moonslav59

No doubt. Those recent deals really closed the deal- something we avoided, last winter and deadline.

There has been a lot of talk about the promising farm we have, right now, despite the lack of sure-fire pitchers. This aspect has been a weak area in the Sox pipeline since the days of Letser, Buchholz, Masterson and others. Somehow, we made do, often by trading everyday players and all types of prospects for top pitching, from Pedro to Schilling to Beckett and Sale. This is not a complete list of significant farm infusions since the Theo days, but I do think it shows we are seeing a trend towards more helpful homegrown players and perhaps more importantly pitchers. I'm not sure we can ever match the top 3 farmhands left for Ben: Betts, Bogey & JBJ, and we had some stretches of very little help, along the way. Here is my list: 2015: Margot (traded with others for Kimbrel) [ERod from BAL system acquired by Miller trade.] 2016: Moncada (traded with Kopech & others for Sale) Beni (later traded for Wink) Dubon (traded for Thornburg) Espinoza (trade for Pomeranz) 2017: Devers 2018: Beeks (traded for Nate) Buttrey (traded for Kinsler) Espinal (traded for Pearce) 2020: Houck (first big impact in '24) Dalbec (brief impact '20-'21) 2021: Duran (1st impact '23) [Whitlock was a NYY farm product acquired from Rule 5. Wong from LAD system made 1st impact in '23] 2022: Casas (1st impact '23) Bello (1st impact '23) Crawford ('23) [Winckowski was a product of the KCR farm, but did see a lot of time in the BOS system.] 2023: Rafaela (2024) [Abreu was a product of the HOU farm, acquired by trade. DHam from MIL system made impact in '24.] 2024: [Slaten was a product of the TEX system acquired by trade] What jumps out at me is the long gap between the Devers call up and when Houck, Duran and Casas started to make an impact in 2023. Secondly, is the fact that Houck, Bello, Crawford and to some extent Wink and Slaten show a marked improvement of pitching impacts from previous years. I won't get into the long list of current prospects that look very promising, but it does seem like a corner has already been turned.

I used to live in Milwaukee and was a big Tommy Harper and Brewers fans, when the first moved to Milwaukee from Seattle. I'm a huge fan of great defense at SS. I admit I don't know how to project Adames defense going forward, or if there is any way to predict he direction on D. I might pass for that very reason. Like the RHB aspect, but the kinda low OBP makes me have doubts. He's just 29, so the "risk" of bust is less than almost any FA pitcher, though.

It is interesting to note that the year the SDP wnet below the tax line, they made the playoffs. (2023 was over: they missed/ 2024 under: they made it.) Using them as an example seems a bit out of context.

Well, I could see us doing exactly what I mentioned: trading Mayer (for a pitcher,) then spending money on Adames. Spending on FA pitchers seems more risky than on Adames.

Unless we trade Mayer, I doubt we even contact his agent.

One was the trainer, Ben Chadwick. I'm not so sure this is that big of a shake-up, and how many of these guys were "old guard?" Is this just Brez making minor adjustments and quietly putting his stamp on the organization? It does seem like there has been a very significant change to the system that began under Bloom and includes the overhaul of the farm system personnel.

I'm not sure TOR wants Yoshida, or would like to save more money by trading Gausman for a low cost player, but this may be the only type of Yoshida deal that makes sense. Of course, I'd prefer we go out and get a younger, cost controlled pitcher, but that would likely cost us a top prospect of someone like Casas. Abreu, DHam + Winckowski is not getting us that.

He should have made the honorable mention list, I suppose. Too many baby injuries for my liking.

Agreed. Not many teams go into the winter thinking they are looking for a DH only player with little power. Put aside the $18M owed for 3 more years, and ask, what would a team pay him as a free agent for 3 years? That is the probably the "break even" points, as in trade him with cash that evens out that number, and expect nothing in return. I'm guessing other GMs might pay him $3-6M x 3, maybe $7-8M tops. Some may seek to give us a higher-priced player in return to lessen the cash return needed, but that gets complicated. It's a sad situation, and it's not an easy choice to make. We have a team with two awful defensive corner infielders with some injury histories. It would make a hell of a lot of sense to at least let them DH a dozen or two times a season to get some or more rest, while still keeping their potent bats in the line-up as much as we can. I fully realize this whole idea could be just a pipe dream or something that is years away from happening, but it would improve the team, IMO. The choice to just keep Yoshida at DH and roll the dice on hopes he can do better as he ages also makes some sense. Why pay a team $10-14M a year to have him hit for them? Just hope he can get over .800 and keep our corner infielders where they are for 3 more years. Is saving $4-8M a year going to get us a helpful player, anyways? Who knows? Maybe no GM wants him at even $3M a year. We'd probably have to take a bigger contract to even get a GM to listen to us. Thanks Bloom & Co.!

You thought .700 before the season, or after he had that nice run to get over .700?

Do you think Rafaela did better than you expected in 2024? Do you think being asked to play so much SS affected his offense, at all?

No, they won't. A three way deal has a better chance. The Astros need a 1Bman, but I doubt they part with a top, young SP'er to get Casas.

