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The White Sox aren’t moving Crochet for Abreu, and probably not for anyone with an active service time clock. The Red Sox could absolutely outbid most if not every team for Crochet if they wanted to. But it will come down to how wise of a decision that would be…

Trading Mayer doesn’t open a play for a RHH to play. I think he moves Abreu and possibly Casas, whom he deals to the Angels for refusing to sign an extension…

No one outside of the Royals FO knows if they’d make that trade, but I’d bet they wouldn’t, unless they wanted to save cash (which they might if they want to bring Wacha back). I assume they’d like to upgrade over Renfroe, but maybe they don’t care to. Maybe they think “Why? We’re in the AL Central. All we need to do is beat the crap out of the White Sox, and stay close to .500 against everyone else and we can make the postseason.” Or, maybe they have a good OF prospect. That would derail this, too. But Singer, a good pitcher in his arb years, is the type of trade the Sox should be looking for with Abreu…

The Sox don’t need controllable SP; they have a rotation full of it. An increasingly expensive arb-eligible starter will work. BTV has Abreu worth the same as Brady Singer. Singer makes $4.85mill but has 2 arb years left. The also have Hunter Renfroe in RF. Is Singer worth 5 years of Abreu?

There’s a lot on Soxprospects, so is there an article you can link me to that discusses this? The individual profile pages for each player are not enough. They call Campbell an average defender and refer to Grissom as fringe-average at 2b. That’s pretty close and not wildly specific. Did you see something with more details?

You’re aiming very low on Abreu, unless you’re trying to match years and salary…

I agree on Anthony, but Mayer is the best SS in the organization that isn’t consistently injured. I value that more than Campbell’s right-handed bat, especially since batting right-handed isn’t some rare skill. To me, that leaves Teel and Campbell. Of course, Braden Montgomery and Franklin Arias are both BA Top 100 prospects that I would view as more expendable…

That Grissom maintained a slightly better pace for nearly 6 times as many at bats does give him the edge here. This season was a disaster for Grissom, although he had some injury issues and was inactive and fell behind a lot. He’s certainly shown he has as good of an offensive skill set as what Campbell has shown, and his struggles in 95 MLB at bats don’t change that. His AAA season this year looks bad on some levels. But he showed an extremely good K/BB…

Soxprospects indicated his best position might be 2b. If so, then the prudent maneuver is to give Grissom a legitimate chance and see if he can run with it. There’s no rush for the Sox to force Campbell into MLB right now just because he leads their minors in hype. At the same age, Grissom hit better at AAA ball and might wind up being the better solution. And if not, Campbell can become Plan B…

Kennedy will clarify with some follow up commentary that re-muddles it back into our comfort zone…

Dombrowski would clear up this logjam by dealing the prospects, and at least two from Anthony, Mayer, Teel and Campbell would be on the move. The deals would probably pan out for Boston and maybe not so much for the other team. But we know given his history who he prefers to trade…

The Sox extended Rafaela already because they want his glove starting in CF, not on the bench. His play at SS this year was done out of necessity, but he was all but awarded CF before the 2024 season began…

I could have gone into O’Neill as a good filler until Anthony arrives, but I’m typing on my phone and went quickly I mentioned Hamilton at 2b (with Grissom). And as I mentioned the BUC under catcher, that left only two remaining bench spots, which were for Romy and an OF…

Quickie Uninformed Preview - 2025 lineup C - Wong will be back and Teel is on the horizon. I expect a cheap, expendable backup like Tomas Nido, Christian Bethancout, Yan Gomes or Gary Sanchez. 1b - Casas. I consider him trade bait, but I will concede that Breslow’s attempts to extend him likely means he isn’t. 2b - Grissom and/or Hamilton to start. SS - Story. Then Mayer when he gets injured for an extended period. 3b - Devers. He could move to 1b at some point, but I’m banking on that not being in 2025. LF - Duran CF - Rafaela RF - Breslow wants to bring back O’Neill, which might make Abreu expendable. DH - Yoshida. He’s a player fans want to move on from, but I don’t think it will be so easy. His contact skills might be a necessity in this lineup. But if they can move him, this is an ideal spot to add a decent much-needed right-handed bat. BN - Romy has earned a return. They’ll need an OF if Refsnyder retires. (Randal Grichuk?) SP - Houck, Bello, Crawford, Giolito (will he be ready?). Need one more plus some depth. BP - Hendriks, Slaten, Whitlock (hopefully), Fulmer, Penrod, Criswell, and I’ll give Winckiwski a maybe. Need another arm, preferably a lefty. Might need two if they move on from Winkie…

Alcantara is owed $37.6 mill over 2 years with a $21mill option for a third. Miami backloaded his contract and historically has traded players before the more expensive back years. The 29yo Alcantara didn’t pitch in 2024 while recovering from TJ. BTV gives him a surplus value of $20.6 mill and accepts offers of Hamilton and Franklin Arias for him. While I doubt Miami takes that offer, it at least suggests he is attainable for a reasonable deal, meaning no Anthony, Mayer, Teel or Campbell. Hes an excellent target if healthy. Miami fans will insist he’s best dealt at the deadline, but ownership might not be so willing to risk it, as, unlike fans, they probably value money over prospects…

Hey you were the one beating up on Zombie Horses…

I am all for not trading Mayer. If the Sox have to trade one of the Big Four, I would move Kristian Campbell first, due to his lack of a position. I can see an argument for moving Teel first as well. My preference would be to move Braden Montgomery and/or Franklin Arias over any of the top 4…

Ill be happy if he stays healthy enough to keep the centerfielders in centerfield…

Murphy’s Law tells us Story will be exactly that until the Sox trade away Mayer. Then he will dislocate a hip…

And you shouldn’t. It would be hypocritical to say “they should have learned their lesson with Whitlock” interspersed with “there was no lesson to be learned with Sale.”

And if history is any judge, injuries will not impact that number, either…

Wasn’t part of the reason they needed pitching due to Sale’s inability to repeatedly take the mound? If Sale pitched like this in 2021, 2022 and 2023, would the Sox still have needed pitching?

I like a lot of the city connect jerseys. But I hate those jaundiced abominations. Except that they do seem to lead to wins…

My (wildly inaccurate?) take, assuming everyone is healthy. Starters will include Giolito, Houck, Bello and Crawford. If they don’t go internal for the fifth spot (Fitts? Priester?), it will be a competent but unexciting free agent like Pivetta, Flaherty, Manaea or Kikuchi. The bullpen will include Hendriks, Slaten, Whitlock, Fulmer, Winckowski, Penrod, Criswell, and likely a left- handed free agent. Preferably Bummer or Chafin. Hopefully not round 3 of Joely Rodriguez…

He’s also only 23. And he was worth 3.2 bWAR last year. I doubt he peaked at age 22. He may never be a so-called ace, but it’s a bit early to pigeonhole him as the Expendable Disappointment…