moonslav59

To SEA: Randy Arozarena (OF) a RHB To TBR: Brody Hopkins (single A RHP) and Aidan Smith (OF) + PTBNL To PHI: Austin Hays (OF) To BAL: S Dominguez (RHP) & C Pache (OF) To BOS: James Paxton To LAD: Moises Bolivar (IF on DSL Blue) To AZ: AJ Puk To Mia: Deybison De Los Santos, Andrew Pintar

Part of the reason our rotation is still ranked 6th is the pitching from Criswell, who was a Brez addition. Losing Whitlock is not mentioned, often, and he might have been a bigger loss than Gio. He had a 1.96 ERA after 4 starts. Another amazing part about our rotation's high ranking has been precisely their depth. Of course, counting 'openers" is not really starter depth, but it worked more often than not. 2.33 Winckowski in 5 GS (19.1 IP) 0.00 Bernardino + Kelly in 4GS (just 7.2 IP in those 4 openers) Anderson had one really bad opener game. Here are the numbers for Whitlock, Wink, Bernardino & Kelly (4 pitchers we could consider as rotation/opener depth: 13 GS 45.1 IP 9 ER (1.80 ERA) 33 Hits 33Ks-14 BBs I'm not ting to say I think our pitching depth was fine. I'm just saying the results of our depth are not a main reason we are on the outside looking in, except for the fact that our pen was overly taxed by starting openers 5 times and getting less than 4 IP from Wink in 5 starts and less than 5 IP from Whitlock in 4 GS. Those 14 GS hurt the pen. Add Criswell to the "depth" and the numbers look like this: 26 GS 108 IP 37 ER (3.08 ERA is second best on the staff!) 94 Hits (less Hits than IP) 87Ks-29 BBs For those who think only of wins and losses, the team went 15-11 in these 26 starts! To be fair, add Anderson's 1.2 IP and 5 ERs and we have: 27 GS 3.47 ER (which is almost equal to Crawford)

Pitching depth is always something that gets discussed, and we lost 2 of our top 6 SP'ers (Gio & Whitlock) and maybe our 7th/8th SP'er in Murphy for the full season. One can argue Houck (the 5/6 going into the season) and Criswell (perhaps the 7th/8th SP'er with Murphy) have done a fine job as depth. Our main problem has been with our pre-season #2 Bello and the inconsistency of our #4 Pivetta. Of course, having more depth would help mitigate those deficiencies, but the depth would have had to be really good to oust Bello from the rotation, and it's hard to imagine many cheap depth signings doing much better than Criswell has done. Of course, keeping Sale would have done wonders for the Sox, this year. We'd have maybe started Houck in the pen, but maybe it would have been Whitlock, which might have prevented his injury. (Ideally, we'd have started Pivetta in the pen, but that was not going to happen, IMO. 1. Sale 2. Houck 3. Crawford 4. Bello 5. Pivetta/Criswell ...looks like the best in hindsight.

It's sarcasm. The Alanis Morissette song really messed up the meaning of "ironic."

So, LAD are paying about $1M of the 2.4-2.6 owed.

This Paxton deal should more than make up for the loss of Sale and put this thread to a final resting place.

Agreed, unless we go to a 6 man rotation. Days off: AUG 1 (after 6 games in a row) AUG 8 (after 6 games in a row) AUG 22 (after 13 straight) SEP 5 (after 13 straight) SEP 16 (after 10 straight) SEP 26 (after 9 straight and before our last 3 of the season) Having a 6 man rotation up to AUG 22 would mean all 6 starters get 2 days extra of rest, since we have days off after 6 days, twice in a row. Maybe there is not a need until after AUG 22. We could also spot start Pivetta to allow just Houck and Crawford an extra day of rest, every chance we can, but keep Bello, Paxton and Criswell on mostly normal rest.

