harmony

FanGraphs ranks the Top 50 free agents while projecting contracts but not destinations: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2021-top-50-free-agents/

Tampa Bay is without an MLB-experienced catcher with the jettisons of Mike Zunino, Michael Perez and Kevan Smith. Do the Rays remain interested in Christian Vazquez? BTW, reliever Trevor May maintains an offseason home in Seattle where the Mariners look to rebuild their bullpen: https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2020/10/20/21519730/mariners-2021-free-agent-target-trevor-may

Infielder Jedd Gyorko is available:

https://www.overthemonster.com/2020/10/28/21538009/mlb-offseason-calendar-2020-2021

The Red Sox take trio off 40-man roster: Jose Peraza, Cesar Puello and Dylan Covey

The St. Louis Cardinals declined the option on second baseman Kolten Wong: https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/birdland/cardinals-nearing-todays-deadline-on-wongs-option-molina-wainwright-declared-free-agents/article_bf2e1946-25a3-5421-9d0d-7e758161f17d.html

Trivia: In the deadline trades between the Red Sox and the Mariners in 1996-97, what player produced the highest WAR for his new team? Boston surely relished the 0.5 fWAR Dave Henderson posted with the Red Sox (and, of course, the two-out, two-strike homer Hendu hit the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 1986 ALCS).

And to top it off the Mariners are envious of the Red Sox and their No. 4 pick in the 2021 draft.

Fortunes can change quickly. The Red Sox have a losing record (108-114) since the "best team ever" won the World Series on this date two year ago.

The Red Sox on Monday cleared slots on the 40-man roster: https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/1320819501546590215/photo/1 https://www.overthemonster.com/2020/10/26/21535184/boston-red-sox-roster-tzu-wei-lin-robinson-leyer-mike-kickham-zack-godley-andrew-triggs

The Boston Globe's two-part series on Chaim Bloom's first year with the Red Sox: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/22/sports/chaim-bloom-red-sox-first-year-analysis/?p1=Article_Inline_Text_Link https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/23/sports/after-year-what-have-we-learned-about-chaim-blooms-plan-red-sox/

Mookie Betts, unlike Babe Ruth, was awaiting free agency where he could decide where to play. Perhaps Mookie Betts did not want to play in Boston. Or perhaps he did.

My long-term memory is remarkable but at age 65 I can't remember speaking with a client last week. The 2009 adventure started with our Trail Blazers beating the Los Angeles Lakers in Portland on Friday evening. We caught an early Saturday morning flight to Long Beach before working out and showering at the 24 Hour Fitness across the street from Angel Stadium. Barely two days after the traffic death of Halo pitcher Nick Adenhart, the Red Sox toppled the Angels in an afternoon game. We then drove down to San Diego to watch the Giants overcome the Padres that evening. After overnighting at my wife's childhood home we attended a 7 am Easter Mass. One friend and I then flew over to Phoenix to watch the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks and following the afternoon game to hang out at Alice Cooperstown sports bar. We flew back to San Diego that evening and Monday morning drove to Dodger Stadium, stopping along the way at an Orange County convent to pick up my friend's sister the sister. After the Dodger home opener we spent the night at the convent before flying home the following morning. But I still can't remember what meeting I attended remotely just this morning.

Gate B was almost due west of home plate: http://mktg.mlbstatic.com/dodgers/documents/LAD-2020-parking_map.pdf I would take the side streets over from Los Feliz. Since moving away from Los Angeles 26 years ago I've been to only one game at Dodger Stadium. I drove up from San Diego in horrific traffic for the 2009 home opener against the San Francisco Giants. We were nearly late for the 1:16 pm start: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200904130.shtml My niece and her friends arrived in the fifth inning in true SoCal fashion. For the my friends and me, the game marked four MLB stadiums in three days starting with the Angels hosting the Red Sox.

For five years I lived four miles away from Dodger Stadium and drove the side streets to arrive at the less-traveled Scott Avenue entrance. I once walked the four miles to and from my home to a Sunday afternoon game at Dodger Stadium.

