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And you have once again regurgitated your involvement in the reason Chapman was signed…

If they deal him and he pitches 19.1 IP for his new team, he will not be available to re-sign with Boston. So, yes, something might be stopping him…

Some of those players are already in Boston however. Catcher is a position where offense is often treated as a bonus, since good all-around catchers are tough to come by and defense is really the priority. Ive thrown out Sean Murphy as a target, since he had some pop and is a very good catcher relegated to backup duty. He’s currently on the IL right now. Atlanta needs help at SP and SS. While Story would at least represent a cost-savings, he doesn’t necessarily represent a solution at SS due to his own inability to stay healthy. Plus he is a RHH either way some pop, which is what Boston does need. (No way in hell do you trade Mayer for Murphy.) The infield overall hasn’t produced. Story has been out after finally realizing he cannot play with a hernia. Mayer could be sent down once he returns, but Story isn’t much of a SS right now. Durbin isn’t going anywhere and has been hitting better after a dreadful start. But an INF with some pop would make sense if they demote Mayer. LF/DH they have some internal options. Certainly Anthony fills one spot. Duran is still in Boston for the time being, and has shown over the last two seasons he is much better than what we’ve seen this year. But he is also a candidate to be moved. Triston Casas isn’t dead yet, and poses a dilemma. On one hand, he’s been very fragile and missed the bulk of the last 2.5 seasons. On the other, he has shown he can hit. Ultimately he will be a tough decision come non-tender time. Barring an upgrade at catcher - maybe a Mayer-Dalton Rushing trade - maybe we only see a new DH and one INF? I don’t see the Sox adding so many new starting bats. Thats a massive turnover…

This option does appear to be an obligation. Occasionally vesting criteria does trigger a player option or a team option. Not unheard of, but doesn’t appear to be the case here. Both sides apparently agreed this one year deal becomes a two year deal at 40 IP. And that makes sense, since Chapman is 38 years old and before this, hasn’t had a multi-year deal in years. Hes still worth exploring deals, and the option could be within a short distance of vesting by the deadline, which might make him a more attractive target. Or a lesser one given his age…

Vesting. It triggers automatically when certain criteria is met. Neither side has the chance to decline, as was agreed upon last year…

Whatever he did in the minors worked

Presumably not looking for salary dumps, either, right?

Contreras is 34 and having a career year. I could understand selling high; he very likely won’t be the same hitter next year anyway. (I doubt they do, but it’s not necessarily crazy.) Wong and Monasterio are bench players; dumping them gives minimal improvement at best. Whats.the improvement hope here? Players with warmer butts to keep the bench even toastier? Or maybe larger ones? Like let’s get MLB lard asses like Jacob Stallings and Rowdy Tellez on that bench and warm the whole thing at once? You’ve wanted to get rid of Mayer FOR YEARS!? He’s 23 years old, has barely 300 career MLB at-bats, and was a top 15 prospect on both BA and MLB.com rankings FOUR TIMES EACH, going back to when he was 19 years old. What was it about the highly-acclaimed teenager that made you think “we gotta dump this kid! And fast!”?

He signed a contract with a clause guaranteeing him a second year if he reaches 40 IP. His chance to decline ended when pen met paper…

Four more RHH power hitters is most definitely a lofty expectation and probably less than the Sox actually need. Even one more might make a substantial difference. Breslow’s current search for a RHH right now seems like a major non-story, with the only name to emerge so far as Isaac Paredes, and even that doesnt seem to have much life…

Is there any indication they even want to trade him? They did structured his contract to do so at this time - salary in 2026 is $13mill but jumps to $31mill for 2027. But that doesn’t make him available or consider his full NTC…

And it was concerning that Chris Sale broke a rib while throwing a pitch. But it didn’t end his career…

Or sell high on him? We’re talking about a player with 2.7 fWAR on June 15th that has only once had more than 2.8 fWAR over a full season. A player that has 16 HRs on June 15th that hasn’t topped 22 HRs in a full season since 2019, and even then only had his career high of 24. If you think the Sox need to rebuild, can they do it by unloading all their struggling players like Narvaez, Durbin and Mayer? And if so, does that mean Boston is giving up on them too quickly?

Because: 1. He has less range than Sylvester Stallone and shouldn’t even be playing SS today 2. All of his offensive metrics are trending in the wrong direction for the past 3 seasons (granted, moving to Oracle Park didn’t help him). 3. Yes, his age is getting into a range where career revivals are few and far between. 4. Adames has an NTC and no options to pick up to convince him to move. Whats the argument for acquiring Adames and the $150mill he is owed over the next 5 years? Also bear in mind, SF might be reluctant to deal him. They’ve struggled to sign big name free agents recently despite competitive offers. Trading away one of the few they can sign will not send a positive message for the future.

Or is it that he just had two injuries over his career to date? Do they make players train differently in the minors?

… once he can walk again…

He might be. But right now, comparing him to Bello, an expensive pitcher in Worcester, doesn’t exactly portray the most positive comparison

Imagine how terrible he’ll be by time he has 100 career IP

Adames is a hard pass. In 3 years, he’ll be Story…

I was lukewarm on both. But Contreras has worked out better and won’t be dragging the Sox down at the backend…

Actually called caber tossing…

He’ll be back if the Rangers score again…

Myself and Kris Bryant disagree…

Sonny Gray fit that category last year…

Or is the Anthony situation being completely overblown? His entire minor league career was brief, but also largely injury-free. Doubtful he was much differ as a player as his MiLB career is so recent…