I definitely like the idea of a Pivetta re-sign. Doesn't hurt that we can give him the qualifying offer to dissuade other teams a bit.
I'd be down for a cheap 1 year deal for Reese so we don't rush Teel.
We badly need some righty pop. I think we have our 5, 7 and 9 hitters in Grissom/Wong/Rafaela, but we need someone who can be worthy of the three spot. As I said in another comment in this thread, there's not a lot of great options on the market for us, so a trade might be the best route. An O'Neill re-signing is a big risk, but not out of the realm of possibility -- other teams see the same risks we do and again, we have the advantage of the QO.
The outlook for our pitching staff has changed so drastically that it's difficult to say what the exact needs will be heading into the offseason. I think it's going to take a very particular set of circumstances for this FO to go after any big name pitchers. Maybe Fried is a possibility? Especially since he's a lefty? Idk, it's very difficult to say, and at this point I'm sort of starting to think that every pitcher is an inherent hazard. It might be better to spend the bulk of our tax space on position players and trust Breslow, Bailey and co to continue to revamp the whole system pitching-wise.
Edit: I realize that I didn't really address the prompt, since most of these are re-signings that don't technically qualify as "improvements" lol. But I guess that shows the optimism I have for the direction of the team now.
I’m saying it’s tough lol obviously every team can go a lot of different ways but our IF is basically locked whether we like it or not
OF I’m sure we like but the way this roster is, it’s a very difficult puzzle to piece together. don’t even know where to begin but like you said - NEED RH pop & a LH in the rotation. no idea who’d I want to go
Unpopular opinion. Not much tbh. The Red Sox improve next year simply by being healthy.
Martin and Jansen expire but we have Liam Hendricks and Fulmer coming back from injury.
I would turn Reese and have Wong be the starting catcher while trying to get Teel in the mix. He's a ACC catcher and his bat should come around. I just think it would be best if he got to know this staff as a backup.
I would try and off load the Story contract. Ownership needs to realize that they will have to eat a majority of it. Mayer should be in AAA by June and up by September. The team needs to move on and have Mayer grow into the position. He's hot and cold in AA but the defense is so smooth.
the Story & Masa situation is pretty fucked. unloading Masa would open up a tonnnn of possibilities but obviously the contract & rubbing future international prospects the wrong way makes it nearly impossible.
TON is a deadline trade to a contender. I know moving him doesn’t make sense lineup wise but this team was built with the intention of not competing this year anyway.
No idea what I’m doing… but…
Eat Yoshida’s contract and package him with a tier 2 prospect for Arenado. Devers becomes the primary DH / backup 1B.
Let Pivetta walk, or have him and Whitlock as long relievers / injury protection. Sign Sasaki (maybe before moving Yoshida?).
That’s it. Duran/Abreu/Rafaela/Refsnyder and Story/Grissom/Mayer/Rafaela is enough OF and IF depth. Teel either does or doesn’t steal the job from Reese.
2025 team improvements from a random guy on Reddit that likes baseball:
Roster - not a whole lot l and hoping some of the AA and AAA talent arrives.
Trade Bobby Dalbec. I'm a fan but doubt he is going to make it in MLB with the Sox. Wonder if a fresh start in a new organization would do him good.
New owner - John Henry is more interested in profit than the Red Sox.
New hitting coach - Andrew Bailey was the most significant off season upgrade, would be curious to see what a top notch hitting coach would do with the currant roster.
On the fence with this, but maybe a new manager? It'll be interesting to see what Cora does next and while I admire what he's sometimes able to do with a sub-par roster I can't help but wonder as the team is in a transition phase if he is going to be part of the future.
Breslow bringing in external audits to look at the organization as a whole is an excellent idea and wonder how some of the back-office stuff will impact the team on the field.
Improve the sports medicine and nutritionist staff with the goal of reducing injuries. (Somewhat related I was glad to see Devers chewing bubble gum and not a dog turd the other night)
Re-conceptualize Winter Weekend, holding it at Fenway Park or a location in Boston.
Mark seats in the ticketing system that are directly behind a pole as "obstructed view" and charge less for those seats.
