moonslav59

I think I agree. I edited and moved Sandlin down 1, I shoulda done two slots.

Bregman holds the key for several players/prospects chances at winning a significant slot on the 26 man roster for 2026. Casas might be right up there, next. Campbell may have a shot at 1B, 2B or both.

He's number 3 on soxprospects.com, right now, and that is before Anthony or Mayer graduate. Tolle does have 63 IP, already, so his sample size is getting significan't but I agree, not yet definitive, but why is Valera ahead of him? I don't think SEC ball is the same as AA, but Tolle played college ball, too- not in the SEC, but still... IMO, Perales remains our bext pitching prospects, and assuming we view Dobbins & Fitts as graduated, here is my order: 1. Perales 2. Tolle 3. Whitherspoon 4. Clarke 5. Valera 6. Early 7. Phillips 8. Sandlin 9. Eyanson 10. Delzine/Fajardo

The same thing that happened when we put Devers at DH. (maybe trade Casas?)

Maybe into the extended future. They acquired Grissom in DEC 2023. I'm not sure they viewed KC as the 2Bman in DEC of 2024. More like Mayer. I wasn't 100% sold on Grissom being a plus 2Bman, but the bar was set low over the past 5-6 years, and I felt he was a good solution, despite being pretty much unproven at the ML level. Unlike Jeter Downs, he had some success at the ML level, when we got him. I was way off, but at least I admit it.

You don't think Sox brass viewed Grissom as our 2Bman? We traded Sale for the guy. He was highly regarded, despite a down tick from the previous season. His D was never good at SS, but the expectation was he might be okay at 2B. I thought he was the fix.

I think many of us were okay with the Gio signing- just not as the only one or the best one.

I'm not so sure we non tender him. He won't make a lot via his first arb, and we currently have a slumping Toro at 1B and nobody else but Romy as a shortside platoon. I trust Casas over Jordan. Unless we make a big deal or signing, I'm thinking they view Casas as our 2026 1Bman, but may want to plan better for his back-up.

I guess. I'm not sure anyone assumes the CWS demanded Meidroth or no deal. My guess is they wanted someone like DHam and we talked them into Meidroth. They'd probably loved to get Grissom, but no way we would have given him, since we saw him as out FT 2Bman for the next 3+ yrs.

Exactly, and we can assume the trade could have been made subbing someone else.

I totally agree with everything here, but when you draft more pitchers, you draft less hitters. The IFA bonus pool is fixed, and we've used a larger percent on pitching than previous years. Most of our bigger trades have been hitters for pitchers. (Grissom & O'Neill are the biggest exceptions I can think of.) He did sign Bregman.

So, trade the bahstahd Abreu!!!

Leading the league in IP and GS is surorising with Crochet, but his performance has not been #1 surprising, to me. No Bello or Rafaela? Toro's OPS is now .739. He may catch up to Dom Smith's .709 in 2024 by season's end.

Just don't say calling phantom people "Campbell haters" name-calling.

I guess I see it as a mistake, since I've thought Devers should have tried 1B since before Casas was even called up, years ago. I think it was a systemic mistake relying on Toro & Romy as the only 1B reserves.

I kinda like the yellow jerseys. (Did I say that outloud?)

Since I was a preteen, I was always fascinated by trades and signings and what ifs... I still am.

It's unlikely he was the breaking point of the trade from the WS perspective. They probably would have gladly taken DHam, Grissom or many other players or prospects.

No, the farm did not fail, but the system, which included GM choices on corner IF and catcher. They traded Teel, but I love that trade. They traded Meidroth, who none of us were sure would be a ML level corner IF'er, and I love that trade. Up to Brez, Bloom did a damn good job building up the everyday portion of of the system, from top to bottom. Being forced to trade away or let go almost every star did not help with the fans, but he quietly built a solid foundation for Brez. Brez came along and rightfully noticed and quickly addressed the need for balancing the system towards better pitching. His very first moves were Fitts, Weissert & Judice for Dugo and Urias for I Campbell. The stage was set in motion, immediately. Shortly afterwards, he traded for Slaten (and an everyday player named O'Neill.) Of course, the Sale traded ended 2023's moves. I'm very excited about what Brez has done, so far. He's made a few mistakes, some in hindsight, IMO, but his general focus has been to improve the pitching and sometimes by trading away everyday assets. He may have one more big one in mind.

But the jury is in on Valara and Whitherspoon? (Even Perales is a BIG Q)

Agreed, and then trading Meidroth and not getting Devers prepared to play 1B, NOT DH just added to the mistake.

It took 5+ years to build up the everyday portion of our roster and farm system, but it sure looks strong and deep. It is a solid and young core with a healthy splash of vets to keep the kids in line and focused. The OF is the envy of every ML team. 6 yrs of Rafaela, 4 Abreu and 3 Duran (all inexpensive.) Refsnyder offers nice veteran influence and excellent play v lefties. Anthony is the #1 prospect in MLB, and we have Yoshida as an emergency LF'er and Campbell and Gracia in AAA. WOW! We have a pre-arb, ROY candidate at catcher and an improved defensive back-up catcher w 3 arbs left. Jo Garcia is far away, but might be a plus. Our china doll 1Bman has great offensive potential and 3 arbs left, and this is one area we have little to no depth, except a nice platoon guy in Romy w 3 arbs, too. Maybe Tibbs or Justin Gonzalez can play 1B, way down the road. We may finally have found our 2Bman after a 6+ year struggle with pre-arb Mayer- another top prospect in the nation. Back-ups may look sketchy, but there are many, including the option of Story at 2B, someday and Mayer or Arias at SS. Story at SS for 2 years with an option seems to be looking good, right now, and we have some good young depth. Bregman id the leader of the team, but may bolt after this year. Forcing Mayer to 3B until Romero or Arias is ready is not a good idea. This is the area our system failed, along with 1B, but that's kinda on the Devers mess up, too. DH has Yoshida for 2 more years. Not good, but there still is some hope. Ref and Romy can offer a platoon option, or we can move Casas or an OF'er to DH, if we need to or find a solid 1B option. On the other side: pitching, we have added a ton of young arms over the past 2 seasons, via draft, trades, signings and IFA. We may have to trade some pitching prospects or vets just to make room for all the college draft picks, Rule 5 pitchers and IL returning pitchers. We'll need to add some quality arms, until the kids are ready, but that farm outlook is better than it's been in a very long time. Crochet for 6 is sweet! Bello for 5 is very nice. Gio & Sandoval have an option or one more year. Houck has 2 and Crawford 3. Whitlock 1 and Slaten 4. Hicks 2 and Harrison 4. Chapman will be a big loss, but losing Buehler at the same time might give us the money flex to bring him back or add another top closer by signing. Replacing Wilson may be hard, but we have a long list of pitching options for 2026 and beyond. Dobbins & Fitts. Criswell & Bernardino. Weissert & Wink. Murphy, Kelly & Guerrero plus more. I'm pumped up, but I know things can turn south in a minute. 10 days ago, I was thinking we should be sellers, and this is close to the same team on the field.

He's got a hot fastball and nice secondary pitches, already. They have a lot to start with.

There is a report the Yanks are looking at a Keller trade.

He'd have to trade Crochet and Narvaez for them not to be back. I hope Bregman takes the option or extends for 3, maybe 4 years. I'd like to bring Chapman back for a year, and I'd be okay with a second year option with a hefty buyout.