He's played 4 games w Woo, since July 20th (2 for 14.) My guess is, he is close to "ready," in terms of health, but I doubt we call him up, soon. Rafaela has been doing okay at SS, and him playing SS allows for Duran and O'Neill to play FT and Abreu and Ref to platoon. A 2B platoon of DHam and Romy/Westbrook has done pretty good since the start of June. Certainly, Grissom replacing Westbrook is possible, but if he's not playing much, keeping him playing everyday with Woo makes more sense.

Agreed. It has been about 2mph less than 2023.

Could be.

Paxton has been hit or miss, pretty much all season. 18 GS 6 bad to horrible starts 3 meh to okay to starts (6IP-3ER, 5IP-3ER and 5IP-2ER) 9 good to very good starts first 2: 11 IP 2ER 7H 6BB 9K GS#4: 4.2 and 1ER GS6-8: 18.2 and 4ER GS#10: 3IP 0ER GS12-14: 18IP 2ER (7H, 6BB, 16K) June 11-24th not so long ago His last 3 starts were bad: 13.2 IP 8 ER (5.27 ERA) 13H 10BB (5.62 FIP) 11K (last 4, even worse) Let's hope he can give us a two to three 3 game stretches, going forward. This deal, alone is just a bandaid.

Paxton is owed about $2.5M for the remainder of 2024. JH is really splurging on this one!

Who moves to the pen? Pivetta or Criswell? My choice: go to a 6 man rotation to help limit the IP on Houck and Crawford.

So, Mata lives another season, despite being out of options.

For 17-year-old infielder Moises Bolivar

Paxton to the Sox Boston is sending one prospect from their Dominican Summer League affiliate to the Dodgers in the deal, Ardaya reports. That’ll be 17-year-old infielder Moises Bolivar, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports. I hope Brez does not think this ia major get. We still need 2 RP'ers and a RHB.

Paxton to the Sox Boston is sending one prospect from their Dominican Summer League affiliate to the Dodgers in the deal, Ardaya reports. That’ll be 17-year-old infielder Moises Bolivar, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports.

I am surely a homer, when it comes to Sox prospects, but I know we cannot expect the world in return for our mid level prospects. I seriously doubt we trade a top 4 (Anthony, Mayer, Teel & Campbell) prospect or far away prospects like Cespedes, Bleis, Zanetello or Arias. Not many GM want them as centerpieces to a trade, either, but we should resist adding them to packages. That's not to say these 8 are untouchable. No player or prospect is ever untouchable, to me. I'd trade any of these guys for a controllable TOTR pitcher, in a heartbeat, but those trades are rare, and even rarer at deadlines. The Garcia brothers might have pretty high trade value, despite being kinda far away from the bigs, but I'd hold onto both, unless the return package is for multiple years and pretty damn good. We need at least 2 more pitchers, and 3 would be much better. We need a RH'd bat (SS, 1B, OF, 2B.) We could part with ML'ers like Abreu (platoons vs RHPs only,) Valdez (a man without a position) and maybe Wink (was in the doghouse when demoted, earlier this year.) McGuire could be traded for scraps, if we think Teel is ready, but I think we want to maximize Teel's control through his prime ages. (Catchers often mature closer to 30 than 27.) Guys like Romy, Westbrook, Dalbec, Murphy (IL), Walter, Anderson, Keller and a few others have little trade value, but could be included in certain trades that meet our needs. Now, to the midlevel prospects, and I am assuming a package of 2-4 for any meaningful trade: Red= Rule 5 (possibly worth selecting) Blue= Rule 5 (not likely needing protection from selction) We could trade a pitching prospect(s,) but only for pitching in return, of if we add pitching in seperate deals: 6. Perales on 40 (injury history will likely diminish his return value to a point where we'd probably be better not trading him, now.) 8. Fitts (some GMs likely want this guy, but he should not be viewed as a "throw-in.") 9. Sandlin (is close enough to ML ready to be wanted) 21. Dobbins (has looked pretty good, this year in AA) 20. Wikelman on 40 (would be a throw-in, but some GM might think they can "fix" him) 22. Penrod (is 27 and maybe some team would give him a shot in 2024.) 24. Early (I'm sure GMs like him) 27. Mullins (LHP with some distant promise) 30. Guerrero (I've lost hope on him) 31. Bastardo, 32. Horn on 40, 34. Gambrell, 35. Mata (On 40 & out of options), Zeferjahn Maybe too far away to be worth their return value: 16. E R-C 25. Monegro 29. Portes Paez, Wehunt, Valera, Dean, Ingrassa, Rogers and others Everyday Players on the Block: 11. Meidroth (our lack of 3B depth might dissuade a trade) Not Rule 5 a plus 12. Yorke (we dont need LF'ers and subpar 2Bmen on D) 13. Lugo (we don't need LF'ers and DHs, even if we trade Abreu) 15. Paulino (not sure he has much trade value, at all. Not likely selected on Rule 5) 17. Castro (not much trade value and is blocked in the Sox OF) 19. Jordan (we don't have much 1B depth, but he can be traded) 26. Romero (starting to make some noise) 28. Coffey (made some noise, too.) Hickey & Kavadas (likely DHs) Sogard & Drohan (not much value) Brannon & Anderson (might be enough to be the throw-in that tips the balance) IMO, we could trade 8-10 of these guys for 3-4 helpful pieces, but that is not likely. I don't think doing so would significantly affect our longer term future, as we still have nearly every position covered and with depth, except pitching and corner IF. What can we get for... Abreu + Paulino & Hickey Valdez + Castro & Lugo Yorke + Jordan & Kavadas Meidroth + Romero & Brannon Would it be enough to make a meaningful difference in our 2024 chances?