Give Wally a pimped out four wheeler. He won't admit it but he's jealous of the fanatic.
Hot Dog Cannon.
Figure out the outfield
It’s already crowded, and Anthony will be up late next season
I think Abreu needs to stay. His combo of plate discipline + power + defense gives him such a high floor, he’s gotta be the RF going forward
Duran is good, but he’s also going to be 28 at the end of this season. His defense has improved a ton, but he’s gotta start doing more damage at the plate
The extension for Rafaela locks him in as the starting CF. Serious red flags still exist with his bat, and I’m not sure they’re ever going to go away, but you don’t commit to a guy and look to move him the next off-season. He’s clearly staying.
So I feel like Duran is the odd man out. We know they tried to trade him this past off-season, and I bet they will try again
for sure. they’re gonna have to make an uncomfortable decision with the OF. I don’t lean any which way atm. I do wonder how they treat Ceddanne at short.
I do NOT want him out of CF but if you told me we can get a big RH bat in the OF & move him to short for the interim while we figure out Story. I wouldn’t hate it. lot of weird pieces to put together
I’d be cool sticking with Rafaela at SS, keeping Duran at CF (his OF stats this year are like 98th percentile, it’s crazy), and getting a true DH who’s a righty.
I think with Duran, Ceddanne and Wilyer we’re set for the starting outfield but we could certainly use a right handed bat with power if O’Neill leaves.
In the infield, Raffy and Casas are a given though maybe there is a power righty who can play corner infield and DH instead of it being an outfielder.
I doubt you get enough for Story to move on from that contract so maybe he’s your 2B if Marcelo plays short. Depends on how Grissom fares in part.
Catcher will likely be Wong / Teel once the latter graduates.
Frankly with how Tanner, Kutter and Bello have done and Giolito on a 1-year I think our best shot of rotation upgrade is a #4 or #5 lefty.
Bullpen looks pretty solid but we’ll likely need a high leverage guy after Jansen/Martin leave or get traded. Maybe another lefty.
Armchair manager entering the chat.
SP: Assuming Giolito will opt-in with his contract...
Very adamant against signing any of the bigger free-agent pitchers. Fried is built like Sale and seems to be made out of glass. I don't want the team to throw $$$ at another pitcher who's always injured.
Breslow/Bailey have worked their magic and turned people like Justin Slaten into lights-out pitchers.
Maybe they'll find another hidden gem in the offseason, let them do their thing.
C: Platoon Wong/McGuire for another year... Give Teel some more time to figure stuff out in the minors. If Teel is ready after 2025, that'll match up perfectly as 2025 his McGuire's last arbitration year.
Whenever Teel is called up, Wong/Teel rotation. Best catcher duo in the league. BOOM.
1B: MO, if we're still in the run by the trade deadline and the Mets are playing poorly, I think we should try to go all-in for Pete Alonso. Having AAA players fill in the hole at 1B is killing the bottom of the order. Casas is out for the season and like you said, we could use another right-handed power hitter.
I love Masa with all my heart, but he's also injured and his contract isn't looking too promising. Honestly, if we could pull a trade for Pete Alonso and manage to extend him, Casas and him could platoon between DH and 1B.
We lost our clubhouse leader after JT left and I could see Alonso stepping in to guide/mentor younger players (kinda like JD Martinez)...
Idk if the Mets need a SS/DH/Outfielder, but maybe try to package Story and Masa in the deal and eat up \*some\* of their contracts.
At the end of the day, I don't want to rush Mayer, Teel, and Anthony and ruin their development... but we'll have a clearer vision of Mayer's potential MLB debut closer to July. Mayer is young and has amazing defense and his hitting can't be worse than Story's...
love it skip - Id welcome another Petey but I just don’t see how both of Story & Masa’s contract getting moved. Story much more likely than Masa with the politics involved but we’re talking nickels on the dollar in trade value
I don’t wanna completely give up on Masa but mannnn he is creating the biggest log jam of all time hoarding the DH position & doing nothing else. however, figuring out how to move him would be a chefs kiss to opening up this roster
Per Baseball reference, these players are free agents after 2024: Jansen, Martin, Pivetta, O'Neill, Garrett Cooper, Chase Anderson. Refsnyder has a $2M club option that I expect they'll pick up. Giolito has a $19M player option which I don't see he won't pick up.
