If they aren't trading Arias, fine. DFA Story in the offseason. Trade Masa and eat 50% of salary. Trade Duran for prospects.
C Narvaez
1B Contreras
2B Abrams
SS Arias
3B Durbin
RF Abreu
CF Rafaela
LF Anthony
DH Mead
Bench Monasterio, Seigler, Wong, OF 4 Acquisition
I think they could certainly upgrade Romy/Jones and do it cheaply. I think whatever it takes to acquire Abrams and Neto is probably too much. I wouldn't deal Arias for either.
They already acquired Mead for next season, so if you get Abrams or Neto, what's the lineup? Moving Mead to DH? Moving Mead to LF?
I just don't know what else they'll do with Story TBH. I don't think they'll move him to 2b midseason. I don't think they'll be able to trade him at the deadline. I really doubt they'll DFA before the end of the year. All three of those options are viable this offseason IMO.
I don't care. The names that have been thrown out in trade talks haven't been worth it to me. I'd rather keep Arias in house. No matter what, they have Story coming back and aren't going to make any moves to keep him off the roster. Story becomes a DH? Then Roman comes back at some point? Eventually, all the glue guys that kept this train going are going to be left off the roster and the chemistry will be gone.
I'm tempted to just not mess with a good thing right now. The trade deadline prices are just too exorbitant. Just construct a complete roster in the offseason.
Most MLB players have their own personal hitting coaches. I don't think that's a knock on the Sox.
Duran has tweaked his swing over and over again ever since he got to the org. He's never stuck with a swing even when he's found success. We don't know if he's listening to coaches or just doing his own thing. All we know is that he's in a huge funk.