moonslav59

The idea of Yoshida as the platoon DH seems like such a waste of a roster slot, although his career .650 OPS vs LHPs supports the idea. To me, what further complicates the Masa on the 26 idea is Casas. With Contreras at 1B and much better on defense than Casas at 1B, Casas could, and should if healthy, be the FT DH for the Sox. Career splits: v R/v L .796/.814 Casas (He's better vs both and hits LHPs better than RHPs.) .795/,650 Yoshida .616/.872 Romy (could platoon with Mayer or DHam) Note: Romy was .718/.978 in 2025. This could be an outlier season, but if not, he could be viewed as a FT'er or at worst a player that must start vs all LHPs. Campbell may also be someone who profiles best as a DH. Time will tell on him. (.658/.675 in 2025.)

Before Bregman was signed, Yoshida was the planned FT DH. After Bregman was signed, they actually told Devers he was going to be the FT DH. That was one reason he got pissed, when later, Casas got hurt and they wanted him at 1B.

Has Brez always liked the oversized pitchers, or is this something kinda new? Is the talk of 6-1 195 Bello being traded partly due to his not being big enough? 6-6 275 Oviedo 6-6 250 Tolle 6-6 245 Crochet 6-6 234 Bennett 6-5 225 Watson 6-5 190 Delzine (may gain some weight) 6-4 245 Phillips 6-4 235 Chapman 6-4 222 Slaten 6-4 215 Sandlin 6-4 205 Samaniento 6-3 190 Sandoval & Holobetz (tall but not big) 6-2 235 Weissert He did also acquire... 6-2 209 Hicks (not really small) 6-2 210 Eyanson (not small) 6-2 205 Witherspoon (not small) 6-1 167 Moran 5-10 190 Sonny Gray (breaks the mold)

That makes sense. On the flip side, I do think Santander was signed to be a FT DH (emergency 4th OF,) but that changed when Springer got hurt and needed to DH, so was notin right on that one? Plans on who DHs and actual DH time adds further nuances to both of your positions.

I agree with all of this and almost everything you said on this subject. I also think notin is correct in saying half or most teams go into a season thinking they will play one guy at DH for the vast majority of the season, barring injury or some sort of unexpected decline or rise by the player or someone else on the team that warrants a shift in plans. There are some teams where it's not clear who the best "bench bat" is, or who is clearly the worse or worst player on defense, but who can hit well enough to DH near FT. The Sox 2025 example was a great one. Masa was the obvious FT DH before the Bregman trade. There was a clear plan for that. Maybe when we signed him, we hoped he'd be a better LF'er than he turned out to be, but we also saw the rise of 3+ better OF'ers that forced him into a FT or near FT role at DH. Then, we signed Bregman and made the choice to make Devers the FT DH. Did that event support your position or notin's? (I'd say both.) Then Casas gets hurt and the DH/1B slot gets thrown into chaos, and we have no FT DH. Hell, it looked like Anthony was going to fill that role, until he got hurt, too. I think there is too much nuance involved in saying "the plan is _____ is our FT DH." I do think most GMs and managers realize the position will likely be in flux over a season, but they have an idea that one guy fits the role best, if everyone is healthy. (maybe a R-L platoon not one.) No team is ever 100% healthy.

B-R shows Suzuki started 102 games at DH in 2025 and 47 in the OF. What numbers are you looking at?

Masa or Hicks are not included in even half of my suggested trades. When I include one, it's the same as asking for cash, instead. Many of the trades I do include Hicks or Masa are for big salary players, some of whom are salary dumps, themselves or are slightly underwater. I know the limitations to BTV, and you are correct in your points about it. I do try to see what needs the other team has...like PHI needs and OF'er...MIN does not. I fully realize my suggestions may be way off the mark, as I know I am not keen on what other teams need nor their budget limitations. If I just said Cash, and not include Hicks, would that change your view, somewhat? If the other team has no use for Hicks, and most don't, then just add $18M cash going to BOS. (With Masa, add about $26M.) BTW, they have Chapman as underwater, right now. They have Cespedes at $9M value and Harrison at $6M. I would trade 8 Cespedes for 1 Harrison. I try to avoid deals with players who have inflated value. Hell, BTV would accept DHam for Nate, but I won't suggest that absurd deal. I know you and others see many of my suggestions as extreme or absurd. I would agree that some are, and maybe I should note the ones I am "just having fun" with.