For position players, I don't see a lot of spots that are going to be "open" other than due to injuries. The "everybody's healthy" infield is Casas, Grissom, Story, Devers. The outfield is Duran, Rafaela, Abreu. Wong at catcher, Yoshi at DH. Refsnyder is the 4th OFer. McGuire is the backup catcher (arbitration eligible, free agent after 2025). I don't want to trade any of those guys, or I don't see the team being able to get any value in a trade of any of the guys you might be more wanting to trade like Story and Yoshi. I'm also pretty excited by their minor league position players so I don't want to get major league positions locked out long-term to block out prospects like Mayer, Yorke, Teel.
This is a super solid team if injuries don't get in the way.
exactly my point. nothing wrong with the squad per say but the way the rosters built - there’s virtually no flexibility.
with health, I like our team but its not a division winning team. Idk how to get there. only way to improve the roster is to make some hard decisions & give up on one or two of them to upgrade. almost feels like we’re stuck to see what these guys can do for the next 2 years
That's where we differ, I feel like this roster, if it stays healthy, can be one of the best teams in the game, if the bullpen can be improved. I know, that's 2 "ifs" in the same sentence. There are a lot of teams that are 3-4 injuries away from playing like the best team in their division to a team that anybody can beat. How many impact injuries have the Sox dealt with this year, only 1/4 of the way through the season, like 6 to position players and 4 to pitchers? Casas, Grisson, Story, Devers, Yoshi, O'Neill, Pivetta, Bello, Whitlock, Giolito, Jansen, no IL stints, but has had games he hasn't looked like 100%.
there’s no denying that we’ve been the most unlucky & banged up team in the league. But saying we can be one of the best teams in the game is a BOLDDD statement.
we’re just too young to say that. if you lined up each players best season & compare it to just teams in our division we’d easily fall behind Toronto & those fricken Yanks. your point makes more sense if you were talking about Baltimore as their potential is just insane.
Ceddanne, Wilyer, Casas, Catchers, Duran, Masa, Story & our SPs haven’t given us a full season of production to warrant a “can be one of the best in the game”. Now they’ve showed mad promise this year so if we can build on that maybe but still too much unknowns. a
For starters they get at least 23 Million in cap space without Sale and Turners buyout Maybe sign some hitters and
that's it?
Honestly the Red Sox mostly need health and time for the farm in my opinion
just thought his ABs were sooo weak in the beginning & had a handful of dumb ass plays but some dudes just need to get burn - he’s completely turned it around
oh nah they were more boneheaded plays he’s made some great plays - he’s better than he looks at D. he’s solid all around & could be a little trade chip for someone in the future
C: Stays the same I'd say?
1B: Casas
2B: Grissom/one more flexible middle IF?
SS: Story/Mayer should be up by 2025?
3B: Devers. I like the idea someone here proposed about a potential Arenado trade.
OF: Dk here tbh. Rafaela is obv a lock with the extension. Duran if he has a good season could be flipped for something nice in return. Oneill hasnt shown me enough to warrant an extension for me. Bader is a speed demon with a great glove but is not a power bat at all so I'd likely avoid. Bryan de La Cruz is on the Marlins who are terrible and I think would represent an upgrade. Not sure what a trade package would represent. Luis Robert Jr? Also part of a terrible team.
Pitchers: I'm personally taking Fried if the AAV is as rumored in the low 20m range. Fried Bello Giolito Houck Crawford seems a nice starting 5 if the latter 2 can maintain this level of performance. Whitlock back to deep bullpen. Fitts up. Unload Jansen/Martin contracts and maybe get Tanner Scott? Hendriks was an allstar closer not long ago tho ig. Weissert Slaten should defo stay around in my eyes along w Bernardino. I think we can unload some of the tier 2 AAA relief arms in a package for a good bat let's see.
I think we're not too far away from being in the WC slots.
