moonslav59

To get top talent, we will need to part with top pitching- likely the younger ones. I'd do it for the right piece(s) as I have some faith in our rotation depth and pitching pipeline, but that faith is based on speculative value. Guys like Tolle, Early and Bennett are not know greats, but they do have some legit value and not all is speculative.

You make good points, but the part about being "a long way from competing" is not something everyone agrees on. We made the playoffs, last year, added some plus players and are generally a young team. Even if management agrees with your point, they have a rabid fanbase that is near fully against a total rebuild geared towards 4 years down the road. If we are looking at 4 years, then Crochet, Suarez and several other players have "wasted" years of control. We might as well trade them, too. I look around at other teams and see several that have more and way more top quality players than we do, so I get the point about "not being close," but I also look at the weak AL and some of the teams looking better than us about to hit a wall with their budget and post prime movement of their starts. A few select teams are poised to just keep spending to refill, but some will soon hit a wall. I don't see our outlook as looking worse than most teams, and maybe we look better than 20+ teams, in terms of budget and future talent- projected and in terms of under control years. It's hard for me to think we need a total rebuild, but the idea does have some merit.

Shaw and his 3.5 years of control was one of the trades I suggested. He's no sure bet, though. He's already showing signs he could be the next Vaughn Grissom, but we need to take some risks to improve on the everyday player side of the roster. Paredes only has 1.5 years, and KMarte is another year older. Plus, his AAV is recalculated after a trade, and is no longer a really good number for the bat we'd get. Most likely, we sell for prospects and then hope to trade prospects for ML talent, this winter, much like we did last winter. Those trades for Contreras, Gray and Durbin, as a whole, are looking good, despite the loss of Harrison and others.

Brez did start the shift towards higher spending on pitching, while making a major shift on farm pitching improvement. The $38.5M/2 for Giolito and even the $18.5M/2 on Sandoval was way more than Bloom ever spent on 1-2 pitchers. Hell, those two alone was more money spent on SP'ers than Kluber, Richards, Paxton, Martin Perez x 2, Wacha and Hill combined. While the $21M/1 on Buehler back-fired badly, it was a significant upgrade in effort and focus. He also signed and extended Chapman, while trading for extending Crochet. He then followed up all this up with the largest FA pitcher signing since Price- Ranger Suarez was the second highest pitcher signed, last winter (to Cease.) He's doing about as well as Cease and about 2/3 the cost. Tolle has already given us quick returns on Brez's farm building strategy focused on pitching. Bennett was a fantastic get. Eyanson, Witherspoon, Phillips and several other pitching prospects added by Brez has helped our future pitching pipeline look as good as ever, and this after graduating Tolle & Early! Now, we need that focus and dedication pointed to the offense.

That is what he did, but the Breggie to Suarez pivot indicated he was planning on an upgrade on offense, and pivoted to more pitching. I actually liked our depth, but not much was offensively focused, except for the Duran/Anthony/Yoshida/Romy DH mix and OF/1B/2B back-ups. There was no offensive back-up at SS/3B/ C, and we knew Romy was out and Ref was gone, so there was a gap that even Brez must have seen. I think his calculation was more about thinking the improved pitching and defense could outweigh a known loss (even if thought to be minor) on offense. On paper, a healthy and productive Anthony and upticks from our vast young player depth looked good, but you know injuries occur, unexpected down ticks occur, and adding Durbin and IKF over offense was a choice he made. That was D over O, when he had already unbalanced the team by adding way more pitching than offense. While true, most of us did not foresee this bad of an offense, we did see it as one of our weakest areas (along with pen depth beyond our top 2-3 RP'ers.) O'Hearn was not costly. BLowe or Donovan might have been a bit costly, but not trading for Oviedo might have allowed us to put a package together to land one of them. Paredes is the big what if to me, and he'd have helped the line-up and given is this infield on day one: 1B Contreras (Paredes/Romy) 2B Durbin/Mayer (Romy to come) 3B Paredes/Mayer SS Story/Mayer The improvement to the offense, even if he hit just .750 would have been very significant.

