Hugh2

This is what Bloom does, this is what he did in Tampa bay. He loads a system up with talent knowing most of them are going to bust. You don't need all of these guys to be good, sure that would be amazing and anything is possible, but he's putting his eggs into multiple baskets.

Xander Bogaerts is in the conversation for the best player in the game. He's still in his 20's where's other guys with his level of talent are inking deals north of 300 million. He might still be willing to give us a discount, but he's opting out.

Why do we always assume that these players are huge fans of the Red Sox just like us? yet history and precedent tells us Xander will opt out. Yeah, he might not, but odds are he's opting out.

3/60 is much closer than 3/30. Hendricks is making 18 million a year. He signed that deal in his 30's, Barnes is in his prime. We also see the trajectory of salaries goes up every single year. We have every reason to believe Barnes would continue that trend. 3/60 is not too high of a projection. It might be too high for the Sox, and some fans, but I'd be willing to bet someone out there would give Barnes that money.

Unless something changed, he has opt outs. Opt-out available after 2019, $2.5M buyout Additional opt-out available after 2020, no buyout Additional opt-out available after 2021 https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/boston-red-sox/j.d.-martinez-8690/

Why would Barnes take close to 1/2 of what other closers are starting to get?

I'm not even sure Stanek was pitching the 8th for the rays towards the middle of 2019. I don't think that's a fair comp to trading who might be the best closer in the game right now. https://www.mlbdailydish.com/2019/7/31/20749198/marlins-rays-ryne-stanek-jesus-sanchez-trevor-richards-nick-anderson-trade

Franchy might not ever be "mlb ready". some guys, sometimes just need time at the MLB level to sink or swim. Hard to live with a black hole in your lineup. I don't think it's a bad thing that Cordero is getting every day at bats, swinging well with confidence at AAA. I suspect he will get another shot at some point this year. It would be awesome to see this kid put it all together.

yeah 5-95 was generous, sucking could change things though.

Agents absolutely put out their clients bonus demands. Teams know what it will take to sign these guys.

If you're in playoff contention you don't trade your closer. Right now I'd say it's more like 5-95. Let the Sox be 10 games under .500 in two months then maybe it's greater than 50%

Look at the stat line, he's obviously mlb ready

remember JDM has an opt out after this year, and with the season he's having one has to assume he will opt out. If you spend big next offseason, you need to save some money for Bogaerts who will likely opt out after the 2022 season. That or you let him walk. I would also want to start thinking about locking up Devers.

Kimbrel signed 3/42 2 years ago. More recently Liam Hendricks signs a 3/54 million deal. I think if you want to keep Barnes you're looking at 3/60

Franchy hitting .379/.419/.897 with a 1.316 OPS in AAA. BRING HIM UP!!!!!!

Lets also not forget about Josh Winckowski who we also received in the 3 way trade. He's been pretty darn good up in Portland. sporting a 2.25 era, opponents are only slugging .279 against him with 23 hits and only 9 walks in 32 innings.