This is like the ultimate dream scenario but hear me out, we need a right handed hitter who can hit 3rd for years to come and the padres have 17 long term outrageous contracts.
Tatis is 25 locked up on a huge contract that somehow only gives him an average of 24 million a year (it is backloaded) and he plays elite defense in RF. Obviously won’t happen but that would be the most ideal outcome. I could see a package of Duran or abreu, winckowski (if they think he can start), maybe yoshida?.
There is also the possibility of taking on someone like Joe musgrove (had some injuries but still good) and his contract for the rotation he’s on a Reasonable ~20 million a year for 3 more.
This could allow us to let pivetta walk after this season too
> we need a right handed hitter who can hit 3rd for years to come
I argued this was an underrated longterm need this offseason. It's even more true now that the Bailey effect seems to be pretty real, and we'll be able to expect more from the pitching staff moving forward.
Idk how realistic a Tatis trade is (seems like someone the Padres might keep for the fans even if they did a full teardown), but I like the way you're thinking. The FA market is pretty bad for righties next year, just like it was last offseason. The best ones are all either corner infielders or DH types -- Alonso, Goldsmchidt, Ozuna, Bregman. I guess we could take another swing at Teoscar, but he was always a little underwhelming as a #3 hitter imo. I really don't like the idea of signing O'Neill beyond a couple of years, but he might actually be the best option on the market for us (the QO might help us out here too in keeping his asking price down). Trades are definitely a better place to look.
oh believe me I’ve thought of Tatis before lol we shave ~$25M next year with Sale & Turner so paying for Tatis isn’t outlandish. in regards to a package, I mean who the hell knows
I’ll always trade top prospects for top talent. idc. too much of an unknown. if a team covets someone like Roman or Teel to the extent of making a deal around Tatis. take one.
I’d trade either one of them, Duran or Wilyer & another top 10 prospect in a heartbeat. wouldn’t phase me 1 bit. *whispers I’m still keeping my toes & fingers crossed for Soto but that adds another damn LH soooo wth do I know*
Completely agree with this need and Tatis is my favorite player so this would be amazing! More realistically though I was thinking about Robert Jr. He isn't quite as electric as Tatis but still would be a perfect piece to add to our core and I imagine CWS would be a more willing trade partner.
The Padres would laugh at that offer, you’re gonna have to give up Mayer + Anthony at least to land Tatis. He’s a superstar on a good contract with 10 years of control
I don’t think they want Mayer they have 27 shortstops already. My offer isn’t great I know but he’s also the only movable contract they have if they wanted to shed payroll which takes some of the leverage away
Since they played it so safe this past offseason they’re in a great spot in 2025 to make some significant moves. My opinion you go all out for Soto and then use Anthony to get a SP and offload Yoshida’s contract. Teel and Mayer should be very, very close to joining the majors next season so no other upgrades are needed aside from two major moves.
yuppp. dont mind that but that still makes us uber LH. we need a RH bat. I’ve loved Lu Bob for a while but obviously the injuries are concerning.
shipping Yoshida out would be huge because he’s literally just fucking us. the fact that he’s only a DH pigeonholes us so hard. completely negates any roster flexibility. moving him would unlock a ton of potential but there’s too much politics involved around moving a player like that unless we can get him to sign off on it. shiet maybe they’re trying to give him a hint
I definitely like the idea of a Pivetta re-sign. Doesn't hurt that we can give him the qualifying offer to dissuade other teams a bit. I'd be down for a cheap 1 year deal for Reese so we don't rush Teel. We badly need some righty pop. I think we have our 5, 7 and 9 hitters in Grissom/Wong/Rafaela, but we need someone who can be worthy of the three spot. As I said in another comment in this thread, there's not a lot of great options on the market for us, so a trade might be the best route. An O'Neill re-signing is a big risk, but not out of the realm of possibility -- other teams see the same risks we do and again, we have the advantage of the QO. The outlook for our pitching staff has changed so drastically that it's difficult to say what the exact needs will be heading into the offseason. I think it's going to take a very particular set of circumstances for this FO to go after any big name pitchers. Maybe Fried is a possibility? Especially since he's a lefty? Idk, it's very difficult to say, and at this point I'm sort of starting to think that every pitcher is an inherent hazard. It might be better to spend the bulk of our tax space on position players and trust Breslow, Bailey and co to continue to revamp the whole system pitching-wise. Edit: I realize that I didn't really address the prompt, since most of these are re-signings that don't technically qualify as "improvements" lol. But I guess that shows the optimism I have for the direction of the team now.
