harmony

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

The criminal justice system is an imprecise institution that occasionally convicts the innocent or acquits the guilty. The former is more concerning than the latter.

The Los Angeles Dodgers designated Trevor Bauer for assignment and have seven days to trade Bauer before the righthander is released on waivers: Transactions | Los Angeles Dodgers WWW.MLB.COM The Official Site of Major League Baseball Designate for Assignment (DFA) | Glossary | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM The Official Site of Major League Baseball The Dodgers will likely trade Trevor Bauer for the best offer. Three teams might be willing to pay Bauer $5 million this year if the Dodgers pay the balance. The bidding could go up from there. If more than one team would be willing to claim Bauer off waivers, at least one team should be likely to pay part of Bauer's 2023 salary to prevent the competition if the righthander goes to waivers. And the Dodgers should be open to recouping a portion of their sunken cost.

The 2023 Red Sox should have the benefit of low expectations.

Wishing our favorite teams and their fans a Happy New Year!

The Red Sox should be all over this proposed Rafael Devers trade to the Mets: https://fansided.com/2022/12/29/mets-trade-package-rafael-devers/

That was certainly true for the 2022 Seattle Mariners, who suffered no injuries in their starting rotation. The Mariners went with an opener in three games but Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert and Marco Gonzales each made 32 starts. Matt Brash and George Kirby combined for 30 starts while Chris Flexen and Luis Castillo combined for 33 starts. Injuries were not the reason that Kirby and Castillo replaced Brash and Flexen in the Seattle rotation. Absent a trade, Seattle will return those seven starters with prospects Emerson Hancock, Taylor Dollard, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo providing starter depth. Although the Mariners are rumored to be willing to trade a pitcher, odds are that the M's are unlikely to field an injury-free rotation in 2023.

Corey Kluber's was one of the few free agent contracts to come in under the MLB Trade Rumors prediction: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/11/mlb-trade-rumors-top-50-free-agents-predictions-2022-23.html What former Stetson Hatter righthander will post the best numbers in 2023: Kluber, Jacob deGrom or Logan Gilbert?

Even with the former's down season, Max Kepler and Luis Arraez, who come with multiple years of team control, this year combined for more fWAR than Rafael Devers posted. The Red Sox should hope to better a package of Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong.

A Minnesota vulture is circling the Rafael Devers prey: A Potential Trade for Rafael Devers - Minnesota Twins Free Agents & Trade Rumors - Twins Daily TWINSDAILY.COM While reading “3 Third Baseman Trades that Could Provide the Twins a Productive Bat” posted by Nate Palmer, I got a very interesting idea. The first trade he proposed is one for Rafael Devers, which got me thinking… The Minnesota Twins are in a unique place where depth isn’t quite a concern anymo...

The Seattle Mariners have trouble attracting free agents despite the absence of a state income tax in Washington.

Good will to all!

Another excerpt:

Red Sox beat reporter Jen McCaffrey at The Athletic detailed the team's four-year pursuit of Masataka Yoshida: https://theathletic.com/4029222/2022/12/24/red-sox-pursuit-masataka-yoshida/ Subscription required. A Red Sox scout assessed Yoshida's left field defense from the scout's perch atop a Ferris wheel just outside a Japanese stadium. An excerpt on Yoshida's skills: