moonslav59

The odds of getting a prediction like this right are very low. It's not like we don't know this, but we enjoy making predictions and suggestions, which are not teh same thing. Some avoid making predictions and suggestions, but some seem to enjoy complaining about the ones others make.

I like Nimmo way better. I hope Gallo signs with the Mariners.

I hope notin is not right on this, but who predicted JBJ? It seems RF defense has caused some unpredictable decisions, in the past.

I know I'm going blind, but maybe deaf, too.

I'd say no. He may have a decent season left in him, and his defense is good enough, but I'm hoping for Nimmo or a trade for Berti.

I agree he is one of the very best GMs of our time, if not ever. I'm not so sure he'd be willing to go a month shy of 3 years without making any major signings, and not only that, he'd have had to cut the budget by a ton, year one, and not even come close to getting back to the 2019 baseline until the Story March of 2022. I'm not saying he'd definitely quit, but he might have complained enough to get himself let go, at some point, anyway. Maybe the Eck incident and friction from 2019 was all it took, but IMO, JH & Co, wanted a different type of GM for the rebuild. Just speculation, on my part.

Some after deadline Sox farm rankings and quotes: 13th ESPN The Red Sox had a confusing trade deadline, holding J.D. Martinez and Nathan Eovaldi, trading Christian Vazquez and Jake Diekman, and adding Eric Hosmer and Tommy Pham. The Hosmer deal included flipping longtime prospect LHP Jay Groome to San Diego for 2B Max Ferguson and CF Corey Rosier while Vazquez netted Enmanuel Valdez and Wilyer Abreu; all four added prospects are more depth pieces than impact types. The draft class was solid, led by prep position players SS Mikey Romero, RF Roman Anthony, C Brooks Brannon and SS Cutter Coffey. Three former prep position player top picks -- SS Marcelo Mayer, 2B Nick Yorke and 1B Triston Casas -- still pace the system. 11th Fan Nation Top 100 Prospects: Marcelo Mayer, SS (No. 8); Triston Casas (No. 26), Brayan Bello (No. 37) 11th MLB.com 2022 preseason rank: 14 2021 midseason rank: 12 2021 preseason rank: 24 2020 midseason rank: 25 Top 100 Prospects: Marcelo Mayer, SS (No. 8); Triston Casas (No. 26), Brayan Bello (No. 37) The Red Sox just missed making the top 10 for the first time since they were No. 7 in mid-2016. The strength of the system is infielders, including first-round picks Mayer, Casas, Nick Yorke and Mikey Romero. Two of Boston's most electric prospects are international outfielders Ceddanne Rafaela and Miguel Bleis. Red Sox Top 30 Prospects 2022 midseason rerank WWW.MLB.COM BOSTON -- While the Red Sox have had an underperforming season at the Major League level, things are looking bright on the farm. Boston’s farm system -- which was re-ranked by MLB Pipeline this week -- includes three of MLB’s top 37 prospects. • Red Sox top prospects stats | 19th Bleacher Report Top 10 Prospects 1. SS Marcelo Mayer (Tier 1) 2. 1B Triston Casas (Tier 1) 3. RHP Brayan Bello (Tier 1) 4. 2B Nick Yorke (Tier 1) 5. RHP Bryan Mata (Tier 2) 6. IF/OF Ceddanne Rafaela (Tier 2) 7. 1B Niko Kavadas (Tier 3) 8. LHP Chris Murphy (Tier 3) 9. 1B/3B Blaze Jordan (Tier 3) 10. OF Roman Anthony (Tier 3) Farm System Snapshot Curacao native Ceddanne Rafaela is flying up prospect rankings thanks to a .312/.354/.583 line that includes 46 extra-base hits and 19 steals in 74 games between High-A and Double-A. The 21-year-old will need to improve on his 4.5 percent walk rate to take the next step in his development. The Red Sox reached for high school shortstops Mikey Romero and Cutter Coffey with their first two picks before taking power-hitting prep outfielder Roman Anthony with the No. 79 overall pick as their most promising 2022 selection.

