harmony

The Kansas City Royals needed a lefthanded reliever after losing Gabe Speier to the Seattle Mariners on waivers in November. FanGraphs projects Aldalberto Mondesi with 1.2 WAR and a wRC+ of 84 in 117 games this year: https://www.fangraphs.com/players/adalberto-mondesi/13769/stats?position=SS Mondesi will be paid $3.045 million in his final year of team control.

It takes only two suitors to keep the bidding going: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/which-teams-make-the-most-sense-for-elvis-andrus.htmlAdalberto Mondesí Adalberto Mondesí it is!

At this point Elvis Andrus may be a near-perfect fit for the Red Sox and his agent knows that. The Sox may need Andrus more than Andrus needs the Sox. Can't blame Andrus and his agent for holding out for the best deal.

Big questions as of now: 1. Can 29-year-old Matasaka Yoshida replace the batting production of 30-year-old Xander Bogaerts? 2. Can 38-year-old Justin Turner replace the production of 35-year-old J.D. Martinez? 3. Can Adam Duvall replace the production of Trevor Story until Story's return? 4. Can Triston Casas step up as an everyday MLB first baseman? 5. Is Kiki Hernandez an everyday shortstop? 6. Is Christian Arroyo an everyday second baseman? 7. Can the combo of Reese McGuire and Connor Wong replace the production of long-time Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez? 8. Can the addition of Corey Kluber, as well as the uncertain returns of Chris Sale and James Paxton, offset the departures of Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill as the Sox await the development of Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck? 9. Will the big-ticket additions of Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin sufficiently bolster a beleaguered Boston bullpen amid the volatility of relievers? The answers should determine whether the Red Sox will finish in the range of 78 to 85 wins.

Last year the Red Sox opened the season with a rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta, Tanner Houck, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill. The Sox have lost Eovaldi, Wacha and Hill but have added Corey Kluber. This year the Red Sox are relying on the improved health of Chris Sale and James Paxton while awaiting the continued development of Houck, Garrett Whitlock and Brayan Bello. The Red Sox are fortunate that the bullpen should be improved.

Returning its seven starters from last year's 90-win team, the Seattle starting rotation risks regression because in 2022 those seven starters missed no time due to injuries. The Mariners cannot count on that good fortune two years in a row. The veteran Texas rotation should enhance the competitiveness of the AL West.

Seattle righthander Chris Flexen, who turns 29 in July before entering free agency at the season's end, has outperformed Jack Flaherty and Brad Keller over the past two seasons: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/flexech01.shtml

It's risky to count on Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck to break out this year to be anything more than a No. 5 starter. FWIW Roster Resource currently has Nick Pivetta as the No. 3 Red Sox starter ahead of James Paxton and Garrett Whitlock. https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/red-sox Nothing wrong with optimism but expectations should be tempered.

Indeed the Red Sox can hope for a statistical aberration such as Justin Verlander.

Much hinges on the health of Chris Sale and James Paxton, who enter their age 34 seasons after combining for only 70 MLB innings* over the past three seasons. It would be risky for a team to rely on a starter whose injuries limited the pitcher to only 70 innings the previous season. The combined risk with Sale and Paxton might be sixfold. Or not. * 79 innings including Sale's nine postseason innings in 2021

Earlier this week ESPN released its early 2023 MLB power rankings: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/35466344/mlb-power-rankings-preseason-2023-braves-padres Earlier this month MLB.com released its early MLB power rankings: MLB New Year's Power Rankings 2023 WWW.MLB.COM While it’s still the offseason, the New Year provides a perfect mile-marker for baseball fans. It’s almost the halfway point between the World Series ending, and Spring Training games beginning. At MLB.com, we produce two way-too-early Power Rankings during the offseason. The first one lands before the confetti has even

This year could be the problem. Or not.

No one suggested the glass is empty. The headline of a Peter Gammons piece Friday at The Athletic: Ten years later, the 2013 Red Sox remind us that anything is possible: https://theathletic.com/4073575/2023/01/20/gammons-2013-red-sox-retrospective/ Subscription required.

The glass is half full.

The Red Sox placed five on the Top 100 prospect list released Wednesday at Baseball America: https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-red-sox/2023/01/18/mayer-yoshida-headline-red-sox-prospect-baseball-america-list/

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-ceddanne-rafaela-might-be-bostons-answer-in-center-or-short/

Would Elvis Andrus or Jurickson Profar prefer a contender? Or is it too late in the offseason to be choosy?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/red-sox-interested-in-jurickson-profar-elvis-andrus.html

MLB International Prospects Signing Day 2023 WWW.MLB.COM It’s been called international signing day. Others have referred to it as the international day of joy. Jan. 15 is officially known as the first day of the international signing period and it means everything to the prospects from across the globe who sign during the 11-month span. For these

Perhaps the Red Sox can reprise the Texas middle infield from this 2013 game between the Rangers and the Sox: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS201306050.shtml Elvis Andrus and Jurickson Profar are remaining free agents but Profar's defensive metrics at second base are not encouraging: https://www.fangraphs.com/players/jurickson-profar/10815/stats?position=2B/OF#inside-edge-fielding

FWIW the New York Yankees are the least likely team to repeat as division champions, according to MLB.com columnist Will Leitch: MLB division champions likely to repeat in 2023 WWW.MLB.COM For all the talk about how division races supposedly don’t matter as much as they used to -- and I can think of a couple No. 1 and No. 2 seeds who would very much disagree with you -- it still means something to be able to call yourself a

moonslav59 brings many qualities to this forum but objectivity is not one of them. Who remembers when this forum had meaningful baseball discussions relatively free of personal attacks? OK, maybe never.

From Wednesday's chat with MLB Trade Rumors columnist Anthony Franco: https://live.jotcast.com/chat/mlbtr-chat-1-11-23-14767.html

Locked On Red Sox on Pablo Lopez:

From Sunday's FanGraphs chat with Mark Polishuk: https://live.jotcast.com/chat/mlbtr-live-chat-14744.html