moonslav59

We can still add pieces that will not block Anthony or Campbell (and Mayer, too.) Our pen is very sketchy, despite the decent depth we seem to have. We should be able to spend on Tanner Scott or go cheaper on someone like Estevez, Yates or Finnegan. We don't have options issues with many of our better pen arms, so we won't be messing that up by pushing a pitcher or two to AAA to start the season. Signing Bregman could eventually block Campbell or Mayer, if they would have one day been pushed to 3B, but with Story's health issues and guys like DHam, Grissom and Romy at 2B, there is room for one, there. Anthony should not be blocked in the OG, unless Rafaela learns to hit, well. Even then, we can platoong Rafaela & Abreu and hand Anthony a FT job, if he earns it. (He could play FT CF or RF or play CF v R and RF v L, as Abreu and Rafaela platoon at different OF slots. We could also add a catcher without blocking anyone, since Teel is gone, now. We CAN and SHOULD do certain things that don't mess with any plans for prospect promotions. If we end up with a bottleneck, we can trade for the remaining weakest spot need.

Hoffman wants to be a starter, so I doubt he's a fit. I have not hears anything on a Sox interest in Scott. Yates fits our 1 and done contract mentality. Estevez or Finnegan might meet JH's dollar allotments.

I ca seen extending Crochet as soon as can be, assuming at a realistic number. I'd wait a bit on Anthony and Campbell, unless they are willing to sign a decent deal that adds a year or more of control time.

I expected better at the '24 deadline, but garcia and Sims were not bad additions: they just turned to crapola, after we got them. Paxton was a deep reach with little promise of working out. D Jansen was a great get. D Smith was before the deadline, and he kept us in the race, after Cooper sucked.

While not ideal, we could platoon Yoshida and Ref in LF, play Duran FT in CF and Anthony in RF. Trade Abreu for a catcher or RP'er and have an IF set up like this: 1B: Devers/Casas share with DH. 2B: DHam v R and Campbell v L 3B: Campbell v R and Romy or Grissom v L SS: Story (or Mayer) If Grissom does well, he could win the 3B FT job, outright and we go with Campbell at 2B or a DHam-Romy platoon, if Campbell is not on the 40. This costs the Sox $0M. We could spend on upgrading the pen or Catcher, depending on the Abreu trade.

This was my point. The rules are the rules, so I guess it's not "wrong," but I think it needs to be fixed and probably will be, at some point.

I'm never uspet with any trade that brings back better value or equal value that fllls a greater need than we create.

Another significant plus ve LHPs could be a full and healthy season from Casas and Devers. Both are LHPs who hit lefties well over their careers, but who were hurt, playing hurt or did poorly vs LHPs in 2024. Career: Casas .772 v L/.846 v R (only 61 PAs v L in '24) Devers .739 v L/.910 v R (.686 v L in '24) Yes, the return of RHB Story and possible call-up of RHB Campbell and a goos split LHB Anthony could also help. We will need to find a way (platoon w Yoshi at DH?) for Ref (.941 v L) vs every LH'd SP'er. We could also make sure Wong plays vs all LH'd SP'ers (.877). I'm not sure if Romy's .879 OPS v L warrants a full platoon role at 2B w DHam. There are various ways we can work some useful platoons into some positions: DH: Yoshida v R/ Ref v L OF: LF Duran v R/Ref v L, CF Rafaela (equal splits) v R/Duran v L OF: LF Duran, CF Anthony v R/Rafaela v L, RF Abreu v R, Anthony v L 2B: DHam v R, Romy or Grissom v L or go wild with... 1B/DH Casas & Devers and 3B: Campbell vs R, Romy or Grissom v L and 2B DHam v R and Campbell v L

Our later season play was awful and concerning, but I'm not so sure we should think that team was more of who we are than how we played before that. It does raise questions, as our Sept OPS in '23 was really bad, too. Maybe Cora should think about giving our players planned rest days. LOL

