Hugh2

To me, Abreu and DUran don't strike me as the type you lock up. I think they will be good in peak years and you will get their best years on team control. Look to lock up high-end talent, like Bello and Casas. Names like Abreu and Rafaela don't even belong in the same conversation as those two right now.

Even then, it's not like the 2nd base market is impressing anyone.

Ohtani might be a generational talent, but he's probably our last need on earth right now. He's a left handed hitting DH, at least in 2024. He will pitch again in 2025, and might not handle a full season's workload again until 2026 when he will be in his 30's. What if he's not the same pitcher? He's going to get $500 million still. So you're spending 50 million a year for a guy who won't even pitch for you next year. FOr less money you can literally have Nola and Yama+++++

No, it's not, but you're a lot closer to the problem going out and signing a second baseman than you are signing a 3B or a 1B.

Running the Boston Red Sox has still got to be one of the more lucrative jobs out there in the sports world. I wouldn't worry about people not wanting to come here.

If they're looking at adding infielders they would be looking up the middle

Yama/Nola or bust

If Sale finished top 10 in CY YOUNG voting would he even exercise his option?

Yeah, that's why I'm not trading for Mike Trout, unless say by some miracle the Angels really like Nick Yorke, that I'd be ok with. I'd be on board with a subsidized Mike Trout for Nick Yorke, but LA likely would not be. If LA trades him, the franchise might best be served taking whatever salary relief they can get. They're not very good from farm to big league club.

Is a team like LAA really in a position to eat a large chunk of that contract to have him play elsewhere? Even they were willing to do that, I don't think they can do it without getting a premium prospect in return. They're going to want Mayer, or Anthony plus. The thing about Trout is, maybe he's hit a wall. Maybe he's fine and healthy and considered the best player to ever play the game in 10 years or maybe he's just that really really really good player that just falls off a cliff after his 20's. If the Angels were willing to eat half the money and the prospects were reasonable, I think you HAVE to consider trading for Trout. I just don't see the Angels getting the return they want for him. They might be better off with him, if he has a good year next year his market value will rise substantially.

I don't disagree at all, and unless Henry channels his inner Cohen (spoiler alert, he won't) we will have to expect this team to have to make choices. It seems like a much more reasonable bet to spend on upgrading the pitching. Internally, there's more hope in the offense growing from what you got than the pitching internally, although I think the Boston bullpen would become much stronger by moving some of our starters there by going out and getting SP1 and SP3 in the open market. There's just not really any good RHB in this year's free agent class.

Not just that but we are going to want premium bats elsewhere. 2B? DH? That's just not an outfield that should be planned for at this point in time.

Yeah, I'm all about the youth movement, but it's not like any of those guys are All star MVP caliber potential, and it's just too many eggs in one basket for me. A good team needs balance of proven talent that is a veteran presence and young, gifted athletes playing at the min. If next year was a rebuilding year with no aspirations of competing, that outfield could work to see what you got. And, the 2025 FA is loaded with pitching too. Could make sense to load up that year with Mayer and Anthony looking to break thru to the bigs. But, I'm not sure anyone can stomach a non-compete thrown away year at this point. Maybe not even John Henry.

add Abreu and perhaps pumpkin again Duran to that mix and the outfield could look really really bad next year. Or not.

Why? do any of us really know how a guy like "Eddie Romero" for example would run a team? he's probably been one of the most valuable assets to this organization the last couple of decades and may be single-handedly more responsible for the amateur talent here more than any GM/CBO we've ever had. There are people that are within this organization, that didn't come and go with DD and Bloom but were here for Bogaerts, Betts, Devers, and countless others. Just because the MLB team failed, doesn't mean there aren't real gems within the org. Someone like Romero might very well fit that bill. Also, I don't think a GM from outside changes that. They will bring someone in who can implement their vision, whoever comes in will have some sort of mandate or frame under which they can operate.

