moonslav59

We don't even know what the return is. What if it's a RH'd Dugo, exactly? We might trade Dugo to create just enough space for Bellinger. (Doubtful, but he's getting about 40% of Bellinger's estimated AAV.)

Do we have a surefire solid... 2Bman? Catcher? SP1? SP2? SP4? LH RP? My point is OF is deeper than those slots and of higher quality and upside potential. If we have enough to do it all, Damn straight: do it! I don't think the commitment is there. I want us to start with our highest need areas, first. If there is money left over, they keep the $9M Dugo.

Do you honestly think this management team is going to fill every single need we have? Where does OF fit on your needs list? Here's mine: 1. SP1 2. SP2 3. RHB (2B, C or CF/RF- not DH or LF, PLEASE!) 4. SP3/4 5. 2B, C or RF/CF (one that was not filled by #3) 6. LH RP 7. C, 2B, RF/CF (the one not filled by #3 and #5) I cannot see us adding 7 obvious upgrades, this winter. If we do, I'm with you 100%. Keep Dugo and add Duvall, a 2Bman, Garver at C and 3 SP'ers plus a lefty RP'er. Yahooooo!

Yes. SIX. Yoshida Duran Refsnyder (one of MLB's best batters vs LHP over the last 2 years) Dugo Rafaela Abreu (Rosier might make 7.)

Refsnyder will be 33 to start the 2024 season. Yoshida turns 31, next year. Duran turns 28. Verdugo turns 28 but has been in MLB for 7 years. If we replace him with 35 year old Duvall, we still have 4 veteran OF'ers on the 26 man roster. Rafaela and Abreu may not win an OF position. One could very likely start the year in AAA. Of course the OF situation has question marks and concerns, as does just about every position to some extent, except maybe the pen. I'd love to have Bellinger on the team. I'd prefer to have Dugo and Duvall on the 26 man roster. I'm just not sure we can fill the other high(er) need areas sufficiently to make it happen. I can understand anyone who prefers having Dugo over Duvall. He is more dependable, and we know he's okay on D in RF. He's younger. He also has horrible splits and has not really been a plus on D for his whole career. He's had attitude issues on a team where many posters have complained about poor leadership and chemistry. It's a gamble keeping Dugo and rolling the dice with status quo, too. (Status quo includes bringing Duvall back.) A lot depends on how much we can spend and how open Breslo is to making some bold trades. IMO, the OF is not a top 4-5 priority. A RHB is, so getting one for the OF is fine, but unless we are going for a major and costly winter, I don't see loading up the OF beyond someone like Duvall.

Sure, when Teel is ready. We could have Garver or Teel DH when not catching. I guess it depends on how many years we give Garver and when Teel is ML ready. Garver is will be 33, next year. He has never had more than 360 PAs in a ML season. That is worrisome, even for a catcher. His numbers are rather astounding, though: He's averaged 34 HRs per 650 PAs since 2021. Couple that with a .346 OBP (.370 in '23) and I'm liking him, more and more. He has a career .825 OPS (123 OPS+) and his OPS+, last year, was 134. .795 v R .885 v L His (RH'd) bat looks better than Duvall's.

You think it's more important to have 6 OF'ers than a 3rd SP or 2Bman, or even a catcher?

If we traded Dugo and signed Duvall and Duvall gets hurt, all is not lost. We'd still have 5 OF'ers with Rosier in AAA. Yoshida Refsnyder Duran Rafaela Abreu Is that great? No. Is it good? Maybe. Is it risky? Yes. Is it better than our rotation, right now? NO on SP1, NO on SP2, NO on SP4. Is it better than Urias/Reyes at 2B? I'd say close call, but yes. Is it better than Wong/McGuire at catcher? I'd say close call, and maybe no. Look, if we can spend $90M or trade Mayer for a SP'er, then spend $65-75M, fine. Keep Dugo and sign Duvall, but we need to concentrate our resources on our top 3-4, maybe 5 needs, or we will end up getting mediocrity at 6-8 slots filled.

Another reason to trade Dugo.

I'm starting to think signing Garver might be a good idea for a RHB, but with Teel in the system, I'm not sure. I guess we could trade Garver, later, if Teel is ready.

And, with Ref as a capable RHB and Yoshida as an emergency fill-in LF'er, we should have all OF positions covered, in case one guy gets hurt or sucks. (Assuming we add Duvall and trade Dugo.)

Agree 100%. He should only pay LF, in Fenway, when Devers or casas need a rest at DH.

I'm only for platooning LF due to Ref's amazing splits. Rafaela is my FT CF'er, unless he shows he can't keep the job. Abrue is there, in case he fails. Duvall is my FT RF'er, and Abreu is his back-up. Duvall should get his rest days when a RHP is starting, but he would not be a platoon player. One problem with this alignment is that Abreu may not get enough action to continue developing. He could start the year in AAA. (I guess if Abreu looks great in ST'ing and Rafaela sucks, we could flip the plan in CF. I'm not saying I'm thrilled with this OF aligment, but to me, it is a stronger area than our rotation and 2B- maybe catcher, too. If we keep spreading our funds out too thinly, we'll keep ending up with mediocre players at every slot. I prefer to identify 3-4 slots that need the most help, and spend it all on those 3-4 players. I think our roster depth is good enough to work out the other areas not yet really good. 1. SP1 2. SP2 3. RHB (OF, 2B, C) Duvall? Garver? 4. SP4 (If we go for 5, it would be 2B or C.)

We thought our front office was a joke. This is hilarious!

Replacing Dugo with Duvall makes sense. The budget cost should be about the same, and we should get something useful by trading Dugo. Our OF will still have some questions, especially if Yoshida is our FT road DH and half-time home DH/LF'er. DH: Yoshida LF: Duran-Refsnyder platoon (Abreu and Yoshida in some home games) CF: Rafaela,Abreu (Duran in emergency) RF: Duvall, Abreu (Refsnyder in emergencies) No added money spent on the OF allows for more to be spent on SP, 2B (trade?) and maybe C (Garver?)

MLBTR projects $12M/1.

I'm not optimistic we add 3 solid SP'er. I'm not sure we add 2. My guess is we add 1 plus some #4-5 slot type, someone we already have 5 like him.

I'm firmly on record for not counting on Sale for even 1 GS. This list is what I think the Sox will go with, and they will be disappointed, again. Forced to use Houck or Crawford as a SP. again, Fail to make the playoffs, again. IMO, Pivetta/Sale should be our 5th SP'er. We need to ADD 3 SP'ERS! Everything else is secondary.

To me, ideally, we'd start 2024 with Sale and Pivetta penciled in as our #5. If Sale is healthy, Pivetta is a long reliever- joining Houck, Crawford and Whitlock in that role. That, of course, assumes we add 3 SP'ers better than Crawford/Houck, and this is the "realistic thread," so more likely it might be set up like this: SP1 _____ SP2 _____ SP3 Bello SP4 Sale SP5 Pivetta (Houck/Crawford)

I think they have Teel undervalued due to a small sample size of work. For some reason, they have had Yorke high for a long time. I don't know why.

Agreed. Do you think the BTV value reflects that he would likely bring back more than Anthony and Teel combined? (Both are worth about $60, according to BTV.)

IMO, we need 2 SP'er better than Giolito and Mahle.

Not much. $22M x 2 is nice on the years, but it takes up too much AAV for my liking. I wouldn't be pissed, if he was the second best SP'er we signed or traded for.

He was really good in 1978 and 1979, too. RIP.

We need more than 1 solid SP'er. IMO, Anthony and Teel are the two I'd keep. It's not that I don't like Mayer, but those other two get me more excited.