harmony

Ceddanne Rafaela's stock has risen since being unprotected and untouched in last year's Rule 5 draft: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/examining-the-american-leagues-2022-40-man-crunch/ Will the 22-year-old Rafaela sustain his progression after a single breakout season? https://www.fangraphs.com/players/ceddanne-rafaela/sa3005581/stats?position=3B/OF

Andrew Benintendi and Nomar Garciaparra come to mind.

What? No love for Arizona shortstop prospect Jordan Lawlar, who was drafted two slots behind Marcelo Mayer in the 2021 draft? https://www.fangraphs.com/players/jordan-lawlar/sa3017662/stats?position=SS https://www.fangraphs.com/players/marcelo-mayer/sa3017114/stats?position=SS Lawlar spent part of the 2022 season on the local minor league team while on my fantasy roster.

The Mariners would need to throw in Darren Bragg. In the deadline deals between the Red Sox and Mariners in 1996 and 1997, what player produced the highest WAR for his new team (by a safe margin)? Win some, lose some.

Seattle already released native son Reese McGuire to the Red Sox (by way of the Pirate farm system, Blue Jays and White Sox). https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=mcguir001ree

No trade was proposed. Only that "Baseball Trade Values accepts a trade of two years of Alex Verdugo for two years of Tom Murphy" to demonstrate that the BTV values cannot be viewed in a vacuum.

. Neither proposed trade is sensible.

The Mariners aren't trading the shaky upside of 23-year-old Jarred Kelenic, their starting postseason outfielder, for a stalled 26-year-old Jarren Duran.

The Mariners would have little interest in Jarren Duran, a poor man's Taylor Trammell, the defensively adept Seattle center fielder who is a year younger than Duran. A very poor man. In 58 games year Duran posted a negative 0.4 fWAR and 78 wRC+ while in 44 games Trammell posted a positive 0.4 fWAR and 99 wRC+. On the Seattle outfield depth chart, Duran would likely fall behind Cade Marlowe, who is on the postseason taxi squad despite never have played an MLB game. This season Marlowe, who is 10 months younger than Duran, posted a .287/.377/.487/.864 with 23 home runs, 102 RBI and 42 stolen bases between Double A and Triple A. Nevertheless Marlowe may be a Rule 5 casualty: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/examining-the-american-leagues-2022-40-man-crunch/ BTW in the trade for Luis Castillo the Mariners traded away two "Must-Add Prospects" from that FanGraphs July analysis of American League 40-man roster crunches.

Given the pitching depth in the Seattle organization, a pitcher would be an unlikely target. Baseball Trade Values accepts a trade of two years of Alex Verdugo for two years of Tom Murphy but the Red Sox can ill-afford to deplete their outfield corps.

Any interest in 31-year-old Seattle catcher Tom Murphy, who in 2019 posted 3.2 fWAR in only 76 games before being slowed by injuries the last three seasons? Murphy, who in 14 games this year posted 0.5 fWAR and a 168 wRC+, is projected to earn $1.7 million next season in the second-to-last year of team control.

Perhaps the Seattle Mariners were willing to surrender two top shortstop prospects because shortstop Cole Young, their No. 21 pick in the 2022 draft, is destined to pass shortstop Marcelo Mayer, the No. 4 pick in the 2021 draft. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=young-006col https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=mayer-000mar Or not.

Yet the Seattle Mariners, who went 1-6 against the Red Sox this year, advance without a postseason loss.

Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo, the shortstops traded for Luis Castillo, are currently ranked No. 17 and No. 52 on MLB.com's Top 100 prospect list. Top 100 Baseball Prospects | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM The Official Site of Major League Baseball The trade also included pitchers Connor Phillips and Andrew Moore. Phillips now ranks No. 11 in an improved Cincinnati Reds farm system. Reds Top Prospects | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM The Official Site of Major League Baseball That Red Sox package probably would not be competitive.

By some measures (including Baseball Trade Values), the Seattle Mariners overpaid in the near-deadline trade for righthander Luis Castillo, giving up promising shortstop prospects Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo, plus two minor league pitchers. The Mariners apparently decided it was the right time and place to overpay. The early results look good with performance and the contract extension. After the trade Castillo was welcomed in Seattle by former Cincinnati teammates Eugenio Suarez and Jesse Winker. A few days later the San Francisco Giants sent the Mariners Curt Casali, Castillo's one-time personal catcher with the Reds. Castillo is saying the right things about the Mariners' future.

The Seattle Mariners have already extended righthander Luis Castillo in a five-year, $108 million contract through 2027: Luis Castillo extension with Mariners WWW.MLB.COM SEATTLE -- For years, Jerry Dipoto’s front office coveted Luis Castillo from afar, well before he reached the Majors and blossomed into one of the game’s elite workhorses. And on Saturday, the Mariners’ president of baseball operations and his staff locked up the two-time All-Star long term. The club announced The Mariners control Castillo and starters Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Marco Gonzales and Chris Flexen through at least the 2025 season (all but Gonzales through 2026).

Stanford professor Carolyn Bertozzi, a co-laureate of this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry, is a Red Sox fan: It was not a bad year for everybody.

That could be interpreted as a death wish. My 67th birthday should not be my last one.

Iconic moments of Seattle Mariner history -- Edgar Martinez's double to top the Yankees in the deciding game of 1995 ALDS and Saturday's improbable comeback from a seven-run deficit against the Blue Jays -- have fallen on my birthday.

The Yankees may prevent the AL East from going winless in the postseason games this year. Or not.

The Red Sox are in the lottery for the top selection in the June 2023 draft but have only an 0.76 percent chance of landing that No. 1 pick: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/10/2023-draft-lottery-odds-finalized.html

In addition to the draft the Red Sox need to mine the international market that has yielded Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Brayan Bello, Ceddanne Rafaela and others.

What happened to Kevin Gausman? Asking for a future opponent.

C'mon, Red Sox ...

On a positive note, the 2022 Red Sox have topped their Pythagorean record by two wins: https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/2022.shtml