mvp 78

Is the last "good" FA starter contract John Lackey? Even that had 3 lost seasons. Since '04, they've been better off trading for starters (Beckett, ERod, Sale, Crochet, Porcello, Eovaldi) than getting a FA.

He's been quiet quitting since the day he was hired.

TalkSox darling Ryan Helsley to the 0's for 2/28M. Bounce back season and dealt at the deadline?

There ARE too many cooks. Start by counting the EVP's. We had the same problem last season when discussing Alex Bregman. We heard in the media that there were multiple sides in the FO about signing Bregman. One side wanted to go long on him and the other wanted to go short if at all. Sam/JH vs Werner vs Cora vs Breslow. It's kind of a free for all in there and it leaks worse than my last pool solar water heater.

For many college guys they are skipping them straight to GRE. A guy like Godbout should be in AA around the All Star Break. For the 2024 draft: Straight to GRE- Tolle, Ehrhard, Turner, White A little time in SAL - Clarke (3 starts), Aita (10 starts), Futrell (12 starts), Tygart (4 starts), Sprague (10 G), Whole season in FCL/SAL - Brooks, Bouchard, Gartrell, Kilander, Cruz, Ortiz, Hansen Because of how last year went, I bet Witherspoon, Godbout, Eyanson, White, Martin and Foutch start in GRE. I bet Phillips, Morgan and Winnay are early callups. SP projects Phillips to start in GRE, but I wonder if they put him in SAL for a few weeks as he's less experienced than Witherspoon and Eyanson.

The tax hit on these contracts is so small that it's really embarrassing if the Sox feel they have to trade away players to take on new ones. JH can afford it. JH should afford it. The fans have put the money in his pocket. He should spend it.

Priester was the low to moderate guy in the Sox system. The Brewers helped unlock a little bit in him (*cough cough* cutter).

I don't think they anticipated Giolito needing TJS at the time he was signed.

Yes, they shouldn't get these types of guys going forward because (1) they are reducing your 40 man roster in offseason year 1, (2) wasting AAV on CBT in year 1 while not getting enough discount in year 2 and (3) the Sox have a bad history of grabbing these types. It's one thing to do it for a premier talent, it's quite another for guys with a limited ceiling to begin with. Matthew Boyd got 2/29 and Shane Beiber got 2/26 last offseason, which are much better deals than Sandoval at 2/18. Sandoval was a bottom of the barrel signing. Starters signed for less really didn't produce much of anything in '25. Better off just not signing anyone. The hope was that he'd come back in the 2nd half, but that didn't happen.

He's a changeup, sinker, slider guy with a god awful 4 seamer. That's right in their wheelhouse. In his best seasons, he was a high groundball rate pitcher with low hard hit rate and induced a lot of whiffs. Similar profile to Bello, just with higher k rate.

Too late... 😏

Too many hacks that have been writing the same drivel for 40 years OR it's 8 versions of the same story.

The most recent TalkSox poll (AUG) was: Payton Tolle (SP 1) Jhostynxon Garcia (6) Franklin Arias (2) Kyson Witherspoon (5) Connelly Early (3) Luis Perales (4) Mikey Romero (15) Juan Valera (7) Brandon Clarke (n/a) Justin Gonzales (9) Marcus Phillips (12) Dorian Soto (10) David Sandlin (11) Anthony Eyanson (13) Miguel Bleis (22) Johanfran Garcia (29) Jedixson Paez (20) Yoeilin Cespedes (23) Yhoiker Fajardo (9) Yophery Rodriguez (38) My personal top 20 is probably closer to SP than what TalkSox has up. Tolle (higher than Early due to ceiling, but could go either way) Early Arias Perales Witherspoon (hasn't pitched professional innings, but I heard good reports about character and pitch mix) Garcia Valera Fajardo Gonzales Sandlin Phillips (next three could jump early in the season) Eyanson Godbout Soto Romero (will hit a lot of HR's in WOO, but high k/low bb guy now) Holobetz Drohan (age 26) Uberstine (age 26) Paez (injury) Mullins (age 26)

Devers actually deserved it and had more stateside appearances than the other guys listed. He was in the GCL on 7/4/14 after just a month in the DSL and didn't stop hitting. He stayed a top 5 prospect throughout his time in MiLB. Soto ranked 17th before appearing in a DSL game and is now 10th after OPS'ing 790. Part of it is because he was 17 and the projections have him being better in '26. Still a little high for me TBH.

If you are trading Duran and Bello, you are probably bringing salary back.

He will.

Gio had his March '24 and was back in 12 months. Sandoval had his June '24 and he wasn't able to make it back before the end of the season. He should be ready to go, but these things aren't 100%.

Who has been hammering them (excluding twitter, message boards, etc.)? They seem to get off pretty easy from BOS media.

50% of all MLBers named Sandoval have appeared for the Red Sox. Angels are the only other team with as high of a percentage.

Compared to how they've treated some other prospects, they are going light on Soto. Antoni Flores ranked 10th after only 4 GCL AB's. Never OPS'd above 700 again. Gilberto Jimenez ranked 8th before showing up stateside. Pushed to 4th after his Lowell appearance. Miguel Bleis ranked 7th before being sent to FCL (3rd at the end of the season). Yoeilin Cespedes ranked 6th before being sent to FCL (when org was at its peak). Once Anderson Espinoza popped in 2015, it seemed like they were always overly high on one or two guys every year in the DSL. With how MiLB is now, I'm not sure numbers matter until SAL or maybe even GRE.

People are putting him in the rotation because he's on the 40 man and has no options.

It says more about the positional depth at the top of the minors. They need all the warm bodies they can find. However, since he went to Richmond, I have to stan.

On Sandoval: Breslow said, “(b)eing able to pencil him into the rotation next year makes this an even better move for us.”

The upside is that more people will know him because of "LOL Dick Fitts" than his pitchability.

His velo was up a tick and he was actually k'ing people. The problem was that once he got to the Regular Season and better lineups, he stopped k'ing people and was back to needing BABIP luck from what I remember. After he came back from injury, they were reluctant to let him pitch later in to games. Due to injury? Like of a put away pitch? Other?