moonslav59

How about Bregman at 3B, Devers at 1B, Casas at DH or trade Arias, Casas + Abreu for an even better pitcher than Crochet? The defense would be way better. Bregman blocks Campbell at 2B. I'm not convinced Crochet is the real deal, and 2 years of control takes a bite out of our extended future.

Would Burnes or Fried plus an Abreu plus trade for Crochet or Woo/Miller plus Teoscar, Scott and Higgy be exciting enough? Burnes, Houck, Crochet, Bello, Giolito Scott, Hendriks, Slaten, Whitlock, Crawford, Guerrero, Fulmer/Wink, Wilson/Bernardino 1. Duran LF 2. Devers 3B 3. Casas 1B 4. Teoscar RF 5. Anthony CF 6. Campbell 2B 7. Story SS 8. Yoshida/Ref DH 9. Wong/Higgy C DHam-Grissom, Rafaela Utility

We have a lot of really good "not-yet-ready for MLB" prospects, but I'd hesitate to trade too many of them for just 2 years of a pitcher with a very limited sample size of success. Perales, Sandlin, Dobbins, Wikelman, Rodriguez, Early & Monegro Cespedes, Bleis, Arias, Meidroth, Romero & the Garica brothers Would you give up more than 2 or 3 of these 4 Perales, Cespedes, Bleis & Arias. Maybe 2 plus one from Sandlin or Meidroth would be my limit. Would they take Mayer straight up? He's Rule 5 eligible in 2025. (Teel is in 2027.)

Of course, that's a no. Mayer and Casas for Gilbert or Kirby, maybe.

How much would adding a top SP'er, now, either by trade or free agency, help convince Soto that the Sox are a legit contender in 2025?

Snell got what was expected. I don't see Castillo's value increasing, because of his signing. How much will Abreu's value go up, when the older and worse defender Teoscar signs for megabucks? I think you may be undervaluing another Sox player in Abreu.

As with any team, and as I mentioned, one major reason SEA might trade Castillo would be to save enough money to spend on a younger SP'er. Taking on Yoshida kills that main advantage for SEA. Adding Garver makes a dent, but not enough. Adding Garver and Haniger might be closer. Abreu + Yoshida for Castillo ($24.1, $24.1, $24.1), Garver ($12.5, $1M) & Haniger ($15.5.) SEA sheds $52M for 2025, $25M for 2026 and $24M for 2027, while adding $18M x 3. They's save $27M, $7M and $6M a year. Is that enough? The Sox would be essentially paying Castillo $27M, $7M and $6M and would lose Abreu (replaced by Anthony and maybe some OF time from Campbell) The Sox would have a back up catcher (Garver) who sucks on D as the bridge to Teel and a RHB OF'er (Haniger who is in decline.) I do not think this trade suggestion is a sure No from SEA's side. They save $40M and may view Castillo as in decline. They's gain a roster spot on the 40 to add a SP'er and would have a much better RF'er in Abreu.

I'm not doubting you personal observations, but somebody must like a lot of what they have seen from Sandlin and Tolle. Of course, both will need to improve to advance to the bigs, but the same can be said about almost every good pitching prospect. I may sound hypocritical, since with pitching I have always been a strong advocate of quality over quantity as a foundational strategy, but I do think the sheer quantity of decent looking pitchers on the farm, who have some level of "quality" and room for growth makes for an interesting situation. We don't need all to succeed. Hell, 2 out of 3 could suck, and we might still end up with a decent 7-10 guys, where 2-3 end up doing very well and 2-3 fill s key role on the big club. Is it that hard to imagine 4-6 from this group making a difference, someday? 6. Perales Grad Priester, 12 Fitts, 11 Dobbins, 13 Tolle, 14 Sandlin 21. Guerrero, 20. Cason, 18 Wikelman, 23, Valera, 24 Penrod, 25 ERod, 26 Monegro 8 Paez, 29 Mullins, 33 Wehunt, 39 Bastardo, 41 Dean, 42 Carlson , 57 I Coffey, 58 Rogers 27 Reyes, 36 Neely, 37 Clarke, 38 Tygart, 44 Ingrassia, 60 Ehrlicher Long shots: Mata, Gambrell, G Jackson, Uberstine There is over 30 pitchers on this list. We need maybe 10-15% to make an impact.

Technically, it comes to about $36M x 5, but the deferred money mayes it about $32M x 5. (I just used MLBTR numbers. They missed Kikuchi by just $1M a year and had the 3 year length right.)

Trout is the scary warning sign example. He played in 157-159 games four years in a row from age 21-24. There was no indication of future injury issues, except maybe that he played the CF position hard. From age 25 on, here are the most games played in descending order: 140 (age 26) 134 (27) 119 (30) 114 (25) 82 (31) 53, 36, 29 GOD! That is frighteningly ugly!

I agree, but it is hard to predict how players age. Soto seems like he could hit .800 in his sleep or using a walker. Just get it done!

