Hugh2

Agreed. I want the Red Sox to start spending more money. But I want that money going everywhere. I want investments in better players but also scouts, of the eye and analytic kind, I want more trainers and coaches, better ones too.

Sox Payroll is at about $174 million right now (for luxury tax purposes) the first cap is 237 million, the second is 257 million. You can assume if a team is willing to go over one threshold theres' not much stopping them from spending up until the next cap. Seeing how they reset last year one can assume the budget or plausible max budget may be $83 million dollars. This number may vary, does Piveta get traded if two starters are signed? because then you can up that number to $91 million, but you also figure they want about $10 million in wiggle room. Lets be fair and say they have about $73 million of AAV to add if they wanted. Sale and Pivetta would already be locked in to allow them to reset again the year after if they want. I'm by no means saying the Sox will do this, given their recent track record it would be awful bet. But the money is there to sign both Yamamoto and Montgomery. I really feel like we're getting one, my pipe dream is to have both, but one would be fine. Breslow seems to be making a lot of Bloom-esq moves, which many of us never had a problem with but rather we were bothered by his inability to make "the big move" the big move is still out there this offseason. Minus one Ohtani.

Last offseason was won by the Mets and the Padres. The Mets spent $343 million and went 75-87 The Pads spent $256 million and went 82-80 and had to take out a loan to make payroll and are selling assets. I want the Sox to spend more, but I also want them to not freak out and just throw a bunch money arouna and outbid everyone just to say they won something. I want them to spend the money wisely.

Yama will play for whoever offers him the best deal. I seriously doubt rolling out the red carpet with some pretty faces is going to move the needle. FWIW Marino Pepen said last night that the Sox strategy was to meet with Yamamoto last, which Yamamoto has agree too. Feels like the type of thing you would do if you wanted to top the best offer out there. Also, not one single free agent who was reportedly at the top of the Sox wish list has signed yet, but I can understand why people are skeptical after the last few years. But Yamamoto, Montgeomery, and a RHB were the top of the wish list. The first two are still free agents. Sox reportedly are looking in the trade market for an upgrade at 2nd. Bullpen is already looking overcrowded with guys fighting for a position, adding 1-2 starters only makes that group of pitchers fighting for a spot larger. Really feels like a trade is coming soon. Say whatever you want about this team, but as of right now, the offseason they wanted is still 100% out there.

The evidence that she set him up and concocted other victims to come up with a similar is story is much much much stronger than the evidence ever was against him. And his career and life were dramatically changed. He deserves his life back. She belongs in jail.

For one year then you can plug Mayerrrrr……Oh wait.

He's also not as horrible there as 5gold seems to suggest, and in 2022 he was actually plus there. Could he have a bounce back season with the glove too? His 3.2 fWar is a lot better than what the Sox got out of the position .5 WAR BTV accepts Angel Bastardo and Alex Verdugo for Gleyber Torres.

And it's for one year, and it's a perfect bridge to Mayer, AND you can offer him a QO and get a pick. By 2025 these players should be playing in Boston or very close. His RHB also balances out the lineup very nicely. I also think the totality of the defense can still be much much better next year.

Gleyber Torre's 3.2 FWar last year would have led ALL RED SOX POSITION PLAYERS. He makes the team much much better. Players Gleyber is much better than: Whit Merrifield Ahmed Rosario Luis Arias Emmanuel Valdez Can't get a 5 tool player at every position. That would be a good trade, actually, the Sox would have to throw in a prospect to make it work if you go by BTV values. Gleyber > Verdugo.

Better than what we had there last year, a LOT better. He's here for one year, and you get a pick for him too when he declines a Q.O. Also, errors is the worst metric to measure defense by. An error is just NOT making an out, guys make outs all the time that are scored hits on other guys because they're slow.

We might be competing with the Yankees for Donovan, if they get him Torres might be available. It could make sense for rare trade. Gleyber Torres for Alex Verdugo. Resign Duval (or get Bader) and go pitching pitching pitching.

Omg, they’re paying him 2 million. That’s less than what you pay a bench bat. He’s fine, he’s a bench guy who hits lefties very well. He’s a bargain at that price.

I think he meant that in terms of him being an option here

I don’t think this is indicative of anything. If Verdugo IS traded, I’d expect another move e.g. Soto. Alternatively, If the Sox make such a move I’d be expecting an outfielder to be traded away

Although……he is a RHB

Mitch Garvers pop time is 2.0 Not awful, not good. His bat is nice but catcher is not a position I want to go offense first. Especially with a pitching staff that desperately needs help. Wong could stand to improve in some areas but he’s a much better starting catcher than Garver ever was.

