moonslav59

Maybe they misjudged the idea that Breggie was going to sign with the Cubs, unless the Sox adjusted their offer. Maybe they just held firm on the no trade clause. I'm not sure which one is worth, but both are wrong. There is a chance they viewed Suarez as about the same as Bregman and just decided signing Suarez with out the no trade clause was a better fit. I kinda feel better about Suarez for 5 than Breggie, so I'm not going to complain. It does make me shake my head and wonder, though.

That's how I see it, and if we feel we can afford to trade from our rotation depth just give them Crawford, instead of the downgrade from Bello to Arrighetti. Sandoval's contract matches up with Paredes, but he's far from an equal trade. I doubt the think Sandoval + Sandlin = Paredes, and they really need an OF'er most of all. Would you trade K Campbell straight up for IP?

Paredes is a solution, but I think Brez is trying to keep Duran (and maybe Bello) to get him. This is not a bad line-up: 1. L Anthony LF 2. R Contreras 1B 3. L Duran DH 4. R Paredes 3B 5. L Abreu RF 6. R Story SS 7. L Mayer/R Romy 2B 8. R Narvaez C 9. R Rafaela CF

It doesn't. In theory, if we found a way to dump Masa and a chunk of his salary, we could trade Duran for Paredes plus and then sign ESuarez to DH. 1. R Contreras 1B 2. L Anthony LF 3. R Paredes 3B 4. R E Suarez DH 5. L Abreu RF 6. R Story SS 7. L Mayer 2B/ R Romy 2B 8. R Narvaez C 9. R Rafaela CF

I do not see it as DFA to squeeze King in. He'd be our 3rd best RP'er- same as Abreu. (Sousa- maybe.) We could also do a Tristan Gray type trade, or add DHam, Kelly, Uberstine, Drohan or Sandlin to the trade, if the 40 man roster balance is key.

I think they had the Suarez deal in place as a plan B. I'm not so sure it "came together quickly" as in we quickly negotiated the deal after Breggie bolted. Not that it matters. It does look like we've been flying by the seat of our pants. We started the offseason saying we needed a big bat and one SP'er who could be the #2. We added 3 SP'ers- a #2 (Suarez), maybe a #2-3 (Gray) and a #5-6 Oviedo. We certainly met the goal of adding a #2- one more predictable than Buehler was, and Gio, too. We added a decent bat (Contreras) but not the "big bat" we hoped for. In hindsight, maybe we could have used the trade capital from the S Gray and Oviedo trades to help land that big(ger) bat.

He doesn't seem to fit the Brez prototype, but IMO, it's a good thing to have a variety of pitching approaches on your rotation. Keep the opps off balanced.

I really like Suarez, but I ask the same question, and I lean towards a no. I was not high on Cease and he got 7 years! NOPE! I did not want Gallen, at all. The issue with Framber and his catcher in HOU, this year, made him a no. Maybe that issue is why he remains unsigned. Imai got 6 years at $150M, but he would certainly not be "the guy," to me. It's not like this had to be the year we signed a SP'er, but I do think Ranger looks like the best of this crop. Whatever that is worth. Michael King at $75M/3 was less of a money gamble, but still a big gamble overall. Bassitt or M Kelly on short deals?

I think HOU would do Bello for Paredes & Abreu AAV: 15.2 (Paredes 9.3 & Abreu 5.9) to BOS 9.3 Bello to HOU I'd try hard to get them to give us King or even Janek or Sousa, but Abreu is projected at a 1.3 fWAR, this season. He would give us 3 pen arms projected at 1.1 or higher.

The Suarez contract was revealed: Suárez’s contract is reportedly backloaded in significant fashion, paying him just a $3MM signing bonus and $7MM salary in 2026. He’ll earn $15MM in 2027 before his salary doubles to $30MM in each of the next two years (2028-29). Suárez will be paid $35MM in 2030 and is also guaranteed a $10MM buyout on that mutual option, which is valued at $35MM. Mutual options are never exercised by both parties, so the inclusion of one in this deal is little more than a mechanism to further backload the contract.

I keep mentioning King and Sousa, their two LH'd RP'ers but would take 1 year of Abreu, instead, if they insisted.

I think HOU would be thrilled to get 5 years of Bello for 2 years of Paredes, and while I think Paredes makes the Sox better than Bello would, it's still not fair to BOS. Years 3-5 would hurt. I think we could take Abreu and help HOU get under the tax line or get 5 years of King or Sousa to even up the years part.

