harmony

The offseason plan at Lookout Landing, the Seattle counterpart to Boston's Over the Monster, calls for the trade of Matt Barnes for 27-year-old centerfielder Braden Bishop: https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2020/11/18/21572811/lookout-landings-2020-mariners-offseason-plan-going-medium-taijuan-archer-kelenic-extension-inciarte A favorite line: "the cash-strapped Sox may not want to pay that for the final year of a closer they don’t trust as much." Bishop has posted a .291/.365/.396/.761 line in five minor league seasons but has struggled in 39 MLB games with a humble .128/.185/.151/.336 line. In March FanGraphs columnist Eric Longenhagen wrote: "Bishop remains strangely snakebitten by injury, the latest and most bizarre of which was a 2019 lacerated spleen. He’s still a glove-first, bench outfield prospect." https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-38-prospects-seattle-mariners/ MLB Trade Rumors projects a 2021 salary of $4.1 million in the final year of team control over Matt Barnes, whom MLBTR also lists as a non-tender candidate.

Robinson Cano outperformed his contract in Seattle before the Mariners cashed in in a big way with the December 2018 trade to the Mets. Cano's $240 million contract should end up being for $204 million (assuming no more suspensions). How does this year's suspension impact the $3.75 million the Mariners owe Cano each December 1 through 2022?

It's two years of nearly 28-year-old Joe Musgrove versus five years of 24-year-old Justus Sheffield. Baseball Trade Values assigns Sheffield a surplus value of only $22.7 million by mistakenly* listing the lefthander with only four years of team control. Sheffield has only one year and 53 days of MLB service. Some Seattle fans would not want to give up Dylan Moore for Joe Musgrove (especially with Gregory Polanco attached): http://www.marinertalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3667&start=190 We can agree that Mariners would likely need to give up something more than the equivalent of Jarren Duran, Michael Chavis and C.J. Chatham (the offer that drew me into this conversation). * Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto speculated that Sheffield, despite leading all AL rookie pitchers in fWAR, failed to be among the 10 players receiving votes for Rookie of the Year because sportswriters forgot the lefthander was a still a rookie after making his MLB debut in 2018.

That's funny. Nearly 28-year-old Joe Musgrove, who posted an ERA of 3.86 in eight starts this year, would be a likely downgrade from 24-year-old Justus Sheffield, who posted a ERA of 3.58 in 10 starts. And 23-year-old Logan Gilbert has a higher ceiling than Sheffield.

Even with his fall from a Top 20 prospect Seattle outfield prospect Taylor Trammell would be the second-ranked prospect in the Red Sox system, not far behind Jeter Downs. MLB Pipeline's most recent rankings have Downs at No, 40 and Trammell at No. 51. The Trammell package also included lefthander Brandon Williamson, who sparkled in a short stint at short-season Class A after being taken in the second round of the 2019 draft. Williamson is ranked 10th in a Seattle farm system that remains stacked despite this year's graduation of Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis, Gold Glove winner Evan White and pitchers Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn (who posted an aggregate ERA of 3.92 in a combined 20 starts). Do the Pirates have the equivalent of 24-year-old lefthander Nick Margevicius, who posted an ERA of 3.36 with a K/BB of 6.87 in three minor league seasons? In five fewer starts, Margevicius this year posted as many quality starts as Martin Perez.

Agreed that the Seattle Mariners might be selling high on Dylan Moore, who this year posted 1.7 bWAR in only 38 games. As points of reference Alex Verdugo and Jackie Bradley Jr. led the 2020 Red Sox by posting 1.9 bWAR in 53 games and 1.8 bWAR in 55 games, respectively. Baseball Trade Values gives four years of Verdugo a surplus value of $57.8 million and four years of Moore a surplus value of $21.2 million. Perhaps those are bullish valuations ... or not. The utility tag of Moore should not reduce his value. Moore could replace Gregory Polanco in the outfield (where Moore made 24 appearances this year) or could go to second base if Adam Frazier becomes too expensive for the Pirates in this final two years of team control. The Seattle offer of Moore and lefthander Nick Margevicius was posted in response to the offer of Jarren Duran, Michael Chavis and C.J. Chatham for the same three Pirates. Five years of Margevicius is no great prize but this year the southpaw posted as many quality starts as Martin Perez (and was one shy of Nathan Eovaldi's total).

???

Nah.

The website accepted my Seattle offer of utility player Dylan Moore and lefthander Nick Margevicius for Joe Musgrove, Gregory Polanco and Richard Rodriguez: https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/trades/trade-29719/ ... as well as my Seattle offer of outfield prospect Taylor Trammell and prospect lefthander Brandon Williamson for the same three Pirates: https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/trades/trade-29844/

Would it be wise for the Red Sox to take on the underwater contract of Pittsburgh outfielder Gregory Polanco to land a starter such as Joe Musgrove or Jameson Taillon?

