moonslav59

Yup. The issue is the 26 not the 40.

I see an issue demoting Romy. He's our starting DH vs LHPs, our top PH'er v LHPs and maybe our best overall back-up 2Bman, if Mead DHs. he might even be better on D at 2B than Mead.

The rental aspect for Jeffers will not be worth the asking price. Goodman would cost the world plus the moon. I still keep coming back to SS, but Brez & Co has too much faith in Story/Mayer plus Arias. It's even understandable why he does. To me, LF/DH is out due to Anthony and a bit of a recent uptick by Duran. That leaves pitching, and we need to accommodate for some IP. We have a few guys that will be nearing their season limits and too many currently on the IL (Crochet, Crawford, Houck & Oviedo) or recently taken off it (Suarez & Sandoval.) The pen has not been overtaxed, which is good, but the guys we have in AAA are not the types you want pitching in the playoffs: Rivera, Uberstine, Samaniego, Gamboa & La Sorsa (IL) I don't see wanting any current pitcher on the 26 asa liability, but just one injury and all we have is the list above plus pitchers on the IL.

It's not worth the effort, Joe.

I bet most of the players & coaches who worked under Belichek are glad they did. Even those who moved to new teams made more money due to their success under B.

I'm well versed in what it's like working for dipsh*ts and clowns. What makes those situations worse, is when they not only don't communicate well, but they make awful decisions that not only make your job less appealing but also threaten the viability of the company's future, too..

All true, but if someone calls with a blow-away offer, I think KC listens. Going by BTV values, I would not give what it would take to get Witt. Guys like Neto, Abrams, Lindor maybe.

Of course every prospect and even most to all vets have an element of "suspect" in them. Prospects have a higher percentage by nature.

As much as Brez has flipped the roster names on this team in under 3 years, we still have these guys that were prospects while in the Sox system, even after the Early, Teel, Monty, Perales and other top prospects trade-aways: '25-'26: Tolle, Anthony, Narvaez, Mayer, Watson & Samaniego '23-'24: Rafaela, Abreu, Slaten, Sogard, Casas & Kelly '22 and earlier: Whitlock, Houck, Duran, Crawford, Bello & Wong We've already used a pretty big chunk of our top prospect group to add some major pieces to this team and its outlook: Crochet, Contreras, Gray, Bennett & Mead, Durbin, Slaten (Pivetta way back)plus some lesser deals like... Oviedo, O'Neill, Weissert, Siegler, Monasterio, and some deadline deals that did not do all that well (D Jansen, L Garcia, L Sims, Paxton, DMay & Matz) I'm just not sure how deep we want to raid the farm. I'm not for planning on the next cliff. I'm not against trading top prospects. I like the ones we've done. If we trade for someone like Witt, Abrams, Neto and others with 3+ years of control, I'd be okay trading Arias, but after trading Early, I'm not sure I'd deal Arias and Eyanson plus more top 8-13 prospects.

The future team is made up of a sizable chunk of current prospects. Tolle was the "prospect" everyone wanted last year. He's a top 5 building block on the current team, right now. I get your point, though. Many of our current players have several years of control, so the "building around" aspect is not "half the team." My guess is KC will want at least one young player from the 26 along with 4-5 top prospects, including Eyanson & Arias. I am also one that thinks about budget limits, and using trade capital and budget space for one guy scares me. One or the other is scary enough. Both is terrifying.

If we win a ring, and the pressure eases up for a couple minutes, maybe he can relax a little and at least look more comfortable.

Maybe someday we can get a sweet guy to GM. He'll know how to stroke everyone's ego into a few last place finishes. I'll take the geek who has a well thought out plan and knows what he's doing. Maybe a few playoff gigs.

Gotta chuckle at the guy who says all that matters is the W-L record but still calls the GM bres-LOW

The sky seems like the limit, these days. -1.0 GB from CWS -4.5 NYY (4 in loss column) -7.5 TBR (7 in loss column) 2nd in AL in run differential (tied w CWS +46) 4 games up in the loss column for last WC slot. In just one month, that included the ASB, we went from about last place in the AL to 4 games up in the loss column on the WC3 slot!

I'm okay with going with Narvaez and Wong, but it is an area we can boost the offense. I'd like to boost the SS position, but unlike Catcher, we have Arias in the wings. That makes C and SS about even on my list. SP or a quality pen arm might be #1, right now. We lost Early. Tolle & Bennett will hit an IP limit. Sandy and Rivera are questionable. Counting on IL pitchers to return has burned us like 8 years in a row.

We can't look at Uberstine as a solution to any 2026 problem. He's got some hope, but we can't plan on a hope.

These days, patience is not a virtue and is actually spit on.

I guess right only matters when others are wrong.

I like the idea of Abrams or Neto but not at absurdly gross overpays. A deal like the Mead one seems just about right. I read somewhere we may see more 1 for 1 MLB for MLB players in a time like this- with so many teams still in it but with great needs.

Who is this "everyone" that was gah-gah over Mayer? The guy was always hurt. Yes, some wondered why he wasn't promoted over KC, but I cant remember a single poster saying they had very high hopes for him after maybe his first year in pro ball- mostly on the IL. Anthony had very high hopes, and even more so after his half 2025 season. His stock is still pretty high. Getting Abrams would be great, and it could allow us to trade Arias, at some point, or move Mead to DH, LF or even 1B after Willson is gone.

The 22-23 Red Sox were ranked: 8th in Runs, 8th in OPS and 16th in wRC+, so maybe barely top 10. 30th in OAA, 23rd in DRS and 26th in fangraphs, so easily bottom 5 or 10. 23rd in pitching fWAR, 23rd in ERA-, and 18th in xFIP-, so bottom 10. He was handed this farm: 1. Anthony 2. Mayer 3. Teel 4. Rafaela 5-10. Bleis, Yorke, Perales, Abreu, Wikelman, Cespedes 11-15: Zanetello, Meidroth, Castro, Jo Garcia, Drohan Others: 21 DHam, 23 Dobbins, 24 ERC, 30 Arias

I've mentioned Lugo as a trade option due to his high contractual costs and the likelihood of a small return needed to get him. Any other ideas like this one? Berrios? ($19M prorateed then $24M + $24M) Rental: Gausman ($23M would be prorated) or Robbie Ray ($25M)

LOL. A few posters did suggest trading Early earlier.

If you have to trade half your team for Witt, it's super hard to "build a team around him."

Agree, but my point was that Soto just cost money. Witt cost money and half the farm.