moonslav59

I was thinking the same thing, but I'm just not sure what they see in Horn, Penrod or Gasper. I don't see Campbell pitch, so my opinion is based on what I read about him. I liked him better than Wikelman, Murphy, Booser, Sogard and even Justin Wilson. It just goes to show how little I and maybe some others know. I did get the Jh Garcia call right.

There are usually 3-5 Frieds, every winter. There may be guys like Ohtani (P & hitter) and Judge, but usually there is just one per winter, and they are never 26. I seriously doubt we get Soto, but if it's a choice, I go with Soto and trade for arms. And, I'm the guy that always puts SP'er at the top of my winter wish list. Soto is a one-time opportunity. To me, the last thing that came close was the near-miss ARod trade and then Manny signing, before that.

I have to say I am very surprised we DFA'd Campbell over 5 or 6 others. Mata was out of options, so he makes sense. Protecting Dobbins and JH Garcia is what I expected.

I like Fitts more than Priester, but they are close.

Grissom would probably just squeak into my top 30 (or 25th.) Fitts above Romero.

It seems like the real "nutty," recent signings have been by the LAD, SDP and maybe the Rangers. I agree, the Mets signings don't jump out as being massive overpays. It was more about their total budget blasting by everyone else. I'm not sure the Dodgers are planning on going nutty every winter. The Rangers and Padres have already pulled back. The Yanks may step up to keep Soto, and the Mets will likely make a hefty final offer, but do not think it is a sure bet Soto ends up in NY. I'm not predicting the Sox. I wouldn't even say I'm hoping we sign him, if the price keeps us from spending in the future. (You know JH will pull back, at some point, if he spends big on Soto.) I'd rather go with pitching, but we could trade for that, especially by adding Soto. We have 4 top prospects and a solid 9, even before Soto & the kids. We would have enough trade capital to add a solid SP'er, perhaps at a low cost.

T, he official rankings are out and ND is 6th, with a real chance to move up, assuming we win out. (Certainly not a slam dunk with Army and USC remaining.) There will be conference playoff games not listed, here. 1. Oregon (v WSH) 2. Ohio St (v IN, v Mich) 3. Texas (v KY, at TX A&M) 4. Penn St (at MN, v MD) 5. Indiana (at Ohio St, v PUR) 6. Notre Dame (v Army, at USC) 7. Alabama (at OK, v AUB) 8. Miami (v WF, at SYR) 9. Ole Miss (at FL, v MS St) 10. Georgia (GA Tech) 11. Tennessee (v UTEP, at Vandy) 12. Boise St (at WY, v ORE St) 13. SMU and 14. BYU and undefeated Army might sneak in.

Yes, many times a not top 10 or 20 prospect ends up doing better or much better than many listed above him. We can also look at the highly rated farm DD inherited, and ended up trading many away. We saw how most came up short, while others like Devers ended up doing very well. Others did okay. Several of DD's prospects, picked lower on the board ended up surprising us. soxprospects.com Fall 2015 1. Moncada (Sale trade) 2. Devers (on roster) 3. Espinoza (PomPom trade) 4. Margot (Kimbrel trade) 5. Benintendi (traded by Bloom for Wink & others) 6. Guerra (kimbrel trade) 7. Kopech (Sale trade) 8. Johnson (DFA'd 2020) 9. Sam Travis (traded by Bloom for Jeffery Springs) 10. D Marrero (Josh Taylor trade) 11. Chavis (traded by Bloom for Austin Davis) 12. Luis Ax Basabe (Sale trade) 13. Logan Allen (Kimbrel trade) 14. Trey Ball (never got past AA) 15. Wendell Rijo (Aaron Wilkerson trade) 16. Nick Longhi (never got past AAA) 17. Marco Hernandez (271 career PAs in MLB) 18. Mauricio Dubon (Thornburg trade) 19. Pat Light (Abad trade) 20. Stankiewicz (AAA to Mexican League) Others not in top 20 in 2015: Beeks, Raudes, Chatham, W Jerez (not a complete list)

When you have a young catcher looking this promising, you hold on to him tightly and hope for the best. I'm looking mostly at how his defensie progresses in 2025. I think his bat will be good enough to stick in the bigs. The league average numbers for a team's catchers in 2024: .234 18 73 .300 OBP .378 SLG .678 OPS It's not a high bar to get to the league average.

Kinda too early to know much, but the upside looks really high.

To me, it's Anthony on top. Campbell is second. Mayer is better than Teel, but catchers are so rare, I put them even. Watch for 1-2 from Montgomery, Arias and Cespedes to make a huge jump, next summer. Don't count out Romero, the J García bros and Bleis, either. Between these six guys, I'm guessing 4 will impress us greatly. The pitching is harder to project, but maybe the quantity aspect will create a few keepers.

