mvp 78

Maybe Henry is a nihilist and just wants the world to burn?

I think he'll do a prospect trade, but I think it'll be for prospects that he's ok with parting ways with. I believe he probably has a list of untouchable guys

Not sure Alcantara does it for me?

3 years for Verlander? That's a tough, tough call.

Guys like Whitlock and Baddoo who are actually ready to contribute. Otherwise, it's just kind of a silly gimmick that was meant to prevent teams from hoarding prospects.

Ward will move up the ladder as a starter, but I think he transitions to a reliever role. Even SoxProspects has his ceiling as "back end starter." Ort and DHern will be moved off the 40 man at a later date. Wikelman could be a big loss, but he's also a few years away for the Sox. I don't see him being a good contributor in BOS until 2025. He started off the season really rough, but turned it around after some mechanic changes. Maybe another team takes a chance on him. He just is far away.

They’ll wait until right before the draft.

Ward will 26, always had relatively fringy stuff and is no longer a starter. I can see why they may not have protect him. Ort and Chang will be DFA’d for future moves. If they added Ward and Wallace to the 40 man, it’s 2 less FA signings later. Just taking a risk they sneak through the draft.

50th ranked prospect on SoxProspects. Can’t protect every prospect.

@alexspeier Per MLB source, Nate Eovaldi has declined the Red Sox' one-year, $19.65 million qualifying offer. The two sides will continue to discuss the possibility of a multi-year deal, but Eovaldi remains a free agent.

@JasonRRMartinez Updated Los Angeles Angels projected roster/depth chart/payroll: •SP Tyler Anderson agreed to 3-yr, $39MM contract.

Ian noted the following as just "high minors depth" right behind the tough decisions: Ryan Fernandez, RHP 2022 Highest Level: Portland Fernandez was a pop-up arm this year, with his velocity increasing from 92-95 mph to 96-98 mph. He also revamped his secondary pitches and was flashing a plus cutter as well. Unfortunately, Hernandez went on the injured list on July 30 with elbow soreness and made just one appearance in August before heading back to the IL for the rest of the season. If he was healthy and pitched like he did in the first half for the last two months of the season, he would have been a difficult decision, but given the uncertainty with his injury, I think the Red Sox will leave him unprotected. Jacob Wallace, RHP 2022 Highest Level: Portland When he is throwing strikes, Wallace has some of the best stuff of any relief arm in the system. He can run his fastball up to 100 mph and will flash a plus-plus breaking ball. His delivery is very volatile, however, and he has yet to show consistency from outing to outing and the ability to hold his command and control for extended stretches. It would not surprise me if a team took a shot on him if he is left unprotected given his pitch characteristics. Christian Koss, IF 2022 Highest Level: Portland Koss had a solid year in Portland, putting up a respectable .260/.309/.430 line with 17 home runs and 16 stolen bases. He is a steady defender and has added versatility to his game (he is seeing a good amount of time in left field in Puerto Rico right now), but at the plate, his approach limits him. He rarely walks and has too much swing-and-miss in his game. His underlying metrics are also rough, as he has a high chase rate, low hard-hit rate, and really struggled against fastballs 94 mph and up. Stephen Scott, C/1B/LF 2022 Highest Level: Portland Scott has played his way into this conversation by adding positional versatility at catcher, where he spent all of his 2022 defensive innings, and showing a very advanced approach. After struggling in Greenville, he was moved up to Portland and showed improved results, hitting .238/.371/.403 in 256 plate appearances. He had almost as many walks as strikeouts during that time, and his underlying metrics were pretty strong, sporting a low chase rate and solid-average hard-hit rate and exit velocities. He carried that over to the AFL, where he was named to the Fall Stars Game and an AFL All-Star by MLB Pipeline. He had a few thoughtful things to say about guys we have mentioned recently.

Ian Cundell at SoxProspects believes the following will be protected: Rafaela Walter Murphy Ward Wikelman Others mentioned as "tough decisions": AJ Politi, RHP 2022 Highest Level: Worcester Politi is the toughest decision of the remaining players, as I think there is a decent chance he will be selected if not protected. He is major league-ready right now, and even though there isn't much upside he could be a solid depth arm. At the same time, there are several other arms already on the 40-man roster who I have ahead of him as depth relievers, and over the past two years, the Red Sox have shown a willingness to take their chances with a player like him and hope that he makes it through without being selected. Another possibility is the Red Sox make a trade before the deadline. Certain Rule 5-eligible prospects, like Brainer Bonaci and Wilyer Abreu, have little chance of contributing in the big leagues in the near term. While it could be a little difficult for the Red Sox to keep those players on the 40-man roster for several years until they could make an impact at the MLB level, it might be easier for a rebuilding team to do so. As a result, we could see the team make a trade like they did in 2020, when they traded Yoan Aybar, who was actually already on the 40-man roster, to the Colorado Rockies for Christian Koss, who was not eligible until this year. Although that technically was not a deal made for the Rule 5 Draft in particular, the concept would be the same. Wilyer Abreu, OF 2022 Highest Level: Portland After he was acquired from the Astros at the trade deadline, Abreu struggled, hitting .242/.399/.375 in 168 plate appearances, and was even worse in the AFL, hitting .167/.275/.204 in 54 at-bats. He does have some strong underlying metrics with a 20% chase rate, strong numbers against fastballs 94 mph and up, and solid-average exit velocities, but I think he is not close enough to MLB and lacks the upside to warrant using a 40-man spot on him at this point.

How could Bradenton Bloom let this happen?

Maybe they are just "interested" and not going to actually sign him?

It did last year. His k rate went up a little, but his hard hit % skyrocketed. SSS tho.

That's the ONLY thing that makes sense if you look at his statcast. Use him like Andrew Miller. I'm not sure that's what the Sox have suggested though.

Fine with me.

Perfect!

I'm not sure what determinations we've made about moon except that he needs to use larger fonts and is bad at math.

Hill, yes. Strahm, didn't care. Wacha, wasn't a lot of money. Heaney is going to get more than he got last year, 1/8.5. If he was going to get 1/7, it wouldn't be a big deal to me.

He probably won't be. I think we've protected more players on our lists in the previous years than Bloom has.

I thought you were advocating for an Eovaldi QO?

Bloom could sell me on a lot of FA options, but Heaney isn't one of them.

@SPChrisHatfield Today at 6pm is the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from selection in the Rule 5 Draft. See below for my thoughts. I think they'll protect the top 4, question is whether they add any of the next 4. My guess is Rafaela, Walter, Ward, Murphy, Gonzalez. This would leave Abreu unprotected.