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It doesn’t work on BTV, but Atlanta has Murphy (currently on IL) ss backup to Drake Baldwin while Mauricio Dubon starts at SS. I expect them to try and upgrade over Dubon at some point. Murphy is owed $30mill over 2 years after 2026. Story is owed $25mill after 2026. So Atlanta also saves cash. If they. Insist on more, walk away. I wouldn’t give them Duran and Narvaez as well….

No Mayer?

Can we make snap judgments too? The less data, the better!

I think Bloom was a good talent evaluator, but a timid (to be kind) decision maker. His deadline waffling effectively wasted two seasons…

Proven value like Story?

He started off slowly last year, but was over .900 in the second half. This year Hes largely been a utility infielder/outfielder with sporadic playing time. But he is a hitter…

At 2b? Limited options there. Upgrade 2b. Get a thumper for DH..

Connelly Early for Matt Shaw? Shaw has certainly shown he can hit and is a great defensive infielder blocked everywhere in Chicago. And the Cubs desperately need SP. Would you pull that trigger?

Well, if it was going to be made at all, it probably did. Sale was coming of 4 years of barely pitching and hadn’t been elite Sale for 6 years. Another early season injury and he was untradable again. Grissom was a young promising player who didn’t pan out. But he was also the only time Boston got offered anything even remotely valuable for the oft-injured pitcher. It didn’t work out, but it was at least understandable. Unlike dealing Priester and acquiring May, both moves of which made zero sense…

Well, every team is better if the CBO makes better moves. Sort of reminiscent of those old Derek Sanderson keys to the game for the Bruins which always included “the Bruins have to out the puck in the net.” The Sale deal was a flop. I get why he made it, but it didn’t work out. ”Better moves” is often just measured by results, but sometimes moves are just stupid. Those are what really bother me. Trading Tibbs for Dustin May was stupid, for example. Trading Priester was stupid as well. Sale just didn’t work out at all…

Yoshida, Bello, Godbout and Phillips works on BTV. No idea of it works for SF….

So what would you offer to entice SF to give up their first 30 HR hitter since Bonds? Given their struggles to attract free agents, counting on a pure salary dump is not likel. Also is Mayer really still a platoon player? He was a platoon player under Cora, but almost every LHH is platooned under Cora. Abreu and Casas were platoon players “under Cora”…

Thats fair. When free agency offers a choice between Ryan Mountcastle, Alec Bohm, and an aging Yandy Diaz, I could see keeping Contreras for another year. I would rather roll the dice with Casas than bring in Mountcastle or Bohm…

I have heard he’s a complete tool as well. But he’s really not their starting catcher; he’s only starting because Will Smith has a boo boo. And since Smith is the better catcher, less tradable, and not dead, Rushing’s time is short. Not sure if they want Mayer, but if they move Rushing, thats around where I expect the price to be. I’d try to push Atlanta on a Story/Murphy swap first…

Yes MLB lockouts are when a few hundred people cannot agree on how to divide up several billion dollars…

Contreras is their scariest player. How often does anyone have a career year at 34? Maybe his offense was surpressed by playing catcher all those years. Maybe. But counting on him to be this good going forward is disappointment material. Especially for 2027. Contreras feels like a serious “sell high” candidate. Although not sure how many teams will be looking for RHH slugging 1b/DH types…

Why such the low opinion? He had a few injuries, but he was also pretty good. MLB and BA and Baseball Prospectus are not 100% accurate - no one whose job involves predicting the future is - but what about him didn’t you like? And when did you start not liking him? And yes the Sox have seen too many bench players creep into the starting lineup. Even Yoshida wasn’t expected to start given the roster on opening day. But they’re without Antjony, Story, and Casas and even the bench players (Sogard) are starting to go down with injuries. It doesn’t help that another third of their starters are serving year players (Durbin, Narvaez, Mayer) and for many second year players, sophomore slumps are real. It’s taken over 2 full seasons for Rafaela to turn into a contributing starter (and a major contributor at that), but it’s been worth it…

They may not be the foundation, but what building is all foundation?

So you think it’s time to give up on them?

Most definitely explore the options, barring playing .750 baseball between now and August…

And you have once again regurgitated your involvement in the reason Chapman was signed…

If they deal him and he pitches 19.1 IP for his new team, he will not be available to re-sign with Boston. So, yes, something might be stopping him…

Some of those players are already in Boston however. Catcher is a position where offense is often treated as a bonus, since good all-around catchers are tough to come by and defense is really the priority. Ive thrown out Sean Murphy as a target, since he had some pop and is a very good catcher relegated to backup duty. He’s currently on the IL right now. Atlanta needs help at SP and SS. While Story would at least represent a cost-savings, he doesn’t necessarily represent a solution at SS due to his own inability to stay healthy. Plus he is a RHH either way some pop, which is what Boston does need. (No way in hell do you trade Mayer for Murphy.) The infield overall hasn’t produced. Story has been out after finally realizing he cannot play with a hernia. Mayer could be sent down once he returns, but Story isn’t much of a SS right now. Durbin isn’t going anywhere and has been hitting better after a dreadful start. But an INF with some pop would make sense if they demote Mayer. LF/DH they have some internal options. Certainly Anthony fills one spot. Duran is still in Boston for the time being, and has shown over the last two seasons he is much better than what we’ve seen this year. But he is also a candidate to be moved. Triston Casas isn’t dead yet, and poses a dilemma. On one hand, he’s been very fragile and missed the bulk of the last 2.5 seasons. On the other, he has shown he can hit. Ultimately he will be a tough decision come non-tender time. Barring an upgrade at catcher - maybe a Mayer-Dalton Rushing trade - maybe we only see a new DH and one INF? I don’t see the Sox adding so many new starting bats. Thats a massive turnover…

This option does appear to be an obligation. Occasionally vesting criteria does trigger a player option or a team option. Not unheard of, but doesn’t appear to be the case here. Both sides apparently agreed this one year deal becomes a two year deal at 40 IP. And that makes sense, since Chapman is 38 years old and before this, hasn’t had a multi-year deal in years. Hes still worth exploring deals, and the option could be within a short distance of vesting by the deadline, which might make him a more attractive target. Or a lesser one given his age…

Vesting. It triggers automatically when certain criteria is met. Neither side has the chance to decline, as was agreed upon last year…