Hugh2

He was moved to the outfield because he was blocked in the IF, and the Sox thought his bat would be ready to help the team in 2021. Sox moved Betts off 2nd when he had all the makings of a GG caliber defender there. Duran was a much better defender at 2nd than he is anywhere in the outfield. Not a plus defender, but he would make the routine plays and not embarrass himself

I don’t think Hosmer and Casas are ever on this roster at the same time for a while. I’d rather give JDM a QO and keep him as DH. When Casas can play, Hosmer is a waste of space on this roster.

I think the Sox are calculating that Correa snd Turner are going to suppress Bogaerts market, and the money he thinks is out there for him is not. Xander is getting paid, if the Sox won’t budge someone will pay him more, but I suspect when they money they though was there is not the Sox could probably match an offer to keep Bogaerts, and that number is one his side would reject right now.

Well lets be fair, no one complained when they released JBJ. But honestly, I'd rather have him than Duran right now.

I know this sounds crazy, but as of right now it looks like releasing JBJ was the wrong move. Seriously, if Duran isn't hitting how much worse off are we? same black hole in the lineup except we go from one of the best CFers in baseball to the worse...by far.

Why not put Duran back at 2B? it's his natural position and he obviously has zero ability to play the outfield. Sox might have a need up the middle as well if Bogaerts walks.

If you're not resigning Bogaerts, I'm moving Story to SS and Duran to 2B. Sign Judge to play RF and let Kike handle CF. Offer JDM a QO and if he takes it great, there's your DH. Personally, I think Bogaerts gets resigned. That team above could be horrible.

There has to be some gap between what we know, and what they know. I have a very hard time believing that Bloom is ever operating without the approval or under the guidance of Ownership. In other words, I don't believe Bloom wanted a full-scale firesale with ownership completely in the dark and then John Henry came in and said "no don't do this" right in the middle of the trade deadline. I'm not going to say I know exactly what was up, but I don't believe there's that lack of communication between Bloom and the F.O. If there was he would have been fired last year.

I didn't say it doesn't happen, I'm just sayign it doesn't really stop players from being traded.....Hosmer was after all traded still.

And yet the Red Sox average more than double the Tampa payroll year after year. I agree, you have to keep some guys, otherwise why would anyone ever want to invest in a jersey? But if you know they're not going to resign then why wouldn't you trade them if you know you're going nowhere this year (Bogaerts at least)? This is for arguments sake, I think there's a decent chance Bogaerts resigns here.

I have no idea what the statistics are, but it seems that no-trade clauses are almost never exercised. Or perhaps, behind the scenes what we don't see is player x saying "yeah I'm not going there, trade me somewhere else". I have a hard time believing most players say not to go to a contender for 1/2 a season when their team is in the gutter.

I have a hard time believing that Bloom and ownership weren't on the same page leading up to the deadline. I'm not saying you're wrong, not at all, who knows.....but if that's the case that's on ownership. If anyone here can imagine having a job where your mandate is changed when you're right in the middle of a project you can realize how impossible it makes it to do a good job.

If that truly is the case, then we should have traded Bogaerts, and should trade Devers this offseason.

What the Sox need to contend is more depth in the bullpen and good relievers who can pitch frequently which is why I think Whitlock has to go to the rotation. They also need a CFer, really really need a good centerfielder. Duran is not the guy, the Red Sox effectively have three left fielders starting in the outfield right now and that's not good. Now they really need a catcher as well, actually, they're going to need two. I think Wong/McGuire can be an upgrade for the #2 catching slot over plawecki but they need to replace CV, either by resigning Christian Vasquez or by signing Wilson Contreras. Anything short of those two guys is not good. What they need next year is effectively this. CF RF DH 1B C RP SP2 I think you can fit 1 or 2 of those holes internally, Hosmer should be fine until Casas is ready and he may be good to go to start the year. I wouldn't mind seeing the Sox make a run at Judge, resign Bogaerts, sign one of Contreras or Vasquez and trade for some pitching. There are some intriguing options on the market for starting pitchers, some ACE caliber guys who might come a little cheaper due to injury and age, if you want to take a chance at these guys bouncing back you could make a run at Kershaw/DeGrom, I also like Nola as well buy he will likely cost more. I'm not opposed to trading for a pitcher, but if you're expecting an ACE caliber guy to come back be prepared to give up 2 of our top 5 prospects +++ Teams are going to want Mayer plus. Now if you go after a guy who has one year left on his contract the cost should be less. Think of the Mookie Betts trade. The argument in defense of the Sox the last couple years have been being up against the Luxury tax and having a depleted farm system, both those factors are gone this offseason.....so it's going to be interesting to see what they do.

I think I wouldn't mind Nate taking it, Sox need to bolster their rotation and they can't afford another hole in it. JDM, I'm not so certain, but on the other hand the Sox don't need another hole in their lineup either.

I get the philosophy of buying and selling, what I don't get is not getting any bullpen help. If you're only getting marginally better while everyone else is getting much better you're effectively getting worse. I would have sat all expiring contract guys down, told them this team isn't going to make it and we're selling you to a contender, we love you and we value you and we are going to make a serious run at bringing you back next year (really just X and CV), and if you don't come back Ces't la vie Boston will always have a love for you blah blah blah. Tank for that #1 pick, which we don't have to be the worse team in the league to get anymore with the new lottery system next year. They also could have reset the luxury tax limit, and with a ton of cash to spend next year and a farm system that has been built back up again the Sox have all the ammunition to fill in the holes and build a legit contending team next year.

New Soxprospects rankings out. While ranked #5 in the system, Miguel Bleis has been ranked with the highest ceiling in the Sox system. This guy might be the next great international signing. Wish he was three years older, could use a good CFer right about now.

Their their their their GRRRRRRR

It could be slightly better and still below what you would expect of a playoff caliber team. If JBJ is off this team (which is more than fine) who is your centerfielder? Sox don't have a centerfielder in there system, and anyone who may be that guy one year isn't anywhere near MLB ready. One way or another, it seems to make sense that the Sox add a premium player in the outfield this offseason.

I think the Sox need to make a serious run at an outfielder this offseason. I think Verdugo is going to bounce back fine next year. The rest of the group I have very little to no confidence in. I'd be fine running JBJ out for his superior defense batting 9th if you could add a Judge to the line up.

Not the slightest bit. My hope is Sale and Wacha come back healthy, and some arms can go to the bullpen and shine. Hill? Bello? Crawford? I feel like Bello could dominate in short stints. Not as good of a plan as going out and getting a proven closer/set up guy......but it's all we got right now.

That outfield has the potential.....to be awful.

The problem with rankings (well one of many) is that they're static. When Mookie Betts was one of the top prospects in the game he wasn't on anyone's top 100 until they came out with updated lists. WHich is typically once a year and then mid-season. A lot of these prospects we pulled in had some helium.....would of been nice to flip something for a reliever.

SD practically paid us to take Hosmer, no way Hosmer is getting another payday. He's a below-average offense firstbaseman. But who cares? his salary is paid for and we have Casas on the verge of a MLB career.

I think we'd be better off letting the cost controlled Casas take over 1B next year at some point, and spending our money on C/OF maybe Vazquez or Contreras behind the plate and make a run at Judge in the OF. Use this army of milb depth Bloom has been saving up to get some pitching. Might be an unpopular opinion but Mayer might be more on the trading block than Casas, maybe not, but certainly if you resign Bogaerts. Think of the package it took to land Sale. Blooms strategy makes little sense if we don't go for it at some point, next year should be that year.