The tricky part is all the deferred money on many newer contracts. If Arenado's AAV is $18.5, then I'd gladly trade the $30M AAV of Masa+Hicks for him. That gives us enough to make a bigger signing or trade that brings salary.

It's all so confusing. No sites agree on almost any salaries and AAV numbers. I used to trust cots, but they seem to be wrong a lot. If the money was even, I might think of the trade of Masa & Hicks for Arenado, as bad as his bat looks, but only because we free up a roster slot. Sure, a simple DFA could do that, and we will have Houck's slot open once he hits the 60 Day IL when the season starts. I don't think we have a 40 man roster crunch, but we kinda have a 26 man crunch, especially if we add an infielder without trading an OF'er. One thing that works is starting the year with Casas and or Masa at AAA to see what we have with both. There is no hurry to trade one, now. Even if we sign Bregman, Bichette, Okamoto or Suarez, we can easily DFA someone else.

First, we have to know if Casas is or can be healthy. If the answer is no, I still cringe at a plan with Duran as our primary DH- not because I don't think he's good enough, but more out of the idea that his value to another team as an OF'er is so much higher, and we have great needs at a couple roster slots, that trading Duran would make more sense than DH'ing him. If we trade Duran, and Casas is not healthy, then Masa has some value to us as a DH- probably more value that we'd get by trading him to save $4-6M a year.

You both can be right on this. I do think Santander was meant to be the FT DH, so notin is right on that, but Springer became the FT due to injury, so your point is correct, too. It looks to me, like half or more teams go into the season planning on having one guy DH 140+ games. Did the Sox plan on Masa DH'ing 140+? Did they end up pivoting to planning on Devers to DH 140+, once Casas got hurt and Masa was on the 60 IL? Who's side is supported by the Sox case? (It looks like both are, to me.)

I have never argued against the idea that JH can and should spend more. To me, that is seperate from going on the assumption that he will not and basing suggestions on that assumption. If Jh allows us to go up to but not over the second line- GREAT! I hope he does. I think he should. I don't think he will. Going on an assumption is not tactic approval of the budget choices made. I have made the point that all owners can spend more than they do, so why does our situation make it any worse or better? Yes, we have more revenue and way more revenue than most teams, but their owners are pretty damn rich and some even richer than JH. Plus, we do spend way more than 1/3 of the teams in MLB. (This is not in any way meant to support the idea that spending less is okay. It's just to provide a context I think is missed by some. JH could easily spend $30M more, but so could every other owner, and whare would that place the Sox, if all of them did?)

I get the love for the younger Bichette, but I'm not for making him the one exception made to the no large and long deal philosophy. He lacks the power we need. He's not a plus defensive SS and may not be at 2B, either. He's probably getting 7 years. I'd rather get Bregman for 5, Suarez for 2-3 or trade for Marte or Donovan. I'm not sold by the Vientos power numbers, either. He should play 1B not 3B, but I guess that same could be said of Suarez and Okamoto.

Yes, I noticed the XBH numbers are pretty similar, and while HRs are way better than doubles, doubles and triples are very nice... XBHs Per 162 games 2024-2025: 62/ 16 HRs + 46 2B+3B Bichette 50/ 24 HRs and 26 2B+3B Abreu 51/ 26 HRs and 25 2B+3B Contreras 65/ 28 Hrs and 37 2B+3B Bregman 62/ 31 HRs and 31 2B+3B Vientos 70/ 34 HRs and 36 2B+3B Devers 73/ 36 HRs and 37 2B+3B Alonso 70/ 40 HRs and 30 2B+3B Suarez 73/ 40 HRs and 33 2B+3B K Marte 49 HRs and 24 2B+3B Schwarber

Is BOS one of the teams Okamoto is visiting? Anyone know?

