I would not trade Abreu for Luzardo. Luzardo only has one season with more WAR than the season Abreu just had. He’s a “grass isn’t always greener” pitcher to me.
If he’s on the IL, his career is over. However, Flaherty’s back issues are more likely to bring intermittent IL stints and unproductive stretches every season.
He’s ranked lower than Garcia based on overall ceiling. He is more likely to play in MLB than Garcia due to proximity and defensive capabilities. I think he just has “career 3rd catcher” written all over him. Good gig if you can get it.
Sale deal was fine. The Kimbrel deal was the overpay. Per fWAR, the Sale deal comes out to about even Stevens for both Sox teams due to a couple of forgotten strong years from Moncada.
Crochet was a high cost, but market value.
For starter fWAR since 2016, he's behind: Paxton, Taillon, Syndergaard, Marquez, Gibson, Carrasco, Rodon, Corbin, Bauer, Lynn, Hendricks, Quintana and others I wouldn't want to spend a lot of money on either.
I'm allowed to just not like a player.
Years above 2 bWAR
2016
2018
2021
2024
More often than not, he's been a mediocre to bad pitcher even when pitching in a great pitcher's park like OAK.