I do think we've improved, and the rotation most of all, assuming normal health. I'm a big fan of having the strongest rotation and depth possible. We do not have to improve by 10-15 games to make the playoffs, but when we made the Crochet trade for two years of his services, I figure the "here and now" finally arrives. The one year deal to Beuhler reinforced that feeling, somewhat, although I had hoped for a longer term and more durable signing, but then cricketts. One could look at the team's needs and say, "Wow! It's not such a bad thing to see you only needs are a back-up catcher (okay, maybe a #1 C) and improved corner IF defense and a solid pen arm or two." In this sense, I can see getting excited, but I also see so many question marks and a need for so many to all go right, that it looks to "dreamy" to me. I mentioned on another post how we seem to have too many players with 1-2 major flaws in their game: only Duran looks like a plus batter and fielder. He can also run very well. His splits are not perfect, and one could call his splits vs LHPs a weak area, but he's the closest and only guy we have with no major flaws. He's only done it for 1.5 years, so maybe that could raise a question. Devers and Casas: very good to great bats and horrific defense. Abreu and DHam cant hit lefties,. Ref can't hit righties. Story can't stay healthy and needs to reprove he can hit. Rafaela has a lot to prove with his bat, but is a GG-type CF'er and a plus on D at 2B. Yoshida can't play D and shows little power for a DH. Wong sucks on D but hits well for a catcher. On the surface, these guys look okay to good, or even very good, but we lack in everyday, all-around good players. I've spoken about how our pen depth looks fine, but more in quantity of promise than proven quality arms. We still have about $30M under the a tax line we were told wasn't an issue, this year, so what's stopping us from upgrading some of these flawed areas?

Yes. They can. Some are to lesser extents.

No.

I feel like signing Bregman would show JH is coming out of his coma, but then I think, that's no reason to sign a big FA like 20th on my list of FAs I wish we'd sign.

I've said all along. Do NOT sign Bregman to play 2B. Signing Bregman to play 3B would greatly improve 3B defense from worst or next to worst to about the best of next to best. He'd improve our offense, even if he keeps hitting .795, like his 4 and 5 year OPS. his 5 year 122 OPS+ is an upgrade over Yoshida, who would be the displaced batter with Devers and Casas playing 1B/DH. Casas is an awful defensive 1Bman, so if Devers can be better than him at 1B defense, we could see an upgrade there, too. (His main concern on D is his arm.) Is he worth $160M to $190M? No, but nobody is worth what they sign for. He's the biggest impact FA left standing, especially when you consider we aren't signing Scott. Again, DO NOT SIGN BREGMAN TO PLAY 2B. Bregman was not near the top of my FA wish list, but we have $30M to spend and still be under the tax line. (I'd be fine with Campbell at 3B and a DHam-Grisoom platoon at 2B, too.

Yes. He may be more likely as an early season addition. We may wait a few weeks for the kids, so they gain a year of control. For cheap JH, that matters.

Thanks for doing this. I like the final rankings.

I had a strong feeling Oregon was over-rated. AZ St almost beat Texas. Truck bombing by some nutcase Texan forced delay of ND game to tomorrow.

I think they have to wait until the season starts to add someone to the 60 day IL. That may create a little roster crunch, and they may wait to add Campbell or Anthony until game 2 for this reason. Both are not on the 40.

Roman AnthonyKristian CampbellFranklin AriasMarcelo MayerYoeilin CespedesLuis PeralesJhostynxon GarciaMikey RomeroConnelly EarlyMiguel BleisJohanfran GarciaRichard FittsDavid SandlinJuan ValeraDalvinson ReyesPayton TolleHunter DobbinsLuis GuerreroYordanny MonegroConrad Cason