Roman AnthonyKristian CampbellMarcelo MayerKyle TeelBraden MontgomeryFranklin AriasLuis PeralesYoeilin CespedesJhostynxon GarciaRichard FittsMiguel BleisDavid SandlinChase MeidrothMikey RomeroElmer Rodriguez-CruzJohanfran GarciaHunter DobbinsYordanny MonegroJuan ValeraPayton Tolle

Our OF and possible depth/prospects: LF: Duran, Abreu, Campbell, Refsnyder (Jh Garcia) CF: Duran, Rafaela, Anthony, Campbell, Abreu (Bleis) RF: Abreu, Anthony, Campbell (Montgomery) Our Middle Infield and possible depth/prospects: SS: Story, Mayer, Romy, DHam, Meidroth, Campbell (Romero, Arias, Riemer) 2B: Story, Campbell, Mayer, Grissom/DHam, Meidroth (Romero, Arias, Cespedes) Surely, we can part with one player from each group.

How many current owners would we rather have than JH? (I have no idea.) I do know many are way cheaper than JH and or are not very good at hiring good baseball men to run their team. Everybody wants the LAD owner who spends and spends (and has a mega revenue line.) Here is what the Dodger paid for pitchers, this year: 0 GS (out for playoffs- pitching) Ohtani $70M ($46M x ??? Lux) 22 GS (out for playoffs) Glasnow $32.5M ($27.3M x 5 Lux) 0 GS (out for playoffs) Yamamoto $18.3M ($27.1M x 12 Lux) 16 GS (out for playoffs) Bueler $8M x 1 (same) 7 GS (out for playoffs) Kershaw $5M x 1 (same) w $5M player option (Gavin Stone and Dustin May- out for playoffs) Man, we thought we had injuries.

Good afternoon, back at ya! If JH won't spend big on a SP'er, he should not just allow a big trade, he should demand one for a SP. Use the budget on the pen and a RHB (catcher?) and SP'er depth.

I'd trade the three guys mentioned for Finnegan, and Abreu and DHam to TBR for Fairbanks and Diaz, then trade Casas to SEA for Bryce Miller. Sign Tanner Scott, Danny Jansen and Nick Martinez and call it a day. SP: Houck, Martinez, Miller, Gio, Bello (Crawford #6 or long relief) RP: Scott, Fairbanks, Finnegan, Hendriks, Slaten, Whitlock, Fulmer, Crawford 1. Duran LF 2. Diaz 1B 3. Anthony RF 4. Devers 3B 5. Campbell 2B-Mayer 2B/SS 6. Story SS- Mayer SS 7. Yoshida-Refsnyder DH 8. Wong-Jansen C 9. Rafaela CF (Maybe Campbell in CF?)

RHB Diaz would be a nice get. He's owed $10M in 2025, and has a $12M option for 2026, so might be on the block. That could work out even better, if we trade Yoshida or Casas. His OBP dipped but is .373 career- something we could use.. Meidroth for Fairbanks looks good, to me, too. (I'd like to know, if we feel comfortable with Grissom or Campbell/Mayer at 3B, if needed or Devers is moved.

Yup, and I feel like we'd have made the playoffs, if we went over for just this season... assuming our other additions were not like Gio.

I like the high K rate for Fairbanks and see him as a possible closer. I think you talked me into Nick Martinez over Flaherty. Ideally, it would be Martinez, Tanner Scott, Fairbanks and Finnegan. I think we could get the two "F's" wihtout losing a major piece to 2024, other than maybe Abreu, who may be blocking Anthony (and Campbell to a lesser extent.) I'd be happy with those 4.

I'd say bare minimum. Do you consider Flaherty as better than NM? Could getting Fairbanks be better than Finnegan, as well as a larger package needed.

It's not going to be easy to replace Jansen, and if they count Hendriks as an even swap, that will be a big risk. (Note: they probably do count it as just that.) Counting Fulmer as Martin's replacement would be even worse. Counting Gio as Pivetta's replacement is probably the closest to reality, but it is still a big gamble. I think we'd need to add 3 high quality pitchers to improve the staff over 2023. That's not counting Hendriks, Fulmer and Gio. To me, this is the MINIMUM NEEDED! A RHB, maybe at catcher will probably happen, and maybe we also try to add another Criswell or two, but I seriously doubt we add more than 3-4 quality players. (Trading Abreu for one is a push and is not "adding." IMO.)

Ideally, I'm sure Sox ownership would love it, if we could keep the farm stocked, so a continual infusion could be counted on. Then, we might be able to stay under or "just under," every year and stay highly competitive. If this became the norm, then going over, for a year or two, now and then, would be acceptable, but never 3 years in a row. The penalties, now, go beyond just financial, so keeping the farm strong can take a hit, when you get penalized. I do see a way, if everything goes right or mostly right with our additions, and we don't get killed by injuries, we could build a competitive team, without going over the tax line in 2025. Going up to $2-3M from the line, would give us a hefty winter spending budget (AAV) and enough to fill 3-4 slots with quality players. (2-3 slots with high quality.) Plus, we could trade to fill 1-2 slots and have less players to divide the AAV budget into, thereby increasing the expected quality production.

Had we gone over every 2 years out of 3, that would have been much better, too. Also, going over the one year we had decent comp picks coming our way was dumb as hell, although we still ended up with K Campbell with one of them.