SEA is known for making trades that seem to come out of nowhere. They know their rotation is their strength, and that they are likely over-valued due to their numbers at home helping them look better than they maybe are. I do agree on Castillo, since they could then use the "savings" on acquiring another SP'er to replace a guy that may already be on the decline. I'd love to see us get Castillo, despite the decline risk, if we can include Yoshida, somehow, but then that takes away the big savings part of the SEA half. Yoshida + _____ for Castillo & Garver might be a framework to work with. That would save them a lot. It would also cost us less than signing Burnes or Fried, and we'd rid ourselves of Yoshida and open the DH slot for Casas/Devers and allow Devers to play 1B, unless it is Yoshida + Casas for Castillo & Garver.

I do wonder how much the QO will affect our decision-making process. While re-signing Pivetta does NOT cost us a pick, we would gain one by not signing him. Other QOs: Burnes & Fried probably does not matter. Nick, Martinez, Manaea & Severino might. Soto: Not. Bregman and Adames: probably not. Teoscar: maybe. Do we go hard for the non QO's? Flaherty, Nate (maybe both, instead of one big one?) Scott, Hoffman, Holmes and Esteves (maybe 2 from these 4?) O'Neill Could we end up with Flaherty, Nate, Scott, Holmes & Higgy? How many would be happy with that winter? What if we added a big trade for a big RHB?

It never hurts to have depth. Maybe they can prolong leaving some of our top prospects, like Meidroth, off the 40, a bit longer.

I think the Sox young core may attract a lot of FAs to Boston. It's been a long time being able to say that. The rebuild was too long. The last place finishes, too painful. I told myself, I was not going to let hope turn into expectation, but it's creeping into my soul. I'm a fool.

Agreed. SEA is not in a position to make a 3 for 1 trade. Even 2 for 1 may be too much. Abreu & Crawford might be close. Mayer straight up?

So, according to MLBTR projections: Snell $182M/5 is $22M over the $160M/5 call. Kikuchi $63M/3 is $3M over the $60M/3 call. It's hard to tell if costs are going up a lot, or not. Who will be the next signing? Soto? Burnes or Fried? Bregman or Adames? Teoscar or Scott? Flaherty, Manaea, Nate, Martinez, Pivetta or Severino? Alonso, Walker, Santander or O'Neill Hoffman, Estevez or Holmes,

I'm glad Snell went somewhere else. I'd rather get Fried, Burnes or trade for someone. I'd rather get 2 from Nate, Pivetta, Flaherty, Severino, Martinez, Manaea than Snell, or one plus Scott. If we end up being shut out, I won't be crying about Snell.

With SEA, everyone is available for the right price.

If we have $70M to spend and not go over the tax line ($90M to second line,) what combination of FAs do you choose, base on MLBTR's AAV? 46 x 13 Soto 32 x 5 Snell 29 x 7 Burnes 27 x 6 Adames 26 x 6 Fried 23 x 5 Flaherty 22 x 2 Nate 21 x 1 Pivetta & N Martinez 20 x 3 Manaea 20 x 3 Teoscar 17 x3 Severino 15 x 1 Buehler 14 x 4 T Scott 14 x 3 O'Neill 14 x 1 Yates 12 x 1 Bieber 11 x 4 Hoffman 10 x 3 Holmes 10 x 2 Jansen 9 x 3 Estevez 7.5 x 2 Higgy At $70M, we could go Soto, Severino and Higgy, or Soto, Scott & Jansen Burnes, Fried & Scott or Burnes, Fried, Holmes & Higgy (kinda over) Fried, Pivetta, Scott & Higgy or Fried, Scott, Hoffman, Holmes & Higgy at $90M, WOW! Soto, Fried & Scott or Soto, Nate, Scott & Higgy Burnes, Fried, Teoscar & Scott Burnes, Fried, Scott, Hoffman & Higgy

It does seem like we can improve, greatly with 2 major signings and 1 major trade. If we make it 4 major deals, we could be a top 4-5 favorite. Burnes or Fried Soto or Bregman.Adames (move Devers to 1B if not Soto) Tanner Scott Trade Casas (if Devers moved to 1B) and/or Abreu and others for a SP

MLBTR reports the Sox may be out to get two top SP'ers, this winter. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/11/latest-on-red-sox-rotation-plans.html I'd love it! Maybe sign 2 and trade for a righty bat not pitching.

They seem very close, to me.

Mt new ranking: 1. Detroit 10-1 2. Buffalo 9-2 3. KC 10-1 4. Minn 9-2 5. PHI 9-2 6. GB 8-3 7. PIT 8-3 8. BAL 8-4 9. HOU 7-5 10. LAC 7-4 and WSH 7-5

Agreed. Soto will be 26 for the full 2025 season. That is still "pre-Prime." Then, he has 5 years of "Prime" at ages 27-31. That's 6, total, before we may start seeing some decline. My guess is the decline will be slow, and his ages 32-34 seasons will be very good, and 35-36 decent. He may even be okay from 37-39 or 40.