moonslav59

To me, this is a much better defensive infield, even with Mayer playing a brand new position, and Campbell's defense at 2B being largely unknown. Quite simply, it can't be worse than Devers 3B, Story/Mayer SS, Mayer/Campbell 2B and Casas 1B. The offense impact might be bad or good. We do swap a LHB (Casas) for a RHB (Campbell,) but Campbell might have replaced LHBs E Valdez and DHam and 2B, anyway. (Grissom is also a RHB.) I'm not sure how well Campbell can play 3B, but we could try that, with Mayer (DHam/Grissom) at 2B.

The thing about this plan is that we are not paying a penny more for it, or Trading any top prospect or young everyday payer, except Rafaela. We could even keep Rafaela as depth, and it changes nothing, except we get one less pitcher via his non trade. I'm not asking anything for Yoshida, and would even give some money, just to allow another slot for a kid or Casas to DH and improve our D. If we wanted, we could DH Refsnyder and Abreu as a platoon and "rest" Devers and Casas at DH, often, instead of giving them full days off. No money or players are given up to get the line-up I suggested. All the winter budget could be directed towards pitching. If we were able to get a pitcher (maybe a highly-priced one) for Yoshida, great, but we dont have to. If we decide to tarde Abreu or Rafaela for a pitcher, it would barely make a dent in our line-up of depth, because they'd be replaced by Anthony, or maybe even Campbell. It's not rocket science. It costs JH nothing. Yes, you are right to say "it will never happen."

I agree. As much as I like Abreu, we could not get Crochet for 2 of him. I like the idea of trading Yoshi, but not for a 1Bman. Trade Yoshi, move Casas to DH, Devers to 1B and go with Mayer or Campbell at 3B and 2B. This would be a powerful line-up with a greatly improved D. C: Wong & Teel 1B: Devers 2B: Mayer/Campbell (DHam/Grissom) SS: Story (Mayer/Romy) 3B: Campbell/Mayer (Romy/Meidroth) LF: Duran/Ref CF: Anthony/Duran RF: Abreu/Anthony (Rafaela traded) DH: Casas 1. L Duran 2. R Campbell 3. L Anthony 4. L Devers 5. L Casas 6. R Story 7. L Abreu/R Refsnyder platoon 8. L Mayer 9. R Wong/ L Teel Utility: L DHam/ R Grissom WOW! We can have this line-up with no outside additions!

That may depend on Story's health and durability. If Story plays FT SS, only one of Mayer or Campbell can win the 2B job. While it's true that Campbell could play 3B (Devers to 1B and trade Casas or Yoshi,) I don't see a slot for Campbell in our current OF, even if we trade Abreu. (I guess he could force Rafaela to the 4th OF slot.)

I mentioned trading Mayer and keeping Campbell. The RHB aspect might be the deciding factor. On keeping Rafaela over Abreu, I'm not so sure the righty-lefty aspect is so clear, since Rafaela is such a poor hitter vs both handed pitchers. If Ref comes back, the need for a RHB OF'er like Rafaela's in muted. Duran can play CF vs LHPs, Anthony in RF and Ref in LF. That being said, I think it is just as likely we trade Abreu over Rafaela. I think Mayer and Abreu/Rafaela could get us a major piece or two for the pitching staff. Another serious option could be to try and keep all the top prospects and look at shaking up the defense by trading Casas and Abreu for pitching, leaving us this: C: Wong + defensive 1 yr catcher addition with Teel knocking on the door. 1B: Devers, yes it could be that time. Half his errors are with his arm, so maybe he can be plus on D at 1B. 2B: Campbell or Mayer (Grissom/DHam- maybe one gets traded, too.) SS: Story of Mayer (Campbell, Romy) 3B: Mayer or Campbell (Romy, Mediroth) LF: Duran/Refsnyder (E Valdez) CF: Rafaela/Duran (Campbell) RF: Anthony (Campbell) DH: Yoshida (Ref/E Valdez) If we keep Abreu and trade Rafaela: LF: Duran-Ref, CF: Duran-Anthony, RF: Anthony-Abreu (A Ref-Abreu platoon, with moving parts on who plays where.) While the return for Casas may be less than for Mayer, I think mayer's upside might be higher. I doubt Casas will ever be an average defender at 1B, and he could DH once Yoshi's time is up. We could hold off moving Devers to 1B for 2 more years. I do think Casas is more of a sure bet with the bat than Mayer, so... I think any major moves revolves around these ideas.

I really think there needs to be some serious discussion, which has probably already started, about who we want to keep, the most. We simply cannot and should not keep everyone, even if it might mean trading away someone we think has a lot of promise, or already has shown some real skills. If we see Anthony as being on the 26 on opening day, or as soon as his extra year of control is reached, then I think we have to trade Abreu or Rafaela. Although Rafaela is a RHB and an excellent defensive CF, his bat should never be the reason we keep him, and since Duran and Anthony can play CF, well, maybe Rafaela's defense should not be an over-riding factor. It might come down to who gets us a better return: Abreu or Rafaela? I'm not so sure we bring O'Neill back, and Ref may retire, but even if neither are on the 2025 roster, I'm still fine with trading Abreu or Rafaela and go with Duran, Anthony and one of those two. Campbell can be OF depth, and Yoshida or E Valdez could play LF, in a pinch. I see Mayer as being considered an integral part of this team's near future and long term plan. His injury history almost rivals Story's, but I think they view him as an essential chip to hold onto. The presence of Campbell might be the only player that could make Mayer tradeable: he and the belief that maybe Story can play a full season or two. Story at SS and Campbell at 2B, with DHam, Grissom & Romy as depth might be considered good enough to take the plunge on a Mayer tarde. The same type of thinking could be used to decide on trading Campbell, but to me, K Campbell is the bluer chip, despite the defensive questions. I'm not sure DHam or Grissom bring back enough in trade to make it worthwhile. It might make sense to trust them as good depth and take the risk of trading Mayer or Campbell. I'm keeping Teel for two reasons: 1. Wong's defense did not improve, and he may be the worst in MLB. 2. Catchers are so hard to find in MLB. We may add a 1 year bridge to Teel Catcher. I've heard it suggested we trade Montgomery and another second tier prospect, but I almost feel like that is a bigger risk, since their return value would be like selling low. To me: the best plan might be to trade Mayer or Campbell (I vote Mayer) and either Rafaela or Abreu (I'm 50-50 on who.) This should be enough for a very serious upgrade of our pitching staff, and if we sign one pitcher with the entire winter budget minus a decent back-up catcher cost, we might be favorites to make the playoffs. Keep the depth. Spend more, and we could be a top 3-4 team in the AL.

