vjcsmoke

True. The previous regime's inaction has resulted in the Red Sox selling low on assets now. But it looks like Breslow is trying to clean up Bloom's mess now. He seems to be getting what value he can with current assets and still working under that mandatory budget. Honestly not sure what Breslow can do with the financial handcuffs but maybe he will act smarter and/or bolder than the man he replaced.

I just read an article today that the Red Sox could be in on a trade for Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Dylan Cease. Thoughts? Could this guy turn into a top of the rotation pitcher for us? article: https://www.si.com/mlb/red-sox/news/red-sox-reportedly-considering-blockbuster-trade-for-superstar-pitcher-pat3

Well the good news about Grissom, the "centerpiece" of the Sale trade is that he was the 21st ranked prospect in the Braves' farm system. The bad thing about Grissom is that his ratings are decidedly mediocre. Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 50 | Run: 50 | Arm: 55 | Field: 45 | Overall: 45 Article: Braves Top Prospects | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM The Official Site of Major League Baseball But he is only 22 so who knows he does have room for improvement on those ratings. Here's a scouting report that came out on Vaughn last February: https://www.batterypower.com/2023/2/22/23608895/vaughn-grissom-metrics-say-atlanta-braves It sounds like his numbers started slumping after a hot start. A negative -.3 dwar doesn't seem promising, neither does his -.7 WAR for the season of 2023. Sounds like his inability to hit the breaking pitch was one of the reasons he started slumping hard.

Well I just read an article that confirms - the Red Sox have set a small market budget to avoid the luxury tax - 225m per season. In fact the Red Sox have outright told some free agents that they can't pursue them unless they first shed payroll. “According to baseball sources, the front office went into last winter with a mandated budget of $225 million, which was significantly under the first CBT threshold of $233 million,” Cotillo wrote. “Boston did not come close to paying the luxury tax in 2023, when the club finished last; estimations had Boston’s payroll just a hair over that $225 million mark by the end of the year.” Despite Red Sox chairman Tom Werner’s claim of the team going “full throttle” this offseason, Boston’s spending habits have reportedly befuddled the rest of MLB, as well as several free agents. “I’ve talked to a lot of agents this week and I made it a point to … talk to rival executives, talk to agents to see what the Red Sox were doing,” Chris Cotillo said on his “Fenway Rundown” podcast on Friday. “A few of them were just very clear – [the Red Sox] are acting like a small market team. ‘They like my player, but they are not going to be the aggressive bidders.’” Article: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/report-red-sox-told-free-agent-they-must-shed-payroll-before-aggressively-pursuing-him/ar-AA1mhsUg This is pretty damning stuff. And it helps explain a lot about what has happened this offseason. Red Sox budget is set at 225m and they won't spend more until they shed more payroll. Breslow might not be able to make significant moves until next season when more contracts expire. But dumping Verdugo for chump change and trading away Chris Sale now make sense big picture-wise. The Red Sox going "Full Throttle" is more like the Red Sox going 55 mph in a 70 mph zone. What a joke!

19m per year for a guy who pitched with a 7 era/fip feels like a lot of money for a reclamation project. Can we opt out of year 2 if he’s a bust or is the option only for the player?

Bloom was 3 steps ahead by signing Story to that big contract and deciding to let Bogaerts go before seeing how that move panned out! Oops! That move looks even more stupid in hindsight!

I can FIX HIM said every abused girlfriend ever. LOL. It's the reclamation project dream. I get it. Maybe he can get better. But it feels like a desperation move to make when the budget has been tightened up. Regular menu items are not available, it's time to dumpster dive!

But wait there's more! Rumors now have the Red Sox interested in acquiring Lucas Giolito. With LA Angels he had a 6.89 ERA, 6.81 FIP, and 1.46 WHIP before moving to Cleveland where he put up an equally uninspiring 7.04 ERA, 6.94 FIP, and 1.50 WHIP. Looks like a Red Sox "buy low" because he's cheap and maybe he'll bounce back to his career averages of 4.43 ERA, 4.44 FIP, and 1.25 WHIP. So if he "bounces back" we'll only need to score 5 runs per game to win when he makes an appearance. If he doesn't bounce back, we'll need to score 7+ runs per game. Woohoo, genius move by Breslow! But hey I'm sure he'll be CHEAP so that will please Henry and FSG.

If the Red Sox are seriously sitting out free agency then the trade market is the only place to get a quality starting pitcher. The Red Sox desperately need good starting pitching. Surely Craig Breslow isn't blind and knows this fact. But what moves is he making behind the scenes to fix this glaring issue?

Well I've been reading the rumor mill and apparently Montgomery would be too expensive a target for the Red Sox. He's projected to earn a new contract around a 5 year 106m deal. So 21m dollars per year for a top of the rotation pitcher is too rich for the Red Sox now? WTF happened to this franchise? It feels like the owners are literally rubbing 2 pennies together first whenever it comes time to open the checkbook!

