5GoldGlovesOF,75

Thanks! I dunno... seems like we just got rid of a guy that was a downer for the team. Marte in his 30s leaving the warm climes of Az to come to Boston with its non-existent Springs? Maybe a change of fandom sparks enthusiasm? Solid career numbers through 11 years, and even better stats in the postseason...

Ketel Marte would be the position player prize of the offseason for Boston! He's in his prime right now, a positive dWAR second baseman with more home runs this year than anyone of the Red Sox roster. And a 14.9% K-rate! Question: but why do we keep talking about him, as if he's available this winter? Is Arizona in complete tear-down mode or looking to get back in contention soon? Corbin Burnes is expected to be back in the second half, but can't be as good as new so soon. Marte, 31, was recently extended and is under contract through 2031. He just had an All-Star year and was still third on the team in WAR to two guys age 25 and 24 -- Perdomo and Carroll.

It's also worth noting that Franklin Arias was runner-up to Dru Jones for Minor League Defensive Player of the Year. Jones is an outfielder, which means Arias at shortstop is at least as good with the glove as any other infielder in the minors... according to evaluators. With the Red Sox' current infield instability possibly forcing Marcelo Mayer to play 2B or 3B, it would be wise to hang onto Arias -- especially for a franchise building its future around pitching.

I want nothing to do with E. Suarez. Has anybody seen him in the postseason? Guy's on a loaded offense, and he has 12 Ks in 29 ABs for a 41% K-rate. He looks like Rafaela after a whole winter diet of Papi protein shakes, hacking at every single pitch. And it's not quite a slump. He had a regular season 36% K-rate for Seattle. The Red Sox need more power, but the last thing they need is more all-or-nothing strikeout artists -- especially at some of the prices typed around here. It'd be cheaper to just bring back Tony Armas, and have hit BP off Tony Armas Junior.

He's so short. Those guys never age well! Andre the Giant didn't even die until he was 46.

Sox sure have gone through some free agent third basemen. Just this century, they've recruited Mueller, Lowell, Beltre, and Nunez (played all over, but made the famous play that finished the Yanks in '18). And then was the third basement, Pablo Sandoval. At least Bregman didn't bust a good belt buckle bending over when he got hurt.

I can maybe see trading three big league position players or three top-10 prospects for Greene... but all six? Greene has annual injuries, but should still be more valuable than both Perales and Clarke combined next season... right? Those are Boston's top two pitching prospects now vying to make the majors, and considering how quickly the Sox moved Tolle and Early last year, there's a good chance at least one of them makes it by the end of the summer. There's no doubt Greene is a talent, though; he led the NL in shutout twice, and hit the most batters once...

"Other teams have larger needs on the infield, some really need right-handed power in their lineup, and a select few have $35 million just waiting to be assigned on the 2026 payroll." This describes the Red Sox exactly -- even with Bregman in the line-up. But which team has larger needs on the infield? In Boston -- where they're all about winning championships according to the president -- there are only gigantic holes at 1B, 2B and now 3B...

Jersey burned down his restaurant so Junior couldn't hit Little Pussy there.

I always thought postseason performance should be factored when considering a guy's overall year. That's when it matters most, facing the best pitchers, hitters and fielders, right? Do you think the Phillies and Brewers would intentionally walk Ohtani if the on-deck batter was Kike, the King of Klocktober?

I'm sending Eaton if he's tippy-toeing because 99 out of 100 second basemen with half a brain are throwing to 1B for the freaking force-out to end the inning. And it's not unreasonable to think that Ben Rice - a crappy catcher who can't throw out base stealers - grabs the bouncing ball, panics and throws it so far away that even Duran scores behind Eaton... ... then the Sox go to Cleveland and win there, before getting body-shamed by the mighty M's.

A D1 star like Godbout is just a better bet than younger international signings or high schoolers. College prospects are often more polished products than the raw athletes getting on-the-job training in summer academies and rookie ball. Remember how sure the Epstein regime was of that shortstop from Arizona State, Dustin Pedroia? Only special high school talents like Marcus Betts got the big bucks to sign back then (makes you wonder if Theo were still in charge with his keen eye for generational stars if the Sox would've paid Mookie in 2020). Godbout is from UVA, where Early also came out of with his arsenal of pitches. Breslow loading up on mound draft picks from southern colleges only promises that more big arms will be on fast paths to The Show.

This is what I've been complaining about from the beginning: the fastest baserunner -- IF he was running the fastest -- should've been halfway home. I wrote this yesterday: The bigger question yet to be answered: how did the Sox' fastest baserunner supposedly running on the pitch and scoring on contact with two outs only get as far as third base -- on a ground ball that made it to the edge of centerfield? To me, it never looked like Eaton was ever sprinting full stride...but that doesn't excuse Hudson from not doing his job, either, and windmilling him in that situation. This wasn't El Guapo running. The Red Sox blew it.

The range for Japanese imports is only between two inhumans: Ichiro and Ohtani. For maybe a better perspective: in Yoshida's last half decade in Japan, he was good for at least 20 homers, a .330 batting average and .900 OPS. He also walked more than he struck out. In the big leagues, however, baseball-ref's Most Similar Batter is Pancho Herrera. So Masa is not a big dog in the majors, but a sidekick to the Cisco Kid. Yoshida's Most Similar Batter through age 30 is Les Fleming. Just be glad it isn't More Flailing.

