moonslav59

I don't think the percent is 99%, but I do agree: we need to extend Burnes to make any trade for him worth it. Bieber is too risky. Glasnow looks interesting. It looks like the asking price for Cease is too much, but he does have 2 years. I don't see SEA trading Gilbert. I do wonder, if they are looking at budget issues, why not trade Castillo?

I hope this is not all just talk... Red Sox wrap up 2023 Winter Meetings WWW.MLB.COM NASHVILLE -- Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spent these Winter Meetings in hot pursuit of starting pitching. He leaves with that pursuit still on the front burner. At some point, the pitching market will move, and when it does, Breslow will be ready to pounce. “In a perfect Brez: “In a perfect world, we're walking out of here with starting pitching and we feel really good about that. We've tried to advance the ball as much as possible,” Breslow said. “We're probably not alone in being a little bit disappointed on that front. But obviously we were able to make the trade yesterday, get back three arms that we can add to the organization. And we remain active in all paths so my hope is things start to shake free here shortly, but we can only control what we can control.” “I think we have a little bit better clarity in terms of who may be the right fits for us and what the timelines may look like. And the only thing that we can do is remain engaged, remain active and understand where the markets are going and let our interests be known,” Breslow said. “Players and agents are incentivized by a host of reasons to determine their own timelines. I think the most important thing that we can do as I've kind of maintained all along is identify the players that we think are really good fits and be aggressive in pursuing them.”

I'm not so sure you can just pencil Yamo to the Mets, based on last winter's crazy times. Maybe Cohen will back down, some. I'm not optimistic we are in the final two for Yamo, but if we are, I think we may step it up on the overpay level. The Sox are long overdue for a big splash. If we miss out on Yamo, I see only Burnes as a big enough name to get the juices flowing.

I doubt they'd back down and take Crawford and Wikelman or Crawford and Yorke.

BTV Score: SDP: +57 NYY: +33 (Basically, King or King and Higa for both OF'ers would have been even)

I think Gray at 3 years would have fit nicely into our needs and reluctance to go large AND LONG on SP'ers. Imanaga could be a diamond in the rough. I think Monty pitches like a top #2 in MLB. He would be a nice get, but not enough, by himself. If we could also grap one of the "best of the rest," maybe it would be enough. Monty & Imanaga? Monty & Stroman? Monty & Lugo? How about Monty, Lugo & Clevinger?

BTV accepts: Mayer & Mata for Burnes & Adames

Nola could be argued took less.

I could see Burnes & Imanaga, for sure. It might be Rogers and Imanaga. I doubt we take a chance on Bieber.

Yamo says he's waiting for Ohtani's decision, which should come within the next 2-3 days. I'm hoping for Yamo, but don't expect it to happen. Many feel Snell is the only top shelf SP'er remaining, but I think Monty is very close, and if we add a solid #2 FA or a 1-2 via trade, I'd be fine with Monty. Remaining SP'ers Top shelf: Yamo, Snell, Kershaw (unlikely anywhere but LAD) Near top shelf: Monty (maybe Imanaga) Solid #2/3 types: Imanaga (maybe Stroman) Decent: Stroman, Lugo, Giolito, Clevinger (maybe Wacha) Okay, if we go large at #1: Wacha, Paxton, Flaherty, Montas Not really interested: Mahle, Severino

I disagree. All it takes is for Judge to go on the IL.

A lot depends on injuries, and how many pitchers we add before opening day. I suppose we could start the year with Schreiber abd Bernardino in AAA, if both Mata and Slaten look good, but I agree: I doubt both make the 26.

Yanks are going bold. If they don't extend Soto, this deal could really hurt- long term. MAN! Judge & Soto in the same line-up, and the Cy Young winner. Boone better get results!

I don't see any Sox pitching prospects making a significant showing on the big club in 2024. As much as our staff has two big holes at the TOTR, we have some very decent 3-16 or even 18 pitchers after those two slots are filled. If they are not filled, I still see 16-18 experienced pitchers who will get a look-see before we jump Wikelman, Perales, Dobbins or Hoppe a shot. Maybe Gambrel or Guerrero get a shot. Mata is out of options. If not traded, he will get a look, at least through ST'ing.

ERod to AZ for about $20M x 4.

