mvp 78

Have you compared the two?

I think I could be sold on a Giolito bounce back if the got Yamamoto, otherwise it has to be to really top guys.

It'd be a consolation prize. I wouldn't be over the moon per se.

Maybe they have the conversation this weekend and then make the decision to do just that? No clue. They are clearly making their bed in a similar manner to previous offseasons.

Me too.

Just takes some faith, trust and sprinkling of pixie dust.

@tylermilliken_ 3 minutes and 11 seconds of Shota Imanaga carving up hitters last season. His 68% strike rate would have been tied for 5th-best in the majors with Spencer Strider in 2023. Had the best Stuff+ of any pitcher in the WBC. 24 GS (159 IP), 2.66 ERA, 10.6 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, 7.8 H/9, 1.0 HR/9. https://twitter.com/tylermilliken_/status/1732919700718256523 Nice easy delivery.

As the booby prize, it's fine. Anything less than that is not ok.

Monty is 7/170 now. FanGraphs had him projected at 5/105.

He was lucky with the ERA in '23, he'll likely be a little unlucky in '24.

@redsoxstats Speier on MLBN says Shōta Imanaga “is of considerable interest to the Red Sox.” They are fascinated with his pitch metics, track record, and obviously no draft pick for him. All reasons why I’ve been penciling him into the Sox rotation since October. He makes a lot of sense.

Low info Heyman: @redsoxstats Heyman in MLBN says the Sox are in on Yamamoto, Montgomery, Imanaga, Giolito. He’s guessing NY or LA for Yamamoto, but says not to rule out the Red Sox. He thinks Montgomery could get $160M (yikes). Imanaga will get more than expected. He guessed Giolito signs with the Sox.

'23 1.05 ERA, 2.90 xFIP There's going to be some amount of regression. Most likely, his ERA will be in the low 3's.

It "dwarfed" a FA deal from 15+ years before. Don't all large FA deals do that? You can't compare FA deals from one decade to the next. The prices keep going up and up. For example, the Crawford deal was a HUGE splash, but the Story deal is almost an afterthought.

I think they realized their mistake and heard the fan backlash. Should have probably just given the money to Lester.

Yeah, if you walk along the Embarcadero, you're fine. If you start walking towards Market St, it's garbage. Aside from the Tenderloin, SoMA is just the worst part of SF. There's not much of a reason to be in the Tenderloin though as it's easy enough to walk around.

Just pretend that TalkSox is an Etch-a-sketch that yeszir shakes to reset at 7AM everyday. Previous opinions and arguments don't matter.

Murphy is really an afterthought for me. I just don't see much there. I know his statcast page looks interesting because he limited hard contact, but his OPSa for RHB was still 782 and he wasn't really a LHB killer. When you look at his career numbers he's always had high ERA's except for '22 in AA when his xFIP was still almost 4. I wonder if Murphy and Walter are only on the 40 man because of a lack of better LHP options in the org. LHP Projected per SoxProspects AAA: Walter/Muphy/Booser AA: Penrod/Benitez/Olivarez/Cellucci A+: Rogers/Wu-Yellend/Dean/Landry A-: Early/Mullins/Fogell/Butler/Ingrassia FCL: NONE! DSL: De La Cruz/Sanchez (both rosters) Of those guys, I guess Penrod, Olivarez, Rogers, Early and Mullins are kind of interesting. Penrod is the post-indy ball guy with control issues, but was a potential Rule 5 pick. Olivarez is the Mata-esque signing the Sox made (injury history, once highly regarded prospect, high BB rate). Rogers is a bulk reliever like Murphy most likely. Early could stick as a starter due to his frame and mix. Mullins can't stay healthy, but strikes everyone out. Early is probably the only guy we're still talking about seriously in a few years.

The Price deal shocked Red Sox nation? That's back when we signed those players all the time. Things didn't change until they put Mookie out with the recycling bin on Friday AM.

They used to outbid teams. They are playing things close to their vest this year. We'll see if they can bring back some of that old time religion.

Have the player sign an amendment that states "is it ok to fire the crappy CBO: check box YES [ ] NO [ ]"

I think it all depends on who they acquire. Pivetta should be the #5 and just leave him there. He's fine enough in that role. Crawford can go into the pen and then move him back into the rotation once Sale's body breaks down again. I wouldn't move Houck or Whitlock back into the rotation. I think there are now other guys you could us in emergency roles (Fitts, Gambrell, Gonzalez). SP1 SP2 Bello Sale Pivetta

The risk of adding guys to the 40 man too early is that they'll run out of options at some point. Perales is far away and could have a similar issue at some point. Even if Mata has a solid ST, I'd be tempted to DFA him just because his history so far has not been great. Last year was rough.

I don't want to overthink the bullpen too much. The bullpen was fine last year and it seems like they've added nicely to the depth. The real problem is the bullpen tiring out from not having reliable starters. Getting 2 horses should fix things in '24. The only bullpen guys that have left are Bleier, Ort, Brasier, Garza, Rodriguez and Robertson. None of those guys were valuable last season. All the important pieces return this season.

Imagine that Yamamoto signs a similar deal with the Sox and Old Red is stuck with Crag for 10 years............