BTV accepted Yoshida and Verdugo for Cabrera, still I doubt they make that deal. They don't want Yoshida's money, and even verdugo would be an expensive one year deal for a team that does not really want to take on payroll. I agree with Moon, a Duran/Rafaela/Abreu outfield is one that we would be putting a lot of faith into. Duran - has had many ups/downs in his young career. Looked like he finally figured it out this year, but in the second half he put up .696 OPS. The improved defense raises his floor, but he may not be more than a 1-2 war player, nice but not great. Rafaela - A rookie who is completely untested, the defense will be good but the bat has the capacity to fall apart at the MLB level. In a small sample size in Boston, he put up a .666 OPS with 28 K's to 4 walks. Abreu Just like Rafaela, but without the defensive floor. Perhaps more upside with the bat but does not profile as a premium bat and scouts have platoon concerns. Very untested with less than 100 MLB at bats, and went stone cold the last couple of weeks. I'm not saying all three of those guys won't be great, but 1-2 of them may fail, and even if all three succeed, you can have immense growing pains with all three. Too much unproven youth in my opinion, which creates too much uncertainty. That outfield could be really bad.

I don't think the Red Sox are going to roll out an outfield that consists of 2 rookies and 1 still somewhat unproven youngster. I don't think Verdugo is here long term, but I feel it's much more probable than not they retain him.

Holy hell, just looked up Hideki Matsui and it seems like a very similar comp. Both were 29 in their first year here, both played LF and were not very good at all. Matsui hit .287/.353/.435 Yoshi hit .289/.338/.445 Little less OBP little more SLP but almost the same OBP. Matsui put up 16.7 War in his first 5 years in NY. The crazy thing is Yoshida looked fine most of the year after a slow start, and now a slow finish has dragged his stats down a little bit. I think it's way too early to judge, but it's certainly not a disaster contract either, at least the guy can hit.

Fixed it for you

I really really like Justin Turner, but not enough to sign him here for his age 38 and 39 seasons. We have too many DH types on the roster.

Henry will spend some money, and there's literally nothing else to spend it on other than pitching. The position side of free agency is ugly, couldn't make an all-star lineup with it if you tried. The biggest bats in the upcoming offseason. Cody Bellinger OF (will be paid after sucking for years). LHH Matt Chapman 3B Chapman would be an upgrade defensively and is an RHH, but we already have a third baseman making $30 million and Chapman would be a big offensive downgrade. Jorge Soler OF health concerns, after a full season and upside with the bat will likely command a multi year deal. Would be a good RHH bat if healthy, but the defense would suffer. And I'm not sure he qualifies as a "big RHH bat" he's just a good RHH bat. Sox will likely either have to trade for big RHH bat, or make due with some platoons, which given some health might not be all that bad, especialy if they can find a bench bat that can hit from the right side and play better defense. One name who comes to mind if the Sox want to replace one or both of Turner/Duval is Harrison Bader. Doesn't look sexy at first glance with a career .706 OPS (.622 in 2023) but he can play good defense in the outfield at CF, and could probably play RF at Fenway too. While the offensive numbers don't pop he put up a .936 OPS against LHP this year and is a career .824 hitter vs. LHP If used correctly, he would be an offensive weapon against LHP, not a hole in your lineup and he would offer you plus defense in the outfield, and he would likely command the salary of a bench bat. Not the sexiest move at first glance, but if those moves fill in your roster and allow you to go BIG at SP1 and SP2, you could be looking at a dangerous team next year.

You’re on.

He invested in the farm, he didn’t invest more time into scouting guys personally. The Sox, under his guidance increased how much money they spend on trainer, player development, and increased the number of scouts nation wide. Like MVP said, he likely knew the guy at the top, as is with most GMs/CBOs, I doubt he has anything to do with 17-19 of the 20 guys drafted. Honestly, this is the way I like it. Sometimes your job at the top isn’t to be an expert at something but to put the right guys in the right places. As horrible a job Bloom did at the big league level, many of the changes and additions he made at the lower level may pay dividends for years to come.

Yeah, that is heavily implied in said scenario. If you are adding a guy to a roster, someone is getting subtracted. Sox probably could have signed Efflin for 3/45