Nick

We're at $49M per Cot's with following salaries included. 1 $9M Verdugo 2 $8M Pivetta 3 $5M Urias So pitching and right handed bat is needed. Per MassLive, Sox was looking to mover Verdugo at trade deadline (no I didn't make it up). Without the three, we have $70M+. I don't see why we can't get 2 top tier starters ($30M + $25M), and spend $15M on a right handed bat. That's a risk I'm willing to take as a new GM. What are we afraid of? Signing 3 FA won't weaken our farm. QUIT f***ING NICKEL AND DIMING STUFF, GO SIGN A LEGIT STARTERS. IF THEY GET HURT, THEY GET HURT. WE CAN'T FINISH LOWER THAN WHAT WE DID THIS YEAR. MAKE A BOLD MOVE OR TWO. ps. by the way, I'm as excited as a White Sox fan having Beni back as much as Verdugo coming back.

I read today that working as assistant GM in Chicago, he basically did his job from his home. I found that odd. I have no issues with him in his new job. Working from home....?

If he finishes third, he gets us an international pick?

So Rookie of the Year merits a 31st pick? And second and third place finishers would garner Red Sox extra international draft picks? I know about Casas but does Yoshida qualify here? Is it different for a 'rookie' from another country? Obviously he was not on anyone's top 100 prospect list.

MLB Traderumors projects Verdugo will earn $9.2M. I don't really care what we get for him. I think there's better use of that money.

MassLive positional review, Catching WHAT’S COMING FROM THE MINORS? "The Red Sox believe they found their catcher of the future in the draft, as they selected Virginia standout Kyle Teel with the 14th overall pick. Teel, already ranked as Boston’s No. 5 prospect by SoxProspects.com after raking (.363 average, .977 OPS) in his first 26 pro games and reaching Double-A, is the Sox’ best catching prospect in years and could be ready to impact the major league roster at some point in 2024. The Red Sox are also excited about 18-year-old Johanfran Garcia and also have Nathan Hickey, Brooks Brannon and Stephen Scott in the system. But Teel is the star of the catching ranks and the organization’s future plans at the position revolve around him. Wong’s season was generally impressive. Though he posted just a .673 OPS and struck out 134 times, he showed some pop (25 doubles, 9 homers) and the Red Sox believe there’s more in the tank offensively. Wong, however, was most impressive defensively, ranking fourth among all catchers with 4 defensive runs saved (DRS) and throwing out 21% of would-be base stealers (league average). For most of the season, he ranked among the top of the league in many defensive metrics." Definitely we saved money here trading Vaz.....twins are obligated for 2 more years at 10M per year. And look what we got in return for a 3 month rental. Good job, Bloom. Any questions? next...

Are we now saying that in order for us to win the World Series, we'd win despite having Devers and Casas? The guy we gave $300M and the guy more likely to get a long term deal in near future? We also gave a long term deal to a shortstop who hasn't played much and doesn't know the strike zone if I drew it up? Or another long term guy who hits for average but has no power and a liability in left field? So much so that instead of paying JD $10M but now we will pay $18M to fill the DH slot. My head is spinning.

Kike has made me blow up twice on this forum. First was Cora's insistence that he lead off. After getting demoted finally, he reestablished his offense enough to regain his leadoff spot. (ie, he earned it, not given to him) Then the fiasco at short on top of not hitting. I finally have a peace of mind. I hated everything about Cora when Kike was around the last two years.

This fan base was willing to give Christian Arroyo a starting spot at 2B. Not sure what all the commotion is about, isn't Reyes capable defensive 2B? Everything else other than acquiring starting pitching is meaningless.

