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Well, when the universal DH is adopted in 2022, this will no longer be the case...

I think in many cases, such pressure already exists...

I don't think so. The year-to-year strategy during his arbitration years was one thing, as the ony other option was to sign a multi-year deal that is often referred to as being "team friendly," and Bauer appears to be against anything that is "team friendly." I think someone throws a 7 year deal in excess of $230 million at him, and his agent runs a few numbers by him that shows this offer is about as far from "team friendly" as it gets...

Is he worried people will forget about him?

He has been trolling a few teams on Twitter, which is just him being silly. He's actually not allowed to even engage teams yet and when he does, it won't be him dong it via Twitter. His agent (Rachel Luba) will be handling the actual contact. He certainly has a price that will make any team palatable, including one that employs Cole. He has also publicly denounced the Astros as cheaters, but I am sure he has a price to pitch in Houston. So if he is willing to go to NY, it will come down to how willing they are to meet his demands and exceed everyone else's offers...

I don't think Bauer wants to go anywhere near Cole. I might be giving that conflict too much weight, but if there is one player in MLB who would openly admit such a thing really was a factor, it is definitely Trevor Bauer...

Exactly. The market for Bauer's talent is limited to only 30 teams right now. Which one meets his terms is very wide open...

If I am running the Yankees, I bring in Andrelton Simmons to play SS. No one can shore up their middle infield defense better. While trading Torres seems foolish, it would have to be tough to let LeMahieu go, as he has been their best player the last two years. I think an infield of LeMahieu at 1B, Torres at 2B and Urshela at 3B with Voit at DH makes the most sense. The first guy on that team I try to move for a pitcher would be Sanchez. If I found nothing I liked, I'd try to sell high on Voit or Urshela (with LeMahieu taking 3B). I only move Torres if the return really dazzles me. That said, BTV gives Torres a trade value surplus of $61.6 million. That's roughly equal to Miami's Sixto Sanchez ($63.6 million), Detroit's Casey Mize ($60.5 million) and Detroit's Matt Manning ($59.8 million). While Miami already has some dirt cheap middle infield talent in Jaz Chisholm and Isan Diaz, the Tigers are loaded with younger pitching and have nothing at 2B or SS, and do have a big, big need for hitting at pretty much any position. I could see a potential deal there. Torres for Mize. Yankee fans?

When the Rays traded Archer away, he was in his final 3 years of a deal that paid him $22 million. That's far less than they are currently paying Kevin Kiermaier. They dealt Archer away because they felt the value of what they would receive in return for him was greater than Archer's ability and future production. In short, someone in that organization (Bloom?) felt Archer was overrated...

Very possible. The bottom line is someone is going to sign Bauer for a lot of money. And Cohen or not, I have my doubts it will be Bloom. My only opinion is that it is extremely unlikely to be Cashman who signs him, because I think Bauer's biggest criterion for signing will be "not on any team that already has Gerrit Cole." Of course, i might be overthinking their personal feud, too, and maybe even Bauer has a price that makes factors like that inconsequential. If I had to predict where Bauer would sign, the Mets are certainly high on my list for checking all the boxes, which include 1) large market 2)a belief that they have their biggest need as starting pitching, and 3) a belief they are one SP away from potential contention. Of course, the Dodgers also check those boxes. As do the Cubs and Cardinals. Are the Red Sox one SP away? Depends on the physical condition of Sale and ERod. A lot of times these deals come from teams no one expects. Who saw the Angels going big for Rendon? Or the Mariners with Cano? Or the Tigers for Price Fielder? I could go on. If Bauer sticks to his one year deal mantra, one team that might break the bank for a single season might be the Padres, especially if they can unload Wil Myers and his two years / $45 million. Getting rid of that salary makes fitting Bauer in for a single year, or even two, much, much easier...

Both areas need help. Fix what you can with what you have before bringing in other puzzle pieces...

Not so sure Archer gets traded, and the Sox might be better off waiting to see if he hits the market. Bloom obviously knows Archer from their stint together in Tampa. But he did deal him away despite the favorable contract, so my thoughts are he’s not a likely acquisition....

Make him a closer/high leverage reliever...

Clearly not a fan of Wilson Ramos...

His dWAR the last two seasons were -.5 and -.4. Not sue I'd call him "fine". His -5 DRS does get him close to the bottom of the list. Altuve does grade out worse, though, you are correct Keston Hiura does as well...

The Braves may have little to no interest in Dalbec or have rediscovered the faith in Riley they lost last season as a 3B. But one thing is certain - they would like to move Inciarte. While the Braves do operate on a budget greater than the Rays and Royals, they are very unlikely to want a $9mill fourth outfielder. CErtainly pitching is something they - and any team hoping to compete - is looking for. The Sox have very little to spare. While BTV would approve of an Eovaldi/Inciarte swap, it would certainly help the Sox more to make a deal along the lines of Perez for Inciarte and Kyle Wright. This deal also works on BTV and is probably about the simplest deal between both teams that works out and makes sense. Atlanta might be a bit hesitant to take on the additional $25 million for Eovaldi, especially given his injury history. Perez gives them a decent starter and saves them money while only unloading an expensive defensive replacement who won't even be needed for that function if Pache takes over CF. Now it does have the issue of leaving another void in the Sox rotation...

The only time I ever saw that, it was TWO pitchers. (Johnson and Schilling, 2001 WS)

Hey, someone has to be the worst defensive 2B in MLB. Can't let it be Robinson Cano every year...

