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If he's on the Mariners, he's available. Jerry DiPoto would trade away his own grandmother..

A couple of "under the radar" names that make sense to me are Miles Mikolas and Jose Miguel Fernandez. Mikolas is a former big leaguer returning from Japan, where he dominated for 3 years. Mikolas' best pitch is his deadly curveball, which reminds me of Alex Cobb or Adam Wainwright. Several years ago on BDC, I used to highlight some lesser known players for the Sox to target. Mikolas was one of those guys. Fernandez is a 29yo Cuban 2b recently released by the Dodgers. No one knows why he was let go beyond a 40-man roster spot. Fernandez is a great hitter, not much power. No idea about his glove...

No because they'd be stupid to commit to him one way or the other at this point. ..

Santana is actually only 16 months older than JD Martinez, not years...

If Price is healthy, we have an upgrade in the rotation already. The role of closer is vastly overrated and no one "needs" an elite closer. In fact, the Sox could probably fill a few holes above and below by dealing Kimbrel. If two months of Chapman is worth Torres, McKinney, Warren and more, then one year of Kimbrel is a valuable trade commodity. The Sox have other experienced closers in the pen already, like Smith and Thornburg. They could deal Kimbrel and then sign Shaw to backfill the setup role....

Manny Machado? Of course by then you get Kimbrel's money back. Pomeranz too...

He could take steps towards rectifying that by nabbing up a few of the refugees from the Braves' farm system. ..

I can't think of one situation in my life where I wasn't or wouldn't be willing to take the good along with the bad. Sure beats the hell out of just taking the bad...

Pavin SmIth played in low A ball last year. There is no such thing as a blocked player in low A ball. By the time Smith is ready for MLB, Goldschmidt might have moved on or Smith moved to a new position. If the Diamondbacks thought Goldschmidt was blocking Smith, they would not have drafted him with the #7 pick last year....

You might be able to say it, but we'd appreciate it if you didn't. ..

If you want Machado, maybe the key is to sign Yonder Alonso to play 1b for a few years...

If there is it's a boring one...

I was thinking the exact opposite. Playing Hanley at first might increase the likelihood of him incurring an injury and not vesting. Of course I don't think Hanley's option is the deathnail many others believe it to be...

Trading Hanley is easier said than done.and any deal would definitely include enough cash that signing Santana is not likely. ..

I'd also like to upgrade over Hanley at 1B defensively, for a couple of reasons. 1) It's not too difficult to do, and 2) Hanley isn't getting any healthier. The Sox didn't think he could handle the position so easily last year. I'm not sure why they think he can this year...

And I'd keep Holt over Brentz as an outfielder. But I'd prefer a better all-around outfielder than either of them on the bench...

I've always thought that was the biggest factor for most pitchers in the post-season.

Conversely maybe Holt hasn't been traded because no one wants to dedicate another 40-man roster spot this close to the Rule 5 draft. ..

I will say this much. JD Martinez is the most likely to be successful in Fenway. Martinez is largely a pull hitter (39%) with flyball tendecies (38%) who hits the ball hard (39%) very frequently when he makes contact. Santana is more of a pull hitter (51%) who hits about as many flyballs (39%), but fewer hard hit balls (33%). Fenway might be tough on him when hitting lefty. Hosmer is a ground ball machine (53%) who rarely hits the ball in the air (22%), and doesn't always hit the ball hard (33%). He might develop power, as he is about as old as Martinez was when JD did start hitting for power. and Hosmer has been surpressed by his home park, where his 119 OPS+ the past 3 yesr is still impressive and a sign he is developing somewhat as a hitter. I'm not wild about JD Martinez' age, but if anyone thinks the Sox should have signed Encarnacio last yer, his baseball age is 4 years older. If you would have signed him 4 years ago, JD is a decent comparison. The one big disadvantage is position. JD has never played anywhere but OF, where the Sox have 3 excellent players. Sure they could move him to first, but he might not want to go and might not be any good. And if he doesn't want to go to 1st, the Sox would have to break up a terrific defensive OF, likely by moving Bradley. They would still also need a 1B. Bradley to SF for Brandon Belt makes sense talent-wise, but Belt has a longer pricier contract and a very recent and alarming history of concussions. Stanton would trump all these guys, but he won't be as easy to get. And I think a very unlikely acquisition at this point. All of these are career numbers for these players, and certainly all could have developed somewhat in the past 3 years. But that is more math than I want to do right now...