True, but 5 years in a row hurts, and for some of those winters, $10M was a major chunk of the new spending budgets. It was the largest signings is maybe 2-3 of those years. (I'm sure I'll be corrected, if wrong.) The Price and Sale contracts were big chunks, too, and both crippled us for years to come, much more so than the 5 I just listed, but the pattern of consistently hoping for returns to greatness by aging and oft-injured pitchers and an o for 5 record hits home. (Okay, Wacha & Hill were half hits.) To make matters worse, we recognized the need to stop counting on injured pitchers returning to greatness just in time to decide to trade Sale a split second before he actually did return to greatness...making or record on such choices oh for a big 6!

Plus, his "fresh start" has not been without controversy and further incidents that call to mind the idea of selfishness or pride getting in the way of what the Giants view as what's best for the team. Devers thought he was a good defensive 3Bman. That's not unusual for good to great players to think that. It's part of the psyche that makes them good to begin with. I prided myself on my good defense, as I sucked at hitting a baseball, but Devers would blow me away on defense. It's only when comparing to other MLB 3Bmen that he pales. It wasn't about convincing him he was not good at 3B defense. It was obvious to everyone that Bregman was better and actually way better. Everyone but Devers, of if by chance he did know Breggie was better, it makes what he did even worse. Cora ended up playing Breggie at 3B, whether he wanted to or not. It was a mistake to tell Devers to put his glove away, when there was that window where they could have told him, we need you to be prepared to DH, play 1B and be Breggie's back-up at 3B. That may have hit Devers harder than telling him he was going to be the FT DH, but I kinda think Devers would have rather played 1B than DH, but that is just my opinion. I never liked Casas as our 1Bman and felt he should DH over Devers to begin with. The Casas fragility question was known for years. Not foreseeing the need for Devers to work out at 1B was a major blunder. Maybe the fragility of the Devers ego made them think they better not even ask too much of him, until they need to, but that was the ultimate mistake by Brez, Cora or whoever you want to blame for not making it happen- like the Giants were able to do.

That's been one of my main points, and while we can play the hindsight game all day and cry about not adding Murakami (who nobody here wanted) Okamoto (who a few suggested) BLowe or Donovan (LHB not many advocated for) or O'Hearn/Arraez/ ______, the fact that we didn't even try and miss, which is Fred's good point, is a stain on Brez & Co's winter report card. A big fat coffee stain that hides the A's he got for Suarez, Gray and Contreras, or at least 1 of them.

Oh, I'm for selling, as of now, and even if we get back in the race, I still may be for selling. Perhaps we end up doing some of both. Trade for pitching for a bat (buying.) Trade the now for the future (selling)- likely bats, too. Gray & Chapman Duran, Sandoval & IKF Coulombe & Guerrero Even losing Gray leaves us very well set for the 2027 and beyond rotation. We have to determine who to keep and use some of that value to add a bat or two. I know some hate the idea of trading rotation depth, and it is a tough call. We've seemingly missed on a few, lately, namely Sale Harrison & Priester, but we've also added more, especially on the farm. Crochet, Suarez, Tolle, Early & Bennett Houck, Crawford, Oviedo, Bello, Anderson Eyanson, Witherspoon, Valera, Futrell, Phillips Holobetz, Paez, Wehunt, Rivera, Uberstine Delzine, Ziehl, Monegro, Brown, Finley, Morgan/Ingrassia/Montero/Mayers Teams would give up a nice bat for a couple of these arms.

It's comical, and the funniest part if the obliviousness. Time to cue up "You are over analyzing what I said."

Indeed, and it seemed like AZ wanted too much for KMarte, who is not doing great, so far in 2026. I still think Paredes was reasonable "the target," but HOU did not want Duran. They wanted Abreu back. Maybe some sort of three way deal could have landed us Paredes for Duran, and maybe we'd have had to pitch in a prospect, but it sure would have helped the infield situation had we added Paredes & Durbin. I still look back at BLowe and even Donovan as big what ifs, and we know they were available- LHB and all. BLowe has power. He averaged 35 HRs per 650 from 2021-2025 and has 21 in 84 games this year. While the .316 OBP is not great, in MLB today, that is not too bad.

