moonslav59

Agreed, and while mush is TBD, it looks real good on paper. It's rather stunning the turnover at nearly every level with Brez pitchers taking the place of Bloom & DD guys. Going by Soxprospsects.com's projected rosters MLB: 12 out of 17 (only Houck, Whitlock, Bello, Kelly, Crawford are not Brez) AAA: 13 out of 15 (I think just Early & Mullins are non Brez guys, as Drohan was brought back.) AA: Maybe 10 out of 16? A+: about the same.

Why should we mostly expect bad things to happen? Many players improve as they near prime and even in year 2. I'd expect most do. I expect most will, some will stay about the same, and a few might decline. Even our prime and post prime players are not too old to think they might stay near the same or even improve.

Our offense is not top 10. It may not be top 15 or 20. It needs help.

I could see Anthony second, as he may be our best batter.

I think those bottom 3 in that order are as good as most teams' bottom 3, but they are not great. They do have upside.

I've been set against "wasting" Duran at DH, and I do not see an OF rotation at DH, as the others are too good on D, but unless we sign Suarez, I don't see us getting the big bat we need via a trade for 3B or 2B. KMarte is likely not being traded. Duran may barely beat out Masa for 2026 OPS, he has more power and speed. I think he has more upside, too. Romy could DH v L.

Still no news on who goes to make room for Suarez. Since there has been no immediate DFA, maybe a trade will be announced, soon. I am liking the Suarez signing more and more. He's not the big, power pitcher Brez has been stock-piling, and I think it's a good thing to have variety in your rotation. It helps keep teams off balance, somewhat. This guy has been real good for 2 years. I'm not so worried about who he was before that. There is no reason to think he'll regress. We arguably have 3 of MLBs best 15-30 pitchers. It seems obvious we have 2 of the top 15 (Crochet & Suarez)and maybe 2 more of the 60 (Gray & Bello.)

Is that record of missed time really much more than the norm? Maybe a little bit. We have many players on the 26 with more missed time than that. I'm a little concerned but not a lot.

I like other options over Shaw, too. I'm not that high on 2 years of Donovan, but he's more of a sure bet and can play 2B or 3B, so if Mayer struggles, he can play 3B and Romy 2B. I'm still highest on Paredes. The Astros are looking for OF help, and we have a logjam there. It makes too much sense. Get it done!

PHI also has Painter & Luzardo.

I think someone suggested Duran for Chisholm and a prospect- probably a real good one. I'd prefer a longer-controlled player over a prospect, as we need to focus on this window.

Since two teams are on each broadcast, teams should split half their TV revenue with the other teams.

Gotta think the trade for a 3B/2Bman, and hopefully a big bat with the same get, will involve an OF'er and/or SP'er. We might regret trading someone, especially if we suffer major injuries in those areas, but the hole is too wide to have the luxury of depth and extended depth. OF: Anthony, Duran. Rafaela, Abreu, Campbell and maybe Masa or Romy in a pinch (Eaton) SP: Crochet, Suarez & Gray are here for the year plus, then: Bello, Oviedo, Crawford, Sandoval, Harrison, Tolle/Early We actually have enough depth to trade for two quality players, but I seriously doubt we do that, unless we upgrade on Mayer, Wong or Masa (assuming an OF'er is traded, too.) The other option is to keep the depth and fill the pen from the starter depth (Crawford/Harrison/Oviedo or Sandoval) and use Duran at DH. Trade salary like Hicks, Masa or Sandoval and sign E Suarez. Let's say, we somehow trade Masa, Hicks and Sandoval to save just enough to sign E Suarez to stay under the 3rd line (deferrals, if needed.) This could be the layout: 1. L Anthony LF 2. R Contreras 1B 3. L Duran DH/ R Romy 2B 4. R Suarez 3B 5. L Abreu RF 6. R Story SS 7. L Mayer 2B/L Duran DH 8. R Narvaez C 9. R Rafaela CF Bench: Wong, Romy, DHam, Campbell SP: Crochet, Suarez, Gray, Bello, Sandoval/Oviedo RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Slaten, Weissert, Crawford, Harrison, Oviedo/Sandoval, Watson/Moran/Kelly

Using the money for Bichette or Bellinger?

I think Contreras replaced Bregman's bat- maybe not the 2025 bat fully, but close. We need to replace the power void left by Devers.

Paying attention to actions has not always been all that much fun, until last winter.

Nice breakdown. Merloni is very high on Crawford, saying he was fantastic before the knee injury. He should be over that. He had a 1.75 ERA after 8 starts in 2024. He seemed to imply the injury caused his poor second half to '24.

I still think if we offer what AZ wants for KMarte, he can be obtained. (We should know what they want by now.) That being said, there are several trade options out there for a 3Bman or 2Bman. 3B: Paredes, Shaw, Bohm, Vientos plus FA E Suarez 2B: Donovan, Hoerner, Chisholm, G Torres

It's not like Abreu has been hurt a lot. His lower PAs is more about being platooned, but that is apparently ending, this year. I could be wrong, but I think Duran missed more time due to injuries than Abreu since 2023. Maybe 2025 was a sign he can hit lefties better than Duran: .676 vs .600

Yes, $21M for one and $41M for 2. If they like him at $21M/1 enough to even give up two players, I'm not sure why $41M/2 looks so absurd.

Could Duran then be NYY's next Jake?

I hated '22-'24. Why does it have to be either or?

It's not really Shaw vs Mayer: it would be Shaw AND Mayer.

I'd go with Contreras. .352 career OBP (.358 last 3 years) Duran is .328 career and .339 last 3 years. I like Anthony up first, until he starts hitting for more power, which I'm sure will come before too long. I'm not sure Romy can repeat his .343 OBP, but I'd want him up before Duran v LHPs, for sure: 2026 Splits v L/R .378/.318 Romy .260/.363 Duran Maybe go Duran 1st v R and Romy, Contreras or Anthony up 1st v L.

If they buy him out, they paid him $20M for 2026. If they take the option, they pay him $20M (more) to play in 2027. That's how I see it. I'd gues 50-50 we give him the $30M to play rather than $10M to walk.