Maybe a #5-6 on the Sox, which might be a 2-5 on a bad farm team. Note: I am not for selling.

How many teams have 3 prospects over 55, or even over 45?

Gambrel pitched well, tonight: 6IP 2H 0ER 1BB 4K Yorke 1-3 w BB Dalbec 2-4 w HR POR won in 10: Campbell 3-4 w BB Teel 3-5 Anthony 2-5 w 3 RBI

The Diamondbacks traded for a RP'er: AJ Puk from the Marlins for Arizona's No. 14 prospect, Deyvison De Los Santos, and No. 30 prospect Andrew Pintar.

I hate giving so many years of control in Abreu, but we do have replacements that would not be a big drop off. I like that Fedde has another year of control. I'd try Abreu + Paulino for Fedde and a RP.

2 months of O'Neill will not land several years of a good SP'er. Abreu plus a couple mid levels might do the trick.

Sox L-R Splits for 2024: v RHP 1.152 Devers .936 Duran .853 Abreu .807 Casas (IL) .786 Refsnyder .776 DHam .767 Yoshida .761 Valdez .754 O'Neill .743 Wong .682 Smith .677 Rafaela .588 Romy G .581 McGuire .241 Westbrook v LHP 1.161 O'Neill .994 Casas (IL) .913 Refsnyder .886 Wong .852 Westbrook .760 Smith .791 Romy G .725 Rafaela .637 Devers .577 Yoshida .533 McGuire .494 DHam .449 Abreu .325 Valdez Looking at the splits, it looks like these players should be near strict platoons: v L sit out: Abreu, DHam and probably Yoshida v R sit out: Romy & Westbrook C: Wong as near to FT as possible. 1B: Not many options beyond Smith, until Casas returns (Romy could play v L) 2B: DHam (v R) and Romy/Westbrook (vL) SS: Rafaela could play FT or DHam (v R but see 2B) -Romy (v L) 3B: Devers plays FT LF: O'Neill v R/ Refsnyder v L CF: Duran FT (unless Rafaela in CF, see SS) RF: Abreu v R/ O'Neill v L DH: Yoshida v R/ Yoshida, Ref v L