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Koss is an interesting case. He appears to have mashed in Rookie Ball better than he did in college...

The Rangers signed Joe Gatto to a Major League deal. Does this mean he's leaving Impractical Jokers?

Especially playing in Target Field. Despite the Twins setting league HR records, the park still ranks in the mid-20's most seasons for home runs...

And then there is the inevitable comment after a routine minor league deal is given to an obscure player - "Print the post-season tickets!!"

Well, you always call for platoons early. At this point, a platoon is more about cutting into his playing time more so than trying to cover up his weaknesses. Taking him out vs LHP is just an excuse to do so. Now the Sox do have one guy on their team who can hit LHP pretty well and has no position. Maybe Chavis can handle LF part time? I know the only reason the Sox trotted him out here last year was because they were running out of outfielders, but Chavis isn't going anywhere (who would want him?) and can hit LHP and really has never established himself as owning any infield position defensively. A Benintedi-Chavis platoon in LF? Sign/trade for a CF (Still liking Inciarte here.) and Verdugo in RF.

Also Ellsbury needs to know that he is in foul ground, which makes simply backing off and letting Beltre take the chance or calling Beltre off a low risk play anyway. That he let it go like it did just increased the risk of injury...

Ellsbury has to make that call, as he is the one with the play in front of him. If he thinks he can get it, he should call off Beltre. If he does not think he can get to it or thinks Beltre has a better shot, he has to back off. Of course, Beltre did have a bad habit of sidelining Sox left fielders that year...

I'm still waiting for Dombrowski to make moves from the 2019 off-season...

I can agree it is not the optimum move. He was drafted as a CF, but was obviously moef to LF for a reason. and it was not due to the logjam the Sox had in CF, since they were trying anyone and everyone out there (Bradley, Betts, Castillo). But on the other hand, if the Sox had a good defensive LF and put Benintendi between to good outfielders, it would lessen his impact. and if he was coupled with a RHH platoon option/defensive replacement, it would help even more. Someone like Almora or Marisnick, for example. Or the Sox could sign one of the rifle-armed RF options like Puig, Eaton or Renfroe and slide Verdugo into CF. Still, if Benintendi does not turn something around, is he still a full time option in LF? Or is he a lesser version of Joc Pederson? Should the Sox look into a platoon partner for Benintedi, regardless of where he plays?

He's just a cheap glove out there, but if that is the plan the other cheap glove options like Almora, Dyson and Marisnick are not exactly more exciting. The most intriguing free agent position appears to be the corner OF market, with Ozuna, Rosario, Dahl, Schwarber, Renfroe and Puig. If the Sox plan to move Benintendi to CF, they will definitely be able to get increased production in LF with these players, all of whom are very likely to sign for less than Springer. Of course, that leaves CF as a question mark, and might require another RHH cheap glove to help Benintendi...

DeShields is a pretty underrated player who seems to struggle to find a home every year, but he is not a bad candidate for any team looking for a CF, and he will be MUCH less expensive than Inciarte. If I has to pick a move by the Braves, one guy who just seems like a perfect fit for them is Eddie Rosario...

I'd be surprised if the Braves made no other moves and kept Inciarte in their starting lineup. They have already been linked to Marcell Ozuna, who was an obvious success story for them in LF. Or they could return Austin Riley to LF. And they still hjave top prospect Drew Waters. Inciarte's main contribution is CF defense, which they already have covered with the much cheaper Christian Pache, who saw more playing time than Inciarte in the post-season. Nick Markakis was also starting over Inciarte throughout the entire post-season. The fact that Inciarte saw 0 plate appearances in the entire 2020 post-season might be a very strong indication of his future role with that team, if he has one at all. I actually strongly suspect they will try to bring Duvall back. He clearly worked out for them. But they will try to get Duvall back for much less than his $7.1mill projected salary (per MLBTR). but for the one team that has been actively signing players and going for it, I do have my very strong doubts about an Inciarte-Pache-Acuna outfield...

It does, but that whole ideal makes it tough to say he was better for the Yankees. It's like saying Mariano Rivera was better for the Yankees than Pedro was for the Red Sox...

I don't think I am going out on a very weak limb when I state I am pretty sure Adam Duvall is the first player ever to finish third in HRs in his league and then be non-tendered in the following off-season...