Then what's the point of getting rid of Bloom? If you're going to tie the new guy's hands behind his back he can't do his job. Hopefully Breslow puts his stamp on the team soon. Henry and the Sox front office got booed rabidly by the fans whenever there was interaction with the public. Do you guys remember this because I still do. You would think they might sense that the natives are restless and will make some significant efforts to improve.

Well Breslow is supposed to be the 'smartest guy' in the room. That's why we hired him right? There must be some kind of metrics that he is using to weigh up his options. Free agency has been eerily quiet so far. What targets does he have in mind? The Yamamoto shoe has dropped so surely he had 2 or 3 top choices ready to go as soon as this happened, right? Tell me the guy has a plan to attack free agency.

Spot on. Papelbon has this right. Retrospectively I'm glad we got this punk Verdugo out of the lockerroom even if we got pennies on the dollar. It's a crying shame that Verdugo was the "key piece" we got in return for Mookie Betts.

Well now we're looking at the leftovers of the free agent market. Red Sox haven't really made any significant moves to improve at all. And no I don't count Cooper Criswell, a guy who pitched with a 5.73 era and 1.55 whip last year as a significant acquisition.

No doubt the courtship of Moto was hotly contested with all the big teams going in for him. But it feels like we really didn't make any extra effort to try to get the deal done. And yes ownership might ultimately be the reason why we failed to land him from the beginning. Our owners didn't want to pay to get the star player that we needed.

It certainly feels like it was 'going through the motion's to placate fans with no intention of fully opening the checkbook. The total value of the contract sounds shocking but 27m per year average value is not a shocking number for a potential ace pitcher in today's market when 30m per year is the gold standard.

Well the Dodgers have signed Yamamoto for 12 years 325m. That's an AAV of 27m so pretty reasonable for an ace pitcher in today's market. I have a feeling the Red Sox weren't 'all-in' on Yamamoto or this contract should have been an easy match. Dodgers meanwhile have spent a combined 1 billion dollars on 2 players this offseason. They are just printing money over in LA or where does it come from? Where do the Red Sox go from here? It feels like we were on the outside of discussions where we should have courted the hell out of Yamamoto and made him the top priority.

That's true. It's like when you've had nothing but salisbury 'faux' steak for years and now you have a chance to get the filet mignon! Seriously the Red Sox need a top of the rotation pitcher in a bad way and here comes Yamamoto in his prime age 25 to offer us a solution. Remember when it was fun to watch a Red Sox "Ace" pitcher and you knew that on those days you pretty much had the win in the bag because he was going to dominate the opposing lineup? I remember those days, it was a long time ago but they existed.

Speaking of Fangraphs here's what they had to say about Yamamoto: Team Rank: N/A Overall Rank: 2 ETA: 2024 Fastball Slider Curveball Splitter Cutter Command FV 60 / 60 45 / 55 60 / 60 70 / 70 45 / 50 80 / 80 65 Prospects TLDR: Elite command and a deep, well-rounded repertoire drive Yamamoto's top-of-the-rotation profile. He's a ROY and Cy Young threat. I really hope we get this guy now that we're talking to him and his agent. Fangraphs link: https://www.fangraphs.com/players/yoshinobu-yamamoto/sa3023345/stats?position=P

It's happening! The Red Sox reportedly are meeting with Yamamoto! They might have to shell out a 300m dollar contract to bring him home to Boston, but I say do it, just don't let him leave town! Also you have a fellow japanese player in Yoshida, leverage him to convince Yamamoto to sign on the dotted line! The stars are lined up... can Breslow get the job done in possibly his biggest move of his early tenure with the Red Sox?

What is this revenue you speak of? We are the Red Sox. A big market team run like a small market team! Big salaries must be dumped! Spending must be cut! Everything must go! Free agents? FORGET about it! We need to spend the LEAST money possible while still getting those dumb monkeys, err fans to buy our tickets and overpriced beers and parking!

Seriously. The dude was more interested in hoarding prospects than improving the major league roster. Unfortunately he either just wasn't good at making those types of moves or never saw the necessity for them. I just don't think he was really suited to run a big market team. In the end results matter and he's gone now. So good riddance for that.

Just a side note but how does Ohtani's 700m dollar 10 year contract affect the market? So 70m dollars a year is the new standard for a star player? Uhh if that's the case I think we're gonna get priced out of a lot of free agents?!

YUP. This looks like a we need to get his butt out of Boston type of move.

Seriously we have barely anything left to speak of in return for an all-star perennial mvp candidate in his prime. The Verdugo trade looks purely like a "we just want to get rid of this guy" move. You can hardly call 6.3m a salary dump when it's more like peanuts for a starting MLB player. That would place him at #37 salary for an outfielder. This feels like a get out of Boston Dugo and we'll take whatever sloppy leftevers you'll give us move. We even traded with the Yankees, an in division rival because we wanted to dump him that badly! So the question remains - what's next? Do the Red Sox finally bid for/buy the services of ace japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto?