78]

31 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

No doubt. My mantra was that he was expected to find "sdiamonds in the rough," like the Rays were known for, but found very few low grade gems.

2020: Nick Pivetta (career resurgence), Kevin Plawecki

2021: Kiké (4.9 bWAR), Renfroe (career high RBI), Whitlock, Schreiber

2022: Refsnyder, McGuire, Wacha (career resurgence)

2023: Bernardino

Do Springs or Littell count? 

[moonslav59]

57 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

2020: Nick Pivetta (career resurgence), Kevin Plawecki

2021: Kiké (4.9 bWAR), Renfroe (career high RBI), Whitlock, Schreiber

2022: Refsnyder, McGuire, Wacha (career resurgence)

2023: Bernardino

Do Springs or Littell count? 

Those were lower grade gems. We had a few guys like Springs and Martin Perez, who did very well right after their time under Bloom, but Bloom never made a major score, except maybe the Schwarber rental unit..

His two biggest spends were massive letdowns. He did better with mid-levels Jansen, Martin, Wacha and the O'Neill trade.

IMO, Bloom left Brez a decent foundation to work with and high enough ranked prospects to make the trades to make us close to the highest level of competitiveness. I think we are two major adds from being top 4-6 in MLB. With some good health and luck, maybe top 3.

BTW, you missed Abreu.

 

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

2020: Nick Pivetta (career resurgence), Kevin Plawecki

2021: Kiké (4.9 bWAR), Renfroe (career high RBI), Whitlock, Schreiber

2022: Refsnyder, McGuire, Wacha (career resurgence)

2023: Bernardino

Do Springs or Littell count? 

So maybe a 2027 platoon at DH of Triston Casas and Pavin Smith?

[mvp 78]

22 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

BTW, you missed Abreu.

I treated Abreu the same way I treated the other prospects he acquired: I just ignored them. I wouldn't say Abreu was low grade, he was just a prospect that worked out whereas Valdez didn't. 

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

I think he'd be slightly better than Devers defensively, but the plan is to move him off 3b in a year or two. Maybe sooner depending on OF injury. 

I don't think any evaluator think Mead can play anywhere on the IF. 

Wong gone! 

 “Slightly better than Devers defensively” better be accompanied by “and almost as good offensively” or were not exactly looking at much of an overall upgrade…

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

So maybe a 2027 platoon at DH of Triston Casas and Pavin Smith?

Platooning a LH and a LH is good thinking. 

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, notin said:

 “Slightly better than Devers defensively” better be accompanied by “and almost as good offensively” or were not exactly looking at much of an overall upgrade…

Upgrade from what? You're replacing the overall Sox team. Sato replaces the pathetic hitting of the 2Bs. Durbin just switches positions. 

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, notin said:

So maybe a 2027 platoon at DH of Triston Casas and Pavin Smith?

Casas is a career reverse split batter:

.814 v L (26 HRs per 650)

.796 v R (33 HRs per 650)

In his 500+ PAs 2023 season, Casas hit .817 v L.

If he ever gets back to that level, he'll be the FT DH.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I treated Abreu the same way I treated the other prospects he acquired: I just ignored them. I wouldn't say Abreu was low grade, he was just a prospect that worked out whereas Valdez didn't. 

You mentioned the others but not him.

[Larry Cook]

On 11/9/2026 at 11:00 AM, mvp 78 said:

Traded Duran for prospects. Traded Bello to finally get off that rollercoaster. Assumed no dead money on any trades. All FA amounts taken from FanGraphs Free Agent Tracker. 

• C: Adley Rutschman ($8.50M)
• 1B: Willson Contreras ($13.00M)
• 2B: Caleb Durbin ($1.00M)
• 3B: Teruaki Sato ($20.00M)
• SS: Trevor Story ($25.00M)
• LF: Roman Anthony ($4.00M)
• CF: Ceddanne Rafaela ($3.50M)
• RF: Wilyer Abreu ($5.80M)
• DH: Curtis Mead ($1.00M)
• 4th OF: Mauricio Dubon ($9.00M)
• Utility: Masataka Yoshida ($18.00M)
• Utility: Nick Sogard ($1.00M)
• Backup C: Austin Hedges ($5.00M)
• POS: Add Dead Money Here ($0M)
• SP1: Garrett Crochet ($28.00M)
• SP2: Ranger Suarez ($15.00M)
• SP3: Tarik Skubal ($42.0M)
• SP4: Payton Tolle ($1.00M)
• SP5: Jake Bennett ($1.00M)
• RP: Aroldis Chapman ($13.00M)
• RP: Adrian Morejon ($16.00M)
• RP: Justin Slaten ($1.00M)
• RP: Johan Oviedo ($1.55M)
• RP: Erik Miller ($1.35M)
• RP: Tanner Houck ($4.00M)
• RP: Tyron Guerrero ($1.00M)
• RP: Garrett Whitlock ($8.25M)
• POS: Add Dead Money Here ($0.00M)

Payroll is 4.63% under budget

Any lineup that includes skubal is a lineup that I will endorse!  
 

if you do 60 million to skubal and drop sato and add romy, then I can think we are World Series champs 

[notin]

7 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Platooning a LH and a LH is good thinking. 