Indolence? Letting some other source do the work... Or trusting an unreliable source: idiocy - insanity - inanity - imbelicika (I typed that in to confuse AI, who didn't recognize the word and had to admit he was an imbelice)

Dodgers almost made the worst baserunning mistake of the playoffs last night, but still won because teams keep putting Ohtani on intentionally so they can walk Mookie with the bases loaded. Bases loaded and Muncy blasts one deep to center that deflects off Frelick's glove, then off the wall and back into his hands. Dodgers were running back and forth all over the diamond, tagging up and then getting forced out at home and third base. Muncy didn't even get a hit on a 400-footer off the fence; it went as a fielder's choice. Maybe some ballplayers don't know that baserunners tagging up on a sacrifice fly can take off as soon as the ball hits the outfielder's glove -- but all professional coaches better know this rule. Most of the time that includes a catch... but not this time. Teoscar, tagging up on third, could've walked home as soon as the ball ticked off Frelick's glove. Instead he ran a few yards, then went back to tag again when he saw Frelick grab the bounce off the wall. LA fans can only hope the third-base coach didn't tell him to go back...

Nowadays with so many pitchers throwing 100 mph, a guy isn't guaranteed to stay in the majors -- even if he throws strikes -- unless he also commands a change of pace, like a splitter, slider or sweeper. That's why Tolle is still a work in progress, and Mason Miller is an absolute beast.

Cundall's notes about Arias worry me that he won't turn into the next Lindor. Like what I've read about Godbout so far -- but wondering, who's his ceiling: Meidroth or Jacob Wilson?

I'm starting to realize it may have been awhile since you were a baserunner on second with two outs and a full count on the batter. A good baserunner taking a good lead doesn't start running when the ball is pitched -- but the second a righty pitcher like Cruz begins to lift his front foot. Replays show Eaton didn't take off until Cruz pulled his arm back about to throw, but he's still almost halfway to third when Yoshida makes contact. On a hard grounder heading towards centerfield, a fast baserunner at full stride is immediately thinking "I'm scoring," never slows down rounding third, and could've been halfway home when Jazz' throw for the force out bounced in the dirt past first base. But Hudson pointed him back to the bag... from where the third baseman was a mile away (shading in the shortstop hole for the lefty Yoshida). Again, if Jazz decides not to take the easy force-out on slow-poke Masa, and try for a longer throw to nab Eaton at third or home, he still needs to make 1. a perfect throw, and hope a teammate makes 2. a perfect catch, and 3. a perfect tag, and 4. Eaton doesn't slide in or kick the ball loose on the TAG PLAY (huff-puff-huff-puff). And we always want our third base coaches to be aggressive in that situation, because late in a tie game, the visiting team should always play for the win.

A million times. Late in a tie game on the road. Scoring on contact -- make them throw you out at the plate, trying for a run... instead of hoping against hope the next batter will come through for the Squander Lobsters. The bigger question yet to be answered: how did the Sox' fastest baserunner supposedly running on the pitch and scoring on contact with two outs only get as far as third base -- on a ground ball that made it to the edge of centerfield?

I was even skeptical he'd ever be the same again after the oblique injury from swinging the bat, unless he can somehow change his body and swing. I dunno, now Anthony is going through an oblique injury -- which we all saw on TV really start to disable him after a swing. The only hope is that some guys recover -- somehow -- and are as good as Shea Langeliers...

Brez wouldn't commit to Casas at last week's presser, and because 1B is an obvious position for any team's power outage, we have to expect an upgrade there... or at least a platoon bat. But when you really get down to it, injury-prone ballplayers are a myth; they're just ballplayers. Over-30 guys like Story and Bregman get hurt all the time, but look at all the young guys who missed significant time on the IL: Casas, Abreu, Mayer, Anthony (it should make Rafaela detractors appreciate his durable wiry frame). Bottom line: don't be afraid to spend big again for the best available talent -- so what if Bichette has a bad knee today, if it heals and he's ready to lead the league in hits again next year. The Red Sox window is now -- so fortify the line-up around around your good young pitchers... before they all blow out their elbows.

Of course. My brother-in-law is a brewer, and most brewers have been losing business since the pandemic (the industry is its own worst enemy, saturating taps with a million different IPAs -- which I can't drink because hoppy-hoppy-hoppy makes my old-man esophagus unhoppy, but what do I know? I've been told I'm "not the market" -- just give me some pilsner so I can watch the games and not get too excited). But the best reason to root for both Milwaukee and Seattle is that Milwaukee IS Seattle -- in baseball roots. The Seattle Pilots were an infamous expansion team that beat the Red Sox in my first ever game at Fenway Park in 1969 -- which was their only year in existence; the next season they moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers. Plus, Jim Bouton pitched for the Pilots, the year he kept notes for the greatest baseball book ever written: Ball Four.

I appreciate the idea of upgrading with Marte, but did a double-take at the heart of this order -- because it looks so much worse without Bregman. He really is the key to the offseason. And that's assuming Abreu and Story will each have entire healthy seasons, produce and not regress. I know Hoskins is a favorite Lowe-budget kind of choice for 1B, but acquiring a guy with 12 HRs, 43 RBI and a .748 OPS to bat third won't strike fear in the eyes of opponents... (...but it will in mine, since Rhys' career 25% K-rate will make for even more whiffing, followed by Abreu and Story). Maybe just a few adjustments will help: bat Marte, coming off a .376 OBP year, leadoff, Anthony 2, Bregman 3, and if we can't find a legit 40 homer guy for clean-up, go with a .300 hitter with 25 dingers like Yandy. Then we could get away with Story 5, and a contact man like Yoshida 6. I also still like Ceddanne 9th as a second leadoff with his speed on the bases.

Agreed, and less and less bidding wars. The money is so good, in many cases it's really about where the player wants to live and work now. Except for clients of Boras, who's trying to squeeze every last copper cent from teams -- then it's wait until every GM is totally exhausted... but we're seeing that backfire more and more, as clubs have other needs to fill and can't be setting aside kajillions until Spring Training for one luxury item to add.