He can field groundballs when he gets to them, but his footrk is horrendous. He never seens to know how to position himself when receivig a throw. He's weak at turning double plays. I could go on. Really, his best position is corner OF. His UZR data for 2B is really less than 900 innings (about 1/2 of a season) spread out over 5 years. It compiles into a nice number, but a lot of the data gets older and is all accrued together despite not necessarily being equally relevant...

At this point, I'm more OK with Swihart in a bench role that Holt. If Swihart does make the team, he doesn't need to be the only backup catcher, if all of these moves trying him around the field pan out. In fact, the team would probably still need a dedicated backup catcher. So the Sox could wind up with a bench of Leon, Swihart, Marrero and Brentz. Holt's cost in arbitration might make him suddenly expendable, even with Pedroia out. (It's not like he was any good at 2B anyway.) If that is the Sox bench, I hope they can do better than Brentz. Dealing Holt for a fourth OF isn't so likely, and certainly near-impossible to figure out a match...

The Stanton and Otani sagas need to end and end quickly. While usually very little happens befre Thanksgiving, in most seasons at least somethingdoes. Yesterday the big splash news on MLBTR was that some guy named Josh Ravin was traded to the Braves. Talk about click bait!! Maybe tomorrow they can discuss in-depth details about what JD Martinez has for breakfast or we can get further insight into Jake Arrieta's favorite movies...

I've never been all that crazy about Brentz, and I still am not. He did have a great year at Pawtucket, but I can't get excited about the future of any player who takes 5 years to put it all together at AAA. I can't get excited about him even in a bench role. If he makes the opening day roster, will he still be there in June? His only real selling point right now is price. If an outfielder actually gets hurt, Brentz could play himself out of the majors in a month. But free agency doesn't dazzle with better options. Ben Revere and Michael Saunders might both be at points where they are willing to take part time roles, but neither will settle for Brentz' money. And Saunders has been particularly unreliable from a health standpoint. It is possible some sort of boring, low level trade like dealing Sandy Leon (2.8 fWAR in 2016-2017) could be dealt for a fourth outfielder like Mallex Smith (1.3 fWAR in 2016-17) or Jake Marisnick (1.3 fWAR in 2016-17). But then not sure if either Tampa or Houston value their backup outfielders more than a backup catcher0 (Both likely do in this case.) Or if they have other solutions better than Leon. Brock Holt could also be dealt, but he will probably be in line at 2B (a position he is horrible at. I prefer Swihart there sight unseen) or flat out non-tendered. Personally, I prefer Marrero over Holt at this point...

So what is it that makes Boston a "world class city"? Or Chicago? I'm interested in knowing, having lived in both. St. Louis, while not my favorite city, is definitely a baseball town with some of the friendliest fans in the game. And they have an excellent front office that always keeps them competitive. While I have been saying Stanton will head for LA at first chance, he wouldn't be the first player to enjoy being a Cardinal. Not sure why you brought up money. Regardless of where Stanton plays, he still gets $295mill over 10 years, which was the point. It turns out those dollars are legal tender in every city. Would he be more marketable in NY? Or LA? I'm not as sure as you. Right now it seems like MLBs most marketable player plays in Washington. The best player in MLB plays just outside of LA and does far fewer national commercials...

And if he isn't all that OK with it, he opts out 3 years and $77mill later. The Marlins reportedly hd some crazy asking price, but it does look more and more that, while no one will probably hit it, some team will offer at least enough that it isn't a straight up salary dump. I do doubt it's Boston, given the current stage of the farm system. I think the only way is if Dombrowski gets a little creative and move players like Bradley and/or Bogaerts to get an actual MLB-ready prospect or two a little more enticing than Chavis...