Will this be the sham of interest winter?

I realize the Crochet deal included the Yoshida dump, but I'm not trading away Anthony for Crochet.

I kinda think Anthony is the one who is on the opening day roster, but we could wait a day or two, since none of the top 4 prospects need Rule 5 protection, this year. Wait until the season starts, add the sure injured pitcher to the 60, and then add Anthony (or even others) to the 40 and 26. None of the top 4 will be added to the 40, until the plan is to play them FT or near FT on the 26. We could also add Anthony and or others after they gain that extra year of team control date. I'm super high on Campbell, but I think we will give the Grissom-DHam duo (platoon?) at 2B every chance to win the opening day 2B slot. Story will be the SS, unless hurt or traded (unlikely.) Campbell can also play OF. I'm 80-90% sure we trade Abreu, but I do see how trading Rafaela might work better. It's not like we keep him because he bats RH'd. His bat is not a plus, although it is better than Abreu's vs LHPs. Someday, not this year, we might end up seeing this: C: Teel, Wong 1B: Devers (Casas) 2B: Campbell/Grissom & DHam SS: Story (Mayer) 3B: Mayer or Campbell/Grissom (Devers) LF: Abreu (Duran) CF: Duran, Rafaela (Anthony) RF: Anthony (Abreu) DH: Casas (Devers)

It takes a real man to admit being that wrong! 😜

I almost added those two on the almost ready to grade list. I agree, they both look like they will end up as good deals for the team and fans.

How about looking at only the highest contracts that are finished or close enough to finish and grade? $426 Trout ('19-'30) BUST $325 Stanton ('15-'27) ??? MEH??? $252 ARod ('01-'10) renegotiated to $275 ('08-'17) Pretty good, first one, second one???? $260 Arenado ('19-'26) Ummm.... dropped off on O, bigtime $248 Miggy ("16-'23) Close to a BUST, if not one. $245 Strasburg ('20-'26) Injured for most of it $245 Rendon ('20-'26) BUST $240 Pujols ('12-'21) BUST $240 Cano ('14-'23) BUST $225 Votto ('14-'13) Pretty bad for the last half, or so. $217 Price Meh to worse Others over $200: kershaw, Yelich, Fielder, Scherzer, Greinke What's the hit rate, here? Not quiter eady to grade, but close... $324 Cole ('20-'28 with more to come) $300 Machado ('19-'28)

H4e's like 6th on my DFA/trade list, so I doubt we get that far down. Plus, I think we will trade Abreu and or DHam, so there are 2 slots open and maybe filled by one return pitcher.

I think we all do. If it's between Mayer and Anthony, I'd trade Mayer. I don't think Teel brings back a top SP'er. I want to keep Campbell and Anthony the most. It's no slight on Mayer. We also have middle IF'ers, Story, Campbell, Grissom, DHAM, and later, Arias & Romero with maybe Cespedes at 2B. Assuming we trade Abreu, and with Rafaela still a question on O: keep Anthony & Campbell.

He did look pretty good, for a while,m before surgery.

Does seem like a stretch signing. While $1.5M is not much, it is a roster slot that could/should have been filled by a better quality LH'd RP'er.

My NFL Power Rankings: 1. Buffalo 9-2 2. KC 9-1 3. Detroit 9-1 4. PHI 8-2 5. Min 8-2 6. , Pitt 8-2 7. GB 7-3 8. Balt 7-4 9.. Hou 6-4 10T Wash 7-4 & LAC 6-3

Yes, I prefer that, too. Anthony would bring back a much better SP'er, IMO. I'd love this OF: LF: Soto CF: Duran RF: Anthony 4th/Utility: Rafaela Trade Mayer and Abreu and platoon Ref with Yoshida at DH. 1. Duran CF 2. Devers 3B 3. Casas 1B (maybe Story v LHPs) 4. Soto LF 5. Anthony RF 6. Story SS 7. Yoshida- Ref platoon DH 8. Campbell 2B (Grissom-DHam platoon as back-up) 9. Wong + addition C Bench: C addition, Rafaela, Grissom or DHam

Throw in Wink or Wikel

I'm all about pitching, but a guy like Soto comes around every 10 generations, if that. I'm not getting my hopes up, but getting him would allow us to trade a top value OF'er or OF prospect (Anthony) for a young and cost-controlled pitcher, so we may not have to spend on a SP'er. Soto-Devers would rival Papi-Manny.