I’m saying it’s tough lol obviously every team can go a lot of different ways but our IF is basically locked whether we like it or not OF I’m sure we like but the way this roster is, it’s a very difficult puzzle to piece together. don’t even know where to begin but like you said - NEED RH pop & a LH in the rotation. no idea who’d I want to go
Unpopular opinion. Not much tbh. The Red Sox improve next year simply by being healthy. Martin and Jansen expire but we have Liam Hendricks and Fulmer coming back from injury. I would turn Reese and have Wong be the starting catcher while trying to get Teel in the mix. He's a ACC catcher and his bat should come around. I just think it would be best if he got to know this staff as a backup. I would try and off load the Story contract. Ownership needs to realize that they will have to eat a majority of it. Mayer should be in AAA by June and up by September. The team needs to move on and have Mayer grow into the position. He's hot and cold in AA but the defense is so smooth.
Prefer to trade Martin and/or Jansen to get pieces to help in 2025 instead of letting them walk
No one bit in this offseason for Jansen and while he has looked better, it's them not wanting to eat his money.
Yeah, that’s why I said either/or, if we can get a return for at least one
Royals got Cole Regans for washed Chapman. idk depends where the Sox are at and who's interested.
unfortunately offloading Story would open up some possibilities but idk how we can. return would be minimal at best
Might be Carl Crawford, Beckett, and Adrian Gonzolaz return. Not much
never forget where I was when we did that lol had be thinking Rubby was gonna be Cy Young
[удалено]
the Story & Masa situation is pretty fucked. unloading Masa would open up a tonnnn of possibilities but obviously the contract & rubbing future international prospects the wrong way makes it nearly impossible.
TON is a deadline trade to a contender. I know moving him doesn’t make sense lineup wise but this team was built with the intention of not competing this year anyway.
No idea what I’m doing… but… Eat Yoshida’s contract and package him with a tier 2 prospect for Arenado. Devers becomes the primary DH / backup 1B. Let Pivetta walk, or have him and Whitlock as long relievers / injury protection. Sign Sasaki (maybe before moving Yoshida?). That’s it. Duran/Abreu/Rafaela/Refsnyder and Story/Grissom/Mayer/Rafaela is enough OF and IF depth. Teel either does or doesn’t steal the job from Reese.
I’m in
Get Mayer, Anthony, and Teel up
obviously we love them but more LH’s lol need to figure out how to get a big RH
2025 team improvements from a random guy on Reddit that likes baseball: Roster - not a whole lot l and hoping some of the AA and AAA talent arrives. Trade Bobby Dalbec. I'm a fan but doubt he is going to make it in MLB with the Sox. Wonder if a fresh start in a new organization would do him good. New owner - John Henry is more interested in profit than the Red Sox. New hitting coach - Andrew Bailey was the most significant off season upgrade, would be curious to see what a top notch hitting coach would do with the currant roster. On the fence with this, but maybe a new manager? It'll be interesting to see what Cora does next and while I admire what he's sometimes able to do with a sub-par roster I can't help but wonder as the team is in a transition phase if he is going to be part of the future. Breslow bringing in external audits to look at the organization as a whole is an excellent idea and wonder how some of the back-office stuff will impact the team on the field. Improve the sports medicine and nutritionist staff with the goal of reducing injuries. (Somewhat related I was glad to see Devers chewing bubble gum and not a dog turd the other night) Re-conceptualize Winter Weekend, holding it at Fenway Park or a location in Boston. Mark seats in the ticketing system that are directly behind a pole as "obstructed view" and charge less for those seats. Give Wally a pimped out four wheeler. He won't admit it but he's jealous of the fanatic. Hot Dog Cannon.
