5GoldGlovesOF,75

Ya, they were all set when Kike took over shortstop. I'll bet for every poster who wondered why they wouldn't sign an actual MLB middle infielder last year -- or I dunno, even this year -- there was half a poster who found statistics that showed Iglesias was just no good anymore. No good at fielding, no good at hitting, no good at leading a team to the postseason, no good at singing, nogood-nogood-nogood.

Cutter Crawford is the perfect player for the current Red Sox: an employee who doesn't make a lot of money for an employer who makes a lot of money and saves a lot of money. Crawford takes a regular turn on the mound so Boston can field a team and sell tickets. What could be better for a team consumed with concessions? (such concessions include, but are not limited to, the following: uniformed management's concessions using a roster that can't qualify for the postseason; fan's concessions expecting a front office to sufficiently upgrade the roster; and ownership's concessions at Fenway that remain overpriced, taste like crap and sell like hot takes).

Hey, I saw all three of those players on my postseason TV, just last night! ... along with Schwarber, of course, and another guy who the Red Sox decided they didn't need anymore -- Jose Iglesias. Yes, the Red Sox, who featured some of the worst middle infield combos in baseball the past three years... Yes, Iglesias, the scourge of analytics departments like Boston's that just can't seem to calibrate a statistic that encapsulates the dugout and clubhouse contributions of solid veteran character leadership in a pennant race.

Reports that Sox will focus on a free agent starter over relievers are from McCaffrey from The Athletic, and Sox beat men (who at least quoted her). As for your #2 point, I still don't see how a prospect with zero MLB at bats can be worth more than an MLB star hitter in his prime with four more years of control. If Anthony turns out to be a bust, two more years of zero stardom isn't "real value" -- not compared to a big leaguer with 8.5 WAR in one year or 8.5 combined in those extra two years. Jarren Duran has real value right now. All Red Sox prospects are Bobby Dalbec until proven otherwise.

Reports lean towards the Sox signing a free agent starter, instead of trying to be top bidders for this winter's available bullpen arms. I'll believe either when it actually happens. But trading a left-handed hitting veteran or two has to be inevitable if they want to make room on the diamond for top prospects. The part I'm confused about is why anyone thinks any Boston minor leaguer will bring back better returns than Duran, who barely makes MLB minimum wage with four more years of control and is already a proven big league star.

"But it made sense at the time"... ...for the Red Sox -- whose entire starting rotation consisted of three young pitchers rotating their heads back and forth at each other -- to offer a guy with a borderline 5.00 ERA the past two years both a ton of money AND an opt-out to seek presumably even more from other clubs... JUST IN CASE HE WAS GOOD IN BOSTON.... ... because, as the front office expects out of gullible fandom, why would anyone EXPECT that the Sox would want to pay market value to keep an actually good pitcher around on a bad pitching staff? Ya, that makes sense, never.

Sugano is old enough for the Red Sox, but he'd be more desirable if he brought down his price by getting injured this winter. If rehab then projects him to throw his first pitch after the summer trade deadline, he'll be perfect for Boston.

Maybe nothing. Fans just aren't privy to every single reason behind manager decisions -- especially the unspoken ones hidden from the public. Some have to do with undisclosed injuries teams are trying to keep quiet. Others have to do with personality conflicts over incidents clubs absolutely need to keep secret, for PR or even out of respect for those involved. We do know this about Cora: he flat out refuses to play Yoshida in the field again, maybe ever. As for shifting Devers to first base, maybe Raffy told him he can't hit if he can't play his favorite position at third base. Or maybe Cora actually did try Raffy at first base in a private practice, and he was so bad he tripped over the bag every time. Or maybe Raffy refused the move, and threatened AC with posting all those late-night pics of him from the '18 team party if pushed.

Try this: Maybe you haven't played a lot of first base, but I know you've watched a lot of first basemen in action. A good first sacker doesn't just have good hands to make scoops and save throws in the dirt. The consensus is that most of Devers' bad D at third involves throwing errors. I don't have a stat, but 1B might actually involve more key throws than 3B per game. We hold our breath when Raffy has to throw for a force-out at second; that won't change if he's trying for a 3-6-3 DP from first where the throw is even tougher (throwing around the lead baserunner). Also, on most defenses, with a runner in scoring position, the third baseman is the cut-off on a throw home from LF, while the first baseman is normally the cut-off on hits to RF and CF... so that's twice as many cuts for 1B to take. Twice as many cuts = twice as many throws, potentially. Why was Keith Hernandez considered the best first baseman of his day? He had range, footwork and hands, like Doug Mientkiewicz, but Keith was most famous for his bunt defense. Hernandez could pounce and gun guys out a third, and basically took away a big strategy (back when bunts were popular). We know Raffy has a strong arm. We also know we'd cringe every time he fielded a bunt and fired to third... where a bad throw is a run, every time. Finally, a quick glance at fielding stats shows Devers gets between 300-400 chances a season. Vlad Jr. gets between 900-1,000 at first base. E-gaads.