I think we would keep our high level pitchers, but who knows. I think most MLB teams are looking at MLB ready prospects, or those close enough to be worth taking. For all we know, Teel could be in the bigs before Mayer. Teel's value is not as high as Mayer's according to BTV. His sample size is small. Mayer might have to struggle to allow Anthony to make the bigs before him. soxprospects.com has these ETAs: Teel- early '25 Mayer- '25 Anthony- mid '25 The next tier might take 2-4 to come close to matching what we could get for a top 3. Rafaela- '24 Bleis- late '26 Yorke- late '24 Perales- '26 Abreu- '24 Wikelman- mid '25 Cespedes mid '27 Zanetello- late '27 BTV: 44.5 Mayer 41.8 Anthony 34.0 Duran (not a prospect, but I couldn't resist.) 21.5 Bleis 17.8 Teel 13.3 Yorke 8.1 EValdez 7.8 Abreu 7.1 Cespedes 5.7 Wikelman 4.4 Walter 4.2 Zanetello & Romero 3.5 Perales

We got 4 pitchers. We lost 6 pitchers: Drohan, Fernandez, Ryan Ammons (traded for Slaten), and minor league Rule 5'ers: Jose Ramirez, Railin Perez, Brock Bell

Maybe some deals are on the table and close to completed. Maybe some deals are pending FA signings or non signings by certain teams. Most of the best available players are still on the board. Here is what we have lost and gained under Brez, so far: Gained: Isaiah Campbell Justin Slaten Richard Fitts (ranked 10th by MLB Pipeline in Sox organization) Greg Weissert Nicholas Judice Lost: Verdugo Urias Drohan R Fernandez Ryan Ammons Nothing overwhelmingly major, here. Some seemed to think Verdugo and his $9M arb estimate made him a non tender candidate.

Before any additions or more subtractions, is the the 13 everyday players on opening day? C: Wong/McGuire 1B: Casas 2B: Reyes/Valdez SS: Story 3B: Devers LF: Duran/Refsnyder CF: Rafaela RF: Abreu DH: Yoshida UT: DHam or Dalbec (the only 2 others on the 37 man roster, right now.)

I hope he trades some position players/prospects for top SP'ing.

He said it yesterday, so I don't think he meant Urias.

the need to keep Slaten on the 40 really puts more pressure on the out-of-options Mata. There will almost certainly be injuries before opening day, and we will likely add at least two more pitchers to the 40 and 26, so something has to give, or we'll need to demote some pretty good pitchers to make room for Slaten & Mata. This might be the top 13 pitchers to open the season in MLB (before any more additions or subtractions.) Bello Sale Crawford Pivetta Houck Jansen Martin Winckowski Whitlock Schreiber Bernardino Mata Slater AAA on 40 Campbell, Weissert, Murphy, Kelly, Robertson, Walter, Jacques AA on 40 Wikelman & Perales (A+?) If we add two SP'ers, Bernardino has an option, so that is one, but who is the second one? Schreiber?

Breslow told reporters he's going to be "as aggressive as we can possibly be to fill the rotation." With the Red Sox and just about every other major league team looking for top-end pitching, however, he knows it won't come cheap. As a result, he's "willing to give up position player capital" in the form of highly rated prospects to make that dream happen. -Isaiah de los Santos

Experts grade the Dugo trade from the Sox perspective: https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2023/12/how-experts-graded-red-sox-alex-verdugo-trade.html C from ESPN B- from FOX ??? from Law, but he wrote this... “It’s a baffling deal unless the Yankees have something else lined up to keep Verdugo moving, although even then it’s still kind of baffling given what Verdugo’s likely to earn in arbitration. Verdugo is a platoon bat, and the sooner that everyone accepts this the better off we’ll be. Over the past three years, he’s had 532 plate appearances against lefties, and he’s hit .238/.301/.314. Boston’s insistence on playing him every day cost the team a couple of wins over that period, and it’s not like he justified that decision with his defense (he’s been negative in Outs Above Average for three years running) or his intangibles (he was benched last year for lack of hustle and for showing up several hours late for a game). He’s also likely to make close to $10 million in arbitration this year, which I think would have made him a non-tender consideration.”

Sure does, but I do think Downs was valued quite highly, at the time.