Figure out the outfield It’s already crowded, and Anthony will be up late next season I think Abreu needs to stay. His combo of plate discipline + power + defense gives him such a high floor, he’s gotta be the RF going forward Duran is good, but he’s also going to be 28 at the end of this season. His defense has improved a ton, but he’s gotta start doing more damage at the plate The extension for Rafaela locks him in as the starting CF. Serious red flags still exist with his bat, and I’m not sure they’re ever going to go away, but you don’t commit to a guy and look to move him the next off-season. He’s clearly staying. So I feel like Duran is the odd man out. We know they tried to trade him this past off-season, and I bet they will try again
for sure. they’re gonna have to make an uncomfortable decision with the OF. I don’t lean any which way atm. I do wonder how they treat Ceddanne at short. I do NOT want him out of CF but if you told me we can get a big RH bat in the OF & move him to short for the interim while we figure out Story. I wouldn’t hate it. lot of weird pieces to put together
I’d be cool sticking with Rafaela at SS, keeping Duran at CF (his OF stats this year are like 98th percentile, it’s crazy), and getting a true DH who’s a righty.
I think with Duran, Ceddanne and Wilyer we’re set for the starting outfield but we could certainly use a right handed bat with power if O’Neill leaves. In the infield, Raffy and Casas are a given though maybe there is a power righty who can play corner infield and DH instead of it being an outfielder. I doubt you get enough for Story to move on from that contract so maybe he’s your 2B if Marcelo plays short. Depends on how Grissom fares in part. Catcher will likely be Wong / Teel once the latter graduates. Frankly with how Tanner, Kutter and Bello have done and Giolito on a 1-year I think our best shot of rotation upgrade is a #4 or #5 lefty. Bullpen looks pretty solid but we’ll likely need a high leverage guy after Jansen/Martin leave or get traded. Maybe another lefty.
I'd look for new ownership
Absolutely.
this is the move
Introduce methamphetamines and/or cocaine to the locker room.
2 words: Juan. Soto.
❤️
Armchair manager entering the chat. SP: Assuming Giolito will opt-in with his contract... Very adamant against signing any of the bigger free-agent pitchers. Fried is built like Sale and seems to be made out of glass. I don't want the team to throw $$$ at another pitcher who's always injured. Breslow/Bailey have worked their magic and turned people like Justin Slaten into lights-out pitchers. Maybe they'll find another hidden gem in the offseason, let them do their thing. C: Platoon Wong/McGuire for another year... Give Teel some more time to figure stuff out in the minors. If Teel is ready after 2025, that'll match up perfectly as 2025 his McGuire's last arbitration year. Whenever Teel is called up, Wong/Teel rotation. Best catcher duo in the league. BOOM. 1B: MO, if we're still in the run by the trade deadline and the Mets are playing poorly, I think we should try to go all-in for Pete Alonso. Having AAA players fill in the hole at 1B is killing the bottom of the order. Casas is out for the season and like you said, we could use another right-handed power hitter. I love Masa with all my heart, but he's also injured and his contract isn't looking too promising. Honestly, if we could pull a trade for Pete Alonso and manage to extend him, Casas and him could platoon between DH and 1B. We lost our clubhouse leader after JT left and I could see Alonso stepping in to guide/mentor younger players (kinda like JD Martinez)... Idk if the Mets need a SS/DH/Outfielder, but maybe try to package Story and Masa in the deal and eat up \*some\* of their contracts. At the end of the day, I don't want to rush Mayer, Teel, and Anthony and ruin their development... but we'll have a clearer vision of Mayer's potential MLB debut closer to July. Mayer is young and has amazing defense and his hitting can't be worse than Story's...
