Hugh2

I’ll say it before and I’ll say it again, the Sox are better when Kike plays anywhere but SS. Great pitching performance. This is definitely not the best Sox team we’ve ever seen but if they can get the pitching and offense going at the same time they can stick around for a while.

Then you’re out Yoshida or Verdugo. Unless you’re playing Verdugo in CF. Which given the way this season has gone….isn’t the worse idea

Last year was a disaster, this year could be too, but getting under the tax line should be zero issue because….well they’re already under. Sox actually have a lot of room. Hypothetically they could take on salary to either lesson a prospect package for a player or buy some prospects.

If the Sox are in "sell mode" it wouldn't be the worse move. Bloom seems to love this sell-and-buy strategy at the deadline. Wouldn't mind seeing them cash in on someone like Verdugo and bringing in a big RHB. I'd love a CF/RF RH who can hit, or a RH SS with maybe 1.5 years of control left. Perfect bridge to Mayer. You could probably make moves like that and still be set up for an October run if everything breaks right. That kind of seems to be Blooms M.O. too......straddle the deadline.

Yeah, but who was available in the OF market this past season? I know how much you lose this question.

One can only hope he can pick up where he left off. He really set the roster straight by sliding into SS.

Not that I'm against selling high on Rafaela, but why do we think we are "selling high" on him? any deficiencies you or I can see in him you better believe a MLB team scouting him has seen. The risk of him not hitting because he swings at everything is built into their value models as well.

I mean, our we that concerned with the AAA roster.

Not really sure why people are getting upset by Dermody, he was literally acquired to be depth in case they needed a starter for a game and he served that purpose. THey obviously do NOT want to move Kluber and Pivetta back to the rotation (something I think few would be unhappy with around here) and they can't recall guys they just option down to Pawtucket, so they had limited bullpen options if they even did wanna move a guy out of the bullpen and into the rotation. All MLB teams end up making a few moves like this every year.

Devers has been a disappointment so far this season. I just don't think he's truly a #1 $300 million player. I think he has a better chance of being that guy if you slide a big-time bat in next to him. I think he can be a 1A 1B type player in the same way that Ortiz/Manny were to each other. Just another reason to go hard after Ohtani next year.

Yeah, well....he doesn't have to have a half-a-billion-dollar payroll to make some big splashes either.

I'm not one of these fans that's going to rag on the Sox when they don't land Ohtani......but I won't be upset if John Henry channels his inner Cohen and goes 480/10 and brings him into Boston.

First off when is the last time the Sox gave anyone $300 million? I mean you have Devers but that's it, no other example and he was an extension and not a FA. No, middling moves look like your Trevor Storys, Kenley Jansens, Adam Duvalls, Nathan Eovaldi, and Michael Wachas of the world. We've seen that strategy tilt in both directions. No better example that the 2013/14 seasons, where Drew/Victorino//Napoli helped you win a WS and then all your investments fell off the bridge the next year and you stunk. To me that's a real bridge year, bridge year doesn't mean NOT going for it. I'd say technically the 2013 WS team was a team that won during bridge years between the 2004/7 team and the 2015-2018 team. Yeah that's my argument, when I argue it's not worth going after Ohtani, but today I identify as someone who really really wants Ohtani on their team. I'm also not so sure he gets 600, even 500 is pushing it but I think he could eclipse that. Yes, teams are going to go hard after him, but it's like that for the top free agent or two every year. He's currently worth two 30 million players a year, but he's probably just going to be a DH 5-6 years into the contract. That puts him at about $450.....someone probably throws another 50 million at him somewhere. This is why I like Yamamoto, he might just as good and will cost 1/3 of Ohtani and that's assuming worse case scenario in a bidding for Yama. He's also 5-6 years younger than Ohtani too.

That's kind of been the Sox M.O. now......with mixed results.

But all it takes is one team willing to give him 1/10 for him to opt out of that contract. There's no way he pitches 4 years of that deal.....one way or another.

Mine too, the more I read about him the more I like him. Scouts liked him more than Senga. I really like this Roki Sasaki kid I keep reading about too. John Henry doesn't have the balls for it but you wonder how marketable and profitable it would be to have 3 japanese superstars on one team (Yamamoto/Yoshida/Roki) And you can probably have all three of those guys signed for less than Ohtani. But I suspect the bidding for Yama and Roki will get pretty high.

Well, there are a few names I could add to the list if ONE of them was a big-time name like Ohtani or Yamamoto (Yamamoto feels like more of a Boston bet). Like Jordan Montgomery for example. Yamamoto Montgomery Taylor Rosario That would be a nice haul, a perfect bridge to the next wave who can start helping you win now.

Some names I think the Sox really should be in on next year. Shohei Ohtani Yoshinobu Yamamoto Lucas Giolito Julio Urias Blake Snell. Amed Rosario Jun Hoo Lee Teoscar Hernandez Michael Taylor Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Would love to see 3-4 guys from this group with 2 of them being pitchers.

Probably, but prices are always going to be exorbitant unless you want to go dumpster diving and take chances on guys like Kluber having one more season left. If you're a G.M. and you're the most rational guy in the room, you will lose every single time. At some point, the Sox will have to throw some real money around if they want to sign a legit TOTRS. I'm not sure how many more premium arms are available next season. WIthout counting if feels like just a few more but next years class is younger and has less injury concerns. DeGrome, Rodon, and Verlander were the top 3 arms last winter

As is mine. We are talking Yama right? If I was John Henry I'd be all over Yama next year, and then Roki the year after.

Things look a lot different if Houck/Bello/Whitlock are locking down the rotation next year and Crawford/Wink are on point out of the pen.

A time to spend, ideally, which should be next year. Limit is reset and you have a much better starting pitcher class next year.

Kopech 2014 Houck 2017 Still, I agree that it is apparent the Sox have a bias towards position players. That point is true.

I mean, you bring up an interesting point. The Sox player development department looks much better on the other side of the ball. You can always trade from a surplus for what you need. Looking back at the last 10 years of the draft Sox have drafted 21 position players and 9 pitchers in rounds 1-3. A few notable 1st round picks we forgot in that time frame. Michael Kopech, Tanner Houck.

Is it really fair to call it 4/26? We could also call it a 3/36 deal too. It's a very wacky deal, but if the team doesn't want to pay him $16 million in 24/25 there's a really good chance he can find someone to pay him more than his $6 million player option.