For some reason, I thought Pavin Smith hit right-handed.  Well, maybe he can learn.  Not like batting left-handed has worked out that great for him…

[mvp 78]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Casas is a career reverse split batter:

.814 v L (26 HRs per 650)

.796 v R (33 HRs per 650)

In his 500+ PAs 2023 season, Casas hit .817 v L.

If he ever gets back to that level, he'll be the FT DH.

That's not a reverse split TBH. That's an even split. 

[mvp 78]

10 hours ago, notin said:

For some reason, I thought Pavin Smith hit right-handed.  Well, maybe he can learn.  Not like batting left-handed has worked out that great for him…

He hits RHP pretty well. That's about it though. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

That's not a reverse split TBH. That's an even split. 

Close enough, but the point remains: if he gets back to form, he needs no platoon.

[moonslav59]

I may be the last hold out on Casas, but I'd rather keep him on the 40 than Duran, Story, Yoshida and several others.

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Close enough, but the point remains: if he gets back to form, he needs no platoon.

Back to form? He can't even get into the batting cage. 

[moonslav59]

18 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Back to form? He can't even get into the batting cage. 

I expected a joke about his "form" being fat and clumsy

[mvp 78]

53 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I expected a joke about his "form" being fat and clumsy

We used to talk about Ellsbury being made of glass. Casas? More like Triston Glassas.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

We used to talk about Ellsbury being made of glass. Casas? More like Triston Glassas.

True.

He hurt his knee running in a straight line.

His other major injury came from just swinging the bat.

The guy could hit and get on base when he was healthy.

I realize we have too many players with remote chances of repeating what they once did, but to me, he's the better gamble than other China Dolls and over-the-hill players.

 

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

True.

He hurt his knee running in a straight line.

His other major injury came from just swinging the bat.

The guy could hit and get on base when he was healthy.

I realize we have too many players with remote chances of repeating what they once did, but to me, he's the better gamble than other China Dolls and over-the-hill players.

 

He WAS a 30 HR power guy. Just not sure it's in there anymore. 

[notin]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He WAS a 30 HR power guy. Just not sure it's in there anymore. 

He is still only 26.  (27 in January)…

[moonslav59]

Best season in the last 4 years:

.901 Contreras (27 HRs/448 ABs) '26

.859 Anthony (8 HRs/257 ABs) '25

.856 Casas (24 Hrs/429 ABs) '23

.851 Mead (17 HRs/285 ABs) '26

.826 Romy (9 HRs/315 ABs) '25

.834 Duran (21 HRs/671 ABs) '24

.809 Rutschman (20 HRs/588) '23

.786 Abreu (22 HRs/373 ABs) '25

.783 Masa (15 HRs/537 ABs) '23

.764 Rafaela (16 HRs/541) '26

.741 Story (25 HRs in 612/PAs) '25

.721 Durbin (11Hrs/445) '25

Also...

J Jones .937 w 7 HRs/129 ABs in '25 (.993 w BOS in '26)

Gasper .823 w 10 Hrs in 225 ABs in '26

 

 

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He WAS a 30 HR power guy. Just not sure it's in there anymore. 

I'm way not sure, too, but I'd rather give up on Yoshida, Duran, Story, Monasterio and others on the 40 than the 26 year old Casas.

[notin]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I may be the last hold out on Casas, but I'd rather keep him on the 40 than Duran, Story, Yoshida and several others.

Story’s issue is the same as Casas - just too fragile.  But a healthy Story is a good player.

I do struggle to see a world where both (or either?) Duran or Yoshida are in Boston next season…

[mvp 78]

19 minutes ago, notin said:

He is still only 26.  (27 in January)…

I know what his age is. I also know what his injury history is. I think that is the bigger concern at play. I think the initial knee injury was most likely career altering and I've said it from the day it happened. 

[mvp 78]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm way not sure, too, but I'd rather give up on Yoshida, Duran, Story, Monasterio and others on the 40 than the 26 year old Casas.

I don't really see a long term path for any of the guys you listed so I'm fine with dropping all of them. 

[mvp 78]

20 minutes ago, notin said:

Story’s issue is the same as Casas - just too fragile.  But a healthy Story is a good player.

I do struggle to see a world where both (or either?) Duran or Yoshida are in Boston next season…

At this point, a healthy Story is a 100 OPS+ bat and a declining glove. It's fine, but needs to be improved upon if this is a serious team. It's much more likely that Duran has a bounce back season than Story.