moonslav59

Yes, there's no way we finish the season and enter the playoffs with Marrero and/or Lin playing 3B FT. I doubt even adding Rutledge and/or Pablo to the mix is going to be what we end up with at 3B this year. My guess is, we end up with Devers or make a trade.

We might already have that guy on the roster in Price. Had we signed a big bat to 3+ years, that player might have joined "the albatross club". The drive to sign a big bat is what got us in trouble with the Pablo and HRam contracts. I didn't see a 3Bman other than Turner, who appeared to only want to return to LA, so I guess 1B or DH was the only other slot to fill (instead of Moreland). We could have signed EE instead of Moreland and still been below the luxury limit (barely). Holliday would have been a DH only and squeezed HRam to 1B despite his injury. It would also have made Young a $6.5M total bench rider.

Marrero is not going to be our 3Bman the rest of the year. Not even close.

So far, we haven't needed an back-up OF'er despite Holt's long DL stint. Young has stayed healthy. I think Castillo is possible depth in the OF, but the luxury tax rules now goes beyond just money. If we continue to stay over, the rate goes way up, and if we go way over, which we might someday with Castillo on board, we could lose draft picks or signing slot money.

With Travis on the ML roster, I don't see Devers being squeezed out of playing 3B by Dominguez or Craig. Dominguez has started 47 games at 3B, 5 at 1B and 6 at DH. He can play 1B/DH. Craig has started 10 of 44 games at 1B and 4 in the OF. The rest has been at DH. He can continue playing 1B, DH or OF. When Rutledge returns, Marrero or Lin can play SS at AAA, but I could see an argument being made that they should play 3B at AAA to sharpen their skills at the position they are most likely to be needed. That may create a squeeze at 3B, but I suppose we could send Lin or Marrero to AA just to play 3B (highly doubtful IMO).

He certainly would be near the top of my list as possible 40 man roster casualties when we add Devers or others to the 40 man roster. Here's my list of most expendable 40 man roster players (some be able to be traded for a non-40 man roster prospect): N Ramirez Velazquez (depending on ERod & Johnson's health readiness levels) Sandoval L Ysla K Martin B Boyer Other options: S Selsky or B Brentz could be traded despite our lack of OF depth. RRoss could be added to the 60 day DL

Well, so far, Devers has started 53 of his 65 games at Portland at 3B. That's not flip-flopping. It's been nearly FT. I doubt Chavis will enough play 3B to worsen the progress of Devers. If that situation arises, I think we'll see Devers in AAA. They may already be planning a Devers promotion very soon. Once Devers arrives in AAA, he will likely play 3B 5 out of 6 games as he did in AA. That allows Dominguez to stay sharp at 3B and DH the rest of the games as a non 40-man roster depth player with some ML experience. Craig can play 1B as long as Travis stays in Boston. Craig has also played some LF in AAA. I don't see a squeeze at all.

Players jump from AA to the majors all the time. I seriously doubt Castillo is blocking anyone, since we have no ML ready or near ML ready OF prospects in our system. Craig and Dominguez are not the reason Devers is still in AA. I'm not sure about roster limits at the AAA level, but at this time, I do not think C & C are "blocking" anyone's progress. Maybe someday they might. Maybe DD still thinks there's a slight chance one of these guys will get their act together and force their way onto the team again. Very very doubtful, but at least these guys provide some entertainment to the Pawtucket fans. On another note: according to soxprospects.com our highest ranking prospect in AAA is #15 Jalen Beeks. (17 Ben Taylor, 18 Tavarez, 19 Callahan). How about AA? 1 Devers, 6 Lakins, 7 Chavis -just promoted, 10 Longhi. That's just 8 of our top 20 prospects at the upper levels on the farm. If anything, we lack top talent at the upper levels, so I can't see veteran blockage as being an issue.

Craig is not on the 40 man roster, and he can just ride the bench or play LF. Plus, Dominguez is not an essential player in our system, assuming Devers is close enough to ML ready to play. Dominguez is also not on the 40 man roster.

It sounds like the new contract made it worse not better.

Compare it to our other 3Bmen.