I loved the extension on Eovaldi knowing that Porcello's final year was coming up. I also thought signing Story was a good idea no matter what the FO said publicly about it wasn't about Xander's final contract year. But maybe it should have been another player. Simien from Texas comes to mind. In great part, Bloom was always looking for reclamation project and that ultimately doomed him. Simien has played in all but 3 or 4 games the last two years. I always like Schwarber in big part because he's an IU grad. He caught and batted second for the Hoosiers when they had their success. I realized the argument about JD still being on the payroll. I thought they could at least co-exist for one year. I rather have Schwarber than Yoshida. Power and defense still wins in short series, Yoshida has neither. I seriously doubt Ohtani would sign with the Sox. But it sure would perk me up if we gave an offer he has to think about. I will puke, if our first signing is a has been pitcher for $8M. I wonder if Dave Dombrowski is available.

No one wants this job. I'll take it. What is so hard about it? Ng is the latest high-profile candidate to eschew a chance to interview with the Red Sox, joining Phillies GM Sam Fuld, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes, former Marlins boss and current MLB executive Michael Hill and former Rangers GM (and current Rays adviser) Jon Daniels, Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey, Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen and assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye and others. Red Sox assistant GM Raquel Ferreira removed herself from the equation, as well, citing family reasons. After interviewing, former Astros GM James Click, who won a World Series in Houston a year ago, pulled himself out of the running. We can have $67M at our disposal by trading away Pivetta, Urias and Verdugo along with Turner opting out. CC Wong/McGuire 1B Casas. 2B Reyes SS Story 3B Devers LF Duran CF Rafaela RF Abreu DH Yoshida SP1 Bello SP2 Sale SP3 Kutter SP4 ????? SP5 ????? Clos Jansen SUp Martin BP1 Whitlock BP2 Houck BP3 Schrieber BP4 Wickowski BP5 Bernardino BP6 ?????? How to spend $67M Pay Pivetta $8M to take up one of the openings. We can do many things with remaining $59M. If it was up to me, spend another $50M on two starting pitchers, split the money $30/$20 or $25/$25. Then resign Duval for the balance. Then in 2025, another $50M will open up as Martin, Jansen and Sale will be gone along with $8M for Pivetta. It has to be a two year plan.

There's really not much to discuss.......blah blah blah Show me the money won't happen until the World Series is over.

funny....

Per MassLive SS/CF Kiké Hernández: F- (Cotillo) / F (McAdam) He sucked and shame on Cora for playing him longer than he had to....anything was better. 2B Christian Arroyo: F (Cotillo) / F (McAdam)....and some of us thought he would be okay as a starter INF Pablo Reyes: B (Cotillo) / C (McAdam)..ultimate utility guy....he's not fat like others SS Yu Chang: C (Cotillo) / D (McAdam)....I thought he was solid, of course he looked good after the Kike experiment 2B Luis Urías: D (Cotillo) / D (McAdam) 2B Enmanuel Valdez: C (Cotillo) / C- (McAdam)...I'm pretty sure Moon thinks Urias is better 3B Rafael Devers: B+ (Cotillo) / A- (McAdam) And we worry about this guy after insisting for 365 days how we had to extend him. 1B Triston Casas: A (Cotillo) / B+ (McAdam)...His 2022 numbers to Duran's 2023 numbers were similar. Yet we harp on Duran's small sample size. DH/1B Justin Turner: A (Cotillo) / A (McAdam) SS Trevor Story: D+ (Cotillo) / D+ (McAdam)....still better than Kike C Reese McGuire: C (Cotillo) / C- (McAdam) average is okay since the team was below average C Connor Wong: C (Cotillo) / C (McAdam)...ditto OF Rob Refsnyder: D (Cotillo) / D (McAdam)...never get enamored with mediocre baseball player.....D is still a D. Good thing we locked him up for 2024. OF Adam Duvall: B (Cotillo) / B (McAdam) CF Jarren Duran: A- (Cotillo) / B (McAdam)...why trade a future all star? LF Masataka Yoshida: B (Cotillo) / B (McAdam) at some point most of you turned on him. I thought he did what he was asked. RF Alex Verdugo: C (Cotillo) / C+ (McAdam)....and many here can't live without him. $10M for this guy?