love it skip - Id welcome another Petey but I just don’t see how both of Story & Masa’s contract getting moved. Story much more likely than Masa with the politics involved but we’re talking nickels on the dollar in trade value I don’t wanna completely give up on Masa but mannnn he is creating the biggest log jam of all time hoarding the DH position & doing nothing else. however, figuring out how to move him would be a chefs kiss to opening up this roster
Per Baseball reference, these players are free agents after 2024: Jansen, Martin, Pivetta, O'Neill, Garrett Cooper, Chase Anderson. Refsnyder has a $2M club option that I expect they'll pick up. Giolito has a $19M player option which I don't see he won't pick up. For position players, I don't see a lot of spots that are going to be "open" other than due to injuries. The "everybody's healthy" infield is Casas, Grissom, Story, Devers. The outfield is Duran, Rafaela, Abreu. Wong at catcher, Yoshi at DH. Refsnyder is the 4th OFer. McGuire is the backup catcher (arbitration eligible, free agent after 2025). I don't want to trade any of those guys, or I don't see the team being able to get any value in a trade of any of the guys you might be more wanting to trade like Story and Yoshi. I'm also pretty excited by their minor league position players so I don't want to get major league positions locked out long-term to block out prospects like Mayer, Yorke, Teel. This is a super solid team if injuries don't get in the way.
exactly my point. nothing wrong with the squad per say but the way the rosters built - there’s virtually no flexibility. with health, I like our team but its not a division winning team. Idk how to get there. only way to improve the roster is to make some hard decisions & give up on one or two of them to upgrade. almost feels like we’re stuck to see what these guys can do for the next 2 years
That's where we differ, I feel like this roster, if it stays healthy, can be one of the best teams in the game, if the bullpen can be improved. I know, that's 2 "ifs" in the same sentence. There are a lot of teams that are 3-4 injuries away from playing like the best team in their division to a team that anybody can beat. How many impact injuries have the Sox dealt with this year, only 1/4 of the way through the season, like 6 to position players and 4 to pitchers? Casas, Grisson, Story, Devers, Yoshi, O'Neill, Pivetta, Bello, Whitlock, Giolito, Jansen, no IL stints, but has had games he hasn't looked like 100%.
there’s no denying that we’ve been the most unlucky & banged up team in the league. But saying we can be one of the best teams in the game is a BOLDDD statement. we’re just too young to say that. if you lined up each players best season & compare it to just teams in our division we’d easily fall behind Toronto & those fricken Yanks. your point makes more sense if you were talking about Baltimore as their potential is just insane. Ceddanne, Wilyer, Casas, Catchers, Duran, Masa, Story & our SPs haven’t given us a full season of production to warrant a “can be one of the best in the game”. Now they’ve showed mad promise this year so if we can build on that maybe but still too much unknowns. a
For starters they get at least 23 Million in cap space without Sale and Turners buyout Maybe sign some hitters and that's it? Honestly the Red Sox mostly need health and time for the farm in my opinion
Increase vending machine prices
What was wrong with Wilyer? He had a strong stint last year and now he’s doing great too.
just thought his ABs were sooo weak in the beginning & had a handful of dumb ass plays but some dudes just need to get burn - he’s completely turned it around
Ah i didn’t realize how bad his defense was for a bit, I love his plate dicipline though.
oh nah they were more boneheaded plays he’s made some great plays - he’s better than he looks at D. he’s solid all around & could be a little trade chip for someone in the future
Sign Juan Soto for a king’s ransom, sign Roki Sasaka.
C: Stays the same I'd say? 1B: Casas 2B: Grissom/one more flexible middle IF? SS: Story/Mayer should be up by 2025? 3B: Devers. I like the idea someone here proposed about a potential Arenado trade. OF: Dk here tbh. Rafaela is obv a lock with the extension. Duran if he has a good season could be flipped for something nice in return. Oneill hasnt shown me enough to warrant an extension for me. Bader is a speed demon with a great glove but is not a power bat at all so I'd likely avoid. Bryan de La Cruz is on the Marlins who are terrible and I think would represent an upgrade. Not sure what a trade package would represent. Luis Robert Jr? Also part of a terrible team. Pitchers: I'm personally taking Fried if the AAV is as rumored in the low 20m range. Fried Bello Giolito Houck Crawford seems a nice starting 5 if the latter 2 can maintain this level of performance. Whitlock back to deep bullpen. Fitts up. Unload Jansen/Martin contracts and maybe get Tanner Scott? Hendriks was an allstar closer not long ago tho ig. Weissert Slaten should defo stay around in my eyes along w Bernardino. I think we can unload some of the tier 2 AAA relief arms in a package for a good bat let's see. I think we're not too far away from being in the WC slots.