Blake Swihart had two hits including a double, and Bryce Brentz had a pair of doubles and a walk. Michael Chavis was 1 for 4 with an RBI and Rafael Devers went 0 for 5.

I was looking towards the end out Pablo and HRam's deals. I agree that we need HRam to get it together by playoff time. We lose Craig's contract this winter. Castillo has 3 years left. There's a chance Price's contract could be the next albatross contract up for wide spread criticism- maybe even before Pablo, Rusney and Hanley are gone.

It would improve the defense, but Lin is likely going to be a .600-.650 hitter. I'm fine with the idea of moving Bogey to 3B, but there's nobody in our system worthy of forcing the move. Plus, moving Bogey to 3B might mean there's a much greater chance he bolts when he hits free agency and goes somewhere he can play SS.

Forget the talk of calling up Castillo for a short stint. Seems weird the rules would basically prevent a player from playing in the bigs for 3 years. MLBTR... Rusney Castillo is playing well at Triple-A but isn’t a likely candidate for a return to the majors for contractual reasons, the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes. Thanks to changes made in the new collective bargaining agreement, the Red Sox would have the average annual value of Castillo’s contract (around $10.4MM) counted on their luxury tax calculations through the end of the outfielder’s deal in 2020, even if they called up Castillo for even just one day or dealt him to another deal and ate part of the salary obligations. Between this financial cost and the Sox already being pretty set in the outfield, Castillo may not have a clear path back to the bigs at all for over three years.

Let's just hope when Pablo and Hanley's contracts expire we don't have two other albatrosses taking their places.

By the time Betts reaches free agency, $30M might be a steal.

Tzu-Wei Lin has been in the Sox organization for 6 years. He's 23. Here's what soxprospects has to say about him: Defensive-minded shortstop with an excellent glove, great range, and a strong arm. Small frame with limited projection. Quick-twitch athlete. Plus-to-better speed with fringe-average contact and poor present power. Slap hitter. Sound fundamentals with an advanced approach for his age, but has room to improve pitch recognition. Quick out of the box. Works counts well. Swing is short and direct to the ball. Potential solid-average-to-plus hit tool, but power potential is very limited. Received largest bonus ever for an amateur position player from Taiwan. Pursued by Yankees in earlier years. Ceiling of a starting shortop, but has long-odds to reach that ceiling. Profiles better as defensive backup. Began seeing time at second base, third base, and even center field in 2016 as he began to be developed as for a possible utility role in the majors, but is still primarily a shortstop. Participated in 2012, 2013, and 2016 Fall Instructional League.

3B: #4 Lowrie (and 2B) #17 T Frazier DH: #2 JD Martinez (OF) #6 Yonder Alonso (1B) #20 J Upton (OF) SP: #5 Quintana #10 S. Gray #33 L Lynn T#37 E Volquez, C Richars, J Garcia, S Feldman T#41 Samardzija, Cueto, G Cole, Verlander T#45 E Santana #48 M Estrada

Yeah, I just don't understand what "neither", "contradict" and "back peddling" mean. That must be it.

Some possible trade targets... https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/06/top-50-trade-deadline-candidates-for-2017.html#

More likely all of the above.

Team Relief Pitcher Rankings: WAR 4.7 HOU 4.3 LAD 4.0 CLE 3.8 LAA 3.8 BOS 3.7 TOR 3.6 NYY WHIP 1.10 LAD 1.15 CLE, CWS, HOU 1.16 LAA 1.19 TOR, Cubs 1.20 NYY 1.21 BOS ERA- 57 CLE 64 BOS 72 LAD 74 AZ 75 NYY 76 Cubs 79 CWS xFIP 3.45 HOU 3.52 CLE 3.64 LAD 3.70 AZ 3.82 BOS 3.85 Cubs 3.89 NYY K/BB 3.8 LAD 3.7 HOU 3.6 LAA 3.3 CLE 3.1 TOT 3.1 BOS 2.9 AZ 2.8 CWS 2.7 NYY

Or, you sign Uehara or trade Jose Almonte and the lesser Basabe for Zeigler.

About $3-4M more per year than what we are paying Kimbrel, and we still have the prospects, or we traded them for something other than a RP'er..