Seattle apparently prefers Domingo Tapia to Art Warren, Carl Edwards Jr., Nestor Cortes Jr. and Matt Magill, relievers whom the Mariners recently released.

This poster is a big fan of Steve Winwood but his death should not merit a thread on a baseball forum. With all respect, Spencer Davis is a far greater stretch.

On February 8, 2020, the Red Sox extended Andrew Benintendi at $3.4 million in 2020 and $6.6 million in 2021: https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/boston-red-sox/andrew-benintendi-17622/

This merely overweight poster (5'10" 209 pounds, 30.0 BMI) would object as well.

The MLB Red Sox website and Baseball Reference currently list Rafael Devers at 240 pounds: 40-Man Roster | Boston Red Sox WWW.MLB.COM The Official Site of Major League Baseball https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/deverra01.shtml Under "Young Graduates," SoxProspects lists Devers at 235 pounds: https://soxprospects.com/players/devers-rafael.htm Wikipedia lists Devers at 195 and 210 pounds: https://www.google.com/search?q=rafael+devers+weight&rlz=1C1KGNW_enUS836US836&oq=rafael+devers+weight&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i457j0i22i30l2.15742j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 More on Devers' weight: https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2020/07/rafael-devers-makes-another-error-but-boston-red-soxs-ron-roenicke-not-worried-about-his-defense-or-shape-hes-in-compared-to-spring.html

FWIW Rafael Devers' current listed height and weight of 6-foot-0, 240 pounds, give him a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 32.5, safely in the obese range: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm BMI is not always fair to athletes (and some non-athletes).

Elsewhere a poster wrote: "Devers is so much more talented then Panda is/was. Panda might have been pretty good, but Devers has MVP potential and has already proven that." In response: Rafael Devers has posted an OPS+ of 115 and 8.2 fWAR in 392 games as he approaches his 24th birthday this week: https://www.fangraphs.com/players/rafael-devers/17350/stats?position=3B Pablo Sandoval posted and OPS+ of 122 and 7.3 fWAR in his first 346 games over three regular seasons that ended less than two months after his 24th birthday: https://www.fangraphs.com/players/pablo-sandoval/5409/stats?position=3B Over the those periods Devers posted at a rate of 2.10 fWAR per 100 games and Sandoval 2.11 fWAR per 100 games. Devers posted 6.1 bWAR and Sandoval 6.9 bWAR. FWIW Devers finished 12th in the AL MVP voting in his age 22 season while Sandoval finished seventh in the NL MVP voting in his age 22 season. Each contributed to a World Series title at a young age. The career paths of Devers and Sandoval may diverge but they had similar production in their early MLB careers.

Good point.

Has lefthander Eduardo Rodriguez appeared in a recorded interview since being shut down in July? The media reports in the past month quote second-hand sources who apparently have spoken with Rodriguez. The most positive prognosis has come from the lefthander’s agent, who might not be the most objective source. The Red Sox have only 45 days to decide whether to tender a contract to Rodriguez, who is projected to earn $8.3 million as a 28-year-old in his final year of team control. The tender decision should depend on medical updates between now and December 2. A week ago the Boston Globe reported that Rodriguez "had more than two months of total inactivity leading up to his reexamination in Boston in late September. As of that time, the team anticipated that in a best-case scenario, it wouldn’t be until at least mid-October that he could start engaging in light exercise on a treadmill." https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/10/sports/closer-look-red-sox-pitcher-eduardo-rodriguezs-struggle-with-myocarditis/ We should all hope for a full recovery but we tend to accept the most positive health news regarding a person we care about. The public does not have access to Rodriguez's medical records (nor should we) but the apparent lack of direct information from Rodriguez is cause for some skepticism. The next six-plus weeks could be interesting.

And the Dodgers would add to their luxury tax calculation. The Dodgers, who gave out a 12-year, $365 million contract, probably have more luxury tax concerns than the Red Sox.