Wong also has elite pop times while Garver is bottom of the barrel. Seeing how Mitch caught about 30 games (guessing without looking it up I know that’s close) one has to wonder how ugly his subpar defense would get with more playing time. Which he will if you dump McGuire. I was disappointed in McGuires season, but it’s only one year, he’s been better in the past with much much better pop times, he’s a lot cheaper as a back up. With Teel on the way adding Garver just seems more about adding a RHB bat and less about plugging up a hole.

If you want Yoshida to stay in left and have Garver replace McGuire and split time at DH I don't hate it. But I don't want him catching too many games. I don't think he has the strongest arm and the running game plays a larger role in todays game.

This is why I don’t like BTV, how an organization evaluates and values a prospect can vary wildly and teams aren’t going to just make a trade for the sake of it because it’s good on paper when it doesn’t address an immediate need that’s is important to them. This is exactly why BTV is useless at times, yet we all still use, including me.

Do you honestly think this management team is going to fill every single need we have? That's a packaged question but the short answer is no. However every hole is always filled, the question is where do you allocate more resources???. A platoon in the outfield can plug up a hole and that may work fine, but when you're rolling out 1-2 platoons with guys who absoluteyl can't field, and might not be able to hit MLB pitching and you trade away a starter then you're just creating a hole and banking on everything smelling like roses and working out in our favor. I'm not talking about pouring resources into the outfield. I'm talking about NOT subtracting from the outfield. Polar opposites. OF shoots up the list if you trade away a starting right fielder. Although I'd still put Starting pitcher at the top of the list. We also don't know how the Sox are viewing the offseason. They might be looking a guy like Houck who pitched as good as any #1 starting pitcher in innings 1-3, but then fell off. If the Sox see that as a stamina problem and not a stuff problem they might view him as a starter if he can add endurance. He is reportedly making that a focus of his offseason. I still think pitching should be and IS a priority but my point there is they might only really be looking to add one solid starter and not two.

Let me just state for the record that I'm talking about starting-caliber outfielders. I see two on that list if you want to count Yoshida as an outfielder and not a DH. Duran has to show me he can be consistent, and Abreu and Rafaela are almost completely untested. One might always just be a guy who adds value on defense, and the other might just be a platoon player. Could they be more? absolutely, but you're banking on that AND plugging Yoshida or rolling with a platoon? Does anyone else remember when the Boston Red Sox use to act like the Boston Red Sox?

Calling those guys "veterans" is a bit of a stretch. Refsnyder played in a career-high 82 games this year with an exciting .682 OPS. Duvall was here for one year and doesn't stay healthy for a full season. Yoshida doesn't speak English and has only been on this team (and country) for not even a year now. Those aren't exactly known, veteran leaders, who you can plug in for a good 150 games + a year. Pretty much none of those guys are that guy. None of them.

I'm all for the youth movement, you've had enough conversations with me in here to know I can be a bit of a prospect homer at times but I just really value having a solid foundation of guys you can depend on in your lineup, even if they're not all stars. Verdugo isn't a great player, but he's a good player, and you can pretty much slot him in for a 2 WAR season next year. If all of Rafaela, Duran, and ABreu are MASHING between AAA and Boston next year you can always trade him at the deadline to some team desperate to upgrade their outfield.

We have 6 outfiedlers? That group consists of guys like Refsnyder. That would be like pointing out we have John Schrieber when talking about building a rotation. I like having a consistent player you know can play good D and at least provide you with an average offense. I'm also good at banking on him having a good contract year. His track record is there, even if he's not an all star he's a fine player to have under control. Duran literally had two good months, he could turn back into a pumpkin, Yoshida is an ok hitter who can't field, and Refsyner is a strictly platoon bat. Rafaela is largely unproven, and might even need more seasoning in AAA, Abreu is largely untested, right now it appears he's playing above ALL his projections. Can any one of these things happen? Yes, its much more likely that they do not and perhaps even more likely none of them do. I'd bank on one of them turning out to be a great roster addition in 2024. That outfield just seems like complete irresponsibility to me. Every. single. year. we fall in love with guys who play above their capabilities and EVERY. SINGLE. TIME we expect so much more out of them. What's the saying "the definition of insanity". No one is ever going to convince me that outfield is a good ideal and I"m about 99% sure the Sox agree with me. I will literally buy a pair of Red Sox, put them in a blender, chop them up and eat them if that happens. Mark my words.

Yes it was a mistake, you pointed it out, thank you. And I clarified it.