It will take years to close the book on this trade. AB has a skill set that does not age well, but Franchy might not ever put it together either. In the end you traded two talented players who were underperforming. Right now Franchy is batting .379/.419/.897 with a 1.316 OPS in AAA. If he started the year in AAA putting up those numbers people would be screaming for him to be in the majors, the reality is Franchy probably needs MLB at bats to see if he can ever make that jump. That would have been easier to do in a bridge year, and I suspect that is what the Sox FO thought this year would be. Anyways, considering I knew the Sox were not getting top prospects, I really like the guys they did get. One of them might turn into a top prospect one day. Luis De La Rosa looks like the type of guy who could become a good mlb starting pitcher if everything breaks right. Sox need pitching in the system. Here is a write up about him from the Royals review. "De la Rosa has an array of positive projection indicators, with some of that projection already starting to bear out,” Baseball America Senior Writer Ben Badler said last year. “A former shortstop who moved to the mound before signing, De La Rosa is a bouncy athlete who has grown two inches to 6-foot-2, 175 pounds with a fastball that has also grown since signing. He’s now reaching the low-90s, with loose, easy arm action and the projection for more velocity to come. For someone without much experience on the mound, De La Rosa has shown surprising pitchability, with a slider and an advanced changeup for his age" 19 year old Freddy Valdez Ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 29 international prospect during the 2018 signing period, Valdez inked a deal for $1.45 million with the Mets that July 2. He was big for the class then and that remains the case as he stands in at a listed 6-foot-3, 212 pounds. The Dominican Republic native showed off some power and ability to take a walk in his first taste of the pros in the Dominican Summer League in 2019, hitting .268/.357/.432 over 57 games. That prompted a first stateside move to the Gulf Coast League that season, and he returned to the U.S. for the instructional league last fall. "The Mets like Valdez for his above-average hand speed that can result in some impressive exit velocities when he makes a solid connection. He also shows an impressive eye at the plate for someone his age, though he can get too passive at times. His swing can also get long, which holds down the overall hit tool. Valdez is a solid runner but is decidedly a corner outfielder, due to his size and struggles at times with routes and jumps. His arm is a potential above-average tool, though that too will take work as he works on his release to make the most of his arm strength. There was plenty to build on for Valdez in 2020, and that will continue to be the case for him when he returns to game play in 2021. The power and arm make him a standard corner-outfield candidate at the top level, and the other holes in his game could be improved with experience." Grant Gambrell He's a little older than the rest, of course every prospect is going to be older than they otherwise would be for their level after missing a year in the minors. Gambrell feels like a guy who could take off if they moved him into a bullpen role. "At his best, Gambrell sits in the mid-90s with a plus breaking ball (there might be two, but if so, they've run together in my looks) and a tailing, mid-80s changeup that he uses in some clever ways, including as a means to jam righties. His stuff has been inconsistent and he missed considerable time with injury during college, which creates some relief risk. We're talking about a pitcher who only worked about four innings per outing during his sophomore year, and struggled when the Royals asked him to work as a starter and blow way past his previous single-year innings total after they drafted him in 2019. But Gambrell was sitting 94-96 during 2021 spring action and looked to me to be in much better shape than the last time I saw him. The 2020 layoff means the innings increase piece of Gambrell's developmental track still feels harrowing, but he has a power-pitcher's repertoire and a chance to really blow up this year because he came to camp with a totally different body"

People complaining about this trade was the most predictable thing, I suspect it will get worse before it gets better. The reality is, no one should be surprised, we were told months ago that the list of prospects the Sox had to chose from were not top 20 guys at the time. We knew they would be lower level lottery ticket types, which I'm honestly fine with because I'll take the higher ceiling with the added risk.

https://theathletic.com/2627484/2021/06/02/brandon-workman-could-be-rejoining-the-red-sox-offering-a-boon-to-the-bullpen/?source=dailyemail Makes one optimistic on Workman

https://theathletic.com/2627484/2021/06/02/brandon-workman-could-be-rejoining-the-red-sox-offering-a-boon-to-the-bullpen/?source=dailyemail Makes one optimistic on Workman

Agreed, I think Casas can compete for a big league spot next year.

He had a 6.75 ERA and a 2.38 WHIP, but it just wasn't about the stats his velocity has gone down into the 80's. We'd be cutting Workman to make room for Workman if we had that on our team. Hopefully he can regain some of his stuff here.

I'm not sure how highly ranked Ginn was 5 months ago but at the time it was said that the list of prospects the Sox were choosing from was NOT top 20. Not top 20 then, these guys could be top 20 now.

The thing is the small moves matter too. You have to put 25 guys on a roster and no one likes the moves that strengthen up the 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th guy but that's just as important. A guy like Bloom is expert level with those types of moves because he comes from a market like Tampa. It will be interesting to see how he can do with that philosophy but the Sox purse, which to be fair we will need a couple of years.

I do think G.M.s take a more active role when it comes to the top pick, but after that I think it's all the scouting team.