MLBTR categorizes the 2023 SP FA class as such: Ace deGrom 35 next season Rodon 30 Verlander 40 "Own Bucket" Kershaw 35 "NPB Star" Kodai Senga 30 Mid-Rotation Bassitt 34 Eovaldi 33 "Third Tier Mid-Rotation" T Anderson 33 Clevinger 32 Heaney 32 Manaea 31 M Perez 32 Quintana 34 Smyly 34 Stripling 33 Syndergaard 30 Taillon 31 Wacha 31 "Reliever/Starter Hybrids" Boyd 32 Eflin 29 Lorenzen 31 Strahm 31 "Short Term Former Starters" Cueto 37 Greinke 39 Kluber 37 "Depth" Archer 34, Davies 30, KGibson 35, R Hill 43, Miley 36, T Williams 31

I'm just not sure we can handle another sub .310 OBP guys, although that would still be a huge upgrade over JBJ and better than the team's overall RF OBP (.295) and OF OBP of .301.

He didn't miss all this time over the same predictable injury.

Yes. The way I saw the signing was that they paid him $145M/5 knowing he'd miss a year. A healthy Sale was worth $145M/4 or $36.25M x 4. I still don't think that was a bad idea. The problem is, he's missed more than 1 whole season.

The main point is that with Sale and B ogey signed, $25 of 29M did not fit in the budget.

Yes, 2019 was his last option year at $13.5M. His 2016-2018 numbers: 599 IP 2.85 ERA (151 ERA+) 2.71 FIP 0.97 WHIP 6.4 K/BB 46-22 W-L Yes, he only had 158 IP in 2018, but his 2.11 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 6.9 K/BB were the best of his career.

He'd need to maintain an OBP above .320 for me to like a Gallo signing. .323 '21-'22 .319 '20-'22 .351 '19-'22 I'm not sure he can do that.

Does Duran get the first OF look off the farm? If yes, how long is his leash?

I put Abreu on my 2023 list but we will try Rafaela first, IMO.

Had they not extended Sale and kept Betts for 2020, maybe COVID would have gotten him to take a similar deal to what the Dodgers gave him.

SP has Ward for 2024.

cots has his lux tax cost at $29M.

Mine are EValdez, who may not be a "sleeper" and TWard.

It turned out he took close to what the Sox offered, but in between, we extended Sale and Bogey, making it all but impossible. Those were DD's choices.

Wouldn't any GM? The budget demands made it impossible. I suppose he could have tried to trade Sale or Bogey with Price, but who knows?so he could keep Betts, but who knows?

B efore any additions are made, here is a list of who may see some playing time at each position: C: McGuire, Wong, C Hamilton, RHern (Cottam) 1B: Casas, Hosmer, Dalbec, Cordero, EValdez (Kavadas) 2B: Story, Arroyo, EValdez, Dalbec (Rafaela/Koss/D Hamilton) SS: Arroyo, Kike, Story, Downs (Rafaela/Lugo) 3B: Devers, Dalbec, Arroyo, Downs (Koss) LF: Verdugo, Cordero, Duran, Refsnyder (Granberg) CF: Kike, Verdugo, Refsnyder, Cordero, Duran (Rafaela) RF: Refsnyder, Verdugo, Cordero, Duran (Abreu) DH: Hosmer, Dalbec, Arroyo, EValdez, Duran, Wong (Castellenos/Kavadas) SP: Sale, Bello, Pivetta, Whitlock, Houck, Crawford, Winckowski, Seabold Mata, Walter, Murphy, TWard, Santos (Drohan) RP: Whitlock, Houck, Schreiber, Barnes, Kelly, Crawford, Winckowski, Brasier, Taylor, Danish, Seabold German, McGee, Reed, Politi, Ort, Feltman, Thompson, Wallace (Shugart, R Fernandez, J Webb) Mata, Walter, Murphy, TWard, Santos (Drohan)

Agreed, and the Price part of the deal was secondary but important. They may have dealt Price in a separate deal, later, but he was going, too.

I think it would have been hard for DD to swallow trading Betts and Price, but even if he could have done that, not spending, at all for 2 years and 11 months would have killed his spirit. He's just not the GM for that role.