As of now, I see us as buyers, and you are spot on with this deadline's outlook. With so many teams in contention, the bidding wars could be extreme, and even fringe players like IKF, Coulombe, Guerrero and maybe even Sandoval could net a decent return. It remains to be seen what Duran might fetch, but someone will take a flyer on him and hope to "fix him." Gray and Chapman should be highly sought after and net very substantial returns. I'd hesitate to sell Contreras and Whitlock, who are controlled beyond 2027, but I'd listen for the right overpay. Sell this summer. Buy this winter.

We shoulda done two. Coulda is another question after the Suarez buy.

I think adding a catcher with power makes a lot of sense. Maybe sign Jeffers as a C/DH or trade for William Contreras (1 more year of control) to unite the brothers. Both are RHBs. Next, I think we have to look at counting Mayer & Story as one middle infield slot filled, and to me I'd view Story as a 2Bman and Mayer as either. We also can use a DH or OF/DH, if we do trade Duran. Even if we sign Jeffers, we can still add an OF/DH type. That's 3 slots to find two big bats. I'd be fine if one was a power RHB and the other a high OBP guy. When you look at the highest OBP guys since 2025 (400+ PAs) Anthony ranks 8th at .383, but we could still use another high OBP guy in front of Contreras, Abreu and the new power RHB. Yordan Alvarez is #2, but he is a pipe dream. Kurtz is #5 and may be one as well. Yandy Diaz is #12 and may be getting close to the payday the Rays avoid ($13M for 2027.) Hey, Jeffers is #18 (.368) and has power. Maybe he can bat 2nd. Here's an option: Gleyber Torres as a FA signing and the next 2Bman. His .366 OBP ranks him T22nd with Schwarber. Spencer Horwitz at DH? (.367) O'Hearn (.358)? Trade for Keaschall (.355?) William Contreras is .355- just below Willson at .357. KMarte is at .354 and still has power (switch hitter) Paredes .349. JP Crawford (FA) at .345 I have no idea who we might have in mind, but there are enough names here to think adding two should not be extremely difficult. Hell, if JH allows more spending, adding 3 can be accomplished. C: Jeffers + Narvaez/Wong 1B: Contreras (Horwitz/Casas) 2B: Story/Mayer/Romy (Seagler) 3B: Durbin (Mayer/Eaton) SS: JP Crawford (Mayer/Monasterio) LF: Anthony (Ward/Eaton) CF: Rafaela (Ward) RF: Abreu (Ward/Eaton) DH: Horwitz/Jeffers/Romy/Casas Crawford turns 32 in January and has hit under .700 every other year for 5 years, so maybe G Torres would be a better fit. He's also a RHB not a lefty like JP. That would help balance the LHB Mayer. So, maybe this... 1. Anthony LF 2. Torres 2B 3. Abreu RF 4. Contreras 1B 5. Jeffers C/DH 6. Horwitz/Romy DH 7. Rafaela CF 8. Durbin 3B 9. Mayer/Story SS platoon

Maybe good but not "very good" and so far from worth the money he makes, I'm surprised you think he'd have been a good signing. His AAV is about what we pay Gray & Contreras combined. He was a real good hitter until age 25, and that is a strange age to decline noticeably. Injuries can be blamed to some extent, but why would we want yet another player hampered by injuries? OPS+ 126 from ages 21-25 (to 2023) OPS+ 103 from ages 26-28 (2024-2026) 1361 PAs is two full seasons. 15 HRs per 650 is not the power we need. Hell, Durbin gets sh*t for averaging 15 HRs per 650, and now we'd have two of 'em, one making over $40M a year. At least Bregman can field well. I never wanted Bichette, except at maybe 1/3 or 1/4th his current contract. I'd have taken Bregman at 2/3 or 3/4 of what he got, and probably regret it, already. Alonso might have been the most realistic and successful winter add, and it would have forced a Duran trade, which could not have hurt, either. I can see why they felt Duran/Anthony/Yoshida/Romy had DH under control, so this is hindsight and assuming a Duran trade. Murakami or Okamoto look good in hindsight. Trading for LHB BLowe looks good in hindsight and to me in foresight, too, but the whole need a RHB prevented that- yet we got no second RHB, anyway, so there you go. I get the argument that maybe some of these struggling players might be doing better, had they played for BOS, and Fenway can help many batters, but it's hard to expect that, especially in light of how this team has played, and the co-called "toxic environment" Brez has created. And while we're at it, how then can we assume Harrison might be gunning for a Cy Young had he remained with BOS?

