Hugh2

Well......wasn't he fired? presumably for not doing what he was being told to do. I'm trying to imagine what it would look like if he was John Henrys good little boy and did what he was told. He'd probably look just as inept as Bloom.

The whole point in developing guys like the big three and getting them to the bigs is to augment them with veterans and proven talent around them E.G. actually signing guys to free agency. The absence of doing so just makes you the.......well apparently it makes you the Boston Red Sox.

If the front half of your rotation is strong, I actually love these types of moves. You have your Crochets at the top locking down the rotation and if Sandoval busts it's whatever because you have a strong 1-4, and if he does what you think he can do your team is a ton better and you can offer the Q.O. and receive draft pick compensation and more $$$ in the draft. Personally, I think the Sox should do one of these every single year, as long as they're not their primary moves.

I wonder how Dave D would have operated if he wasn't fired and agreed to conform to John Henry's mandate of no long term contracts and to build up the farm?

Yeah but it wasn't so much that we went over a cliff and more like John Henry drove us off one.

We like shiny new object kids because we know that they're cheap. If the Sox actually acted like the 3rd largest market in the country they'd use that to augment a team of FA talent mixed in with the youth. That's how LA does it, they sign big time guys but they actually develop and bring up their own young talent as well. Also, when I have a "roman anthony" as my "shiny new toy" I've been on him for 3 years....the FA Shiny new Toy crows literally has a new toy they want every month. So that analogy doesn't really apply to the prospect model.

I've been a firm believer that Patrick was a lock for the rotation, the 4th or 5th spot. He does a lot of things the Sox like and you can imagine that they see a guy that they think they can adjust and turn into the guy he was in 2022. He has great breaking stuff, I could see a scenario where if he comes back and has added a tick or two of velocity that he's going to shut a lot of people up around here. The thing is, he's done nothing for us and doesn't have much of a track record before he came here. He was injured all of last year and didn't contribute anything but the Sox knew that. I know there was some hope he might be able to come back at the end of last year but this signing was all about 2026. Now with that said, could the Sox still shift gears and decide that he's just not the guy anymore and other moves can move him down? Maybe they have more confidence in Oviedo, Crawford, and Early to fill out those 4th and 5th spots and move on???? I'm actually at a place now where that would not surprise me.

Wouldn't win now be more in line with, well lets' keep Mayer for 3B and trade for Marte (with other pieces) to play 2nd. Or play Mayer at 2nd and sign Bregman to play 3rd? What I find fascinating about this whole thread is how somewhere Mayer has to be traded for the Sox to be competitive and there's no one else we could possibly trade for.

Easily? I have a lot of faith that Roman Anthony is going to be an absolute monster sooner rather than later. He was the #1 prospect in all of baseball for good reason.

Per Bradfo the Market for Duran is heating up.

I'd be fine with this.

People do remember that 100 loss teams HAVE had elite elite players on them and that you need 9 guys in a lineup and a few pitchers every single night to win? YOu have to either develop prospects, pay $$$, or trade prospects for MLB quality players. That's it, those are your only 3 options. if you 1. trade away all your prospects for a few players and 2. are unwilling to spend the money then guess what? you're stuck with the team you have. I'm not sure trading prospect capital to fill two holes while opening up four is good for business. If we were the LA Dodgers and I knew Henry would just go out and throw some money at a few guys I'd be more for that.....but we are not the Dodgers.

Mets could really use Duran more than the Diamonbacks and they have some pieces that might entice AZ. Maybe a three way trade with Boston/NY/ARZ is in the works.

If we trade Mayer for Marte we are at the LT line and we still have two infield holes to fill. Absolutely nothing has changed, except your budget. I propose anyone who is advocating for a Marte trade with Mayer most include realistic options for 3B and 1B for the Sox.

I've said this many many many times over but I'm speaking more from the aggregate state of mind, which is why I said 100 Mayers for 100 Martes. the vast majority of those 100 Martes aren't putting up War in their mid 30's that they put up at 30. Guys might get paid for what they did, but its' better business to predict what guys will do. I think most of us here agree that as guys age they get worse and the 33-35 years are some of the most unforgiven when it comes to decline. 100 vs 100. Now from a practical matter, again as I've stated over and over again we have more than one hole in the infield. Trading an infielder for an infielder might be nice if it's an upgrade for a year or two but you have the same EXACT number of holes to fill. I'll reiterate a point I made earlier. The best bet, surest thing we have in our infield is Trevor Story, after him it's Mayer and who else? David Hamilton? I'm all for trading for Marte, but I'm looking to plug up a whole and expand the lineup not just get a slight upgrade at one position.

admittedly I'm not too familiar with Arizonas needs and wants, but I tried to do some online research, minimal but I did look into it. Their biggest needs appear to be Starting pitching, relief pitching, and a first baseman. Maybe Duran makes more sense for another team in another trade, or maybe we can get a three way going with Boston/Arizona and whoever wants Duran.

Yes and then I told you that I don't think they'd want Duran and you said that Bello was still in there to which I replied it's going to take more than that.......because it will.

BTV accepts Brayan Bello/Payton Tolle/Dorian Soto for Ketel Marte

Bello plays the position of pitcher, but Bello for Marte is something entirely different than Bello/Duran for Marte as you suggested. If you're removing Duran you have a lot of value to make up

What do you place those odds on? quantifiable stats and studies outlining the data of thousands of baseball players comparing their war at specific ages noting trends and even more specifically the results for top 25 prospects????????? Or is that just your guy instinct that likes Marte?

The Diamonbacks, if they're not getting someone like Mayer back, almost certainly want pitching.

There's a pretty simple solution for all this. Don't trade Mayer for Marte, trade someone else for Marte.

I was going to respond to your last larger post but I was pretty much going to say exactly what you were responding to here. problem is our infield is all holes and question marks right now. imagine being told a year or two ago our safest bet in the infield was Trevor Story followed by all question marks. If we had less question marks a Mayer for Marte trade is more justified, but you’re filling one hole and opening up another. So there’s really no money saved for other moves at all. You still need a 3B and a 1B and with $15 million less to spend.

Schwarber is a freak of nature, he’s still elite elite for bat speed and exit velocity.