I think we look better than 2024, but better than a .500 team means what? As always, we have too many "ifs" and not enough sure bet stars or even plus players. We have too many players with a major flaw, like good hit/bad D, Great D/bad bat or injury issues- some have 2 such flaws. Duran- the only player we have that is good+ on O and D (add baserunning as a ++) Devers: Great bat- horrible D Casas: real good bat- horrible D Story- real good D- questionable bat and major injury concerns Abreu- sucks vs LHPs, but a plus bat and GG D in RF. Yoshida- sucks on D, little power but decent bat. Rafaela- bat is highly questionable, to be polite, but great OF D and decent 2B D. Wong- plus bat for a catcher, but near worst on D. DHam- decent bat v RHPs, decent D at 2B, sucks vs RHPs and at SS D. Grissom- needs to prove his bat and D. May be a 2B option v LHPs. Refsnyder- a great batter vs LHPs, but sucks vs RHPs and sucks on D Romy- looks ok on D and may be ok on O. Narvaez- looks to be a plus on catcher D, but his O needs to be proven. Anthony, Campbell & Mayer all are unproven but hold a lot of promise on O and D. None are below avg fielders, so the potential for 2-3 all-around good players making an impact in 2025 is real. I know many here hate platoons, but we may be forced into a few: DH: Yoshida v R and ref v L. 2B: DHam v R/ Grissom v L until Campbell gets a look. CF/RF: Abreu v R in RF, Anthony v L in RF and Anthony in CF v R with Rafaela in CF v L (We could also play Duran in LF v R and Ref v L, with Duran in CF v L. That would bench Rafaela as the max utility guy for the OF and middle IF.) C: Wong may start most games with Narvaez coming in for D, late in games, but the risk of injury may force some sort of platoon or match-up by SP'er (caddy method.) The combination values of the platooned positions show some decent promise, in case Anthony and Campbell don't win a position, outright as a FT'er.

I think our pen is deep, and the middle and deeper parts would turn into a big plus, if every RP'er we have was moved down one notch by adding a real closer and two slots by adding a solid set-up man, too. Just adding one might be enough. Imagine this pen: Scott- closer Hoffman, Chapman & Hendriks- set-up Slaten & Whitlock as 7th inning guys Crawford & Wink as inning eater/long men That's a damn good pen that could be had without us going over the tax line. AAA pen depth: Wilson (out of options) Guerrero, Kelly, Weissert, Penrod, Bernardino, I Campbell, Mata, Shugart/Adams

It depends on what numbers we look at, and what site. I doubt we are done spending, so by opening day, we could be higher than last year.

I guess every rotation has several question marks, and our is no different. I think ours got a lot better by adding Crochet, Buehler and Giolito and subtracting Pivetta. I also feel a lot better about Houck and Crawford than I did, this time last year, especially concerning workload and going past 5 IP. There still are questions on those two, but the outlook is better, now. The addition of Priester helps with the depth. Fitts looks better now, as a depth option, than we thought, last winter. Criswell was not even discussed, last winter- now he looks like a nice depth piece. The pen looks way worse, to me, even with Crawford added to it. Maybe someone like Criswell, Fulmer, Fitts or Priester will be transitioned into a innings eater pen role, at some point, but we will likely cycle through 12-16 RP'ers before going to them. I will say we have a lot of RP'er who hold some level of promise. That is never a bad thing, but one problem could arise: we have too many RP'ers, who fail and lose games for us, until we settle on the 8 that work out. Picking the right 8 on day one could solve a lot of headaches. Taking away any SP'er, besides Crawford from the pen mix, here is how I rank them: Chapman & Hendriks share the closer and major set-up role. Slaten & Whitlock (might start season on IL) are the primary set-up men. Wilson will be the token LHP (besides Chapman,) but maybe Bernardino steals the job from him, if he can regain his 2023 and first half 2024 form. Winckowski and Crawford handle the bulk innings, but hopefully not too much mop up innings are needed. That's 7 (counting one from Wilson/Bernardino) Those with a chance at the 8 slot: Bernardino/Guerrero/Penrod/A Adams/Kelly/Weissert. I actually think out 8-14 slots might be better than most teams, but our 1-7 may not be. After #14 is not so bad, either: I Campbell, Mata, Shugart, Jose Adames, H Harris, N Davis, W Olds and AA guys like Hoppe, Troye, Uberstine and Sandlin. Our weakest areas on the other side of the roster are (not in order): 1. Catcher and corner IF defense. 2. RHB w power 3. SS depth, if Mayer or Story are hurt (which is probably likely) Romy is okay, but we should try to avoid using Rafaela there, again, unless his defense improves.

Here is some happy New Year news... “I’m going to be ready for a full Spring Training and a full season,” Giolito told WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. “I find it funny when I see stuff online saying that I’ll be coming back in June. I don’t know where that came from. I have no idea. … Everything’s going great. I look forward to a full year.” Giolito said he is towards the tail end of his rehab process at the team’s complex in Fort Myers. He indicated he expects to progress to throwing off a mound soon. Giolito added that teammate Garrett Whitlock, who underwent the same procedure in late May, is at a similar stage in his own rehab work.

Happy 2025!