I'm no expert on the KCR roster, but I can't help but think their OF does not need help: .648 CF .649 LF .663 RF .644 DH They also had .669 at 2B, but that doesn't mean they want DHam, Grissom or E Valdez KCR OF'ers: .681 Renfroe, .682 MJ Melendez, .659 Isbel, .575 Hampson Maybe the fit is better than we think. I'd give Abreu & DHam for Singer.

Barring injury, Fitts for sure. I'd guess that Anthony and Campbell do. If I'm "barring injury" for Story, too, then maybe Mayer does not. Otherwise, him, too. I'm betting against Teel and Meidroth. Meidroth may be traded. He's Rule 5 in DEC '26. So, 3-4. Outside chance of just 2.

It's hard to remember this team was once 10 games over .500, after taking 2 of 3 from the NYY and KCR right before the ASB. That was pretty much two-thirds through the season. What a difference that team looked, compared to the post ASB team. The way we have ended the last 3 seasons has been super frustrating.

I'd make that trade, in a heart beat. The rotation full of controllable SP'ers is mostly near mediocre, at worst and promising, at best. I see Houck as one, and Bello as two. I know you like Crawford more than I do, but let's call it 3. Gio has one year left. Fitts, Priester, Dobbins and Criswell are not what I'd call sure bets, and we need more high quality SP'ers and not middle of the pack ones. Again, I'm not expecting they add a solid SP'er. More likely, they will look for the next Criswell.

Three more games to go to the Sox 2024 season. 3 games vs TBR We have a 2 game lead, so basically, only getting swept would move us from 3rd place. It's a tiny consolation to a season that, at one point, was giving us some hopes. We need to go 2-1 to finish above .500, 1-2 to finish at .500. It's gonna suck waiting 6 months until the next meaningful baseball game, for me.

Is KC your son?

Originally, I said a #3SP or very good set-up man. Yes, I was thinking 3+ year, but maybe not the equal 5 years of control. As of not, he is a strong side platoon and plus defender. That has real value but he is not an AS.

I agree with all of this, but I think Abreu would bring back a decent return- not a great one, but something we need. I'm wondering what we can get for Abreu and DHam, maybe a nice set-up RP'er. Maybe a middle RP'er and back-up catcher. In theory, that leaves more cash for pitchers.

I did not have high expectations, this year. My W-L prediction seems very close to being exact. I'm NOT spinning this season into a success story. It was not. Saying there were a lot of fun tings to watch is not the same as saying we did well or were a success. I have been calling the FO a sham since winter. It was "avoidable." There was a lot of fun things to watch. Two different things.

Despite Whitlock's struggles in 2023, here are the numbers over his first 3 years in MLB (2021-2023) 158 Pitchers with 220+ IP SIERA: T8 Whitlock 3.27 (w Nola) xFIP: 16th Whitlock (Just below Franber and above P Lopez/Eflin) ERA-: T28 Whitlock 80 (w Steele & Peralta) The guy can pitch. He had 3 straight years over 70 IP. O GS in 2021 (46 as RP) 9 GS in '22 (23 RP) 10 GS in '23 (12 RP) He had a 1.96 ERA in his 4 GS in '24 (.616 OPSA). He has a career .693 career OPSA. (.695 v RHB/.689 v LHB) .593 High Leverage/.613 Late & Close 3.39 ERA/1.146 WHIP

I guess I wrongly assumed that most SSs can transition into at least acceptable defense at 2B. I'm ready to give up on Grissom at 2B, but we really have no room for him in the OF. To me, it's 2B or a trade.

I agree. My top dozen prospects are: 1. Anthony 2. Campbell 3. Mayer 4. Teel ( I see the gap between he and Mayer as about the same as Campbell & Mayer) 5. Arias (Biggest gap in top 10 is between he and Teel) 6. Montgomery 7. Perales 8. Cespedes 9. Jh Garcia 10. Bleis 11. Meidroth 12. Fitts

Word is that Teel is a plus defender, which keeps him top 4, in my book. I'd add Arias and maybe even Cespedes as stiff competition with Belies, Perales and Monty as the next top 4-5 prospect.

They could move Rafaela and have Campbell in LF, Duran CF and Anthony/Abreu in RF.

I do think Rafaela as the inside edge on the CF job, but I agree. Since I see Abreu being traded, I think that increases the odds on Rafaela being the FT CF'er. An O'Neill extension and/or Anthony promotion could change everything.

Not even a cursory Anthony mention. You have Romy over DHam. I think it's a toss-up, unless Story gets hurt- then Romy gets the nod.

Right in line with my repeated "Trade Abreu & DHam" suggestion. Both are LHBs. Both are in bottle-necked positions. I think we can fill a couple pen slots or get one really good set-up man for the package.

Save the hip: keep both!

I know, but he question my agreement with you and my "exactly" reply.