moonslav59

I don't want the Sox to trade away much of the future, so they don't have to spend money to fill every hole and upgrade a few slots, but there should be some leeway on trading a couple or three decent prospects or young players to fill a big hole or two. While we do have a few higher-priced and a couple over-priced players on the roster, and Houck taking up a 2026 slot without pitching one inning, we have some very inexpensive and reasonably priced players under team control form 2+ years. SPers: Crochet- 6 yrs at $28.3 Bello- 5 yrs at $9.2 Gray- 1 yr at $21M & Sandoval 1 yr at $9.1M Crawford- 3 arbs Houck & Oviedo- 2 arbs Pre-arb: Harrison, Dobbins, Tolle, Early and more... RPers: Chapman- 1 to 2 yrs at $13.3M Whitlock- 1 yr at $7.5M Slaten & Weissert- pre-arb Hicks- 2 yrs at $10.3M Pre-arbs: Moran, Kelly, Sandlin, Mullins and many more.... C: Narvaez- pre-arb & Wong- 3arbs 1B: Casas- 3 arbs 2B: Romy- 3arbs & DHam- pre-arb SS: Story- 2 yrs at $23.3M 3B: Mayer- pre-arb LF: Anthony- 8 yrs at $16.3M plus option Duran- $7.7M then 2 arbs Campbell- $7.5M for 7 yrs plus 2 options CF: Rafaela- 6 yrs at $6.3M RF: Abreu-pre-arb DH: Yoshida- 2 yrs at $18M _________________ We lose Gray, Sandoval & Whitlock after 2026. That's it! That's about $35M coming off the books, too. W4e lose Duran after 2027, if he's not traded before then. We also lose Yoshida and $18M and Houck plus Oviedo. We are nicely set up for a 3+ year window.

I think Campbell is now viewed as a LF'er, so Garcia was knocked down a peg.

We are at 40. We lost JG and DFA's Criswell and added two to the 40.

'31 is a player option year, but yes. 2.1 is pretty good. Look at our 2B WAR numbers for the last decade.

We had "great depth" last year, so much so, we felt the need to trade Priester (and Newcomb.) Then, we ended up trading for May and relying on rookies to start big games for us down the stretch. That being said, I'd prefer a move toward more quality not quantity.

Was Dobbins the 2025 version of Criswell? I think we might see Crawford in the pen, if he's not traded. To me, he seems the most likely to be moved. They might have seen something in Harrison that they want played out, but maybe they realized he is not "fixable" as he never really got a shot in 2025 with us, despite the label "ML ready." We handed the ball to Tolle & Early, and even gave Criswell a start over Harrison. Maybe he's the one we trade. If I were a betting man, I might take the over on 1,5 SP'ers being traded before opening day.

Indeed. The previous "administration" had some luck with guys like Pivetta, Schreiber, Bernardino and several others I can't think of, and Brez & Co did okay with Slaten, Criswell, Weissert, Booser and maybe we can count Gio, but the jury is still out.

It is a certainty that we will not start the 2026 season with 14 SP'ers on the 40. Even if we plan to convert a couple to the pen, even if just temporarily, our roster would be dangerously unbalanced. Something is in the works. Teams need pitching and are overpaying for it. We need a big bat and can put together a wide variety of packages to suit almost anything a team is looking for: top prospects, ML ready pitchers and a dynamic OF'er. The only thing we can't spare is a FT infielder. I gotta think the budget will be tight enough that at least one major trade will be made to add a bat (or two.) Hopefully, we will also sign another one, but we'll see. Here's how I see our SP'ers, and I know how much you love numbering them... (lol) #1 Crochet (top 5) #3 Gray & Bello (both closer to #2s than #4s) #4-5 Sandoval (if healthy) #5 Crawford & Harrison #5-6 Oviedo & Dobbins Unknowns: Tolle, Early, & Perales AAAA: Sandlin, Uberstine & Drohan

This is all true, but the real conundrum is this, We need to improve our offense- it's one of the very few things everyone agrees on. We lost these top OPS+ guys from 2025 1. Devers 151 3. Refsnyder 131 4. Bregman 128 6. Lowe 121 Yet, it appears like our #8 OPS+ guy is blocked. In this context, and in a vacuum, it makes zero sense to trade Duran. The only returning players with a higher OPS+ in 2025 are: 140 Anthony (played half a season) 128 Romy (looks like a platoon guy, mostly) 116 Abreu (has been a platoon guy for years) All of this being said, I still think trading Duran makes the most sense, but ONLY if we add two big bats in the infield (or DH.)

I think we will be trading 1-2 SP'ers this winter- maybe even Oviedo.

The Sox must really like Oviedo's upside. To me, the deal looked a bit lop-sided before we added Travieso. Sameniego might be someone they like, too, as we kinda shorted ourselves of LH'd RP'ers, this fall. Criswell was DFA'd and likely will be traded for a non 40 man roster prospect.

One starter can now be Oviedo! Brez is brilliant!

Because Long rhymes.

Suspect for suspect shouldn't really count...LOL.

I gotta think we will be trading 1-2 SP'ers, perhaps in a larger package. Stay tuned.

He walks way too many batters.

That's counting his first 2 years: 110 ERA+ since '22.

This is so true, but what good does it do to keep saying it within the context of suggesting a realistic plan, when we all know it's not happening?

That could be the difference between Alonso and Suarez.

So, maybe K Marte goes from 4.5 fWAR in '25 to... 4.1 in '26 3.7 in '27 3.2 in '28 2.6 in '29

after 32? Someone who is a 0.2 WAR guys goes to -0.3? Same as a 6.0 goes to 5.5?

Kelly's age is the issue, too.

I hope we do better than Kelly, and I may be in a minority here, but I think he might have a better 2026than Gray. Both seem like 3's to me, but closer to a 2 than a 4. Bello, the same. It would not be a horrible thing to have... 1 top 5 pitcher (Crochet) 3 solid #3's (Kelly, Gray & Bello) 3 decent #4-5's (Sandoval, Crawford, Harrison) 3 promising youngsters (Dobbins, Tolle, Early) 1 unknown(Perales) 1 AAAA guy (Criswell) That's 12 guys on the 40. I had hoped for a 1B type, but if we do well adding to the O, I'd be okay with Kelly & Gray replacing Gio & Buehler.

I would, too. I'm thinking of miser Henry (not mister Henry)

24th in fWAR, so a #1. 39th in ERA-, so a mid #2 Combined: borderline 1-2, in theory. Best part about him? He might get just a 1-2 year deal.