Now for me, I just don't think the Sox have the deep farm and the players Tampa needs. Jeter Downs is an excellent trade bait and probably a guy the Sox could consider moving for a pitcher, but it won't be Snell (even if they take Kiermaier's contract). Tampa is just too flush with middle infield talent. They might not mind taking another MI but I think they would prefer a catcher, and that tells me the Dodgers (Keibert Ruiz) and the Reds (Tyler Stephenson) are both able to put together more attractive packages to acquire Snell. I think the Sox need to target Jameson Taillon and sign two from Brad Hand, Hansel Robles and Archie Bradley. (It is possible that only one of them takes an offer from the Sox regardless of money as only one of them can close and all three might have the closer role as a priority. As it is their choice, I can't say that they will all be interested. But so far, this is just mesage board fodder) Taillon's trade value is actually reasonable on BTV, but it is tough to gauge what player from the Sox they might want. While that site does give Downs more trade value than Taillon, it is not an unreasonable amount for a swap. And as Cherington is a notorious prospect hoarder, he might even be on board with it. Ideally, I would like to see him acquired for someone else, but not sure what Pitt needs beyond players who make little to no money. The Sox most expendable dirt cheap player is Chavis, but even with his BTV trade value actually looking reasonable at 7.5, I just don't see why any team might be interested in him. Also, the Sox can probably fill the CF void with Ender Inciarte and get him for next to nothing. With the Braves being in the unenviable position of having Inciarte as their highest paid outfielder and not even starting, he should be extremely available from Atlanta. That just leaves 2B (maybe?) and a LHH bench bat. And the LHH bench bat has always looked like former Bloom acquisition Brad Miller would be the perfect fit for the Sox....

But Flahery also only has one season above 2.3 fWAR. And he has only pitched one less season than Snell. (His higher trade value is strongly influenced to his lower salary.) Snell does only have one season above 2.7 fWAR, but he has also only pitched 157 IP in two seasons since his breakout year. In 2019, he managed to be worth 2.7 fWAR in 107 innings! It is not the talent that is the issue with Snell...

If the Sox are taking an unwanted contract back, Polanco is my second choice behind Ender Inciarte. Polanco is coming off a HORRIBLE season last year, but he was among the MLB leaders in one positive category - exit velocity. His main problem was making contact. Anyone with top tier exit velocity and massive strikeout problems makes me first think - time to update that contact lens prescription!

So you wouldn’t trade them for Jack Flaherty?

But he spent most of his innings in Boston as a starter, which can give him an inflated bb rate and reduced k rate as opposed to a relief pitcher. It's not a fair comp...

My thoughts are it's a fair trade, but I don't think Tampa goes for it, and really the Sox should be hesitant, too. With Tampa 1) They might not like Downs so much considering they have two very young middle infielders in MLB (Lowe and Adames) and another as the #1 overall prospect (Franco) plus a fourth (Vidal Brujan) similarly ranked to Downs. 2) Trading stars for prospects within the division is a smart move when you're a bad team and you're basically trading the best of a weak present day for the future of a division rival. In theory, they get worse as your team gets better. But Tampa is the reigning AL pennant winner, and NOT a bad team. 3) It does not even address their completely absent catching position. With Boston, it is a farm killer. And because of that, the primary goal should be to get a bad contract like Kiermaier in in order to reduce the load of dirt cheap players the team needs. I think the Sox need to be in talks with Pittsburgh for Taillon. And if they have to take back Polanco in order to reduce the asking price, I can support that, too...

Well that's like when [people here expected Dustin May, Gavin Lux and Verdugo for Betts. But a deal of Casas, Houck and Jeter Downs seems more reasonable. Would the Sox go for it? Would Tampa? (It does work on BTV.)

No Troy O'leary?

Huh? Tom Gordon was no bueno for the Sox? He was worth 9.9 fWAR in his first 3 seasons in mutliple roles. and was 46 for 47 in save chances in 1998. His 2 seasons with the Yankees totaled 3.7 fWAR. I am questioning if you understand was "no bueno" means and think you might not know enough Spanish to live in Florida...

Hey when you need work, you bleed the colors of the teams willing to sign the checks...

In any deal where the Sox take on an unfavorable contract, they're probably more likely to get a 2B or RP than a starting pitcher. Unless that SP is already available anyway, with some prime examples being Sonny Gray, Jameson Taillon and Joe Musgrove...