No. He's saying that even on one leg, Pedroia would make for a better 2B option than Ciriaco I mean, if Ciriaco's only selling point is that he has two working knees, the Sox might be able to find a more qualified player that matches also that criterion. Although finding one that exceeds it with 3 working knees might be more difficult...

You did spell his name correctly. Next time, I expect to see Keermayer. I definitely see Inciarte being much more available. He only played part time this year, and the Braves hadn't even used Christian Pache yet. Inciarte was losing playing time to Nick Markakis. Any player making $9mill to back up Nick Markakis has to rank among the most available players in MLB, regardless of the market size he plays in...

That's not surprising. Not many make their MLB debut the year they get drafted anyway. The only pitchers I have seen get drafted and pitch in MLB that same season are usually relievers. Chad Cordero being one of the more successful ones (as a relief pitcher/closer). Chris Sale did debut the season he was drafted as a reliever and held that same role the entire following season before converting to an extremely successful starter. But some pitchers who debut the season they are drafted are a lot less successful, like Craig Hansen for the Sox, or Joey Devine for the Braves or Christian Finnegan for the Royals. Garret Crochet was drafted this year by the White Sox and made his debut as a reliever, but saw very limited action before getting hurt (6 IP in the regular season and 2 hitters in the post-season). Hitters who debut the same season they get drafted are almost non-existant. The only one I can think of who did this was Ryan Zimmerman...

My bad. But you are correct on all counts. It's not like Atlanta GM Alex Anthopolous would say "You know, we need to see him at third base. If he only had, say, 15 innings there and handled at least one groundball, I'd feel a little bit safer in this deal." And pitching or not, I have no idea exactly how available Dalbec is anyway. Right now, he stands out as one of very few bright spots in an otherwise abysmal season for the Sox...

They seem to favor giving the short series awards to pitchers. To me, the most glaring question mark was the 1990 World Series MVP Jose Rijo. Now Rijo was great in that series (2-0, 0.59 in 15 IP). But Billy Hatcher (.750/.800/1.250 for a 2.050 OPS) had one of the best post-season series ever for a hitter and was instrumental in all 4 games. The guy got on base EIGHTY PERCENT OF THE TIME! That vaunted A's pitching staff literally could not get him out. That's flat out ridiculous and should not have been ignored like it was when choosing the series MVP...

It's also possible Boom Boom Bloom uses the CF position to take on an undesirable contract from another team to upgrade a pitching acquisition. The two obvious candidates are Tampa's Kevin Kiermaier (2 yrs / $25.8mill or 3 yrs / $36.3 mill with an AAV $8.9 mill) and Atlanta's Ender Inciarte (1 yr/$9.7 mill or 2 yrs/$17mill with an AAV $6.1 mill). Tampa isn't likely to bench Kiermaier, but they have made him expendable with last off-season's acquisitions of Manny Margot and Randy Arozarena, both of whom are very capable center fielders. and they have a clear need at catcher and a strong interest in Christian Vazquez, or at least reportedly did last August. And Tampa is loaded with young pitching talent Bloom of which Bloom is very aware. Atlanta is very likely to flat out bench Inciarte, making him that much more available, and give CF to top prospect Christian Pache. Now they might not be as interested in Vazquez if they are satisfied with Travis d'Arnaud and their catching prospect William Contreras (who was on the NLDS roster this season). Their most glaring need is 3B, where they have been playing Austin Riley lately, but they have also found reasons to try him in other positions, and they had so little confidence in him they went so far as to pick up Pablo Sandoval. Defensive metrics do not like Riley at 3B, and really, don't like him anywhere except maybe LF. This begs the question about whether or not they might have interest in Bobby Dalbec, and whether or not Boston would move him for pitching. (Devers goes nowhere.) Everybody's favorite website values Dalbec with a surplus of $23.mill and Inciarte with a value of (-$9.7) million. The difference is not enough to get Ian Anderson out of Atlanta. So which trade looks more plausible? Dalbec to Atlanta for Inciarte, LHP Tucker Davidson, LHP Kyle Muller and RHP Jessel de la Cruz works on BTV, but no way Atlanta gives up three young pitchers for a 3B with 92 career plate appearances and no MLB innings at 3B just to save $10mill. Maybe you can get two of them. Maybe. But I remain skeptical. Vazquez to Tampa for Kiermaier, RHP Shane Baz and LHP Shane McClanahan also works. Still a tough sell on Tampa, but they give up fewer pitchers and save more money, which is crucial to them. Of course, if they win the World Series with Michael Perez and Mike Zunino behind the plate, they might be less desperate to acquire a catcher at all. Although they more than likely watch Zunino walk, so there is an opportunity. Both Shane's have combined for a career total of 8 innings in AA, all of them by McClanahan. But McClanahan also made his MLB debut in the post-season this year, and I think he is the first pitcher in MLB history to make a debut this way. I think a deal with Atlanta is more likely, but not with 3 pitchers coming back and definitely not those 3. Maybe the Sox can get two pitchers, and more likely one of them is Kyle Wright or Bryse Wilson as opposed to Davidson or Muller. And the second one is someone still in A ball. That is assuming they are willing to part with Dalbec, of course...

If the idea is to draft a pitcher for 2021, it’s probably not going to happen. Especially not as a starting pitcher. The only starter in recent years to skip the minors and go directly to an MLB starting rotation is Mike Leake. But the Sox might be able to get someone capable of pitching in MLB in 2022. Most of the top arms in the mock drafts I’ve seen are college arms. And while the Sox should be able to get one, bear in mind there is no such thing as a “can’t miss” prospect. They can all miss...