Some of you have unrealistic expectations. You want a team not only is a playoff contender but more assurance than not that we get to the world series. I don't see 2024 as a make or break season. We have core group of younger players. Obviously it needs big pieces in starting rotation. I just want a team that's more competitive than this year's team. We maybe two or three years away. It took Texas two years of roster additions to get to where they are...... I'm not sure if the Orioles or the Dodgers fans are just happy that they won 100 games. I wouldn't be. I want the World Series title. We're not good enough right now. We need several additions and maturation from several youngsters.

Exhibit A Baltimore Orioles Exhibit B Los Angeles Dodgers 100 win season means nothing come playoff time. I for one am happy that the Dodgers lost. Yep, it has to do with Betts. They definitely will go hard after Ohtani. Should we consider reuniting with JD?

Yep....

I thought you would like it...not funny huh?

I'm going to put on my gambling hat. Fact #1 Majority of top 'prospects' flame out, I've been told. (Bellhorn can fact check me on this) Fact #2 At worst, Sox will have a very good defensive shortstop for maybe another 5 years. Perhaps it's time to trade our top three prospect Mayer before he blames out for an established pitcher. We keep Wong, Casas, Story, Devers, Duran, Rafaela and Abreu as our core position players. By all means, add a Duvall or a Turner type on a short deal. Kyle Teel should be up to the majors by 2025, reinforcement for Wong. People on this board believe Roman Anthony will become a high end hitting outfielder for the Sox. He's a keeper. Our bullpen should be solid, Houck, Whitlock and perhaps Kutter joining in. Departing Martin and Jansen will be replaceable in 2025. We have other position players coming up. Didn't we draft bunch of shortstops anyway? Go sign some FA starting pitching, trade our farm players for a middle of the road starting pitching also. Let's line them up SP1 through SP10.

I have absolutely no worries about Dugo becoming a free agent. Second coming of Beni.

I never made a comparison between Crawford to Garrett. I just think it's premature to move Crawford to the pen. 1 Bello 2 Sale, healthy, obviously a big question mark 3 Pivetta, assuming he does not regress as he did I believe in 2022, hot May/June, followed by bad starts? I'm guessing Bellhorn. I didn't bother to look it up. 4 Crawford 5 Houck Let's start playing the musical chair. I'd like to see 3 eliminated.

Moon has him going to the bullpen. And we trade a prospect(s) for a starter to replace him.

It's worth the risk Moon. If you sit on him too long, he play out to his free agency. He was able to make adjustments offensively this year. Sure, pick away. I'll f***ing take a $80M risk for 6-8 years on him.

First baseman Triston Casas, starter Brayan Bello and outfielder Jarren Duran stand out as the players the Sox could look to lock up this winter, with starter Kutter Crawford, catcher Connor Wong and rookie outfielders Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela also in the mix for pre-arbitration deals. On the latest episode of MassLive’s Fenway Rundown podcast, team president/CEO Sam Kennedy confirmed that early deals will be a priority for Boston this winter. “We should be able to determine which players would qualify for longer-term extensions, whether it’s Bello, whether it’s Abreu, whether it’s Duran or Casas. These are really important decisions that our baseball operations people have to make.”, Sam Kennedy I pay attention to what the executives say. Many scoffed at the idea of me including Rafaela and Abreu in our core group, and NOT Verdugo. Hell, Sam Kennedy even mentions Duran, and many here doesn't think he hasn't proven himself yet. #1 priority is Bello #2 priority is Casas I think we have at least another year before jumping in on Duran, Kutter and Houck. Two years on Wong, Rafaela and Abreu. We don't have to jump in all at once. My belief is it should be done after the second or third year.

There's a difference between poking fun at Cora so that his fans come out of the woodwork and defend him versus flat out being critical about it. That's the part I enjoy, the part where his fan base come defend him. I don't work for the Sox. I know NOTHING about what is going on behind the scene. Scheduled days off are his way of doing things. I may not like it but he's the manager. I only took couple of exceptions with him this year. And it was probably not his fault, 100%. I think you know what that was. I'm done talking about THAT. And by the way, I don't think I've ever criticized Cora for why he got suspended. See, I'm not all negative.