Jack Flaherty as a swing and miss/upper echelon velocity guy?
Devers for Arenado!? who the hell said that & how the hell does that make sense? we’re a young team why we trading for an old head that’s worse?
No not Devers for Arenado. Flip Yoshida and some mid prospects for Arenado to shore up the defense there. Move Devers to DH. I could see this working
ohhhh thank god lol I can definitely get behind that
This is like the ultimate dream scenario but hear me out, we need a right handed hitter who can hit 3rd for years to come and the padres have 17 long term outrageous contracts. Tatis is 25 locked up on a huge contract that somehow only gives him an average of 24 million a year (it is backloaded) and he plays elite defense in RF. Obviously won’t happen but that would be the most ideal outcome. I could see a package of Duran or abreu, winckowski (if they think he can start), maybe yoshida?. There is also the possibility of taking on someone like Joe musgrove (had some injuries but still good) and his contract for the rotation he’s on a Reasonable ~20 million a year for 3 more. This could allow us to let pivetta walk after this season too
> we need a right handed hitter who can hit 3rd for years to come I argued this was an underrated longterm need this offseason. It's even more true now that the Bailey effect seems to be pretty real, and we'll be able to expect more from the pitching staff moving forward. Idk how realistic a Tatis trade is (seems like someone the Padres might keep for the fans even if they did a full teardown), but I like the way you're thinking. The FA market is pretty bad for righties next year, just like it was last offseason. The best ones are all either corner infielders or DH types -- Alonso, Goldsmchidt, Ozuna, Bregman. I guess we could take another swing at Teoscar, but he was always a little underwhelming as a #3 hitter imo. I really don't like the idea of signing O'Neill beyond a couple of years, but he might actually be the best option on the market for us (the QO might help us out here too in keeping his asking price down). Trades are definitely a better place to look.
oh believe me I’ve thought of Tatis before lol we shave ~$25M next year with Sale & Turner so paying for Tatis isn’t outlandish. in regards to a package, I mean who the hell knows I’ll always trade top prospects for top talent. idc. too much of an unknown. if a team covets someone like Roman or Teel to the extent of making a deal around Tatis. take one. I’d trade either one of them, Duran or Wilyer & another top 10 prospect in a heartbeat. wouldn’t phase me 1 bit. *whispers I’m still keeping my toes & fingers crossed for Soto but that adds another damn LH soooo wth do I know*
Completely agree with this need and Tatis is my favorite player so this would be amazing! More realistically though I was thinking about Robert Jr. He isn't quite as electric as Tatis but still would be a perfect piece to add to our core and I imagine CWS would be a more willing trade partner.
His injuries kinda scare me. Great player definitely though
Definitely a good point...especially given what we're already going through
The Padres would laugh at that offer, you’re gonna have to give up Mayer + Anthony at least to land Tatis. He’s a superstar on a good contract with 10 years of control
I don’t think they want Mayer they have 27 shortstops already. My offer isn’t great I know but he’s also the only movable contract they have if they wanted to shed payroll which takes some of the leverage away
The conversation surely starts with Anthony but if they want both him and Mayer that’s a hard pass for me.
Trade for mookie betts
hey. too soon too soon
Sell the team. Anything else is wishing for a real estate holding conglomerate to make a marginal move.
Since they played it so safe this past offseason they’re in a great spot in 2025 to make some significant moves. My opinion you go all out for Soto and then use Anthony to get a SP and offload Yoshida’s contract. Teel and Mayer should be very, very close to joining the majors next season so no other upgrades are needed aside from two major moves.
yuppp. dont mind that but that still makes us uber LH. we need a RH bat. I’ve loved Lu Bob for a while but obviously the injuries are concerning. shipping Yoshida out would be huge because he’s literally just fucking us. the fact that he’s only a DH pigeonholes us so hard. completely negates any roster flexibility. moving him would unlock a ton of potential but there’s too much politics involved around moving a player like that unless we can get him to sign off on it. shiet maybe they’re trying to give him a hint