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One largely unmentioned factor has been the demise of artificial turf surfaces that allowed groundballs to get through the infield faster...

There is more than that. Teams promoting top prospects can now earn an extra draft pick if the player accrues a year of service time per the PPI (Prospect Promotion Incentive) in the CBA. A prospect has to qualify by being a top 100 prospect on X number of lists and have less than 60 days service time in his career. Mayer certainly meets these requirements. If the Sox promoted Mayer before the service time deadline and let him accrue 172 days on the MLB roster, the Sox would receive an extra draft pick after this first round, in what we used to call the sandwich round. Jackson Holliday was promoted with 173 days left in the season for this exact reason. It certainly helped that he was absolutely raking in the minors and that some of the Orioles' infielders (notably Ramon Urias) were struggling. Story went down with about the same number of days left, leaving this an opportune time to promote Mayer as well. Except that at the time, Mayer had not yet played a game since August 2nd. This was probably a very large factor in not promoting him. And if it was not a factor, it damn well should have been. The Orioles might have been able to promote Heston Kjerstad as well, as he was eligible for the PPI. And the early struggles of Santander and Austin Hays certainly justified getting him into the lineup. Not sure why they did not, unless there is a limit to how many PPI picks a team can accrue. Or it could be as simple as they have faith in Hays and Santander ending their slumps, unlike Ramon Urias. They also might have promoted Kjerstad if Ryan O'Hearn was struggling, but he is flat out mashing right now...

He started fairly slowly last year, too. A year ago, his OPS was .680...

O'Neill

But it is a Cora thing. He batted Reyes second against Reid Detmers in an April game. Reyes’ career numbers are only marginally better vs LHP and at this point in the season, that advantage is likely for 2 plate appearances, 3 max. If Cora is going to over-emphasize a platoon for a 30 point OPS advantage in 2-3 PA, he really should be questioned…

Seems like that’s more of a Cora thing, unless you’re saying the Sox don’t have better options than Reyes…

Marcelo Mayer has played 4 games since last July. Think he should be called up?

Probably also worth noting, comparing Devers to Ortiz (which RSR did) is unfair and impatient. From ages 24-26, Devers’ OPS+ was 133. At the same ages, Ortiz’ was 109

They definitely should have given it to Betts. But once that situation fell apart, should they have traded Devers as well?

Maybe on a new European office building for FSG? Possible Thames River view?

Well, Devers has received MVP votes in each of the last 4 seasons. But the initial contract Bloom offered him, reportedly similar to the contract extension Matt Olson got from the Braves (8 yrs $168mill), seemed to make more sense. Of course as Devers valued himself much higher, the only options were pay him more or lose him (via trade or expiring contract). If the Sox did either one, they’re probably an even worse team…

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hallal02.shtml

Is a good field/no hit SS a step up, down or the same as Pablo Reyes?

Billy Hamilton…

You obviously never went to the Old Comiskey...

Don't opposing fans also go to Yankee games and Dodger games?

I'm not sure 18yo Cespedes has that much appeal to a team that would need a SS in 2025, if not sooner. And I'm not sure Bleis has that much appeal to a team that has 4 MLB outfielders 25 and under (Mitchell, Wiemer, Chourio and Frelick) and two more of their top 10 prospects are outfielders in A ball...

For one year of Burnes, I do not deal Mayer. Especially since Burnes has been public about his disappointment with the results on his arbitration hearings and apparently feels very underpaid and unappreciated. This might be a big part of the reason Baltimore has not yet extended him...

The Sox are still 7-4 despite losing yesterday. GRanted, 3 of those wins are against Oakland, a team that downed fellow wild card slot holder Detroit handily. But also the Sox went 2-1 at AL West leader LA of Anaheim. It's a better start than many expected...

It all depends on what the Sox thought of the upcoming season. The prevailing feeling on this board (granted, not relevant to the Sox plans) was this was a tank season anyway. If the Sox figured this was a non-competitive year, which would align with their spending practices, the hope might be to take on Burnes and flip him for better prospects at the deadline. But that is not always so easy. The pitchers flipped at last year's deadline did not garner top flight prospects in most cases. It's possible the Sox might break even or garner worse prospects for Burnes, while simultaneously hurting their draft position due to the extra wins he would have gotten. I would have loved to move on Burnes, but I am not sure what it would have taken. BTV gives equivalents as Teel and Bleis, but that doesn't mean Milwaukee wants them, especially given that they will need to replace Burnes and Adames by next season and they already have a glut of outfielders and a young catcher...

My bad. I misread and assumed there was some sarcasm in that statement...

So what? Neither has Valdez. But the difference is, Valdez has had the opportunity. Grissom has very little to prove as a hitter, posting a 105 OPS+ in MLB in limited action. He also posted a .921 OPS in AAA. Valdez, in a similar sample size, has posted an 83 OPS+ in MLB and a .834 OPS in AAA. Defensively, while Grissom is an unknown, Valdez has set the bar pretty low, considering he could not catch a cold if he was naked in Norway. There is an extremely good chance that, while he may never be an all Star, Grissom is a big step up over the current situation...

But is he better than Hamilton?

Do you really think all #6 and #7 prospects are equal? Or teams ask by prospect system ranking regardless of who it is? Joey Ortiz entered the season as a top 100 prospect. DL Hall has been ranked multiple times on every list. A similar trade from the Sox would be more like Teel and Bleis. Except it’s possible the Brewers wanted a pitcher as well as an infielder to replace Willy Adames. I don't think the Sox have those players to pay with for one year of Burnes…

We have one. And while he is injured, he’s only out for the month, not the year…