According to fangraphs projections, the Sox have 9 guys projected to have a 1.5 or higher fWAR: C 2.1 Narvaez 1B 1.9 Contreras 2B 1.5 Romy 3B 1.8 Mayer SS 1.9 Story LF 3.0 Anthony CF 2.9 Rafaela RF 2.2 Abreu DH 2.1 Duran (Our top 3 are all OF'ers) We are one of the few teams that have 3 SP'ers over 3.3 and 5 over 1.2: 5.7 Crochet 3.9 Gray 3.3 Suarez 1.8 Bello 1.2 Oviedo (0.9 Sandoval) RPs: 1.5 Chapman, 1.1 Whitlock The Yanks have 8 players at 1.5 or more with Stanton 1.1 and Rosario 1.0 not far behind. They have one SP'er higher than 3.0 but 6 at 1.3 or higher. RP: Bednar 1.2 & Doval & Cruz 0.8. The Jays have have 8 players at 1.5 or more (actually 1.9+) and 3 guys at 1.0 to 1.2. They have 1 SP over 3.0 but 5 over 2.1 and 6 over 1.2. RP: Hoffman 1.1 & Garcia 0.6. The O's match the Sox with 9 guys over 1.5 and have 7 over 2.0! However, they have 1 SP over 3.0 and 5 over 1.3, then a big drop off in depth. RP: Helsely 1.0 & Kittredge 0.6 Think playoffs and top 3 SP'ers and top 2 RP'ers: BOS: 5.7 Crochet, 3.9 Gray, 3.3 Suarez/ 1.5 Chapman & 1.1 Whitlock TOR: 3.8 Cease, 2.8 Gausman, 2.3 Beiber/ 1.1 Hoffman & 0.6 Garcia NYY: 3.6 Fried, 2.2 Rodon, 1.9 Cole/ Bednar 1.2 & Doval 0.8 O's: 3.1 Bradish, 2.2 Rogers & Baz 2.0/ Helsley 1.0 & Kitteredge 0.6 As you can see our top 3 SP'er blow the others away. Our second best RP'er tops or nearly tops all the others #1. The offense is nearly the reverse, but it is "balanced." Some might say "balanced mediocrity," but our #9 everyday player is better than most AL East teams' #9.

Crawford for Paredes works on BTV, but in reality, not. Bello's AAC is almost the same as Paredes, so maybe that will be the deal, but I think we should get King, Sousa or Janek added.

Catching prospect Nate Baez is headed to Boston in exchange for Gray’s services,

As much as I hate the idea of Rafaela at 2B not CF, I'd prefer him there and Anthony in CF/Duran in LF than Duran at 2B. (Duran in CF & Rafaela at 2B is a better idea, too.) Rafaela's bat is easier to tolerate, when he's playing GG CF, though. We'd need him to improve his offense, although if the comp is Ceddanne vs DHam, then CR is an upgrade on offense at 2B.

Exactly. The window could slam shut at any moment with some sort of issue with Crochet. On the surface, it looks to be a 3-4 year window, and when you look at the years of control of our next 10-15 best players, most fir the 3-4 or more year timeframe. Adding top quality, this winter was essential. We did add some quality, of which some looks to be "top" or near "top quality." I was hoping for 2 of the best of the best (Alonso or Schwarber and KMarte or Bregman,) but we added 3 instead: Suarez, S Gray & Contreras. If we can add Paredes without hurting another area on the 26, we might be close enough to the point of top contention you speak of.

Congrats to Indiana U. Worst to first!

If we can add Paredes and keep Duran and Bello, I'd say we are close enough to be even with TOR and NYY and a top 5 team in MLB. I'm not sure that can be done, unless some third team gets pulled in, and we part with a top 5 prospect or two from #3-10. I've heard down here that HOU really wants Abreu back.

So much for Gray winning the 26th slot.

It's never bad to add more good pitchers, but that is not really a high need area. The Astros have Paredes (huge need) and two decent LH'd RP'ers (King & Sousa)- another high need area. Some think we need catcher depth, and the Astros have a great catcher, who they will not trade, but they have a good catcher prospect in Janek. They also have a RH'd RP'er in Abreu on his last arb year at $5.8M. HOU may be looking to get under the tax line, so Paredes for Duran saves them $1.5M and Abreu makes it $7.3M saved. (King & Sousa are pre-arb.) Duran for Paredes, Abreu and one from King, Sousa or Jankek? I think that gets HOU under the tax line and the star OF'er they seek. We add some offense and fill our infield need. We lose a year, as Duran has 3, while Paredes 2, but add Abreu's one year and it's even before looking at the third piece. If HOU is interested, we could add DHam, Sogard, Eaton or maybe even Sandlin or Mullins types, but it looks like we are already overpaying, so maybe not.

Well said. These locked up players have higher AAVs than salaries, right now, but later on, they may look like bargains for tax purposes. For years and years one of the biggest beefs Sox fans had was watching our young stars bolt as the reached prime. Now, we did something about it, and I keep hearing "same ole- same ole," when maybe it's not.

Duran for Paredes, B King & Janek might still be a Sox overpay, but I'd probably say yes. Duran & Hicks for Paredes might give us some budget space to sign a decent RP'er or two.

We don't need Meyers.

Tristan Gray to Twins.