MLB Trade Rumors has released its list of non-tender candidates: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/11/2020-non-tender-candidates.html The list may be conservative ... or not.

Teams such as the Seattle Mariners, who have a projected 40-man CBT payroll of only $81.3 million* for 2021 after an Opening Day payroll of $162 million as recently as 2018. The Red Sox have a projected 40-man CBT payroll of $172.2 millon** in 2021, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts. * including player benefits: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1P55um0jB8gsz4M2Q7hFeD6aFki7n74DBC1tsWXwoD5U/edit#gid=1520401900 ** including player benefits: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WWRsQNsGZkWuJZwlY8--xVBXMJGjh230D45KiHTHuvY/edit#gid=1520401900

FanGraphs columnist Eric Longenhagen writes "On the Coming Deluge of Non-Tenders": https://blogs.fangraphs.com/on-the-coming-deluge-of-non-tenders/ Later this week Longenhagen will examine the individual players who are candidates to be non-tendered.

Today this Seattle fan posted his offseason plan for the Mariners: https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2020/11/15/21566234/harmonys-offseason-plan The plan has the Mariners spending some money on short-term commitments without going all-in for 2021.

Each of your trade proposals elicits a reaction. Has Tampa Bay maintained its rumored interest in Christian Vasquez? The Red Sox would be fortunate to land Aaron Civale, the righthander out of Northeastern University.

Over at Baseball Trade Values notin posted the interesting proposed trade of Jeter Downs and Connor Wong to Tampa Bay for lefthander Blake Snell and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier: https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/trades/trade-29736/ The Red Sox would most likely improve but Tampa Bay may have little interest in Downs, the 40th-ranked prospect, when the Rays have top middle infield prospects Wander Franco (No. 1) and Vidal Brujan (No. 41). Wong ranks 19th in a pedestrian Boston farm system. Top 100 Baseball Prospects | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM The Official Site of Major League Baseball

Do the Red Sox have assets in personnel to trade for a "big name" starting pitcher without creating a hole elsewhere in the lineup?

Aware of the high rate of prospect attrition, this Seattle fan had written off Mariner outfield prospect Kyle Lewis when injuries threatened the career of the 11th pick in the 2016 draft. A corny tribute was expected after Lewis was named 2020 AL Rookie of the Year but this 32-minute video is truly inspiring:

For Boston Globe subscribers only, beat reporter Alex Speier offers the inside story on the rehiring of Alex Cora: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/11/14/sports/alex-cora-red-sox-manager-search-how-it-happened/

WEEI's Rob Bradford on Jarren Duran: https://www.radio.com/weei/sports/red-sox/the-red-sox-jarren-duran-conundrum

Each offseason SB Nation permits one volunteer to play general manager for each team, negotiating with the volunteers for the other teams. https://www.royalsreview.com/2020/11/1/21544545/the-2019-sb-nation-off-season-simulation-official-thread#comments This year the unnamed Red Sox volunteer: -- traded Chris Sale, Nick Decker and $32 million to the Cardinals for righthander Miles Mikolas -- traded J.D. Martinez and $20 million to the Tigers for lefthander Daniel Norris -- traded C.J. Chatham to the Athletics for righthander Norge Ruiz -- declined option on Martin Perez before signing Perez to a one-year, $3 million contract -- signed outfielder Eddie Rosario to a four-year, $45 million contract -- signed lefthander Rich Hill to a one-year, $11 million contract -- signed righthanded reliever Alex Colome to a two-year, $14 million contract -- signed lefthanded reliever Tony Watson to a two-year, $6 million contract -- signed lefthhanded reliever Chasen Shreve to a one-year, $2 millon contract -- non-tendered Austin Brice and Jose Peraza Better deals have been found on this forum. The award for the most lopsided trade goes to the volunteer general manager for the Seattle Mariners: -- a trade of three Top 100 prospects -- Julio Rodriguez, Emerson Hancock and George Kirby -- for one year of Chicago Cubs third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant. Baseball Trade Values assigns median surplus values of $5.3 million for Bryant, $73.8 million for Rodriguez, $19.4 million for Hancock and $14.7 million for Kirby. In other words the proposed trade represented a combined $107.9 million for $5.3 million.

Nearly every April for two decades I've attended a Friday-Saturday meeting on the Oregon Coast. At sunrise on Saturday I jog from the hotel to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse and back (about one-third on the beach, including a soaked crossing of a creek that empties on to the sand): One of my favorite places in the world. I never noticed whales there until perhaps a dozen whales appeared when I took my extended family to the lighthouse on a reunion in the summer of 2016.

Shouid I place a library hold on the 2019 book A Summer with Montaigne by Antoine Compagnon?

Expressed differently: What do I know?

"Or not" is the humble acknowledgment of a mere fan who has far less expertise and information than those in MLB front offices.