If we don't add an infielder, then I'd prefer Arenado over Masa & Hicks, but why would STL want to pay $20M more, when they are trying to dump a bad salary?

I'm not sure what Arenado gets paid. cots says $27M for 2026 and $15M for '27, and his AAV is 30.6 AAV for '26 and '27. That's $42M/2 and $30.6M x 2 on the tax line. Yoshida and Hicks both have 2 years left, also. They total: $30.6M each year. That's $61.2M/2 and is way more than Arenado. There is a difference is on the tax line. Arenado is $30.6 x 2, but Yoshida+ Hicks is $28.3M. If it's about tax avoidance, Yoshida and Hicks are slightly better- moneywise. If it's about actual salary paid, we could save almost $20M by doing the trade. (The tax would not be that much.) We also save a roster slot in a two for one trade, and have a player than can at least play defense at 3B and 1B. It's a close call, to me, but I think I'd trade Hicks and Masa for Arenado, but I wouldn't do it so Duran can DH. I'd still trade an OF'er and DH Casas/Romy/Campbell.

Who are we overvaluing, then? Granted, when I include Cespedes and his whopping $9M BTV, I'm playing around, but I think most of my serious trade suggestions do not overvalue Sox players. I may get it wrong on what the other team needs or how much they value the return package, but almost all my suggested trades give more BTV away than we get back.

Very true. I've wanted 3 infielders, all along. We got Contreras for one. I doubt we get two more. I'm hoping for the one to be a major impact guy.

Easy to say. Trading Masa means we pay all but $4-7M of his $18M a year. That does not create the budget room for something major. The "big pockets" argument makes a ton of sense, but if JH doesn't see it that way, it's not happening. Trading Hicks might help us save another $2-4M on his $12M a year. Combined, that might save us $10M, We have $4-5M before tax line one. We may need to trade Duran ($7.7M) or Rafaela ($6.3M) to do something bold. If we knew the budget was the second tax line, I think we can cobble something good enough, but that may not be the case.

I can't see us winning the Bregman sweepstakes, but I agree that he is our first choice. We may be waiting for his decision before moving on to the next plan. Whether we get Bregman or not, Mayer is a big part of the plan. Yes, Breggie would force Mayer to 2B, and no Breggie might force him to 3B. I like Mayer/Romy at 2B more than 3B, but finding a 2Bman might be easier and cheaper.

I get that and don't really have an issue with it, but when you continually explain the motivation is not to get a trade right but just to have some fun, yet we keep hearing the same misrepresentation over and over, it get's a bit weird.

PIT is making moves for the here and now. You may be right about them wanting more for the 6th overall pick, but not Duran. (I may be overvaluing Duran, but I think you undervalue him.) I doubt the Sox are looking to trade for a guy drafted out of HS, this summer. I'd take Keller and Donovan for Crawford, Witherspoon & DHam in a heartbeat.

I could see that, too, but if it's all about money, we could trade an OF'er, save money and have better 2Bman/3Bman and overall starting 9 on offense.

Per 162 games 2024-2025: 16 HRs + 46 2B+3B Bichette 24 HRs and 26 2B+3B Abreu 26 HRs and 25 2B+3B Contreras 28 Hrs and 37 2B+3B Bregman 31 HRs and 31 2B+3B Vientos 34 HRs and 36 2B+3B Devers 36 HRs and 37 2B+3B Alonso 40 HRs and 30 2B+3B Suarez 40 HRs and 33 2B+3B K Marte 49 HRs and 24 2B+3B Schwarber