notin

Well, Bloom has been checking in on Colome apparently, or did at one point. Petit averages out to about 1 fWAR per year over the last 4 and 0.7 fWAR per year over the last 3 but has never made more than $5.5 mill and is not likely to get hat much this year...

More sacrifice flies and sacrifice bunts than walks can do that...

Well there are a slew of former Yankee starters no one seems to want. Also, there is another sneaky and possibly underrated option out there. Trevor Bauer: 1190 IP, 3.62 ERA, 2.82 K/BB Julio Teheran: 1391 IP, 3.81 ERA, 2.54 K/BB Bauer does have a better FIP (3.85 to 4.33), which is the basis of fWAR, so he also has the advantage there (19.1 to 12.8). Also the better ERA+ (113 to 106). Both players are the same age. (Bauer is 10 days older.) Bauer is clearly better, but how much better? And when you consider he is looking for maybe $200+ over 6 years and Teheran can probably be had for 1 year $10mill, is this difference between the two so substantial? Jake Odorizzi also fits in well in this comp, as his ERA (3.92), ERA+ (105), FIP (4.12), K/BB (3.09), and fWAR (13.7) make him an option roughly equal to Teheran. And he is only 9 months older than the other two...

The Sox did already get a 4th OF. Hunter Renfroe. Sure he can't play CF, but he can play RF.

The Sox are not very likely to trade Benintendi, which is probably fine. The notion that Benintendi could be traded for a cheaper upgrade (plus!!) is laughable at worst. Hopefully they can do some of the following: Sign Odorizzi Sign a CF (Bradley? Pillar? Marisnick? DeShields? Almora?) Sign a 2B. Either one of the Hernandez' or one of the Jonathans. Sign/trade for a RP: The FA market still has Alex Colome, Brad Hand (for now), Keone Kela, Trevor Rosenthal, Brandon Workman and quite possibly the most underrated MLB pitcher of the past decade - Yusmeiro Petit. (I'd like to see two relievers personally.) The trade market probably has Joe Kelly, Craig Kimbrel, Jeurys Familia, Dellin Betances, and Adam Ottavino. Soxprospects.com also calls for a LHH bench bat, and I have always assumed Brad Miller would be here by now. But he isn't. No matter. He was hardly an essential piece. Mitch Moreland is certainly a possibility, although he was more of a Dombrowski guy than a Bloom guy. Still, Bloom signed him once, and some stability is nice...

The Yankee rotation is better than the Sox pre-Sale now that Kluber is on board. But the AL East is pretty weak all around in that regard...

AL EAst Starting rotations per Roster Resource NY Yankees: Gerrit Cole, Corey Kluber, Jordan Montgomery, Deivi Garcia, and Domingo German Tampa Rays: Tyler Glasnow, Ryan Yarborouugh, Michael Wacha, Josh Fleming, Trevor Richards Toronto Blue Jays: Hyun-Jin Ryu, Robbie Ray, Nate Pearson, Tanner Roark, and Ross Stripling. Boston Red Sox: Nate Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez, Tanner Houck, Martin Perez, and Nick Pivetta. Baltimore Orioles: John Means, Alex Cobb, Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer, and Bruce Zimmerman Yankees far and away have the best rotation, but right now it looks like a bragging right equal to having the most luxurious Kia Sedona on your block. "Yeah, they added Corey Kluber and a functioning satellite radio!!" Poll question: How many of those Orioles' SP besides Means and Cobb have you ever heard of before?

Is Toronto a competitor? Per Roster Resource, their rotation is: Hyun-Jin Ryu, Robbie Ray, Nate Pearson, Tanner Roark, and Ross Stripling. Per Roster Resource, the Sox rotation is: Nate Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez, Tanner Houck, Martin Perez, and Nick Pivetta. Which of those is actually better? I know there is a lot more to a team than a starting rotation, but bear in mind this is what we consider the Sox biggest weakness. Also the Jays' as well...

I've decided to keep my mind open to (ugh) Jake Marisnick. His defensive numbers are actually very impressive. But Almora and DeShields also work if Bradley does not come back. The 2B could be a stopgap, but there is no reason to assume Jeter Downs takes over in 2021, or that even if he does, he will be any good. While I doubt the Sox go all in for Kolten Wong, certainly one of Cesar Hernandez, Kike Hernandez, Jonathan Schoop, Jonathan Villar, Tommy La Stella, or Hanser Alberto could be had for dirt cheap cash. Although a 1 year $5mill deal would not kill this team. Why are we assuming the Sox will not go over the limit? Last year, there was a lot of actual buzz in the media they would reset. Is there anything like that this year?

Probably. But there is no actual definition of a "prospect". And it should be more than "eligible for Rookie of the Year" Award. At some point, age is also a factor. One would not consider 28yo Joey Meneses a prospect, but if he got called up, he would be eligible for the ROY...

The only reason to think Benintendi might go anywhere is Kyle Schwarber somehow got $10mill on he FA market, despite being non-tendered by the Cubs. Benintendi ($6.6mill + 1 arb year) should have some appeal at that price, but as long as Ozuna, Puig, Brantley, Pederson and Rosario are still available, teams might be hesitant to give up actual talent to acquire Benintendi. Sure they'll give up longshot prospects - guys who they figure are unlikely to ever see Day One in an MLB uniform - but I don't think Bloom has been impressed with anything so far...

At once? He's not that good. The Sox are likely to add a CF (Bradley?) and a 2B from the scrap heap. The bulk of the 2B options are all still available. Arroyo was not so great last year (.296 OBP) in his 50 ABs that he should get the job uncontested. And Chavis has not really shown to be the answer, either. Chavis should be dealt for a RP...

There’s nothing wrong with Rosario...

???? Last off-season was active, just not in a fun way. The Sox did make that Betts/Verdugo trade...

Tampa dealt Nate Lowe to Texas. Lowe represents a (minimal) loss, not a gain...

For $36 million? I'd give it some thought...

So we get some Chris Archer/Tyler Glasnow type deals? I'm not sure what you're point is...

Snell...

Well, you take the great player when he is available. Springer, Bauer and Realmuto might not be the right guys, which is fine if the Sox pass. But for a player they want, signing him and building around him once he is here is certainly acceptable. The 2000 Red Sox were not one Manny Ramirez away from a title, and did not even make the post-season in his first two seasons on the team, and in fact won fewer games his first year in Boston than they did the year before without him. But he was still the right signing and they certainly managed to work from that point on to put the right team around him...

How good were the other offers? Wood signed as a free agent with the Cubs three times, but all three were one year deals. As he was the most frequently DL'd player in all of MLB during his career, not sure how many other teams expressed much interest...

Not sure how that counters your (and Mike Lowell's) point. The Sox (or any team, winner or not) are going to have to outbid all the other teams to get any free agent. Gerrit Cole did not sign with the Yankees because they had a better chance to win; he signed with them because it was the best and most lucrative deal...

And yet he still signed for $184,000,000 in the truest of all of the "hometown discounts". Jered Weaver probably left a lot more money on the table when he signed his extension with the Angels. But neither of these players was a free agent when they signed...

Followed by the Mother of All Spending Sprees...

So far the notable additions Boston - Martin Perez, Hunter Renfroe NY - Corey Kluber Toroto - Tyler Chatwood Baltimore - None Tampa - Michael Wacha, Luis Patino (minors?) Even adding Yates to the mix, I'm hesitant to say the Sox are being let behind, especially with ERod and Sale returning. The bigger issue is how much ground the Sox have actually made up...

And you could make an equally convincing case for getting rid of all of them...