Little League perspective on Devers as a first baseman (on a Wilyer Abreu thread): Beginning at the lowest level of hardball, coaches know the most important position is first base, because someone at least competent has to catch -- or stop -- all the throws from the rest of the positions. A first sacker has to secure those routine, precious outs, or be nimble enough to at least secure the baseball so runners don't continually circle the bases. In the majors, Devers might make an isolated error as a third baseman, but if he's the first baseman he has to try to prevent Es from four or five other guys, too. Every inning. And it's more than just catching the ball; it's all about footwork and timing, sprinting to the right spots on time to take cut-offs, making spin moves to throw out runners behind you, even leading pitchers with soft underhand tosses when they're charging to the bag. Not saying Raffy can't make the conversion, but it's not automatic. Vlad Jr. may be one of the MVPs of the league with the bat, but when he's called Bad Vlad at 1B, it's bad for Toronto.

I think they will sign a pitcher, maybe two or three... But I don't think they will pay market value for an actual good one.

Expectations! Patience! If they rebuild too fast, it might fall down, and then they have to start all over again. Oh.

It's a good point, with a parallel: the guy who replaced Ellsbury was a superior fielder but inferior offensive player -- prone to streaks and infinite posts by fans horrified to watch his swings and misses. And yet... JBJ won a LCS MVP and helped the Sox win another World Series.

Might as well say this, too: Duran probably hasn't endeared himself to Red Sox ownership for comments (and inactions) that prevented him from being allowed to play in games this past summer, and a few years ago. Fans might not care so much, but it doesn't make a guy beloved, either. In other words, when a team is as blah as Boston's the past three years, there won't be an uproar if the front office actually makes what finally look like sincere moves to legitimately improve.

Breslow might balk in trading away a guy once called a righty Chris Sale (had to say it).

Or that there hasn't been a peep of speculation in the media of the club rewarding its hero's big season with a raise -- nor extension offer -- to make sure he's part of the next great Red Sox team. Boston baseball may be less relevant compared to past decades, but the popularity of a star player in his prime has never seemed more tepid. Old-timers and young-timers may remember the local and national hype surrounding Yaz, Lynn/Rice, Nomar, Manny/Papi, and Mookie. Yaz Bread, anyone? My son saw an online ad for Duran Soap; it is for acne...

The radical move is trading Duran -- but he's the one guy who will bring back the best haul. And I'm not even consulting a website that ranks players by assigning numerical trade values. Jarren Duran, All-Star MVP, was one of the top five baseball players in the world this year. He's in his prime right now, but maybe not quite young enough to be part of the core of the next great Red Sox team (only a year younger than Tyler O'Neill and Dom Smith..). Will the Red Sox be worse without Duran, but with another good pitcher in the starting rotation, Roman Anthony in LF, and Campbell or Grissom at 2B?

I mulled this, but also the possible grudges between a trio of high school testosteronis who once competed with each other for number one status in the eyes of coaches, teammates, college scouts, pro scouts, reporters, teachers, cheerleaders, and the school mascot. It's one thing to be dismissed by humans (comes with the badge of being a person), but no one wants to be dissed by a Wolverine -- especially one who might help you learn his instant healing powers... which all three now-older guys covet more than anything else.

Well, since TOR also stands for a rival city, how about a guy willing to meet all border requirements so he's eligible to pitch a big game there? What if the Sox have to play Montreal in a World Series! Or the expansion Saskatoon Sasquatches...

And we better believe Assistant VPs in analytics departments all over the map are celebrating the Tigers today -- the team that traded away a viable member of the starting rotation at the deadline, and just eliminated the mighty Astros... with an opener and a bullpen game!

The Royals? Their top three WAR leaders not named Witt are starting pitchers acquired in the past two years: Lugo, All-Star, signed for $15 mil per; Ragans, All-Star, traded for an old legendary closer version of Kenley; and Wacha, signed for $16 mil per... who some posters still don't think is worth a spot in the Thin Sox rotation when all he ever does is pitch consistently in whatever uniform he wears the past three years -- 38-14 with a 3.30 ERA in 76 starts with a 1.16 WHIP.

So the bullpen proved it could blow it around the Horn. Agree with notin, here -- relief pitchers will be the top free agent targets of our both our CBO and pitching coach, each a decent reliever in his own days...

A rational front office doesn't make radical changes to a .500 team on the verge of transitioning several minor league All-Stars into the lineup. The simplest and absolutely least expensive moves are to just make room for the new guys. Primarily, trade from surplus -- for example, lefty-swinging outfielders or middle infield prospects. Breslow and Company are too smart to create new holes by dealing Casas -- with zero MLB-ready first basemen to replace him... or move Devers to 1B -- with zero MLB experience at the position, and with zero MLB-ready third basemen to replace him. A major overhaul might make sense for a club that lost the most games in history, like the White Sox... but not for a break-even team like the Red Sox, with help already on the way.

All feasible -- good effort. I agree if there's a trade, it will include Duran or Abreu. I disagree Wong is definitely back. I have nothing against him, but Breslow has no loyalty to Wong, either -- the last vestige of the Mookie deal. Plus, if Brez and Co. really rely as much on analytics as the media says they do, then Wong as Boston's catcher has a looming expiration date.

"Internal bracing" -- the stand-up double for elbows and Red Sox fans everywhere!