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I love Betts, but he isn’t the single greatest factor in 2020. The Sox can keep him, “go for it”, and still flop. Sure they can wait until July to deal him for a prospect and some table scraps, lose him forever to free agency, and somehow hope 2021 and beyond will be different. Deal him now, get the best offer in a trade, and go hard after him in 2021. The Sox chances of re-signing him long term are still probably greater than their chances of another title in 2020 if they keep him. And as for “deal him in July if,” that’s a half-measure. And half measures avail nothing

Right. What I was referring to was not letting his ABs vs LHP be an obstacle. In fact, I’m all for giving players like Pederson reps vs LHP. Sometimes these skill gaps come from way too much platooning...

All the Sox got was budget. The player who played the most games for the Sox from that deal was Loney...

Now I do look for Bloom to raid the Rays’ farm system for maybe some unprotectables. My guess is he does a deal soon for someone like Garrett Whitley or Lucius Fox (played by Morgan Freeman)...

And think about what the Sox got back in that deal. Allen Webster, Rubby de la Rosa, Jerry Sands, Ivan DeJesus Jr. and James Loney. Yippy...

I don’t think anyone wants to take on $96mill worth of Price just to get $30mill worth of Betts. If you were the GM of the Dodgers, would you do it?

Yeah. Let’s finally get a lefty into that rotation..,

I like Pederson, too. And I think the “can’t hit lefties” thing is overplayed. But he’ll be making like $5mill next year and isn’t likely to be an option unless someone gets dealt...

Will DHing lead to a greater chance of hemorrhoids?

Except that Milwaukee needs a shortstop and Miller Park can fit on the playing surface in Yankee Stadium...

True. I should have guessed once they decided to name the team after George Jetson’s dog...

I was actually hoping to see the ERod thing...

I think it’s the first time you only had two teams involved....

And have ERod pitch 3 games of every 5?

Does Bloom have a suggestion box? This needs to go in it...

And keep the man from ripping that uniform off his back, as they say...

If playing the field was that important to him, he could have opted out. I’m not so sure he minds the limited DH role...

Did that article suggest trading JBJ for Jake Marisnick? And Houston does that why?

how about extra thin, delicate crystal ballerina zombies?

If JD is frail, then Judge and Stanton are corpses. Maybe they are the Zombie Apocalypse?

And maybe he did try to deal him on his way out...

Some of this is a little too specific to deny any parallel. Nomar was on a fast track to the Hall of Fame and one of the best shortstops in team history before injuries derailed him, but he was a better player than Cabrera. He was worth 5.8 fWAR in 2003 a year prior to the trade. And while he was only worth 1.5 fWAR in 2004, as the injuries piled up, he was still worth more than Cabrera that year. Whether or not Cabrera and Mientikiwicz were prospects is immaterial. It's not like the Sox have swapped Betts for prospects yet. They did swap Edgar Renteria for BA #2 Andy Marte, but then flipped Marte for Coco Crisp and others. No rule against doing that again. As for dealing for a star for prospects, the AGon trade leaps to mind. But even if you don't like that example, just because the Sox have never done it before is no reason to not do it now. After all, when was the last time the Sox were trying to pare salary to get under the luxury tax limits? The situation itself is novel, and therefore the solution might need to be, too. No one wants to white flag 2020, but this team will still have Devers, Bogaerts, Benntendi and Martinez near the top of the order. While Mookie does make it even better, let's not pretend this lineup is built around Cody Ross without him. With or without Betts, the Sox will score. The season largely rests on the health of Price, Sale, and Eovaldi. And if they all go down, it won't matter whether or not the Sox have Betts...

Trading Betts is not necessarily punting the 2020 season. Was trading Nomar punting?

Not unreasonable. The best comp I can think of is Zack Cozart, who got 3 years at age 31 after accruing 8.2 fWAR the 3 previous seasons. Didi is entering his age 30 season after accruing 9.7 fWAR the 3 previous seasons. So I would expect on the basis of being younger and better, he should top Cozart's deal by a good amount. The only factor that might alter this is if his elbow is a problem...

A fairly grim reason to not think about 2021 and beyond. "Don't worry about the Sox farm system. Why build for the future when the Zombie Apocalypse might negate it anyway?"