mvp 78

Matt Collins and Marc Normandin were really good when they would write about the Sox, but I think they’ve moved onto bigger things. Matthew Kory has a substack twitter@mattymatty2000.

The TEX trade had the Sox eating ZERO salary.

To make the postseason, they would need to go on a run that they haven’t done all year. Pitching is too tired. Devers is injured. Others are struggling. Less than 1% chance at this point IMO.

Seems like nobody had Castro ranked higher than 19th. I think SoxProspects is too high on him TBH. They are probably too high on Penrod as well. I like how our rankings shook out.

Roman Anthony Highest ceiling of any prospect that has come through the org since Mookie Betts. Kristian Campbell At some point, in game production means something as he tears through the minors. Unsure what his overall ceiling is at the moment and they need to find a defensive home for him.Marcelo Mayer The prospect with the best toolset across the board except for health, which is why he isn't in the top 2. Missed significant time in '22, '23 and '24. Kyle Teel Solid floor. Should be an everyday catcher in the bigs. Braden Montgomery Honestly, just a shot in the dark. Scouts like him, but we won't see him until next year. Luis Perales If he didn't get injured this year, he'd be higher. High powered arm that has been on a little bit of a rollercoaster ride the past 18 months. Most likely a top 100 guy when healthy.Franklin Arias Solid defensive SS that hit well in FCL.Miguel Bleis Potential 5 tool guy whose tools are bigger than his stats. At some point, his performance on the field will need to play up to the tools. Yoeilin Cespedes Big bat. Glove is a question mark at this point. Not a SS. Potential 2B/3B. May even be pushed to corner OF. Chase Meidroth Just gets on base. Minimal power. Could get exposed at MLB due to his extremely low exit velo. Plays adequate 2B/SS/3B.Jhostynxon Garcia I may be a little high on him because of his performance at High A. Richard Fitts Solid org arm that could spot start. May be a back end starter. Unsure if his arm would play up in a pen role. Mikey Romero Has bounced back this season. Has struggled massively with injuries in his short career. Could stick up the middle. Still only 20!Johanfran Garcia Defense could wind up average-ish, but there are questions about his body. Put on additional weight last offseason. Can hit the ball a ton, but may not be a great fit at 1B if he needs to move off the position.David Sandlin On an innings restriction. High octane arm. Needs to refine his secondary pitches.Yordanny Monegro Could be the most fun pitcher to watch in the system. Has not given up a run in 34 innings. Payton Tolle Another shot in the dark. Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz Lanky righthander. Has a lot of decent offerings, but nothing that will knock your socks off. Juan Valera Young. Raw. Has been virtually unhittable as an 18 year old in FCL and Salem. Hunter Dobbins Really turned a corner this season. Potential backend starter. Could be used as a spot starter as early as 2025.

Per SP podcast, Meidroth is dinged up. DHing and not running normally at the moment. Probably not getting called up.

Chris Hatfield said that Penrod didn’t really jump, but the others around him fell. Also, Meidroth leaped Cespedes due to proximity to MLB, missing dev time for Cespedes and ceiling vs floor debate.

They’ve said in the past that a reliever wouldn’t be top 20 and that seems to be Penrod’s future. IDK. Sometimes they get high on a guy and stay there. I have him above Wikelman too, but not Top 20.

Guys not on the 40 man that could be added: Penrod That might be it?

No reason to put Meidroth on the 40 man this season. They aren't required to add him until after next year. I like him, but seems like it would just add to a crowded 40 man. Would have to dump Romy or someone else. Why bother at this point?

How'd they do last time they met up?

They'd say no to the first trade. They'd move Roberts I bet.

DFA Sims (on IL) and Option Shugart

A 40 man roster move would need to be made if Luis Guerrero is called up.

Knowing how long this thread will go, I bet some sort of injury will happen before we're done with the convo.

Hard to do anything more than a 2 for 1 trade unless you're adding in non-40 man guys. Only difference would be if the Sox are really blowing it up and trading legit starting pieces that are fitting on any roster and not middle relievers and backup role players.

"Well, if the Sox kept Sale, they had an option to keep him for 2025 so we'll just have to keep this thread going through 9/30/25!"

We'll have to wait for SteAImer600 to do that.

It's fine. Not like he's a bad prospect and we're trying to put a 30th ranked guy in the top 10.

I think they have another option year so they may just keep him around for SS/2B insurance until the kids are ready.

To me, it makes sense to rank Meidroth ahead of Cespedes because Meidroth seems to have some MLB tools that could get him in games this week if the Sox wanted him there. He could fill in at 2B/3B/fake SS and show a decent batter's eye. Would he still have an 800+ OPS? Probably not. However, I'd bet that he could do better than Reyes' 716 from last year. If he's Brock Holtish in terms of production, that's a great outcome. Cespedes is a player without a position right now. It's undetermined if he can stay in the IF. If he moves to the OF, there's even more adjustment for the glove. His bat is good, but his body isn't going to fill out anymore than it already has. Is he on the Jasson Dominguez track where he can maximize his body type or is he just a bulky short guy? Right now, Cespedes is just so far away that almost anything could happen in his development. Meidroth is already on the doorstep.

Move on? I think they have another 50 more pages of posting to get through before we can really get to the meat of the issue.