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It eould not be shocking at all. I would say a spending/trading spree from Bloom is far, far more likely than a trade of Devers. Trading Benintendi is not really a rebuilding more to me. Maybe Bloom, who probably knows Benintendi or has met him, and has a vastly different opinion of him than we do, sees this as more of a sell now as opposed to a sell low. Chris Archer was not exactly peaking when he dealt him away, and it certainly proved to be the right move.

So far the interested teams list is: Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates Teams that were in or rumored to be in but are not anymore: Texas Rangers, Miami Marlins Teams that should be in but are not mentioned anywhere: Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves, and Chicago Cubs. Maybe half of those teams will get (or have been) involved in talks. We shall see what goes anywhere...

It would not surprise me if Barnes was dealt this off-season. But I hardly consider moving him to be a fire sale. The thing is, when GMs build, they appear to me to have "foundation players" and "supplementary players." (My terminology, probably not theirs.) Foundation players they build a team around, and they do so with supplementary players. As Devers is a controllable foundation, why move him just yet? Bogaerts? Probably a wait and see approach, but dealing him is probably unwise because of the pending shortstop FA market. Why would anyone unload the farm system in order to acquire a player for what will probably be slightly less than they can sign Trevor Story for a couple months later? His value won't really exist until after the "Shortstop Free Agent Bonanza" (also my terminology) of 2021-22 has settled and some teams are still looking for one. (And if not for the opt out, Bogaerts would also be a foundation player himself.) I could see Bloom unloading a few players, notably Barnes and (obviously) Benintendi. But the other short term expendables like Eovaldi and Martinez are going to be too difficult to move anywhere, due to their lucrative deals. So if Bloom knows he is going to be stuck with these players, and because Henry clearly does not like rebuilding, I would not expect Bloom to unload all his talent for prospects as some ego-building venture. I think a lot of this specualtion was that the team did basically nothing before 2020 in an atetmpt to reset the tax. But this was not a new thing either, as Henry had Cherington do basically nothing prior to 2012, an off-season where Ben was so hamstrung by the finances, he had to trade away Marco Scutaro just to accommodate career 4th outfielder Cody Ross. But that lasted all of one off-season, and BC had a spending spree before the 2013 off-season...

If that is the case, the Sox would be looking to move ERod and Barnes ASAP. Much higher priority than Devers or Bogaerts. But more than likely, that is not the case. Even when the Sox were a bad team in 2012 thru 2015, the team did not rebulld, and Henry saw firsthand how quickly they could go from worst to first. And Bloom did not even use that approach in low budget Tampa with any success. He traded away Wil Myers for nothing much, and probably regrets not holding on to Trea Turner in that one. And Odorizzi for nothing much, but Odorizzi was entering his second arb year and might have been getting too pricey. He dealt a year and a half of David Price for Willy Adames, Drew Smyly and a then-highly rated Nick Franklin. But Price was also going to cost a lot and everyone knew it. (Especially Sox fans.) Adames has cetainly worked out, but Smyly was another mega-talent who could not and still cannot stay on the field. And he made a great deal for a declining Chris Archer, getting Glasnow and Meadows. Archer had a very favorable deal, but there was no denying this was a great move. And the "prospects" he got for Archer had all already reached MLB. He dumped the Longoria deal, which was a good thing, and managed to at least get a former first round pick (Christian Arroyo) out of it. But this was a clear salary dump...

Which is all relative. Reynaldo Lopez is the 6th starter for the White Sox, but he might be the second starter for the Sox, at least until Sale comes back...

Roster Resource has him as their DH. But really, only Tony LaRussa knows for sure. And with LaRussa, anything is possible...

I am not saying he isn't. Just saying I have no idea how in-depth any of the Vazquez/Tampa rumors were.

Yeah I think anyone who wants Velasquez might find him easier to get. This deal would be two teams selling low. Now also on BTV, the Sox could deal Benintendi to Miami for Cory Dickerson and Elieser Hernandez. Hernandez is one of those guy I listed way back when as an undervalued starter who could break out in a big way. That deal I would I jump at. Of course, Miami might value Hernandez even more than I do. Thje White Sox might be the best place to look as they have a surplus of starting pitching and Adam Engel slated to play LF. And Reynaldo Lopez is another pitcher who could and should break out soon and is not even in their opening day rotation...

Or just go all in and trade Jeter Downs. Not like he was the original plan, anyway...

Noncommittal and yet still incorrect

I know the Sox were discussing him with Tampa at one point. but honestly, those discussions might have been less eventful than we realize Neander "How about Vazquez? We need a good catcher," Bloom "Sure. How about you send me back your best pitching prospects and your mother's phone number? I just lost it." I mean, technically, that is a discussion about trading Vazquez...

Still true, but does it make anything I said false? Don't forget, free agency also has a PR component to it...

Well if we like BTV for values, he is worth Vince Velasquez, who is essentially a Nick Pivetta with a better fastball...

Especially considering he did not play at all in 2015 due to his TJ surgery. So 2016 came after a long hiatus...

I was more for trading Vazquez when the catching market was a bit more robust with replacements, but once Zunino and McCann signed, it thinned out considerably. Trading Vazquez likely means Plawecki becomes the primary starter...

At this point, a trade just appears to mean "Hey!! We're not standing still here!!" Because right now, it is January 13th and all the Sox have added is Hunter Renfroe and Matt Andriese. We need something to make sure this season will be worthwhile for fans...

There has been discussion for deals involving prosepcts, but per MLBTR yesterday "One of those clubs “has discussed trading big-league pitching depth for Benintendi,” Speier writes." (https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/01/red-sox-discussing-andrew-benintendi-in-trade-talks.html) Now whatever anyone means by "big league pitching depth" is up for interpretation...

I joined their pay stuff once. While you can find some remarkable stuff that way, Fangraphs is more user-friendly and free...

What if Wilson doesn’t hit .220 with 20 HRs? What if he hit .140 with 5 HRs? The guy has never hit double digit HRs above A ball. Not sure MLB is where he gets his career high...

It was just lazy and it let the 2 jump in front of it. I helped it adjust and gave it a stern talking-to...

Travis Shaw has only played 268 innings at 2B in his career. That experiment was a failure. In fact, it was such a failure that Shaw lost the position to a guy who had never played 2b before in his career...

Over comparing it to comedy and including a relevant reference to drill the point home? That's just sad...

One guy who probably deserves more mention is Tommy La Stella. He has been worth 3.2 fWAR over the past two seasons, but that gets more impressive when you realize he has only played 135 games in that stretch. LHH which makes for a nice platoon with Chavis or Arroyo at 2B. Versatile player with experience at 1B and 3B as well. Average to slightly below defensive grades. But he also never strikes out. Since 2018 he has only 40 strike outs and 47 walks (none intentional)...

A more boring way of saying it, yes...

... it might make Cleveland rethink the whole "Brad Hand/option" thingy...