Yup. No matter what happens, fault is found. We were not getting Schwarber. We all know JH was not going to let Brez outbid DD, yet Brez gets the blame, anyway. Just like Soto is right. We just heard the same thing on Alonso- "our offer was lame" or "just for show." The whole Bregman "botch," when had we landed him, Brez would be torn apart for spending so much on a .690 batter.

Indeed, and if he does well, we may just get back into the race and be buyers.

Good job. Nothing jumps out as being unfair.

For years Devers looked like a happy guy who loved the game. He often wore a wide smile, but was kinda on the quiet side. I always felt that was more of a language issue than being an introvert, but it was hard to tell. I never got a hint of selfishness or insubordination, until the talk began about moving him off 3B. Nobody handled it well, including Devers.

Top Batter Signings & OPS: $240M/4 Tucker .733 in 358 PAs $175M/5 Bregman .685 in 403 $163M/5 Bellinger ,774 in 374 $155M/5 Alonso .810 in 393 $150M/5 Schwarber .936 in 384 $126M/3 Bichette .689 in 392 $93M/5 Naylor .669 in 363 $60M/4 Okamoto .766 in 355 $45M/3 Realmuto .617 in 295 $40M/2 Polanco .532 in 61 $34M/2 Murakami .938 in 246 $29M/2 O'Hearn .807 in 314 $23M/2 Yaz .664 in 243

Top FA Pitcher Signings & Results, so far... $210M/7 Cease 2.79 in 90 IP $130M/5 Suarez 3.15 in 91 IP $115M/3 Valdez 4.29 in 101 IP $75M/3 King 3.52 in 102 IP $40M/2 M Kelly 5.71 in 87 IP $30M/3 Ponce 2 IP $22M/1 Woodruff 2.98 in 45, Imanaga 4.28 in 103 & Gallen 6.36 in 92 $22M/2 Houser 5.33 in 74 & B Keller 4.15 in 30 $18.5M/1 Bassitt 5.27 in 56 $15M/2 Matz 6.28 in 53 $13M/1 Verlander 4IP & N Martinez 2.61 in 100 $12.5M/1 D May 4.80 in 84

Not much to cheer for this year, but since June 25th... 8-2 BOS 8-3 TBR 7-3 TEX, CHC, MIA, LAD (tied in the 10th, tonight) 6-3 MIN 6-4 Many teams

That WOO team is looking pretty good, as projected by soxprospects.com... SP: Eyanson, Holobetz, Wehunt, Paez, Anderson (but they have 9 SP'ers on the 26 man roster, so...) RP: Samaniego, Uberstine, Rivera, Gamboa, Olds, Rogers, Zeihl, Mullins C: Jo Garcia, Hudson White, Nate Baez (Gasper) 1B: Casas (Hickey/Gasper) 2B: Brendan Rodgers (Ferguson) 3B: Romero (McDonough) SS: Arias (Liendo) LF: Sogard CF: Ward RF: Campbell DH: Gasper (Hickey/Brannon)

Indeed, and for many years we've needed 1B depth. To me, he's better as DH depth. The guy could hit and has power. His arb will be a minimal cost.

These seem to me more annoying than $21M for a "healthy" Buehler. Giolito's $38.5M/2 was annoying too, but he was thought to be healthy, when we signed him, but these sucked: $10M/1 Richards '21 $10M/1 Paxton '22 $10M/1 Kluber '23 $10M/2 Hendriks '24 $18.5M/2 Sandoval '25-'26 Too many years in a row!